Tendaho Sugar Factory

It is located at 670 km distance from Addis Ababa and at only 300 km from port of Djibouti. The Factory owns large land estate that stretches from Mille, Dubti, Asaita to Afambo districts of Afar region including areas where Tendaho Dam is built upon. The location where the factory is located makes it more strategic to export sugar. It was supposed to have 50,000 hectares sugarcane plantation field to be developed in two pahases.

The Factory`s construction work began in 2005/2006 by the Indian OIA (Overseas Infrastructure Alliance) company as a contractor. The Factory’s first phase began trial production in 2014 until it was terminated by the recurring draught that hit many areas of the region. The Factory’s destiny shall await the decision of the Federal Government as there is no favorable situation to resume its operation.

When creating a conducive atmosphere is possible in the future that enables the Factory resume regular production, the Factory reaches its full production capacity in which it can crush 13,000 tons of sugarcane per day and is expected to produce about 300,000 tons of sugar a year.

It will also generate 60 megawatts of electricity when it starts producing with full gear. It uses 38 megawatts for itself and sends the rest to the national power grid. Owning its ethanol plant in the future, it as well is expected to produce 27 million liters of ethanol.

The first phase of the factory would have used irrigation water of Awash River using Tendaho Dam to its 25,000 hectares sugarcane development work. Half among the total 50,000 hectares land to be covered with cane had been planned to be cultivated by surrounding pastoralists as out growers who were hoped to become semi farmers.  The dam has the capacity of holding 1.86 billion meter cube water and is expected to nourish 60,000 hectares land.

As the factory had facilitated irrigable land for the pastoralists who had become semi-farmers until factory operation was halted due to the draught faced.

Construction of Irrigation Infrastructures

The Factory has:-

• More than 42 km main canal and other level structure works are completed;
• 22,835 hectares irrigated land

Sugarcane Development

• 17,683 hectares of land had been covered with sugarcane before the draught.

Housing Construction

• 8,997 residential houses and 146 service-providing blocks have been constructed and they had been giving service till the factory seize.

Society`s Benefit

Since the beginning of the project till its operation termination around 77,035 people had gotten job opportunities at the project on a permanent, contractual and temporary basis while 84 micro and small enterprises had been made possible to be organized and started work.

To benefit the local community from the sugar development about 16 sugarcane outgrowing cooperative associations with 1,667 members had been organized and were developing sugarcane to be supplied to the factory creating a symbiotic relationship. Ethiopian Sugar Industry Group had spent 1.60 million birr in total to fulfill its social responsibilities of the surrounding area.