By Muluken Yewondwossen
Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL), a state-owned logistics conglomerate, plans to build one of the largest terminals in Hawassa as part of its plan to leveraging the alternate port in Kenya. Another dry port in Moyale is also in the works.
The CEO of the logistics firm, Berisso Amallo, recently said that the establishment of dry ports in the southern region of the nation is one of the priorities for this budget year.
He stated that making use of Kenya’s prospective new port facility, Lamu, is the main goal of the logistics terminals construction. The Head of ESL’s Corporate Communication Department, Demssew Benti, said that work on building the dry ports at Hawassa and Moyale will start in the current fiscal year.
Currently, the only matter that remains is owning land in Hawassa. “As soon as we get the land in the Sidama region’s capital, we will start the project,” he told Capital. Demssew stated that the facility in Hawassa, which is 275km south of Addis Ababa, will rank among the largest dry ports for ESL according to the plan.
“We will build the dry port on a new expansion plot that we will receive, while we have long-established property in Moyale, the Ethio-Kenyan border town that is approximately 780 km south of Addis,” the Communications Department head elaborated.
He added that the facilities will be suitable for the use of Lamu port, which is about 530km from Moyale.
In addition to operating eight dry ports, including the massive one that just opened in Dire Dawa, ESL plans to build a dry port in Jimma, 350 kilometers west of Addis Ababa, during the budget year.
Hawassa, which is home to a number of export-oriented textile and garment factories at the largest industrial park in the nation, will have a suitable substitute when Lamu, which is situated on Kenya’s northeastern coast near the Indian Ocean, is able to serve the nation.
It can be recalled that President Uhuru Kenyatta and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed opened the One Stop Border Posts at Moyale in late 2020, of which both countries’ now fully utilize the post.
The government of Ethiopia, the most populous country in the world without a sea outlet, is now searching for a number of port options in addition to those located in Djibouti, which is Ethiopia’s main port hub.
For example, the administration hopes to grow by utilizing Somaliland’s Berbera Port, which is well situated on the country’s southeast.
With the intention of serving Ethiopian and South Sudanese logistics, the Kenyan government established Lamu Port, and the port is situated at a beneficial spot for the upcoming works in southern Ethiopia.
