Ethiopia has awarded contracts for the construction of two industrial parks as it pushes ahead with efforts to become a continental light manufacturing powerhouse.

This comes only a few months after the commissioning of the largest industrial park in Africa, which covers an area of 1.3-million square metres and was built at a cost of $250-million.

The two industrial parks are Bole Lemi II and Jimma and will be built by Chinese companies CGCOC Group and CCCC Group respectively.

CGCOC Group has been awarded the contract for the Bole Lemi II industrial park, which will cost $103.9-million, while CCCC Group will build the Jimma industrial park at a cost of $65.5-million.

The Bole Lemi II project will entail extending the 156-ha Bole Lemi industrial park, located south of the capital, Addis Ababa, while the Jimma park will be built in the town of Jimma, near the Somalia border.

The two parks, expected to be completed over the next 9 to 12 months, are part of Ethiopia’s plan to establish ten industrial parks in the next five years to boost manufacturing capacity.

Shiferaw Solomon, deputy CEO of Ethiopia’s Industrial Parks Development Corporation, says the two parks, which will accommodate textile and garment manufacturing companies, will be key in accelerating industrial development, creating more jobs and spurring economic growth.

Rapid Industrialisation

“We believe industrial parks are an engine of rapid industrialisation and that they nurture manufacturing industries, accelerate economic transformation and promote and attract both domestic and foreign investors.”

Ethiopia hopes that its new industrial parks will enable it to export textiles and apparels worth $2-billion a year by 2020, up from $250-million currently.

The parks are designed to attract foreign investors seeking to take advantage of the many advantages the Horn of Africa country offers, including ample land and altitude, cheap energy and labour, as well as government incentives.

Over the past decade, Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector has grown at an average of 11% a year, driven by increasing export earnings in the footwear and apparel industries.