Under-invoicing is one of several reasons given by a senior official for Ethiopian exports to China failing to meet expectations.

Head of the public relations and communication affairs office at Ethiopia’s ministry of Trade, Wondimu Filate, said Ethiopia’s exports to China have steadily increased since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, but not by the amount anticipated.

Underachievement

Ethiopia exported US$2.83 billion of goods during the 2017/18 fiscal year, substantially lower than the US$5.23 billion the country had planned to earn during the period.

Filate said under-invoicing, poor global commodity prices, lack of coherent domestic market supply, unrest in various parts of Ethiopia, contraband trading and frequent power outages contributed to the disappointing export revenues.

Export drive

However, Filate said his ministry is working with government and private sector stakeholders to boost export performance in the current fiscal year, especially to emerging economies including China.

Ethiopian exports to China include agricultural, industrial and mineral products such as coffee, oil seeds, sesame, leather and tantalum.

Ethiopia’s exports to China during the 2017/18 fiscal year represented about 8.65 per cent of the country’s total global exports.