Eyob Tekalign

New Capabilities

Says all Ethiopia-produced gold will be refined at home before export

Ethiopia opened its first precious metals refinery on October 10, ending a long practice of shipping raw gold abroad for processing. The $50 million plant at Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone in Addis Ababa is built to handle more than 600 tonnes of gold and silver a year. That is more than 13 times the 44 tonnes of gold Ethiopia produced in the fiscal year that ended in July.

Updated Oct 21