It was in 2010 when Ethiopia starts the First Growth and Transformation (GTP I) that it set the ambitious plan of giving a significant boost to the sugar industry, hence placing it among the pillars of the overall economic transformation. Between 2010 and 2016, using the loans it secured and other sources, the government allotted close to 3.6 billion USD to expand the sugar industry, according to the 2016 Bloomberg report. By making the country to rank among the top-10 global producers by 2023, Ethiopian Sugar Corporation (ESC) plans to make the sugar industry a globally competitive one.
Ethiopia has more than 500,000 hectares of irrigable and untapped fertile land, with abundant water resource, suitable for sugarcane development, according to a national survey.
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