🇪🇹EthiopiaEast Africa
Contraband and double taxation reduce Ethiopia's khat and oilseed export earnings
via The Reporter Ethiopia7 min read
The Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration reported that contraband trade and regional taxes have negatively impacted earnings from khat and oilseed exports. Despite overall export revenues reaching USD 6.7 billion in the first eight months of the financial year, income from khat, oilseed, cereal, and livestock exports declined due to illicit trade and double taxation. The Ministry had anticipated over USD 13.6 million from khat exports in February, but actual exports were 858 tonnes, resulting in a USD four million shortfall, an 11 percent decrease from February 2025. Livestock export revenue fell by 18 percent and cereal export revenue by 25 percent compared to the previous year. Reasons cited for the decline in khat export revenue include double and repetitive taxation, illegal trade practices, contraband, and checkpoints. For instance, Ethiopia's khat exports to Israel dropped from 52.3 tons worth USD 1.8 million last year to 21.3 tons worth USD 746,000 in the last eight months, partly due to Middle East instability. Live animal exports were affected by high quarantine costs, taxation, illegal trade, a revised tax law, Middle East conflict, shipping costs, and supply chain delays. Oilseed export revenue was impacted by illegal trade, disruptions to sesame production in northern Ethiopia, illegal checkpoints, price disparities, transport disruptions, and supply delays. In contrast, gold exports surged to USD 3.6 billion, and total agricultural exports reached USD 2.4 b
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This summary was AI-generated from a story originally published by The Reporter Ethiopia.
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