Ethiopia in bid to fashion a new industrial future in garment exports

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An interesting article by Reuters which examines the growth in apparel sourcing in Ethiopia. As costs rise in China, Ethiopia has started testing garment exports, taking on Bangladesh and Vietnam. The government has been looking for foreign investment and several big brands have already moved in, while other such as Decathlon plan to source from the country soon. The question is how it will get the goods out? With sea freight to Europe taking 44 days – as opposed to 20 from Bangladesh. But a new $4bn electric railway, connecting Addis Ababa to the Red Sea, will cut transit times to the port of Djibouti from about three days to less than one. But there are still many challenges to ensure Ethiopia is competitive, notes the article.