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USAID, in collaboration with the Ministry of Industry of Ethiopia, launched the African Alliance for Food Processing Project in Ethiopia on Thursday, April 18, 2013.

The project is designed to increase the quality and competitiveness of Ethiopia’s food processing sector and to expand the availability of affordable and nutritious foods. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is to sell full membership seats for farmers cooperatives. Earlier this year, the exchange has announced that it will provide 30 full membership seats for farmer cooperatives to facilitate their direct involvement in the exchange.

The sell will double farmers cooperative's membership in the exchange. Currently, the majority of full membership seats are controlled by private companies. Add a comment Add a comment

South African investors on Thursday discussed with counterparts from Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations on ways of working together.

Speaking on the occasion, Laurence Saville, president of Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce, said cooperation between the two chambers is vital to strengthening trade ties between the two nations. Add a comment Add a comment

SouthWest Energy, an Ethiopian oil and gas company, announced the results of the Competent Persons Report (CPR), a study commissioned by the company and prepared by an independent consultant, Senergy (GB) Limited, for the company’s  Gambella basin block (an extension of the large oil producing Melut basin in South Sudan) and blocks 9A, 9 and 13 in the Jijiga basin, a part of the Ogaden basin in Ethiopia.

“I am very pleased to announce the results of the CPR by Senergy, which I consider a significant step forward for our company and a strong validation of our work to date,” Tewodros Ashenafi, Chairman and CEO of SouthWest Energy said on the press release on last Thursday.

The Ethiopian Public Private Consultative Forum (EPPCF) on the tourism sector was convened on April 8 at the Sheraton Addis. in the presence Ethiopian government officials and representatives of the private sector has attended the event.

The discussion at the forum discussed issues concerning the  challenges the tourism sector is facing  and recommendations on how to tackle these problems. Add a comment Add a comment

Tullow Oil, a multinational gas and oil exploration company headquartered in London, said it has found indications of the existence of oil with its concessions in the South Omo Basin, Southern Regional State of Ethiopia.

The company, in joint venture with Africa Oil (30pc) and Marathon Oil (20pc), began drilling a well in its Sabisa-1 bloc last January, 2013. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopia's state owned Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) contracted Beyo PLC  for the assembly and delivery of heavy duty construction machineries. Beyo has received 43.5 million Ethiopian Birr for the  delivery of six assembled LIEBHERR dozer, two weeks ago. Beyo is contracted to assemble  components manufactured by the German based LIEBHERR, according to the terms of the agreement.

The imported components for each machinery will cost 6.8 million Birr. The blades, imported from Ukraine,  will be manufactured in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is drafting a new building code to replace the existing one, adopted 18 years ago. The new code is to be modeled after European, U.S. and Singapore building codes.

The Ministry of Urban Development and Construction contracted the Addis Abeba Institute of Technology (AAIT), in January 2012, to draft the code for a fee of 2.6 million Br. A team of 50 professionals, including professors, contractors and architects from across the capital, have been working on the document. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopia's United Bank issued 18,514 unsubscribed shares for sell on a public auction the past week. The Bank earned 2.9 million Ethiopian Birr from the auction two weeks ago, bringing revenues 76pc above the  par value of the shares issued.

The bank added 25 percent to the initial par value of its shares. The highest bid per share came in at 176 Br. Add a comment Add a comment

A Singapore business delegation visited Ethiopia to explore investment opportunities in the country. At a press conference held on Tuesday, the business delegation discussed investment opportunities with the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA).

“We haven’t exactly pinpointed specific areas where we will have investment agreements, but there are companies willing to invest in the areas the Ethiopian government is promoting such as Agro-processing and others,” said Mulu Solomon, President of ECCSA.