The Ethiopian government has announced that it will partner with Moroccan phosphate producer OCP Group to build a $2.5bn fertiliser plant in the east of the country.
According to local press reports in Morocco, an officer from the Ethiopian Institute of Chemical and Construction Development said the factory would be built over 100 acres near the city of Dire Daoua, near the country’s border with Djibouti.
He said the factory would produce 1.1 million tons of urea and 1.5 million tons of fertiliser.
Construction will start next year and should be completed in 2020. Sixty percent of the finance will come from bank loans and the remainder will be covered by the OCP Group and the Ethiopian government.
OCP is the world’s largest exporter of phosphates. Last month it announced a deal with Indian company Kribhco to develop a large-scale greenfield nitrogen, phosphate, potassium plant in Krishnapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India.
Image: A train carrying phosphate rock in North Africa (Dennis Jarvis/Creative Commons)
