2merkato

Awash Winery, Ethiopia has attracted a bid higher than the starting price set by the Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency in the round of bids opened last week. The floor process set by the PPESA for Awash was 438,604,756 birr.

Blue Nile plc offered 458, 400,000 for the publicly owned winery which was much lower than the 277.4 million birr offered by Bosberi plc said Sileshi Tujji, Corporate Communications Expert with the PPESA.

The proposal presented by Blue Nile stipulated that it will pay 35% upfront and the rest over five years, Bosberi on the other hand offered to pay 30% before signing and the remainder at the handover.

The National Bank of Ethiopia is preparing to introduce a standardized check system which will require banks across the country to use the same type of checks with enhanced security features, starting from January 2013.

The new checks to be printed under the control of the NBE are expected to be coded so as to make them more difficult to forge according to a source. It is expected that banks will cover the cost of the new checks to be printed electronically and will be differentiated for the different banks by the bank logos that will be placed on them said the source.

The details of how the new checks will go into operation are yet to be divulged although the central bank is expected to offer trainings soon added the source.

Habesha Construction Materials and Development Share Company, Ethiopia announced a profit of 5 million birr for the four months that it has been in operation, May-June.

The company was able to gross 16.6 million birr for the four months it has been in operation in spite of several it faced including the challenge of a financial sector reluctant to finance real estate projects, problems with acquiring land, and bureaucratic issues as well as shareholders defaulting on paying on contributions noted the report represented to the general assembly by the board of directors. 

The actual revenue earned by the company from constructions erected on the land it has acquired was just 3.3 million birr while it earned 13.3 million birr from joint ventures. The company spent 6.9 million birr over the last year enabling it retain 7.8 million before taxes making up 25 percent of its current paid up capital.

The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority graduated eight air traffic controllers trained to use both Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast technology and Surveillance System Radar.

The training offered is part of the agreement between ICAO Technical Cooperation Bureau and the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority to train a total of 24 air traffic controllers.

The Automatic Dependent Surveillance- Broadcast technology is a more advance, accurate and cost effective as compated to the radar system said Muhammad Kuwaji, International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) Project Coordinator speaking at the graduation ceremony.

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.