ETHIOPIA – Chinese textile manufacturing giant, Wuxi No. 1 Cotton Textile PLC, has inaugurated its US$220 million textile manufacturing plant in Ethiopia.

The factory is in Ethiopia’s eastern Dire Dawa City, at a strategic location that is adjacent to a major crossing point of the Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway therefore making it easier for the company to transport it products.

The textile manufacturer has an ambition to export much of its products to the international market with Europe, North America and Asia, being the major targets of all the products from the factory.

Wuxi No. 1 Cotton Ethiopia Textile Plc’s General Manager, Zhang Shengming, while on an interview with a Chinese Media Xinhua revealed that the Dire Dawa textile plant was erected on 51 hectares of land and had a capacity to process 300,000 spindles.

He further noted that the first phase of the project had already been completed with and had a capacity to process 100,000 spindles.

The plant, which is said to be the largest textile workshop to be constructed in the East African country, has so far created 1,500 local jobs and is expected to create about 3,500 job opportunities once the second phase of project is completed.

“This is going to be a great investment for us and we continue to look for opportunities to expand within Ethiopia,” said Zhang Sheng Ming.

He further added that with the favourable environment and a vibrant young population, Ethiopia “continues to be a place where we can utilize our expertise while becoming a corporate citizen and a friendly neighbour within the city of Dire Dawa.”

Ethiopia continues to attract a slew of investments from China, in areas of construction of roads, airports, factories and manufacturing.

The investments are a source of employments by locals and a contribution towards growing the economy.

China has been a noted partner in the signature industrial parks that are being built across the country, and has been credited to helping change the economic successes of the nation that is fast moving from aid dependency to a culture of entrepreneurship.