Ethiopia Signs Agri-Tourism Deal with Chinese Firm Aladdin Holdings for Integrated Energy-Farming Hub

EBR_News Apr 17, 2026

Chinese company Aladdin Holdings Group has signed a strategic memorandum of understanding with the Ethiopian embassy in Beijing to establish a China-East Africa Modern Agriculture and Cultural Tourism Industry Innovation Center, marking a new phase in bilateral economic cooperation, according to a report by China Daily.

The proposed project aims to combine renewable energy, modern farming, equipment manufacturing, and cultural tourism into an integrated industrial-agricultural cluster. Under the MoU, the two sides will focus on developing solar power, industrial energy storage, cold-chain logistics, and agricultural robotics, with the goal of creating a scalable model for replication across Ethiopia, East Africa, and the wider continent.

Yang Renqiang, Chairman of Aladdin Holdings Group, stated that Ethiopia represents a large and growing market with abundant renewable energy resources and increasing demand for agricultural upgrading, food security support, and job creation. The company sees the initiative as aligned with Ethiopia’s broader economic transformation agenda.

Tefera Derbew Yimam, Ethiopia’s Ambassador to China, welcomed the proposal, noting that it directly supports the nation’s push to modernize agriculture, the country’s pillar industry, which employs approximately 70 percent of the workforce. He added that the embassy would facilitate coordination as the plan moves forward.

Ethiopia is a key participant in the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) and the Belt and Road Initiative, and is regarded as China’s all-weather strategic partner in Africa. The two countries have previously collaborated on infrastructure, green energy, agriculture, and manufacturing projects.

The new agreement signals growing Chinese interest in Ethiopia’s agri-industrial potential and renewable energy sector, which are central to the government’s Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda and the Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy.