Addis Ababa, Ethiopia - The US-based manufacturing giant,
General Electric (GE), is planning to establish a medical equipment 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