Gelan Export Leather Shoes Factory Readying for Op

Gelan Export Leather Shoes Factory Readying for Operation
The first leather shoe factory in Gelan Town is waiting to be provided with electricity to begin manufacturing shoes exclusively for export.
The factory in Gelan, an inconspicuous town located 35km south of Addis Abeba on the Addis Abeba–Adama Road, was constructed on a 10,000sqm area and estimates it would create 120 jobs upon becoming fully operational.
“The construction of the factory has been completed,” according to Henok Debela, general manager of the factory named Suzo Industrial Plc. “All that is missing is electricity to commence production of up to 1,050 pairs of shoes daily.”
All the shoes will be exported to the United States (US) and Canada, according to Henok.
Suzo Industrial, which obtained its investment licence in March 2008, is a joint venture (JV): Henok and Yared Leggese own 80pc of the shares, while their Chinese counterparts own a 20pc stake.
“The leather shoes to be produced will range from formal leather shoes to protective footwear and casual shoes,” said the general manger of the factory with an investment capital of 32 million Br. “Of the raw material, 98pc will be sourced locally while two per cent will be imported for accessories.”
The machinery and technology to be used in the production are from Italy with the knitting component of the production coming from China, according to Henok. They are also building an iron smelting factory which can produce 12tn of iron every hour with an investment capital of 42 million Br in the Gelan area with equal shares between them and their Chinese counterparts, he disclosed.
Suzo Industrial is not the first factory to obtain a licence for the production of leather shoes and garments in Gelan. No less than five other investors have received similar investment licences for this type of project.
Derje Gossaye and Aynalem Gebrehiwot have investment licences to manufacture leather shoes, Marema Ibrahim and Zelalem Lorenso are to produce leather garments, as well as Techno Wall Aluminium Plc which is licensed to manufacture leather goods.
Nationwide, 445 investment licences have been given to shoe factories with a total investment capital of 2.8 billion Br and projected employment opportunities for 30,000 people, according to Getahun Negash,kids osiris shoes, director of communications at the Ethiopian Investment Agency (EIA).
“Out of these, 92 projects have started manufacturing, registering an investment capital of 462 million Br and employment opportunities for 5,000 people,” Getahun told Fortune. “Another 59 projects are under construction with an investment capital of 437 million Br and employment opportunities for 3,000 people. Of the investors, 381 are private domestic investors, 63 are private foreign investors, and one licence was awarded to the government.”