Ethiopia has issued a stay on licensing for foreign investment in cement projects. The Ethiopian government will not accept applications for the construction of new cement factories according to an instruction from the Ministry of Industry to the Ethiopian Investment Agency.

The ban was put into to place to avoid unnecessary competition according to Shimeles Wolde, Chemical Industries Directorate Director at the Ministry of Industry. There are currently above forty cement companies licensed to operate in Ethiopia said Shimeles.

Twenty Two cement companies are actively engaged in either the construction of factories or have commenced operations explained Shimeles. The priority at this point is to support companies that have not began active operations although fully licensed he noted.

A decision to put a hold on further licensing was put in effect with this end in mind he added

There are fifteen cement factories with a combined production capacity of 7.8 million tonnes a year although only 5.3 million tonnes are actually reaching the local market according to Shimeles. The Ethiopian government has set a target of increasing national cement production to 27 million tonnes.

The Ministry of Industry will support all licensed cement factories to commence production and those that fail to realize their projects will be required to return land that they had received from the government for this purpose said Shimeles.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has informed Ethiopian Embassies of the decision to put a halt to foreign investment in the cement industry.

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