Ethiopia is constructing its first ever pharmaceutical industrial park in the Addis Ababa area, with the aim of transforming the health sector.

The new park is expected to meet the country demand for a continuous supply of medicines for Ethiopians, adding value to the goal of sustainable health reform for Ethiopia.

The park will help fulfil Ethiopia’s pharmaceutical manufacturing development strategy.

Construction will be completed in eight months.

…industrial parks attracting investment

Industrial parks currently being built across Ethiopia have moved the country into third position in Africa in attracting the highest foreign direct investment (FDI) in the small- and medium-sized manufacturing sector.

According to Mckinsey Global Institute, availability of affordable labour is the main factor behind FDI inflows to Ethiopia, especially  in the textile, apparel and leather sectors.

The labour cost of producing a t-shirt in Ethiopia is $0.14, which is less than half of the cost needed to produce it in countries such as Vietnam and China, that are well known for production.

According to information obtained from the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC), 130 investors with a combined capital of 20.2 billion Birr were licensed during the past few months, with 101 of them being foreign companies.

Dr Admasu Nebebe, State Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation, said the quality of the FDIs which Ethiopia has attracted will contribute towards achieving the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II) and create many employment opportunities.

…$30 billion from textiles by 2030

Ethiopia aims to generate $30 billion in foreign exchange earnings from the textile and clothing sector by 2030 by increasing cotton production. In a year, Ethiopia produces around 100,000 tonnes of cotton.

Currently, only 20% of 3 million hectares of land is used for cotton production, the plan is to increase this area to around 80%.

Investment in the textile industry is on the rise due to the provision of power and labour at an affordable price.

With a workforce of more than 47 million, Ethiopia offers a large supply of valuable human resources at affordable wages, while at the same time generating employment opportunities for its citizens.

By 2020, Ethiopia intends to have around 150 companies in textiles. With seven industrial parks currently in operation, Ethiopia plans to increase the number of industrial parks to 15 by June 2018 as part of its efforts to boost manufacturing and exports.

After Vietnam, Ethiopia is the second largest country to attract foreign direct investment in textiles, states the 2016 World Investment Report.

…fastest growing economy

The World Bank’s latest edition of Global Economic Prospects says Ethiopia is the fastest-growing economy in 2017, with its GDP  forecast to grow by 8.3% in 2017. By contrast, global growth is projected to be 2.7%.

The accelerating growth comes on the back of government spending on infrastructure, such as the industrial parks.