The Ministry of Finance (MoF) will begin the pre privatization process for one of the multiple grand privatization operations that was announced by the ruling party late last budget year.
The ministry has stated that it will invite interested potential buyers to provide responses for a Request for Information (RFI) as of tomorrow, Monday April 15.
At a press conference held on Friday April, 12 at MoF, they and the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation are collaborating to invite responses for RFI aimed at completing the necessary pre privatization activities to fully or partially privatize the corporation assets in the form of 13 sugar projects that are either operational or greenfield projects.
The government stated that it will transfer major public properties fully or partly. The enterprises including Ethiopian Airlines, Ethio Telecom, Railway, Logistics, electricity and sugar and other factories are expected to be sold out as per the projection period which has not been disclosed.
It is expected that the government would transfer industries like sugar fully and then Ethiopian Airlines, Ethio Telecom, the Railway, and Shipping.
In this mega privatization program, the sugar sector has become the first transferred into the second privatization process step.
“This RFI has been published to facilitate information gathering from interested parties that previously have shown an interest in acquiring the Sugar Corporation properties and new prospective buyers in a structured and transparent format,” the statement of MoF read.
It is issued as a means of general approach discovery to complete the necessary steps for pre privatization activities, and for the information gather only, according to the ministry.
The RFI has 15 questions but these are starting points and should not restrict interested parties from including information and strategies that may be beneficial and pertinent to the privatization process.
The RFI will be issued on April 15 on the web site of the corporation and ministry and the Public Enterprises Holding and Administration Agency, while written inquires shall be submitted until April 26 and the final submission date is on May 24.