BY BACHA ZEWDIE
The establishment of industrial parks in different parts of the country is significantly contributing to job creation, better export performance and hence the generation of foreign exchange, which are the main objectives of the parks in the first place.
It has been six years since the government started to establish industrial development parks with the goal of reinforcing industrialization and while at the same time creating jobs for citizens and forex for the economy. During this period, 13 large industrial parks have been constructed, ten of which are found in Bole Lemi, Hawassa, Adama, Jimma, Bahir Dar, Dire Dawa, Debre Berhan, Kombolcha and Mekelle. An additional industrial park is also under construction in Semera, Afar State. The parks focus on textiles, clothing and apparel, and 65 percent of the 70 investors involved in the business are foreigners.
Behailu Kebede, Head of Marketing and Communication Department Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) said one of the major tasks of the corporation is to identify the land that is utilized to establish the industrial parks and park developments by having discussions with administrators of regional states. “We this, we have facilitated the establishment of banks in different areas.”
What the corporation does is, as to Behailu, is that it will build industrial parks and lease them to investors. The textile, garment and sewing sectors have received a lot of emphasis in this regard. “The textile, apparel, and sewing industries also generate foreign exchange as their products are exportable. Currently, ten of the 13 parks are fully operational and exporting their products to the international market.”
Following the first diagnosis of COVID-19 in Ethiopia, the economy, particularly the export sector felt the impact significantly as many countries closed their doors fearing the spread of the outbreak. But 10 of Ethiopia’s industrial parks managed to withstand the time’s difficulties by shifting their production focus to facemasks. So far, more than 22 million mouth and nose masks have been produced and supplied to local and foreign markets.
The industrial parks played an indispensable role in boosting domestic capacity to prevent the spread of the pandemic. In particular, it has helped overcome the obstacles posed by the pandemic in importing masks and minimize the anxiety and panic among the public. These activities have helped the companies to be able to pay the salary of their employees during a time when many economic activities were shut down.
The parks are currently under contract to supply and distribute more than 50 million mouth and nose masks to schools throughout the country. The parks have so far been successful in achieving its main targets of job creation and hard currency generation. In fact, they have so far generated more than 500 million USD. In addition, parks that went fully operational in the past six years have created job opportunities for 89,000 people of which 90 percent are women.
While Bole Lemi Industrial Park was the first to be established, Hawassa Industrial Park is the largest in size. The construction is equipped with a technology that prevents pollution of the nearby Lake Hawassa and the overall social and natural environment. Completed in a short period of time, this huge industrial park with 52 production shades, is a model for other parks.
The park has met the requirements of the government in terms of environmental protection, green development, environmental development and convenience. For example, parks should not disturb the environment in any way. In this regard, Hawassa Industrial Park is associated with sewage disposal technology. The technology can filter the waste from all those productive investors and reuse it for other uses. The technology is new not only for the parks but also for the whole country.
This is also the case for other parks such as Adama and others. Adama Industrial Park has 19 production shades. There are different manufacturers in both parks and there are more than 20 international brand investors in Hawassa. In Adama, the giant ANTEX Textile PLC is producing in 10 shades.
According to the official, the government will provide the entire park to an investor if he/she has to will to own it all. In this regard, there is a possibility that one owner could own the entire park, as in Bahir Dar and Jimma.
There are ample opportunities, especially for investors who want to engage in textiles, clothing and sewing. Provision of loans, tax exemption and duty-free machinery import are among the privileges that the investors access. There are also many incentives for local investors to invest in the parks. However, due to lack of experience in the sector, so far, the participation of local investors in the parks is very limited.
Countries in the Far East and India are well-known in the textile, clothing, and sewing industries. In the case of Ethiopia, while there are industries for domestic consumption, the potential to create garments for export is limited. No investor can compete internationally. To change this, promotion work is well underway to encourage local investors to join the parks in great number, aiming to produce export standard products.
Four private investors including Kingdom in Adama and Sun Shine in Kombolcha, using the infrastructure provided by the IPDC, have built their own parks without the need to purchase parks. As to Behailu, this is a good move that should be encouraged. On the government’s side, priority will also be given to facilitating infrastructure. It is also important to work on the supply of inputs for the parks.
Cotton is a major input to produce apparel and textiles. There must be plenty of cotton inputs that are competitive in quality and meet international standards. Currently, there is a favorable climate to produce cotton in many parts of the country and research-based activities have been undertaken to utilize the potential. The industrial parks will have a sustainable supply in terms of cotton as an input if the plan is put into action.
However, currently, the companies in the parks are importing cotton from other countries. According to Hailu, in terms of sustainability, this is not good news and the efforts to produce standardized cotton locally have to be intensified.
According to the official, though there is no indication that the government will no longer build parks, it seems that it will give much attention to undertaking expansion works on the already established parks. In addition, government-owned parks will be used as a model to encourage local investors to invest in the establishment of private industrial parks. IDPC, in consultation with state and city administrations, provide resources for this.
Meron Debele, a young woman who works at Hawassa Industrial Park said: “I have never experienced resources shortage in the park.” However, there were fears among the workers that they would lose their job due to the lockdown following the COVID-19 outbreak.
Yet, the decision to engage in the production of masks has resolved the concern and park authorities quickly took advantage of the situation. This is a good opportunity, especially for women employees who are in large number in the park, having multiple responsibilities.
Nuria Habib, another worker in the park said that most of the park’s staffs are women, perhaps because investors in the field think they are more productive. International experiences also show that women are the most productive and successful in this field.
Personally, she thinks that since most of the unemployed people in the country are women, she is happy to have the job opportunity as a woman.
The young Fakiya Hussein is also working in the same park, hired in a company engaged in the production of mouth and nose mask. She said the industrial park has created job opportunities for the local youth and young people from other parts. For instance, while Fakiya is from Shashamane and her co-worker is from Assela.
“I hope that the parks will be expanded in all regions and areas of the country to create more job opportunities for the unemployed in all areas,” she said adding it is important to remember that moving from one area to another strengthens social interaction.
The Ethiopian Herald December 9/2020
