Turkish firm declared top textile exporter in Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia - Anadolu Agency

Turkish textile company Ayka Addis Textile has been declared the top textile and garment export performer in Ethiopia for the 2013-2014 season, Ethiopia’s Textile Industry Development Institute has said.

“At least $63 million of the total $111.45-million textile export revenue recorded in Ethiopia was earned by Ayka Addis during the reported period,” Bantihun Gessesse, the institute’s communications director, told Anadolu Agency.

“Products were exported mainly to Germany, Turkey, China, Italy and the U.S., among others,” he said.
Germany stands first in terms of importing Ethiopian textile products, followed by Turkey and China, according to Gessesse.

He added that this year’s total export revenues represented 31.8 percent of the national $350 million target for total textile exports for the same period.

Failure to meet the target, he said, was the result of shortages and low-quality cotton supplies, leadership capacity limitations, low productivity, delays in the construction of projects and shortages of electricity.

Established in 2010, Ayka Addis built its factory in Ethiopia at a cost of $140 million at Alemgena, located some 20 kilometers west of Addis Ababa.

The company has since created more than 10,000 jobs and now has the capacity to export textile products worth $100 million annually, according to the Ethiopian Investment Agency.