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The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) is to fully privatize two state-owned enterprises, Walta Information Center reported.

The bid which opened on Monday 1 October 2013, include Ethiopian Mining Development S.C and Caustic Soda S.C, Wondafrash Assefa, PPESA corporate communications director, told Walta.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade signed a memorandum of understanding with various federal sector offices that issue certificate of professional competence for business activities, Walta Information Center reported. 

The MoU aims to ensure a coordinated working relation between the ministry and the 36 sectoral government institutions that issue professional competence certificates for commercial activities.

Diageo, the London based alcoholic beverages company is planning to invest at least US$ 50 million in the Meta Abo Brewery soon, according to Capital.

Diageo’s Marketing Director for African Regional Markets, Ekwunife Okoli, said the company will be investing in the expansion of the Meta Abo Brewery.

The Ethiopian Maritime Affairs Authority issued a new rule for containerized cargo shipments limiting maximum allowable cargo weights of 20 TEU (Twenty Feet Equivalent Unit) containers not to exceed 20 tons, including the weight of the container, Capital reported.

The new rule reduced container weights from 24 to 20 tons in order to prevent damages to roads and promote safety.

Construction on the first phase of the Tendaho Sugar plant located in Afar regional state is being finalized. Over 80 percent of the construction work has already been completed, Ethiopian News Agency reported.

Abreham Berhe, the project's office manager told Ethiopian News Agency on Monday that the project includes construction of a reservoir which has a capacity to hold 1.86 billion cubic meter water and 14,000 hectares of land has be covered with sugarcane plantation, the Manager said. 

The first Hotel Show Expo-Ethiopia 2013 is scheduled to be launched on October 10, 2013 at the United Nations conference center exhibition hall in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Capital reported.

Kumneger Teketel, Ozzie Trading Managing Director and the founder of the Hotel Show Expo-Ethiopia, said during a press conference held on Monday, September 23 at the Radisson Blu hotel that the preparations for this expo took more than three years, and its main purpose is to create marketing linkages between stakeholders of the hospitality industry.

Krajewa Spolka Cukrowa, a polish sugar manufacturer is eyeing investment opportunities in Ethiopia. The company is interested to build a raw sugar refinery in Ethiopia, Capital reported.

The major shareholder of Krajewa Spolka Cukrowa is the government of Poland with 79.7 percent ownership. The company is the largest sugar producer in Poland supplying 39.1 percent of the country’s sugar demand. However, its supply to the European Union is 4.1 percent.

Ethiopia's Oromia International Bank has acquired the 13-storey SA building located on Africa Avenue, Bole Road. The Bank bough the building for 210 million Ethiopian birr in June 2013.

SA building, inaugurated in 2006, lies on 1,192 square meter lot and its construction was estimated to have costed 50 million, according to Fortune.

The Ethiopian Trade Enterprise is to open three wholesale stores in Addis Ababa, Fortune reported. The stores will be constructed in Nifas Silk Lafto and Akaki Kality sub-cities and the third store will be located on a property belonging to the Merchandise Wholesale & Import Trade Enterprise in Addis Ketema sub-city.

The African Development Bank is to approve a USD 130 million loan request for the construction of a 120 KM long expressway spanning from Mojo to Zeway.

Lamin Barrow, resident representative of the banks Ethiopia country office, told The Reporter in an exclusive interview that the Bank will finance construction of the road’s first phase, with the board of directors set to approve the loan in October.