Uniliver, a multinational consumer products manufacturing company, has started producing toothpaste in Ethiopia.
On Thursday the company has inaugurated a factory in East Industrial Zone in Dukem, Oromia Region, which produces its toothpaste brand –Signal. For many years, different products and brands of the products of the company such as, Lifebuoy soap and Signal toothpaste have been in the Ethiopian market.
The company has also been producing Lifebuoy soap in Ethiopia for the past few years. The government of Ethiopia has been providing incentives for investors in the manufacturing sector to cut its import bill through import substitution.
Uniliver has been producing nine kinds of products, including soaps and powder soap in Ethiopia. The company based in London and Amsterdam has many branches across the world and over 90 factories. The factory has created 100 jobs and more that 500 participate in the distribution of its products
In January 2017 Unilever CEO Paul Polman who met the former Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemariam Desalegn the company has a plan to engage in tea production in Ethiopia. The British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company has been producing hygiene and personal care products for many years.