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A conference under the theme of ‘Making the Connection: Value Chains for Transforming Small holder Agriculture’ was held at the UNECA late last week.

The conference hosted by the ACP-EU, Technical Center for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation and the African Economic  Commission was attended by delegates from various countries in Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

The conference was organized to encourage action on the issue of value chain which has been a focus of discussion for a long time with the view of creating connections between resource constrained farmers and large corporations said Micheal Hailu, Director of the CTA.

Ethiopian Airlines is seeking to establish regional hubs in Southern and central Africa according to Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive of the airline.

The airline management is in the process of holding talks with the governments of Zambia, Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo to assess the possibilities of setting up  regional hubs in these countries.

A delegation from Ethiopia traveled to Zambia last week to hold discussion with officials in Zambia on the possibility of establishing a hub in Lusaka. Ethiopia expects the Zambian capital to become its Southern hub particularly since that nation does not currently have a national flag carrier according to Tewolde.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture is to provide 130 thousand hectares of land to Saudi Star Agricultural Development plc pending discussions that are currently underway between the two parties according to Haile Assegide, Chief Executive of Saudi Star sister company Derba MIDROC.

Saudi Star is currently raising rice in Gambella Regional State on 10 thousand hectares that it previously acquired. The company was established by the Ethiopian born Saudi billionaire Sheik Mohammed Ali al Amoudi with an initial capital of half a billion birr.

The company is also in the process of acquiring 300 hectares in Gambella and 200 hecatres in Amhara and Benishangul Regional States according to sources.

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency approved the proposal tabled for the construction of a tantalum processing plant at the Kenticha Tantalum Mine.

The proposal for the construction of the plant was tabled by the Ethiopian Minerals Development sc. which owns the mine, last month.

It is to be remembered that the Ministry of Mines had counseled the EMDE to look towards producing value added tantalum at the Kenticha mine.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority is set to construct ten new roads that will link newly constructed sugar factories with the national road network.

The roads are intended to link the sugar factories being constructed in mainly remote areas. It is expected that ERA will float bids for the construction of the 574 kilometers of roads required to realize this project. The road construction plan calls for 519 kilometers of asphalt roads and 55 kilometers of gravel roads according to sources.

ERA will float the first five tenders within the next 2 months it was said.

The first International Conference on Ethiopian Coffee organized by the Ministry of Trade, the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association in partnership with USAID and the commercial bank of Ethiopia was opened in Addis Ababa.

The conference is being held under the theme of ‘Strengthening the Legacy of Our Coffee’ and aims promote Ethiopian Coffee on the international market. It is expected to facilitate the exchange of experience among stakeholders and enhance the transfer of information so as to allow the coffee sector to take advantage of key opportunities and resolve challenges.

More than 15 million Ethiopians are directly and indirectly with the coffee sector according to Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn speaking at the opening. Ethiopia enjoys a comparative advantage in trading coffee which has allowed the nation to trade more volume and to increase its increase share of the global market and to enhance the export income he said.

The Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute launched a  leather and leather products training course in eight technical and vocational colleges in the current academic year.

The training program was launched in Addis Ababa City Administration and Oromia Regional State according Berhanu Serjebo Director of Corporate Communication with the Ministry of Industry.

The courses are intended to produce a steady supply of skilled professionals for the leader sector to support efforts to modernize the processing techniques within the sector.

The Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency is to put six publicly owned enterprises as part of its aim to raise 1 billion birr this financial year by privatizing state owned enterprises to private investors.

The six companies being put up for privatization are the Arbagugu Coffee Plantation, Awash Wine Share Co, Bilito Siraro, Commercial Printing Enterprise, Construction Works and Coffee Technology Development Enterprise, and Hamaressa Edible Oil Share Co according to Wondafrash Assefa, Spokesman for the PPESA.

Investors can bid for the six companies until the 20th of December he noted. The plan is to privatize all publicly owned enterprises except those regarded to be strategic he said.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Urban Development and Construction revealed the final draft of the urban housing policy and strategy.
The strategy proposes the increase of housing through eight modalities to solve housing shortage in urban areas.

The document was presented to regional and federal officials, members of the House of Representatives, private real estate developers and experts in the sector.

The government will play an important role in developing urban housing as it is to be the sole executor of five of the eight means of increasing available housing according to the housing policy.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Trade is doing trial runs for Online Trade Registration and Licensing System. The 300 million birr project was initiated by the federal government and is expected to be launched on a national level.

The software for the OTRLS program, which would replace the current manual business registration process, was developed by Custor Computing plc at a total cost of 1 million birr. The online system will not require applicants for a new business license or those seeking renewal of licenses to appear in person at the ministry offices except to pick up the physical copy of the license issued.

The new system allows a person to log into the system to obtain information on the requirements for a particular type of business license or for renewal. The individual can then go on to fill out the appropriate form and attach scanned copies of supporting documentation such as there Tax Identification Number and business details.