Did Eritrea have "more than 300 factories" while part of Ethiopia, as Abiy Ahmed said?

What was claimed

In a Tigrinya-language interview published by Ethiopian state broadcaster EBC on 19 October 2026, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said: “While Eritrea was part of Ethiopia, it had more than 300 factories. At the time it was considered one of the most industrially developed in Africa” A. The words are EBC’s Amharic subtitles, in our translation.

Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia in September 1952 C and annexed in November 1962. Ethiopian rule ended in May 1991.

Where “more than 300” comes from

The only “more than 300 factories” figure we found for Eritrea is from 1945. UNIDO, the UN’s industrial development agency, wrote in 1996: “Overall, there were more than 300 factories operating by the end of 1945” B. At that time Eritrea was under British administration, seven years before federation. Whether this is where Abiy’s figure comes from is not known.

Eritrea’s industry began under Italian rule and expanded during the Second World War under British administration, before federation. Accounts of the Italian period count about 700 industrial firms by the end of the 1930s; one Italian count for 1939, covering a larger colony that included Tigray, gives 2,198. Other figures above 300 that we found also belong to periods outside 1952-1991.

What the counts show for 1952-1991

Counts for the Ethiopian period are much lower.

• UNIDO reported, citing “official figures”, that there were 88 industries in Eritrea in 1962, 138 in 1965 and 165 by the end of 1970 B. By those figures industry in Eritrea grew in the 1960s, but remained about half of “more than 300”.
• A 1981 survey for UNIDO reproduced Central Statistical Office figures of 416 to 430 manufacturing establishments with 10 or more employees in the whole of Ethiopia, Eritrea included, from 1975/76 to 1978/79 D. The same survey put 26% of manufacturing industries in Eritrea. If that share is by number, it is about 108 establishments (our arithmetic).

The 1970s figures cover establishments with 10 or more workers; UNIDO does not define its “industries”. We found no count of every size of workshop for the period, and small private firms did operate.

What is accurate

Eritrea did hold a large share of Ethiopia’s industry. The Library of Congress country study says about 30% of the country’s plants were in Eritrea, and a study for Brookings and UNU-WIDER, citing the World Bank, says Asmara hosted “about a third of the national industrial capacity” E F. UNIDO described Eritrea as “one of the most industrialized parts of Eastern Africa”. We found no source ranking it among the most industrially developed in Africa as a whole.

What happened to that industry

In 1975 Ethiopia’s military government nationalised more than 100 industries E. UNIDO reported that 42 of Eritrea’s most important enterprises were nationalised after 1974, and that at the height of the war Eritrea’s plants were running at under 20% of capacity. The Library of Congress says the war and labour unrest “closed” the plants in Eritrea E; UNIDO’s own account is that some kept working.

Eritrea’s government says entire industries were moved from Asmara to Addis Ababa during the federation. The Library of Congress study says that after 1955, under the emperor’s representative in Eritrea, “many businesses” were moved out of Eritrea.

Our verdict

Misleading. Eritrea did hold a large share of Ethiopia’s industry, and its industry grew in the 1960s. But the only “more than 300 factories” figure we found is for 1945, under British administration. The counts for the Ethiopian period are far below 300: 88 to 165 industries between 1962 and 1970 by the figures UNIDO reported, and in the late 1970s a 26% share of Ethiopia’s 416 to 430 establishments with 10 or more workers. We found no count of smaller workshops for the period. We found no source for “one of the most industrially developed in Africa”; UNIDO says “Eastern Africa”.

Sources

• EBC, interview with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, 19 October 2026: YouTube (20:16-20:34).
• UNIDO, Eritrea: A new beginning, Industrial Development Review Series, 1996: PDF.
• UN General Assembly resolution 617 (VII), 17 December 1952: PDF.
• Kienbaum Entwicklungs-Consult for UNIDO, Survey of the Metalworking Sector in Ethiopia, 1981: PDF.
• Library of Congress, Ethiopia: A Country Study, 4th ed.: archive.org; country study pages.
• Mulu Gebreeyesus, Industrial policy and development in Ethiopia, 2013: PDF.
• Matteo Nardozi, “Economia e lavoro italiano in Eritrea tra guerra e dopoguerra”, Storia economica, 2022: PDF.