Ethiopia

Location : Eastern Africa, west of Somalia

Capital : Addis Ababa

Languages : Amharic, Tigrinya, Oromigna, Guaragigna, Somali, Arabic, other local languages, English (major foreign language taught in schools) 

Area : 1,127,127 sq km

Land Use : arable land: 10.71%; permanent crops: 0.75%; other: 88.54% (2001)

Natural Resources : small reserves of gold, platinum, copper, potash, natural gas, hydropower

Population : 73,053,286 (July 2005 est.).

Population below poverty line : 50% (2004 est.)

International Organisation participation : ACP, AFDB, AU, FAO, G-24, G-77, IAEA, IBRD, ICAO, ICRM, IDA, IFAD, IFC, IFRCS, IGAD, ILO, IMF, IMO, Interpol, IOC, IOM (observer), ISO, ITU, MIGA, NAM, ONUB, OPCW, PCA, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UNHCR, UNIDO, UNMIL, UPU, WCO, WFTU, WHO, WIPO, WMO, WToO, WTO (observer)

GDP per capita : U$800 (2004 est.)

GDP Real Growth Rate : 11.6% (2004 est.)

GDP sectoral composition : agriculture: 47%; industry: 12.4%; services: 40.6% (2004 est.)

Investment (gross fixed): 17.8% of GDP (2004 est.)

Industries: food processing, beverages, textiles, chemicals, metals processing, cement

Industrial production growth rate : 6.7% (2001 est.) 

Agriculture - products : cereals, pulses, coffee, oilseed, sugarcane, potatoes, qat; hides, cattle, sheep, goats

Exports : U$562.8 million f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Exports - commodities : coffee, qat, gold, leather products, live animals, oilseeds

Exports - partners : Djibouti 13.6%, Germany 9.7%, Japan 9%, Saudi Arabia 6.5%, US 5.4%, Italy 4.9%, UK 4.3% (2004)

Imports : U$2.104 billion f.o.b. (2004 est.)

Imports - commodities : food and live animals, petroleum and petroleum products, chemicals, machinery, motor vehicles, cereals, textiles

Imports - partners : Saudi Arabia 25%, US 15.9%, China 6.7% (2004)

QUALITATIVE TRADE PROFILE

The central element of Ethiopia's trade policy is its tariff regime. There are six tariff bands ranging from 5% to 35% .The rates are 0, 5, 10, 20, 30 and 35 per cent. Both import and export tariffs are ad valorem. There are no other preferential tariffs except for imports from COMESA member countries.

Ethiopia 's exports are concentrated in very few products. The economy is overwhelmingly concentrated in agriculture which accounts for more than 90 percent of exports, 85 percent of employment, and 55 percent of GDP.

INSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK 

Primary responsibility for trade policy formulation and implementation lies with the Ministry of Trade and Industry, while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is responsible for trade negotiation and the Ethiopian Export Promotion Agency for trade promotion. Currently, there is no inter-ministerial co-ordination nor is there any mechanism for private sector involvement.

TRADE AGREEMENTS

Bilateral

Ethiopia is a beneficiary under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and EU 'Everything-but-Arms' initiative as well as under many other GSP schemes.

Regional

Ethiopia is a member of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) and the Organization of African Unity (OAU). Ethiopia is currently negotiating an Economic Partnership Agreement with the EU through the ESA configuration.

Multilateral

Ethiopia is an observer of the WTO. It has submitted a request for accession but it has not yet submitted its Memorandum of Foreign Trade Regime. 

NEED PRIORITIES  

Ethiopia needs assistance with the WTO accession process and in particular the preparation of the Memorandum of Foreign Trade, research and analysis related to EPA negotiations, public-private co-ordination and trade support infrastructure.

Source: World Fact Book, WTO Secretariat.