In May 2019 Xinhua reported that the Ethiopian Investment Commission said Chinese-built Kilinto Industrial Park was attracting experienced international pharmaceutical companies, with investment agreements signed by about ten firms showing interest in plants on the site.
EIC Deputy Commissioner Temesgen Telahun said the park, then nearing completion, was meant to host a large cluster of pharma manufacturers and to lift Ethiopia’s medicine-production ambitions.
Pharma parks promise import substitution, but they still need reliable power, FX for inputs, and regulators that can certify quality for export.
Kept as manufacturing archive, the Kilinto pharma pitch is a dated FDI marker from Ethiopia’s Chinese-built industrial-park wave.
Sources: Xinhua