The government of Ethiopia has secured $103 million export earnings from products manufactured in industrial parks over the first nine months of its fiscal year started July 8, 2018.
The performance has increased by 40 percent compared to last year same period, according to Ethiopian Investment Commissioner Abebe Abebayehu. He noted that the country had met 70 percent of its export earning target over these nine months.
Textiles, shoes and other leather products were among the manufactured items that generated hard currency for Ethiopia. The report also stated that the active industrial parks of Ethiopia have created jobs for over 70,000 people so far, of which around 16,000 were created over the past nine months.
Ethiopia’s industrial parks include Hawassa, Bole Lemi, Kilinto, Mekelle, Dire Dawa, Kombolcha, Debre Birhan, Addis Industrial Village and Jimma, among others.
To date, Bole Lemi, Mekele, Adama have partially started operation, and Hawassa Industrial Park is already operational.
The conflicts in different parts of the country over the years have hardly affected the performance of the industrial parks. Special security precautions are in place to ascertain the safety and security in and around the industrial parks.
In recent years, Ethiopia has focused on building industrial parks as a viable strategy to increase foreign exchange earnings; and the country is striving to complete a total of 30 industrial parks over the coming years.
