Before the Moroccan leader, King Mohamed VI, arrived in Addis Ababa on Friday for his first official visit to Ethiopia, the Ethiopian government offered the Moroccan business delegation a plot of land to build an industrial park in Ethiopia.
Over 40 business delegation from Rabat converged in Addis Ababa where they have held business and investment cooperation meetings with their Ethiopian counterparts.
During a discussion held at Sheraton Addis, Director General of the Ethiopian Investment Commission, Fitsum Arega, presented investment opportunities for the Moroccan delegation whereby they were offered a potential area for the construction of an industrial park, which will be populated by Moroccan investors.
Fitsum also told them that the government will provide them other support, facility and incentives if they would engage in building their own industry park. In addition, Ethiopian government officials and other from the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association briefed the delegation on key investment areas in Ethiopia such as agriculture, tourism and manufacturing sectors.
Fitsum also briefed investors on the opportunities Ethiopia offers especially on the light manufacturing sector which includes Leather and Leather Products, Textile and Clothing, Metals and Engineering and Meat and Milk Processing. Apart from that, he also told the delegation that Ethiopia is also a leading country in investment in the energy sector.
Meriem Benasalah Chaqroun, President of Moroccan Chamber of Commerce, on her part, shared the Moroccan experience whereby She called on Ethiopians to engage in investment opportunities in Morocco as well. Particularly, She briefed Ethiopian business on Housing, Industrialization, Tourism, Energy, Mining and Agro Processing, business areas where the Moroccans have had success in past decade.
The two countries chambers of commerce have already agreed on a Memorandum of Understandings (MoU) to cooperate on four areas including chamber to chamber, flower development, food and beverage and industrial park building.
The MoU is expected to be signed today in the presence of the leaders of the two countries.
This is the first time a Moroccan leader visited Addis Ababa since 1984, following Morocco’s withdrawal from the Organization of African Unity.
Earlier reports from Casablanca indicated that the two governments announced that they will partner up with OCP, the Moroccan world leader in the phosphate industry, in a joint USD 2.5 billion venture aiming to build a fertilizer plant in East Ethiopia.
It was also reported that the factory will be built in the Shinile Zone of the Somali Regional State, in the eastern part of Ethiopia.
The factory will be built over 100 hectares and is expected to produce 1.5 million tons of fertilizer.
Also, 60 percent financing will be provided by bank loans while the remainder will be covered by the OCP and the Ethiopian government.
