Decline in Annual Export Earnings Despite Agricultural Boost

Jun 17 , 2023


Ethiopia has fallen short of its annual export goal, having only generated three billion dollars in revenue over the past ten months, according to a recent report by the Ministry of Regional Trade & Regional Integration. The agricultural sector remains the largest contributor with export earnings, making up 78.2pc of the total, followed by manufacturing at 11.6pc and mining at 6.41pc. Despite a modest growth rate of 5.4pc, it has failed to make up for the shortfall in other areas. There is a decline of 1.12 billion dollars from last year. The drop in earnings from gold export has been a significant factor in this decline, as the country only managed to achieve 35pc of its gold export targets, generating around 172 million dollars. The lagged effects of the country's expulsion from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) have also contributed to the fall in exports from industrial parks by as much as 24pc. The labour-intensive textile sector, which accounted for close to 90pc of exports from industrial parks, has also been severely impacted by the AGOA expulsion. There is hope for increased export volume between countries within Africa, which currently stands at 14pc of the total. This is expected to occur following further implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfcFTA).


Radar

Coffee Exports Bring in $1.5B in Third Quarter

Ethiopia has earned 1.5 billion dollars from coffee exports over the nine months of the fiscal year. The country had set a target to earn a little over a billion dollars by exporting 201,959tns of coffee during the same period. According to Adugna Debella (PhD), director general of the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority, the export strategy continues to focus on major international markets, with the top 10 destinations, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the United States (SU), accounting...


Radar

Central Bank Holds Fourth Exchange Auction

The National Bank of Ethiopia(NBE) sold one dollar for 131.4961 birr in its recent auction. It was reported that 26 banks participated in this auction, which took place last week on Thursday. In a statement issued by the National Bank  following the auction, it was indicated that 70 million dollars was offered for the event. Subsequently, it was reported that 96 pc of the foreign exchange needs of the participating banks were met. In the previous auction, held 15 days ago, the bank had of...


Radar

City Registers 64,075 Births in Fiscal Year

The city has exceeded its birth registration target for the first nine months of the fiscal year, registering 64,075 children—71.15pc more than the set goal of 58,342. This success, with a registration coverage rate of 109.63pc, is largely attributed to the efficiency of the one-centre birth registration service system, which has been rolled out across health centres and courts. The total number of vital events registered, including births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths, reache...