ADDIS ABABA, June 26 (Xinhua) -- The Ethiopian Mines, Petroleum and Natural Gas (EMPNG) is to establish five gold trading centers across the country to combat contraband gold trade.
The information was given on Monday by EMPNG artisanal mines production support directorate director Jigsa Kidane who also says the new centers will help in cutting long distance that artisanal miners had to travel to sell their gold find and thereby legalizing artisanal gold mining trading.
The five centers will be built in Tigray, Southern Nations, Gambella, Oromia and Benishangul Gumuz regional states, which together are source for the vast majority of Ethiopia's gold production.
Ethiopia earned 74 million U.S. dollars from gold exports for the 11 months of Ethiopian fiscal Year (EFY) 2016-2017 ending in May.
The revenue was smaller by half from the same period last year EFY 2015-2016, when Ethiopia earned 150 million dollars from gold exports.
The Ethiopian government blamed primarily contraband gold trading for the decrease in gold exports revenue. Enditem
