About 50 Turkish textile factories are relocating to Ethiopia. They will be housed in an industrial zone. One such company is Ayka Addis. This is a 25-year-old Turkish international garment firm in close contact with all major garment manufacturers in Turkey. Ayka inaugurated its factory at a cost of $140 million near Addis Ababa, in 2010, creating jobs for more than 10,000 people. It has the capacity to export textile products worth $100 million per annum.

The relocation is expected to create $2 billion worth of export revenue per annum and more than 60,000 job opportunities in Ethipia. The Ethiopian textile and clothing industry has experienced a major expansion drive and several leading retailers are now sourcing their textile and clothing requirements from the country. The list of retailers sourcing from Ethiopia include retailers like Tesco, Primark and H&M. Presently around 10 per cent of Ethiopia’s textile and clothing exports are to the UK. 

The government has set a target of attracting around $1.6 billion in foreign direct investment by 2016 to facilitate the construction of around 200 new textile and clothing units. For expansion, the industry would mainly focus on increasing domestic cotton output. Ethiopia has about three million hectares of land suitable for cotton cultivation.