2merkato

Ethiopia plans to export 206 million dollars worth of leather products in the current fiscal year.

That is almost double the income the country received last year, when it made 104.1 million dollars from leather.

The Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) is going to make 54,000 pairs of shoes a day, up by 35,000 pairs than its current production.

Ethiopia achieved 73 percent of its target from the export of leather in the fiscal year to 8 July 2011, Wondu Legesse, director general of the institute, said.

Production to start in 2014

Lalibela Cement Factory, which is currently selling shares, is planning to start construction in June 2012 in Dejen, on 3,000 hectares of land.

The factory will produce 1.2 million tonnes of Ordinary Portland Cement and Portland Pozzolana Cement annually when it begins fully fledged production in 2014.

Razia Agro Industry, an Indian company, is going to set up a sugar mill in the east Wollega zone of the Oromia Regional State.

According to an official of Razia, the company has acquired 4,000 hectares of land for sugarcane plantation and the construction of the mill. The official said that the company had already started clearing the land for developing the sugarcane farm.

The Bahir Dar Textile Factory is undergoing a 500 million birr renovation which is expected to enable it to produce three times as much as it currently does and make it competitive in international market, Abay Melaku, general manager of the factory, said.

Dangote is planning to build factories and import terminals in Ethiopia

Dangote, Nigeria's biggest cement producer, is set to start setting up a 400 million dollar cement factory in Zambia this month, Felix Mutati, Zambia's commerce, trade and industry minister said on Monday.