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France Telecom handed over the administration of Ethiopia Telecom back to Ethiopian authorities this week. Domestic management took over the administration of the telecommunications corporation after two and a half years at the end of the contract reached between the French corporation and the Ethiopian government.

Some of the French management team will remain to provide support for the next few months according to sources.

Telecom coverage in the country grew from just 8% to 25% under the French management of the telecommunication provider it was noted. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Council of Ministers has ratified the directive proposing to establish a Chemical Industry Corporation. The corporation is intended to oversee chemical industrial development under the administration of the Ministry of Industry.

The Ethiopian government has allocated more than 21.7 billion birr for the establishment of the corporation said Melaku Taye, Director of the Corporate Communications Directorate. An estimated 5.4 billion birr has already been used in the process of establishing the new corporation according to Melaku.

The Chemical Industry Corporation will be in charge of setting up factories to produce products from the rubber tree as well as fertilizers, cements and a range of chemical products for the domestic market and for export. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopia is ready to sue Dutch company Vennootschap Onder Firma (VOF) for violating the access and benefit sharing agreement reached between the country and Health Performance and Food International for teff resources according to Berhanu Adello, Director General of the EIPO.

EIPO will be filing suit in a German court because Germany was the only country who opposed the patent granted the Dutch company by the European Patent Office. If Ethiopia wins the case in Germany it would then be applicable in all European countries.

A committee made up of representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, IBC and EIPO has already appealed to the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) to revoke the patent on teff said Berhanu. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Central Statistics Agency announced that it projects a harvest of 229.4 million quintals from agricultural activity in 2012.

The amount projected for the current harvest is 10.5 million quintals more than what was harvested in the previous year according to the season harvest forecast report presented by Samia Zekaria, Director General of the CSA.

The increase in the forecast is expected from major staple crops and is said to be due to the increased use of agricultural inputs by farmers she explained. Add a comment Add a comment