By Eskedar Kifle
Monday, 12 August 2013
The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) is to provide over 1.6 million birr in loans to Hiber Sugar Factory S.C., the management of Hiber announced. The Bank will provide 70 percent of the needed capital to start the sugar production project, estimated to cost 2.3 billion birr.
“We have reached an agreement with the bank to collect the stated amount in different phases,” Menalachew Semachew, Acting Deputy Manager of Hiber, told Capital. He also stated that the production capacity of the factory has been revised.
“During a meeting held last week, it was agreed by all shareholders that the production capacity should be revised and be lowered than the initial plan,” Menalachew said.
The project site is located in the Amhara Regional state, Awi Zone, Jawi Woreda in the Tana Beles Basin. The Acting Deputy Manager also underlined that there are no plans to liquidate the share company.
“The rumors that the company is liquidating are absolutely false; we have been working on getting the right amount of financing for the project, and that is exactly what we did with the agreement made with the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia,” he said.
He also mentioned that Hiber has signed an agreement with the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation to sell the sugar cane that the factory has been cultivating on its land.
“When we started the project in the beginning, we had acquired 25,000 hectares of land from the government to cultivate sugar cane and build a sugar factory. That number has also been reduced; now we are working on a little over 6,000 hectares of land for the project,” Menalachew stated.
Hibir Sugar is a private-owned Ethiopian business that was established by thirty investors to produce sugar, ethanol, organic fertilizer, biodiesel and electric power. The company expects to create permanent and temporary job opportunities for more than 10, 000 Ethiopians.
Company website: http://www.hibirsugarethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=56
Backgrounder: http://www.ethiopiainvestor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=936&Itemid=88
Related articles
- Sugar Gains to 6-Week High as Brazil Favors Ethanol; Cocoa Falls (bloomberg.com)
- Seka Expects Juicy Profits From New Factory (allanapotashblog.org)
- Kaizen Initiatives at the Ethiopian Wonji Sugar Manufacturing Company
- Chinese and Brazilian Cooperation with African Agriculture: The Case of Ethiopia
- Mysterious Lake Threatens Ethiopian Sugar Ambitions
- A Brazilian Model For Ethiopia’s Future?
- Africa: future sugar exporter?
- Ethiopia’s sugar development progressing steadily
- Reaping the Fruits of Sugar
- Project Gaia Bringing Clean Cookstoves To Ethiopia
