The "Made in Ethiopia 2025" Expo has officially opened today, featuring 288 local producers and launched in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. The five-day event showcases the progress of the "Made in Ethiopia" movement, now in its third year.
According to details shared via a tweet from the Prime Minister's Office, key indicators highlight significant progress in the manufacturing sector. The annual sector growth rate has seen a notable increase, climbing from 4.8% in the 2014 Ethiopian calendar (E.C.) fiscal year to 8.4% in 2016 E.C. Projections for the current fiscal year (2017 E.C.) anticipate this growth rate to reach 12%.
Furthermore, the PMO tweet indicated that production capacity utilization within the manufacturing sector rose to 61.2% during the first nine months of the 2017 E.C. fiscal year. Revenues also showed a strong upward trend, growing from $2.1 billion in the 2014 E.C. fiscal year to $3.1 billion in the first nine months of 2017 E.C.
Supporting this expansion, manufacturing energy consumption increased from 3.88 billion kilowatt-hours in 2015 to 4.67 billion kilowatt-hours in 2016. Data from the Ministry of Planning and Development's National Accounts also reflects this growth, with Ethiopia's manufacturing value added significantly increasing from approximately $5.3 billion in the 2014 E.C. fiscal year to $9.25 billion in 2016 E.C., demonstrating real output growth.
Looking ahead, ongoing efforts will concentrate on developing machinery for agricultural processing to expand the agro-processing sector. Priorities also include advancing free energy generation technologies to support rural irrigation and enhance domestic energy supply, as well as fostering innovation to introduce new products to the market, the PMO stated.