Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn appointed Sisay Gemechu as state minister for the Ministry of Industry (MoI) last week, sources said.

Tadesse Haile is currently serving as the state minister for the Ministry. Sisay is appointed as the second state of minister in order to alleviate the widened load within the Ministry.

The new state minister will be in charge of the development of industrial zones, textiles and the chemical sector. Tadese will be in charge of regulating agro- processing and the leather sector.

In order to regulate industry zones, the government has already approved the establishment of a corporation that will be overseen by the MoI.