The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines is planning to draft a law to provide incentives for traditional gold artisans in various parts of the country in an effort to increase exports, Capital reported.

Sinkinesh Ejigu, Minister of Mines, told Capital that the planned law is at its early stage and will be submitted to Parliament after the second quarter of the current fiscal year.

The law is expected to contain provisions with regard to financing and duty-free schemes for sector to increase their exports, according to the Minister.

“We have already put in place inducements such as duty-free schemes for mining companies, but small-scale developers should also receive similar motivation,” Sinkinesh said.

Currently, the majority of gold exported come from traditional miners.

“Without any support, the artisans have registered good performance and we believe additional support and incentives will have a positive upward development of the sector,” Sinkinesh said.

In the current fiscal year, Ministry is targeting to generate about US$ 700 million from gold collected by artisans, 70 percent of the USD 1 billion target it has set to earn from gold and tantalum, according to Capital.

Source: Capital