Couple of days ago, the world class Hawassa Industrial Park officially went operational in the presence of Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn and senior government officials, investors and the diplomatic community. The cornerstone was also laid the second phase of the construction of the park.
As the industrial park is second to none for industrialization, Ethiopia has been taking all the measures to turn the levers for the realization of its set goal of becoming the low middle income country by 2025.
Vividly, the second Growth and Transformation Plan outlined the priorities, the promotion and expansion of industries with the special emphasis on manufacturing industry is a centerpiece for the plan.
Among the several strategic interventions to boost the role and contribution of the manufacturing sector to the national growth is the development of industrial parks .
The ongoing development of Industrial parks is expected to be an engine of rapid industrialization that nurture manufacturing industries, accelerate economic transformation, promote and attract both domestic and foreign investors.
Currently, the construction of 15 industrial parks is underway in areas identified as potential spots in different parts of the country.
The factories in the park have a convenient plug-and-play environment with access to all necessary infrastructure including power, telecm, water etc. In addition, one stop shop services are established inside the park to facilitate the provision of multiple government services to tenants. It has additional area allocated for shared facilities such as dormitory and commercial buildings for the use of shopping centers, health clinics and banking services.
The park is a show case for Ethiopia’s commitment to promote and consistent with green economy development as it has a water and waste treatment plant which uses the latest technology for treating and recycling the water. Agreement has been signed to install similar Zero Liquid Discharge solution in the industrial parks being developed across the country.
With its complex infrastructure, this world-class park which is the largest specialized apparel and textile park has successfully attracted global leading apparel and textile companies in its first phase construction.
The park has accommodated leading foreign garment manufacturing companies from China, US , India, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and South Korea. Many more companies are expected to march in the park.
Some 18 companies have already started production and commenced exporting their products to foreign markets anticipating the revenue earned from the textile sector that was not exceeded from 110 US million dollars to one billion USD in two years time.
Attaching the importance of the inclusion of domestic industrialists into the park, government has designated 25- 30 percent of factory shed and space in all parks will be secured for domestic investors which will be selected based on their ability to maximize the opportunity of manufacturing in the park.
This is in fact would help the country to sustain the industrialization process as the domestic industrialists will benefit immensely operating with the world-class manufacturers for technological and management knowhow transfer.
Of the merits for the industry sector is being labor intensive. As a country where there is excessive and cheap labor force the industrial parks are ideal to create and absorb thousands of jobs seekers. So far the Hawassa Industrial park created 10,000 jobs.
The construction of Kombolcha and Mekelle industrial parks is nearing completion while the Dire Dawa, Adama and other parks are well underway as per their schedule.
The construction of Industrial parks is whetting foreign investors and counties. The Chinese Hunan province investors have reached an agreement to engage in Adama Industrial park. Similarly, the Japanese companies have also signed agreement for the development and management of Bole Lemi II Industrial Park.
It is real time for the country to lay the foundation for the fast track industrialization envisioning being the hub of light manufacturing industries in Africa. Certainly, the development of a thriving and growing industrial sector, increasing manufacturing jobs as well as exports is essential and progressing positively to achieve the structural transformation agenda.
As the industrial parks are crucial component of Ethiopia’s drive for growth and transformation, the development of a vibrant manufacturing in particular and the industry in general should integrate the viable lesson for similar parks under construction in different part of the country.
Though scaling up the best practices of the Hawassa Industrial Park development for designing , developing and managing integrated eco-industrial parks across the country is instrumental , addressing observed gaps would be more essential to attract potential foreign companies.