Ethiopia earns $540.5 mln from gold in last decade

Posted on Ethiomedia
Reuters
October 12, 2009
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Editor's note - The following report was made possible thanks to the Reporter newspaper that has been asking - despite harassment and threats from hirelings - fair questions like: "Where is the country's gold?"
________________________________________
The Truth
ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) -- Ethiopia earned $540.5 million from nearly 48 tonnes of gold exports in the last 10 years, the National Bank of Ethiopia said on Monday. Some 47.9 tonnes, worth $520.5 million, was produced by the Lege Dembi mine, run by the private Midroc Gold Mine, the bank said. Lege Dembi is in the Adola gold belt 300 km southeast of the capital.
The balance of 693.3 kg worth $20 million was produced by artisanal miners, the bank said.
Midroc Gold Mine, which is owned by Saudi Arabian financier Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi, paid $175 million in 1998 to win an international bid to run the mine for 20 years.
Midroc holds rights to produce gold in an area of 85 square km as part of a plan to boost Ethiopia's gold output.
Officials say Ethiopia loses up to 1,000 kg of gold worth $10 million every year in contraband trade between artisanal miners in the south of the country and smugglers from neighbouring countries.
Ethiopia has identified "possible and probable" untapped gold reserve of up to 500 tonnes in different parts of the country, the ministry of mines said.
It issued a mining proclamation and regulations that gave foreign investors incentives such as duty free imports of equipment and repatriation of profits in 1993.
Since then 12 foreign companies have signed agreements to explore for gold, base metals, gemstones and petroleum across the country, the ministry said.


THE LIE by Ethiopia First
Making Sheik Mohamed Al Moudi the central plank of an
election campaign must be unmitigated gobbledygook.
By: Dilwenberu Nega
27th September 2009
Let me from the very outset unequivocally state that it is not my
intention to take sides in the ongoing war of attrition between The
Reporter and Sheik Mohamed Al Moudi on an issue which given the
chance would go down in The Guinness Book of World Records as
“The longest running lead story on a newspaper.” But the fact that
The Reporter now seems to have succeeded in getting leading
members of Ethiopia’s opposition parties on its anti‐Al Moudi
bandwagon, has now turned ‘the issue’ to deteriorate from toxic to
radioactive.
In democratic elections, the role of contending parties is to offer the
electorate viable choices on frontline issues. Similarly, in today’s
Ethiopia frontline issues are health, education, unemployment, cost
of living and the defence of the nation. The electorate expect – and
rightly so – opposition parties to articulate their alternative policies
on these bread‐and‐butter‐issues, so that they are able to make
informed choices. What the electorate has been getting from the
opposition parties, instead, has been a catalogue of disappointments
ranging from in‐fighting to an open declaration of intent of sweeping
away ethnic federalism to pettifogging Al Moudi. All these may
make sensational headlines, but by Jove, they certainly are not vote
winners simply because they don’t strike at the heart of the concerns
of the man in the street in Ethiopia.
Sheik Al Moudi’s multi billion investment in Ethiopia is there for
everyone to see. He has provided job opportunities to thousands of
unemployed. He has done more than his fair share in giving a facelift
to Ethiopia’s national image. In short, he has proven his love of
Ethiopia in a manner and style that no investor has so far portrayed.
Then, why all this animosity against him from some ‘influential’
individuals and politicians, is something that demands a clear‐cut
answer. The answer lies in the personal and the political.
Personally, Sheik Mohamoud Al Moudi is known – in addition to
being a man with the Midas touch – for his largesse and anybody
who had been denied of what has become known as “the nourishing
hand of Gashay Al Moudi” instinctively turns ballistic and engages in
a merciless character assassination campaign against Al Moudi. The
series of unsubstantiated, yet sensational stories, of tax evasion by Al
Moudi which had wall‐papered The Reporter week in and week out
for more than a year portray an unsavoury over‐reaction of an Editor
who might have fallen out with the Sheik.
Politically, however, it is a different kettle of fish. Sheik Mohamed Al
Moudi in his renowned razzmatazz manner had openly declared his
unwavering support to the ruling EPDRF. And this has sent shock
and awe to all political parties who had been salivating for Al Moudi’s
backing. By the way, it is interesting to note here that though the
Sheik had declared his support to EPDRF, MIDROC Ethiopia is
redolent of former Derg officials recruited at the behest of the Sheik
– proof of the Sheik’s inclusive nature. The opposition parties,
however, believe its pay‐back time and are seen rushing in to rally
behind The Reporter. Those Ethiopian opposition parties who had
so far declared their intention to make the role of Al Moudi the
central plank of their election campaign are the very ones who are
seen limping in the political arena as their attempt to forge a
coalition to run against EPDRF keeps being confronted by merciless
in‐fighting and by a dearth of wherewithal to oil the election
campaign machinery.
Bashing Al Moudi is one thing, but making Al Moudi the central plank
of an election campaign must surely be a sign of political bank.

ትዝብት

አረንጓዴ ሰው

“ሕዝባችን ተስብሰብ-ለሰበሩ ዜና
ባለጸጋው ጻድቅ- መሆኑ ይሰማ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ይኸ ያገሬ ሰው
ይኸ ባለሆቴል- ይኸ ወርቅ አንጣሪው
የሥራ ዕድል ፈጥሮ- ልቤን አስደሰተው”

ብሎ ጋዜጠኛው -ፅፎ አነበብኩና
ስለዚህ ባለሃብት- ሃሴት አረግሁና
እኔም የበኩሌን-ለገስኩት ምስጋና
“አንደበት ይከፈት-ጆሮወች ያዳምጡ
ለዚህ ባላፀጋ- ሽልማቶች ይምጡ
በል እግዜሩም ስማ- ፅድቅ ተለውጧል
ከዛሬ መነኩሴ- ባላፀጋ በልጧል
“ፀሃይ ትቁምለት- ትዘግይ ጨረቃ
ይኸ ባለፀጋ- እስኪል ድረስ በቃ
እስከሚበዛለት -ሃብቱ እስከሚስፋፋ
ሌሊቱም ቀን ይሁን -ብርሃን አይጥፋ።”

ብዬ ምስጋናየን- ሳዥጎደጉደው
ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ-የተበሳጨው
ከእኔ የተለየ-ሚስጥር ያውቅ ኖሮ
እንዲህ ሲል ነገረኝ-ሃሳቡን ቀምሮ።

“ለተራበ ማብላት-ለታረዘ ማልበስ
ታማሚ ማጽናናት-ለችግርም መድረስ
መጾም መፀለዩ-ቅንነት ማሰቡ
መች ሆኖ ተገኘ- የዛሬ ሰው ግቡ!

“ከደሃ ቀምቶ- ከደካማ ዘርፎ
ቢኖርም ቢሞላም- ተርፎ ተትረፍርፎ
ወርቅና አልማዝ ይዞ- ነዳጅ አስቆፍሮ
ሆኖ መገኘት ነው-ካለመጠን ከብሮ
ሰውን ሰው ያሰኘው- የለየው ዘንድሮ።

“የስው ልጅ ሲፈጠር- በጌታዬ አምሳያ
ነበረ ለታላቅ- ለክብር ማሳያ
ዛሬ የስው ልጆች- ወረቀትን ፈጥረው
ቁጥር ጽፈውበት- አንድ ሁለት ብለው
አረንጓዴ ቀለም- ቅርጻ ቅርጹን ስለው
ከራሳቸው በላይ- ለብር ክብር ሰጥተው
መኖር ጀምረዋል-ከሱ በታች ሆነው።
…
“መልኩን ሳፈላልግ- ጠይም ወይም ቀዩን
ቀረና የእርሱነት- መምሰል አምሳያውን
ንዋየ ፀሎቱ- ገንዘብ ሆኖ አምላኩ
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- ባለጸጋው መልኩ።
…
“አንተን መሳይ ሰወች- እናንት ኋላ ቀሮች
ጠይምና ጥቁር-ቀይ አመላካቾች
ልታውቁ ይገባል- የዛሬን እውነታ
በጠይም በጥቁር- በቀይ ሰው ፋንታ
የሰው ልጅ ውበቱ- የሚያምር ቁመናው
አረንጓዴ ሆኗል- የእርሱ ሁለመናው።

“ገንዘቡ ዳኛ ነው- ፖሊስም ጠበቃ
ሃይሉ ልክ የሌለው- ተቆጥሮ አያበቃ
ፍትህና ክብር -ገዥ በገንዘቡ
ይኸ ባለጸጋ- ባለ ወርቅ ቅቡ
ሕጻን ሴት ያገባው- ሕፃን እቁባቱ
የስው ሚስት የቀማው- አድርጎት መብቱ
ሁሉ ሰው ጌታዬ- ብሎ የሚጠራው
እርሱን ነው የሚያደንቅ- ጋሸ ጋዜጠኛው።

ብሎ ተናገረ- ይኸ የአጎቴ ልጅ
ስለ አረንጓዴው ሰው- ለሁሉ እንደማይበጅ።

ትናንት ህጻን ሆኘ-ሳድግ በሰፈሬ
የሰው ልጅ መጠሪያው- ልዩ ነው ከዛሬ
አይደለ በልብሱ- በፀጋ በሃብቱ
አይደል በቁመናው- ተክለ-ሰውነቱ
አይደል በትምህርቱ- በዕውቀት ሊቅነቱ
ሰው በሰውነቱ- ሲለካ የማውቀው
ፍጹም ልዩ ነበር- ዛሬ ከምናየው።

አንገቱን ለፍትህ- አንደበቱ ለእውነት
ውሸትን የጠላ- ግፍን የሚጋፈጥ
ከክፎወች ሸንጎ- ፈጽሞ የራቀ
አንቱ የተባለ-በአገር የታወቀ
ነበር የሰው መልኩ-ለእውነት መቆሙ
ትናንት የምናውቀው- የሰው ልጅ መልካሙ
ዛሬ ተለየና -ውበት ተቀይሮ
ዓይናችን የሚያየው- ብር ሆነ ዘንድሮ።

እስኪመለስ ድረስ -አይንም ወደ ድሮው
ስንናፍቅ ከዋልን- ገንዘብን እንደሰው
እውነትም ይዛባል-ፍትህ ይሰወራል
ገንዘብ የአገር ዳኛ- ጠበቃ ይሆናል
…

አንተ ጋዜጠኛ- አንተ ወሬ አቀባይ
እስኪ እንደ አጎቴ ልጅ-አንተም እውነቱን እይ
ያ ባለጸጋ ሰው- በዓለም የከበረ
እውነቱን አሰማን- ማን እንደነበረ?

ዳግማዊ ዳዊት
ጥቅምት 2002
Ethio_dagmawi@yahoo.com