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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (Fortune Dec. 16, 2007) - Tigray State to Get 200m Br Vineyard. Ten prominent businesspeople
engaged in flower farms are planning to venture in developing a vineyard
and establish wineries, forming a new company two weeks ago, Ethio Grapes
SC, with a capital of one million Birr. |
| The company
is formed by Tsegaye Abebe, shareholder of Ethio Flora Plc and president
of the Ethiopian Horticultural Association; Solomon Sebhatu, shareholder
of Menagesha Flower Plc; Endale Yirga, shareholder of the Kangaroo Business
Group; Seife Bedada, shareholder of Dire Industrial Group; Michael Asres,
shareholder of Summit Flower Plc; Yidnekachew Ayele, shareholder of Minaye
Plc (importer of Deluxe Furniture); Tadele Abreha, shareholder of Green
Coffee Plc; and Tesfalidet Hagos, board chairman of Ethio Grapes and shareholder
of Luna Export Slaughterhouse Plc. "All of us in this company
know each other," Tesfalidet told Fortune. "We hope this to
be a model business for further investments." The new company's first venture
will be an investment of 200 million Br, to develop a vineyard and farm
on a 1,000hct leased plot, to be made available by the administration
of Tigray Regional State. Of the total plot promised by the Regional State,
Ethio Grapes has begun work on 400hct. Moges Mesfin, head of the Tigray
Region Investment Office, confirmed that this is the largest amount of
land ever divvied out in the State. "We are happy with the
company's active moves," Moges told Fortune. The Tigray Region is primarily
chosen due to its environmental suitability for grape production as its
climate is closer to that found by the Mediterranean Sea, said company
sources. Allocating a preliminary budget
for the compensations required for the residents, the State has arranged
two suitable sites for the company to choose; a plot stretching from the
Mekele International Airport to the town, or on the road from Mekele to
Wikro town. Ethio Grapes is interested
in designing a business model following the French Castel Group's lead
in penetrating both domestic and international markets, disclosed a source.
Established 50 years ago, Castel
has established a reputation in international markets, specialising in
wine, mineral water, beer and soft drinks bottling. The Group has secured,
six months ago, a 200hct plot from the Privatisation and Public Enterprises
Supervising Agency (PPESA), in a bid to expand its farm in three years
and install a plant with a project cost of 10 million dollars. Castel
took the plot from the state-owned Ziway Agricultural Development, located
in the Oromia Regional State. The new entrant, Ethio Grapes,
is importing seedlings, which will be planted on 100hct of land. It is
planning to produce edible grapes in its early phases and install a vineyard
later on, Tesfalidet told Fortune. Other investments developing
vineyards are underway in the Rift Valley (Oromia Region and Dire Dawa)
as similar climates show potential. Luna Fruit, a subsidiary of
Luna Export Slaughter Plc, has received 100hct of land in East Shoa Zone,
near Koka, while Elfora has 15hct of land in Meki, and Almeta grabbed
100hct in Koka. According to an agricultural
expert, except for the edible grapes that Ziway produces for domestic
consumption, they were not widely farmed in Ethiopia. The aggregate size
of these plots is dwarfed by South Africa where there are 70,000hct of
land covered by edible grape plantations; while in Egypt the same sector
covers 40,000hct. "The ongoing effort to invest in the industry would blossom like the new bud of a flower," said the expert. The companies now invested in edible grape farms in Ethiopia brought the hybrid from South Africa, and are expected to export their yields in three years. |