The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise (ESLSE) disclosed that the Dire Dawa Dry Port is slated to go into operation in January 2022.
Roba Megeresa, CEO of ESLSE, told The Reporter that the construction took over two billion birr and was completed on schedule.
The Enterprise also disclosed of two freight warehouses it financed near Mojo Dry Port at a cost of over 98 million birr, which have been completed and are ready to handle bulk cargoes beginning this December.
The warehouses will mainly stock imported fertilizer before it is distributed to farmers. Each warehouse rests on an area of 1,600 meters square and can store 100,000 quintals of bulk cargoes such as soil fertilizers.
According to Roba, Dire Dawa dry port is unique in its kind and capacity in Africa.
The Enterprise has built the project on 34 hectares of land allocated by the Dire Dawa City Administration. The project involved the construction of a terminal, warehouse, a three-storey building, offices, railway lines, and other facilities.
The project construction, which started in March 2020, was undertaken by OVID Construction, a local contractor with exemplary project performance.
“There is shortage of warehouses with a capacity of handling huge cargos in Ethiopia. This has made it difficult for cargo vehicles to move cargo fast. Due to the lack of warehouses, heavy trucks have to move from the port to the central warehouse to unload cargo,” said Roba.
During the current fiscal year, more than 50 million quintals of cargo will be procured, including wheat, sugar, and fertilizer. He said that there is a shortage of vehicles in the country to fill these gaps. He added the warehouses built near the Mojo dry port will play an important role in handling and curbing such interruptions.
The enterprise has planned to construct new warehouses in various parts of the country in collaboration with private and foreign investors. It has also completed a feasibility study for the construction of a dry port in Jimma. Preparations are underway to hand over the land. The construction of large warehouses is expected to be one of the main works in the dry port.
