Ethiopia Launches $50M Gold Refinery, Its First

News World

Published by Clare Adamson at October 12, 2026

Gold in Ethiopia

Gold mining in Ethiopia dates back thousands of years, evolving from artisanal river panning for Egyptian pharaohs to modern industrial gold production. The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines reported that in the 2025/26 fiscal year, Ethiopia produced 44 metric tons of gold. Traditional and informal small-scale miners account for roughly 95% of total gold production.

Before launching the gold refinery, Ethiopia was transporting its unrefined gold to Dubai for processing. Last fiscal year, the 44 metric tons of unrefined gold generated $5.65 billion. But the government estimated that had the same volume of gold been refined, certified, and minted into standard bullion bars domestically, earnings would have reached at least $10 billion.

The Importance of Local Processing

With the National Precious Metals Refinery, Ethiopia can retain more of gold’s value through local refining and processing. Domestic refining lets the country verify the gold’s weight and purity before export, keeping service fees that would otherwise go to foreign refiners.

The refinery is built to assay, refine, and cast gold into export-ready bars. By standardizing testing and conducting thorough quality control, the facility should make gold pricing more trustworthy. The refinery will also handle melting, casting, and die-making services, Reuters reports.

In addition, the domestic refinery creates specialized positions in metallurgy, assaying, security, and jewelry manufacturing. The new jobs are expected to boost the local economy.

Building a Regional Processing Hub

More than simply processing local gold, Ethiopia aims to become a regional processing hub.

The National Precious Metals Refinery “enables neighbouring countries and regional mining companies to bring their gold to ‌Ethiopia ⁠for advanced refining, certification, value addition, and sale, eliminating the need to export it outside the continent,” Ahmed said in ⁠a post on X.

At full capacity, the plant can handle more than 13 times the 44 metric tons of gold Ethiopia produced last year. This leaves enough processing capacity to process gold from outside its borders. The Ethiopian Reporter names South Sudan, Somalia, and Eritrea as likely suppliers.

The next step is accreditation. For gold to trade seamlessly on global markets without extra testing, the refinery needs London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) accreditation. So far, South Africa’s Rand Refinery remains the continent’s only refinery with an LBMA accreditation.

Building Infrastructure for Africa

The launch of the National Precious Metals Refinery is part of Ethiopia’s broader plan. The government has outlined the “Pathway to Prosperity” plan through the Home-Grown Economic Reform Agenda. The goal is to make Ethiopia a middle-income country by 2030. Other mining-sector reforms include formalizing and supporting artisanal and small-scale mining and streamlining bureaucratic and regulatory procedures.

Ethiopia joins more than 15 African countries that have established or are actively developing local gold-refining facilities. Earlier this year, Burkina Faso also inaugurated its first national gold refinery to become more self-sufficient. Guinea outlawed raw gold exports in June to boost local refining, and Ghana has since banned shipments of unprocessed gold from small-scale miners.

As Africa pushes to reduce reliance on foreign processing, investment in infrastructure, supportive policy, and regional trade will be key to strengthening the continent’s economic sovereignty.