In the first quarter of the current fiscal year, Ethiopia replaced imports amounting to USD 350 million.

Ethiopia's trade imbalance poses a significant challenge to the economy, with annual imports averaging USD 18 billion while exports remain below USD 5 billion. The country's heavy reliance on the export of raw materials, which hampers its competitiveness in the global market, contributes to the trade deficit.

According to Melaku Alebel, Minister of Industry, the government is actively working to strengthen the industrial sector and prioritize import substitution in order to address the issue. Ethiopia's import substitution strategy has yielded positive results so far, particularly in the textile and food sectors, as the country successfully replaced USD 2.26 billion worth of products in the previous fiscal year.

Building on this success, the Minister emphasized that the government now aims to focus on value addition and diversification of export products. As part of the strategy, a total of 96 import products have been identified for local production in the short and long term, with plans in place to export the substituted import products.

Source: Fana BC