(East Africa)
The development leaves the value of new investments registered by the Ministry last year at close to 5 billion birr, much higher than the 800 million birr its officials had planned, according to the report.
According to the Ministry of Mines, Ethiopia registered more than US$ 825 million in investment capital on account of concession granted to investors in an unnamed natural gas venture last fiscal year.
The development leaves the value of new investments registered by the Ministry last year at close to 5 billion birr, much higher than the 800 million birr its officials had planned, according to the report.
However, the performance in registering new investment licenses was less impressive. The Ministry was looking to approve a total of 50 licenses for domestic investors last year in exploration, mining production, and processing, but managed only 13. It granted a total of 13 licenses to foreign investors, half of its target.
The report reveals that a study is underway to determine the feasibility of setting up a fertilizer production plant using natural gas. It indicates Ethiopia has registered a huge amount of capital in natural gas investments, on par with what Safaricom paid for its telecom operator’s license a few years ago.
Read Also:
However, questions surrounding regulatory licensing standards related to a natural gas venture remain as the Ministry has yet to introduce a natural gas development policy and the related proclamation and regulations. It had planned to introduce the legislation last year, but this has not yet materialized.
