PRODUCE COTTON IN ETHIOPIA

FOR A
FOR A BL
BL O
OOO MING
MING TEXTILE
TEXTILE INDUSTRY
INDUSTRY
WHY INVEST IN ETHIOPIA?
Vision 2025: Making Ethiopia the leading manufacturing hub in Africa
Growing economy, abundant & competitive labor force, proximity & access to
global markets
Fastest growing economy:
Annual GDP growth rate of 11% for the last 12 years
Africa’s 2nd most populous country:
Close to 100 million & growing at 2.3 million annually
Active labor force of more than 45 million
Geographic & market access advantages:
Proximity to EU, USA, Middle East & Asia
Duty-free market access to USA & EU through AGOA & EBA
Preferential duty treatment to markets such as China, India, Japan, Canada, &
Australia
Competitive infrastructure & skills development
New electric-driven railway: 4-12 hours from industrial parks to Djibouti port
Africa’s aviation hub: Ethiopian Airlines serving 93 international destinations
Current electricity rate at 3 US cents/kwh: one of the lowest in the world
Trainable workforce with competitive wage
More than 50 Universities with ½ million student population, and >1,300 technical & vocational
education and training schools with annual intake of 1 million students
Emerging manufacturing hub in Africa
State-of-the art industrial parks that focus on textile and apparel
Attracted leading global players in textile and apparel

Cotton Production
Affordable & competitive labor force
Production potential: 3 million hectares of land suitable for cotton production
Investment Opportunities: Commercial cotton production, spinning, weaving, etc.
SOMALI REGIONAL STATE- SITTI ZONE
Cotton Plantation Project in Shinile Area
Somali Regional State has a total land mass of 32 million hectares out of which 19%
(6 million hectares) is arable land
It is the 2nd largest prospective cotton production region in Ethiopia
Location: the region is located in the East & South-East of Ethiopia and shares borders with
Somalia, Kenya, and Djibouti
Population: 4.7 million in Somali Region and 457, 086 in Sitti Zone. Out of the total
population more than 50% is active labor force
Resource: ample arable land, abundant ground water, and livestock
o Land: 267, 680 hectares of flat land convenient for mechanized farming
o Location of land: in 3 districts in Sitti Zone, i.e., Shinile (132, 254 hectares of land),
Hadigala (89,223 hectares of land), and Erer (51, 910 hectares of land)
o Ground water: 637 million m3/y ground water that could be put to use for irrigation of
cotton farms without any storage mechanism/ reservoir
Climate:
o Agro- climate: warm –to- hot, arid agro-climatic zone; suitable for cotton
o Temperature: ranges from 25 to 27.50C
o Soil: very deep soil (>150 cm); dominantly dark-brown, light- to- yellowish-brown;
Eutric- fluvisol alluvial deposits and moderately drained
Infrastructure & services:
o Road & railway: road & railway from Addis Ababa to Djibouti passes through
proposed cotton production area in Sitti Zone
o Proximity to port : 315 kms to Port of Djibouti
o Airport: 15 kms to Dire Dawa International Airport (up to four flights daily to Addis
Ababa )
o Electricity & telecommunication: access to electricity & telecommunication

Hawassa Eco-Industrial Park

Largest Textile & Apparel Park in Africa
 EIC/Ref. no. 01/2017

Tel: +251 (0) 115 510031

Fax: +251 (0) 115 514396
Email: ethioinvest@investethiopia.gov.et
Web: www.investethiopia.gov.et

Ministry of Industry Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute Industrial Parks Development Corporation
Tel: +251 (0) 115 507542 Tel: +251 (0) 114 394999/+251 (0) 114 395003/5019 Tel: +251 (0) 116 616674/+251 (0) 116 616986
Web: www.moin.gov.et Web: www.tidi.gov.et Web: www.ipdc.gov.et