WillAgri
The Ethiopian government has announced that it is expecting offers from European and Asian companies with a view to forming a joint venture to complete the fertiliser plant in Yayu in the region of Oromia. This project concerns the fertiliser factory itself, which was supposed to be supplied with electricity by a coal-fired power station with a capacity of 90 MW. The contract had been awarded in 2012 to the Metals and Engineering Corp. (Metec). However, the construction work is still lagging behind. “The basic plans for the plant do not meet the necessary standards and the fertiliser factory is not operational. The power station built by the Chinese company Ruuh Power Corp. is not receiving any coal”, points out Ahmed Hamza, CEO of Metec. In addition, the latter is also indebted to the tune of $2.4 billion, which seems to be due to the shortcomings of a project to build sugar refineries, for which Metec is also responsible. The joint venture planned by the government is part of a plan to privatise and open up the economy launched by the Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.
Source : Agence Ecofin