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Ethiopia’s economy may double in size over the next nine years, African Development Bank Chief Economist Mthuli Ncube said in a speech in Johannesburg today. Ncube predicted that Ethiopia’s economy mig

ht expand 10 percent this year and East Africa would expand by about 6.7 percent in 2011 and 2012.

Ncube’s prediction stands in contrast to the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) prediction, made on 30 May 2011, of lower economic growth at 6 percent for Ethiopia in the 2011/12 fiscal year.

Tullow Oil, a British company, which recently launched oil exploration activities in the South Omo valley, hired BGP Geo Services PLC, a Chinese company, to carry out a seismic survey in the concession area.

Tullow Oil started the oil exploration work in the South Omo valley after it bought a 50 percent stake in the South Omo valley from Africa Oil.

The Ministry of Trade said Friday that Ethiopia earned more than 2.4 billion dollars from the export sector over the last 11 months.

Amakele Yimam, director of public relations and communications directorate, said that the income was greater than that of the same period last fiscal year by 693.9 million dollars. However, he said that the amount fell short of the ministry's projection for the period which was 2.9 billion dollars.

Mauritius leads Africa    

Ethiopia ranked 121st out of 125 countries on the fifth annual Global Innovation Index released by the INSEAD business school. European countries dominated the top 11 economies on the list, and more than half of them are in the northern regions of the continent.