Sinoma International Engineering Co., Ltd. of China has inked a collaboration agreement with the Ethiopia-China joint venture, National West International Holding (WIH) Building Materials Holding Company, for the development of a 600 million US-dollar industrial park in eastern Ethiopia.
Sinoma will handle the engineering, procurement, and construction work for the Melka-Jebdu Industrial Park Development Project, which includes cement and metals factories as well as a lime production plant in Dire Dawa, 452 kilometres east of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.
The building of a cement plant is an expansion of the National WIH Building Materials Holding Company’s investment in cement manufacturing in Ethiopia, which began with the establishment of the first facility in Lemi Town, North Shewa Zone, Amhara Region.
“Upon completion, the Melka-Jebdu Industrial Park will be able to produce 6,000 tons of cement and another 1,000 tons of lime per day as well as 700,000 tons of metals per year,” Buzuayehu Tadele, chairman of National WIH Building Materials Holding Company, said ahead of signing the agreement.
According to Tadele, the industrial park would be located near Djibouti’s ports, giving the corporation a strategic location to quickly access international trade channels and export products.
Speaking at the event, the Ethiopian Minister of Urban and Infrastructure Chaltu Sani praised the National WIH Building Materials Holding Company for initiating such a massive project in Ethiopia, which is suffering from cement and other building input scarcity.
Noting that the industrial park project was started at a vital juncture in the country’s building boom, Sani stated that the project will promote Ethiopia’s image through its goods as well as serve as a platform to transfer skills to Ethiopian experts.
Ethiopian Minister of Planning and Development Fitsum Assefa Adela told Xinhua that Chinese investors are engaging in the most crucial economic sectors in Ethiopia and helping the nation prosper besides promoting win-win cooperation.
“The Chinese investors are unique in that they come with a fund to be paid on the long-term and concessional basis, and that relieves the financial burdens Ethiopia faces to undertake critical projects,” she said. Enditem.
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