Addis Ababa, Miyazya 7, 2018 (EFM C) Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed stated that Ethiopia's aspiration is to become a manufacturing center. During a visit to IBCSI guided by the 'Yalualawinet Lib' idea, he directed industrial parks to prioritize quality over quantity.
Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed elaborated on industrial parks' broad role in strengthening the economic firewall during his visit to IBCSI. He highlighted key factors for manufacturing hub status: logistics, clean energy, and demographics.
Logistics efforts focus on the Bishoftu international airport expansion project, which PM Abiy described as Africa's largest and the continent's air transport hub.
Clean energy draws from the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, Koysha, solar, and nuclear projects. Ethiopia's youthful population allows training youth from the grassroots for skill responses, he said. Notably, tech-interested youth include 5 million informal coders transitioning to coding and artificial intelligence.
Industrial parks have been directed to prioritize quality over quantity. Ethiopia has 26 such parks, seven of which are private. Policies aim to empower the private sector, especially in solar, pharmaceutical, chemical, electronics, electric vehicle parts, and aerospace.