Swedfund, DBL Group, and Development Bank of Ethiopia have agreed to invest in a textile factory in Mekelle, Ethiopia, which will provide job opportunities for 4,000 people.

Swedfund contributes with knowledge from sustainable investments and will invest $15m through a loan.

“The factory will be a long-term sustainable industrial plant in every aspect and will be an important step for developing the textile industry in Ethiopia,” said Anna Ryott, Managing Director at Swedfund.

In accordance with a loan agreement, signed by DBL Group, Swedfund and Development Bank of Ethiopia, H&M will be a long time buyer and support with expert knowledge in sustainable textile production.

Decent working conditions, job creation for women and environmental considerations are some of the most important goals with the project pushing one of Ethiopia’s prioritized industry sectors forward.

The requirements on this individual factory are in line with the strict requirements H&M’s suppliers always have to follow.

The collaboration project also involves local and international partners, in order to enhance the know-how around sustainable production of ready-made garments in Ethiopia.

“We have managed to form a unique partnership in Ethiopia with deep professional knowledge in every part of the process in order to fulfill the high sustainability requirements. It is a great example of how to work to achieve efficient job creation, and in this project it is particularly focused on women,” said Ryott.

“Job creation is crucial to help people find their way out of poverty and the cooperation with such a great partners like H&M and DBL will make this a role model for other similar projects”, she added.

DBL will through its extensive experience from the textile industry contribute with vast knowledge transfer to a fast growing industry.

H&M brings expertise from large scale textile production in a sustainable way and as a long-term buyer.

”H&M is pleased that Swedfund is co-financing a project with DBL Group. H&M wants to contribute to a long-term sustainable textile industry in Ethiopia taking social as well as environmental dimensions into consideration. It is important to us that both DBL and Swedfund are putting these questions on top of their agenda when doing investments”, said Helena Helmersson, Global Head of Production at H&M.

This gives a cooperation where full focus on sustainability originates from multiple directions – from the investor, buyer and owner.

DBL Group, exporter of ready-made garment with headquarters in Bangladesh, will be the sole owner of the factory in Ethiopia.

M.A Rahim, Vice President of DBL Group, said: ”DBL Group is proud to be part of the development of the textile industry in Ethiopia. It is a milestone for us to build an integrated textile factory entirely focused on export.”

“DBL will together with other partners focus on sustainability in every part of the process, including collaborations with the civil society in Mekelle and Addis Ababa. We are looking forward to a successful and long-term collaboration,” he said.