The Ethiopian government has announced that it will collaborate with OCP, the Moroccan world leader in the phosphate industry, in a mutual US $2.5B project aspiring to establish a fertilizer plant in East Ethiopia.
An officer from the Ethiopian Institute of Chemical and Construction Development told the local press that “the plant, in joint venture with the OCP, will be constructed in the region of Shinile, bordering with the city of Dire Daoua and the Somali province, in east Ethiopia.”
The officer also pointed out that the factory will be constructed over 100 acres of land and is estimated to manufacture 1.1 million tons of urea and 1.5 million tons of fertilizer.
Construction will begin next year, according to the same source, and should take place over a period of three years.
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60 percent funding will be provided by bank loans while the rest will be sheltered by the OCP and the Ethiopian government.
OCP has been tremendously active in recent times. Just last month, it announced the establishment of a joint venture with India’s fertilizer cooperative, Kribhco, endeavoring to put up a large scale fertilizer manufacturing plant in Krishnapatam, India.
It will need a preliminary investment of roughly US $230M and will have a yearly production capacity of 1.2 MT of NPK fertilizers.
It has also signed a memorandum of understanding to build a fertilizer plant in Rwanda .The contract was signed during King Mohammed VI’s trip to the country by OCP officials and the Rwandan ministry of agriculture, with statistics concerning this investment anticipated to be unveiled in the forthcoming months.
According to local press, the OCP has a finance budget of US $18B to be invested by the year 2025. This budget aims to fund phosphate and fertilizer production as well as the allocation of phosphoric acid.
These joint ventures and investments will be advantageous for all parties concerned.
