Chinese Government provides grant worth ETB 181.1 million grant for Southern and Western Ethiopia Mineral Exploration and Development Project

On December 5, 2011, the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and the Ethiopian Geological Survey and Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration and Development of China signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to facilitate their cooperation on geological and mineral development activities. Sinknesh Ejigu, Ethiopian Minister of Mines, and Wang Li, Director General of Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration and Development, signed the agreement on behalf of their institutions. Under the terms of the MOU, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Mines agreed to work with the Mines Bureau of Chongqing State to prepare maps for mining investment covering 120 square kilometers in the southern and southwestern portions of Ethiopia. A group of Chinese experts presented a project proposal on March 28, 2012, which was then reviewed by the Ethiopian side. The mapping exercise was expected to take 5 years to finish (and start in 2013) and cost $10 million (financed by the Mines Bureau of Chongqing State). $3 million was to be spent during first year of the project. Mines Bureau of Chongqing State also expected to dispatch 40 experts in support of the project. It was envisaged that the geological maps and drilling tests would encourage international and local companies to invest in mineral development and exploration in Ethiopia. It was also envisaged that the project would help Ethiopia reach its plan to increase it mapping coverage from 50 percent to 100 percent, increase areas for industrial exploration from 48 to 77 sites. Then, on September 12, 2012, the Chinese Government and the Government of Ethiopia signed a grant agreement worth ETB 180,180,180 for the Southern and Western Ethiopia Mineral Exploration and Development Project. One month later, on October 11, 2012, the Chongqing Bureau of Geology and Mineral Exploration and Development and the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and the Ethiopian Geological Survey officially launched the project. As of December 2013, other Ethiopian and international mining companies protested the project because they also want to participate, but are barred from doing so. It is unclear whether or when this project reached completion.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Ethio-Chinese Joint Geological Study Project. 2. The system identification number for this project in the Government of Ethiopia’s Aid Management Platform (AMP) is 87143123101696. 3. Sinotech Ethiopia (Sinotech Minerals Exploration Co., Ltd.'s branch in Ethiopia) may have also been involved in the implementation of this project. This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

2

Number of total sources

7