Saudi billionaire's firm plans $500m Ethiopia investment

An Ethiopian agricultural company, majority-owned by Saudi billionaire Mohamed al-Amoudi, plans to invest at least $500 million in coffee and orange projects, it has been reported.

Horizon Plantations Ethiopia will train workers, improve roads and replace washing units at the Limmu and Bebeka coffee plantations, Bloomberg reported, quoting general operations director Kemal Mohammed.

It said the plan to almost double annual revenue within three years is part of a five-year programme to invest in projects that also include Upper Awash Agro-Industry Enterprise, the country's largest orange grower.

"We are sure because of the initiatives we have now, because of the inputs and techniques we're applying, the productivity will increase to the maximum at the end of the five years," Kemal was quoted as saying.

Al-Amoudi, born in Ethiopia to an Ethiopian mother and Saudi father, is one of the country's largest foreign investors and operates its biggest cement factory and only large-scale gold mine.

Horizon, which is part of al-Amoudi's Midroc group of companies, is looking for a foreign partner to invest in the Coffee Processing and Warehouse Enterprise on the outskirts of the capital, Bloomberg added.

Last year, Al Amoudi, Saudi Arabia's second richest businessman with an estimated wealth of $8.7bn, plans to build two new cement factories in Ethiopia.