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Ethiopia is to host the 2013 African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum. Ethiopia is to host the event after senior government lobbied for the opportunity for the last four years.

Hosting the upcoming AGOA forum is an important opportunity for Ethiopia to create a platform to promote the country said Addis Alemayehu, ex-Chief of party of VEGA Ethiopia which assists Ethiopian exporters to the AGOA market under the auspices of USAID.

Ethiopia has invested more than any other African country in the AGOA sector as a result of which it has been selected to host the forum he said.

Four apparel and textile producers in Ethiopia are to wrap a 10 million US dollar deal with a group of US buyers in the next few weeks according to a senior representative of USAID Compete.

The Ethiopian textile companies involved in the deal are AYKA Addis, Addis Garment, Maa Garment and Kombolcha Textile and Calvin Kline is expected to be one of the US companies involved.

USAID Compete, is a USAID initiative which organizes Origin Africa, a yearly textile and apparel trade show in Africa. The Origin Africa event, which took place in Ethiopia for the first time this year, so 60 exhibitors representing many from the Ethiopian textile sector and about 26 buyers from the US and some from Europe.

Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, announced that it has taken charge of the Boeing 737-800 Sky Interior Aircraft ordered in December 2009.

The company is focused on investing in modernizing its fleet and the new 737-800 Sky Interior aircraft built with high technology to provide customers with the comfort and style to enhance the air travel experience according to Tewolde Gebre-mariam, Chief Executive of Ethiopian Airlines.

The airline expects to deploy the new Sky Interior to East African tourist destinations such as Daressalam, Mombassa, Seychelles during day flights and Delhi, Bombay, Dubai and Kuwait at night. 

Adika has purchased the sole dealer of Volkswagen in Ethiopia, Seferian, for more than fifty years. Adika will take over the sole dealership as soon as the deal is authenticated according to sources.  

Seferian was sold for an undisclosed sum of money.

It is to be remembered that Adika is a well known logistic company in Ethiopia having evolved from a car rental company. The company is said to be the leading tour and travel company and own a hotel in Lalibela. Adika joined the entertainment sector with Adika Communications and event.

The Addis Ababa-Adama Expressway, the first expressway in Ethiopia, is well underway according to the Ethiopian Roads Authority.

More than 33.6% of the construction of the 80 km expressway has so far been completed said Samson Wondimu, Communication Director with the ERA.

The construction of the new road has offered employment opportunities and enabled the introduction of innovative technology to road development in Ethiopia according to Samson.

Adama Town is working to become the second most significant conference destination in Ethiopia after Addis Ababa according to the Culture and Tourism Office.

The Cultural and Tourism office is exerting efforts to foster the growth of conference tourism in the town said Dejenu Eshetu, Office Occupational Support Supervision Process Owner.

The town has several international standard hotels to provide adequate service for any type of conference he explained. The hotels provide services such as swimming pools, internet access, parking lots and meeting halls that make them desirable to tourists and event organizers said Dejenu.

Yara International is to increase its investment in the Ethiopian potash sector increasing ownership in Ethio-potash BV from 16.67% to 51%.

Yara had entered into an agreement with two partners to invest in 16.67% of Ethio-potash. The other partners were Seftec with 26% share and XLR with a 57.33% share and management of the company in 2009.

XLR will retain a 49% share while Yara will take over the management of the company with its 51% share. 

Ethiopia licensed 64 billion birr in investment projects in the last three quarters of the Ethiopian financial year according to the Ethiopian Investment Agency.

Foreign investment accounts for 61.32 billion birr of the total investment in the country between July and March of 2012 according to Getahun Negash, Corporate Service Director of Public Relations with the Agency.

Alternatively it was recorded that 457 investment projects were licensed in this period with an estimated 386 of the total, making up 86%, being foreign investment he explained.

HP today announced it has established operations in Ethiopia with the opening of an office in Addis Ababa and the appointment of Mesfin Makonnen as Country Manager.

Customers in Ethiopia will now have better access to HP’s broad portfolio of products and services, allowing them to transform their businesses by taking advantage of improved IT infrastructure and a future based cloud computing and connectivity services. Governments can leverage HP technology to drive economic growth and stability by modernizing the delivery of services in key areas such as education, healthcare and e-Government services. HP also intends to broaden access of its consumer printer and PCs in the country.

HP is proud to establish operations in Ethiopia at a time when we are fulfilling our potential as a high-growth economy,” said Mesfin Makonnen “Bringing HP’s cloud-based and connectivity technologies by to the Ethiopian government and local companies can help build a strong technology industry.  In turn this generates economic growth and sees innovative solutions that can make a positive impact in Ethiopia.

Access Real Estate, Ethiopia, signed partnership agreement with Dubai Company Soliton Holding ltd. Soliton agreed to invest 2 billion birr in the next few years.

The collaborative venture will be able to engage a representative market with significant demand in both quality and quantity.

The partnership can serve as a sign to other international companies who are interested in investment in Ethiopia and Africa said Ermias Amelga, Chairman of Access.