Ethiopia's Chinese-built industrial park generates 20 mln USD in exports in 6 months

ADDIS ABABA, March 19 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian government has generated about 20 million U.S. dollars in export revenue in six months from commodities produced at the country's flagship Chinese-built Hawassa Industrial Park, local media reported Tuesday.

The Hawassa Industrial Park is expected to generate about 44 million U.S. dollars from the export of commodities produced by manufacturers within its premises during the current Ethiopian 2023/2024 fiscal year, which started on July 8, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) quoted Mathiwos Ashenafi, the park's general manager, as saying.

Located in Ethiopia's southern city of Hawassa, about 275 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa, the industrial park is regarded as the leading destination for foreign manufacturers in the East African country, mainly dedicated to textile, garment and apparel products.

According to the manager, various efforts have been carried out during the current fiscal year to attract international textile and apparel manufacturing companies.

He noted that as part of the ongoing efforts, some 22 companies have signed contracts to operate within the premises of the industrial park, of which 19 have already started operations.

Meanwhile, Ashenafi underscored the industrial park's role in bridging the technology and skills gap witnessed in Ethiopia's manufacturing landscape. He said the park has enabled more than 25,000 Ethiopian youth to benefit from much-needed skills and knowledge transfer from world-class textile and apparel companies.

Built by Chinese construction giant China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and inaugurated in July 2016, the Hawassa Industrial Park is considered by the Ethiopian government as a model for the construction of other industrial zones across the country.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous country, hopes the large-scale development of industrial parks across the country will propel its push toward becoming a manufacturing hub in Africa and a lower-middle income economy in the near future.

According to recent figures from the Ethiopian Industrial Parks Development Corporation, more than 130 local and foreign investors are currently engaged in various sectors across 12 industrial parks and one free trade zone across the country. These industrial parks have also created permanent and temporary employment opportunities for more than 100,000 Ethiopians, mainly the country's burgeoning youth population.