Industry Minister Stresses Need for Coordination to Achieve Manufacturing Targets

Addis Ababa January 14/2022 /ENA/ Industry Minister Melaku Alebel stressed the need for coordination among the Ethiopian Diaspora, government and private investors to achieve the manufacturing targets to be achieved in the coming 10 years.

The ministry has organized today a Diaspora engagement promotion event on manufacturing sector that includes extensive sector briefing, investment opportunities, Business-To-Business discussions, testimonies and product showcase.

The minister on the occasion said the plan to reach 10 billion USD export earnings from export of manufactured products and create 5 million direct jobs in the coming 10 years cannot be achieved separately.

 “This cannot be achieved by domestic investors, the government, or the Ethiopian Diaspora alone. It requires the coordination of all.”

According to him, the country owes huge potential resources vital for development, but is unable to use them mainly due to lack of knowledge, technology and coordination.

“The main aim of today’s discussion is to explain about the investment opportunities in the manufacturing in order to encourage the Diaspora to participate in the development of the country. So, by filling the existing gaps in the sector, the Diaspora will bring benefit to the country and themselves. Domestic investors can also see the knowledge and opportunity abroad and strengthen business partnership.”  

The discussion gives information on opportunities in textile, leather, and agro industry, chemical, and other sectors.

It also provides opportunity to understand the task expected from Diaspora, government and domestic investors, and take practical lesson from investors on the ground, he added.

Accordingly, experts from manufacturing have presented various investment options for the Diaspora, including on cotton, textile and apparel, agro processing and leather sectors.

“It’s a country with many opportunities, but we didn’t go long way in this sector. Our agriculture sector is way behind, needs more work, our production system, input use and productivity; this needs knowledge, this needs manufacturing industrial intervention,” Melaku underscored.

 “Our manufacturing export is low. Our trade balance shows about 13 billion USD deficit,” he pointed out, adding that manufactured products only cover 13 percent of export.

However, "our country has huge animal, mines, land, water resources, and big population. But we are lagging behind in using these resources, by manufacturing, exporting to the markets. This limitation is due to lack of knowledge and technology utilization.”

The government of Ethiopia is implementing a development plan in order to drastically improve the manufacturing sector so as to obtain 10 billion USD and narrow the trade balance over the coming ten years by properly utilizing the available resources.  

However, Melaku stressed the need for enhanced coordination among the pertinent actors including the Diaspora, government and private investors to achieve the stated target.