Sugar Production Shows Production Boost after Reform, Says Sugar Corporation

Addis Ababa, August 8/2020(ENA) The sugar industry has shown big boost in productivity after the inclusive reform initiatives taken by the government, according to Ethiopian Sugar Corporation. 

Ethiopian Sugar Corporation Public Relations Head, Gashaw Aycheluhem told ENA that  sugar projects have been given priority by the government following the reform initiatives.

“The reform on the sugar projects is encouraging and has brought massive achievements. For instance, we have produced over 3 million quintals of sugar during the concluded Ethiopian budget year. The production is the highest in the last two years,” he explained.

Ethanol production was the other achievement witnessed in the fiscal year.

“Fincha and Metehara sugar factories are the sole ethanol producers in the country and we have produced 14.2 million liters ethanol this fiscal year alone. This surpassed last year's  production by 6 million liters,” Gashaw said. 

Stressing the significance of empowering local experts in the industry, the public relations head said one of the achievements of the reform was empowerment of Ethiopian experts to undertake maintenance by themselves.  

Asked about the privatization process of sugar factories, the public relations head confirmed that the government had decided to privatize sugar factors following the all-round reform in the country.

The privatization process, however, lagged behind schedule because of COVID-19, he added.

“The privatization process is critical for the factories which are in debt, and improving efficiency and effectiveness in the industry would enable the country in the long term to export sugar,” Gashaw elaborated.  

The government of Ethiopia was finalizing the privatization process of six sugar projects in the first quarter of 2020 when COVID-19 pandemic surfaced globally.