2merkato

Leather exports from Ethiopia earned 11.7 Million US Dollars in revenue in the month of June according to the Ethiopian Leather Technology Development Institute.

The revenue was earned through the export of products that include finished leather good such as shoes and gloves noted Birhanu Sirjabo, Director of communications with the Institute.

The amount earned in the month is 4 million US dollars more than what was earned in the month of May he claimed.

The city administration of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia is to launch a new low cost housing scheme soon.

The new program is intended to meet the needs for middle income residents who are able to make the 40% down payment on the price of the housing before acquiring the home and the remaining 60% to be paid over a period of time that will be determined by the administration when the project is officially launched according to sources.

The houses under this scheme are planned to be of a higher quality and more spacious then those constructed in the condominium development program.

Registration for the new program will begin soon according to Mekuria Haile, Minister for Urban Development and Construction.

The Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association reached a partnership agreement with the Ethiopian Development Research Institute.

The collaboration between the two organizations is intended to enhance development in the private sector through improving the low performance seen in the areas of business competition, managerial skills and lack of flexibility.

Profit in the market generally arises from efficiency but traditional practices in the Ethiopian market allow dominant traders to benefit from largely inefficient means which is abnormal explained Newai Gebre-ab, Executive Director of the EDRI.

The Metal and Engineering Corporation concluded a deal to acquire the Ethiopian Riviera International Hotel, primarily owned by Alem Fitsum.

The deal includes the three star hotel and a PVC and plastics manufacturing plant located behind the hotel.

The deal was struck for approximately 140 million birr with negotiation still going on and handover expected in the coming weeks according to sources. MetEc aims to utilize the hotel to house guests that will stay for more than a month saving it a lot of money according to an unofficial source with the corporation.

Addis International Bank has reached an agreement worth 600,000 US dollars with Intrasoft Technologies Ltd. for the Installation of its CORE Banking Solution.

The Indian based technology supplier IntraSoft will provide centralized, online, real time, electronic banking solutions as per the mandatory requirement set by the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Addis is the last of the 17 operational banks in Ethiopia to reach such an agreement with a software company.

The Ethiopian House of People’s Representatives approved the budget for the federal government just began fiscal year yesterday.

The bill was endorsed by the parliament with one abstention after the house studied the report and recommendation presented by the Standing Committee for Budgetary and Financial Affairs.

The house also approved the Chat Excise Tax proclamation which is designed to ensure equity in the collection of tax due on Chat trade.

The number of companies offering the mandatory vehicle inspection services on contract with the Ethiopian Federal transport Authority has increased to 29 with eight more business entering into agreements with the authority it was said.

The eight new businesses offering the service are Anbessa City Bus, United Auto Maintenance, Yetebaberut Beherawi Petroleum. Lucy Car Sales and Caliper Metal Works Engineering in Addis Ababa and Mekonnen Sayed and Arba Minch Mekane Yesus in the Legetafo and Arba Minch areas.

Some of the new service providers have been able to install the machinery required for inspection purposes while others are in the process of acquiring it said Negussie Kebede, Director of the Vehicle Inspection Certificate Directorate with the authority.

There are one million hectares available in Ethiopia suitable for Jatropha development according to the Ministry of Water and Energy.

The land is to be found in the Benishangul Gumuz, Oromia, Tigray and Southern regional states according to Bizuneh Tolcha, Director of Communications and Public Relations with the ministry.  

The development of Jatropha, alongside other bio-diesel plants, is already being implemented by investors on area of 85 thousand hectares of land of which 4 thousand hectares are covered by Jatropha he explained.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Water and Energy signed agreements with Chinese and British companies for the implementation of a solar energy project. The contract with Chinese Poly technologies is worth 208 million birr while the contract signed with Yoseph and Elizabeth International Trading plc is worth 10 million birr.

The agreement was signed by Alemayehu Tegenu, State Minister for Water and Energy, Xie Xiaoyan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Cheng Zerong, Vice President of Poly Technologies and Yoseph Getachew, Managing Director Of YEIT plc.

The contract allows for 25,000 solar home systems with different capacities ranging from 8 watts to 130 watts to facilitate rural electrification to power domestic uses said Alemayehu speaking on the occasion.

The Ethiopian Standards Agency announced that it has approved more than 2000 new and revised quality standards in seven sectors in the completed fiscal year.

An estimated 15,000 of the standards approved are new while the other 500 or so are revisions of existing standards according to Daniel Zenebe, Communication and Public Relations Head for the Agency.

The standards approved by the agency are expected to play a notable role in enhancing the productivity of the domestic industries and support the transfer of technology he noted.