2merkato

The Bank of Abyssinia, Ethiopia announced that it netted a profit of 215.17 million Br after tax for the 2011-12 fiscal year which is 22.9 percent higher than previous year.

The report was heard on the 16th annual meeting of the shareholders that took place at the Hilton Hotel.

The achievement was attained despite of the local and international financial crises according to Mahari Alemayehu, board chairman of the bank. 

The total deposit of the bank grew to 6.7 billion Br, 696 million birr growth, interest leaped by 33.7pc to 497.49 million it is mentioned on the report. There has also been an increase in the the bank’s expense in the last fiscal year.

The Ethiopian Quality Award announced that it has finished its preparations to start the registration of organizations for the third national quality award at the end of the year.

The registration will start in the mid of December 2012 according to Michael Melaku, managing director of EQA.

Manufacturers, constriction companies, service providers, profit making and non-profit making organizations are all invited to compete. EQA has also prepared a self assessment manual for competitors for the first time this year according to the announcement.

The bid put out by the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority has received interest from IT companies, four of which presented financial and technical proposal for evaluation.

The bid is for the installation a single window system for the tax authority comprising of a single access for request and communication of documents required for clearance, for both importers and exporters offering synchronized service by government institutions.

This single window system, if installed by ERCA, will replace the current manual system in the office which is slow.

DP World is interested in launching operation in Ethiopia to build dry port facility near Addis Ababa and managing logistics with the Ethio-Djibouti corridor according to a senior manager.

Back in October the senior official of DP world, Joost Kruijning, Vice president and managing director for Middle East & Africa, and Hans de Jong, regional commercial director for the same region, were in Addis Ababa to speak with the Ethiopian officials.

They presented their proposal to Ahmed Tusa, managing director of Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE), and his deputy, Alemu Ambaye.

IBM is launching plans to increase its market share in Ethiopia with increasing demand for its products. The increased demand from local partners has been quite significant according to an IBM recruitment event held at the Addis Ababa Hilton Hotel this week.  The event was attended by representatives from various governmental and private institutions.

Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world with ever increasing opportunities said Gordon Lehman, Market Development Advisor for IBM.

IBM is seeking to invest in Ethiopia for these reasons and the stable macro-economy, investment protection, stable government, transparent legal framework and streamlined procedures according to Lehman.

Zemen Bank, Ethiopia declared 123 million birr in gross profits in the 2011-12 financial year, netting 86 million birr. The revenue earned by the bank is 2 million birr more than what the bank had declared in the previous financial year according to the statement by the bank. Zemen was able to deliver 58% in earnings per share to its shareholders it reported.

The rate of growth for the bank was slower as compared to the performance it had registered in the previous year said Ermias Eshetu, Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Services with Zemen.

The investment and capital of the bank has been tied up in provisional investment costs for the construction of the future headquarters of the bank and in the purchase of National Bank bonds as per requirement he explained.

Wegagen Bank, Ethiopia announced that it has earned 458.3 million birr in gross profit in the past financial year. The bank earned 251.7 million birr after tax showing an estimated 126 thousand birr in profit as compared to the previous financial year and the Earning per Share distributed to shareholders was 70 birr lower than the year before falling from 448 birr to 378 birr.

The bank’s earnings in general were stagnant in comparison to the previous year when the bank’s net profit and legal reserve had shown a growth of 9.3 million birr.

The bank needs to develop its deposit mobilization with total deposits for the last fiscal year 305 million birr less than the 5.73 billion birr in the previous fiscal year according to industry experts.

Artisan Gold Miners in Ethiopia supplied an estimated 2,552 kilograms of gold worth more than 132.7 million US dollars to the National Bank in the first quarter of the current financial year according to the Ministry of Mines.

The gold was obtained from miners in the Benishangul, Oromia, Tigray, Gambella and Southern Regional States said Bacha Fuji, Director of the Public Relations and Communications Directorate of the Ministry of Mines.

The amount of gold supplied by artisan miners in the past quarter was 488 kilograms more than what was acquired in the previous financial he said. The increase in amount translates to an increase of 23.2 million US dollars in revenue according to Bacha.

Ethiopian Airlines has put in a bid to acquire shares in Air Malawi in response from a recent request for expressions of interest for partial acquisition put out by the Government of Malawi.

Companies interested in the offer were to submit their proposals to the Malawi Privatization Authority had explained Patrick E. Chilambe, CEO of Air Malawi speaking at  44th General Assembly of the African Airlines Association, held in Johannesburg last week.

The government of Malawi expects to establish a consortium with the new parties acquiring a 49 percent stake while it retains a 51 percent interest.

The Ethiopian Ministries of Industry and Transport requested that the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Enterprise and the National Bank allow 164 businesses to use desired mode of transport following challenges faced in the newly established multimodal transportation system according to sources.

The Ministry of Transport requested the National Bank of Ethiopia to exempt significant industries from the application of the multimodal system and to allow them to choose their own alternative transport according to a letter sent to the bank by Diriba Kuma, Minister of Transport.

The ministry of industry sent a similar correspondence to the CEO of the ELSE, Ahmed Tusa requesting 13 manufacturing industries to be exempt from the system.