With the goal of making hand sanitizer available to the public, the Ministry of Finance lifted the 60pc excise tax imposed on denatured alcohol last week.

The tax was waived after hand sanitizer producers filed complaints to the Ministry that stressed the burden of the tax, which is constricting their ability to respond to the spike in demand since the arrival of Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). In response, the Finance Ministry and Ministry of Trade & Industry had a discourse on the issue and came to the decision to waive the tax.

The producers also complained that there is a supply shortage of technical alcohol, according to Teka Gebereyesus, state minister for Trade & Industry.

“We're forcing different companies to produce hand sanitizer, in order to increase the supply," he said, "hence, it was also necessary to reduce the burden for these companies."

Currently, the main suppliers of the technical alcohol are the sugar refineries, Methara and Finchaa, both state-owned plants located in the Oromia Regional State. With a combined production capacity of 100,000lt a day, the technical alcohol is channeled to 145 producers.

The amount of technical alcohol that is provided to these companies is determined by the production facility and capacity of the companies.

The refineries have a much larger capacity than what they are currently producing due to the season. Typically, production increases over the course of the summer, according to Gashaw Ayechelhum, chief communications officer at the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation, which operates the sugar factories.

After having a meeting with the Ministry of Trade & Industry, the Corporation added seven additional sugar plants to be under the streamline of the supply from the sugar refineries. The Corporation supplies alcohol to the companies authorised by the Ministry.

“We have limited resources from the refineries," said Teka, "and we're working on how to regulate or ensure it isn’t abused.”

Currently, there are over 18 industries that are engaged in the production of the sanitizer with a total production capacity of 1.2 million litres a day.