MoI Striving to Boost Manufacturing Capacity by over 20 Percent This Year

Addis Ababa July 20/2018 The production capacity of manufacturing industries will grow by over 20 percent this Ethiopian Fiscal Year, according to Ministry of Industry (MoI). Evaluation and Monitoring of Plan and Budget Director at the ministry, Mengistu Hiluf told ENA that the ministry plans to raise the production capacity of manufacturing to 80 percent from the current 57 percent. According to him, “developing the production capacity of the manufacturing sector will contribute a lot to sustainable development of the country.” The ministry also plans to raise the economic contribution of the sector to GDP from  6.4 percent to 6.9 percent in 2011E.C. The revenue from manufacturing will accordingly increase from 485.5 million USD to 939.1 million US dollar in the year. The Director said the ministry intends to meet the stated targets by providing supports for the actors and encouraging both local and international investors in the manufacturing sector. The ministry will undertake activities to improve management and technology capacity limitations as well as improving the capacity of industries. Mengistu added that the ministry will address the problems identified in the sector step by step by strengthening linkage with various stakeholders such universities, colleges and Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions to meet the needed skilled manpower. Corporate Communication Director with the Ministry, Assefa Tesfaye attributed the low performance of the manufacturing sector during the last fiscal year to “Shortage of foreign currency, input supplies, infrastructure, power supply, lack of integration among stakeholders, management and technology capacity problems as well as the instability in the country.” He added that management capacity limitation, lack of skilled manpower as well as access to market and coordination problems among the challenges. The ministry will give attention to improving production capacity through building strong management, integration with stakeholders and   by implementing Kaizen strategy, Assefa elaborated. According to him, efforts will also be exerted to install sustainable infrastructures such as road, electricity, water and bank to effectively realize the target. Furthermore, the ministry will carry out various activities in collaboration with stakeholders to expand and diversify manufacture industries at large.