Ethiopia Sugar Corporation has said it has signed agreements with the state-owned China Development Bank for US$500 million in loans to build two refineries. This is part of its plans to boost output almost tenfold by 2025.

The Ministry of Finance and Economy, together with Corporation, signed Memoranda of Understanding to finance the building of the refineries in the South Omo Zone, and in the Afar Regional State.

They will be built by the Metals and Engineering Corporation. Last year, Ethiopian Sugar started the construction of 10 plantations and factories with the goal of making the nation one of the world’s 10 biggest exporters of sugar by 2025.

The total coast of the building program will be “close to 100 billion Ethiopian birr ($US5.5 billion),” with about half required in foreign currency, according to Asfaw Dingamu, Ethiopian Sugar’s deputy director-general for its legal and communications department.

Ethiopian Sugar plans to provide about 40 percent of the cost through sales, with the rest of the funding coming from state funding and external lenders.

The aim is to increase production to 2.3 million metric tons by 2025.

The country produced 265,000 tons last year. The Corporation expects to employ a total of 100,000 workers on the six plantations being set up in South Omo.

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Source: Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) – Sept. 27, 2012. Originally titled “Ethiopia Sugar signs a US$500 Million deal with China’s Development Bank”.

Related: Profile: Ethiopian Sugar Corporation’s Projects.

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