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Chinese Shoe Manufacturer to Create 100,000 Jobs in Ethiopia

Chinese Shoe Manufacturer to Create 100,000 Jobs in Ethiopia

From All Africa

Huajian Group and other investors are creating a shoe manufacturing cluster that is set to employ more than 100,000 Ethiopians over the next 10 years, according to The Africa Report.

Huajian Group, a Chinese footwear manufacturer, has big plans for Ethiopia.

“We are not coming all the way here just to reduce our costs by 10 to 20 percent,” insists its vice-president, Helen Hai. “Our aim here is in 10 year time to have a new cluster of shoe making. We want to build a whole supply chain. I want everything to be produced here.”

Hai’s vision is bold: within a decade she expects Ethiopia to be a global hub for the footwear industry, providing jobs for more than 100,000 local workers.

With the China-Africa Development Fund, Huajian has committed to jointly invest $2bn to create a light manufacturing special economic zone.

The company has already leased 300ha of land in Lebu, on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, where it plans to build a ‘shoe city’ to provide accommodation for 200,000 people and factory space for other producers of footwear, handbags, accessories and components.

Read more at allafrica.com