2merkato

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency said that it intended privatization of 20 public enterprises in the current Ethiopian budget year according to an announcement made on 1st December.    

The agency anticipates that it will earn more than 3.3 billion Birr from the privatization efforts planned for this year said Wondafrash Assefa Corporate Communication Director for the agency.

17 of the enterprises are expected to be sold directly in the privatization process said Wondafrash.

Kenya Airways issued an invitation to merge to Ethiopian Airlines and South Airways. The Kenyan airline extended the invitation in a bid to become more competitive on the global market and to face the challenge from large non African airlines.

The invitation was issued at the 44th African Airlines Association Annual General Assembly held in Johannesburg last week. The idea of the sub-Saharan allies merging to create a union to withstand the current global competition was suggested by Titus Naikuni, CEO of Kenya Airways speaking at the conference.

The proposal was accepted in principle by Tewolde GebreMariam CEO of Ethiopian Airlines. Size is an important factor in the aviation sector which depends on economies of scale he noted. As far as Ethiopian Airlines is concerned the idea of a major pan-African Airway is considered positively said Tewolde.

Konnect, an Ethio-German forum aimed at creating business networking and collaboration between Ethiopia and Germany is being held in Addis Ababa for the second time.

The forum is taking place at the offices of the German Development Cooperation under the motto of "Innovation through Migration".

The two days forum is expected to offer opportunities for both experts and companies to create links and promote collaboration to enhance the transfer of technology said Kokebe Haile-Gabriel, Coordinator of the Migration and Diaspora Program of the CIM.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority signed a 3.9 billion Birr agreement for the construction of 197km of roads. The agreement was signed between the Authority and two Chinese construction companies.

The roads  to be constructed are in Oromia, Amahara, and Afar regional states for the Tana Beles Sugar factory, which is under construction by the Ethiopian government.

The first 100 km stretching from Enjibar, Amhara region, to Pawi, in Benishangul-Gumuz  was given to the China Communication Construction Company.

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development announced that  remittance to developing countries has shown growth according to the The Least Developed Countries Report 2012: Harnessing Remittances and Diaspora Knowledge to Build Productive Capacities” report. The report was released Addis Ababa, Ethiopia last Monday.

The report stated that the amount of remittance to developing countries has increased from 3.5 billion to 27 billion in the last decade, 1990-211. This is a very significant growth according to Tesfachew Tafere, Director of the Africa and Least Developed Countries Division with UNCTAD.

The 48 countries that were included in the report are the world’s least developed countries. The report counseled these countries to draft laws to allow for the proper utilization of the remittance.

Techno Brain has become the first Ethiopian IT company to be awarded the ISO 9001:2008 certificate by the International Certification Network- IQNET- and Namko.

The award was issued in recognition of the top IT solutions Techno Brain has rolled out into a software market as well as the solutions it offers under IT Systems Integration, Consultancy, IT Software Services, IT Education and Training.

The certificate is a major endorsement for Techno Brain and its products and services to its clients.

Inflation rates for food items were mixed in the last quarter of the financial year according to a research released by Access Capital.

The inflation on important food items showed some increases compared to the last financial year according to the report. Some improvement however was observed in the price of other food items like cooking oil.

Items that showed a double digit increase in this quarter of the year were teff, table salt, green pepper, and onion while Broccoli showed a 200 percent increment. On the other hand a price decrease was seen on the price of some construction materials like iron, cement, and cables while wood materials have also increased in double digits. 

The Ethiopian Metal & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) has announced a four year plan to train 80,000 street people in various fields at an estimated cost of 30 million Birr. The project is expected to reduce the number of homeless adults in Ethiopian streets.

Elshadai Relief and Development Association has taken on the task of recruiting homeless adults from the streets of the country. The local NGO will announce the registration process in all towns through notifications posted around towns where the people targeted are said to live. It is expected that a majority of the recruits will be women.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Communications & Information Technology launched 49 e-services in order to enable seven governmental institutions to offer online services. The office announced the launching of the e-service on at event held at the Churchill Hotel.

The e-service installation and development was conducted by two private IT solution providers at a cost of 3.8 million Birr. Africom Technologies Plc developed 33 of the e-services portal for 2.8 million Birr while E-System Africahad supplied the remaining 16 at a cost of 1 million Birr it was said at the time.

It is to be remembered that the two companies won the tender for the project last year.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority announced a tender for the design of the the 80.5Km road from Gedo to Menebegna in Wollega Zone of Oromia. The project is part of the larger Gedo-Lemlem Bereha project, which is 144.3kms and is expected to require financing estimated at 50 million US dollars.

The Ethiopian government will fund 10 percent of the project while the remaining 90 percent is expected to be covered by loans.

The loans to finance the construction project are yet to be approved by the House of Peoples Representatives.