Ethiopia Plans Export Hubs With $10 Billion Factory Parks

Ethiopia is targeting $1 billion of annual investment in industrial parks over the next decade to boost exports and make it Africa’s top manufacturer, a special adviser to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said.

The government may invest half of the $10 billion needed for zones across the country that will house textile, leather, agro-processing and other labor-intensive factories, Arkebe Oqubay said in an interview in the capital, Addis Ababa. The International Finance Corp., the World Bank’s private lending arm, along with Chinese and European lenders and private-equity funds are interested in projects, he said.