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Oromia Insurance Company registered 11.7 million birr in net profit in the last financial year. The insurer recorded a 447% increase from the 2.1 million birr it had earned in the previous financial year.

The profits earned during the last fiscal year were a new record for the insurance company just three years old. The increased revenue earned by the company is due to an enhanced system of risk selection and a decrease in credit balances due to an extensively implemented collection strategy according to the annual report presented by the company.

The increase in the revenue of the company was also supported by an effectively applied cost saving and control mechanism, Investment of temporary idle cash in fixed-time deposits, and small dividends generated from equity investment noted the OIC.

The commercial bank of Ethiopia invited potential bidders for the supply of 2,000 Points of Sales terminals and 200 Automated Teller Machines. The bank currently operates 58 ATM machines and has made preparations to import 200 ATM machines including 2,000 POS this year.

The commercial bank aims to raise its number of accounts by 25 percent in its effort to mobilize deposits, mainly to finance government housing projects.The bank plans to install 100 new ATMs and open 150 additional branches every year until 2015.

The bank has 200 branches and3.9 million account holders.  Over 1.5 million account holders can reach their accounts in real time.

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.