ETHIOPIA – East African Holding, one of industrial conglomerates in Ethiopia known for its investments in manufacturing of consumer goods, has moved to real estate development by launching construction of 600 houses in the capital, Addis Ababa.
This was revealed by Buzuayehu Tadele Bizenu, Board Chairman of East African Holding, during his Ethiopian New Year message.
He said they have completed the design work and began construction of the 600 to 800 houses and expect to complete part of them houses by next year (between September 2020 to July 2021).
During the second phase of our project, they plan to build commercial real estates including big shopping malls.
The company has attracted $17 million in foreign direct investment for two of its investments according to Mr. Bizenu.
Cement production
Last year, East African Holding’s National Cement factory produced over 1.2 million tons of cement most of the cement products were sold in the domestic market though the Company is planning to export.
He indicated that they are doing a study to boost the production at National Cement Factory located in Dire Dawa City which produces 3,000 tons per day production to increase its capacity by 30 % to 4,000 tons of cement per day within the coming six months.
In addition, the East Africa Holding is working to partner with financially capable foreign investors and open a new cement factory which can produce 5,000 to 8,000 tons of cement per day for both domestic and foreign market.
He indicated that the project will move to implementation phase during the third quarter of Ethiopia’s New Year which begins on September 12.
Currently Ethiopia is facing shortage of cement. The Government of Ethiopia is forced to allow importing of cement recently after the price in the market doubled because most cement factories were unable to produce using their full potential.
East Africa Industrial Park
Next year, in collaboration with investors from Europe and the United Sates, East Africa Holding is also planning to redesign its industrial park in Bishoft Town in Oromia Region of Ethiopia located some 40 kilometres from Addis Ababa.
The design is being done and the investment will be implemented in two phases.
He further indicated that the first phase requires $35 million and the second phase needs $70M and that if all went well as planned, the new industrial park will create 10,000 to 15,000 jobs.
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