Ethiopia's Saafi to Double Camel Exports to Egypt, ENA Says

By Jason McLure
Feb. 25 (Bloomberg) -- Ethiopia's Saafi Trading and Agro- Industry Plc will double camel exports to Egypt to 20,000 this year, the Ethiopian News Agency said.
The value of the contract will be $6 million, the Addis Ababa-based news agency said, citing Mohammed Mohammed, Saafi's general manager.
Ethiopian livestock exporters face competition from ``contraband traders'' from neighboring countries, who smuggle camels and cattle out of Ethiopia, driving up the price of meat in local markets and harming registered exporters, the ENA said.
Ethiopia has the largest livestock population in Africa, according to the International Livestock Research Institute. The country exported $52.3 million in livestock in 2006-2007, up 15 percent from a year earlier, according to data from the Ethiopian Customs Agency.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jason McLure in Addis Ababa via the Johannesburg bureau at abolleurs@bloomberg.net .