Ethiopia’s import substitution strategy has started bearing fruit with the nation substituting 2.26 billion USD worth of goods over the last fiscal year alone, Ministry of Industry disclosed.
Although Ethiopia is endowed with immense resources vital for the development of manufacturing industries, the country’s production capacity is only 38 percent.
The remaining 62 percent is imported with huge amount of foreign currency.
Industry State Minister Tarekegn Bululta told ENA that the country has not yet ensured its production sovereignty despite the abundant natural resources and productive labor force vital for the development of industries.
Ethiopia imports textiles leather, technology, engineering, machineries, and chemicals, among others.
Therefore, Ethiopia is “a consumer nation,” according to the state minister.
Nevertheless, Tarekegne said the Government of Ethiopia has been working to reverse this reality with a view to expediting the development of the country by strengthening the industrial sector.
In this regard, he stated that enhancing import substitution has been given the utmost priority.
Ethiopia’s import substitution strategy has been bearing fruit and the nation was able to substitute products such as textiles and food stuffs, the state minister noted.
“Some 96 product items are identified, among which some have already been successfully accomplished. For instance, military uniforms that used to be imported are now fully substituted with domestic products,” Tarekegne said, adding that “100 percent of beer barley seed demand of the country has also been covered with domestic products.”
According to him, the nation has even begun exporting beer barely seeds as the country was able to produce surplus.
Encouraged by this achievements and supported by the strategy, Ethiopia was able to substitute 2.26-billion USD worth of products over the last fiscal year.
Also, the country has been engaged in domestic production of various foodstuffs such as Plumpy Sup (RUSF), which is vital for the treatment of Moderate Acute Malnutrition. The results are encouraging, he noted.
The production of such item, including beverages, has enabled the nation to earn 1.36 billion USD as the World Food Program (WFP) purchased products of RUSF from Ethiopia, supporting the country to alleviate foreign currency shortages.
Tarekegne further said that Ethiopia has also been encouraged to produce student uniforms and bags as the domestic demand for the products is very huge with a total population of around 30 million students.
The import substitution strategy of Ethiopia also promotes strong consumers that prefer domestic products, the state minister stressed, noting that import substitution is key to alleviate the shortage of foreign currency.
Besides, the strategy encourages local industries to enhance their productive capacity.
Source: Ethiopian News Agency
