A new avocado oil processing company is in the process of signing to start operations in Jimma Industrial Park seconding another Avocado oil, Biodiesel and Biofertilizer processing company, Akshay Jain PLC.
“In 2019, the government awarded the management of Jimma Industry Park to Huajian, the Chinese shoe manufacturer for five years. However, the company handed back all the shades and left the park last year due to operational challenges amidst the global pandemic and with bounce back proving difficult for the firm difficult to get into operation,” explained Sandokan Debebe, CEO of IPDC.
Currently, the corporation has taken over the management of the park. Following the corporation takeover, it has made a new agreement with Akshay Jain PLC a company that has been working in the park under the management of Huajian. The company handles 150,000 Kg per day in demands of Avocado and is now in the process of expansion.
As the CEO said the signing with ELIAKIM trading Plc, the new entrant to the park, will be held soon.
The government has built 13 industrial parks and three agro-processing parks. It can be widely argued that the country is not reaping the full benefits as expected. Speaking on Friday, May 13, 2022, on the inauguration of the Soufflet Malt factory, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said from the total of 13 industrial parks, 9 of them have been built after he came to power. “The government has poured in lots of resources in the industrial parks and it is yet to reap its full benefits,” underlined the Prime Minister.
As a result, the PM has disclosed that the government is in the process of policy change on access to land for industrialists. In the new approach, the government plans to facilitate facilities in industrial parks rather than providing plots of land.
The head of state said that most of the bureaucracy and misdemeanor issues are raised in relation to access to land for industrial development.
He stressed that from now onwards the government policy has changed and that interested industrialists who want to invest in the industry sector shall access facilities in industrial parks that are massively developed in the past few years but have not been utilized fully.
“For investors, we will provide the adequate infrastructure at the industrial facilities, otherwise for the sake of good governance, plots in Addis Ababa or regions will not be provided for industrial developments,” he strongly said.
As Sandokan informed Capital, so far only 10 percent of land in industrial parks has been used from the total 500 hectares. “Further information on the application will be released when it is completed,” Sandokan stated.
On Friday, Soufflet Malt, the French multinational company inaugurated its first malt factory in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia at Bole Lemi Industry Zone.
The inauguration of the 60-million-euro factory was attended by PM Abiy Ahmed, and the French Ambassador to Ethiopia, Rémi Maréchaux.
In related news, 152 million USD, or an estimated 7.5 billion birr has been earned from the export of industrial parks in the past nine months, highlighted Sandokan whilst presenting the nine-month report.
In the past nine months, Bahirdar industrial park has not been operating as expected, while Kombolcha was interrupted due to the war in the northern region. Semera is yet to be operational while Mekele has fully stopped its operation owing to the war break out which has been a bottleneck in operations performance
