Euro Foods, a French-based meat processing firm, is considering setting up meat processing plants in Ethiopia as more and more foreign companies are drawn into the sector.
In his recent interview with The Reporter, Hailesilassie Weres, director of Ethiopian Diary and Meat Industry Development Institute, said that Euro Foods is on the verge of acquiring land to set up a processing plant in Ethiopia.
The company would invest USD 32 million if all goes according to plan, Hailesellaise told The Reporter.
The company is expected to raise whole fund through equity financing abroad to finance their project in Ethiopia.
Abebaw Mekonen, secretary general of Ethiopian Meat Producers-Exporters Association also confirmed that the French-based company is on the process to join Ethiopian meat industry.
Euro Foods represents the surge of growing interest for the meat processing industry in a nation with the largest cattle population in Africa.
According to Abebaw, a local firm called Kegna is well underway setting up a processing plant in south eastern Ethiopia- namely Awash Melkassa area. Companies like Jigjiga Export Slaughter House PLC are also successful new entrants in the business.
The government plans to amass quarter of a billion dollars this year from the export of honey, dairy and meat products by the end of this fiscal year. Hailesellaise said that some 49 thousand MT of meat products are expected to reach the international market mainly the Middle East.
It is to be remembered that the Indian based Allana Sons had joined the meat export business with a USD 20 million investment to set up a new plant in the Oromia Regional State at the town of Ziway some 159 km from the capital. Allana Sons was registered as Frigorifico Boran Foods PLC in Ethiopia and was able to acquire 75 hectare of land. Hailesellaise said the Indian food giant is also associated with yet another investment buying out a Turkish meat exporting company stationed in Ethiopia.
According to Hailessellasie, Organic Abattoir Slaughter, Abyssinia Export Abattoirs, Luna Export Slaughter House and Modjo Modern Export Abattoir PLC are among the fairly performing firms in the industry, while Elfora Agro Industries PLC, which belongs to the Midroc Technology Group, is among the poor performing export slaughter houses in the meat industry.
The value chain and animal feed shortages are hampering the growth of the industry according to an industry analysis by the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI). On the other hand, quality and meat hygiene are some of the critical barriers for Ethiopian meat exporters in the international markets competence.
[TheReporterEthiopia]