Nation Plans to Boost Textile Export from 181 M USD to 250 This EFY

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Addis Ababa September 15/2022 (ENA)  Ethiopia aims to grow its textile export earnings from 181 million USD to 250 million USD this Ethiopian fiscal year (EFY), Industry Minister Melaku Alebel said.

In his opening remarks to the international conference on “Sustainable Textile Investment and Operation in Ethiopia,” the minister said more than 80,000 new jobs have been created in  industrial parks in the concluded Ethiopian budget year.

The two-day conference which opened today is organized by the triangular cooperation project of Ministry of Commerce of China, Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany, and Ministry of Industry.

Melaku stated in his speech that the textile and apparel industry has grown by 51 percent on average and over 65 international textile investment projects were licensed in 2020.

“Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector earned 500 million USD in the last Ethiopian fiscal year and the textile sub-sector contributed 181.4 million USD, which is 46.5 percent of the manufacturing earnings. This Ethiopian fiscal year (2022/23), we aim to grow this contribution of the manufacturing industry export earning to 538 million USD with the textile contributing 250 million USD.”

According to him, import substitution has been identified as a priority last Ethiopian fiscal year and successful achievement was registered in producing military uniform locally as part of the “Let Ethiopia Produce” project.

China's Ambassador to Ethiopia, Zhao Zhiyuan said on his part that Ethiopia has in recent years witnessed economic growth, including in textile industry.

The foundation for the development of Ethiopia’s textile sector has been further consolidated,  “but we know the potential is still huge,” he noted.

With a population of over 100 million people, Ethiopia enjoys prominent demographic advantage as typical labor intensive industry, the ambassador added.

“So far, China is one of the biggest investors for the textile sector in Ethiopia, with a total of about 450 million USD. We have over 30 Chinese textile companies in Ethiopia and in the first 7 months of this year alone, we have invested more than 5.8 million USD, accounting for almost 45 percent of Ethiopia’s total FDI in textile sector.”  

Germany's Deputy Head of Mission to Ethiopia, Heiko Nitzschke said his country's support to the Africa Sourcing Fashion Week in Addis Ababa promoted Ethiopia as a sustainable textile hub in Africa.

“The triangular project has assessed current environmental, social and governance practices in the sector. Based on the study, 50 local and 15 Chinese companies staff was extensively trained on water, energy and chemical management, pollution prevention, human rights and labor law, grievance handling, prevention of discrimination and collective bargaining practices.”

Ethiopian News Agency
2023