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Sudan Tribune

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Ethiopia to boost sugar output, seeks investors

July 19, 2006 (ADDIS ABABA) — Ethiopia announced plans on Wednesday to boost its annual sugar output to 1.0 million tonnes from 280,000 tonnes by 2011, urging foreign investors to help.

The state-owned Ethiopian Sugar Development Agency (ESDA) said it planned to boost sugar production by upgrading existing factories, building new plants and developing land and water resources.

“Foreign investors could participate on the basis of a joint venture in existing factories or developing a new sugar estate,” the agency said in a statement.

Some of the expansion would be funded by the government through its sugar support fund.

The ESDA said the government was building the $100 million Tendaho Sugar Factory with a production capacity of 600,000 tonnes a year in lower Awash Valley, in a region some 600 km (373 miles) northeast of the capital Addis Ababa.

Dams to harness water from the Awash River and irrigation canals to irrigate 60,000 hectares of sugar cane fields have already been completed, the ESDA said.

The factory is expected to start production within the next five years, it said.

Plans were also afoot to expand and revamp three state-owned sugar factories with the aim of boosting output.

The ESDA said 7,000 hectares of land had been converted into sugar cane fields and new machinery erected to the tune of $70.1 million at Finchaa Sugar Factory in western Ethiopia.

The Finchaa factory is expected to boost production to 270,000 tonnes a year from 85,000 tonnes by 2011, the ESDA said.

Metahara and Wonji/Shoa sugar estates were also undergoing similar expansion and modernisation with the aim of maximising their production within the next five years.

The plan aims to increase sugar production at Metahara Factory to 350,000 tonnes annually from 120,000 tonnes. Wonji/Shoa plans to boost output to 120,000 tonnes a year from 75,000 tonnes by 2011, the ESDA said.

(Reuters)

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