By Kaleyesus Bekele

Menz woreda, located 170 km north of Addis Ababa in the North Shoa Zone of the Amhara regional state, is an area stricken by extreme poverty.

Tilled for the past many years, the land has long ago lost its fertility. The climate is cold throughout the year. Except few cereals, there are no cash crops such as coffee and chat which can generate income for the residents of the woreda. There is no factory or any other major business that could create job opportunities. The people of Menz have been languishing in poverty for the past many years.

However, a recent discovery of opal stone in the area is changing the lives of the poor farmers. In the rugged terrain of North Shoa, farmers dig the hills in search of opal. The lucky ones are getting the precious stone which commands a relatively high price. The farmers sell the opal to ornament traders.

A 0.2 gm of curved opal is sold for 50 dollars. However, the farmers sell the stones far cheaper. Individuals who have good knowledge of gemstones smuggle the precious stones out of the country.  From experience the traders know which kind of opal is more expensive. Menz is not the only area where precious stones can be found. Individuals engaged in gemstones exploration in different parts of the country are making a fortune out of these stones in different parts of the country.

In the past nine month the country earned more than 350,000 dollars from the export of different kinds of gemstones.

 In recent years, the gemstone export has been increasing. Last year the country exported gemstones worth 300,000 dollars. Some years ago the figure was only 70,000 to 80,000 dollars.

Gebre-Igziabher Mekonen, mineral operations department head with the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MME), says that ruby, emerald, opal, rhodholite, almandine and other gemstones abound in different regions throughout Ethiopia.

 Precious stones are found in North Shoa, South Gondar, Harar, Borena, Konso and Moyale. Opal is mostly found in North Shoa in Menz and South Gondar while a precious stone called Amazonite is found in the Konso and Kenticha localities.  There are also semi-precious stones in Afar and Tigray Regional states where volcanic rocks are found. Gebre-Igziabher says some of the precious stones have high quality and high economic value. The precious stones are exported to Thailand, the United States and European countries such as Sweden and Switzerland. The precious stones are sold to stone carvers, jewelry shops or individuals. According to Gebre-Igziabher, some Ethiopian gemstones are sold for high price in open auctions in the US and Europe.

The gemstones are mostly extracted by individuals in rural areas. “Farmers produce opal in North Shoa. There are four opal producers cooperatives comprising 130 members. They extract the opal and they sell it to ornament traders. At the moment the cooperatives have 100 kg of opal in stock,” Gebre-Igziabher adds.

The MME is providing technical assistance to the cooperatives. The ministry is organizing farmers in gemstone producing areas so as they would be able to produce more. Regional states are also trying to establish cooperatives. However, most of the precious stones produced in different regions are smuggled out of the country. “Individuals buy the stones from the farmers and sell then to ornament traders who smuggle the stones out of the country via airports,” Gebre-Igziabher says. Since the stones are small in size it is easy to smuggle them. Coupled with that, it is difficult to control the transaction. "What we are trying to do is to formalize the business,” he adds.

Ninety eight percent of the precious stones are exported in a rough form. There are some licensed companies engaged in gemstones production. The Ethiopian National Mineral Development Enterprise, a state-owned enterprise, and Romso Minerals Plc, a company owned by Ethiopian and Swiss businesspeople, are some of the companies engaged in gemstone production. Reliable sources told The Reporter that some of the licensed companies engaged in gemstone explorations report to the ministry that they were not producing the precious stones. However, the sources say that the private companies in fact have been exporting the precious stones adding it was difficult for the MME to determine whether or not they have produced the stones. “A precious stone is something that you can find on the surface. You do not need a drilling machine to dig it out or a dump truck to transport it. A small rock you find on the surface can be sold for hunderesd of thousands of dollars,” they said.

The MME does not have the expertise on gemstones exploration. “We do not have enough number of professionals who have specialized in gemstone exploration,” Gebre-Igziabher notes. However, he says the ministry is encouraging individuals to trade the precious stones legally.