The MIDROC group of companies continues to grow as one more is established, under Derba MIDROC Cement Factory, within four months of the establishment of a packaging manufacturing factory and the recently announced transport company for which 1,000 trucks have been ordered from Volvo.

Mohammed Ali Al-Amoudi, the Saudi multi-billionaire who owns the MIDROC Group, already has 32 companies in Ethiopia, organised under three wings: MIDROC Technology, MIDROC Ethiopia and Derba MIDROC. Derba MIDROC was established with a capital of 2.4 billion Br in the Derba area of the Oromia Regional State, 70km from Addis Abeba, with Haile Assegdie as its director general.

Following its establishment, a number of companies were added under the company and the same director general. These included Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc, Derba Transport Company, and the packaging and lime factories. The cement factory has an annual production capacity of 2.4 billion quintals.

The packaging factory, Maya PP Bag Plc, which is set up near the cement factory, will mainly produce bags for the products of the cement factory and Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc.

"The factory can produce other packaging materials for other products," said Haile Assegdie.

This factory has a capacity to produce 80 million bags a year. Construction of the factory is underway on a 13ht of land leased from the Oromia Regional State.

The newest factory, which is still under establishment, is the Derba Lime and Chemical Factory. The lime it produces will be used for soil stabilisation in road construction and for sugar factories. This product is being considered by the Ethiopian Roads Authority(ERA) which intends to construct 75,000km of roads linking all kebeles nationwide.

The only lime producer in the country to date is the Senkele Lime Factory in Ambo, Oromia, which produces 6,000tn a year and sells to sugar factories, the ERA and the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MoARD) said.