The company had sought compensation for damages and losses incurred during the construction of the Awash–Kombolcha–Woldia–Hara Gebeya railway infrastructure project, demanding USD 979.9 million plus nine percent legal interest.

Yapi Merkezi argued the Corporation’s failures to secure financing for the railway and settle right-of-way compensation claims on time, combined with the lack of sufficient electric power supply and the subsequent outbreak of war in the country’s north delayed its work by nearly nine years and exposed it to losses.

However, a tribunal has rejected the bulk of the claim (USD 750 million) and ruled that the company must return a USD 29.1 million advance payment it had received from ERC.

Sources also indicated that the tribunal ordered all machinery, vehicles, and materials temporarily imported by the Turkish contractor for the project to be either handed over fully to the Corporation or formally transferred.

The Turkish firm had primarily filed the claim against the Ethiopian Railway Corporation, while also naming the Ministry of Transport and Logistics and the Ministry of Finance as co-defendants. However, the tribunal removed both ministries from the case, accepting the Corporation’s legal arguments.

“This decision eliminates the risk of joint liability for the government,” a source closely following the proceedings said.

Despite the major dismissal, some of the contractor’s compensation claims were upheld. The tribunal appointed an independent consultant to assess the admissible claims and determine appropriate compensation.

Following consultations with both parties, the tribunal selected PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to conduct the assessment.

The firm submitted its final report in January, outlining two possible compensation scenarios: USD 278.9 million plus nine percent interest from the date the claim was filed, or USD 233.1 million plus the same rate of interest.

Both parties later presented oral arguments on the report and submitted post-hearing briefs to the tribunal in March.

“The arbitration process is now fully concluded, and all that remains is the tribunal’s final ruling,” a source said.

Ethiopia’s legal team in the case was led by prominent legal scholar Tilahun Teshome (Prof.), with Kassahun Mulatu, head of legal services at ERC, playing a key role as a member of the team. The legal team was also supported by international consultants, engineering teams involved in the project, and a financial advisory group.

The Ethiopian Railway Corporation signed the contract with Yapi Merkezi Insaat in June 2012, with implementation commencing on August 7, 2014, following the fulfillment of preconditions.

The contract was structured as an EPC turnkey agreement, under which the contractor was responsible for design, procurement, construction, and testing before handing over the completed project. The total contract value was set at USD 1.7 billion.

To finance the project, the Corporation secured loans totaling USD 1.24 billion from Credit Suisse in two tranches and an additional USD 300 million from the Turkish Exim Bank.

The railway project spans 392 kilometers and is divided into two phases: the first covers 272 kilometers from Awash to Kombolcha, while the second extends 120 kilometers from Kombolcha to Woldia/Hara Gebeya. The project was designed to link with the main Addis Ababa–Djibouti railway and connect with the partially completed Woldia–Mekelle line.

Construction progress had reached 99.96 percent on the Awash–Kombolcha section and 82.7 percent on the Kombolcha–Woldia/Hara Gebeya segment before work was halted due to conflict in northern Ethiopia. Overall completion stood at 92 percent.

The Corporation had already paid approximately USD 1.6 billion to the contractor for the work completed prior to the suspension.

At the 17th Internet Governance Forum, which was held in Addis Ababa about two months ago, Guterres met Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD). Later, the Secretary-General visited Abiy at his palace, where he reaffirmed his full support for the implementation of the permanent cessation of hostilities agreement (COHA) and the declaration on the modalities for its implementation, which was brokered by the African Union.

The UN Secretary General is scheduled to arrive in Addis Ababa at the end of next week, according to diplomatic sources. “Guterres is coming to Ethiopia for two main purposes, the first is to attend the African Union summit that will be held at the end of next week,” the source told The Reporter.

Following his participation in the summit, the Secretary-General will fly to the Tigray region to examine the destruction caused by the war as well as the humanitarian situation on the ground, the sources disclosed.

Guterres will also travel to the Amhara and Afar regions in order to visit the areas that have been affected by the conflict in North Ethiopia. He will meet with Abiy in Addis Ababa to discuss the efforts being made to rebuild and rehabilitate war-torn communities and territories.

A peace agreement was signed in Pretoria in November last year, bringing an end to the two-year conflict that had been raging in Tigray. The peace deal is currently being implemented by both parties.

Tigray’s access to essential services, including banking, telecommunications, and electricity, has been fully restored through the efforts of the federal government, which has so far allowed non-governmental organizations unrestricted access to deliver humanitarian assistance.

Between November 2022 and January 26, 2023, the government, the UN, and NGO partners delivered more than 127,000 metric tons (MT) of food supplies to the Tigray region. During the second round of the distribution of food aid, almost 4.5 million residents of the region received assistance.

Abiy also directed the transfer of five billion birr to Tigray last week, just days after meeting with TPLF officials Getachew Reda and Tadesse Worede. The TPLF, on the other hand, complied with the provisions of the peace deal by handing over its heavy weaponry to the federal government.

The Eritrean army, which was feared to obstruct the implementation of the peace agreement, has also left many parts of the Tigray region. Recent statements made by the TPLF show that the Eritrean army is still operating in parts of Tigray.

The Ministry of Mines issued a final ultimatum to the Chinese company, POLY GCL, demanding the company registers 30 percent of its total investment capital at the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) before June 30, 2022 or terminate the Petroleum Production Sharing Agreement (PPSA) signed in November 2013.

The Ministry handed out the final ultimatum on March 22, 2022, a few hours after the consultative meeting was held on the same day with higher officials of Poly GCL.

During the meeting, the Ministry and officials representing the company, deliberated on two main agendas; focusing on the financing of the project in general and on contractual obligations of the company, a higher official at the Ministry told The Reporter with conditions of anonymity.

From the consultative meeting, the Ministry concluded that POLY GCL does not have the required financial capabilities to implement the project, the official said.

The Ministry then decided to take corrective measures to rectify the company’s failures in a way that works for the government and the people of Ethiopia to reap the economic benefits of the project quickly, the official added.

According to the official, the company needs USD 4.2 billion for the total project development. However, it does not have the investment capital yet.

The company does not have the financial capacity even to fulfil its contractual obligation of contributing USD 50,000 per year for Community Development for the past five years, the official said.

This prompted the Mining Minister, Takele Uma to issue a final ultimatum demanding the company to register 30 percent of the total investment capital before June 30th, the source said.

In the letter, which The Reporter has also seen, was signed by Takele Uma, addressing the contentious issues with the company and setting stringent terms to be met by the company before the expiration of the deadline.

In his letter, Takele required POLY GCL to register the minimum equity capital, which is about 30 percent of the USD 4.2 billion needed for the total investment, and to produce a debt financing agreement for the remaining 70 percent of the investment capital.

“POLY-GCL must register the equity capital at the National Bank of Ethiopia on or before June, 30, 2022. Additionally, the debit financing status for the remaining amount should be communicated with the Ministry by the above date,” Takele warned the company.

“Failure to show the company’s financial capability, and failure to register 30 percent of the equity capital in particular, constitutes terminable event within the meaning of Article 2.5.2 of PPSAs and will result in the termination of the license agreement, after the expiration of the deadline set for the 30th of June 2022, without a need for further notice,” Takele notified the company in his letter issued on March 22.

Takele also urged the company to settle the USD 1.7 million for the Community Development in full no later than May, 24, 2022.

“Your assurance of financial capacity and clear disclosure of financial arrangement stated above is a pillar to convince the Ministry and the Government of Ethiopia to provide the National Natural gas domestic consumption plan for fertilizer,” Takele said.

The Mining Minister handed out the ultimatum to POLY GCL in the same week it signed an agreement with a US company to study oil and natural gas reserves in the Somali region, where POLY GCL’s project site is located.

POLY-GCL Petroleum is a joint venture of state-owned China POLY Group Corporation and Hong Kong-based, Golden Concord Group, which could not immediately be reached for comment as of press time.

The government of Ethiopia awarded POLY GCL for the production of the Calub and Hilala gas fields, which have deposits of 4.7 trillion cubic feet of gas and 13.6 million barrels of associated liquids, both discovered in the 1970s but not yet exploited.

Kefi Gold and Copper, which was licensed in 2015 by the Ministry of Mines, to develop the Tulu Kapi gold reserves, had received several warnings from the Ministry, over the past year alone.

The last warning letter was issued to the company last September.  The company was given an instruction to start gold production by the end of January.

The Ministry of Mines, led by Takele Uma, believes the company does not have the financial means to launch the project. The company, on its part, said security problems in the area had prevented it from getting the necessary funding from lenders.

However, on February 7, 2022, the Ministry of Mines and the company met to resolve the issue, after which it was granted an additional six-months extension.

“With the hope that your company will secure a finance from its syndicates and procure the necessary documentation to assert your equity share of the project, the Ministry has decided to give you further extension, in addition to the extensions previously granted,” Takele Uma said in his letter issued on February 8, 2022.

The extension will last until July 8, 2022, Takele said.

He also urged the company to put all the efforts needed to fulfill their contractual obligations.
 

“Please, be aware that the six month extension will remain in effect so long as you provide the Ministry with genuine progress report every month,” Takele said in his letter, noting that the  extension is not related to any issues that has been raised by the company. “It is merely the Ministry’s generous offer and unreserved support to the viability of the project,” Takele said.

In his comments following the extension, Harry Anagnostaras Adams, CEO of Kefi Gold and Copper, acknowledged the Ministry’s patience and support to the company.

“We are proud to have the support of the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines. Our common agenda is to expedite development, production and economic benefits. I have no doubt that Ethiopia’s minerals sector has an exciting future,” Adams said.

However, the company still has security and other administrative issues that need to be resolved to secure over USD 300 million funding needed to launch the project.

The British mining firm, NewAge has pulled-out of Ethiopia after the Ministry of Mines rejected the company’s request to extend its license. 

The company’s license, acquired in 2007 to develop the natural gas and petroleum found in the Ogaden Basin in Somali region, expired in August 2021. 

The British mining firm repeatedly asked the Ministry of for an extension of the license, citing COVID 19 pandemic as Force Majeure. Officials of the Ministry rejected its request. 

“We are disappointed by the decision of the Ministry of Mines not to extend the Block 8 PPSA beyond August 5, 2021 given the longstanding positive relationship we have developed with you over the years,” vice president of the company, David Peel, said in his letter sent to the Ministry on January 28, 2022.

In a letter sent to the company, the Minister of Mines, Takele Uma said that the Ministry has reviewed NewAge’s performance and based on the evaluation, the company has shown little to no effort to develop and produce the block it acquired in 2007.

 “The overall evaluation has shown that the oil and gas resources have remained under developed for far too long under your license agreement. Therefore, after serious considerations, the Ministry has decided to respectfully decline your request to extend the Petroleum Production Sharing Agreement (PPSA) that was signed in July 2007,” the letter seen by The Reporter reads.

Although the company insisted to extend the application of the Force Majeure due to COVID 19 for an unlimited period, the Ministry is not convinced and hence, declined the company’s request for another round of extension, Takele said in his letter sent to the company on January 4, 2022.  

According to his letter, the PPSA license granted to the company, expired on August 5, 2021, after it exhausted the one-year Force Majeure granted to the company.

NewAge however, contends that the COVID 19 pandemic is still a Force Majeure event that has hindered the gas production in its block in Somali Region of Ethiopia.    

“As we have set out in our previous communications, it is our understanding that the continuance of a force majeure event shall not result in the termination or expiry of the PPSA for so long as the Force Majeure continues,” David Peel said in a letter sent to the Ministry on January 28, 2022.

The company accepted the decision and agreed to surrender the license and decided to entirely pull out of Ethiopia.    

“We concluded the petroleum operation in Ethiopia and the office in Addis Ababa and our associated bank accounts will be closed. Accordingly, NewAge will have no obligations in Ethiopia and under the Block 8 PPSA,” David Peel said in his letter to the Ministry.

The Ministry also revoked a potash mining license granted to Africa Mining and Energy, an Australian based mining company operating in Ethiopia.

In a letter sent to the company on February 1, 2022, the Ministry revoked the license due to lack of progress in the company’s mining operations.

As has been the case for the past two years, this year’s African Leaders’ Summit was originally scheduled to take place online. But under pressure from Ethiopia, which headquarters the AU, the previous plans were altered and member states decided to convene the summit in the Ethiopian Capital, Addis Ababa.

In a statement issued on January 17, 2022, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) praised member states of the AU for their decision to convene the 35th AU Summit in person in Addis Ababa.

In his January 17 statement, Abiy praised the current leaders of Africa for acknowledging Ethiopia’s historic and unwavering stance to advance African and Pan African agendas.

“The implications of hosting the AU Summit in Addis Ababa are immense. It would demonstrate the peace and stability in Ethiopia. It would also create opportunities for us to restate our stance on African agendas and practically exhibit Ethiopia’s good status to our African allies,” Abiy said.

Since then, Addis Ababa has been preparing to host the Summit and receive its African guests in the spirit of Pan African.

Streets, roundabouts and squares are decorated with lights and greeneries while abandoned places and sites under construction are adorned with banners hailing African unity and solidarity.

China’s touch, which built the AU headquarters, is visible in this beautification of the capital Addis Ababa.

Though beautifying Addis for AU summit is a common practice and Abiy, who has the heart for aesthetics has tried to scale-up more over the past couple of years.

 Looking at the messages on the banners, the color use, and the decorations, it is easier to tell that Ethiopia is trying its best to take Pan-Africanism to a different level.

“Proud to be African”, “Africa deserves a permanent representation at the United Nations Security Council”, “We aspire for a continent united” are some of the messages contained on the banners in various parts of the city..

Ethiopia has always been at the core of Pan-Africanism. However, it seems the pressure from Western countries, due to the war in Tigray, has pushed the country not only to take refuge in Pan-Africanism but will do what it takes to take Pan-Africanism to a whole new level.

The recent call for the need for Africa to have a seat in the UNSC by Abiy, and other African and non-African leaders including the Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan might be a case in point.

Although Ethiopia seems to be upholding Pan-Africanism, the war and the ethnic animosity and religious tensions are shaking the country to its core.
 

The 35th AU Summit

The AU leader’s summit will kick off on Saturday with an opening statement from Mhammet Mousa Faki, chairperson of the AU Commission, followed by Abiy and other dignitaries including the outgoing chairman of the AU, DRC’s President, Antoine Tshisekedi and UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres.

The two-day session of the African Leaders Summit will convene under the theme, “Building Resilience in Nutrition on the African Continent: Accelerate the Human Capital, Social and Economic Development.”

The Summit will also discuss a host of issues including the financing of the Union and the Scale of Assessment and Contributions for member states; African Candidatures within the International System including the UNSC, the Implementation of Agenda 2063; the Institutional Reforms and others.

The state of Peace and Security in Africa, the report and follow-up discussion on the need to reform the UNSC, the election of the 15 members of the Peace and Security Council, and the debate on the need for granting Israel an observer status to the AU, will be on the agenda, according to diplomatic sources.

The Summit will also elect the President of Senegal, Macky Sall, as the new chairperson of the AU, replacing the outgoing Tshisekedi.

Several Presidents from various African countries, including the Presidents from Gambia, Senegal, Nigeria, Mali, Ivory Coast, Mauritania and South Sudan have already arrived in Addis Ababa.

The two companies individually received large-scale mining licenses in 2017 after a decision by the Council of Ministers was reached, and the companies signed a separate agreement with the Ministry of Mines, to develop potassium in Afar and export their output.

However, the two companies did not undergo any project development for the past four years since they were licensed in 2017. 

As a result, they received repeated written warnings and recently, the Minister of Mines, Takele Uma, met with the management of the companies and issued a final verbal warning and set a deadline to start production, sources said.

According to sources close to the matter, the companies have sent a letter stating that they will heed the warnings and recommendations given by the Minister and accept the deadline given to them. 

The Reporter reviewed the letters sent by the two companies and confirmed that both  agreed to return their mining licenses, if they did not start production.

“On behalf of the board of directors of Circum Minerals Ltd, I can confirm that as per the directions given on the meetings of 4 November, 5 November 2021 and 17 December 2021, we hereby accept that we will surrender our license rights should we not be able to start production of Potash on or before 7 April 2026,” Ian Stalker, director and CEO of Circum Minerals stated in his letter sent to the Ministry of Mining of Ethiopia on December 23, 2021.

Circum acquired the license for the Danakil potash reserve, located in the Danakil area of Afar region. The license provides the company an exclusive access to over the 4.9 billion tons of NI 43-101 compliant potassium resource, contained within the 365 Sq.km area for an initial period of 20 years.

YaraBv is the other license holder, which has also failed to start productions. Takele held a meeting with an official from the company on November 12, 2021, where he conveyed a final warning, the source said. 

Immediately after the meeting with the Minister, the company’s board chairman, Jorgen Magnus Stenvold sent an official letter to the Ministry, agreeing to the conditions set, the source said. 

“We would like to thank you for taking time to discuss our project and work program on 12 November. As per your direction given in the meeting, we hereby accept to surrender our license right should we not be able to start production of potash on or before December 2025,” Stenvold stated in his letter sent to the Ministry on November 12, 2021. 

YaraDallol is a subsidiary of Yara International, a giant Norwegian fertilizer producer that has been supplying fertilizer to Ethiopia for the past three decades.

The planned YaraDallol mine will have a production capacity of approximately 600,000 metric tons of SOP per year, equivalent to approximately ten percent of the global market. 

“Our mineral resources should not be left undeveloped. Thus, we have started taking measures against those companies that have delayed development projects,” Takele told The Reporter, adding “We will continue to strengthen this measure.”

The UK mining firm, Kefi Gold and Copper, through its locally registered firm, Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company, wrote a letter on September 13, 2021 to the Ministry notifying that the launch of the project development could not be met on the agreed deadline of October 31, 2021 due to growing security concerns in the project area. 

In the letter, the company indicated that security concerns in the Tulu Kapi mining area, which is located in West Wollega Zone of Oromia, have obstructed it from launching the project development according to the agreed timetable.

The company also published an open disclosure on its website on September 29, 2021 explaining its concerns regarding the security situation in the project area of Tulu Kapi.

“During preparations for the expected October 2021 launch of the development phase of the Company’s Tulu Kapi Gold project, security concerns have arisen. Consequently, KEFI and the Project company, Tulu Kapi Gold Mines Share Company, have elected to temporarily pause the launch to ensure that these matters have been satisfactorily addressed,” the company said.

The Mining Ministry, however, rejected Kefi Gold’s request for an extension to the deadline set for the launch of the project development phase.

In a letter it issued on October 11, 2021, the Ministry disregarded the company’s justifications for its failure to commence the development phase and request for extension of time. 

The letter signed by the Mining Minister, Takele Uma, cited the company’s previous letter sent to the Ministry in July acknowledging improvements of the security situation and its readiness to launch the project development within the agreed deadline. 

According to the Ministry’s letter, the principal basis of the permission to extend the previous period until October 31, 2021 was not the security situation. Rather the company’s limitations in acquiring the project financing were the main reason that led the Ministry to extend the deadline until the end of October. 

“Your recent invocation of security for the potential failure to meet the agreed 31 October 2021 deadline, pre-textual in nature as it would appear, is thus entirely unacceptable to the ministry,” stated Takele’s letter of denial of request sent to the company on October 11, 2021. 

The letter also explained the government’s commitment and capacity to improve the security situation by taking strict and comprehensive security measures to prevent the disruption of any economic activities in the area.

“In view of the numerous previous accommodations that the ministry has offered to the company’s repeated breaches of promise and chronic under performance, the ministry has decided that a further extension of time would be unwarranted,” said the Ministry rejecting the request for an extension of time. 

In a short response sent to The Reporter’s query, Takele said: “There is no security problem in Tulu Kapi.”

“A law enforcement division from the Federal police has been deployed in the mining area some three years ago and they are still there on the site. They want to rubbish the letter we sent them, but we will stick to our principles,” he affirmed.

Officials at Tulu Kapi Gold Mining Share Company were not available to comment on the Ministry’s latest decision. 

On its official website, KEFI Gold and Copper, however, announced its optimism to launch the Ethiopian project before the end of 2021, with the start-up production in 2023. 

Kefi Gold received its mining license in 2015 to develop the gold deposit discovered in West Wellega Zone, Tulu Kapi woreda.

The Gold Ore Reserve in Tulu Kapi is estimated to be 1.05 million ounces with mineral resources totaling 1.72 million ounces of gold.

According to the bill, banks and other financial institutions that are required to implement the decision must apply the order without any precondition and if the institutions fail to do so, they might be obliged to pay the liability.

“Any bank or financial institution that is requested by the pension fund or any other institution that is delegated by the fund to collect pensions should deduct the pension contribution, interest and penalty from the bank account of the private organization and is obliged to deposit it to the fund.”

The agency for private employees’ pension fund or entrusted with collecting pension fund has the power deduct any private company’s debt unpaid for six months from the company’s bank or financial institution account and deposit it to the fund.

Accordingly, any bank or financial institution requested by the concerned authority shall comply immediately without preconditions and deposit the required amount to the fund. Any financial institution/ bank is also required to freeze the account of the company in question, until the whole amount overdue is fully paid, the bill proposes.

If any amount is deducted from the employer’s account before the payables are deducted, the financial institution or bank that was requested by the authority will be liable to that amount. In order to help control this, any private employer that has employees under the pension fund program is required to provide a written detail of its accounts in any bank or financial institution and notify the Fund within a fortnight, whenever it makes changes to these details.

While every private employer is required to collect the contribution from its employees, add its own contribution and deposit it to the Fund each month, the bill tabled before the HPR requires employers to deposit the amount within 30 days since the payment of the last monthly salary paid to its employees.

In an event where employers do not comply with this, they will be liable to deposit interest at the bank, and a five percent fine calculated based on the total amount.

However, the fine cannot exceed the total amount the employer is liable to the Fund. The bill, which was sent to the HoPR for approval by the Council of Ministers, is expected to be among the first bills the new parliament would look in to.

The Council of Ministers (CoM) ratified seven large-scale mining licenses, of which, four licenses will be granted to companies that have requested to extract the Gold reserve discovered in Gambella and Benshangul Gumuz regional states of the country.

The Council ratified the mining licenses after evaluating the proposal submitted to it by the Ministry of Mining and Petroleum (MoMP), which is headed by the former Addis Ababa Mayor, Takele Uma.

The Council reviewed the assessment made by the expert committee established by the Ministry, which deals with the feasibility of the investments, their importance to the country’s economic growth and the initial capital of the companies as well as their credibility and the agreements reached between the Ministry and the companies, the Office of the Prime Minister stated in a statement issued on Thursday, September 23, 2021. 

Kurmuk Gold Mining Plc is one of the four companies getting the large-scale gold production license by the CoM.

According to information obtained from the MoMP, Kurmuk Gold has been conducting gold exploration for the last few years and applied for a production license after acquiring a valuable gold deposit in Kurmuk Woreda – located in Asosa Zone of Benishangul-Gumuz National Regional State.

Shareholders from Ethiopia, Australia, Canada and USA founded the company, which is registered in British Virgin Islands.

The company’s initial investment capital is USD 391 million, which is the largest capital of the three companies allowed to get the large-scale gold mining licenses. 

The large-scale gold production license permitted to the company will stay valid for 20 years and production will be fully operational within the coming two years. 

According to a document reviewed by The Reporter, the company plans to produce a total of 62,262.656 kg of gold over the first 10 years, with the total value of this commodity estimated to be 158,477,916,600 birr. In the process of doing so, the project will create more than 740 permanent jobs for Ethiopians.

Zumbara Investment Plc is the other company that acquired a gold mining license. It has an initial investment capital of 129.5 million birr. Zumbara is a company registered in Ethiopia and founded by Ethiopian investors to extract the gold reserve found in Asosa Zone, Benishangul Gumuz Region, Odabigilidu Woreda.

The company was granted eight years, and will become fully operational within a year and half.

Over the next ten years, it plans to produce a total of 744.84 kg of gold, which in the current value of the commodity is estimated to generate total revenue of 1,895,859,725 birr.

The third company that acquired a license is Etno Mining Plc, which has been operating in the past with a mining license. The company applied for a production license after it found a valuable gold reserve in Dima Woreda, Anuak Zone of Gambella National Regional State.

Etno is owned by Norwegian investors and is registered in Ethiopia with an initial investment capital of USD 9.5 million. The large-scale mining license will be valid for only one year and the company is expected to start gold production within 60 days.

The fourth company allowed to acquire a license is Oromia Mining SC, which is registered in Ethiopia and is owned by Ethiopian investors. This company was granted license to extract the gold reserve it found in the Oromia regional state, Guji Zone, Anna Sora Woreda.

The initial investment capital of the company is 146,798,184 birr and the license will be valid for six years. It is expected to produce 505.4 kg of gold during the period of the license. 

Currently, there are three companies engaged in large-scale gold mining licenses, namely MIDROC Gold, KEFI Minerals and Ezana Mining. However, it is only MIDROC Gold that is currently engaged in gold production and it generates average annual revenue of USD 300 million.

The other large-scale mining license is granted to a company called ALGHAITH ALQUBAISI, which will be the first company in Ethiopia with a large-scale mining license to extract the bromine mine reserve located in Afar regional state. 

The company, registered in the UAE with an initial investment capital of USD 39.3 million, has applied for a license to produce bromine and chlorine, which are mainly used to produce caustic soda and other minerals such as hydrochloric acid and sodium hypochlorite.

With a license period of 20 years, the company plans to produce 194,000,000 tons of bromine and 168,053,000 tons of chlorine during the first ten year period.

Furthermore, the CoM approved two large-scale marble production mining licenses requested by Kripto Mining and Chemicals Plc and Buhumi Mining Plc. Both companies are registered in Ethiopia but are owned by Indian investors.

The Office of the Prime Minister said in its statement that companies that will be granted with the large-scale mining licenses are obliged to adhere to the principles of high social corporate responsibilities and protect the environment in their respective license areas. 

According to the statement, all seven large-scale mining investments are expected to generate more than USD 4.7 billion in revenue to the government of Ethiopia within the first ten year period and will also create more than 1,300 jobs.