Economic Reform and Performance

Economic Structure

Economic Structure

The Ethiopian economy is dominated by agriculture which accounts for about forty-five percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), about 63 percent of total exports and 85 percent of employment. Coffee alone accounts for over 62 percent of total agricultural exports.

Agriculture

Several crops are grown seasonally in different parts of the country. The main crops are cereals (teff, barely, maize, wheat, sorghum, and milliet), pulses (horse beans, vetch and lentils), and oil seeds (niger seed, flax rape seed, sesame, castor beans and Soya beans). The main cash and industrial crops are coffee, oil seeds, pulses, cotton, sisal, tobacco, fruits and sugar cane.

Manufacturing

The manufacturing sector, which contributes about seven percent to GDP, supplies important consumer goods both to the domestic and international markets. The main manufactured products are textiles, foodstuffs, tobacco, beverages, cement, leather, and leather products, wood, metallic and non-metallic products, paper, plastic and tiles. The main manufactured export products include clothing /apparel, leather & leather products, canned and frozen meat, sugar and molasses, oil cakes and petroleum products.

Mining

The mining sector currently contributes less than three percent of GDP. According to the Ministry of Mines and Energy "Ethiopia's green stone belts offer one of the finest prospects for gold mineralization in the world. In addition to gold, Ethiopia is blessed with prospects for tantalum, platinum, nickel, potash and soda ash and other minerals such as marble, granite, limestone, clay, etc. With regard to fossil energy resources, there are significant opportunities for oil and natural gas in the four major sedimentary basins of the country, namely the Ogaden, Gambella, the Blue Nile and southern Rift Valley.

Tourism

Ethiopia has the potential to be one of the leading tourist destinations in Africa. It has many historical wonders, like the Rock-Hewn Churches at Lalibela and ancient obelisks at Axum and is the home of endemic species of wildlife and birds. The available tourism infrastructure is, however, inadequate to serve the growing tourist traffic. Thus, great opportunities exist for private investments in hotels, lodges, etc.