Agriculture Ministry Inks Djibouti Port Deal for Livestock Exports

Jul 17 , 2022

Oumer Hussein, minister of Agriculture, last week signed a memorandum of understanding with his counterpart in Djibouti to use the latter's Doraleh Port as a terminal for the Ethiopian livestock export industry. The Ministry is responsible for issuing export permits, which abattoirs are required to renew every year. Though there are 12 registered export abattoirs in the country, only nine are actively involved in export. Over the last decade, annual export revenues from meat have rarely surpassed the 100 million dollar mark. Last year, 16,625tn of meat were exported from Ethiopia, earning it 75.3 million dollars. An all-time high volume of meat, 20,547tn, was exported in 2018, generating 103.3 million dollars. Sheep and goat meat account for the largest share. The biggest buyers are the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Saudi Arabia, which account for nearly 90pc.