China Eximbank provides $123 million loan for Kessem Sugar Factory Project

On June 30, 2011, China Eximbank provided a $123,000,000 loan to the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation for the Kessem Sugar Factory Project (or 肯色糖厂). The Ethiopian Government provided a sovereign guarantee for this loan. The terms of the loan were as follows: interest rate of 6 month LIBOR (0.398%) plus a 2.35% margin, 3 year grace period, and a 12 year maturity (see 'Public Sector Debt'). The proceeds of this loan were earmarked for the Kessem sugar factory in the northeastern Afar regional state of Ethiopia. Project implementation was undertaken by the Ethiopian state-owned Metals and Engineering Corporation (an amalgam of former military companies) and Complant. Construction began in May 2012. The project was completed on November 30, 2014. The Kessem Sugar Factory is located in Zone Three of the Awash Fentallie and Dulecha districts of Afar Regional State. The factory has a total of 20,000 hectares of land to be cultivated with cane & its plantation stretches to the areas known as Kessem and Bolhomon. The Kessem Dam which has a capacity of holding 500 cubic meters water is the source from which sugarcane cultivation is being carried out. Irrigable land has reached 2,946 hectares while the construction of 20.5 kilometers of main canal is completed. Currently, the factory has 8,413 hectares of land covered with cane among which 6,000 hectares cultivated by a private company known as Amibara Agricultural Development with which Sugar Corporation has signed contractual agreement. Kessem Sugar Factory produces 260,000 tons of sugar and 30,000 cube meters of ethanol per year at maximum capacity.

Additional details

Kessem is occasionally also spelled Kesem in source material.

Number of official sources

10

Number of unofficial sources

4