The biggest cement factory in Ethiopia, worth US$600 million was inaugurated on Sunday, at a time when the Horn of Africa country braces for a construction boom.

The cement factory, Derba MIDROC Cement Plc, has a daily capacity of 8,000 metric tonnes and 2.5 million tonnes per annum.

Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire, Sheik Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi owns the MIDROC Group, which built the mega factory.

MIDROC Ethiopia Group invested US$100 million to the construction of the factory, with European Investment Bank, African Development Bank, International Finance Corp. and Development Bank of Ethiopia providing the rest of the funds.

Ethiopia has in recent times seen a construction boom, with the construction of several hydro electric dams and housing projects, among others.

The plant, an environmentally friendly factory located some 70 kilometres north west of the capital, Addis Ababa and built by China National Building Materials Co, is expected to earn around US$115 million per annum.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said the plant would contribute immensely to the ongoing development of Ethiopia's industry sector.

"If everything goes well, it will be a cash cow," said project manager, Tadesse Kebede.

Ethiopia plans to boost output by 10-fold by mid-2015 to 27 million tons, government sources said.