Silea Agricultural Farm has been privatized by Ethiopia’s Ministry of Public Enterprise and transferred to the privately owned company Lucy Agriculture PLC. Silea is privatized for 59.7 million Birr and Lucy had first opportunity to overhaul the Enterprise before the Ministry floated an open bid.

However, the contract concluded between the Ministry and Lucy states the 59.7 million Birr was only a preliminary price and that there is a possibility for the contract value to increase after through audit.

The contract which was signed on May 9, 2016 stipulated advance payment of 21 million Birr has already been made by Lucy. The rest 38.8 million Birr will be paid in 5 years to which annual interest will be calculated. If Lucy fails to meet the set schedule it will be penalized with 1 percent rate.

In addition to this, if Lucy wishes to cancel the transfer, it will have to pay 30 percent of the money offered and clear all the farm’s liabilities.

According to Fortune, prior to deciding to transfer the whole farm, Silea was under the umbrella of Semien Omo Agricultural Farm Development Enterprise, which is composed of several farms.

Wondafrash Assefa, Communication Head of the Ministry, noted Abiyataand and other farms in the Semien Omo Farms will be transferred to private sector.

Lucy asked for the total transfer back in November 2015 to which the Ministry agreed.

According to Fortune, out of the total 1,200 hectares of land Lucy occupied, a little more than 500 hectares are covered with banana, mango and pineapple trees. The land has also been cultivated for cotton in the past 4 years.
Commenting on the development Lucy’s manager said the company would also engage in the manufacturing sector through backward and forward linkages.

It was 8 years ago Lucy established. It is co-owned by Luliea Kebede, local developer, and his children. The company, in addition to its newly purchased farm, occupies 1,500 hectares of land in Afar for farming purpose.

Source: Fortune