Ethiopia's China-built industrial park makes $20m exports in 6 months

The Ethiopian government has generated about $20 million in export revenue in six months from commodities produced at the country's flagship Chinese-built Hawassa Industrial Park (HIP), local media reported Tuesday.

The industrial park is expected to generate about $44 million 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.

Various efforts have been carried out during the current fiscal year to attract international textile and apparel manufacturing companies, said Ashenafi, noting that as part of the ongoing efforts, 22 companies have signed contracts to operate within the premises of the industrial park, of which 19 have already started work.

The general manager also underscored HIP's role in bridging the technology and skills gap witnessed in Ethiopia's manufacturing landscape, saying the park has enabled more than 25,000 Ethiopian youth to benefit from much-needed skills and knowledge from world-class textile and apparel companies.

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

Located in Ethiopia's southern city of Hawassa, about 275 kilometers 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 textiles, garments, and apparels.

Ethiopia, Africa's second-most populous country, hopes the surging development of industrial parks across the country will turn it into a manufacturing hub in Africa and a lower-middle-income economy soon.

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 in the country. These industrial parks have also created permanent and temporary employment opportunities for over 100,000 Ethiopians, mainly among the country's burgeoning youth.

(With input from Xinhua)