Chinese firm Wuxi No. 1 Cotton Mill will build a textile plant in Dire Dawa Industrial Park (DDIP) in eastern Ethiopia, investing $220 million. A cornerstone-laying ceremony was held recently for the plant, which will take 30 months to build and is expected to employ 3,000. The park is now being constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation.
The plant’s foundation stone laying ceremony was held in the presence of Liu Yu, economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia and Ibrahim Usman, mayor of Dire Dawa city administration, according to a Chinese news agency report.

The company, part of the Guolian Development Group and one of the largest textile manufacturers in China, had last year signed an investment agreement with the Ethiopian Government to establish an integrated textile plant in the country.
Wuxi will invest in a spinning plant and a large scale integrated fabric mill, with production targeted at export markets. DDIP, currently being built at a cost of $159 million on 159 hectares of land, is expected to attract industries specialising in textile, apparel and agro-processing. The Ethiopian Government is financing the construction of the industrial park.

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