2merkato

The Ethiopian House of Representatives ratified double taxation and fiscal evasion agreements with the governments of the Seychelles and the United Kingdom.

The agreement with the United Kingdom was signed in June of 2011 during the UK-Ethiopia Investment Forum, Taxes included in the agreement include Ethiopian income and profit taxes and taxes on income from activities in the agriculture, mining and petroleum sectors as well as UK income, corporation and capital gain taxes.

The strong bilateral relationship between the two countries means that the approval by the Ethiopian Parliament is welcomed by the UK said Greg Dorey, British Ambassador to Ethiopia.

Westin Hotels and Resorts is currently negotiating with MIDROC Ethiopia to manage the new African Union Grand Hotel. The hotel is currently under construction in the compound of the headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Westin is in the final stages of discussions as part of the process of taking over the management of the new grand Hotel being built by MIDROC. The Hotel is expected to launch operations staring from 2013. The opening of the Hotel is intended to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the African Union, it was said.   

Impact International Real Estates, Ethiopia delivered its first group of 50 houses, built on near Lake Tana in Amhara Regional State.

The 50 homes delivered to clients are the first of the 120 home housing project launched by the real estate company in 2006. The company intends to build 400 houses altogether.

The cost of the project is estimated at 450 million birr with construction to be conducted on a 150 thousand meter square plot of land. The design of the project also includes the construction of constructing health facilities, schools, and various entertainment facilities with bungalows, a supermarket and other services. 

A Delegation of French business paid a two day visit to Ethiopia. The delegates represented firms interested in involving in the country’s transport and power sector.  

The delegation consisted of fifteen companies representing several sub-sectors including machinery and equipment, urban development,  Infrastructure, energy, transportation and logistics, engineering, high technology, services to government and international trade, insurance and law firms.

The business delegation met with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn,and held in depth discussions on the development policies and strategies adopted by the country.

Africa Insurance, Ethiopia passed the decision to raise its capital by two fold at the General Assembly it held last week. The decision means that insurer will raise its paid up capital to 180 million birr from the 60 million birr it currently has.

Africa Insurance has earned 27 million birr profit before tax, an increase of 18 percent growth from the last year according to the annual report released by the company at the time. The net profit of the company for the last fiscal year was 23.6 million birr, which is 4.6 percent higher than the previous year.

The Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association held its General Assembly meeting at the Hilton Hotel. The meeting focused on discussing the by the successful transformation process undertaken by the Chamber.

The General Assembly meeting which was attended by representatives of the city’s business community was opened by  Kuma Demeksa, mayor of Addis Ababa.

The city chamber of commerce has now devised a five year plan to offer a wide range of services to the whole business community according to Ayalew Zegeye, president of the AACCA. The implementation of this plan is already underway, he added.

International firms are showing interest in the possibility of a contract to take over the management of the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise according to sources.

Dubai based, DP World, is said to be one of the companies who have expressed interest in running the Ethiopian enterprise. French logistics company Bolloré Africa Logistics is also known to have held talks with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn and Diriba Kuma, State Minister for transport this week.

Bolloré Africa is aware of the multifaceted problems that the enterprise is encountering in meeting the demands of the Ethiopian import and export sector efficiently said Jason Reynard, East African Manager for the company speaking to Diriba.

Ethiopia earned one billion US dollars from the export sector in just the last five months according to an announcement by the Ministry of Trade.

The revenue earned over this period has exceeded the revenue raised over the same period in the last fiscal year by 108.6 million US dollars said Amakele Yimam, Head of Publications and Communications with the ministry

A significant portion of the revenue raised came from the export of gold and coffee according to Amakele. Cereals, oilseeds, flowers and live animals were also significant contributors to the increased export revenue he added.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy said it is committed to finalizing more than 97 per cent of the construction work on the Rib dam this fiscal year. The government has allocated more than 270.3 million birr to complete the designated percent of the dam in the current financial year according to Bizuneh Tolch, Ministry Public Relations and Communication Director.

The construction work on the Rib Dam was launched in Ebinat and Farta woredas, Amhara State five years ago and is expected to require a total capital investment of 1.6 billion birr.

The ministry is focusing on finalizing the dam as per the scheduled time limit with more than 30.4 percent of the construction of the dam already completed so far he explained.

Mercy Corps is to establish a 10 million US dollar private equity fund in Ethiopia to encourage foreign investment, primarily in agriculture, according to Dominic Graham, Country Director. Initial interest has been expressed by several American and British companies he said in a interview.

The non-governmental organization is seeking rapid growth which is why it opted for private equity as opposed to debt financing according to Graham.

This aim is not about incremental change but large steps to move the country from middle and poor income status within a short period of time.