China-based firm Sino-Overseas Leather Products has signed a $34 million deal to build four leather goods production units in Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital.

According to a government statement, the Chinese firm has bought land covering 50,000 m² on which to build the new factories.

The first unit is scheduled to open before the end of 2008 and will be a tannery, producing more than a million m² of finished leather per year. The remaining three factories will produce leather goods such as shoes and gloves.