PM Ahmed Inaugurates Ethiopia‘s First Gold Refinery

On 10 October 2026, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated the country’s first gold and precious metals processing facility in the Bole Lemi Special Economic Zone (SEZ). The National Precious Metals Refinery is a joint venture between Ethiopian Investment Holdings (51%) and Dubai-based Sam Precious Metals (49%).

The project necessitated a total investment of USD 50 million. The refinery has an annual capacity to produce up to 600 tonnes of precious metials, primarily gold and silver. Other than smelting, refining, casting, bar minting, and die-making, the facility will also have assaying and testing services.

Based on the project study, the refinery will boost Ethiopia’s annual revenues up to USD 10 billion annually, up from USD 5 billion currently, by capturing more downstream value domestically. PM Ahmed hailed the refinery as a concrete case of the local value addition (#LVA) drive sweeping across Africa.