• Over 1,600 local investors licensed
ADDIS ABABA – Nineteen foreign companies with over Birr 414.18 million capital have invested in Tigray state in 2018/19, according to Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC).
EIC Communication Director Mekonnen Hailu told The Ethiopian Herald that of the foreign companies two have commenced production while 17 have just started implementation.
According to the report these investments have created 1,865 permanent and temporary jobs.
Most of the investors were engaged in the manufacturing sector mainly in Mekelle Industrial Park and the flow of investment to the region is boosting from the past years.
Meanwhile, 1,639 new local investors with over Birr 47 billion capital have got investment license by 2018/19 fiscal year following the reform, Tigray State Investment Commission disclosed.
Investment Promotion Senior Expert with the Commission, Leykun Berhanu told The Ethiopian Herald that 1,639 new local investors got new investment license in the state by 2018/19 fiscal year, of which 129 of them are female investors. The total capital of the investment is over Birr 47 billion.
According to the expert, most of the investors who got investment license are already engaged in the construction of factories and other preliminary stages. Adding that after the companies become operational, it is expected to create over 95,000 permanent and over 47,000 temporary job opportunities.
Manufacturing, agriculture, construction, service and mining sectors are the leading investment sectors respectively. He said that manufacturing sector takes the lion’s share were 922 which are 58 per cent of the newly registered investors are engaged to the manufacturing sector and takes Birr 41 billion of the registered capital, Leykun stated.
He said that availability of peace and stability in Tigray attracts more local and foreign investors than ever. In addition to peace and stability, bureaucracies and other service limitations to investors have been alleviated and created fast and modern services including providing land.
According to the expert, taking land for private purpose with the name of investment is a headache in the investment sector, hence the office gives due attention and a task force was established to follow the continuous works of the investors for proper utilization of land.
Leykun said that Tigray is suitable for investment and the state administration is open for any investor to provide land, support and other necessary provisions without any bureaucracy.
Leykun also noted that Mekelle City is selected for strategic investment for those investors investing in billions with the capacity of creating tens of thousands of job opportunities. Hence the State is distributing the investment to all towns and currently, Adi Gudom, Abiy Adi, Rama are becoming the centre of industrial zones.
The office is working jointly with all lower administrations to boost investment flow for 2019/20 fiscal year by improving its service, it was learnt.
The Ethiopian Herald August 24/2019
BY DARGIE KAHSAY
