2merkato

Eleni Gebremadhin, founder and first CEO of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, announced the launch of Eleni LLC a company which specializes in the development of exchange markets in Asia and Africa. The new company is funded with equity contribution from the International Finance Corporation and Morgan Stanley.

The new company to be based in Nairobi was founded by Eleni and two other partners, Jawad Ali and Keith Thomas. Morgan Stanley contributed 5 million US dollars of the 7.5 million founding capital of the company and the IFC covered the rest. Another financier, ‘The 8 Mile Fund' may also invest in the new company soon according to sources. Add a comment Add a comment

Alecto Minerals shares advanced by more than 11% in early deals today as it released some of the findings from its first exploration program on its Wayu Boda gold concession in Ethiopia.

The exploration work comprised of geophysics, trenching, and geological mapping was focused on three areas that had been a focus of artisanal mining in the past. The miner took a total of 853 samples from 14 trenches. The highlight trenching results included intervals ranging from 1.3 meters to 14 meters with grades of 1.1 grams per ton (g/t) to 4.9 g/t.

It is to be remembered that Alecto reported initial sampling results which included grades of up to 47.4 grams per tonne gold last month.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority signed agreements with five contractors to construct and upgrade six road projects estimated at more than 3.2 billion birr.  The roads to be constructed are part of the 4th Road Sector Development Program.

The roads to be constructed will include the Mazoriya-Durame-Durgi-Omo River road, Yalo-Nehile and the alternate Azezo-Gorgora road. It is also expected that the Felegeselam-Ameya-Chida road and the road linking Bonga with Felegeselam will be upgraded to asphalt level. Add a comment Add a comment

The Development Bank of Ethiopia is making available 20 million US dollars from funds acquired from the World Bank for private businesses focusing on renewable energy and energy efficient goods.

The money to be made available is part of the 200 million US dollar loan the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development received from the World Bank last May. The loan was acquired to finance projects in the energy with electricity transmission and distribution getting the lion’s share of the allotment.

The 20 million US dollars made available at this is half of the 40 million US dollars allotted to enhance and encourage private sector investment in renewable energy. The other half will be released on the basis of how well the private sector is able to utilize the 20 million to be disbursed now according to sources. Add a comment Add a comment

Tullow Oil plc, is to announce the results it obtains from the geological test drills launched earlier this month on its Ethiopian concession, in South Omo.

The company anticipates drilling up to a depth of 2,600 meters to test for oil potential, after which it will make the final decision as to whether it will continue drilling or not according to an official with the British oil and gas explorer.

Tullow intends to dig twelve more holes to better estimate the quantity of oil that could be extracted, should it obtain positive results from its initial drilling activity. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority is to release goods congesting dry ports around the country to importers who provide payment guarantee from their banks to help alleviate congestion.

The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistic Service Enterprise will provisionally cover the demurrage and storage cost estimated at about 400 million birr according to sources.

The authority currently has more than 2 billion birr that it expects to earn from customs tied up in imports stockpiled at the dry ports. The congesting has also been helped by the ELSE’s limited capacity to process the goods and because importers have been unable to meet the financial demands said the sources. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Ministry of Finance and Development denied rumors about wheat scarcity on the local market. The Ministry said that it had distributed 8 million quintals contributing to the decline in the inflation of food items for the month of December.

Rumors that a shortage of wheat could translate into a scarcity of bread on the market in the next 2 weeks are unfounded said the Ministry.

There is currently 2 million quintals of wheat in stock and the government intends to supply a total of 4 million quintals to the market within  the first week of the coming February said Haji Mohammed, Head of Public Relations with MoFED. Add a comment Add a comment

The cereals market in Ethiopia has shown a degree of stabilization with a slight decline in the price of produce.

The price of cereals declined or remained constant due to a mehar harvest expected to be bumper in spite of an irregular rainy season. The harvest is expected to increase the supply of staple grains on the market with and lead to a further decline in prices later on this year according to a report issued by the United Nations Office for Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Add a comment Add a comment

The Ethiopian Metal and Engineering Corporation announced a profit of 181 million birr for the past financial year. The corporation registered a profit for the first time having recorded a loss of more than 381 million birr in its first year of operation.

METEC was able to register profit by addressing problems with the majority of the nine companies under its umbrella that had failed to perform in the previous financial year according to Kinfe Dagnew, General Manager of the corporation delivering an annual performance report to the House of Peoples Representatives.

The corporation’s revenue has shown a significant increase to 16.7 billion birr from a little over half a billion birr the previous budget year he noted. It plans to enhance its revenues to 28.4 billion birr in the current fiscal year although it has only managed to collect 4.5 billion birr as gross revenue in the first six months.

Construction work for the 500 thousand hectoliter beer producing plant owned by Ethiopian brewer Habesha Breweries SC is under way. The plant is to be constructed according to a turnkey contract agreement between the brewer and Chinese contractor Lehui.

It is expected that construction of the plant will be concluded within fifteen months according to the arrangement reached between the parties. Major shareholder Bavaria N.V, the Dutch company with 39 percent of the shares of Habesha handled most of the negotiations with the contractor to ensure that the first bottles of beer will reach both the local and international markets within the next fifteen months. Add a comment Add a comment