Key points
- The $50 million refinery is Ethiopia’s first, with state-owned Ethiopian Investment Holdings as majority owner.
- It will process gold from Ethiopia and neighboring countries.
- Gold earned Ethiopia $5.6 billion in exports last year.
Ethiopia has launched its first gold refinery, a $50 million joint venture meant to turn the East African nation into a regional hub for processing precious metals, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said over the weekend.
State-owned Ethiopian Investment Holdings holds a majority stake in the project. Ahmed announced the launch in a post on X on Saturday, saying the refinery will handle gold from Ethiopia and from elsewhere.
A hub for the region
“It enables neighbouring countries and regional mining companies to bring their gold to Ethiopia for advanced refining, certification, value addition, and sale, eliminating the need to export it outside the continent,” Ahmed said.
The refinery will offer melting, testing, refining, casting, bar minting and die-making. As a result, producers in the region can complete several steps of the value chain in one place instead of shipping unrefined metal abroad.
Why gold matters to Ethiopia
Gold is one of Ethiopia’s main sources of foreign exchange. According to government data, exports earned the country $5.6 billion last year.
Consequently, capturing more of the refining and certification work at home could add value and strengthen the sector’s contribution to the economy.
The announcement did not give a capacity figure, an operating start date or the identity of the minority partner in the venture. Meanwhile, the $50 million figure represents the initial investment, so later expansion remains possible.
