Dessie is committed to providing a good environment for investment. It is the main trading city in Northeast Ethiopia. Goods come directly via Djibouti or from other parts of Ethiopia and are transported throughout the country. The city provides a network of trading and good facilities. Dessie processes hides and skins and high-quality spring water is also produced.
Solomon Alemu Head of Dessie City Industry and Investment Department told The Ethiopian Herald that the investment activity in the city particularly 2018 was better than 2019.
As to him, in 2019 it was planned to issue 40 investment licenses in six months and 58 investment projects have been licensed in the city. In 2020, it was also planned to issue 55 investment licenses in 6 months, and 52 licenses have been issued. Licenses were given in the areas of agriculture, industry, hotel and tourism, real estate commerce and social services. The 2020 performance is less than 2019. The reason is that the licensed investors in 2020 had problems with infrastructure and were not able to get to work soon because of inherited problems from 2019.
An investment is measured by the number of job opportunities it can be creating for citizens. Thus, it was planned to create employment opportunities for 5,000 citizens in 6 months of 2019 and has created job opportunities for 7,439 citizens. In the first 6 months of 2020 it was planned to create job opportunities for 3,656 citizens, it has been possible to create employment opportunities for 4,607 citizens. Similarly, it was planned to generate 1 billion Birr in the first six months of the project by 2019, the total amount of capital invested is 1.59 billion Birr. And in 2020, 1.36 billion Birr is invested, he said.
Investment flow has decreased due to lack of infrastructure, such as the lack of cultivated land (inadequate infrastructure), lack of electricity, roads and water.
Dessie City Industry and Investment Department is working to solve the scarcity of electricity supply for investment purpose. The City Administration has formed a Committee -led team to go to Addis Ababa and talk with the Ethiopian Electric Utility. Following the discussion, the Ethiopian Electric Utility gave green light for Dessie town to use all the power available in the area which is made ready to be utilized by investment.
He said that the other one is to solve the challenges the City Administration is trying to build a mobile substation (temporarily adding some transformers and to solving the existing challenges of electricity) and is working to provide a permanent place for the building of electricity warehouse to solve the electricity supply problem for the investors who want to invest in the area.
And the City Administration is working to create more favorable conditions for investment by identifying land that can be used for investment in urban areas and removing landowners from their possession by offering compensation.
To alleviate the problem of land supply, the City Administration is developing a new structural plan. Thus, land problems will be resolved soon, given the wide range of land from rural to urban. And when the plan is finalized, investors in the area, especially dairy farms, and agro-processing companies will be successful if they take advantage of the opportunity, he noted.
Although Dessie is peaceful and stable, the lack of peace and stability at the national level has affected the city’s investment flow in some extent. But still now, investors are coming to invest from different areas, such as Addis Ababa and other areas.
In the city, there are opportunities to invest because the area has untapped mineral resources, especially iron ore; so if the investors are engaged in this sector, they can be successful. And there are helpful environment in the City such as peace and it has a young and trainable labor force and supportive government policy that facilitates labor sourcing for industries.
While noting another good opportunity, he stated that the city is closer to port Djibouti which is 515 kilometers far from the capital of Amhara. Port Djibouti is the main gate for exporting and importing goods. And there are many convenient activities in the area, such as Wollo University and Kombolcha Institute of Technology. In Kombolcha there is also an industrial park. These presences will help the entire industry to serve as feeder by strengthening relationships with manufacturers and raw materials suppliers.
The Ethiopian Herald May 12/2020
BY ESSEYE MENGISTE
