USD – Habesha Yellow Pages

Shoe Exporter Huajian Planning a Huge Expansion in Ethiopia

Huajian, one of the largest shoe exporters in China, is planning a multi-million-dollar factory expansion in Ethiopia to benefit from preferential trade tariffs and lower labor costs.

The company, which makes women shoes for global brands such as, Tommy Hilfiger, Guess, Naturalizer, Clarkes and others opened its factory at a purpose-built industrial zone on the outskirts of Addis Ababa a year ago.

The company has launched new line of injection-molded shoes several hundred more workers to the 1,750 Huajian already employs in Ethiopia, where the leather industry is well established, but unemployment is rife.

Huajian has also signed an agreement with the China Africa Development Fund, a private equity fund owned by China Development Bank, to invest jointly USD 2 billion over 10 years in developing manufacturing clusters focused on shoe-making in Ethiopia, Helen Hai, manager who runs the company's plant in Ethiopi…

Brazilian Development Bank to Provide USD1 Billion for Ethiopian Railway Project

The Brazilian Development Bank will extend USD 1 billion in funding to construct a portion of the railway project that will connect Ethiopia and South Sudan, an Ethiopian Foreign Ministry official said.

Brazil's Andrade Gutierrez Participacoes SA will be contracted to build the railway link running from Addis Ababa, to Jimma about 439 kM to the southwest, Taye Atskeselassie, director general for the Americas at the ministry, said in an interview on May 24.

The Brazilian Development bank “is willing to finance the project,” he said after Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn met Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff. “The technical side has been finalized, it’s only the financing part; it’s a matter of the details.” Construction will begin “soon,” he said.

EXIM Bank of China concluded a loan agreement worth nearly USD 3 billion for a railway project extending from Addis Ababa to the port of Doraleh in Dji…

Karuturi Global to Borrow from Sovereign Fund for its Ethiopian Investment

Indian based Karuturi Global Ltd., the world's largest rose grower, sold its firs produce from its plantation in Ethiopia. The company is also going to solicit funding from sovereign wealth fund for further investment in East Africa. Karuturi has produced more that 20,000 metric tons of corn in the last quarter of 2012 that sold for USD 6.5 million in Ethiopia, Sai Ramakrishna Karuturi, Managing Director told Bloomberg. The harvest from its plantation in western Ethiopia, showed the project was “not a disaster” after floods destroyed a 60,000- ton corn crop in September 2011, he said.

The company has already secure loan from unidentified fund and the money will be advanced by the end of April and invested in Ethiopian projects as well as Kenyan flower farms, according to Karuturi.

The project to grow and process crops including cereals, sugar, palm oil and vegetables has “good support” from senior Ethiopian officials, Karuturi said. The leasing of an …

Ethiopia’s Aquarius Aviation to Buy Two Cessna Aircrafts

Ethiopia's Aquarius Aviation PLC concluded contract with the American Cessna Aircraft Company, to purchase two Cessna Caravan airplanes for USD 3.2. The planes which have a 39 seat-capacity are expected to be delivered within a year.

When the agreement is finalized in the coming month, Aquarius will be expected to pay 30 percent upfront, according to Frehiwot Tessema, general manager of Aquarius Aviation.

Aquarius, previously known as Aberdair, changed its name after confusion was created in the market, with people mistaking it for the Kenyan ‘Aberdair Ltd'.

“Some people thought it was a branch of the Kenyan company and Aberdair Ltd also tried to take advantage of this, by claiming that we were their branch,” added Frehiwot.

Currently, Aquarius has four chartered airplanes with up 16 seat capacity for its domestic flight services. Three of its airplanes are currently under contract for one year by differ…