Ethiopian govt sells 60% stake in textile mill to Saygin

07 Nov '14

2 min read

The Ethiopian Government has sold 60 percent of its shares in the Saygin Dima Textile Factory to its Turkish private sector partner company Saygin, Addis Fortune reported.

The Ethiopian Government owned 60 percent shares of the company, while Saygin owned the remaining 40 percent. The Turkish company will pay 563 million Br over five years for 90 percent of the value of the Ethiopian Government’s share, according to reports.

Saygin has paid 10 percent as down payment for the Ethiopian Government’s share of 626.36 million Br, said Wondafrash Assefa, public relations officer of the Privatization & Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA).

Saygin Dima became operational in January 2011, in Sebeta, 24 km southwest of Addis Ababa. The company employs about 600 Ethiopians at its plant, which spins, weaves and dyes natural and synthetic fibers. The production capacity of Saygin Dima is 30 tons of yarn, 40,000 metres of fiber and 50,000 metres of finished fiber daily, but the factory is currently only operating at 30 percent of its capacity.

PPESA established the textile factory in partnership with Turkish investors in 2009, with a capital of 78.5 million dollars.

As of January 2014, sixteen textile companies from Turkey have obtained licenses for textile manufacturing in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Government was expecting export revenue from the textile industry of 350 million dollars in 2013-14, but actually generated only 133 million dollars due to the poor supply of cotton. Hence, the Ethiopian Government has recently established the Ethiopian Industrial Inputs Development Enterprise (EIIDE), which will supply inputs to the manufacturing sector through local production or by national and international procurement. (GK)

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