ADDIS ABABA – The newly established Ethio-Sugar Manufacturing Industry Share Company yesterday announced that it is selling its share to fully start its work in short period of time.
Company General Manager Bitew Alemu said that at this time the company is selling its shares across six banks, including Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, to accelerate the selling process. So far, communities living around Wonji and Metehara areas have bought 800 million birr share, while the company have sold 120 million Birr worth of its share to people living in other parts of the country. Other big industries are also showing interest in buying and entering in the share, he added.
“And once operational, the company is expected to bring even more benefit to local farmers, Wonji and Metehara sugar factory workers, and the Ethiopian community in general.” Soon the company will carry out conference and a tour to introduce itself to the Ethiopian Diaspora community, who reside in US, Europe and South Africa, in a bid to promote the company and ensure their participation in the company share, he noted.
Various data show that the annual average sugar consumption per person in Ethiopia is 8 kilograms, which is expected to grow to 21 kilograms in 2035. And Bitew believes that when the company start to produce fully, the current highly sugar demand will be balanced, and the country’s dependency on sugar import will be diminished.
On his part, Engineer Lemma Gurmu, Company President, said sugar is a profitable item, and Ethiopia can get high foreign currency from the sector by selling it to the horn of Africa and Middle East countries since there is a demand for sugar in those areas.
The Ethiopian Herald, September 4/2019
BY MISGANAW ASNAKE
