Ethiopia generates 2.52 bln USD revenue from export trade in past 8 months
Ethiopia generated 2.52 billion U.S. dollars revenue from the export sector over the past eight months, the country’s Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration has said.
The East African country that had an initial target to generate 2.77 billion U.S. dollars from the export sector during the reported period was able to generate 2.52 billion U.S. dollars in export revenue, accounting for about 91 percent of the initial plan, state-run Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) quoted Gebremeskel Chala, Ethiopia’s Minister of Trade and Regional Integration, as saying on Tuesday.
Out of the reported 2.52 billion U.S. dollars export revenue, the agriculture sector represented the lion’s share of the revenue with 1.75 billion U.S. dollars, while the mining sector contributed 389 million U.S. dollars, and the industry sector 320.9 million U.S. dollars. The remaining economic sectors contributed to the rest of export earning, it was noted.
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Chala made the remarks while presenting the ministry’s eight-month performance report to the Ethiopian House of Peoples’ Representatives.
According to the ministry, the revenue marked a major increase as compared to the same period last year, which stood at 2.1 billion U.S. dollars.
UN AID
The UN World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the first aid convoy in three months has entered northern Ethiopia’s war-ravaged Tigray regional state.
Late Friday night, WFP Ethiopia announced that “13 trucks have arrived safely in Mekelle, capital of Tigray regional state”, reports Xinhua news agency
“More trucks and fuel will follow in the morning,” it said, noting a need for daily convoys to meet the needs of 5 million people in Tigray.
The arrival of the aid convoy carrying 500 metric tonnes of food and nutrition supplies came a week after the Ethiopian government and the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) conditionally agreed to a cessation of hostilities and unhindered delivery of humanitarian aid into the region.
The TPLF and the Ethiopian National Defense Force, backed by allied forces, have been engaged in a nearly 18-month conflict that has reportedly left tens of thousands of people dead and millions in urgent need of humanitarian assistance.
The Ethiopian Parliament designated the TPLF as a terrorist organisation in May 2021.
In a separate statement, Farhan Haq, the deputy spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, said teams have also reached communities in the neighboring Afar region with desperately needed food assistance.
“It is critical that we now see sustained deliveries of relief supplies, fuel and cash into Tigray, and the continued expansion of the response in conflict-affected areas in Afar and Amhara,” Haq said.
“Shortages of supplies, fuel and cash have severely undermined the ability of humanitarian organisations to respond to the increasingly acute situation in Tigray.”
In the months without convoys into Tigray, humanitarian organizations flew in some essential items, the spokesman said.
Aid partners flew in nearly 40 metric tonnes of nutrition supplies to Tigray’s regional capital of Mekelle, he said. Since late January, about 360 metric tonnes of primary medical and nutrition supplies have been flown in.
“Every bit helps. But a single convoy of 20 trucks could bring in more than twice this amount,” he said.
