Ethiopia Privatised cement factory doubles production, to open new plant

Ethiopia Privatised cement factory doubles production, to open new plant
16 November 2007


After being privatised to a share company, the National Cement Factory has doubled production and works are underway to open another plant, according to the company’s representative.  
 
Found inefficient and bankrupt, the 70 year old company was put under the management of the Mugher Cement Factory, before its 80 percent share was finally sold out to the East Africa Group in February 2006, as per the country’s privatization policy.  
 
The Governmental maintains ownership of the remaining 20 per-cent.  
 
The representative said the factory can now produce to 5000 quintals per a day showing a 100 per-cent increase from its 2500 quintals of cement per a day capacity.  
 
He said the enhanced production was the result a full renovation made to the building and machineries of the old factory, including management.  
 
He said the company was now constructing another plant with an outlay of more than 700 million birr on a 40 hectors plot of land granted to it by the Dire Dawa Provisional Administration.  
 
Up on completion the new factory will have a production capacity of 35000 quintal per a day, thereby creating job opportunities for about 2000 persons.  
 
"Due to the renovation in all aspect of the factory, the factory now can produce 5000 quintals per a day," Wondwossen Eshete told The Daily Monitor. 
 
The Chinese Company called Chaoyang Heavy Machinery Group Import and Export limited Company installed the machineries, Wondwossen said.  
 
According to Wondwossen the factory also has increased its manpower from 300 to 350 since taking over of the company by the National Cement Share Company with 70 workers from the Chinese company to control the overall function of the new machineries.  
 
"The National Cement Factory together with the new one will play a pivotal role in balancing the current inflation of the price of Cement," Wondwossen said adding that the Share Company have plans to export cement to the neighboring countries such as Djibouti and Somalia  
Published under Cement News