2merkato

The revenue Ethiopia earns from the mining sector has grown notably in the last two years according to the Ministry of Mines.
Mining investment projects in Ethiopia were valued at 13 billion birr in 2010 but this sum has increased by 1.1 billion birr to reach 14.1 billion birr according to Bacha Faji, Ministry of Public Relations and Director of Communication.

The ministry has also licensed 56 more investment projects in the last two years with most of the licenses issued in the petroleum exploration and mineral exploration sectors he noted.

Ethiopia has been able to secure 162 million US dollars from petroleum exploration licenses, royalty tax, signing bonus and building payments in the previous fiscal year.

Revenue from remittance in Ethiopia showed an increase in the second half of the fiscal year out performing earnings from exports according to the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Private transfers of remittance totaled 1.74 billion dollars in the last seven months of the financial year which is a 19.6% increase from the same period in the last financial year explained Teklewold Atnafu, Governor of the National bank in a report presented to the House of Peoples Representatives.

The lower than expected export earnings, and 140 million US dollars less than revenue from remittance, has had a negative effect on the trade of balance with increase in imports and rising inflation.

The tourist industry in Ethiopia has seen a growth of 111% to earn 253 million dollars in the first two of the current fiscal year according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The number of tourists visiting the country has increased by 44% with 321,000 visitors during the last six months.

The average length of stay for tourists to Ethiopia has also shown an increase from 4 days to 6 days.

The Ethiopian oilseeds, spices and pulses export sector has registered a revenue growth of 31 percent. Export from the sector has grown from 539 thousand tons to 608 thousand tons in the previous financial year resulting in corresponding increasing in revenue from 506.2 million US dollars to 663.6 million US dollars.

The Ethiopian oilseeds, pulses and spices export sector is showing steady growth alongside other exports according to Kebede Chane, Minister for Trade. The ministry anticipates that overall revenue from export revenue will reach 10.4 billion US dollars by the end of the development program he noted.

It is to be remembered that the country earned 470 million US dollars from the export sector in the previous sector with the oilseeds sector recording the best performance. The Ministry of trade plans to increase the revenue earned in the current fiscal year to 626 million US dollars.

Reykjavik Geothermal (RG), a power developer backed by hedge fund billionaire Paul Tudor Jones II, announced a plan to launch a $4.4 billion project to bring volcanic energy to Ethiopia.