Ethiopia sells swathes of land to foreigners

Ethiopia sells swathes of land to foreigners

05 February, 2012 | The Africa Report
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Ethiopia has allocated 5 130 hectares of land to foreign
investors interested in industrial zones and aims to generate
over $500 million in revenue.

The industrial zones are

located in various parts of

the Horn of Africa country

including Dire Dawa city,

Amhara, Southern and

Somali regional states.

Chinese and Turkish

investors

have shown

interest in establishing industrial zones in the country by investing
over $1 billion.

About 700 hectares of the land is in the Borena area of Dire Dawa
while 350 hectares is located in Shinele area of the Somali regional
state.

Another 1 123 hectares is targeted for industrial use in Kombolcha
city in the Amhara regional state while Hawassa was allocated 776
hectares, Addis Ababa (436 hectares) and Bole Lemi and Akaki
Kality with 243 respectively.

The Ethiopian government expects to raise more than $ 500 million
from the development projects and create 10 000 jobs.

Investors are interested in horticulture, textile, leather and other
industries.

"The industrial sites were designated with the aim to reduce costs
associated with investment and aid plans to enhance technological
expertise, exports and increase foreign currency revenue," the
Ministry of Industry said.

"Industrial development will create significant employment
opportunities and aid agricultural development as well as providing
social services."

According to the ministry, an industrial zone established in the
Oromia state about 40 kilometers east of Addis Ababa, has
attracted a $ 250 million investment from China alone.

The 200 hectare industrial zone will support 81 industrial ventures
including Hujian an internationally recognised footwear company.

Government is pushing for the establishment of other factories in
various regional cities and towns across the country over the current
fiscal year.

China and India have invested more than $ 6 billion in various
development projects in Ethiopia in recent years.

Experts say the recent lease of land to investors has been attractive
in the country's search for ways to boost its agricultural production
whilst creating jobs, especially in the current state of the world
economy.

Actual returns on investments in the agricultural sector, they argue,
may be lower than expected.

"inhibited" or "underutilised"

To date, the country's Agricultural Investment Support Directorate
(AISD), established in 2009 under the Ministry of Agriculture and
Rural Development to identify potential agricultural investment
areas, has delineated over 3 million hectares of Ethiopiars 47 million
hectares arable land towards the land lease programme.

The total area of the Horn of Africa country is about 123 million
hectares.

Critics have warned that not only does land lease pose a potential
risk of loss of land for local farmers, but also much of the land being
leased out is not as unused as it might seem.

And whilst land in Ethiopia, according to the constitution, belongs to
the people, it can only be administered by the state.

Last month Human Rights Watch, a US based advocacy group,
accused the Ethiopian government of forcibly relocating people to
new areas that lacked adequate food, farmland and facilities.

The government, which promised that assistance would be provided
for the affected people, refuted the report saying that the moves
were voluntary.

The report said that the government was bypassing constitutional
provisions by claiming that the delineated lands were either
"inhibited" or "underutilised"

Courtesy