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The National Bank of Ethiopia has extended the launch of its CORE banking solutions by two months, Ethiopia's weekly business paper Fortune reported. NBE has contracted Polaris Financial Technology Ltd., an Indian company for US$3.4 million to replace its outdated Bank Master system with a new CORE banking system called Intellect.

The upgrade is required for compatibility with the National Payment System (NPS) and the new bank reporting system, according to the reports of Fortune. The Central Bank delayed the deployment of the new system as a result of the complexity of the task and Polaris' delay in undertaking analysis of the old system, Fortune reported citing the NBE's Public Relations and Communications director, Dereje Asegdew. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) said it transacted 2.65 million metric tons of commodities over the past five years. According to a statement posted on its website, the total sum of all commodities traded at the ECX has reached 90 billion Ethiopian birr.

The number of trading members has increased to 329 during the reported period from 100 in 2008, when it commenced operation, it said. ECX has managed to increase the number of delivery centers and settlement banks to 17 and 11 respectively. Add a comment Add a comment

Saro-Maria, a four star hotel, was inaugurated on Tuesday, 30 July, 2013. in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The city is seeing growing demand for hotel accommodation. Addis Ababa has only 110 hotels with fewer than 5,500 rooms. The city’s top 10 hotels currently show occupancy rates in excess of 90 percent, Capital reported.

“Clearly, this new facility has been created as a result of an increasing potential for mid-scale flag properties, after the emergence of brands like the Sheraton, Hilton, Marriot and Radisson Blu secured footholds in the market”, Saro-Maria’s general manager, Samuel Omalla told Capital. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopia's privately owned Awash International Bank has reported a 639 million Ethiopian birr unaudited gross profit in the 2012/13 fiscal year. Tsehay Shiferaw, President of AIB, told journalists at a press conference held on Friday August 2 at the Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel, that the bank's profit has grown by 180.6 million birr (18%) compared to the previous fiscal year.

The registered profit may make AIB the leading profitable private financial institution in Ethiopia, according to the reports of Capital. Awash’s total revenue in 2012/13 fiscal year reached 1.4 billion birr, showing a growth of 309 million birr or 28 percent when compared with the previous year. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Ministry of Mines is scraping its plan to ban rough gem exports and export ban on raw tantalum, in order to increase the export volume of mineral resources, Fortune reported.

The Ministry has also raised its revenue projection for 2013/14 fiscal year to one billion dollar, from the initial target of US$777 million. In January 2013, the Ministry announced its intention to ban rough gem exports at the start of the new fiscal year. This was because of the considerably higher price a value-added stone would fetch when compared with the rough cut.

Development Bank of Ethiopia has earned a net income of 491 million Ethiopian birr during the 2011/12 fiscal year. The Banks annual report, which was approved by its board of directors in Bahir Dar last week, indicates, it has surpassed its target of approving 7.9 billion birr worth of loans.

The largest portion of the approved loans was for companies engaged in the industrial sector. The industrial sector has received 5.8 billion birr in total, 143 percent higher than what the bank has targeted to loan out to the sector. Foreign companies, such as Saygin Dima, which got over one billion birr of loans approved last year, were the major beneficiaries. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopia’s annual production of cement has reached 12.12 million tons, more than double the current domestic demand, Ministry of Industry disclosed. Ethiopia’s current domestic demand for cement is estimated to be around 5.4 million tons, according to data from the Ministry.

“Due to the construction boom and country’s rapid growth we expect the annual demand for cement to grow,” Melaku Taye, public relations and communications director at MoI, told Walta Information Center. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation Board has approved the launching of the first phase of the Aysha I wind farm project in the Somali Regional State, according to information obtained from the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs website.

Construction of the project, split into three phases, will begin soon. The first phase will be carried out by the Chinese Company, Dongfang Wind, and is expected to produce 120MW of energy when completed. Add a comment Add a comment

Kenenisa Hotel, located on Cameroon Street around Bole Medhanialem Cathedral was inaugurated on Sunday 4 August, 2013. The eight storey hotel laying on 1,400 square meter plot of land offers 51 rooms, high speed internet, meeting hall, fitness and business center. The hotel is equipped with modern air conditioning, fire extinguisher, smoke detector and other facilities befitting a four star hotel.

The Construction of the hotel consumed 200 million Ethiopia birr.

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia posted a record 8.4 billion Ethiopian birr profit for the 2012/13 fiscal year, a sizable increase over the 7.9 billion birr reported in the same period last year.

The bank's general deposit has reached 154.4 billion birr and its general assets has totaled 198.3 billion birr, according to Yishak Mengesha, CBE's business development manager. The bank has opened 148 new branches across the country. The bank has also doubled the number of customers in reporting period to 6.9 million.