Ethiopia has undertaken a huge economic reform in the mining and oil sector to underpin the growth and development of the country indicated the Ministry of Petroleum, Mining, and Natural Gas of Ethiopia.
According to the Ministry’s six month report, one of the focus areas of the indigenous refinery sector is the mining and oil sector, whose main role is to generate foreign currency and domestic income. This buttresses the growth and development of the mining industry and saves a large
foreign currency, in addition to increasing employment opportunities for companies and enterprises.
Moreover, the investment and the environment will help to achieve sustainable development goals by ensuring the environment’s cleanness, greenness and conflict-freeness as well, said Dr. Ketsla Tadesse Petroleum licensing and administration Director at the Ministry.
This sector will be able to display tangible results that help to build the capacity of institutions, states and investors, and redress operational, organizational as well as governance problems, select and persuade potential developmental investors, promote investment in the sector (industry), and creat market for the manufacturing sector (industry), he noted.
According to Dr. Ketsla, the action of increasing the type and size of the country’s development and management of the sector is environmentally friendly. It enjoys a major focus of the sector (industry).
There is a plan to undertake five major programs this fiscal year. The programs have objectives to enhance the institutional capacity of the sector, bolster the quality and access to geographical information coverage, promote mineral, oil and biofuel investment, diversification, mining and quality development;To achieve all these various legal frameworks are made amenable to the policy and strategy research, and harmonization of the preparation and implementation of the same framework, among others,
From those Mining has been approved and used in developing a permit area width limit guide, The Ethiopian Mineral, Petroleum and Biofuels Corporation Establishment Regulation has been approved by the Council of Ministers and the Corporation is made accountable to the Ministry.
The Ethiopian Mineral, Petroleum and Biofuels Corporation is preparing new guidelines and reviewing existing ones and aligning them with the corporation’s reality.
The Mineral Marketing Act has been ratified and amended by Mineral Marketing with Proclamation (No. 1144/2011);
The draft policies of the Oil Works Proclamation, the Establishment and Regulatory Authority, Establishment Authority’s Establishment Proclamation, the Ethiopian Geological Survey Establishment Amendment Act and others are waiting for a decision, and among others, have been done during this six month, added Dr. Ketsla.
In addition to this, the Ministry aims at enhancing sector’s structure, coordination, and technology facilities provision for new arrangements created in concert with State Directorate, Stakeholder and Industry Cooperation. It as well strives to improve coordination between states and companies at country level Dr. Ketsla noted.
The Ethiopia Herald February 23/2020
BY MUSSA MUHAMMED
