Allana Group – an Indian-based meat processing company – has awarded a contract to ETG Designers & Consultants Plc for the design of its meat processing plant.
The Company secured 75 hectares of land, 10 months ago, from the Oromia Regional government to erect the plant around the Adami Tulu area in Ziway town, 163 kms from Addis Abeba.
Upon completion, the plant will become Allana’s first experience of investment on the African continent. Allana is one of the leading meat processing industries worldwide, exporting meat to more than 70 countries.
Aman Kahn, project office head of Allana, signed the agreement on behalf of Allana, with his counterpart from ETG Designers, Eshetu Temesgen (PhD), director general of ETG, at a ceremony held on Wednesday, January 1, 2014, at the premises of the Ministry of Industry (MoI), located around the Kasanchis area on Guinea Conakry St.
The Company decided to work in Ethiopia after studying the livestock potential of the country, says Aman.
“This could be capitalised on for the development endeavor of the country, as well as our company,” he said.
The parties are hopeful that Allana will start operations in September 2014. After the finalisation of the design work by ETG, Allana is expected to sign another contract with a contractor to perform the construction of the plant.
The Ministry says that, considering its experience, it is confident that Allana will deliver.
“The technology, capital, market and know how that it has accumulated over 44 years in the meat processing industry qualifies Allana to contribute to the sector’s growth in Ethiopia,” Mebrahtu Meles (PhD), state minister for Industry, said.
ETG, a local company, has a wealth of experience, participating in more than 60 different sectors, ranging from pharmaceuticals to educational buildings, worth more than 10 billion Br, Fortune learnt.
Before developing the design for Allana, the ETG will conduct visits to see the functioning of Allana’s existing industries in foreign countries, including India and Dubai. It is thought this will contribute to importing best practices to the emerging industries of Ethiopia, according to Temesgen.
Allana will spend 20 million dollars for the first phase of the construction of the plant, it was learnt. Upon going operational, the meat processing plant is expected to supply 75 tons of meat a day to the market in its initial phase.
In addition to its contribution to the generation of foreign exchange, the commencement of the Allana plant is also expected to supply leather for domestic industries and create jobs for 600 citizens in its first phase. This is in addition to ancillary job creation for those engaged in transport services, as well as helping to combat the illegal smuggling of live animals to foreign states.
Allana’s venture comes at a time when Ethiopia intends to earn around 2.6 billion dollars from live animal and meat exports by the end of the Growth & Transformation Plan (GTP). This amounts to an average of a little over half a billion dollars each year.
According to data from the Central Statistical Agency (CSA), 19 enterprises were involved in the processing of meat, fruits and vegetables in Ethiopia in 2012. The five meat exporting companies were Elfora Agro Industry, Lung Expert Slaughter House plc, Modjo Modern Export Abattoirs, Export & Organic Abattoirs Slaughter and Hashim Nuru Slaughter.
The CSA data also indicates that, in 2012, a total of 22, 702 tons of meat were produced and supplied to the local and international market. During the first 10 months of 2012, Ethiopia earned a total of 231 million dollars from the export of live animals and meats; the meat proceed is a little below 67 million dollars, constituting only 29pc of exports.
Ethiopia began exporting meat to the Middle East during the 2012/13 fiscal year, pinning its hopes on five exporting companies.
“But the achievements so far are not enough to meet the GTP plan,” says Mebrahtu. “We look forward to Allana beginning operations soon.”
Allana’s commencement of operations is expected to exceed the supply of all the exporters that have been operating in Ethiopia in 2012, because it is going to produce 27, 375 tons of meat annually in its first phase.
This figure exceeds the 2012 annual production of the domestic producers by 4673 tons. In monetary terms, this means, assuming that all of the produce is to be exported, Allana itself can generate almost 140.71 million dollars a year.
Allana also submitted proposals to the Ministry, two weeks ago, to be given land to erect two meat processing plants in other areas. One of these is Yabelo, in the Borena Zone of the Oromia Regional State, located 567 kms east of Addis Abeba and known for its livestock abundance. Another one is in the Somali Regional State.
“The request of Allana has already been forwarded to the concerned regional states and we are hopeful that they will respond positively,” Mebrahtu said.
Livestock contributed to 9.8pc of Ethiopia’s gross domestic product (GDP) in 2010/11. In the following budget year, the contribution was 9.5pc.
Since 1969, the Allana group has held a pioneering position in the export of deboned frozen meat in India, Fortune learnt.
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