Tanmia to open
poultry farm in Ethiopia

Plans to export to Arab Gulf countries

Tanmia, an agricultural development company, will start excavation and construction works on a poultry farm, a slaughterhouse and a fodder factory in Ethiopia, in early 2016.

Investment in the project is $39 million. It will be implemented within three years and operations will start in late 2018.

Musa Freiji, Chairman, said: “Ethiopia is a large market and there is still a shortage in poultry suppliers there. We will be one of the first international poultry investors tapping this market.”

The project will have a total space of 4,000,000 square meters. Each of the facilities will be around one kilometer away from the other. The land will be leased for 49 years with a renewing option, if the company is still operating.

Production capacity will reach 15 million heads of chicken per year. “These amounts will be dedicated for the Ethiopian market in the first stage,” said Freiji.

Tanmia, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Government, will encourage farmers to plant corn and soybeans that enter in the fodder industry. “When we will be able to purchase these raw materials from the local market, we will be more competitive and thus able to export part of our production to the Gulf countries to offer an alternative to Brazilian products in the GCC,” Freiji said.