Oromia Mining Development Chief Says Mining Sector Lags In Reform Efforts

Calls for stronger federal-regional coordination in mining governance

Ethiopia’s mining sector is lagging behind the government’s willer’s interest reform agenda, says Nemera Gebeyehu (PhD), Director-General of the Oromia Regional State Mining Development Authority.

He made the comments during a meeting between federal officials and their stakeholders from the mining sector in Oromia and Afar. The Director-General stated that weak governance, fragmented regulation, and limited community benefit remain an unaddressed bottleneck in Ethiopian mining.

“The mining sector is behind in the reform,” said Nemera, who characterized the sector as sluggish despite enjoying government priority in the years since the political upheaval of 2018 and ensuing reforms.

“It was identified as a winning sector. Yet in terms of reform pace, not much has actually been carried out. Particularly in terms of policy design and reform of the legal frameworks, what we still have in place are largely the same legal structures from before the reform era, inherited from an earlier political economy context,” he noted.

The Director-General called for a shift in the perspective through which national leadership and the incumbent view mining.

“Previously, mining was treated as a secondary sector. Now, however, it is being repositioned as one of the key drivers of economic growth, one of the major contributors to national development. The narrative has shifted. The political economy narrative has shifted. But when it comes to the policy landscape and legal framework, we are still working within the old structures. That is why these matters must be clearly grasped,” said Nemera.

He observes it remains unclear whether the administrative and legal frameworks in place can handle the workload that comes with the large number of licenses and concessions being doled out at higher levels of government.

The mining sector’s shortcomings are not confined to the issuance of licenses, according to Nemera.

“It is not only about signing papers,” he said. “We must ask: are we providing technology access, training, and capital to make these licenses effective? If these are missing, then the reform remains incomplete.”

Oromia hosts the majority of Ethiopia’s commercial mining sites, a reality Nemera said carries both opportunities and burdens.

“Because of its geography, Oromia carries the bulk of Ethiopia’s mining licenses. That creates a responsibility,” he noted.

For this reason, he stressed, cooperation between the federal government and the Oromia regional administration is indispensable.

“The federal and regional governments must work together—to coordinate, to share responsibilities, to provide support jointly, and to regulate together. Without this, development work will always fall short,” Nemera argued.

He criticized the prevailing practice of different levels of government working in silos.

“Development is not something that one government level can handle by itself,” he said. “It should be seen as a shared national effort. But what we see in practice is separation—different regional administrations and different units of the entire government acting apart instead of as one economic unit. That is where problems arise.”

Another weakness Nemera identified lies in data and information management. He emphasized that strategies at the federal level must be grounded in reliable and locally sourced data.

“A regional mining bureau is expected to supply data to the federal ministry, which is supposed to guide strategy,” he explained. “But the federal government often demands information without investing in the systems that produce it. If Afar’s context, for example, is properly understood, it can generate knowledge and improve decisions. That is why I say this is not only an economic issue—it is a governance issue.”

Nemera insisted that reforms must begin with “basic data.” Without a reliable flow of information, he argued, both policy design and enforcement suffer, leaving space for mismanagement and conflict.

The Oromia Mining Bureau chief also underscored the lack of monitoring once licenses are issued.

“Monitoring and enforcement are very weak,” he warned. “Oversight and control do not match the scale of licenses being issued. This has created our fourth big challenge: compliance and enforcement.”

He gave the example of disputes arising in Oromia from federally issued licenses.

“When conflicts emerge—whether over community rights or environmental impacts—the question becomes: how can the Oromia government address licenses that were issued by the federal government?” he asked. “This is a very serious gap in reform, and it must be answered.”

For Nemera, failures in reforming the sector also stem from overlooking local communities. He argued that communities do not view mining projects only in terms of extraction but also in terms of governance, organization, and fair benefit-sharing.

“Communities raise their voices and say: ‘This is affecting us,’” he said. “That is the problem that comes from a centralized mining governance framework.”

He further stressed that reform must consider the multi-layered structure of community organization, from the kebele to the woreda, zone, and region.

“These are the structures through which communities express their demands and concerns,” Nemera said.

Nemera concluded that despite Ethiopia’s broader economic reform agenda, mining remains behind.

“Everything must be based on reliable data, rooted in facts, and enforced with strong compliance,” he said. “Otherwise, mining will continue to lag behind the reform efforts the country is pursuing.”

His remarks underline the persistent governance gap between federal and regional authorities, as well as the unfinished nature of reforms in one of Ethiopia’s most strategically important but politically sensitive economic sectors.