Ethiopia has officially joined the ranks of Africa’s top arms exporters, with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announcing that the country has already earned at least $30 million from weapons sales.
This declaration places Ethiopia behind South Africa ($48 million) and Egypt ($41 million) while surpassing Morocco ($21 million) and Nigeria ($3 million) in reported arms exports.
Ethiopia has its own Arms manufacturing Industry known as the Homicho Arms Manufacturing Industry
Ethiopia is a big country. It is necessary to ensure that it can protect itself and pass on its wealth to its children,” the Prime Minister stated.
The factory, which started taking shape in 2015 after Ethiopia was forced to buy ammunition in 2014, has now become a cornerstone of the country’s self-reliance strategy. “We had an assessment that if Ethiopia does not build such strategic capabilities, anyone can come and attack it,” PM Abiy Ahmed explained.
Source: Addis Insight