2merkato

Enat Bank SC, Ethiopia expects to launch operations in October. The bank has already rented office space on the Bambis Road in Addis Ababa and is undertaking infrastructural work to facilitate its formal launch in October according to Fasika Kebede, President of the Bank.

The bank plans on focusing on establishing branches across Addis Ababa, with a view of solidifying its position in the sector, in the 2012-13 fiscal year explained Fasika.

The bank will open regional branches in the next fiscal year as per its program she added.

The Ethiopian Documents Authentication and Registration office has raised more than 116 million birr which is 102% of its target from public services charge announced a report prepared by the office.

The Office was able to handle more than 399 thousand cases in the just ended financial year which was 112% more than what it planned to handle in the financial year.

DARO has been able to serve 767,009 cases in the two years since it radically reformed its operating system seeing an increase of 22% in the number of cases it handled this year and a 20% increase in the revenue it raised over the last financial year it was said.

The bid tendered by the Ethiopian Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency for Ghion Hotel is expected to attract many investors.

The bid for Ghion will open on August 9th 2012 according to Wendafrash Assefa, Head of Public Relations with the EPPESA.

The auction to privatize the hotel has attracted several investors and more are expected until the final day of the bid said Wendafrash.

Ethiopia is planning to increase the number of cargo flights and destinations of its main horticultural products such as fruits, flowers and vegetables according to Haileselassie Tekie, Director General of the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Agency.

The arrangement allows exporters to manage the costs of transportation with the government subsidizing the cargo said Haileselassie Tekie.

Ethiopian Airlines expects to deploy the new B777 freighter aircraft, with the capacity to handle 105 tons to carry fruits, flowers and vegetables according to a source.

Ethio-telecom has earned 10 billion birr from the sale of SIM cards and mobile credits in the just ended financial year. The revenue earned by the corporation does not include the money earned by the 173 shops owned by the telecom across Ethiopia.

The corporation has planned to earn 8.2 million birr from the sale of SIM cards but was only able to collect 7.5 million while it earned just 9.8 billion birr of the 13 birr it had planned to raise from mobile credit cards.

Pea exports from Ethiopia have shown significant increases with more than 162 tons of fresh peas worth an estimated 500 thousand Euros exported in the just concluded financial year.

Snow peas and sugar snap are the major varieties being exported to South Africa and Europe with seven farms growing and exporting peas in the 2011-12 financial year.

There were only three farms and peas were not a major vegetable export in the previous budget year said Yelak Negash, General Manager of Akirma Agro Service plc.

The Ethiopian Insurance Fund Office aims to increase its third party insurance collections to 30.8 million birr in the new financial year as well as taking over some of the tasks that it had outsourced to the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation.

The IFO also expects to increase access by building five branch offices in regional towns during the current fiscal year explained Bayleyegn Bekele, Public Relations Head at the fund.

The board’s plans were approved by its board earlier this month 600 thousand certificates and stickers have already been ordered from Kenya for the current year said Bayleyegn. The stickers and certificates will be distributed to insurance companies.

The Ethiopian manufacturing sector failed to meet the projected earnings with the various sub sectors bringing in between 63% and 49.4% of anticipated earnings.

The textile and garment sub sector earned 84.6 million US dollars which falls short of the 171.4 million US dollars projected for the past fiscal year. The earnings from the sector where however 36% more than what was earned by the sector in the previous year according to information obtained from the Ministry of Industry.

Ayka Addis Textile and Investment Group is responsible for 71% of the earnings from the textile sector.

Danieli SpA, Italian steel mill engineers, was awarded the half billion US dollar turnkey project to construct Toussa Steel Mill.

Toussa Steel mill is expected to be the largest steel mill in Ethiopia with an estimated annual production capacity of 1.3 million tons.

Toussa was licensed with the Ethiopian Investment Agency in July of last year and plans on producing reinforcement bars, billets and hollow sections amongst other steel products. The factory will go on to produce steel railway tracks in its second phase.

The volume of loans mobilized by the Development Bank of Ethiopia during the just ended Ethiopian budget year showed an increase of 44% against what it had mobilized in the previous year said Isayas Berhe, President of DBE.

The board of the bank had approved a 7.5 billion loan for the year in review and the bank has managed to mobilize 70% of the total that was approved.

The bank has been able to mobilize more than 5.5 billion birr during the reporting period with the 1.5 billion birr loaned to Habesha Cement being the single largest loan arrangement for the year. 90% of loans that were disbursed by the bank went to local companies.