GE plans to establish an assembly plant in Ethiopia

Reliable sources told The Reporter that the US multinational company is planning to assemble various medical equipment and machines in Ethiopia and distribute them to African markets. “They are contemplating to build a light assembly plant in Addis Ababa and export them to different African countries. They want to use the extensive cargo flight network of Ethiopian Airlines,” sources told The Reporter.

The amount of the investment and specific list of items the company wants to assemble here are not yet known.

GE’s chairman and CEO, Jeffrey Immelt, is scheduled to visit Addis Ababa next week. During his one-day visit Immelt is expected to sign an investment agreement with the Ethiopian government for the assembly plant. The CEO will meet Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, Debretsion Gebremichael (Ph.D.), Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Information Technology and Communications, Tedros Adhanom (Ph.D.), minister of foreign affairs and other senior government officials.

In addition to the medical equipment assembly plant project, GE’s chief will discuss the possibility that the company could engage in power and transport infrastructure development projects.

Sources said GE is known for human resource development. “There are a number of CEOs working in different successful multinational companies who once were trained and employed by GE,” sources said.  Senior vice president for human resources, Susan P. Peters, will accompany the CEO to Addis Ababa. Susan Peters, will give a two-hour lecture at the Addis Ababa University, Faculty of Business and Economics. Susan Peters leads GE’s human resource department responsible for 300,000 employees worldwide.

Jeffrey Immelt, as part of his Africa tour, will visit Ethiopia, Kenya, Mozambique and Nigeria. The CEO will start his visit in Addis Ababa where he will stay only one night.

Executives of GE have been negotiating with the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to secure a contract on the electro-mechanical work on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project. GE also has a keen interest to engage in the railway development project in Ethiopia. Particularly, the company focuses on the electrical part of the railway projects.

General Electric has a strong partnership with Ethiopian Airlines and has been supplying aircraft engines to Ethiopian. Ethiopian Boeing B787-8 Dreamliner and B777 aircraft are powered by GE engines. During his stay in Addis Ababa, Jeffrey Immelt will visit the headquarters of Ethiopian.

The company has different wings including energy, health, home and business solutions, transportation and finance and is known for manufacturing aircraft engine, home appliances, locomotives and crude oil extracting machines.

Source: thereporterethiopia.com