Infrastructure

Turkish Group to Build Sh60bn Industrial Park in Ethiopia

Turkish Holding AS says it has identified five priority areas in Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector.

Updated on

December 22, 2017

The Hawassa Industrial Park is located 275km south of Addis Ababa. PHOTO | FILE

Turkish Holding AS, one of the biggest private multinationals in Turkey, will invest Sh60 billion into the construction of a modern industrial park in Ethiopia as it eyes a piece of the country’s booming construction market.

The conglomerate, which manufactures construction materials, says it has identified five priority areas in the manufacturing sector and it will make the areas official next year.

“We will be proud of investing in [Ethiopia] since the investment opportunities are very brilliant”, Mehmet Coskun, chairman of the Board of Directors for the company, told journalists in Addis Ababa last week.

Turkish Holding, which comprises over 20 firms including Turkey’s largest bank, is upbeat about investing in Ethiopia, a country working to become the economic capital of Africa.

The proposed industrial park will add to the construction investment projects of Ethiopia, which accounted for 12.3 per cent of foreign direct investments in the past financial year.

Construction of the facility will begin in mid-2018 and, upon completion, the park is expected to mainly engage in steel manufacturing, ceramic production, and pulp products.

Ethiopia has set a vision to become Africa’s light manufacturing hub by 2025 and the country is building several modern industrial parks to attract both local and foreign investors.

Sisay Gemechew, Industrial Parks Development Corporation General Manager, says Ethiopia has allocated Sh113 billion (30 billion Birr) to construct eleven industrial parks across the country in this financial year alone.

“Those industrial parks that have gone operational have so far proven successful towards the industrialization development,” he said.

Ethiopia is setting up 25 industrial parks, some of which are complete; some are under construction, while others are in the pipeline. However, most of them are owned by foreign investors, though the government facilitates loans, and tax holidays among other incentives.

Ethiopia’s industrial parks are expected to create a conducive environment for knowledge transfer and employment. Already, Hawassa and Bole Leme industrial parks have created 12,000 and 13,000 jobs respectively.