Ethiopia signs agreement for aluminum plant with Rusal

Ethiopian Investment Holdings has signed a preliminary agreement with Rusal to establish a large-scale aluminum smelter plant in Ethiopia, the state-run investment company said on Friday, the latest large investment announced in the country.

The proposed facility is expected to have an annual production capacity of 500,000 metric tons, and its first phase will cost about $1 billion, Ethiopian Investment Holdings said in a statement on its X account.

The project covered by the memorandum of understanding will take three to four years to complete, and the plant will have an operating period of up to 50 years, the investment firm said.

“Preliminary activities — including site identification and a comprehensive feasibility study — are already underway to ensure timely progress,” Ethiopian Investment Holdings said.

Rusal declined to comment.

In August, Ethiopia and Nigeria’s Dangote Group signed an agreement to build a $2.5 billion fertilizer manufacturing plant in the country’s south east.

In September, Russia and Ethiopia signed an action plan for the development and construction of a nuclear power plant in the east African country.

(By George Obulutsa, Vincent Mumo Nzilani and Anastasia Lyrchikova; Editing by Jan Harvey)