ETHIOPIA: SHOE FACTORY REVIVED BY ITALIAN CONTRACT
Issayas Mekuria
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa) – Ethiopia
Dec 12 2006
Anbessa Shoe Factory is ready to export shoe upper to Italian Co.
Adelchi after a contractual agreement between the companies. This
will be the most demanding order Anbessa has yet to fulfil.
The state-owned Anbessa Shoe Factory S.C signed a 104,000-dollar
contract with La Nuova Adelchi SPA, enabling it to supply the Italian
company with semi-finished shoe products.
Eniyew Zeleke, general manager of the Factory and Adelechi Sergio,
owner of the Company signed the contract on November 18, 2006; Anbessa
was to provide 13,000 pairs of shoe upper, without soles to Italy in
two phases.
"This contract is going to revive our factory from demise," a
machine operator that has worked at Anbessa for the past 32 years
told Fortune. "We are truly happy."
Anbessa Shoe Factory is the first of its kind to be established in
the country. An individual, whose identity remains unknown, founded
the Factory in 1939 and ran it for the following three years. As of
1942, Mardious Darmar, an Armenian citizen, owned it and renamed it
Darmar Shoe Factory. He managed it for 33 years until in 1975, Darmar,
which at that time had a capital of 217,000Br was nationalized by
the Derg Regime and renamed Anbessa Shoe Factory and Awash Tannery
for the next 17 years.
In 1993, Anbessa Shoe Factory was reorganized with a capital of
6.3 million Birr. This Factory, which has 16 outlets in Addis Abeba
and its regional towns, employs 650 workers and has the capacity to
manufacture 350,000 to 360,000 pairs of shoes every year.
Although Anbessa Factory had previously exported its products, such
as 5,000 bowling shoes to Canada, it has never received an order to
produce the volume of shoes as contracted with Adelchi. According to
the agreement, Anbessa Shoe Factory is to provide Adelchi with its
first supply of shoe upper in December 15, 2006.
Alemu Hailu, head of the Factory’s marketing department, told Fortune
that Anbessa has already prepared and packed 4,000 shoe uppers
readied for export. He said that as soon as the letter of credit
(LC), processed by the banks, is finalized the items would be shipped.
Adelechi first came to the country to purchase its first Ethiopian
shoe products from Peacock Shoe Factory, owned by Dire Industries Plc
in 2005. This Italian company sells over 11 million pairs of shoes
a year, in many countries in the world. It is famous for offering
moccasins for sale. It has over 1,600 workers and also has factories
in Albania as well as Bangladesh.
Upon his visit to Ethiopia in 2005, Adelchi Sergio, ordered a supply
of 27,000 dollars worth of moccasins from Peacock Shoe Factory,
which the latter is still in the process of supplying. Anbessa has
also signed a contract with Peacock to supply it with 100,000 parts
of the shoe upper.
Moreover the Italian company has also requested sandals from Ramsse
Shoe Factory Plc, located in the Addis Abeba Industrial Estate.
Zelalem Habte, general manager of Ramsse refused to comment on the
details of the terms of the agreement.
"We refrain from making any comment on the matter until we have
shipped our first export items," he said.
Ramsse, which is said to have imported new machineries from Italy
a month ago, has another factory in Addis Ketema District known as
Kuas Meda, where it supplies shoes for local consumption.
Sources from the Ministry of Trade and Industry told Fortune that after
Adelchi receives and evaluates the quality of the first batch of shoes
supplied by Anbessa, it intends to shift its shoe upper supply business
from other supply companies in Albania and award it to the state-owned
factory. According to the sources, the reason for this shift is due
to the ample supply of leather in Ethiopia and reduction in cost.
The Ministry of Trade and Industry, in 2006-2007, aim for 300 million
dollars in shoe exports.
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From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress