Ethiopia earned $40 million from the export of gold supplied by traditional small-scale miners during the past 11 months, Ethiopian Mines and Energy Minister said on Monday.
Alemayehu Tegenu told journalists in Addis Ababa that close two tons of gold were supplied by the artisanal miners and shipped to foreign markets.
It was the first time Ethiopia earned such amount of foreign exchange from the export of gold.
“This was achieved due to the technical and material support to make traditional miners engage in legal mining works rather than illegal ones,” Tegenu said.
Extensive efforts were launched to organize traditional miners living in every region into associations thereby helping them engage in legal trade, he said.
Source: African Press Agency