Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance announced the signing of a joint development agreement with OCP Group, a Moroccan state-owned phosphate rock miner, phosphoric acid manufacturer, and phosphate fertilizer producer, to implement a fertilizer project in Dire Dawa.
The agreement was reached during a high-level delegation visit to Morocco led by Ahmed Shide, Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance, accompanied by officials from the Ethiopian Chemical Industry Corporation (CIC), the Ethiopian Agricultural Businesses Corporation (EABC) and the Ethiopian Mineral, Petroleum and Biofuel Corporation (EMPBC).
During the visit, the two sides discussed and reached an agreement to execute a joint development agreement to establish an Ethiopian joint venture company for the implementation of a project that will establish a local fertilizer plant in Ethiopia. The agreement is based on feasibility, as well as conceptual, environmental and social impact assessment and hydro and geotechnical studies that have been conducted, the Ministry’s statement related. According to the agreement, an integrated fertilizer complex will be established in Dire Dawa, using local resources (Ethiopian gas and Moroccan phosphoric acid).
The project will have an initial estimated budget of approximately $2.4 billion during the first phase to develop a 2.5-million-ton fertilizer production unit, combining urea and NPK/NPS products, and which could reach a production capacity of 3.8 million tons per year, for a total investment of up to $3.7 billion during the second phase.
The Ethiopian government has expressed its “firm support” for investments in the agricultural sector and vowed to continue to work tirelessly to find tailored solutions to the agricultural and industrial challenges the country is faced with.
