2merkato

The revenue earned from gold exports in the first quarter of the Ethiopian fiscal year is lower than anticipated according to a report from the Ministry of Mines. Gold exports were affected by lower than projected production by traditional miners and MIDROC holding on to 90% of its production over the period in anticipation of better prices.

The Ministry of Mines had anticipated 61 million US dollars in revenue from 1361.3 kilograms of gold to be produced by the Legedembi mine operated by MIDROC. The mine has an estimated annual production of 4500 kilograms of gold and 1195 kilograms were produced in the first quarter but the company sold just 10.8% of this production due to unfavorable pricing on the market it was said. 

The revenue Ethiopia earned from the export of industrial products increased significantly in the last three years according to the Ministry of Trade.

The revenue earned from the export of industrial products in the last financial year was 22.8 higher (255.45 million US dollars) than what had been earned in the previous fiscal period (207.92 million US dollars) according to Melaku Taye, Director of Corporate Communication Directorate with the MoT.

Industrial exports had shown an increase of more than 75% in the previous two financial periods said Melaku.

Ethiopia has earned 475.3 Million US dollars from exports in just the last two months according to the Ministry of Trade. The performance in the last two months has shown a notable improvement over the 300.8 million US dollars earned in the same period in the last financial year said Abdurahman Seid Deputy Director of the Public Relations and Communication Directorate of the ministry.

The revenue earned, however was still lower than the MOT’s projections for the period which was 776.1 million US dollars. The current revenue is only 61.2% of the projected income.

The export sector has witnessed a 25% growth in the last decade claimed Amakele Yimam, Director of the Public Relations Directorate. 

Power exports to Djibouti earn 2.1 Million US dollars monthly according to the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation.

The EEPCo is currently exporting 34-40 MW of electricity to Djibouti and is generating 2.1 million US dollars  every month said Meskir Negash, Head of Public Relations for the Corporation.  

EEPCo supplies the electricity between five in the afternoon to one in the morning which is not a peak demand period for domestic customers explained Meskir.