The construction of state-of-the-art cold storage units for the large, new transit terminal of Ethiopian Airlines on the airport of Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) is halfway through, and will be continued according to the plan.
During the incidents in the Amhara region around Bahir-Dar, several Dutch flower plants were destroyed, apparently without any loss of life. The long-term plans for Ethiopia will not be changed despite the battle with the rebels.
Thus, the construction of Africa’s largest produce terminal continues. Celtic Cooling is now halfway through construction of this cold storage unit complex of 17,000 square metres, which is due to finish in May 2017.
Joost van Klink, general director of Celtic Cooling: “The majority of the farms in Ethiopia are clients of our company, including the farm of Esmeralda Farms which was burned down last week. This is an outright drama for all directly involved. The story was bizarre, resulting in the forced decision not to rebuild this farm, due to the bankruptcy of the company in the Netherlands. We sympathise with all victims of this disaster.”
Van Klink thinks that it is only logical that the recent events raise a lot of questions for potential investors. On the other hand, he expects that the conflict will not have a fundamental influence on the development of Ethiopian agriculture in the long-term.
Largest logistical hub Africa
The new airfreight facility in Addis Ababa will be able to process about 600,000 tons of cargo every year, for transport to Europe and other destinations. The capacity has been increased five-fold, so the Ethiopian capital will be the largest pivot point for cargo transit in Africa. The cold storage units of Celtic Cooling will mainly hold flowers, vegetables, and, to a lesser degree, fruits.
The main contractor of the new transit terminal is the German company Unitechnik Systems.
For more information:
Celtic Cooling
Tel: 0252 – 240 950
[email protected]
