Toppan Gravity Ethiopia Breaks Ground on Securities Printing Plant

ADDIS ABABA – Toppan Gravity Ethiopia broke ground on its securities printing facility in Addis Ababa.

This comes six months after the company was established as a joint venture between governmnt;s investment wing Ethiopian Investment Holding (EIH) and Toppan Gravity, a Japanese printing giant Toppan Inc.

EIH’s subsidiaries – Berhanena Selam Printing Enterprise (BSPE) and Educational Materials Production and Distribution Enterprise (EMPDE) – are also shareholders.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the construction project at Bole Lemi Industrial Park was held on Wednesday.

Finance minister Ahmed Shide, Central bank Governor Mamo Mehretu, and Education minister Birhanu Nega laid the cornerstone together with EIH CEO Abdurahman Eid, and Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia Shibata Hironori.

Toppan Gravity Ethiopia will invest 55 million US dollars in the printing facility construction project which will be implemented in three phases.

Once operational, it will produce passports, National ID, ATM cards, Master Cards with microchips and other security printings.

Authorities hope the securities printing company will have a direct impact on print-related import substitution and the realization of digital Ethiopia.

The company already has an agreement with the government’s Immigration and Citizenship Service to implement a newly crafted Ethiopian e-passport.