Ethiopia to inaugurate 2 Chinese built industrial parks

ADDIS ABABA — Ethiopia is to inaugurate two Chinese built industrial parks in September, as the East African nation strives to become the continent's manufacturing hub.

The statement was made on Monday by Tadesse Haile, state minister of economic affairs at the office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

The two industrial parks are the Dire Dawa Industrial park 446 kilometers east of Ethiopia's capital city Addis Ababa and the Adama Industrial Park 99 km east of Addis Ababa.

Dire Dawa Industrial Park and Adama Industrial parks are both being built by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) at a cost of $190 million and $125 million respectively.

Both industrial parks are primarily aimed at full filling Ethiopia's ambitions to be a textile and apparel manufacturing hub in Africa earning the country $1 billion by 2020 and providing ample employment opportunity for its estimated 45 million workforce.

Li Zhiyuan, deputy project manager at CCECC on his part says industrial parks are a means for Ethiopia to enhance local employment, increasing investment attractiveness and boost its competitive advantage.