Ethiopia

Geography

Officially called the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the country is situated in the Horn of Africa and is landlocked. It borders Eritrea to the north, Sudan to the west, Kenya to the south, Djibouti to the northeast, and Somalia to the east.

Within Ethiopia is a massive highland complex of mountains and dissected plateaus divided by the Great Rift Valley, which runs generally southwest to northeast and the highland complex is surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semi-desert. The great diversity of terrain determines wide variations in climate, soils, natural vegetation, and settlement patterns.

History

Ethiopia is one of the oldest nations in the world and the second-most populous nation in Africa after Nigeria. It has yielded some of the oldest traces of humanity, notably Dinknesh/Lucy the fossil leading to the identification of Australopithecus Afarensis an early hominid.

Ethiopia was never colonised by a European country, although there was a five-year military occupation by Italy from 1936 to 1941.

Having converted during the fourth century AD, it is also the second-oldest country to become officially Christian, after Armenia, although it has been secular since 1974.

Legislation

Mineral law in Ethiopia received partial updating via the Mining and Income Tax Proclamations in 1993 and the supporting Mineral Operations Regulations in 1994. The new Mining Proclamation gives the licence holder a number of incentives such as low royalties (3-5% on precious metals); exemption from custom duties and taxes on equipment, machinery, vehicles and spare parts necessary for mineral operations; and a 10 year loss carry forward. Corporation tax is 35% of profits.

Under Ethiopian Mining Law, a Prospecting Licence is valid for a one year period after which further exploration requires and Exploration Licence, valid for a three year period with a possible two year extension. Large Scale (non-artisanal) Mining Licences are valid for 20 years, with a possible additional 20 year extension.

Economy

Agriculture accounts for almost 41% of the GDP, 80% of exports, and 80% of the labour force. Many other economic activities depend on agriculture, including marketing, processing, and export of agricultural products. Production is overwhelmingly of a subsistence nature, and a large part of commodity exports are provided by the small agricultural cash-crop sector. Principal crops include coffee, pulses (e.g., beans), oilseeds, cereals, potatoes, sugarcane, and vegetables. Exports are almost entirely agricultural commodities, and coffee is the largest foreign exchange earner. Ethiopia's livestock population is believed to be the largest in Africa, and as of 1987 accounted for about 15 percent of the GDP. Despite recent improvements; with the equally exploding population, Ethiopia remains one of the poorest nations in the world.

The mineral resources sector is underdeveloped given the prospective geology of the Arabian-Nubian shield that comprises the bulk of Ethiopia. To the south of Addis Ababa the Lega Dembi gold mine (run by MidRoc Ethiopia Ltd) is producing approximately 125,000 ounces of gold per annum, and alluvial activity is widespread across the country. The Yubdo Platinum mine (51% Minerva Resources) is producing platinum and elsewhere there are operations exploring or mining phosphates, marble, salt, tantalum, soda ash, feldspar, kaolin, silica sand, talc and nickel. Oil and gas exploration and development is taking place in the southeast of the country.