Fortune News | May 14,2022
The National Veterinary Institute is ready to begin production of animal pharmaceuticals at a plant in Bishoftu (Debre Zeit).
The institute has been upgrading the existing plant that manufactures vaccines with an investment of 100 million Br. The plant, which sits on 1,500Sqm of land, will start production in two months.
When it becomes fully operational, the institute will be able to satisfy 15pc of domestic demand and create jobs for 62 people. Animal antibiotic and anti-parasite drugs in 12 tablet types will be produced at the plant that has been under construction since 2016. The machinery was imported from India at a cost of 70 million Br, and Indian firm Fabtech Technologies International Limited installed the machines, while the institute carried out the civil work.
“We would be already producing if it wasn’t for power shortages,” said Awel Abduljebar, communications officer of the Institute. “We have been facing similar problems for the past two years.”
As a result of power shortages, the institute lost 10 million Br in fuel costs and five million Birr in expired vaccines, according to Matewos Mena, the institute's engineering & maintenance director.
Importers of animal drugs are hopeful that the institute’s investment will help their businesses.
“The construction of the plant will ease supply problems and save the lives of many animals,” said Hailu Meles (DVM), manager of GASCO Trading Plc, which imports animal drugs. “It will also reduce the contraband trade in drugs that were not previously in sufficient supply.”
Gasco is one of the 69 veterinary medicine and equipment importers in Ethiopia. There are as well 48 wholesalers and 219 retailers of animal drugs.
The institute, established almost a decade ago under the former Ministry of Agriculture with the technical assistance of the French Government, has the vaccine production capacity of close to 200 million doses a year. This has risen from four million doses a year in its earlier years.
Currently, the institute is producing 22 types of animal vaccines with a target of reaching an annual production capability of 365.34 million doses by 2020.
Dinka Ayana (DVM), dean of veterinary medicine & agriculture at Addis Abeba University, lauds the institute for the new investment it made.
"The new factory will save the country's foreign currency reserves and make animal drugs in the market cheaper," he said. “It will also reduce the contraband trade in animal drugs, many of which have no expiry dates and are not stored properly when being transported.”
PUBLISHED ON
Jan 12,2019 [ VOL
19 , NO
976]
Fortune News | May 14,2022
Agenda | Jan 01,2022
Fortune News | May 23,2021
Agenda | Sep 06,2020
Radar | Jun 26,2021
Featured | Jan 03,2021
Fortune News | Jan 15,2022
Fortune News | Apr 22,2022
Editorial | May 21,2022
View From Arada | Oct 16,2021
Aug 18 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Although predictable Yonas Zerihun's job in the ride-hailing service is not immune to...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Investors who rely on tractors, trucks, and field vehicles for commuting, transportin...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By MUNIR SHEMSU
The cracks in Ethiopia's higher education system were laid bare during a synthesis re...
Jul 13 , 2024 . By AKSAH ITALO
Construction authorities have unveiled a price adjustment implementation manual for s...
Dec 21 , 2024
The main avenues and thoroughfares of Addis Abeba have undergone an impressive faceli...
Dec 14 , 2024
Ethiopia's monetary policy has shifted conspicuously in recent years. Gone is the era...
Dec 7 , 2024
For decades the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE), a state-owned giant ent...
Nov 30 , 2024
In the corridors of government offices worldwide, the question of how much to pay mem...
Loading your updates...