Ethiopia inaugurated its first national precious metals refinery on 10 October in Addis Ababa, a $50 million joint venture located in the Bole Lemi special economic zone. The opening was announced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and confirmed on Monday by Reuters.
The project brings together Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the Ethiopian state investment fund, and Sam Precious Metals, a Dubai-based refiner. The state holds 51% of the company and the international partner 49%, according to information provided at the inauguration.
The plant is designed to assay, refine and cast gold, then produce gold and silver bars of several purity grades. Its announced capacity exceeds 600 tonnes of precious metals a year when running at full capacity.
This figure describes installed capacity, not output already achieved. The authorities have published neither an initial utilisation rate, nor a ramp-up schedule, nor supply contracts that would establish the volumes actually to be refined.
The government wants to keep a larger share of the value created by gold within the country, rather than exporting raw metal for processing abroad. It also expects foreign currency earnings, specialist jobs and support for the local jewellery trade.
Abiy Ahmed mentioned export potential of up to 80 billion dollars a year if the plant received enough metal to process. This sum is a conditional estimate presented by the government, not a revenue forecast for 2026 or for any specific financial year.
The capacity of 600 tonnes goes beyond domestic needs alone and assumes the refinery attracts flows from other African countries. As of 12 October, no secured regional volumes, no international certification of the plant and no production target for its first year had been made public.