Fikremariam Tesfaye
16 August 2009
Addis Abeba — Holland Car Plc of Ethiopia, a company assembling and distributing cars in Ethiopia announced a plan to manufacture new environmental friendly bio-gas cars. It said the first model of bio-gas car will be displayed in the coming November.
The company has agreed with three foreign companies to work jointly to establish a bio-gas plant, it said at the press conference held on Friday at Intercontinental Hotel here.
Announcing the plan, Engineer Taddese Tesema General Manager and co-founder of Holland Car Plc, said the country spends a huge amount of foreign currency to buy fuel adding Bio-gas is about 25 percent cheaper than gasoline and also it is aimed at promoting renewable energy for transportation.
Spare parts were supplied by Lifan Company but currently the contract agreement was terminated and Holland Car signed an agreement with the Chinese company called Anhui Jianghuai Automobile Co. Ltd (JAC), the company disclosed.
JAC is an automobile factory, the main products of which include bus chassis (6-l2metres), whole series commercial vehicles, cross-country car, sedan car, engine, gear-box, automobile parts and components etc. Now it has an annual production capacity of more than 450,000 vehicles.
Holland Car plc had faced serious problems that could cut-off its production facilities in connection with the recent shortage of foreign currency in the country. The company was unable to maintain letter of credit and import materials for its assembly. Therefore, it has been forced to sell cars to Ethiopian customers in foreign currency, instead of the local one, Taddese added.
Holland Car PLC is established in 2005 and is a joint venture between the Dutch company Trento Engineering BV with a 50 percent share and the Ethiopian company Ethio-Holland PLC in Addis Ababa with 50 percent.
The company combines the expertise of equipment production and processes and the knowledge of the local market (Ethio-Holland). It has a production-site of 20,000 square meters situated in Modjo, about 65 km south of Addis Ababa.
The company is well known for ABAY, AWASH and TEKEZE brands, among others.
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Tell me somebody, how much foreign investment did Obasanjo bring to Nigeria? Eh, none? Correct. What of Yar Adua the part timer? Eh, none. Correct again. Nigerian leaders are a bunch of dedicated failures, theives, 419ers, and wuru wuru masters - all of which have no place in a true civil society. That is why Obama did not want to be seen taking pictures with them in Nigeria and went to Ghana instead. I hope U.S need for Nigeria's oil will continue to make future adminitrations focus their attention on Nigeria and her corrupt and inept officials.