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Ethiopia Pulls In $400M From Gold Exports

Ethiopia Pulls In $400M From Gold Exports

From South African Business Week

Ethiopian earnings from gold exports continue to rise as the government pushes for diversification of the economy.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines, the government earned $419 million from the export of minerals supplied by artisanal miners operating in the country in the first 11 months of the current financial year. Artisanal miners are usually subsistence miners and are not officially employed by a mining company, but rather work independently.

Export of gold made up the largest proportion of minerals, generating $409.1 million in foreign currency, followed by gemstones and tantalum earning $9.3 million and $1.6 million.
This income came from the export of 7878.3 kg of gold, 20,126.3 kg of gemstones and 32.95t of tantalum.

The export of minerals has become Ethiopia’s second largest foreign currency earner, contributing over 23% of overall export earnings.
The Ministry of Industry has also announced that during the same period Ethiopia earned $254.7 million from the export of manufactured goods.

Exports include textiles and clothes, leather and leather products, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. More than $111 million of this came from the export of leather and leather products, over $90.7 million from textiles and clothes, $45.6 million from agro-processing and $7.3 million from pharmaceuticals and chemicals.  Meanwhile a Saudi Arabian company, Saudi Cargo, will soon begin transporting meat from Ethiopia to Europe by the end of this year.

Read more at South African Business Week.