Debre Berhan, a city, located 130kms northeast of the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, has recently been an attractive place for local and international investors. According to the city administration, more than 200 investors had invested in the past three months, which is 80 percent of the plan for this Ethiopian calendar year.
Debre Berhan is a city in the Amhara region of Ethiopia and the center for the North Shewa Zone administration. The Ethiopian emperor Zara Yaqob founded the city 600 years ago. With an elevation of 2,840 meters, Debre Berhan is considered as the highest city in Africa.
A city with a population of 65,000, according to the national census 2007, hasn’t grown enough as much as its age. The main thing to be mentioned from Debre Berhan was the Teaching college opened by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1957. At the time, the city was ranked among 27 places in Ethiopia as a first-class township.
Furthermore, Wool factory of Debre Birhan is also an iconic identifier of the city, becoming the first wool factory in Ethiopia when it started production in 1965.
In recent years the city seems like waking up from decades of hibernation. It is emerging as an industrial center in Ethiopia. The establishment of Debre Berhan university has ignited the local business in the town.
Besides that, prime minister Abiy and Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta had inaugurated Debre Berhan Industrial Park (DIP) in March this year. DIP, which was built on 75 hectares of land, has eight industry sheds for investors, which can create jobs for 13,000 initially.
Tefera Wendimagegn, the administrator of North Shewa Zone on a discussion with the community last week, said that more than 2000 investors entered the city in the manufacturing sector. “this is more than we have expected.” He added.
“Investment has no boundary,” said Melaku Alebel, the head of Amhara Region Investment office inviting investors worldwide to invest in Debre Berhan. He added that investors in every sector could consider investment in Debre Berhan.
Located in the heart of Ethiopia, it’s functional security status, and the administration’s readiness to cooperate, makes investors drool to invest in one of the ancient cities of Ethiopia.
