Ethiopia sells swathes of land to foreigners
Ethiopia has allocated 5 130 hectares of land to foreign investors interested in industrial zones and aims to generate over $500 million in revenue. 776 hectares of land in Hawassa is to be sold. The industrial zones are located in various parts of the Horn of Africa country including Dire Dawa city, Amhara, Southern and Somali regional states. Chinese and Turkish investors have shown interest in establishing industrial zones in the country by investing over $1 billion. About 700 hectares of the land is in the Borena area of Dire Dawa while 350 hectares is located in Shinele area of the Somali regional state. Another 1 123 hectares is targeted for industrial use in Kombolcha city in the Amhara regional state while Hawassa was allocated 776 hectares, Addis Ababa (436 hectares) and Bole Lemi and Akaki Kality with 243 respectively. The Ethiopian government expects to raise more than $ 500 million from the development projects and create 10 000 jobs. Investors are inter