Huajian restates interest in setting up shoe factory in Aba  

Huajian Group is still interested in setting up a shoe factory in Aba, southeast Nigeria, Sherry Zhang, general manager of Huajian Shoes in Addis Ababa, has said.

“Yes, I am aware of the plan. We have been looking at establishing in another African country after Ethiopia,” Zhang told Real Sector Watch in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

She said she was aware of the visit of Okezie Ikpeazu, Abia State governor, to China recently but did not mention how much would be invested.

Ikpeazu recently met with Huajian Shoes at Guangzhou in China, where he announced plans by the shoe maker to set up a $1.5 billion factory in Aba, Abia State’s industrial city. Ikpeazu said the project would create 20,000 to 30,000 direct and indirect jobs and would target 80 percent export to meet orders from Huajian global customers and 20 percent for the Nigerian market.

Huajian is one of Chinese largest shoe exporters to the world and has found an enabling investment in Ethiopia, setting up a shoe factory at the Eastern Industry Zone that employs 6,300 workers and brings back $30 million to the country’s economy, Zhang said.

The firm found Ethiopia’s investment climate attractive owing to cheap labour ($3 a day) in the country and a policy that allows foreign investors to take out foreign exchange earnings. Ethiopia also provides one to nine years tax holiday to new investors.

Huajian exports shoes worth $20 million to the US market annually from Ethiopia and plans to double that by the end of this year.

This, Huajian would like to replicate in Nigeria but is willing to see cheap energy sources in Nigeria, easy access to animal skins and other raw materials and a good road network in Aba, a company official said.

The Ethiopian investment climate has led to the growth of several industrial parks in the country, including Adama, Dire Dawa, Kilinto and Jima, among 25 others, according to MulugetaTiruneh, head of Eastern Industry Park in Ethiopia and a member of Ethiopian Investment Commission.

Huajian is also setting up a separate industrial park in the country.

ODINAKA ANUDU