China-built sugar plant boosts Ethiopian region

A Chinese-built sugar factory has started production with a projected daily output of more than 1,000 metric tons of refined sugar and added advantage of generating electricity in Ethiopia, Africa's second-most-populous country.

The Tana Bales No 1 sugar factory, located 650 kilometers from the capital Addis Ababa, is gearing up to crush 12,000 tons of sugarcane a day. It will be supplied by sugarcane planted on 75,000 hectares.

The factory was set up under a partnership between the Ethiopian government and China CAMC Engineering Corporation, or CAMCE.

The factory is projected to produce 45 megawatts of power, with 16 megawatts taken up by the plant operations.

The surplus 29 megawatts will be distributed to the national power grid and will contribute to Ethiopia's target of meeting all its energy needs by 2025. The factory's managers also aim to produce large amounts of molasses and ethanol.

Fruit varieties

"Other than producing sugar, the factory is also producing co-products in line with sugarcane cultivation," said Ato Assege, the general manager of the factory. "So far we are cultivating bananas, mangos, oranges, papaya, guava and avocado alongside our sugar plantations."

The Ethiopia Sugar Corporation, which owns the factory, said construction of the facility in the northern Amhara region started in 2012.

But the schedule was hit by delays and by the end of 2017, only about 60 percent of the project was completed.

In 2019, CAMCE took over the sugar project and brought it to completion.

The Chinese company also built more than 1,000 homes for the factory workers and others in the nearby community.

Agegnehu Teshager, the president of the Amhara region, praised CAMCE for the speedy completion of the project despite the disruptions caused by the pandemic.

"I would like to thank CAMCE for finishing the sugar plant project in collaboration with the Ethiopia Sugar Corporation and the Amhara regional administration in less than two years period, despite coronavirus-related challenges," Teshager said.

"This project will have multifaceted side benefits including the sugar byproduct molasses being able to be used to produce ethanol, alcohols, sanitizer, cattle feed and pulp."

Job opportunities

Assege said discussions on the benefits of the development project had been held with members of the community. With the funds allocated by the government, schools and health institutions have been built for those who needed to be resettled as a result of the development. Roads and other infrastructure have also been built.

The factory manager said the people are set to benefit even more with the job opportunities brought by the factory. More than 3,000 young people in the community have gained work.