Ethiopia earned one billion US dollars from the export sector in just the last five months according to an announcement by the Ministry of Trade.

The revenue earned over this period has exceeded the revenue raised over the same period in the last fiscal year by 108.6 million US dollars said Amakele Yimam, Head of Publications and Communications with the ministry

A significant portion of the revenue raised came from the export of gold and coffee according to Amakele. Cereals, oilseeds, flowers and live animals were also significant contributors to the increased export revenue he added.

Ethiopian Airlines is contemplating regional merger proposal, but  merger don't appear likely and practical, Yisihak Zewolde, director of Star Alliance at Ethiopian told reporters. At the 44th Africa Airline Association conference in Johannesburg, Kenya Airways CEO, Titus Naikuni extended invitation of merger with the regional giants, Ethiopian and South African Airways.

Ethiopian took the proposal positively and is studying it at management level, however, Ethiopian has doubt on the feasibility of the merger, citing as instance that Ethiopian Airline belonging to the Star Alliance and Kenya Airways in SkyTeam.

BEZEMA Dyes and Chemicals NBE PLC, a Swiss based chemical company, has opened the first bonded warehouse through the invitation of the Textile Industry Development Institute of Ethiopia to supply pigments, dyes and chemicals to textile factories in Ethiopia.

The Company's warehouse located in Jemo, Addis Ababa, seeks to relieve the shortage of pigments, dyestuff and chemicals encountered by the Ethiopian textile industry.

Ethiopia has launched the export of electric power to the Republic of Sudan. The corporation began test export four weeks ago along the Gadarif Galabat electric power transmission line according to Mihret Debebe, Chief Executive of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation.

It is expected that the power transmission line will be inaugurated by Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Sudanese President Omar Albashir.

The transmission makes Sudan the second country after Djibouti to import power from Ethiopia.

The earnings that Ethiopia expects to receive from the export of spices, pulses and oilseeds are projected to increase by a third to an estimated 900 million US dollars in the current fiscal year.

The increase in revenue is related to incentives offered to investors in the sector including land for processing and warehousing and the waiving of duties related to import and export said Haile Berhe President of the Ethiopian Pulses, Oil Seeds and Spices Processors-Exporters Association.

The association is confident that the incentives will enable exporters to export as much as is made available he added.