Ethiopia Needs $2b to Import Edible Oil for the Next Two Years

Jul 3 , 2021

Close two billion dollars is needed to import semi-processed edible oil for the newly built plants in Ethiopia, according to the Ministry of Trade & Industry. This is almost equal to 66.6pc of the country's annual exports and would enable factories to utilise their production capacity to the fullest. There are 26 large and 206 medium oil-producing industries in the country, with a capacity of producing 1.2 billion litres of edible oil. Efforts are underway to satisfy the forex demand of the industries, according to Melaku Alebel, minister of Trade. "We're working to satisfy demand through domestic production," he said. The country's demand for edible oil projected to reach 906.5 million litres a year, while the number of edible oil refineries operating has been increased from 14 to 30.