The government has identified 23 private and state-owned companies to import refined palm oil. Each company is expected to import two million litres of the oil each month, which are then supplied to the local market under government-mandated tariffs.

The identification process of the oil importers has been taking place since September, and the companies were selected based on their performance and experience in the market and their capacity to transport the oil from dry ports.

The importers passed the technical evaluation stage established by the Ethiopian Conformity Assessment Enterprise and can buy the cooking oil from any country that fulfills the expected standard and requirement.

‘‘Bidders from different regions participated in the tender, ensuring diversification and representation of the regional states,” said Eshete Asfawu, state minister for Trade & Industry.

Nineteen of the importers are privately owned and have minimum capital of 100 million Br as a requirement to fulfill the criteria to supply cooking oil.

The government increased the number of oil importers in the country, because the supply does not meet the demand, especially in the regional states, according to Eshete.

Four years ago, five private, one governmental, and four endowments were authorized to import palm oil by the Ministry mainly from Indonesia, India, China, Dubai and the Netherlands. The companies imported 40 million litres of palm oil every month, which was then distributed to unions across the country for sale to consumers under government mandated tariffs.

The government in return supports the companies by giving them duty-free privileges and foreign currency exchange. Last September, their contracts expired, and the Ministry began the process of identifying exclusive importers.