2merkato

Various parties from the East African countries of Ethiopia, Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda are to hold a regional meeting dubbed ‘Great Rift Valley Energy Summit’ to discuss regional oil and gas potential. The two day Summit is to be held in Nairobi, Kenya from the 3rd to the 4th of December.

It is expected that government representatives, executives of international and regional oil and gas companies and Non Governmental Organizations will take this opportunity to deliberate the regional potential, goals and challenges as well as discussing projects, time scales and schedules planned for the rest of the current year and beyond in developing the regional resources.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority collected 22.26 billion birr in revenue in the first quarter of the current financial year it announced.

The revenue raised by the authority was 103.57% of the21.49 billion birr it had projected for the fiscal period explained Ephraim Mekonnen, Head of the Public Relations Department of ERCA.

The performance registered by the authority over this period was 6.2 billion birr more than the amount it had collected during the same period in the previous financial year explained Ephraim.

A significant percentage of the authority’s income was raised from indirect taxes such as the Value Added Tax, Excise Tax and Turnover Tax which together raised 16.13 billion birr making up 72.47% of the total revenue collected by the authority over the quarter. 

The Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Academy graduated 249 with aviation maintenance technicians, cabin crew and marketing trainees with diplomas. Fifty-six cabin crew, forty-three marketing trainees and 51 aircraft technicians. Four of the graduates are from Tanzania.

The airline had the capacity to train no more than 25 professionals just 20 years ago but currently has built its capacity to increase the number of its trainees according to Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive of the Ethiopian Airlines.

The airline aims to develop a leading Aviation Academy in Africa by offering international standard aviation training services as part of its Vision 2025 said Tewolde.

Dashen Bank, Ethiopia registered 893 million birr before tax netting 652 million birr in the last financial year. The earnings per share for the fiscal period was 926 birr.

The profit registered by Dashen is notably one of the highest to be recorded by a private bank. The bank surpassed the 450.7 million birr it earned in the previous fiscal year by 42% translating in to a 200 million birr increase in profit.

Per share earnings also showed an increase of 23% as compared to the 753 birr in earnings last year.

Ethiopia is to introduce a new customs proclamation designed to ease and modernize the custom processes in the country.
The Ethiopian Revenue and Custom Authority has already finalized the work required to amend the custom laws in an effort to simplify customs procedures according to Melaku Fenta, Director General of the Authority.

The amendment will be put before the Council of Ministers and the Parliament soon for final approval he said.

It is expected that new law will introduce structural adjustments in how the authority functions and in human resource management.

The Global Entrepreneurship Week with more than 13 events planned to provide inspiration for up and coming entrepreneurs was launched in Addis Ababa.

The GEW is being held for the second time in Ethiopia and the fifth time internationally. The event will be held between 12th and 18th of this is month.

The GEW has expanded to 125 countries including Ethiopia this year with the aim to help an increasing number of people to engage in business it was noted at the opening ceremony held at the UN/ECA Conference Center.

The Ethiopian Leather Industries Association is looking for supplier for non-iodized salt in the aftermath of a four month shortage. The Association is seeking suppliers from Yemen, India and Pakistan even though there is an estimated stock of 9 million quintals currently piled up in Afdera, where the national salt mines are to be found.

The industry is forced to look for imports after a four month delay in spite of more than adequate national production to meet the 30 thousand quintal demand over that period according to Abdissa Adunga, Secretary General of the Association.

The supply of salt to the industry was affected by a Council of Minister’s endorsed regulation to halt the sale of non-iodized salt noted Abdisa. The Ethiopian Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Control Authority was mandated with the task of issuing a directive to regulate the processing and sale of salt intended for industrial purposes according to the regulation.

The ‘All Africa Energy Week’ event organized by the Economic Commission for Africa, the African Union and the African Development Bank is underway in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The’ All Africa Week’ was endorsed by the AU Executive Council alongside the establishment of the Conference of Energy Ministers of Africa as a central coordinating body on the continental level for energy policies.

The event was planned to serve as a framework for evaluating the progress achieve in regards to energy infrastructure development and services and to facilitate consensus building on emerging issues, as well as coordinating high-level coordination of all energy sector players and stakeholders.

The Oromia International Bank, Ethiopian announced a profit of 49.4 million birr after tax for the previous fiscal year. The bank was able to register a 23.7% growth in performance as compared to the revenue it had earned in the previous year according to the announcement at the Third General Assembly Meeting.

A significant part of OIB’s profit come from interest income which totaled 122.4 million birr at the end of the last fiscal year while non interest income grew to 106.9 million according to the company report.

The bank however failed to perform well in foreign exchange transactions with the exception of the revenue it earned in relation to devaluation.

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency is to lower the indicative price set for Ghion Hotel, Addis Ababa on the basis of recommendations received from external consultants, SAB Management and Development Consultancy according to sources.

The exact amount of the new price was not disclosed by the PPESA although officials confirmed that the indicative price will be lower than it was in the previous tender.

It is to be remembered that the agency had successfully offered a tender for joint venture for the hotel several times before putting it up for full privatization in the last financial year. The indicative price set at the time was not based on current research but extrapolations on the basis of research conducted at the time the hotel was being offered for joint ownership according to Wondafrash Assefa, Head of Public Relations with the PPESA.