Turkey-Ethiopia joint venture opens new cable plant

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia

A Turkey-Ethiopia joint cable manufacturer on Thursday inaugurated a state-of-the-art production facility to boost their annual production capacity threefold.

The Euro Cable joint venture manufacturing plant, established by Turkish cable producer Demes Cable and Ethiopia’s Glorious Company, is located in the town of Gelan, 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian officials and Turkish Ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union Yaprak Alp attended the inauguration ceremony.

Said Ibrahim, the company’s manager, said that $40 million was invested in the new plant and construction of the 10,000 square meter facility.

“We used to produce 4,000 tons of different types of cables for the local market annually, but now our annual production capacity is about 12,000 tons,” he said, adding that the new plant will help them to produce high-voltage electric cables and data cables.

Teka Gebreyes, Ethiopia’s deputy trade minister, said that Euro Cable has demonstrated an enduring and growing partnership of Ethiopian and Turkish investors.

“The joint venture has survived challenges and transformed itself to a state-of-the-art facility,” he said, adding: “The Ethiopian government will support its operations.”

The Turkish ambassador, for her part, said that Euro Cable represents “yet another strong block of Ethio-Turkish relations.''

“Turkish companies invest in Ethiopia because they believe in the strength and future of Ethiopia, this is why we help and motivate them,” she added.

Another Turkish cable manufacturer, BMET, which produces multi-purpose high voltage electric cable and data wires, has been huge in the Ethiopian cable market.

In addition to the booming construction sector, Ethiopia plans to construct 9,000 km of electric distribution lines and 19,000 km of transmission lines within 15 years.

Euro Cable was established in 2007 and has 300 regular staff.