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Ethiopia is preparing to successfully host the 2013 African Growth and Opportunity Act Forum announced the Ministry of Trade.

Committees, charged with the task of coordinating the preparation for the forum at various levels, have already been created and are expected to commence with laying the ground work for the meetings according to  Amakele Yimam, Director of the Corporate Communication Directorate with the Ministry of Trade.

The ministry has also opened lines of communications with two of the other six African countries who have already had the chance to host the AGOA Forum said Amakele. The ministry expects to learn from the experiences of the two countries, Zambia and Kenya to support Ethiopia’s opportunity to host this event he noted. Add a comment Add a comment

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

Buna International Bank Share Company, Ethiopia opened its 25th branch in Gambella Regional State. The bank decided to open a branch office in Gambella because of the significant investment and trade activities in the state said Marshal Fikremarkos, Chairperson of the Board of Bunna International Bank.

The branch will also help facilitate remittance and investment efforts by natives of the region he noted.  

The new bank branch is expected to help expedite investment activities as well as to create more employment opportunities in the region according to Tomas Tut, Head of the State Chief’s Office and cabinet Affairs Head. 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

ESLSE is asking importers to collect their containers on time to alleviate congestion at the dry ports in Ethiopia. The congestion is becoming a problem for the implementation of the new Multi-modal Transport System according to Ahmed Tusa, Chief Executive of the ESLSE.

The system is being implemented but the problem is collecting containers accumulated at Port Djibouti. The Enterprise has been forced to construct a terminal of Bekelcha Transport S.C. located in Adama that has the capacity to store 9300 containers because of the congestion.

Containers from Djibouti will be handled at Bekelcha beginning this week according to Ahmed. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise is undertaking a study on potential new routes to deploy its new ships.

The enterprise decided to service more destinations after taking charge of nine new vessels it had on order in China, said Alemu Ambaye, Chief Engineer, Deputy Chief Executive of the ELSE. The nine ships are one multipurpose cargo and oil tanker vessel from the total of its nine vessels, two tankers and seven multipurpose cargo vessels he said.

The carrier is currently focusing on routes to Asia using arrangements with other shipping lines to serve import and export business in other parts of the world. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopian Cotton Production has fallen short of the requirements of the sector by tens of thousands of tons according to the Ethiopian Cotton Producers Ginners and Exporters Association at the General Assembly held at the Sheraton Addis Hotel.

In spite of the lift of the export ban the Ministry of Industry gives priority to local demands. This means that growers will require approval from the Textile Industry Development Institute and the Ministry of Agriculture to export to a still weak international market.

The meeting was attended by Tadesse Haile, State Minister for Industry, and Wondirad Mandefro State Minister for Agriculture. Add a comment Add a comment

Ethiopia reduced duties on imported materials for the textile and garment sector according to Sufian Ahmed, Minister for Finance and Economic Development.

The decision was made a meeting arranged between Sufian, and Mekonnen Manyazewal, Minister for Industry as well as senior representatives of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority, the Textile Development Institute and the Ethiopian Textile and Garment Association

Duties on imported textiles were reduced to 20 percent from 35 percent for garment manufacturers while no duties will be suspended for all imported spare parts required by textile and garment manufacturers.