Ethiopia is set to commission the Chinese built Debre Birhan industrial park that cost US $71m. This is according to Lelise Neme, CEO of Ethiopia Industrial Park Development Corporation (IPDC).
Lelise Neme said that the park is set to accommodate prospective investors once it’s fully commissioned. Stretched on 75 hectares of land, Debre Birhan industrial park will have eight industrial.
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Debre Birhan industrial park
The park which will be constructed by China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)will feature; one stop shop services to investors such as, electricity, water, customs and immigration. Moreover it will also create job opportunities for about 1,000 Ethiopians once it starts operations.
Ethiopia aims to commission six industrial parks, including Debre Birhan industrial park, before the end of the current fiscal year 2018/19, in July. The CEO pointed out that the government has invested US $1.3bn in the construction of around a dozen industrial parks.
“Ethiopia plans to increase the number of operational industrial parks from the current five to around 30 by 2025, as part of its efforts to make the country a light manufacturing hub and lower-middle-income economy in the same period. We have have so far built and commissioned five industrial parks and with the anticipated commissioning of six more industrial parks in 2018/19, Ethiopia’s industrialization ambitions will receive a massive boost,” said Lelise Neme.
“Our industrial parks are facing energy supply shortages. To solve this problem IPDC is conducting studies on ways industrial parks can generate their own energy,” the CEO added.
With Ethiopia attracting large-scale investment in the export-import-oriented manufacturing sector, especially from Chinese firms, the country sees improving the efficiency and speed of the logistics sector as key to meet national manufacturing revenue goals.
