The considerable rise in Ethiopia's textile exports over the past ten months has failed to meet expectations, according to Fekadu Ethiopia, Corporate Communications Expert at Textile Industry Development Institute (TIDI).
Growing at a year-on-year rate of 50 percent, the country's textile exports jumped to US$ 71 million during the period, but still kept below the targeted US$ 136.3 million.
Garment exports constituted 75.1 percent of all Ethiopian textile exports during the period, while fabrics constituted 10.7 percent, yarns nine percent and woven crafts 5.2 percent.
The main reason for the textile sector failing to meet the expected overseas sales is because the textile projects that were slated to go operational in the current fiscal got delayed.
According to TIDI, eight projects, including five new ones and three expansion projects for production of yarn, finished, woven and knitted fabrics, T- shirts, etc., are likely to go operational by end of the current fiscal, that is, by July 8, 2012.
The total outlay for the eight projects is over 4.4 billion birr, of which 3.4 billion birr have been allocated for the five new projects that are expected to generate over 3,000 new job opportunities. The other three expansion projects involving an investment of over one billion birr are expected to generate 1,800 new jobs.
Textile firms from Ethiopia, Turkey, India and Pakistan are operating a majority of plants in Ethiopia, either individually or in partnership with the Ethiopian Government.
One of these eight projects developed in the Alem Gena town with an outlay of about 387 million birr, as a joint venture between Turkish firm, Saygin Dima Textile Share Company, a subsidiary of Saygin Group and the Ethiopian Government, has been recently commissioned with a staff of 1,000 people.
Mr. Fekadu said they foresee a considerable rise in textile production and earnings once Selen Dawa Textile Share Company, the 1.1 billion birr joint venture between the Ethiopian Government and Turkish private joint venture firm, goes operational next month.
Other small projects that are expected to go operational in near future include domestically managed Tihut Knitting and Garment factory; Mahiveri Textile industries, a venture of an Indian textile conglomerate; and Pakistani venture – AI-ASR industries, with a daily production capacity of 15 tons of woven fabrics and 24 tons of finished garments.
The Ethiopian Government has set the target of setting up 46 additional projects by the time its Growth and Transformation Plan concludes in 2015. This would contribute to the sector's target of achieving a US$ 2.5 billion mark in revenues through 2015.
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India
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