Page 63 - Glass Machinery Plants & Accessories no. 2/2017
P. 63

A recently announced new company –

            Juniper Glass – is being established thanks to


            Consol Glass, the largest glass packaging

            company in Sub-Saharan Africa. The new

            company will have a state-of-the-art factory,

            equipped with the latest available technology

            in glass manufacturing. The new factory,

            which is  under construction, will have the

            capacity to produce 60,000 tonnes of glass

            annually, approximately 200 million glass bottles.



                                                                               the Africa-focussed greenfield
                                                                               investment company.
                                                                                 Commenting on the deal, CEO
                                                                               of Juniper, Brooks Washington,
                                                                               said, “Our partnership with
                                                                               Consol, together with the sup-
                                                                               port from the Development Bank
                                                                               of Ethiopia, will help us to realise
                                                                               our mission and meet the grow-
                                                                               ing demand for high-quality glass
                                                                               bottles. Perhaps more significant-
                                                                               ly, it will contribute to Ethiopia’s
                                                                               economic development by inno-
                                                                               vating, building human capacity
            million glass bottles. Juniper has   Sub-Saharan Africa, with manu-  and leveraging technology.”
            agreed with most major bottlers   facturing facilities in South Africa,   Earlier, the Development Bank
            in Ethiopia to allocate the major-  Nigeria, and Kenya. Consol Glass   of Ethiopia announced it had
            ity of this capacity to replace   is a recognised leader in glass   approved a loan of ETB 565 million
            imports. In addition, Juniper has   packaging manufacturing and with   (approximately USD 25 million)
            also evaluated opportunities with   their expertise and support Juniper   for the project, which was devel-
            international customers to export   will be able to supply container   oped by Roha. With final invest-
            bottles into neighbouring coun-   glass to highest quality standards.  ment approval from Ethiopia’s
            tries. Juniper Glass is expected to                                Trade Competition and Consumer
            be operational within 18 months   DYNAMIC ENVIRONMENT              Protection Agency, Juniper is fully-
            and, with a strong consortium       “Ethiopia provides a dynam-    funded and will start operating as
            of partners and full funding in   ic environment for Africa’s      soon as the factory is completed.
            place, the project design has     industrial growth,” said CEO       “We are grateful for the sup-
            firmly positioned Juniper for      of Consol Glass, Mike Arnold,    port of the various government
            growth, with designs allowing     “and the Ethiopian market is     entities who have played a role
            for further expansion on relative   gaining momentum. We have      in getting us to where we are,
            short notice in future.           been evaluating opportunities in   including the Debre Birhan
               The consortium behind Juniper   Ethiopia for a number of years   Municipality, Amhara National
            includes Consol Glass, the larg-  and are excited about our part-  Regional State, and Federal agen-
            est glass packaging company in    nership with Juniper and Roha,”   cies,” Washington added.




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