Fist bumps were in order late last week between Eyob Takalign (PhD) (left), state minister for Finance, and Takele Uma, minister of Mines & Petroleum and head of the institution that oversees the mining sector, which has been a boom for federal treasuries over the past year. The occasion was the renovation of the Ministry’s headquarters in the neighbourhood commonly known as Wessen, as part of a revamping of federal agencies.
Takele gave a tour of the headquarters to members of the media and federal officials, including Motuma Mekassa (centre), former minister of Mines & Petroleum. The occasion was rounded off with recognition for the federal agency employees and blood donation by Takele for the National Defense Forces, a familiar sight these days, mainly by government officials.
The Ministry also released a sector report, showing a surprisingly impressive performance over the past two years. While mining remains heavily traditional and inefficient, with artisanal workers accounting for nearly all mined gold, the government has succeeded in formalising part of it. Within two years, exports from mining grew by around 2,000pc to account for a sixth of the 3.6 billion dollars in export revenues. In the first month of this fiscal year, the sector secured 38.5 million dollars, a third higher than the 29 million dollars from mining for the entirety of 2019.
The Ministry would like to see this success replicated and more. The strategies it has identified are facilitating a market for mining products on the Ethiopian Commodities Exchange (ECX) and developing industrial mining. The major roadblocks are the civil war in the north, particularly in Tigray Regional State, one of three top gold producers, and alarming levels of political instability across the country. Poor infrastructure and stubborn levels of informality are not helping either.
PUBLISHED ON
Sep 02,2021 [ VOL
22 , NO
1114]
Fortune News | Sep 01,2021
News Analysis | Jul 03,2021
Radar | Jul 18,2021
Fortune News | Jul 11,2021
Life Matters | May 21,2022
Editorial | Feb 26,2022
Fortune News | Jul 12,2021
Radar | Feb 29,2020
My Opinion | Feb 12,2022
Radar | Sep 18,2021
Dec 24 , 2022
Biniam Mikru heads the department of cabinet affairs under Mayor Adanech Abiebie. But...
Jul 2 , 2022 . By RUTH TAYE
On a rainy afternoon last week, a coffee processing facility in the capital's Akaki-Qality District was abuzz with activ...
Nov 27 , 2021
Against my will, I have witnessed the most terrible defeat of reason and the most sa...
Nov 13 , 2021
Plans and reality do not always gel. They rarely do in a fast-moving world. Every act...
May 27 , 2023
Tauted as a somnolent giant, Ethiopia's financial scene now stirs, roused by favourab...
May 20 , 2023
The pungent irony wafting from Pretoria last week was hard to miss. Cyril Ramaphosa,...
May 13 , 2023
In March this year, Kamala Harris, the United States Vice President, visited Ghana, T...
May 6 , 2023
The history of the Ethiopian labour movement dates back to the 1940s, marked by perio...
Loading your updates...