The US-based manufacturing giant, General Electric (GE), is planning to establish a medical equipment assembly plant in Ethiopia and leverage on the country’s airline to export across African markets, Ethiosports quoted an unnamed source telling The Reporter.

“They are contemplating to build a light assembly plant in Addis Ababa and export them to different African countries. They want to use the extensive cargo flight network of Ethiopian Airlines,” The Reporter quoted an unnamed source whom they termed as ‘reliable’.

The source however did not divulge the amount of the investment or specific list of items the company wants to assemble in the horn of Africa nation.

GE’s chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, is expected in Addis Ababa next week on a one-day visit that is may be used to sign an investment agreement with the Ethiopian government for the assembly plant, The Reporter said.

In addition to the medical equipment assembly plant project, GE’s chief will discuss the possibility that the company could engage in power and transport infrastructure development projects.

As part of his Africa tour, Immelt will also visit Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria. He will meet Ethiopian Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn in the first day of his visit.

Executives of GE have been negotiating with the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation to secure a contract on the electro-mechanical work on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam project.

GE also has a keen interest to engage in the railway development project in Ethiopia. Particularly, the company focuses on the electrical part of the railway projects.

General Electric has a strong partnership with Ethiopian Airlines and has been supplying aircraft engines to Ethiopian. Ethiopian Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner and B777 aircraft are powered by GE engines.