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The 2013 African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) Forum which will be held in Ethiopia will be instrumental in strengthening ties between Sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopian Ministry of Trade (MoT) said.

Ethiopia is preparing to host the 12th AGOA forum which will be held in June 2013.  A delegation from US has recently visited Ethiopia to assess the preparation.

“The forum will help sub Saharan African countries to link up in investment,” Amakele Yimam, Director of Corporate Communication Directorate at Ministry of Trade, told WIC. Add a comment Add a comment

The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution (ACSI) S.C said it has disbursed more than 2.3 billion Ethiopian birr loan during the past nine months.

Company Operation Sector Deputy General Manager, Agaje Getahun, told Walta Information Center, the loan was distributed among individuals engaged in production, service, trade, construction, animal fattening and other sectors. Add a comment Add a comment

Gambella Regional State supplied 973kg gold to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) during the last nine moths, the regional mines agency said. The agency told Ethiopian News Agency that over USD 48 million was earned from sale of the  of gold.

The revenue exceeded by USD eight million the amount earned the previous year. The amount of gold supplied to the Bank during the reported period also surpassed by over 200kg that of the previous year. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian government is proposing to establish the Food, Beverage & Pharmaceuticals Industry Development Institute and the Chemicals & Construction Materials Development Institute. The two institutes are expected to be operational in the coming fiscal year after the Council of Ministers grants its approval.

“This is the result of the government’s plan to transform the manufacturing sector,” Tadesse Haile, state minister of Industry told Fortune. Add a comment Add a comment

The National Bank of Ethiopia concluded contract with Afcor PLC. local vendor for the supply of IBM equipments and database solutions for worthing USD one million. Six months ago, NBE has contracted the Indian company Polaris to replace its old CORE Banking system for USD 3.4 million.

Twelve companies bought bid documents, and three has submitted offers for the international tender floated in December 2012. Other than Afcor; United System Integrators (USI), which supplies Hewlett Packard (HP) hardware, and Boston Consulting, supplier of Oracle, also participated. Add a comment Add a comment

The privatization bid for Ethiopia's biggest state-owned hotel, Ghion Hotel Enterprise, once again failed to attract buyers on the bid opening day held on Friday.  No bid documents were submitted sealed  when the box was opened in the bid hall of the Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA).

According to the information obtained from the agency, bid document for the hotel was sold to interested bidders, but apparently they didn’t submit their bid offers. Add a comment Add a comment

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.