Government Grants 50,000ht for Its Cotton Farm


Spintex, an Indian textile company, has received 50ht of land at the Kombolcha Industrial Zone in the Amhara Regional State to construct what could become the largest textile factory with five times the capacity of the current leader.

It will produce 100tn of yarn a day, which is five times the capacity of Ayka Addis.

Ayka Addis is a Turkish company that moved to Ethiopia and set up a factory at Alem Gena in Oromia.

"This company [Spintex] has promised to the Prime Minister and Girma Birru [minister of Trade and Industry] that it will export one billion dollar worth of products a year in seven years' time," a high-level government official told Fortune.

The government's target for 2009/10, as indicated in the Plan for Accelerated and Sustainable Development to End Poverty (PASDEP), was to be able to export fve billion dollar worth of textile and garment products. However, the highest amount that is now expected is only about 53.5 million dollar.

"The history of the Ethiopian textile industry will completely change," Sileshi Lema, director of the Ethiopian Textile and Leather Development Centre, told Fortune. His conviction is based on the level of foreign direct investment in the country.

Spintex was established in India in 1972 with four companies under it specialising in different areas of the textile industry. The group has been producing different machinery for spinning, weaving and knitting.

The company will fully own the factory it will establish in Ethiopia. But it has indicated that it would need a loan from local banks, an official at the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MoTI) told Fortune, which he confirmed would be awarded.

The Development Bank of Ethiopia, alone, has the capability to extend loans counted in hundreds of millions of Birr. Spintex has already received support in the form of 50,000ht of land in the Awi Zone of the Amhara Regional State for cotton farming.

With investment in the textile and garment industry gradually growing, a new point of concern has emerged, according to an expert at MoTI, because the companies that were established exclusively for export are beginning to eye the local market which is also growing. The ministry has instructed the Textile and Leather Development Centre to conduct a study on the issue.

http://www.addisfortune.com/Indian%20Firm%20to%20Fabricate%20Largest%20Textile%20Plant.htm

China, Ethiopia Inaugurate Joint-venture Project

China and Ethiopia on Saturday inaugurated PVC Window Frames Factory, a joint project of the China Sichuan International Cooperation Co. Ltd. (SIETCO) and the Prefabricated Building Parts Production Enterprise (PBPPE) of Ethiopia, here in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

The inaugural ceremony was attended by Gu Xiaojie, the Chinese ambassador to Ethiopia, Arkebe Equbay, Ethiopian State Minister of Works and Urban Development, Kuma Demekissa, Mayor of Addis Ababa and other diginatries from both sides.

Speaking on the occasion, Gu said SIETCO has successfully undertaken several major construction projects on the African continent.

The launch of the plant is a good demonstration of SIETCO's willingness and further efforts to take part in the fast economic growth and development of Ethiopia.

"This PVC Window Factory is not only an investment by the Chinese company, but also a good example of the willingness of the Chinese government and companies to transfer suitable and applicable technologies to our African brothers and sisters; a good example of China's willingness to share our development experiences accumulated within the past decades with our developing partners," said the ambassador.

According to Zhung Mingfeng, President of SIETCO, the Company has undertaken over 400 projects in various fields during the past 30 years in more than 50 countries around the world.

Arkebe Equbay, the Ethiopian state minister of Works and Urban Development, said the factory would be a significant help to the availability of quality building materials to the country's constructions and to technology transfer from Chinese experts to Ethiopians.

Kuma Demekissa, the mayor of Addis Ababa City, on his part, said the Factory plays significant role in helping move Ethiopia's housing projects in general and that of Addis Ababa City in particular.
http://english.cri.cn/6909/2010/05/16/168s569940.htm

Samsung Electronics the global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, founded in South Korea 41 years ago, is going to set up an assembly plant in Ethiopia for refrigerators and home appliances.

George Ferreira Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Samsung Africa told Capital that his company is doing a feasibility study to set up an assembly plant for home appliances in the country, which will be the fifth plant in Africa for Samsung.

The COO said that Samsung has continued to innovate, reaching out across the globe to identify and develop key pockets of growth in Africa.

At the Samsung Africa Forum held in Johannesburg, South Africa, where Samsung showcases the latest innovations throughout all of its product categories, from audio visual and home appliances, to mobile handsets, digital cameras and notebooks, the COO said that Samsung will also open brand shops across Ethiopia to penetrate the untapped market.

At the forum Samsung also revealed its first 3D television which doesn’t require special glasses. The company also says their TV can also be used as a white board for education.

Another product, the Samsung Galaxy S, a new class of smartphone is expected to be one of the biggest technological advances in the industry. The forum, comprised of the media, customers, distributors and top Samsung executives and government officials, aims to promote co-operation, innovation and the exchange of new ideas in technology.

Outlining the company’s roadmap for growth in Africa, Mr. KK Park, head of Samsung Electronics African Headquarters, said:
“With 980 million people, 15 percent of the world’s population lives in Africa, but the region produces only 2.6 percent of global GDP. In our view, that growth potential is an enormous opportunity to do business and increase our market share in the continent.”

“In 2010, we are focusing in on Africa’s top 10 economies, which together generate 79 percent of the region’s wealth and have almost 47 percent of the population. Our key focus continues to be on countries with large and growing populations, such as South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Sudan,” Mr. Park said.
Mensuir Abubakar Manager and owner of Garad Plc sole distributor of Samsung electronics told Capital that his company is doing a feasibility study to set up the assembly plant in collaboration with Samsung in the country. Mensuir was also the guest of honour at the opening of the forum held in South Africa for being the sole distributor of Samsung for the last 13 years.

Tadewos Awol Samsung country manager told Capital that Ethiopia is a strategic place to set up a plant. He added that Samsung is currently the African market share leader in the broad consumer electronics category, including being the No. 1 brand for TV’s, SBS Refrigerators.

Plans are underway to achieve leadership in other categories, including mobile phones, washing machines and air conditioners, through Samsung’s innovative product lineup, enhancing in-country marketing, strengthening distributor infrastructure, as well as tightening and improving supply chain management, he said.
Showing its strong commitment to the region, Samsung continues to expand its in-market presence with subsidiaries and branch offices, as well as the appointment of 12 senior country managers. Samsung currently employs 242 local staff across five subsidiaries and offices in Africa.


http://www.newsdire.com/business/1114-samsung-to-open-assembly-plant-in-ethiopia.html

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ANMOL PRODUCTS ETHIOPIA PLC is first foreign investment in Ethiopia for manufacturing of paper by ANMOL Group of Companies, India. Inspite of all odds ANMOL started this paper making project, today largest in Ethiopia producing excellent quality papers which is totally import sutbstitute and saving lot of foreign exchange for Ethiopia. ANMOL Group of Companies have wide experience of paper manufacturing as parent company is involved in speciality chemicals manufacturing, technology provider for improvement of paper quality.

Ramsay Signs $1.3m Deal for Italian Shoes

Factory must produce 60,000 pairs of Geox Respira for export

Following a 1.3 million dollar deal that was signed with Geox, an Italian shoe and apparel manufacturer, on July 16, 2010, Ramsay Shoe Factory is to start production this month for 60,000 pairs of shoes that are to be shipped from November 31.

The shoes to be produced are called Geox Respira and are designed to breathe by letting moisture out and keeping water from getting in. Once produced, the shoes will be sold in Geox outlets, carrying the label, “Made in Ethiopia by Ramsay.”

The company, which was established in 1990, has the capacity to produce 2,000 pairs a day.

“Due to the design specifications of the Geox Respira shoes, we will produce only 1,500 pairs,” Zelalem Habte, managing director of Ramsay, told Fortune.

After Geox reviewed 24 samples that were sent to it, it awarded the deal to Ramsay. The shoes will be manufactured from 25pc locally produced leather, thermoplastic rubber for the soles, and reinforcement material that are imported from abroad, according to the deal.

“The leather used is to be bought from Sheba, Batu, and Afdel Tanneries which Geox specifically selected,” Zelalem told Fortune.

The shoes, for which Ramsay will be paid 19 dollars a pair, take about 20 days to reach Italy and have to be delivered to Geox by January 31, 2011.

Geox, which was established in 1995 and has its headquarters in Rome, Italy, sold shoes worth 5.4 million dollars during the first half of 2010.

Recently, local shoe companies have increasingly been commissioned to produce products for foreign brands and ship the goods to the companies. Local companies have created links with United States (US) shoe companies via the Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program (ATEP), an initiative of United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

The programme, which began in 2006 and is to last five years, linked seven local companies with three US companies in June 2010. One of the three US companies was Brown Shoe Company Inc, one of the biggest shoe retailers and wholesalers in the US, which recorded sales of 2.3 billion dollars in 2009.

Brown has reviewed three samples and a deal for 20,000 pairs of shoes is expected to be signed soon, according to Zelalem. Brown is expected to pay an average of 14.50 dollars per pair, depending on whether it orders ladies’ or men’s shoes or a combination of both.

“Although the recent devaluation of the Birr increased Ramsay’s profit margin of Ramsay, the recent global crisis has affected our market reach over the past couple of years,” Zelalem said. “The good thing is that when companies like Geox come to Ethiopia, others will soon follow in their footsteps.”

Ramsay was established with an initial capital of two million Birr which has since increased to 13 million Br. The company produces shoes for export on its 5,000sqm plot of land, located in the industrial zone next to Kadisco Square on the Ring Road in Addis Abeba.http://addisfortune.com/Ramsay%20Signs%201-3m%20Deal%20for%20Italian%20Shoes.htm


It seems we are finally starting to export finished goods. There are several shoes producers I've heard of now.
If you go to Barney's in NY, you will also see finished goods like Ethiopian scarves from Sammy Handmade in Ethiopia.

Multi-Million US Dollar Leather Processing Factory Inaugurated in Ethiopia

A modern leather processing factory built in Sululta town of Oromia State at a cost of 27 million USD by China- Africa Overseas Leather Products S.C was inaugurated.

The factory, built on 80,000 square meters of land on the outskirts of Addis Ababa City, has a capacity of producing 450 million pieces of processed leather per year, General Manager of the company, He Mingliang said during the inaugural of the factory.

He said the factory employs 500 local people.

The General Manager also announces plan that the factory would be expanded if the condition is favorable by injecting 25 million USD. This will enable it to produce the stated products valued at 120 million USD.

This second phase project will also enable the plant to use 2000-2500 skins per day.

He said the factory is environmentally friendly.

Speaking on his part, State Minister of Trade and Industry, Tadesse Haile said the leather and leather products industry is one of the top priority sector identified by the Industrialization Strategy of the country.

He said the country’s five year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) mainly focuses on adding value on raw local materials.

Tadesse said one of the objectives of the GTP is to double the contribution of industry sector to the GDP after five years by attaining a 20 per cent growth annually.

As a result the plan is expected to strengthen the global competitiveness of the country’s leather and leather products industries thereby earn more foreign exchange.

Vise President of China Development Bank (CDB), Xin Yiren on his part said CDB and CADFund have supported and would continue to support Chinese enterprises to invest in Ethiopia.

CDB committed to promote Sino-African trade and economic cooperation and encourage more Chinese to invest in Africa, he said.

ENA
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http://www.diretube.com/ethiopian-news/tv-assembling-factory-inaugurated-in-ethiopia-video_679a9dfe1.html

Chinese company erects largest leather factory

China-Africa Overseas Leather Products S.C., a company fully owned by Chinese investors, on Wednesday inaugurated the largest leather and leather products factory in Ethiopia to date with a capital of some USD 27 million.

During the inauguration ceremony of the factory, He Mingliang, general manager of the company, said that about 500 local people would be employed in the factory.

Tadesse Haile, State Minister of Industry, told The Reporter that some 200 local people, of whom many are women, had already got job opportunities.

According to Mingliang, the factory, located in sululta town, 23 km north of Addis Ababa, in the Finfinne Special Zone of the Oromia Regional State, lies on an area exceeding 80,000 sqm (8 hectare) and construction took less than a year. “This project so far has consumed USD 27 million and has the capacity to produce 450 million pieces of processed leather a year,” he said.

Mingliang said that if the laws, policies and conditions were favorable, his company would launch the second phases of the factory that will inject an investment amounting to USD 25 million and has the capacity to use up to 2,500 cow skins a day for finished leather and leather products. The company aims to secure a total revenue of around USD 120 million annually from export sales.

According to Tadesse, the company is expected to manufacture finished leather and leather products, mainly gloves. Such outputs are destined to enter the market by the end of this fiscal year. He said that the company brought state-of-the-art technologies that are new to the local industry. “The new processing machines that we have seen have their own positive impacts on production levels and return.”

The factory not only creates job opportunities to the community but also gives on-the-job trainings. Tadesse expressed his satisfaction with what he saw during his visit to the different processing houses. Though what he saw was positive, he stressed that further trainings are necessary.

The company’s general manager told The Reporter that they had introduced advanced and internationally accepted sewerage treatment facilities and technology “to guarantee the realization of pollution-free disposal of waste materials”. However, Tadesse said that dialogue and discussions will be held in the near future on the issues of waste treatment and drainage systems. He further noted during his site visit that workers safety rules and protection also needed major attention.

China-Africa Overseas Leather Products S.C. is a joint venture company owned by Xinxiang Kudroda, Mingliang Leather Co. Ltd and China-Africa Development Fund (CAD Fund). According to the company, 55 percent of the USD 27 million capital invested was covered by both private companies while the remaining balance is the share of the CAD Fund.

http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1442:chinese-company-erects-largest-leather-factory&catid=98:news&Itemid=511

Thought I'd start a thread to compile news and other info on manufacturing. Large project announcements can have their own threads I think.

This is an old news item (2009 and 2010) that was not posted here for some reason.

Crystal Tannery:

Article on its establishment (April 2009): http://www.ethiopianreview.com/articles/2394

The under formation Crystal Tannery has bought Caske Spice Extraction Factory from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia through tender for 14.6 million birr.

A source at the new company told Capital Crystal will install a production complex on the Addis Ababa compound to produce finished leather products to be exported to Europe and other markets.

The compound is over 15,000 metres square and has a production hall resting on a 2,700 metres square plot. It also has six warehouses and office buildings. According to the source, the company is negotiating with the sub city to include another 22,000 metres square piece of land neighbouring the existing compound, which is found in Kality in the eastern part of the capital city.

Crystal Tannery is evaluating machineries to be procured and enter production in the next few months.

"The plan is to start exporting in September this year," the source said. Crystal Tannery obtained a loan for the purchase, which is to be paid off in eight years. It paid 30 per cent of the total up front. Crystal Tannery was founded in March 2008 by seven investors from the leather sector. Crystal will not start production from the first phase of leather production. The input that the factory uses will be semi finished or pickled and wet-blue leather.

Currently, more than 20 tanneries produce semi finished leathers, which Crystal can use as an input.

The tax law that increased the export taxes for semi-processed hides and skins to 150 per cent :nuts:, has decreased the export volume, making the input for Crystal available.

The pre-feasibility study for establishing Crystal has taken more than seven months. The study projected that out of the three phases Crystal applies for its implementation, the first phase costing 30 million birr, will commence after seven months and start producing finished leather for shoes.

At this time, more than 1,500 factories are producing shoes in the country. These factories have a shortage of finished leather inputs, preventing them from operating at full capacity. As a result of the shortage, these factories are importing from Italy. :ohno: When the remaining two phases costing 70 million birr launch, Crystal will produce finished leather for garments and gloves.

Ethiopia has a less than one per cent share in the international leather market, valued at 92 billion birr. But it possesses large livestock populations with 40.8 million cattle, 25 million sheep and lambs and 23 million goats.


Article from August 2010: http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13308:crystal-tannery-enters-footwear-and-fashion-business&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4

Crystal Tannery Share Company is to expand its current business of finished pieces of leather to the production of actual footwear and other leather goods. In order to do so, it will establish a “Leather Park” at a cost of 15 million dollar to start with.

Crystal’s factory currently turns into finished leather products about 4,500 pieces of skin and 6,000 square feet of hide every day for the export market. They also supply their products to local export oriented producers. Starting from this budget year, Crystal will also add footwear and various leather goods to their production line.

Solomon Getu, the CEO of the tannery, tells Capital that the 15 million dollar expansion is just the first phase. More investment will follow in the years to come.

Crystal will invest about ten million dollar in footwear and other leather goods, he says. In addition, new machineries will be installed to expand its finished leather production. After the expansion, Crystal aims to produce about 5,000 shoes daily.

“Local banks and foreign financial institutions, including the Chinese EXIM (Export and Import) Bank, have agreed to provide loans for the new investment,” Solomon says.

Tomorrow a delegation from the Crystal Tannery will travel to China to attend the Shanghai Leather Trade Fair. The delegation will also meet with Chinese EXIM Bank officials to complete the mentioned loan facility.

To set up the planned Leather Park, the tannery seeks to enlarge its production area. It currently owns 15,000 square meters with a title deed. But an additional 39,000 square meters of land, located within the factory’s compound, is still uncalled.

“We need this plot for the expansion project, which will include the erection of eight warehouses and a two floor office,” Solomon says. The CEO is negotiating with the City Administration to include the plot, which is situated in the Kaliti area in the eastern part of Addis Ababa.

In its expanded business, Crystal will not start its production from the very first phase. Instead it will use semi-finished or pickle and wet-blue leather coming from other tanneries. Crystal will introduce a new technology in Ethiopia: the transfer foil technology, which is the latest technology to produce any sort of finished leather.

Solomon expects Crystal to generate about eleven million dollar during this budget year. Its strategic partner, Crystal Capital Service – that was established after the tannery – is involved in various businesses, including a café and restaurant. It also plans to establish another footwear factory and to form a commercial bank.

“The two companies (the tannery and Crystal Capital Service) are different entities that undertake their own projects, but have shares in each other’s companies,” Solomon explains.

Priority Sector

The leather sector is one of the government priority sectors. It has been one of the fasted growing agricultural industries lately.

The recently launched Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) aims to further improve income from finished leather exports from a disappointing 56.5 million dollar to 500 million dollar in 2015.

In order to discourage the export of raw material and semi-processed hides and skins export taxes have already been increased to 150 percent in 2008.

Ethiopia has a large livestock population: about 40.8 million cattle, 25 million sheep and lambs and 23 million goats. This makes the country one of Africa’s leading leather producers, but internationally Ethiopia has a share of less than one per cent.


More on the commercial bank here: http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13272:crystal-tannery-to-open-bank&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4

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sorry about the merging job abesha, it was originally your thread idea...I tried to add a few other projects that might belong in here and it turned into a bit of a mess :doh:

anyway here's some more manufacturing news:

Corrugated Iron Sheet Production Starts in Adama

Factory can produce five types of sheets in different thicknesses

http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_550_Archive/Vol_10_No_550_Images/alum_sheet_manuf.jpg

Adama’s first corrugated iron sheet factory, inaugurated on November 6, 2010, is running a test production on five types of sheets which are to become available on the market in a month’s time.

The five types of sheets being produced are normal corrugated, double line, EGA 300 and EGA 500, tile profile, and tile ridge. Established with 40 million Br capital, the factory has five different machines for the production of these sheets.

The machine for the normal corrugated iron sheet has the capacity to produce 12,000 pieces per day while the others can produce 25-metre long sheets per minute, according to Abdulhakim Mohammed, owner of the factory who was born in Adama.

“The machines were mostly imported from China and Thailand,” he told Fortune. “At the end of the first round of production, we will start to supply sheets with a 0.2mm thickness at 95 Br to 100 Br apiece.”

The computerised system can produce sheets ranging from 0.2mm to 0.32mm thickness based on the data input, according to Abdulhakim.

Abdulhakim Investment Group received a 7,000sqm plot of land from the town administration in 2008, on a 40-year lease agreement at 5.5 Br per square metre. The company has completed the construction of another factory, on an adjacent 11,000sqm plot, for the production of raw materials needed for the iron sheet factory.

Addis Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_550_Archive/Corrugated%20Iron%20Sheet%20Production%20Starts%20in%20Adama.htm)


Manufactures Take Bulk of 19.5b Br Investment Capital


The manufacturing sector claimed the biggest projected capital investment of the projects granted investment licences in the first quarter of the 2010/11 fiscal year.

The biggest number of projects, 161 out of the total 481, which received investment licences were in the service sector, while projects in the manufacturing sector were allotted the largest total capital of 7.5 billion Br. The combined capital of all the projects amounts to 19.5 billion Br.

Out of the total licensed projects, 329 are to be carried out with 18.6 billion Br in foreign investment. The remaining 150 projects, with a combined capital of 973 million Br, will be funded domestically.

Coming in second, a total of 101 projects in the agriculture sector with a total capital of 6.7 billion Br obtained licences. Real estate development and construction projects numbering 81 with a total capital of 2.7 billion were also granted licences.

The number and registered capital of projects licensed during the first quarter showed an increase of 22pc and 7.6pc, respectively, in comparison with the same period last year. During that time, 446 projects with a combined capital of 18.8 billion Br were registered.

“This is due to the improvement in the registration and licensing system,” Getahun Negash, Public Relations officer of the Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA), told Fortune. “We now have a one-stop-shop where it takes only four hours for foreigners to be issued an investment and residence licence as well as duty free letters.”

Addis Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_549_Archive/Manufactures%20Take%20Bulk%20of%2019.5b%20Br%20Investment%20Capital.htm)

No problem Yosef.

Ethiopia Considers Importing Raw Skins, Hides

Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) of Ethiopia calls upon all tanneries in the country to consider importing raw skins and hides of livestock from abroad to cope up with the current shortage, which has led them to produce under their capacity.

In his paper the director of the institute, Wondu Legesse, present at a workshop organized at the Hilton Hotel on Thursday (January 27, 2011), the current shortage of skins and hides will not allow Ethiopia to meet its target of generating 500 million US dollars every year from leather and leather products after five years.

He argued that even though the country is top in Africa in livestock population and 10th in the world, the tanneries in the country, which have a total processing capacity of 50 million skins and hides, are only getting 14 million at the moment.

“…That is why we are now advising tanneries to consider importing raw skins and hides from abroad and urging the government to make easily the importing procedures,” Wondu told newbusinessethiopia.com. He noted that customs clearing and storage system needs to be improved and become fast and efficient to protect the skins and hides from being damaged.

According to the director, one tannery has so far imported skins and hides from Yemen and Malawi. Such measure can fill the demand gap to the tanneries so that they can produce leather and leather products for export market, he noted.

Uncollected skins from regions of the country such as Afar, Gambella Benishangul, Harar Diredawa and Somali are mentioned by the director as among the causes for skins and hides shortage. Wondu further mentioned unutilized hides like camels’ and contraband cattle flow to neighboring countries as another problem casing the shortage.

He also suggested that live animal export should also be shifted to meet export in order to increase raw skins and hides feed to the tanneries. http://www.newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=407:ethiopia-considers-importing-raw-skins-hides&catid=35:trade&Itemid=12

^^ Interesting. I never thought i'd see the day Ethiopian tanneries had to import raw hides from abroad to satisfy demand. I'm sure a lot needs to be done to collect hides from across the country

^^ I think it speaks to how disorganized agriculture is in the country. It's downright unacceptable that they have to resort to importing from other countries when hides are thrown around randomly across the country. Ridiculous.

Al-Amoudi’s Horizon Acquires Matador-ATC’s 69pc for $18m

Horizon Plantations Ethiopia Plc, a company owned by Mohammed Ali Al Amoudi, has acquired 69pc of Matador AS’s shares in Addis Tyre SC, Ethiopia’s sole tyre manufacturer, reliable sources disclosed to Fortune.

Horizon succeeded in its latest acquisition two years after the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was first signed, in December 2008. The 31pc the Ethiopian government retains in the company put the share transfer on hold because the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) had first choice to buy the Slovak company out.

The majority shares and complete management of the former Addis Tyre Factory, located in Saris, was first handed over to Matador in a joint venture (JV) arrangement, with Mitsubishi and Yokohama from Japan being minor shareholders, back in April 2004. It was the first JV arrangement the government had entered into, hoping to improve the factory that was established in 1972.

Re-established in January 2004 with recapitalised shares of 76.6 million Br, Addis Tyre was renamed Matador-Addis Tyre Co (ATC), subsequent to the government’s decision to sell 69pc of the shares to East Europe’s largest tyre manufacturer, Matador AS. Matador paid 13.9 million dollars for the shares, after the company’s worth was valued at 21.4 million dollars.

Matador had paid the Ethiopian government 1.5 million dollars in cash and 9.9 million dollars in machinery, while its contribution in knowhow was valued at 2.5 million dollars.

The company has a 20ht rubber plantation in Bebeka, Southern Regional State, from where it obtains one per cent of the raw materials is uses. At the time that Matador took the company over, close to 99pc of the raw materials were imported from South East Asia. The factory has 17pc of the market share of the nearly 900,000 tyres sold in the country annually.

Matador’s new management team has invested in the introduction of the production in radial tyres, and brought various mould designs; they are also credited for diversifying products.

The company made a profit of 42 million Br from its operations last year, according to sources.

Although it has the potential to increase annual production from 200,000 to 550,000 tyres, 51pc of Matador in Slovakia was sold to the Hanover based Continental AG, in November 2007.

The oldest and largest manufacturer and supplier of tyres of major European automobile companies, Continental AG wanted to get out of Matador’s operations in Africa, according to Jemal Ahmed, general manager as well as minority shareholder of Horizon Ethiopia.

“They are no longer interested in the African operation but want to focus in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, and China) countries,” Jemal told Fortune.

The negotiations between Al Amoudi and the Hanover firm were concluded last week, after the tycoon paid 17.9 million dollars in cash.

The agreement for acquiring the shares was signed at the Sheraton Addis, Jemal told Fortune.
Horizon has been granted 85,000ht of land in Bench Maji Zone, Southern Regional State, for a rubber plantation.

“This project has a higher value of import substitution, a key objective in the government’s strategic direction,” Jemal said. “It demands huge investment and long-term commitment.”

How much additional investment is required to enhance the capacity of the factory is under study, disclosed Jemal.

However, part of the deal with Continental AG is for them to provide technical assistance for two years in volume and quality of output.

The existing local staff is young and disciplined, a priority set by Horizon Ethiopia for skills development.

“Continental AG will designate resident technical assistants, and has agreed to train our staff both at the factory site and in Hanover,” said Jemal.

The new owners want to increase the company’s market share to 36pc, according to Jemal. It also plans to replace the management with expatriates, in both the technical and managerial departments, although the current management will continue in its role until the replacement is made, Jemal told Fortune.http://addisfortune.com/Al-Amoudi%E2%80%99s%20Horizon%20Acquires%20Matador-ATC%E2%80%99s%2069pc%20for%20$18m.htm

Italian company to build light fixtures plant here

Italylight, an Italy-based company engaged in the production of various light fixtures, is scheduled to set up an assembly and production plant in Ethiopia, current company general manager Maurizio Muscara told The Reporter. Owned and managed by Muscara family, which runs scores of businesses, Italylight is in the process of securing the license from the respective government offices that allows it to build the assembly plant incorporating a production line for the manufacturing of some of the light fixtures it currently produces in Italy, according to Muscara.

Aside from establishing its subsidiary in Ethiopia, the company has selected the country to become the center for exporting its products to the COMESA region and Middle East markets. To this end, Italylight has already opened branch offices in Kenya and Tanzania that will serve as distribution outlets for the products the plant in Ethiopia will manufacture and export to the said markets, according to the manager.

Italylight will establish the plant in partnership with PGA Tech, a local company engaged in designing, supplying and installing electrical, sanitary, swimming pool, fountain and irrigation systems, among other activities.

“The assembly and production lines we will soon set up in Ethiopia will allow us to reduce the time to deliver our products to the COMESA region and Middle East markets, thereby making us more competitive,” Muscara said. “And this is one of the major reasons we select Ethiopia to become our production base to these markets.”

The assembly and production lines the company will establish in Ethiopia will incorporate a department that controls and certifies the quality of products with respect to the code and standards of ISO 9001–2008, according to the manager.

Italylight’s products include road armor for streets lighting, emergency lamps and lamps for industrial and warehouse use, with many of the products having additional emergency lamp option with illuminating capacity of up to three hours.

The company is currently showcasing its products and service at the 15th Addis Ababa Chamber and Sectoral Association’s International Trade Fair where hundreds of foreign and local companies and organizations are participating.

Established in 2009, Italylight is set to expand its reach to Africa with the motto: New Light in Africa.

It will initially set up a plant leasing available outlets in Addis in a bid to launch operation as soon as possible. Eventually, the company will set up the factory on a plot it is looking forward to acquire here, according to Gabriella.

Italylight has established a plant in Poland in addition to the one it set up in Italy, both serving the European market and destinations overseas.http://www.ethiopianreporter.com/english/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1831:italian-company-to-build-light-fixtures-plant-here&catid=98:news&Itemid=511

Adama operates most-modern spinning unit in E Africa


http://www.fibre2fashion.com/adamaspf/images/img1.jpg

http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/images/face2face/95341/3.jpg

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http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/images/face2face/95341/1.jpg


February 01, 2011 (Ethiopia)

Adama Spinning Factory, an ISO 2008:9001 certified company and a subsidiary of Adama Development Plc was established in 2006 and started operations in July 2008. It has facilities to manufacture both, open end and ring spun yarn. The factory is located in Oromia, about 100 km from the capital Addis Ababa and is one of the largest spinning facilities in East Africa with a production capacity of 10,000 kgs of cotton yarn per day.

The factory is well equipped with state-of-art technology. Most of the machinery, various mechanical, electrical and electronic equipment has been sourced from renowned and most reliable Switzerland based companies like Rieter and Luwa. The winding machines are from Murata of Japan, equipped with yarn cleaner Uster Quantum-2. In setting up this spinning plant, Adama has created job opportunities for around 250 employees.

The laboratory set up by Adama is also fully equipped with equipment from Mesdan, a highly reputed Italian company, which ensures quality as per customer specification. It maintains quality Uster standards between 5-25 percent. It has facilities to twist cotton yarn as per customer’s specific need and deliver cotton cones packages in between 2-2.5 kg.

The company undertook an immediate expansion program in end-September 2010 to produce combed yarn and also enhance the current yarn production capacity by 35 percent at an investment of 107 million Birr. The expansion project would enable the factory to increase its yarn production capacity to 13,500 tons per day.

A cotton ginnery and edible oil factory is also planned to be established in Adama Town. The factory aims to produce lint cotton, edible oil and cotton seeds for local market as well as for own consumption.


http://www.fibre2fashion.com/news/textile-news/newsdetails.aspx?news_id=95341



Looks like textile is a big sector these days.

Great news! I hope it becomes a success which leads to future expansions and more jobs. Quick question: is this the factory that's financed by Turkish investors?

Great news! I hope it becomes a success which leads to future expansions and more jobs. Quick question: is this the factory that's financed by Turkish investors?
I think the owners names are Feleke Bekele and his wife Meaza Tereda, according to fortune. Im not sure where they got the financing or anything tho. Their company is Adama Development Plc: Here is a link to the story when the place first opened: http://business.highbeam.com/437660/article-1G1-199715058/cotton-plant-spins-into-action

But I know that there is also a Turkish company called Ayka Textile, it recently moved its operations from Turkey to Ethiopia. Maybe you are thinking of them.

Textiles are the next big thing in Ethiopia. It's really booming right now.

Probably not the right thread, but can't find any other:

Giant cement factories increase production

Six thousand tons of cement will be coming into the Ethiopian market daily when the two biggest cement factories, Mugher and Mesobo, up their clinker production.

Currently the state owned and the biggest factory in the country, Mugher Cement Enterprise is in the final phases of an expansion project which will be built around Tatek Military Camp, 12km west of Addis Ababa, it is expected to be commissioned this month..

The new expansion erected by Sinoma, a Chinese firm, was commenced in January 2008. However the project was expected to start its commissioning at the end of 2010 but has not started operation until now. The expansion project has a capacity to crush 3000 tons of clinker per day and is to increase its existing production capacity of 900,000 tons of cement to 2.4 million tons annually, a 150 per cent increase.

The Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) and second largest factory in Mekele, 783km north of Addis Ababa, Messobo is also the other cement factory that is expected to fully undertake its additional 3000 tons of clinker production in the coming few weeks. According to sources at the factory, currently the new facilities have been commissioned and will begin operating this month.

The expansion planted by Hefel Cement Research and Design Institute, a China based firm, will enable the company to produce 6,000 tons of cement a day, up from 2,000 tons.

The country’s booming construction industry including big governmental projects (dam, condo and road) increased cement demand by 12 percent per annum starting from 2004, but the figure is currently much higher.

Currently, local factories including small scale factories produce about 2.7 million tons of cement annually, while the estimated demand is over 8 million tons per annum.

Three weeks ago one of the major private cement factories, the Chinese Hung Shen, transported machines from Djibouti Port and currently the installation work has been undertaken. The Chinese factory, located around Gebre Guracha, 165km northwest of Addis Ababa, erected at over 3 billion birr of investment has the capacity to produce four million tons of cement annually. Gebre Guracha is an enormous resource areas for Limestone, which is a major component of cement production.

Experts say that cement demand is continuing to grow in relation with the rise of the construction sect or. Currently about 28 local and foreign companies are registered in the country to engage in cement production, but most of them are not feasible, according to the information obtained from the Ministry of Mine and Energy.http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14188:-giant-cement-factories-increase-production-&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4

Investing in cement production is probably one of the smartest investment one can make right now. Not only is the demand in Ethiopia ever increasing, but we got a neighbor that's basically starting from scratch. The demand in South Sudan will be huge in the coming years.

Ethiopia Launches Industry Extension Service Package Targeting SMEs
In an attempt to replicate success stories from its ‘Agriculture Extension Program’, which has been showing some good results in changing the lives of poor farmers, the Ethiopian government launched today ‘Industry Extension Service’ package targeting urban Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs).

Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions will provide the new service package, which targets solving all the major headaches of SMEs in the country, according to the strategic document presented at the national conference opened today (February 22, 2011) at the Prime Minister Office.

Briefing on the strategies to regional government representatives, which includes heads of regional government’s, Arkebe Equbay, Advisor to the Prime Minister, stated that the government is committed to foster and support SMEs in order to solve unemployment in the urban areas.

As the ambitious five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) of the country focuses on laying the ground for the transformation of the economy from agriculture to industry, giving focus and priority to SMEs is also critical, according to Arkebe.

In addition, he also noted that economies of countries such as India and Japan, the two countries where the research team have visited before preparing the strategic document, are highly reliant on SMEs.

“Even though it will be difficult to provide Industry Extension Services to all SMEs at the beginning, we will start by providing the service to selected existing enterprises and to the enterprises engaged in development-focused sectors,” said Arkebe.

SMEs, who are engaged in manufacturing sector, especially those who produce products for export market or replace import items and those who are already clustered will primarily get Industry Extension Service, according to the strategic document.

The services that will be provided to the SMEs by TEVT institutions among other includes skills trainings on entrepreneurship, business management, best technology adaptation and transfer, productivity, quality maintenance and product standardization and certifications.

Concerning solving financial bottleneck of the SMEs, Arkebe advised microfinance institutions in the country to focus on encouraging savings and provide credit to SMEs much more than they have done in the past.

Microfinance institutions in the country have provided a total of 4 billion birr (around 237 million US dollars at the current exchange rates) loan to SMEs in the past five years creating jobs to one and half million Ethiopians.

Exerting their maximum effort, these microfinance institutions are expected to provide a total of loan of about 20 billion birr (about 1.2 billion US dollars at the prevailing exchange rates) to SMEs in the coming five years, if the country has to meet its ambitious GTP.

The strategic document also redefined SMEs and classified them in three categories based on sectors, their human and financial capital.

The two-day meeting will continue tomorrow and Prime Minister Meles Zenawi will make a concluding remark to the participants, who then will take a three-days training at the civil service college in Addis Ababa before returning to their regions. http://www.newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=438:ethiopia-launches-industry-extension-service-package-targeting-smes&catid=31:investement&Itemid=7

Good move.

Czech company to assemble turbo-prop in Ethiopia


http://nazret.com/blog/media/blogs/new/180px-Ae270_Spirit.jpg


Aero Vodochody, a Czech company, is finalizing processes to start assembling the AE 270 model, installed with a ‘turboprop’, at premises once used by the Ethiopian Airlines to assemble ‘Eshet’, a crop-duster of Eshet Engineering Ltd.

Local representative of Aero Vodochody, Getachew Eshetu is owner of Afro-Asia Technical Trading Enterprise and active in the transport business. He told Capital that the Czech company has chosen Ethiopia to assemble the aircraft and officials of the Ministry of Transport and Communications have written a letter to the management of Ethiopian Airlines to allow the use of their premises, which they are currently awaiting to receive.
“I will be leaving to the Czech republic to update officials of Aero Vodochody, and explain on the progress so far,” Getachew said. “Our officials need to act quickly as aircraft assembly is beneficial for our country especially in technology transfer from the Czech Republic.”

http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/11/czech_company_to_assemble_turbo_prop_in_



Moha to bottle KOOL mineral water in Ethiopia

Moha Soft Drinks of Ethiopia has received additional land where it will invest 5 million Euros to enable its mineral water factory to produce an additional 180.3 million liters in the next ten years.

According to the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), Moha and MME signed on August 7, 2008; Moha will produce mineral water on the additional 56.8 thousand square meter land MME has allotted. The license is issued for five years but depending on the company's interest, it can be extended for a further ten years.

http://nazret.com/blog/index.php/2008/08/11/moha_to_bottle_kool_mineral_water_in_eth



Walia - Steel Fabrication

http://www.waliasteeleth.com/images/pic01.jpg

Walia Steel Industry P.L.C is engaged in production steel sheets. Despite the presence of a number of steel factories, WSI is sole producer of steel sheet.

Walia Steel Industry, built at a cost of more than 350 million birr and three years of construction. The factory rests on 36,000 sq mt Oromiya Region, Sebeta Awash Wereda around Alemgena town found 20 km west from Addis Ababa. Walia Steel Industry has capacity to produce 40,000 Metric tons reinforcement bar and 36, 000 metric tons of hollow section profile. After expansion planned to end at the beginning of 2009, production capacity will reach 50, 000 metric tons of various types of sheet metal roof cover.


Company Ad on Etv (http://www.ethiotube.net/video/534/ETV--Ad--Walia-Steel-Industry)

http://www.waliasteeleth.com/index.html

Chinese Tannery in Ethiopia Set to Commence Production

BY NEW BUSINESS ETHIOPIA (http://newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=445:chinese-tannery-in-ethiopia-set-to-commence-production-&catid=31:investement&Itemid=7) REPORTER

Friendship Tannery, a new leather processing factory established by Chinese investors in Ethiopia with soaking capacity of 15,000 animal skins and hides per day, is set to start production next month.

Its production capacity will make the new tannery the second largest in Ethiopia next to the China Africa Overseas leather Products Share Company, which has a capacity of socking 16,000 skins and hides per day with 300 employees of which 25 are Chinese.

Friendship Tannery, which is constructed on 40,000 square meters of land in Modjo town, located 83 kilometers from Addis Ababa, Finance Head of the company, Jonata Sisay, told newbusinessethiopia.com at the Fourth All Africa Leather Fair opened here in Addis this morning (February 29, 2011).

“When the company becomes fully operational, it is expected to create job for 600 people. Our products include finished garment leather, finished glove leather and finished shoe upper,” Jonata said.

He also noted that the company is also about to secured additional 20,000 square meters of land in Akaki town located 37 kilometers from Addis Ababa, to construct shoe and glove factory. For both its factories in Ethiopia the company plans to make a total investment of 141 million birr (around 8.3 million US dollars at the prevailing exchange rates).

In a related development Crystal Tannery, which is established by 700 shareholders two years ago, indicated that it has began exporting finished leather. Towfiek Awolu, Finance and Supply manager of the company said that Crystal Shoe Factory, which is a sister company has also recently began producing shoe for international market.

Sheba Leather Industry, which has been exporting leather semi processed leather, such as wet blue and crust for the past few years, also indicated that the company has now moved to the export of fully finished leather products and shoes.

Almaz Arega, Marketing Manager of the factory, Sheba has exported 6,100 pairs of shoes worth 93,000 euros to France for the first time last month. She also noted that with regards to exporting finished leather, the company has been earning between 600,000 and one million US dollars every month.

Growing every year the number of tanneries in Ethiopia has now reached around 22 and is expected to be increased to 30 within a year when those under construction join the market.
:)

A good news for diredawa .


Turkish investor constructing 1.7 bln birr (about 100 million dollars) textile factory PDF Print E-mail
Wednesday, 02 March 2011


Addis Ababa, March 2 (WIC) - The construction of a textile factory is under way in Dire Dawa Town by Turkish investors at a cost of 1.7 billion Birr, the Dire Dawa Administration said.


In a news conference she gave here on Monday, Mahder Berhanu, Representative of the Trade and Industry Bureau said the factory will have the capacity of producing 15,600 tons of wool clothes and 3.l7 million meters of garment.



Some 80 per cent of the factory's product will be exported to abroad which will enable to the nation to get hard currency.



The factory is constructed on 14 hectares of land granted by the administration.


The project is expected to create 800 new jobs.
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 02 March 2011

Turkish minister calls on local firms to do business in Ethiopia


Turkish State Minister Zafer Çağlayan has urged Turkish businesspeople to consider Ethiopia as a gateway to African countries as well as called on Ethiopian businesspeople to use Turkey as a base to open up to markets in Europe and Asia.

Speaking at the opening of the Turkey-Ethiopia Trade and Investment Forum in Addis Ababa, Çağlayan said: “We have come here with a loan agreement in hand. The Turkish Eximbank will sign a $100 million loan agreement to support Turkish businesspeople investing in Ethiopia.”

Çağlayan said his visit aimed at developing relations further between Turkey and Ethiopia as well as boosting trade volume and encouraging Turkish and Ethiopian businesspeople to work together in third countries.

"Total trade of Turkey with whole African continent was $5 billion in 2003. This figure amounted to $17 billion in the past 7 years. Turkey's exports to Africa increased to between $9 billion and $10 billion in the recent years," he said.

" [Turkey’s] AYKA company in Ethiopia has the biggest textile factory in Africa," he said.

The Turkish minister said Turkey's prospective investments in Ethiopia would amount to some $1.4 billion, employing nearly 30,000 Ethiopian people.

Speaking at the meeting, Ethiopian Finance and Economic Development Minister Sufian Ahmed said relations between the two countries had made significant progress over the last seven years, adding that trade volume had increased after high level mutual contacts.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkish-minister-calls-local-firms-to-do-business-in-ethiopia-2011-03-09

^^yeah the Turks seem to be moving into Ethiopia in a big way, in addition to the Indians, Egyptians and Chinese..they are another country that has talked about plans to build an industrial zone. Not sure about the current status of those plan though.

Guna Spring Launches Bottled Water Factory
Company plans to compete internationally, targets towns located in northern Ethiopia

The factory of Guna Spring Water Plc was inaugurated in Arega Kebele Peasants Association near Kemer Dengaye Town of Farta Wereda in South Gonder Zone, Amhara Regional State, on Saturday, February 26, 2011. The factory, which initially started trial production of 500ml, one-litre, and 1.8 litre bottles in January, has a production capacity of 144,000 litres per day and 52.6 million litres per year.

Since commencing production for commercial purposes, also in January, the product range has expanded to include 330ml and two-litre bottles, according to Adebabay Birru, general manager of Gogo Industrial Plc, which established the company.

With Guna factory becoming operational, the number of bottled water brands has increased to seven, since the introduction of the product in the country with Highland Springs by Appex Bottling Company, in 1999.

Addis Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_565_Archive/Guna%20Spring%20Launches%20Bottled%20Water%20Factory.htm)

Ethiopia will be leading hotspot for Turkish investment
Addis Ababa, March 27, 2011 (Addis Ababa) -

Turkish ambassador to Ethiopia, Kenan Ipek said Ethiopia will become soon a leading hotspot for Turkish investment among African countries.
In an exclusive interview with ENA over the weekend, Ambassador Ipek said peace and stability and conducive investment climate are the driving forces for Turkish investment flow to Ethiopia.
The number of Turkish investors has increased to 225 in 2011 from only in 2002 making Turkey among the five top foreign capital injecting countries to Ethiopia.
The Turkish investors with an aggregate capital of 1.4 billion US dollars are engaged in textile, construction material, furniture, leather, agro-processing and water well drilling sectors, among others.
He said the Turkish investment projects have created 30,000 new jobs.
One of Turkey’s biggest investment, Ayka Addis textile and Garment factory, which is being built in Alemgena town with 100 million dollars will employ 10,000 jobs, the ambassador said.
Three other big textile factories are also under construction while three additional ones are on the pipeline.
As 90 percent of machineries are imported from Turkey for the investment projects, Ethiopia would benefit from the technology transfer in the sector.
Speaking about the trade relations, the ambassador said the trade exchange volume between the two countries has grown by 7-fold over the past seven years.
The trade exchange between the two nations went up to over 263 million dollars in 2010 from only 40 million US dollar seven years ago.
He said visit of high-level delegations to each others countries, the beginning of daily flight from Addis to Istanbul are among the factors for the furtherance of trade investment ties between the two nations.
Turkey exports machineries, steel, food products and clothes to Ethiopia while Ethiopia export to Turkey minerals, agricultural products specially, spices sesame, he said.
He said the recent Turkey-Ethiopia Trade and Investment Forum which attracted a 100-memebr Turkish delegation led by Turkish’s foreign trade state minister was constructive and fruitful.
The Ambassador said Turkish embassy in Addis Ababa is working on to launch Turkish airline cargo service which he said would help strengthen the trade and investment relations of the two countries.
The ambassador said the embassy eyes at promoting the tourism potential of Ethiopia and enhancing people to people relations through organizing cultural festivities.


I am in love with these Turkey's investors.
source (http://www.ena.gov.et/EnglishNews/2011/Mar/27Mar11/136846.htm)

Turks don't play around when it comes to business.

^^They've even been selling taxis to the New Yorkers.

Heineken Outbids Breweries for Bedele with $85.2m

Brewery is only one part of PPESA’s larger attempt to privatise state held enterprises


Heineken’s offer of 85.2 million dollars for the acquisition of Bedele Brewery exceeded those of three other breweries, while it was the only bidder for Harar Brewery. The technical proposals and financial offers of bidders for the acquisition of these breweries along with six other state owned companies offered for sale in the same tender are being evaluated by the board of the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA).

The bids for the tender, which was floated on January 26, 2011, was opened on March 19. Bedele Brewery, located 500km west of the capital, in Oromia Regional State, was first opened in 1993. With an annual production capacity of 75 million bottles, it exports beer with a 4.2pc alcohol content to the United States (US).

Aside from the offer from Heineken, Bedele received offers from Carlsberg Brewery (68 million dollars), BGI Ethiopia (64 million dollars), and South West – SABMiller (70 million dollars). Harar Brewery, located in Harar 526km east of Addis Abeba, was established in 1993. Its annual production capacity of 67 million bottles makes it the second largest producer of beer in Ethiopia, after Bedele. Heineken offered 78.1 million dollars for its acquisition.

The Amstel-Heineken brand is one of the largest in the world. It brews and sells more than 200 international, regional, local, and specialty beers and ciders. This includes Primus, Birra Moretti, Sasres, Cruzcamp, Foster’s, Strongbow, Bulmer, Newcastle Brown Ale, Zywiec, Ochota, Kingfisher, Tiger, Dos Equis, Star, Tecate, and Sol.

Fortune
(http://www.addisfortune.com/Heineken%20Outbids%20Breweries%20for%20Bedele%20with%20$85.2m.htm)

Ashraf Group, a Sudanese business interest with a series of agro-industry plants in Bahir Dar Town, Amhara Regional State, inaugurated its investments on Monday, April 4, 2011, after almost six years of them being initiated.

The company’s senior management opened its juice extracting and plastic bottle processing plants as well as two edible oil refineries and a modern abattoir, after three planes full of guests were transported from Addis Abeba and Sudan in chartered flights.

“The launching of these investments symbolises the growing economic relationship between Sudan and Ethiopia,” said Tefera Deribew, minister of Agriculture (MoA), during the inauguration inside the 37,000sqm complex of the company.

Tefera was one of the senior federal government officials attending the inauguration together with Mekonnen Manyazewal, minister of Industry (MoI); Tadesse Haile, state minister for MoI; and Kassa Teklebrehan, speaker of the House of Federations, who used to be the head of the region’s investment bureau when Ashraf took an interest in investing in the region.

However, the complex was scheduled to be debuted by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, who cancelled his appearance at the last minute, and Omar Al-Bashir, president of Sudan.

The latter cancelled his visit when members of the Addis Abeba diplomatic corps, particularly those of Western embassies, declined to attend in order to avoid company with Al-Bashir, according to reliable sources.

“By the time his [the president’s] not coming was confirmed, it was too late for the diplomats to change their mind,” said a source knowledgeable of the diplomatic glitch.

In the absence of both the leaders and senior diplomats, Ashraf managers opened their plants for visits. Hindi, the seven-year old daughter of Ashraf S. Ahmed Hussein, the investor behind the group, was the day’s star.

Her fluency in Amharic in welcoming guests was as impressive as the company’s modern abattoir. The facility, one of the seven in operation across the country, has the capacity to slaughter 600 heads of cattle and 3,000 sheep as well as goats per day. The cut-offs are used as feed for the rendering plant to produce fish food and natural fertilisers.

The country plans to generate one billion dollars of revenues from the export of meat and dairy over the next five years, with a projected growth of 62pc, making this project crucial, according to Tefera.

The abattoir was one of the early projects that took Ashraf, who spoke movingly during the inauguration over the loss of his parents in the past three years, to Bahir Dar, in 2004. The group subsequently acquired the 137,000sqm Bahir Dar Edible Oil SC from the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) in April 2008, where it is installing Ashraf Agricultural Industrial Complex.

Ashraf Edible Oil Factory, which has an annual production capacity of 16,500tn of oil, will bottle oil from groundnuts as well as niger seed, rapeseed, and sesame under the Bahir Dar Cooking Oil brand. It will be packed starting from half a litre PET bottles.

Indian technicians and engineers were putting the final touched on the mill, before commissioning is conducted.

None of the plants had begun manufacturing or bottling at the time of the inauguration. Some, such as the juice extraction which will bottle a brand of “Bravo,” had not been completed last week.

Some visitors wondered about the feasibility of putting up an abattoir in an area without a large cattle population. The majority of Ethiopia’s 52 million heads of cattle, 33 million sheep, and 30 million goats are believed to live in low-lying areas and paternalistic parts of the country.

Ashraf’s Volvo manufactured 12 trucks for transporting the animals. These were parked inside the compound, and have perhaps been there for years, according to an eyewitness.

Managers said they would be used to transport cattle from distant places, such as Borena.

“They should have a long-term plan to develop a ranch nearby,” said a senior minister. “On the other hand, the presence of the abattoir may encourage farmers around Bahir Dar to start rearing cattle.”

A visitor working for an international organisation appeared to be more impressed with the potential of the group’s integrated approach from farm to ranch to agro-processing.

“They will have a good chance of succeeding if all their projects in the pipeline materialised,” he told Fortune.

After six years of establishing itself with the one billion Birr investment its managers claim to have spent, Ashraf Group has yet to put a product out of its plants for the public to consume.
http://addisfortune.com/Despite%20Diplomatic%20Glitch%20Ashraf%20Debuts%20Multimillion%20Dollar%20Complex.htm

Brown Shoe plan to develop leather footwear for export
“Excessive demand to be met”


The world’s number one importer of footwear has discovered Ethiopia. Brown Shoe, a major US firm says they were very impressed with the high quality of leather in Ethiopia and excited about Ethiopia’s willingness to develop the export market for the leather industry.

Brown, which imports 100 million pairs of shoes per year, visited Ethiopia this week to test the potential of shoe companies in the country. They were not disappointed.

They plan to develop leather footwear for export and though they didn’t know much about Ethiopian leather at first, Scott Higginbotham, director of development for Brown Shoe said they found the quality to be high and reported that they felt very comfortable doing shoes in Ethiopia.

Capital (http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?view=article&id=14501%3Aexcessive-demand-to-be-met&option=com_content&Itemid=4)



First Transformer Factory to Start Operations
JV factory plans to start doing maintenance work next month, manufacture transformers by September

The first transformer and switchgear factory in Ethiopia is slotted to commence operations next month. Ethiopia does not produce any transformers, despite the fact that the Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA) has granted licences to a total of five companies to produce transformers, to date.

Out of these, Addis Transformer and Switchgears Plc would be the first to move beyond the pre-implementation phase, according to Yeshiwas Shibabaw, managing director of Bridgetech Plc.

The company was established with an investment capital of 300 million Br as a joint venture (JV) between a local company, Bridgetech Plc, and Federal Transformer LLC, a subsidiary of Al-Nasser Industrial Enterprises (ANIE).

Bridgetech Plc provides consultancy services for information technology, telecommunications, electricity, and industrial sectors. ANIE, which was founded in 1992 in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and comprises 13 companies, has several business ventures in the power, steel, and roto-moulding sectors in the UAE, Qatar, Oman, and Saudi Arabia.

Out of the total investment, between 20 million Br and 35 million Br is earmarked for construction of the factory and around 170 million Br is to cover the costs of machinery purchases with the remaining to be the working capital of the factory, according to Yeshiwas.

The factory, which lies on a 10,000sqm plot in the Tatek Industrial Zone of Burayu Town, Oromia Regional State, plans to have its maintenance and production equipment shipped from Abu Dhabi in the UAE, where Federal Transformer is based, according to Yeshiwas.

The investment licence for the factory, which was obtained in the second half of 2010, is the first investment activity for the company in Ethiopia and Africa. It chose Ethiopia as the site of its first JV factory for its safe and stable environment, according to the spokesperson of Federal Transformer, which has an average annual turnover of three billion dollars.

“Bridgetech will commence with maintenance work for transformers in July 2011, and start producing transformers in September 2011,” Yeshiwas told Fortune. “We will produce transformers ranging from 25KVA to 1,250KVA during the first stage. By the second stage, we will sell the transformers to Metal and Engineering Corporation (MetEC).” MetEC has begun repairing the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation’s (EEPCo) transformers.

The new factory is expected to produce 4,000 transformers within a year of starting production, according to the managing director of the company that undertakes long-term corrective and preventative maintenance for large-scale industrial automations, telecommunication systems, and electro-mechanical projects.

Addis Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/First%20Transformer%20Factory%20to%20Start%20Operations.htm)

Tata Intl plans tannery, leather goods unit in Ethiopia

CHENNAI, APRIL 24:
Tata International Ltd, the global trading arm of Tata Group with business interests in leather, chemicals and engineering goods, is planning to set up tannery and leather goods manufacturing facilities in Ethiopia, “as the country has a good number of livestock”.

The company, which currently has leather processing and manufacturing facilities in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, intends to make Ethiopia its first processing and manufacturing hub outside India, said Mr O.K. Kaul, Executive Director, Tata International.

CAPACITY EXPANSION

Besides, Tata International is also on the verge of completing capacity expansion projects, involving Rs 56 crore, at its units in Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu in the next few months. This will take its total finished leather production, including upholstery products, to six million sq.ft a month from the current four million sq.ft.

Talking to Business Line on the sidelines of Central Leather Research Institute's (CLRI) Foundation Day ceremony held here on Sunday, Mr Kaul said, “The company will continue to invest in similar capacity expansion projects this year too, and has earmarked $3 million for the purpose.”

FOOTWEAR GROWTH

Following the acquisition of 76 per cent stake each in Tamil Nadu-based Bachi Group and Euro Shoe Components Pvt Ltd, late last year, the company forayed into children's footwear and also augmented its overall footwear manufacturing capacity to over five million pairs a year. The company's core business is export of finished leather, footwear and other accessories to various international brands in the US and Europe.

As the company views footwear as a significant business opportunity in the domestic market too, it launched its first retail outlet in Delhi under the brand Tashi in October last year. “Currently we have six stores in Delhi, Mumbai and Chandigarh. We are planning to take the total to at least 250-300 stores across the country in the next few years,” said Mr Kaul. Footwear retail is a Rs 16,000-crore market and is growing at 15 per cent year-on-year.

The company has a supply chain network in countries such as Bangladesh, China Ethiopia, Zambia, Indonesia, Australia, Russia, Saudi Arabia and in the EU. Its global turnover stands at Rs 3,000 crore with equal contribution from

Found this.

Factory aims to be first local manufacturer of locks.
Addisfortune.com


Last Updated 05/02/2011


Factory Aims to Be First Local Producer of Locks





Forte Sicura Industries Plc has unveiled plans to be the first local producer of both cylinder locks and padlocks; it plans to start full-scale operation by June 2012.

Forte Sicura, which was established by Girmay Gebrearegawi, an Ethiopian; Jossefa Macamo, a Mozambican; and Giuseppe Reggiani, an Italian; has leased a 5,000sqm plot in Gelan Town, Oromia Regional State, 35km from Addis Abeba.

Another two investment licences have been issued for the production of locks. Giuseppe has a separate investment licence to manufacture padlocks and packaging cans as well as process tomatoes. Jinfeng Dai, a Chinese company, is licensed to manufacture nails and locks.

Forte Sicura, which was issued an investment licence in May 2009, plans to invest 30 million Br from the company’s coffers and has applied for a loan from Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) for the remaining 70 million Br, according to Girmay, who is also the company’s general manager.

The construction of the skeleton of the factory is expected to be completed in September 2011, when it hopes to start installing manufacturing machinery, according to Girmay.

The company has floated a tender for the supply of the machinery. To date, LLI Cuomo Spa, Euro Techno Tool Srl, and CleverTech Industrial Automation Srl, all Italian companies, have presented their bids.

Giuseppe is also the managing director and a shareholder of CleverTech.

“These companies design padlocks and cylinder locks and the technology we plan to use for the production of the items is Italian,” Girmay explained.

The company recently signed memoranda of understanding (MoUs) with Jossefa Macamo Co and Badar E. African Enterprises Ltd from Mozambique and Tanzania, respectively, claimed Girmay. It is also negotiating with a Sudanese investor as part of the company’s plan to export 50pc of its products, according to the general manager.

“We plan to produce these locks that cost only half the price of imported locks,” Girmay told Fortune. “We have initially planned to sell 27 million Br worth of locks every year but our goal is to produce 70 million Br worth of locks per year. Considering the ever increasing construction sector, I believe there is a reasonably large market for the locks.”

Forte Sicura Industries plans to initially purchase the bronze and the chemicals to treat the bronze exclusively from Italy and gradually substitute some of it with local raw materials over which it is negotiating with Ethiopian companies, accroding to Girmay, who is also a major shareholder in AGTA Plc, which was established in August 1997 and imports engines and car parts.

AGTA recently imported Chinese made SunLong Buses as the sole dealer.

By ELIAS GEBRESELASSIE

First vitamin water ready for market

TGMD Trade Works, the bottler of Real Spring Water and an Access Capital holding company, introduced the first vitamin water in three different flavors to the Ethiopian bottled water market. Real Spring Vitamin Water is available with a lemon, lime or strawberry taste. The company launched the official provision of the product at a ceremony held at The Gaslight Night Club at the Sheraton Addis last Tuesday.

“We’ve seen a shift in consumers’ attitudes toward a healthier lifestyle, with more and more customers looking for products that enhance their body,” said Seleshi Tsige, Marketing Manager at Real Springs. “ Real Springs Vitamin Water is a beverage with a great taste of lemon, lime and strawberry. It contains a combination of five vitamins. It is a zero calorie and sugar free beverage. It is great for both adults and children of every age group,” he added.

The Real Spring Vitamin Water contains five essential vitamins: B-3, B-5, B-6, B-12, and E. TGMD Trade Works was acquired by Access Capital in 2008. It established its manufacturing plant about 20 kilometer south west of Addis Ababa, in the town of Burayu. Established in 2007 with a capital of 9.3 million birr, Access Capital has grown into being one of the most successful companies in Ethiopia, having increased its capital by 50 percent in two years. With 1700 employees in more than two dozen different companies, Access Capital is tracing a path of professionalism and success for itself and the other businesses it provides with research output in the fast growing economy of Ethiopia. It has offices in Addis Ababa, Djibouti, Washington DC and Juba, South Sudan.

The business of bottling water entered the Ethiopian bottling market 15 years ago with Highland Spring. Now there are more than a dozen water bottling companies throughout the country. Vitamin Water is currently being distributed through the “Real Springs” distribution network to all major supermarkets, grocery stores, cafes and restaurants in Addis Ababa and surrounding cities. The company is in the process of finalizing a new distribution network and will soon start distributing to other major cities and towns throughout the nation according to the marketing manager.

CapitalEthiopia
(http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14714:-first-vitamin-water-ready-for-market&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4)

National Alcohol Set for 400m Br Renovation, Expansion
National Alcohol & Liquor Factory aims to increase market share from 42pc to 60pc



National Alcohol & Liquor Factory is set for a 400 million Br renovation and expansion of its three plants, to start in July 2011.The plants are located near Awash Wine Factory on Guinea Bissau Street in Mekanissa and near D’Afrique Hotel on Ras Wolde Mikael Street in Mexico as well as in Sebeta Town, 24km west of the capital in Oromia Regional State.

The project will give the ageing machinery and buildings “a facelift,” according to Mesfin Abate, acting general manager of the factory and general manager of the Mekanissa plant. The machines at the Mexico plant will be rehabilitated and incorporated with the Mekanissa plant, while the one in Sebeta, which consists of a distillery and liquor plant, will be rehabilitated, according to Mesfin.

“With the expansion of the Mekanissa plant, 12,500sqm will be added to the existing 5,000sqm plot it occupies, while the Mexico section will be turned into a retail centre,” Mesfin told Fortune. “We expect the 4.5 million litres of liquor and the 1.8 million litres of pure alcohol that are annually produced by the factory to increase to 10.3 million litres and 4.3 million litres, respectively. This would increase our market share from 42pc at present to over 60pc.”

continued here at Forune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_574_Archive/National%20Alcohol%20Set%20for%20400m%20Br%20Renovation,%20Expansion.htm)


Gelan Export Leather Shoes Factory Readying for Operation
Suzo Industrial to export full production of estimated 1,050 pairs daily to US, Canada

The first leather shoe factory in Gelan Town is waiting to be provided with electricity to begin manufacturing shoes exclusively for export. The factory in Gelan, an inconspicuous town located 35km south of Addis Abeba on the Addis Abeba–Adama Road, was constructed on a 10,000sqm area and estimates it would create 120 jobs upon becoming fully operational.

“The construction of the factory has been completed,” according to Henok Debela, general manager of the factory named Suzo Industrial Plc. “All that is missing is electricity to commence production of up to 1,050 pairs of shoes daily.” All the shoes will be exported to the United States (US) and Canada, according to Henok.

Suzo Industrial, which obtained its investment licence in March 2008, is a joint venture (JV): Henok and Yared Leggese own 80pc of the shares, while their Chinese counterparts own a 20pc stake. “The leather shoes to be produced will range from formal leather shoes to protective footwear and casual shoes,” said the general manger of the factory with an investment capital of 32 million Br. “Of the raw material, 98pc will be sourced locally while two per cent will be imported for accessories.”

continued here at Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_576_Archive/Gelan%20Export%20Leather%20Shoes%20Factory%20Readying%20for%20Operation.htm)

Farmers’ Co-op Union Starts Making PP Sacks

Becho Weliso Farmers’ Cooperative Union constructs factory at 21.7m Br in Tulu Bolo Town, Oromia Regional State

The Becho Weliso Farmers’ Cooperative Union (BWFCU) became the first union to start manufacturing multipurpose sacks that can be used for various types of cereals and grains. The polypropylene (PP) sack factory, which was constructed at a cost of 21.7 million Br on a 2,777sqm plot of land, 80km west of Addis Abeba, in Tulu Bolo Town of Southwest Shoa Zone, Oromia Regional State, was inaugurated on Sunday, June 5, 2011.

“The opening of these kinds of factories will help farmers reduce the money and time it cost them trying to find sacks for their produce, as there is a shortage in the market,” Yaregal Aysheshum, director general of the Federal Cooperative Agency, told Fortune. “They would also save foreign exchange as most of the sacks are currently imported.”

The factory has the capacity to produce 80,000 sacks daily, but has not been producing at full capacity this past week.

The factory is provided with 380KV from the Ethiopia Electric Power Corp (EEPCo), but a congestion of electricity in the transmission line around the area has decreased our power supply during the day,” Dejene Hirpa, general manager of BWFCU, told Fortune. “We have been using only 340KV of power during the day, forcing us to work at just above 50pc of our capacity, producing around 45,000 sacks daily.”

EEPCo is building a new transmission line, which would solve the problem, according to the general manager.

Fortune
(http://www.addisfortune.com/Vol_10_No_580_Archive/Farmers%E2%80%99%20Co-op%20Union%20Starts%20Making%20PP%20Sacks.htm)


Parachute, drogue chute factory inaugurated

ADAMA (ENA) – A parachute and drogue chute factory constructed by the Metals and Engineering Corporation Adama Garment Industry at a cost of 32 million birr was inaugurated.
While workers of the industry celebrating May 28, the industry manager Gashaw Yimer Monday said the factory would save foreign exchange worth 16 million US dollars by producing two parachutes and drougue chutes a daily.
He said the expansion project helps earn foreign exchange by exporting manufacturing outfits to neighbouring countries.
The corporation is actively engaged in the construction of the Grand Renaissance Dam.
An official from the corporation, Goitom Kebede on his part urged the employees of the garment to discharge their responsibility with commitment and safeguard the achievements of May 28.
Adama Garment Industry has 980 workers of whom 85 per cent are women.

Source: Govt. News Agency

Solo Pesticide Producer to Launch Two New Factories
Adami Tulu Pesticide Processing plans to construct mosquito net, herbicide factories at 26m Br

Adami Tulu Pesticide Processing SC, the only pesticide producer in Ethiopia, is to inaugurate two new factories at a total cost of 26 million Br for the partial manufacture of mosquito nets and production of herbicides by the end of the year.

The factories are to be constructed near Ziway Town in Oromia Regional State, 170km east of Addis Abeba, by Adami Tulu, a government enterprise that was established in November 1998 with a total capital of 40.5 million Br.

“Out of the total of around three million nets imported annually at a total cost of 11 million Br, we plan to initially stitch around one million mosquito nets with a new stitching plant constructed at a cost of 15 million Br,” said Samuel Halala, general manager of Adami Tuli, which was restructured as a share company in January 2000.

The machinery for the factory was imported from China through Tianjin Bohai Chemicals Import & Export Corp, according to the general manager. The factory, which will be erected in July 2011 and start production in August, is expected to save Ethiopia 4.5 million dollars, amounting to around 40pc of the cost of importing malaria nets annually, Samuel claimed.

“Upon reaching full capacity, the factory will process all three million mosquito nets, saving the country up to 14 million dollars in foreign currency with the expertise and technological knowhow from the Chinese company,” Samuel told Fortune.

Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Solo%20Pesticide%20Producer%20to%20Launch%20Two%20New%20Factories.htm)

Saudi Investor Set to Start Bottling Water
bu Thiyab Holdings Co expects to be operational by September 2011

Abu Thiyab Holdings Co, owned by Mohammed Hussein Mohammed Abu Thiyab, a Saudi investor, is to start bottling purified water in September 2011. The construction of the plant is being finalised on a three-hectare plot in Gelan Town, 35km east of Addis Abeba, with a total investment capital of 35 million Br.

“We initially took the investment licence on May 5, 1998, and obtained the land on May 14 that year, but problems with the contractor and land issues caused delays in starting operations,” Ahmed Hassen, general manager of Abu Thiyab, told Fortune. “Once we start operations in September, we plan to produce 4,500 bottles per hour for 24 hours in three shifts. This will allow us to produce 27 million bottles annually.” The factory plans to start operations with only 50 fulltime employees. It has spent 22 million Br on imported machinery and nine million Birr on civil construction works, Hassen claimed.

Once the plant becomes operational, it plans to manufacture 1.5-litre, 2.5-litre, and 25-litre plastic bottles of purified water sourced from underground around the factory’s site. Simultaneously, the company, which was established in Saudi Arabia 40 years ago, would manufacture the plastic bottles. “We plan to initially produce the water for local consumption, but eventually export it to neighbouring countries and Gulf States,” Hassen told Fortune.

The company plans to open a juice production facility inside the plant in the near future, the general manager claimed. The plant is Abu Thiyab Holdings’ first investment outside of Saudi.

Prism Spring Water Development is one of the 11 companies engaged in bottling purified water in Ethiopia. Debre Berhan Natural Water bottles Aqua Safe, Great Abyssinia bottles Abyssinia, Pacific Industrial bottles Oasis, Burayu Spring bottles Burayu, Alemayehu Natural Water bottles Yes, Electro Commercial bottles Origin, TGMD bottles Real, Cool Moha Soft Drinks Manufacturing bottles Cool, Seka Business Group bottles May Lomi, and Arcad bottles Nile.

Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Saudi%20Investor%20Set%20to%20Start%20Bottling%20Water.htm)





Habesha Awards Chinese Firm $30m Turnkey contract for brewery

Lehui Food Machineries Co, a Chinese company, was selected for the design and commissioning of the factory of Habesha Breweries on Friday, June 24, 2011. The contract for the factory, to be built on 75,000sqm of land in Debre Berhan Town, 130km north of Addis Abeba, was awarded on a turnkey basis at a total cost of 30 million dollars. The factory’s site has abundant water resources and barley production.

Ziemann Ludigsburg from Germany and Techno Expo International Business Co from the Czech Republic participated in the bidding process. “We made the decision after 30 days of deliberations,” said Yonas Alemu, CEO of Habesha Breweries. “We also visited China for 15 days to study the company’s track record, set up, capacity, and manpower.”

A total of 16 companies initially showed interest in the turnkey project of which eight submitted technical proposals. Eventually, the three were shortlisted. The winner is expected to start discussions with Habesha on the implementation of the project this week with the contract expected to be finalised in two weeks, according to Yonas.

Habesha has slated a 13-month timeframe for the completion of the project. “We expect the critical machines to come from Europe; and the basic engineering machines, such as cyclo-cylindrical tanks, to be from China,” Yonas told Fortune. “The raw materials are expected to be sourced from both locally and abroad.”

The factory plans to produce about 300,000 hectolitres (hl) annually with plans for eventual expansion to 500,000hl, the CEO claimed. The factory plans to employ about 350 employees upon becoming operational and export 20pc of its products mainly to Israel, North America, and the soon to be independent state of South Sudan, according to Yonas.

Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Habesha%20Awards%20Chinese%20Firm%20$30m%20Turnkey%20contract%20for%20brewery.htm)

Franchising to begin in Ethiopia: ADB

Tuesday, 21 June 2011 14:21
By TAMIRU TSIGE

The African Development Bank (ADB) announced of its efforts to attract franchises to Ethiopia using existing renowned Ethiopian brands, thereby boosting trade activity in the country. The announcement is part of the agenda set for a symposium on the concept of franchising underway at the Addis Ababa Hilton as of Monday, June 20, to be conducted by a group of experts from South Africa, the organizer of the event, Mulugeta Agaze (PhD), divulged to The Reporter.

The organizer, who stated that the business of franchising has proven lucrative in 12 African nations, asserts that the venture will be just as viable in Ethiopia – so much so that it prompted the Japanese government’s conviction, and its funding for the entire symposium.
The symposium will feature in-depth revelations into how to buy franchising rights, how to sell them, the litigation involved, how to effectively carry out such businesses, and about royalties payable to the brand owners, according to Mulugeta.

The business of franchising is also a means of transferring knowledge and technology, as the organizer avers. And since the business is an infallible and permanent one, banks are liable to extend loans to the sector, as depicted in the experiences of other countries, Mulugeta said. “Things will not be any different in the Ethiopian context,” he stressed.

The symposium, which was organized through invaluable assistance from the Ethiopian embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, is being attended by big brand names from the international business scene, the local business community, consultants, legal experts, representatives form the Ministry of Trade, various government organs and investment professionals, according to Mulugeta.

Reporter (http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/efforts-underway-to-beget-franchising-in-ethiopia-adb.html)

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When can I eat at Nando's after shopping at Woolworths to give a present to my cousin for his wedding at the Four Seasons?

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When can I eat at Nando's after shopping at Woolworths to give a present to my cousin for his wedding at the Four Seasons?

:lol:

Local Company produces water purifying powder


Bishan Gari produces 60 mln. sachets of water purifying powder

ADDIS ABABA – Bishan Gari Water Purification Industry, the only one in the country, said it has maximized its total annual production of Water purification powder to over 60 million sachets for local consumption and export. Mekedes Demise, Head of Marketing and Business Development of Bishan Gari, told that the Industry has been producing water purification powder that enables to provide 1, 170 million litters of clean drinking water annually.

According to Mekedes, the chemical provided by Bishan Gari meets international standard and quality approved by local and international medical institutions and concerned organizations. The firm is committed to increase affordable access to potable water supply for all those who need it, Mekedes said. Although Bishan Gari is the only Industry in Ethiopia working in water purification, there are other NGOs importing and supplying other water purification chemicals from abroad.

According to Mekedes, Bishan Gari should play a greater role in the rural areas where most people use water from rivers, ponds, lakes and wells.
She also said that the very objective of the company is to supply water purifier to such areas and contribute to reducing water born diseases.

Kassahun Yaei, Water Specialist of Bishan Gari, also said that the water purification powder produced by Bishan Gari contains mixtures of aluminum sulphate, calcium hypochlorite and soda ash in a 2.5 gm sachet.
Bishan Gari water purifier is a flocculent disinfectant and fulfills all of these criteria, the water specialist said, adding that Bishan Gari water purifier cleans water up to 99.9 per cent eliminating the risk of diarrhea and water born related disease.

Source: Govt. News Agency


here is there facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Bishan-Gari-Water-Purifier/154268847943260


^^ :yes: Water purifying to help the people...One step forward. Get ready for one step back below:

EFFORT to construct 2 billion birr factory

The Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) is in preparation to erect a PVC raw materials producing factory at an outlay of two billion birr. The raw material will be produced from limestone and it will be set up around Mesobo area in the Tigray regional state – an area believed to house large limestone deposits.

The manufacture of PVC products that are used in the construction and water development sectors import close to 40 metric tons of raw material. It is this niche that the factory aims to capitalize on, thereby reducing foreign currency flight.

According to sources, the technology the factory employs will be Chinese, although decisions have yet to be made. The company is under formation, overseen by Ezana Mining Development – another EFFORT company. This factory will become the fourteenth EFFORT company :ohno: next to Mesobo Cement Factory, Mesfin Industrial Engineering, Baba Dimensional Stone, Sur Construction, Express Transit, Trans Ethiopia, Addis Pharmaceuticals, Guna Trading, Hiwot Agriculture, Sheba Tannery, Experience Ethiopia, Almeda Textile and Ezana Mining Development.

Reporter (http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/effort-to-construct-2-billion-birr-factory.html)

Tiret Shells out 670m Br to Construct Local Malt Factory
The development of the Gonder Malt Factory will help meet demand: say local breweries


The Gonder Malt Factory, owned by Tiret Endowment Investment Organization, has announced that it will start producing malt by December 2011. The factory, located in Gonder which is 658km from Addis Abeba, has started constructing a malt factory adjacent to Dashen Brewery, investing 670 million Br. The factory covers an area of four hectares and will soon be open for production.

The factory, when complete, will be the second malt factory producing 15,000tn of malt annually, of which 10,000tn to 12,000tn goes to its affiliate, Dashen Brewery. The lone malt factory in Ethiopia, Assela Malt Factory, located 164km from the capital, is up for auction by Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA). It was established in 1984 with a start-up capital of 9.2 million Br. Construction, being done by Afro Tsion Construction Plc, has seen 40pc of the construction complete, Tadesse Kassa, CEO of Tiret, told Fortune.

Tiret is an endowment established in 1995 in Amhara Regional State by pooling resources under the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the ruling coalition, EPRDF. It administers five companies: Tikur Abbay Transport Plc, Dashen Brewery Plc, Ambasel Trading House, Zeleke Agriculture Mechanisation, and Belesa Logisitcs & Transit. [...and another one :doh: ]

The organisation foresees itself playing a meaningful role in the development of the region by 2020, by creating a fortune of 20 billion Br, claims the company’s profile. “We are planning to minimise the amount of malt that is being imported from Europe, Kenya, Sudan, and other countries,” Tadesse said. “Close to 20,000tn of barley will be bought from farmers in Gojjam as well as parts of Gonder’s and Amhara’s barley growing regions, and 65pc of it will produce malt.’’ :cheers:

“We believe this factory will be helpful in generating revenue for the farmers and will provide enough malt for the breweries,’’ Tadesse said. The total demand of malt in the country is estimated to be 61,504tn a year, with Assela Malt Factory producing 22,500tn a year.

To date, the 33,430tn of malt imported in 2010, was valued at 301.3 million Br, with 25,000tn, 5,750tn, 2,010tn, and 670tn imported from Belgium, France, Germany, and the Netherlands, respectively, according to the Ethiopian Customs and Revenues Authority (ERCA). However demand for malt is expected to reach 42,912tn this year. The demand is expected to reach 86,542tn by the year 2020, according to the Central Statistics Authority (CSA).

There are around five major breweries in Ethiopia: BGI Ethiopia, Dashen Brewery, Meta Beer, Bedele Beer, and Harar Beer. This year, they projected a total of 64,579tn of malt, 22,500tn and 42,079tn from domestic and imported sources, respectively. The unsatisfied demand of malt will grow to 64,041tn by 2017, according to CSA.

Tiret announced an international tender where 15 companies showed interest, including companies from the Czech Republic, Greece and Germany. The company has already signed a contract for the supply of machineries priced at 17.1 million dollars with a Buhle GmbH, German company, winning the other five tenders that made it to the final with its price and proposal.

“The factory plans to provide malt to all the breweries in Ethiopia and export it to other countries,” Tadesse said. “It is going to be helpful for Raya Brewery because it is going to minimise the transport costs as well as the inventory costs,’’ says Lemma Bekele, manager of Raya Brewery.

Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Tiret%20Shells%20out%20670m%20Br%20to%20Construct%20Local%20Malt%20Factory.htm)

Cadila Ethiopia to Receive International Good Manufacturing Practices Certification

Cadila Pharmaceuticals (Ethiopia) P.L.C is set to receive official international Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) certification as per Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PIC/S) conformity.


The company, which will receive certificate on Saturday August 6, 2011, will be the first Ethiopian pharmaceutical formulation manufacturing company to be certified. The company has invested a great deal of time and resources with the expectation that this certification will help in opening the door for the export opportunity of the company product, according to Engineering Capacity Building program (ecbp).

ecbp, an Ethiopian program established under the Ministry of Civil Service with the support of the German government, has also noted that this certification, will allow companies to export their products to the global market. The overall activities of GMP upgrading include building premises modification and renovation, installation of equipment, quality control, production improvement, documentation and utility system improvement,” the statement noted.

Cadila Pharmaceuticals (Ethiopia) P.L.C is one of the first exemplary company to be certified as per PIC/S conformity. Cadila Pharmaceuticals (Ethiopia) P.L.C was established in September 2007 with a strategic partnership of two Companies (Cadila Pharmaceuticals LTD and Indian Multinational Pharmaceuticals manufacturing Company) and an Ethiopian Company, ALMETA IMPEX PLC.

Cadila Pharmaceuticals supply its products to the local market, with the Capacity to manufacture 390 million tablets, 165 million capsules and 1.44 million liters per liter per year in 3 shifts of 8 hours each. Over the last four and a half years it has been working closely with the pharmaceutical industry in Ethiopia in order to make companies more competitive and increase their Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) standards to internationally accepted levels.

Pharmaceutical Inspection Cooperation Scheme (PIC/S) is a cooperative arrangement between health authorities of European Union and other countries. It is an internationally recognized organization. This PIC/S conformity certification ensures high quality, safe, and effective products are being produced at Ethiopia factories.

The program is designed to foster the on-going economic development of Ethiopia by improving the competitiveness of local industries in collaboration with the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MOTI), the private sector and other relevant institutions. ecbp is formulating and implementing demand-driven interventions which upgrade the capacity of the selected sectors and support institutions.

GMP is designed to minimize the risks involved in any pharmaceutical production that cannot be eliminated through testing the final product. GMP helps to boost pharmaceutical export opportunities, since most countries will only accept import and sale of medicines that have been manufactured to internationally recognized GMP.

http://www.newbusinessethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp%3Bview=article&amp%3Bid=562:cadila-ethiopia-to-receive-international-good-manufacturing-practices-certification&amp%3Bcatid=32:industry&amp%3BItemid=8

China to take second industrial park in Dire Dawa

Chinese investors are to lease an Industrial Park from the Dire Dawa City Administration which will be the second lease of an industrial area given to Chinese firms. Ibrahim Yusuf, city manager of Dire Dawa City Administration, told Capital that Dire Dawa, one of the two chartered cities directly accountable to the federal government, has arranged for 30 hectares of land in the industrial zone area, that is around Melka Jebdu, approximately 15 km far from Dire Dawa city, for Chinese investment.

The city administration prepared 100 hectares of industrial land four years ago, which included a lot of infrastructure needed for the industry.

Since then several local and foreign based investors have invested in the area, and some of them have even started activities. The Turkish textile industry and the Chinese cement factory are some of the biggest investments in the zone.

Currently, the city administration has arranged for the Industrial Park to be given due attention to the Chinese investors who wish to participate in various sectors, mainly in textile and related industries.

Dire Dawa, located at a distance of 330 km from the port of Djibouti is attracting more investors due to its closeness to the port, which is the main point of access for international trade for the country.

In the past week PM Meles Zenawi discussed such matters with Chinese potential investors when he visited China.

During the discussions the PM held with Chinese potential investors, he promised them that the park in Dire Dawa will transfer to a low lease price.

Chinese investors already have an industry park in Dukem, 30km east of Addis Ababa. The Chinese industrial park shall be the third foreign investment park in Ethiopia after Turkey and Egypt.

The Chinese industrial park at Dire Dawa will be the first to be situated a significant distance from the capital, 515km southeast of Addis Ababa.

Currently, there are about 316 Chinese investment projects which are fully or semi-operational in Ethiopia and over 900 projects are in pre-implementation phase.
The Ethiopian government has much recorded interest in increasing Chinese investment and integrating it into the five year growth plan.
http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15227:china-to-take-second-industrial-park-in-dire-dawa-&catid=12:local-news&Itemid=4

EFFORT’s Effort at Mining Taking Form


The Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray’s (EFFORT) bid to become the first local company to establish an Iron Ore Mine and Steel Factory has passed the first step with positive response from companies willing to do the feasibility study.

A total of 18 international and local companies showed interest in the invitation to do a feasibility study for what is perhaps the first attempt to establish a highly industrialized venture.

The endowment fund is planning to erect the steel manufacturing plant in Shire, Menteblcb wereda, in Tigray Regional State, 1080km North of Addis Abeba. Ezana Mining Development (EMD), one of the five companies under the umbrella group established in 1993 with a capital of 1.4 billion Br, has already prospected on 80sqm. An estimated reserve of 180 million tonnes has been identified, according to Yared Adamu, head of investment business development department for EFFORT.

Out of the companies that showed interest, many of them are international consultants. They include the India-based TATA consultancy service, which is part of Tata group established in 1968, comprised of 114 companies, and listed as one of the wealthiest groups with 98.7 billion dollars, as well as the China-based Mastell consultants.


http://www.addisfortune.com/EFFORT’s%20Effort%20at%20Mining%20Taking%20Form.htm

Thanks for posting. We must develop the steel industry; you can't have industrialization without steel.

Bidding for 1.3m tones Steel Factory Sees Nine Interest
The bidding process for what could be the first and biggest steel factory, Tossa, with a capacity of producing 1.3 million tonnes a year is under way with nine international companies having shown interest.

Tossa Steel Factory, established by Mohammed Al-Alamoudi (Shiek), invited offers for the factory which is to be built around 30km from Kombolcha, 376km north of the capital in the Amhara Regional State a month ago.

The company has already received the go ahead for 300ht of land from the region. However, there are two possible plots the company is looking at, according to Shimelese Shiferaw, head of environmental protection and land administration office of Debub Wollo Zone, where the plots are located.

Representatives of the companies - two from Germany, three from China, two from Italy, one from South Korea, and one from France –have shown interest in the factory, even visiting last week to assess the project and financial risks before submitting their bids ahead of the December 16, 2011 deadline.

http://www.addisfortune.com/Bidding%20for%201.3m%20tones%20Steel%20Factory%20Sees%20Nine%20Interest.htm

Saygin B.M. Technology Group LLC to construct a cable manufacturing plant

Story in Capital:
DBE’s biggest loan ever for Turkish company

In one of its largest loans to the private sector the Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) is providing about 1.42 billion birr to a Turkish company, Saygin B.M. Technology Group LLC for the construction of a cable manufacturing plant. The company had asked for 2.1 billion birr, which is said to be one of the largest loans a private company has ever applied for.

Saygin B.M. Technology Group LLC intends to construct the plant on 15 hectares of land outside Sebeta town, 24Km west of Addis Ababa in Oromia special zone.
Tadesse Hatiya vice president credit services at the Development Bank of Ethiopia said the company intends to construct power cables and optical fiber. DBE officials had earlier visited the company’s main centre of operation, in Kayser city, Turkey.

The loan is expected to cover 50 percent of the costs for the cable plant, while the rest will be covered by Saygin B.M. Technology Group itself. The loan will be released in phases according to the needs of the plant and most of the money is said to be going for steel structures and machinery supplies.

The construction of the plant is expected to take six months to finish and they hope it will begin operation before the end of the year.

read the rest @ Capital (http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=505:dbes-biggest-loan-ever-for-turkish-company&catid=54:news&Itemid=27)

rNSY_fZRxSg
MdVtmGlnLBU

^^ nice vids FKebede :yes:

Eyeing an Export Market, Tikur Abay Set to Manufacture Safety Shoes

The recently privatized Tikur Abay Shoes S.C. has installed new machinery worth 1.1 million dollars from DESMA, a Germany company, through the supplier’s local agent, Hi-Tec Company. Trial production for safety shoes started on Saturday, February 3, 2012, at the Factory, located in Asqo area, on Ambo Road.

Safety shoes, which protect feet from punctures, compression or falling objects, are especially applicable in construction or industrial settings. They are supposed to have insulation against heat, cold and electricity, be resistant to water penetrations and punctures, and have a steel to cap, according to 2004 specifications set by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) of which Ethiopian Standards Agency (ESA) is a member.

All safety shoe supply in Ethiopia was imported from foreign countries as none of the 14 local shoe manufacturing factories in Ethiopia produced it. The country has imported 151tn of such shoes for 501,210 dollars in 2009/10, and 173tns worth 647,730 dollars the previous year. However, Anbessa Shoe Factory, with a production capacity of 5,400 shoes a day, has already started production of these accessories around two months ago, according to manager Solomon Temechache.

Tikur Abay had floated an international tender at the end of 2009, to acquire machinery in order to produce safety shoes. In November 2009, the international tender had attracted nine bidders, including ORYX International, Electro-Technical Italia, Centro Machin and High-Tech Solutions, a local industrial machinery supplier established eight years ago by Hashim Jemal, a mechanical engineer. High-Tech represented Deutsche Schuhmaschinen (DESMA) at this tender.

[...]

Tikur Abay claims to be pioneer in the local safety shoe industry, despite Anbessa’s prior entrance, due to the fact that they are using a technology called direct injection. Usually near the end process of the footwear, manufacturing comes something known in the industry as lasting where the soles of the shoe are attached with the upper section.

“There are five ways of attaching shoes to the soles, including cementing method which most companies use, where the insoles are attached to the upper part using a glue,” Hailekiros Debesay, shoe manufacturing technology directorate director at the Leather Industry Development Institue (LIDI), told Fortune.

Other ways include injection construction where different chemicals are melted into a mold to be shaped; soble construction where the sole is stitched to the upper part; Moccasin construction, where the soles and the sides are one piece with stitching done at the top; and welt construction, usually used for high-fashion shoes, where the sole is made of leather, according to Hailekiros.

The direct injection technology is needed to properly manufacture safety shoes, because it makes it airtight, Abebe Teklu, general manager of the company told Fortune. Direct injection machines are available in other shoe manufacturing companies. What may be the difference for the machine Tikur Abay has imported is the kind of soles involved, which are double polyutherane (Pu).

read the rest @Fortune (http://www.addisfortune.com/Eyeing%20an%20Export%20Market,%20Tikur%20Abay%20Set%20to%20Manufacture%20Safety%20Shoes.htm)

Twelve new leather projects this year

Global Companies from China, Italy, India, Sudan, Israel, Turkey, Germany and the UK have 27 new leather investments primarily in footwear and garments.
Italian, Indian, Chinese, German and British companies will begin operating nine leather product investments and three finished leather investments. The 2.5 billion birr projects will be able to produce around 27,000 pieces of finished leather, 16,000 pairs of shoes and 2,000 garments.

According to the Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) the new leather factories will be located in Addis Ababa, Modjo 73Km south east of Addis Ababa, Gonder 744Km north of Addis Ababa and Sendafa 39Km North West of Addis Ababa.

The new leather projects expected to commence production this year are in line with the government’s recent directive which discourages the export of crust.

LIDI was established to support production in the leather industry, investment in the sector and marketing activities. It also gives technical support for factories to construct treatment plants to minimize environmental pollution.

The Ethiopian government aims to earn USD 206 million in revenue from the leather sector in the current fiscal year.

By the end of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) the government expects USD 500 million in revenue from leather exports and has adjusted tax for imported raw materials to accomplish this goal.

The Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute recently teamed up with the Ethiopian Leather Industry Association (ELIA) to organize the fifth African Leather Fair (AALF) which was held from March 1-3, 2012 focusing on high end local products in order to boost leather export revenues.

The leather fair brought 185 exhibitors from Ethiopia and 37 other countries. It featured a wide array of leather products including foot wares, chemicals and garments.

ELIA is a private association that currently has 47 companies as its members represent a cross section of producers and exporters of animal products including cows, goats, sheep and camels.http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=736:twelve-new-leather-projects-this-year&catid=35:capital&Itemid=27

Huajian of China's Ethiopian Export Zone may generate $4 biillion USD :banana:



By William Davison - Mar 22, 2012 8:20 AM ET

Huajian Group, a Chinese shoe maker, plans to build a manufacturing zone in Ethiopia that may generate $4 billion of exports a year within a decade, Vice President Helen Hai said.

Construction of the 320-hectare (791-acre) site in Lebu on the outskirts of the capital, Addis Ababa, may start before the rainy season begins in June, Hai said in an interview on March 20 in Dukem, 30 kilometers (18 miles) southeast of the city.

“It should start in May with my own investment,” she said. “We will own it and we will manage it. The government promised me in two weeks’ time to finalize the process.”

Huajian Group, based in Dongguan, Gaungdong province, produces about 20 million pairs of shoes a year for brands including Calvin Klein (6625B) and Guess, according to Hai. Ethiopia generated $65.8 million from shipments of leather and leather products in the six months through December, up 62 percent from a year earlier, according to the Trade Ministry. Total exports last year were $2.8 billion, it said.

Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, according to the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, a seven-nation regional bloc. In 2010, the Ethiopian government said it planned to license more than 703 billion birr ($40.3 billion) worth of investment projects over five years, helped by laws that prioritize investment in industries including manufacturing, leather products and tourism.

World Bank

Ethiopia can maintain its economic growth rate by developing manufacturing of clothing, leather, metal, wood and agricultural products, World Bank Chief Economist Justin Yifu Lin told reporters in Addis Ababa on March 18 at the launch of the bank’s Light Manufacturing in Africa book. Ethiopia’s economy grew 7.5 percent in 2011 compared with 8 percent in 2010, according to International Monetary Fund data.

“Light manufacturing can offer a viable path for Ethiopia and other sub-Saharan African countries as they transform their economic structure and strive for productive job creation,” Lin said.

The so-called Ethio-China Light Manufacturing Industrial Special Economic Zone will require $2 billion of investment over 10 years, according to Hai. Cheaper labor costs, domestic supplies of leather and preferential access to European and U.S. markets are the primary attractions for investing in Ethiopia, she said.

“Several million dollars” has already been invested in Hua Jian International Shoe City Plc in Dukem, which started producing shoes for the U.S. market on Jan. 5, three months after Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi invited the company to invest, Hai said.

Chinese Workers

The importation of Chinese workers and inputs for the Ethiopian operation will be phased out as Ethiopians are trained and domestic leather quality improves, she said.

Huajian’s factory in Dukem, which currently has equal amounts of Chinese and Ethiopians among its 500 workers producing 1,000 pairs of shoes a day, will be moved to Huajian’s Special Economic Zone next year, Hai said.

“Some of the biggest Chinese clothes makes are interested” in the zone, she said. “The issue in China is that rising labor costs and exchange rate are making manufacturing difficult.”

Countries like Vietnam that sell $8.2 billion worth of garments a year outperform Ethiopia, which produces $10 million annually, because they have lowered transaction costs, Lin said.

Streamlined customs procedures, easier access to foreign exchange and the construction of an industrial zone near Djibouti’s port, where Ethiopian goods are shipped from, would solve the “most important trade logistics issues,” according to the World Bank book.

If these measures are taken “there is no reason they can’t scale up production to the same level as in Vietnam,” Lin said.

The new zone near the capital will eventually employ 100,000 workers who will be given food, housing and schooling on site, according to Hai. The China-Africa Development Fund and the International Finance Corp., the World Bank’s private- lending arm, are interested in backing the project, she said.

To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson in Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.







http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-22/huajian-of-china-s-ethiopian-export-zone-may-generate-4-billion.html

This is exactly what we need to be seeing? But were the initial factories in China owned by the supplying companies or the producers? We need to be replicating that, and not just the outsourcer's outsourcer.

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When can I eat at Nando's after shopping at Woolworths to give a present to my cousin for his wedding at the Four Seasons?
you maybe close to getting that soon....look below :yes:

Is Walmart coming to Ethiopia?
http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/News/walmart-govt-negotiate-entry.html

Blegh. I didn't mean Wal-Mart! Is this what we want for Ethiopia hagere?

http://img.izismile.com/img/img3/20100203/wal_mart_15.jpg

http://www.killmydaynow.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/Funny-and-Strange-People-Shopping-in-WalMart-Part-9_53-550x343.jpg

But seriously, I was thinking something more small-scale, and measured. This seems to be a rather irrational plan conceived less out of economic considerations than petulance. Even one Wal-mart in Addis would wipe dozens of stores out of business.

^^lol



Ethio-Turkish Textile investment begins this month

http://i.imgur.com/2LYOA.jpg (http://capitalethiopia.com/images/stories/Mar-18-A.jpg)


A Turkish company which is part of Saygin Group is constructing with the Ethiopian government a textile factory in Sebeta town just outside of Addis Ababa. It is planning to begin production by the end of this month in the factory which is named Saygin Dima Textile Share Company. The Ethiopian Government has some 60 percent share in the company. The factory is set in an area of 60,000sqm of land. So far the construction has cost around USD 22 million. They plan to produce yarn and fabric for both here and abroad.

Turan Ahmet Turan, General Manager of SayginDima Textile Share Company says they are now in the process of training local employees. They had hoped to begin operating earlier this month but they have encountered some challenges. “Our product range is cotton, polyester, wool, acrylic, linen and textile fibers,” Turan told Capital He also said that this is Saygin Group’s biggest textile investment in Ethiopia as well as in Africa.

read the rest @Capital (http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=735:ethio-turkish-textile-investment-begins-this-month&catid=35:capital&Itemid=27)

Ethiopia to get first photovoltaic solar energy assembly plant

Spire Corporation a global company providing solar power photovoltaic equipment and systems announced that it will provide a 20 megawatt ("MW") Photovoltaic ("PV”) module turnkey assembly line.

Spire Corporation a global company providing solar power photovoltaic equipment and systems announced that it will provide a 20 megawatt ("MW") Photovoltaic ("PV”) module turnkey assembly line to the collaboration of SKY Energy International, Inc. ("SKY") located in Florida and Metals and Engineering Corporation ("METEC") located in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia to get first PV module a solar panel assembly plant. The module assembly line will be established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The facility will be the first state-of-the-art module manufacturing line in Ethiopia. The Ethiopian Government has announced its goal to have 20% of its power capacity coming from solar energy within the next five (5) years.

“We are pleased to support SKY and METEC to bring solar power to Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a nation where 80% of the population presently does not have access to electricity,” said Roger G. Little, Chairman and CEO of Spire Corporation. “Solar energy can deliver clean electricity to remote areas of Ethiopia thus improving the quality of life and ability to further their agricultural pursuits.”

Spire Corporation is a diversified company serving the solar energy, biomedical and defense industries worldwide with innovative products and services based upon a common technology platform.
http://www.evwind.es/noticias.php?id_not=17836

0vba2PzXBqk

Ethiopia’s First PVC Resin Plant - 7b Br EFFORT

Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray (EFFORT) is investing seven billion Br in the first plant in Ethiopia that will manufacture polyvinylchloride (PVC) and other industrial chemicals.

The plant will be set up on a 48ht plot of land at a place called Mai Mekden, near Messebo Building Materials Production Plc in Tigray Regional State. The area has large deposits of limestone.

The plant is designed with an annual production capacity of 60,000tn, using a production method known as the limestone to calcium carbide to acetylene (LCA) route.

A little more than a year ago, EFFORT floated the first tender for the plant, with a capacity of 40,000tn a year. Many international bidders were said to have responded, but the tender was cancelled. It floated another tender last Sunday, May 6, 2012, just for the consultancy service for the execution of the project, with the plant capacity raised to 60,000tn, annually.

PVC resin is a white powder commonly used to produce thermoplastics. It is a raw material that can be made into products with a wide range of properties from soft and flexible to light and rigid, including blood bags, windows, pipes, and furniture.

Various additives determine the outcome. The ingredients include heat stabilisers, lubricants, and fillers.

In Ethiopia PVC resin is used in plastic factories to produce hoses, pipes, and boots. Some of the other chemicals to be produced by the plant are to include caustic soda, calcium hydrochloride, acetylene, chlorine, calcium carbide, and hydrochloric acid, according to an expert close to the feasibility study.

“The chemical reaction through which industrial chemicals, including PVC resin, are produced is highly sophisticated and capital intensive. There are some domestic producers of some ofthe chemicals, but we do not have a manufacturer of PVC resin in Ethiopia,” said Tewolde Gebremichael, a chemical engineer at Plastech Plc, a private factory that manufactures PVC windows and doors. “We have been importing the PVC resin from petroleum producing countries.”

The establishment of the new plant will not only save hard currency but also fuel the growth of domestic manufacturers that depend on industrial chemicals, according to Girma Alemu, finance manager of Oromia Pipe Factory Plc, a state company that manufactures various PVC pipes.

The management of EFFORT, whose board chairwoman is Azeb Mesfin, wife of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, sees all of their subsidiaries getting their chemical inputs from the new chemical factory, according to a Messebo employee close to the issue.

Ethiopia’s import of resin in 2010/11 was 38,244tn, worth 75.2 million dollars, according to the Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA).

The new chemical plant will be EFFORT’s 14th subsidiary and third industrial company. The other two in the industrial sector are Messebo Building Materials Production Plc and Mesfin Industrial Engineering Plc, both of which are expected to benefit from the products of the new company to be set up.

Other companies under the umbrella of EFFORT, established in 1995, include Ezana Mining Development Plc and Saba Dimensional Stones Plc in the mining sector, Trans Ethiopia Plc and Express Transit Services Plc in the transportation sector, as well as Sur Construction, Addis Pharmaceutical Factory Plc, Guna Trading Plc, Wegagen Bank, Sheba Tannery, Hiwot Agriculture, Almeda Textile, and Experience Ethiopia Travel (EET), a tour and travel company.


http://www.addisfortune.net/Ethiopia’s%20First%20PVC%20Resin%20Plant%20-%207b%20Br%20EFFORT.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haj2gHrmcs0

^^lol



Ethio-Turkish Textile investment begins this month

http://i.imgur.com/2LYOA.jpg (http://capitalethiopia.com/images/stories/Mar-18-A.jpg)

:banana: Great news, hope it helps all the people there

By Nilima Choudhury (nchoudhury@pv-tech.org) 29 January 2013, 15:21
Project developer SKY Energy International and Metals Engineering Corporation (METEC) are celebrating the fabrication of the first solar panel in Ethiopia.
The country’s first turnkey module assembly line was commissioned in April 2012 (http://www.pv-tech.org/news/ethiopia_to_get_first_pv_module_assembly_plant_courtesy_of_spire) in a partnership between Spire Corporation (http://directory.pv-tech.org/companies/spire_corporation), SKY and METEC. The installation of the factory was successfully completed in December last year at which time engineers laminated, tested and produced the solar panels.
SKY Energy International handled the logistics of the various machines involved in manufacturing the solar panels as well as the initial purchase of raw materials for the factory. Training was also conducted for the Ethiopian operators in the US. The final phase of training at the factory is expected to take place on February 2013.


http://www.pv-tech.org/news/ethiopia_celebrates_its_first_solar_panel

Chennai, Jan. 29:


The Chennai-based Farida Group has established a tannery in Ethiopia to cater to export market and, if needed, for imports into India. The group is among the largest exporters of footwear and makes leather footwear for leading international brands.
The tannery about 70 km from Addis Ababa was commissioned towards the end of last year with a capacity to produce about 800,000 sq. ft of leather, according to Rafeeque Ahmed, Chairman, Farida Group.
The unit has been set up through Farida’s overseas subsidiary in Singapore. It is an independent unit that will cater to the markets for finished leather. It will export leather to the overseas markets and if needed supply to Farida Group’s requirements here, he said.
The African country is a rich source of quality raw material and setting up a tannery is a good value addition, he said. The Group has multiple leather footwear production units and tanneries in Tamil Nadu. The total footwear production capacity is over 22,000 pairs a day.

Julphar to launch $9.6m plant in Ethiopia
The 40,000 sqm facility, which is based in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, cost US$9.6m to build.

Once fully operational, the plant will produce 25m bottles of suspension and syrup, 500m tablets and 200m capsules annually, which will be exported throughout Africa.

Julphar is currently recruiting 50 local staff for the plant, which is scheduled to open on 6 February.

"This is a significant announcement for Julphar and a huge step forward in terms of our international expansion and development. Julphar is proud to play a role in the development of Ethiopia," said Ayman Sahli, the firm's CEO.

Julphar makes more than 800 different types of drugs in its suite of 11 plants in Ras Al Khaimah, which are distributed over more than 40 countries. Last year, the firm completed the construction of a US$150m facility, Julphar XI, which is the first plant in the Gulf to manufacture insulin.

The company is building a factory in King Abdullah Economic City near Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in conjunction with local partner Cigalah Group. It is also constructing a plant in Algeria via a joint venture with the Algerian Ministry of Health, which will be completed next year.

Julphar posted profits of US$11.5m in the third quarter of 2012, up by 2.6 percent year-on-year. Revenues grew by 14.9 percent to US$74m during the same period.



http://www.wam.ae/servlet/Satellite?c=WamLocEnews&cid=1290002955396&pagename=WAM%2FWAM_E_Layout&parent=Query&parentid=1135099399852

Domestic production sought to close gap in demand, bringing an end to a reliance on imports

Malaysian palm oil manufacturer, Pacific Interlink, is set to erect the largest ever edible oil refinery in Ethiopia, which will produce 300,000tn of oil at an estimated cost of 401.1 million Br.
The company’s proposal was approved by the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA), which initially designed and studied the viability of such a project.
PPESA did so as part of its role in designing projects for the establishment of new enterprises that are able fill gaps in the economy, but are as yet unsatisfied by the private sector.
Local oil production, in Ethiopia, only meets 20pc of the consumption, which reached 285,210tn in 2011/12, according to a study conducted by the Ethiopian Pulses, Oilseeds & Spices Exporters Association.
This is despite the fact that oilseeds are a large part of the country’s crop production and the third largest export commodity for the country, having earned it 323.8 million dollars in 2010/11.
Such a gap has led Ethiopia to rely on imports, of mostly palm-oil, for its edible oil consumption. These imports were supplied by the private sector until January 2011, when prices skyrocketed leading the government to successively introduce a price cap, and later, in May, take over the import of palm-oil altogether, distributing it at a subsidised price for consumers.
For a year, starting from May 2011, the government imported 16,000tn of palm-oil, on a monthly basis, from three suppliers found in Indonesia and Malaysia. It increased this by 9,000tn from May 2012, taking its total imports up to 300,000tn annually.
It is this amount of import that PPESA hopes to substitute locally, by facilitating the construction of a refinery plant.
After designing the project and conducting a feasibility study, it floated a tender, requesting that companies submit an Expression of Interest (EoI), in order to implement the project, either jointly with the government or independently.
Shortlisted candidates were asked to provide a complete business plan and a proposal concerning the modality and implementation of the project. They were also to be required to provide a three year audit report.
Three companies, including a local oil manufacturer and an Indian oil distributor, submitted their EoI’s by the bid closing date, of January 18, 2013.
In the end, it was Pacific Interlink’s proposal that was approved by the Agency, since the Indian company did not have adequate experience in refining oil on such a large scale and the local company lacked the capacity to do so, according to Asebe Kebede, assistant public relations head at the Agency.
Pacific, which was incorporated in Kuala Lampur in 1988, exports various commodities and services from Malaysia, including; soap, food products, palm-oil, paper and building materials. The company has three refining plants, one in Malaysia and two in Indonesia, which have a total refining capacity of 4,700tn a day. It also has a storage capacity of 135,000tn, in three different locations.
The company is not new to the Ethiopian market, having supplied the Ethiopian government since they started importing palm-oil. For the current contract, which ends in may 2013, it is expected to supply 103,200tn of palm-oil.
Pacific has opted to implement PPESA’s project on its own, rather than agreeing to a joint venture deal, which means the company will not be a state enterprise. It will be getting support from the PPESA and the Ministry of Industry (MOI), when it comes to acquiring an investment licence and land, among other things, according to Asebe.
PPESA’s study has already identified two locations, in Modjo town, 73Km east of Addis Abeba, and Woldya town, 521Km north, as the future sites for the project. The study also reveals that the project may take up to 26 months for commissioning and construction.
After it starts production, says the study, it will have a net present value (NPV) of three billion Birr and a payback period of four years.
By ELLENI ARAYA
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER
Published on Feb 03, 2013 [ Vol 13 ,No 666]


http://addisfortune.net/articles/malaysian-edible-oil-giant-to-build-plant-in-ethiopia/

Ethiopia has started producing solar panels. A good news

http://addisfortune.net/articles/metec-ventures-into-solar-industry-with-5m/