Tens of thousands of shareholders in Habesha Cement will flock today to a temporary shelter erected on Ras Mekonnen St, inside the small fenced sports field, adjacent to Yidenekachew Tessema Stadium, to hear what their directors will say on the state of their company, which is yet to launch construction of its plant.
In store will be a mixture of good news, along with cause for some discontent.
The project, with the largest base of shareholders ever - at over 16,000 - has no doubt reached several milestones, from the day four of the original promoters; Eskinder Desta, Mersha Alemu, Nigeru Mulualem, and Tilahun Abay hatched the idea back in September 2008. Not only have they brought onboard two key personalities in the local cement industries; Gizaw T. Mariam and Mesfin Abi, but too, against all odds, they have succeeded in raising over 150 million Br in equity from the public, when initial public offerings (IPOs) were closed in 2010.
These shareholders were promised a return on investment of 122pc a share in two years, when the project was due to become up and running. It was a bubble period, where the price of cement per quintal hit the roof at above 500 Br, and the prospect for more had seemed simply tantalising.
The domestic construction industry was projected for an annual expansion of 25pc. Promoters of Habesha Cement stated back then that "the need for an additional cement plant cannot be overemphasised."
"It should not indeed be debatable," or so they said in a letter to the editor, Eskinder, the then the main promoter and secretary of the board, sent to this newspaper back in May 2009.
Yet, the plant that is to be erected near the town of Holeta, 35Km west of Addis Abeba, remains in its project phase, despite being twice as long after promoters had originally pledged that the factory would become operational.
It is not an isolated case, however. What is now an industry giant, Derba Cement, became operational only in February 2012, way past its original timetable of March 2011. National Cement, in Dire Dawa, 515Km east of the capital, is yet to be commissioned, despite original plans to launch in October 2012.
Directors of the company have accomplished so much, in convincing local and federal authorities to acquire land, both for the factory and the quarry - 50Kms away from the plant - and have awarded a near 80 million dollars engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contract to the Chinese Northern Heavy Machinery Industries, Shenyang Co Ltd.
