The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has extended the bid submission date for the privatization of 8 state-owned sugar enterprises to October 5, 2023, from the original submission date which was August 3, 2023.

The extension came in response to requests from potential bidders who needed more time to complete their assessments. All other details and instructions to the Request for Proposals remain unchanged.

The Ethiopian Government issued an international tender in August last year to transfer the ownership of eight sugar factories to private investors. The factories that were open for auction were Omo Kuraz 1, Omo Kuraz 2, Omo Kuraz 3, Omo Kuraz 5, Arjo Dedessa, Kessem, Tana Beles, and Tendaho.

Ethiopia produces 3 to 4 million quintals of sugar annually while the annual sugar consumption is between 5 and 6 million quintals. The country has implemented a five-year strategic plan to tackle challenges in the sugar industry and increase productivity. Eliminating sugar imports starting by implementing this plan is one of the Ethiopian Sugar Industry Group’s objectives. Accordingly, there are efforts to expand irrigation infrastructure for recently built sugar factories to meet domestic demand fully and replace imported sugar in 2025. The Group aims to completely replace the country's sugar demand with domestic production within the next five years by scaling up sugar production from the current 3.6 million quintals to 13 million.

Source: Fana BC and 2Merkato Archives