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The Addis Ababa city's Beautification, Park & Cemetery Development & Administration Agency announced that 95pc of the construction of a 12,000sqm public park in Lideta district, has been completed, Fortune reported.

The park which is designed by K2N Architecture & Engineering Consultancy PLC and constructed by Koracon Construction, will cost a total of 26 million Ethiopian birr. The project is fully-funded by the Addis Abeba City Administration.

The Ethiopian Shipping Lines & Logistics Service Enterprise’s (ESLSE) and the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise (EPE) are expected to conclude an agreement for the transport of petroleum in early 2014.

The ESLSE's will transport petroleum through its newly squired two oil tankers. This comes after a year of carrying other goods, pending a deal to be concluded with the EPE, according to Fortune.

The National Bank of Ethiopia is considering amendment to its "Mobile and Agent Banking Services" directive enacted in January 2013, Fortune reported.

The directive opened the door for banks and micro-finance institutions to provide transaction-based mobile and agent banking services.

(In paragraph 1, corrects German Development Bank (KfW), not GIZ is partnering with the MoUDC)

The Ethiopian Ministry of Urban Development & Construction (MoUDC) and the German Development Bank (KfW) announced a business plan competition focusing on solving urban problems, Fortune reported.

The registration of applicants for the first round will be conducted from October 11, 2013 to November 10, 2013.

The Amhara Saving and Credit Enterprise said it is working to disburse over 5.8 billion Ethiopian birr loan to beneficiaries during the current Ethiopian Fiscal Year.

Ayalneh Mihiretu, Public relation head with the Enterprise, told Ethiopian News Agency on Wednesday, the Enterprise will disburse the money to over 801,350 beneficiaries.

The Addis Ababa Education Bureau said it will connect all secondary schools in the city with Schoolnet program in the current academic year.

Bureau Head, Delamo Otore, told Walta Information Center that some 2,500 PCs have already been procured at a cost of 23 million Ethiopian birr to connect the schools.

On September 18, 2013, the Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) concluded the Article IV consultation with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia. Recent macroeconomic developments are encouraging, with a significant deceleration in inflation and continued robust economic growth.

Despite significant decline in coffee prices and supply bottlenecks, growth remains robust, supported by better agriculture output and construction and other services activities. Inflation declined from the peak of 40 percent in July 2011 to around 7 percent in June 2013. This has significantly eased the extent to which real interest rates were negative. Pressures resulting in foreign exchange shortages in the wake of the passing away of Prime Minister Meles have eased.

The need for strong weather and climate services to reduce vulnerability and promote sustainable development will be addressed by the Third Annual Conference on Climate Change and Development in Africa (CCDA-III) (http://www.climdev-africa.org/ccda3) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 21 – 23 October, 2013.

Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing and most customer service driven airline in Africa, was chosen as Service Quality Institute's Worldwide Customer Service Leader in Istanbul Turkey on 12 October during the awards banquet at the Worldwide Customer Service Conference.

CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam received the award.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) is drafting a regulatory framework for the Payment, Settlement & Clearing System operators, Fortune reported.

The directive will be applicable to companies, such as Premiere Switch Solutions (PSS), established by Awash, Nib and United banks in 2011, for the joint use ATMs and Point of Sale (POS) terminals. Recently, Berhan International and Addis International banks have joined PSS.