Addis Ababa (AMECO)- Manufacturing plants in Ethiopia’s Amhara region saved $1.025bn (£770m) in foreign exchange through import substitution over the past fiscal year, regional officials announced during an annual investment review.
Endris Abdu, head of the Amhara Region Industry and Investment Bureau, revealed that 583 industrial facilities produced 789,948 tonnes of domestic goods, easing severe foreign currency pressures. During the same period, regional industrial capacity utilisation rose from 59.2% to 65%, generating more than 100,000 jobs, including 83,243 permanent positions.
The region attracted significant new capital over the 12-month period, with 3,961 newly registered investors committing 553.5bn birr. A total of 174 medium-to-large manufacturing plants and 306 other commercial projects entered production or service. In addition, 45 manufacturing firms and six horticulture developers generated $206.5m in export earnings, while local vocational institutes supplied 2,516 trained professionals to industrial employers.
Despite these gains, Endris highlighted systemic administrative bottlenecks that continue to hinder regional growth. He pointed to high-level board decisions remaining unimplemented at lower administrative tiers, a lack of inter-agency coordination, and insufficient technical personnel assigned to assist developing projects.
Setting out targets for the 2019 fiscal year, the bureau head called for administrative discipline to accelerate output across the manufacturing, agricultural, and mining sectors. Poor public service delivery, he warned, risked damaging the region’s reputation among perspective investors.
