RIYADH, 23 August 2003 — In a move to cut reliance on a handful of Asian and European countries for import of livestock, Saudi Arabia has lifted a ban on Ethiopian livestock and meat products. Ethiopia, an African state rich in cattle population, is the only African country besides Sudan which is now allowed to export its livestock to the Kingdom.
Riyadh continues to ban meat and meat products from many other countries.
“Official communication explaining the lifting of the ban has been received by the Ethiopian Embassy from the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs,” said Abdella Basha Abdella, charge d’affaires at the Ethiopian Embassy here. Abdella also denied reports of a ban on Saudi investment in the country’s agriculture sector on the basis of Addis Ababa’s agricultural ties with Israel. He said the reports appearing in a section of the press were “untrue” and misleading.
The diplomat said that Ethiopia was among the top ranking countries in Africa and among the first 10 in the world in terms of livestock resources. At the same time, he said, “there is no company in the agriculture sector or for that matter in any sector trading Israeli products.”
He said the Kingdom’s ban on Ethiopian livestock was imposed because of the spread of Rift Valley Fever (RVF) in his country.
He said Saudi nationals own two major abattoirs in Ethiopia, which have a total of five facilities with a capacity to slaughter 1,000-2,500 sheep and goats and 100-150 oxen daily.
He said the Kingdom, Kuwait, the UAE and Yemen had been major importers of Ethiopian live sheep, goats, frozen meat and meat products in the past. Other Arab investors are engaged in the export of mutton and goats’ meat to many Middle East countries including the Kingdom.
The diplomat said Riyadh and Addis Ababa were currently in the process of setting up a joint economic commission following the ratification of a general agreement on trade, investment, culture and sports by the Shoura Council and the Ethiopian parliament, he said. As of today, he said, Ethiopia was the Kingdom’s second most prominent trade and investment partner in Africa. He highlighted substantial Saudi investment in gold-mining and other sectors in Ethiopia. “The total Saudi investment — mainly in agriculture, industry, tourism and mining — exceeds SR3.4 billion mark,” Abdella said adding that two-way trade was in the region of SR2 billion annually.
