Abiy Ahmed opens a refinery in Addis Ababa built to process 600 tonnes of precious metals a year as Ethiopia moves to stop sending raw gold to Dubai

Gold bars are displayed at the launch of the National Precious Metals Refinery at Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone in Addis Ababa on October 10, 2026. (Photo: Office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia via X)

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Saturday launched a national precious metals refinery in Addis Ababa that is built to process more than 600 tonnes of precious metals a year, far more than Ethiopia’s own gold output.

The National Precious Metals Refinery stands in the Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone. Abiy Ahmed said state-owned Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH) owns 51 percent of it and its foreign partner, SAM Precious Metals, owns the other 49 percent, Fana reported. Ethiopian Business View describes SAM as a Dubai-based refiner with a branch in Cairo. The Office of the Prime Minister said the plant will assay, refine and cast gold into export-ready bullion, and will also make cast and minted gold and silver bars in different purities.

“From resource extraction to industrial transformation, we are creating greater value at home,” Abiy Ahmed wrote on X, where he said the plant would make Ethiopia “a regional hub for precious-metals refining.” Neither the Gov’t nor the partners have published the cost of the plant. The Daily Guardian newspaper wrote on X that it was “backed by an investment of over $50 million,” but did not say where the figure came from.

For decades, Ethiopia has sent its unrefined gold abroad, particularly to Dubai, to be refined before it reaches world markets, Ethiopian Business View reported. National Bank of Ethiopia Governor Eyob Tekalign has said that once the refinery is running, all gold produced in Ethiopia will be refined at home before export. Vice Governor Fekadu Degafe has said local refining will cut transport and foreign storage costs, and will let the country keep export-grade gold in its own vaults and sell it when prices are better.

Speaking at the plant, Abiy Ahmed said Ethiopia exported gold worth $5.6 billion last year and that the figure “could have been at least 10 billion” if the country had this refining capacity earlier, BBC Amharic reported. Fana quoted him giving a range of $5.6 billion to $6 billion. He said a kilogram of gold shipped from Ethiopia is not counted as pure gold, because after refining “at most 70 percent” of it is gold. The other 30 percent is thrown away as waste, he said, but “that waste could be silver, it could be other precious metals.” He predicted that refined exports would bring a price gain of “no less than double.”

He also said the plant’s capacity “makes it possible to export up to 80 billion dollars a year.” Fana added a caveat to its own report: the $80 billion figure depends on how much gold and other precious metals the refinery can attract, and “represents potential export capacity, not a guaranteed annual export value.”

The Ministry of Mines said Ethiopia produced 44.067 tonnes of gold in the 2025/26 fiscal year, with traditional miners producing 40.86 tonnes and licensed companies 3.209 tonnes. The plant’s capacity for precious metals is therefore more than 13 times the country’s yearly gold output, and running near full capacity would depend on gold and other precious metals from neighbouring countries and from mining companies across Africa.

Abiy Ahmed said regional miners could bring their gold to Ethiopia for processing, certification, value addition and sale, Fana reported, instead of shipping it outside the continent, and he named Ethiopian Airlines and the country’s air links as an advantage. He told the audience that SAM is one of “two or three” companies in the world doing this kind of work, and that the plant is run mostly by Ethiopians, many of whom were sent abroad for training before it opened, according to BBC Amharic and Fana.

Ethiopian Business View said gold, now Ethiopia’s largest export, brought in about $5.5 billion in the fiscal year that ended in June 2026, roughly half of the country’s $11 billion in merchandise exports. The Ministry of Mines put gold revenue for the year at more than $5.65 billion and has set a target of $6.7 billion in total mining revenue for 2026/27.

Abiy Ahmed placed the refinery inside a wider plan to stop “exporting raw and importing finished” goods. BBC Amharic quoted him saying this would happen within the next five years, while Fana reported a time frame of five to ten years. He pointed to the fertilizer factory now under construction and gave coffee and pasta as examples, comparing the price of raw Ethiopian coffee with the price it fetches abroad after roasting and packing.

Deputy Prime Minister Temesgen Tiruneh wrote in Amharic on X that the plant would make “a significant contribution” to producing gold and other precious minerals with added value and to raising export earnings. EIH called the launch “a new chapter in Ethiopia’s industrial journey,” and the Ministry of Industry shared the Prime Minister’s office statement. Sputnik Afrikaa, the Foreign Ministry and the Djibouti news account Djib-Live also carried the announcement.

BlueNile Ledger, an X account whose profile says it is run by a father from Addis Ababa, wrote: “600 tonnes is serious capacity. The smugglers who moved our gold out at dirt prices must be having a bad week. Every tonne refined at home is forex & jobs that stay in Ethiopia.”

Before the launch, the central bank invested in new gold-assaying equipment to measure purity and separate gold from other metals, Ethiopian Business View reported. Officials say the technology will strengthen quality assurance and help Ethiopia meet internationally recognized refining standards.

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Abiy Ahmed opens a refinery in Addis Ababa built to process 600 tonnes of precious metals a year as Ethiopia moves to stop sending raw gold to Dubai

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