Chinese Textile Investments In Ethiopia Promise To Create a Manufacturing Hub

Economy

Chinese Textile Investments In Ethiopia Promise To Create a Manufacturing Hub

Chinese textile firms are promoting Ethiopia’s bid to emerge as a manufacturing hub in Africa with more and more companies showing keen interest in investing in the country. The most recent in line is the Wuxi No. 1 Cotton Mill. The company is part of the Guolian Development Group.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) rated the company as one of the leading textile manufacturers from China. As of now, an investment agreement has been signed by the Chinese corporate to sets up an integrated textile industry at Dire Dawa, which happens to be the second largest city in Ethiopia. Dire Dawa is only 446 kms away from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

At a conservative estimate, the EIC placed the position of Ethiopinan investments accruing over 379 projects from China. These are either operational or under implementation. The period spanning 2012-17 has witnessed this sharp growth in terms of numbers as well as financial capital.

Of the 379, a total of 279 projects are already operational in Ethiopia and the total corpus of the projects is worth USD 572 million. The rest 100 projects are right now under implementation.

Another healthy trend that has come to light from the spate of investments is that China has so far succeeded in creating over 28,300 jobs during the 2012-17 period in Ethiopia.

In a recently released press statement, the EIC disclosed that Wuxi No.1 Cotton Mill and the Guolian Development Group are all set to usher in state-of-the-art manufacturing technology in Ethiopia. Besides, they will also usher in knowhow and expertise that comes in with their over 100 years of experience accumulated so far, the release added.

The investment agreement signed by the Chinese company includes the funding of a large scale and integrated fabric mill besides a spinning plant in Dire Dawa. The company proposes to set up the plant with a view to maintain it as export oriented.