Ethiopia Targets Growth

Foreign trade and foreign direct investments earns Ethiopia higher revenues

Ethiopia earned more than US$2.4 billion from the export sector in the last three quarters of 2012. The revenue earned from foreign trade in the first nine months of 2012 exceeded that of the same time of the previous year by more than US$352 million said Amakele Yemam, Head of the Corporate Communication Affairs office of the Ministry. Increase has particularly been seen in the export of gold, horticulture, livestock, textiles and minerals he said.

The most significant destinations for Ethiopian exports have been Belgium, Britain, China, Djibouti, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan, India, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Somali, Sudan Switzerland and the US.

In related news Ethiopian customs and Revenue Authority, Adama Branch reported collecting more than 7.4 billion birr in revenue from various exports in just the first 10 months of 2012. The revenue earned is greater than that of the same period in the previous year by more than 1 billion birr.

The authority has provided more than 2 billion birr in tax exemption for flower exporters and on imported items during the same period.

The revenue office has been able to meet 90 per cent of its target revenue and the Customs and Revenue has recovered more than 20 million birr it had been defrauded of by tax evasion.

Ethiopia earned more than US$240 million through the export of leather and leather products in 2012. The revenue is almost double the amount earned in the previous year according to the projected figures by the Leather and Leather Products Development Institute.

Ethiopia had earned about US$112.1 million from the sector in the previous financial year. The revenue was lower than the US$206 million projected by the institute. The lower than expected revenue was due to the decrease of leather prices on the international market and the increase in the price of raw materials.

The institute expects better performance this year by fostering improved efficiency and also because additional large companies are to launch production in the coming months which will play a significant role in helping meet the projections for this year.

Increased Foreign Direct Investment in the leather sector will help meet sector targets according to sources. Notable international companies which have entered the sector in Ethiopia include the Chinese Hujieang, one of the largest footwear manufacturers in world. The production of this company alone could go a long way towards equaling the exports for the previous year.

On the whole, the Ethiopian economy is expected to sustain an 11 per cent growth in the current fiscal year according to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.

The economy has grown at an average rate of 11 per cent in the last few years and the government expects to maintain the growth rate in the current financial year.

The International Monetary Fund revised its forecast of the growth rate of the Ethiopian economy from 5.5% to 7% last June due to the slowing rates of inflation.

Ethiopia's Tourism Earnings Up
Ethiopia earned US$462 million from the tourism sector in the last financial year according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The revenue was earned from 584,000 tourists who were entered the country to visit an range of tourist attractions around the country explained Awoke Tenaw, Director of Public and International Relations with the Ministry.

The number of tourists into the country increased by 14 per cent in the last year while the revenue for the sector showed an increase by 69 per cent in the financial year as compared to the previous budget year according to Awoke.

A significant percentage of the tourists who visited the country’s historical sites came from Germany, England, France, Italy and the United States he said.

The increase in the number of tourists and in the revenue from the sector can be attributed to the promotional work conducted and the enhanced infrastructure around the historical sites claimed Awoke. The tourism sector has generated more than 224,000 jobs so far he said.