Ethiopia obtained 753 Million US dollars in revenue from exports in the first quarter of the current fiscal year. This is a 33% increase on revenue from last year.
The revenue was raised from the export of 275,611 tonnes of produce sent to an estimated 94 countries. A significant percentage of the export revenue, 84 million US dollars, was earned from German exports.
Ethiopia earned 841.6 million dollars from the export of about 200,000 tonnes of coffee in 2010/2011 fiscal year. The country is planning to raise its coffee production to 700,000 tonnes from 300,000 tonnes o
ver the coming four years.
Experts said that the increase in the quantity of coffee exported from Ethiopia was due to the introduction in 2008 of a commodity exchange market, which promoted transparent trading, and rising global commodity prices.
Ethiopia earned 92 million US dollars from the export of fruits, vegetables and flowers in the last five months according to the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency.
74.5 million Us dollars was acquired through the export of flowers said Haileselassie Tekie Director General of the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency at a joint consultative workshop organized for the sector.
Ethiopia has earned more than 1.2 billion birr in revenue from investment projects in mining exploration and production licensed in the last nine months said the Ministry of Mines.
The investment projects requested licensing in the previous budget year according to Bacha Fuji, Director of Public Relations with the ministry.
An estimated 51 investors are engaged in exploration while others are engaged in production he said.
Ethiopia has secured 133.7 million USD from the export of horticultural crops in the last seven months, the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency (EHDA) said.
Agency Director General Haileselassie Tekie said that the country earned the foreign currency from the export of 1.1 billion flower stems and 72.8 thousand tons of fruits, vegetables and herbs in the last seven months (From July 2011-Jan. 2012).
More than 107.5 million USD was obtained from the export of flowers to the international market, while the balance was secured from the sale of fruits, vegetables and herbs.
The foreign currency the country earned from the sector in the stated period has increased by 22.7 millions USD in revenue compared to last year same period.
The Netherlands, Germany, England, Belgium, Russia, Japan and Middle East counties are among the major recipients of the products.
The demand for the horticultural products’ of Ethiopia is very high and thus the Agency is doing market promotion and diversification activities.
Incentives and the necessary support are being provided by the government of Ethiopia, the number of foreign and local investors engaged in the sector is on the increase, the Director General said.
Ethiopia has recently started to export organic banana to Saudi Arabia market, which the project is supported by Common Fund for Commodities (CFC), is an important step to ensure the growth of horticulture industry in the country.
More than 105 horticulture producer and exporters companies are operating in the country, of which over 70 per cent of them are foreign and joint venture, it was learnt.
Source: This news article was prepared and sent to 2merkato.com by Mekonnen Hailu, Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency (EHDA)'s senior communication expert.
