2merkato

The Parliament of Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia approved a budget of 23.29 billion birr for the 2012-13 financial year. The budget shows an increase of 25% from the budget allocated by the regional government in the last budget year.

The budget tabled by the executive branch of the state government to the legislative body was a new high for the region.

The budget was planned on the basis of expanding development projects in the region said Abdulaziz Mohammed, Vice President of the state. 

The Ethiopian Airports Enterprise announced that it expects to raise more than one billion birr from the various services that it renders in the new budget year.

The Enterprise will particularly focus on enhancing its market plans to expand its financial base it said.

EAE plans to raise the projected revenue through the development of airport infrastructure and by providing its standard airport services to customers. The enterprise also plans to implement a plan to support airlines during this budget year as well as increasing the quality of the services it offers and increasing the infrastructure of the airports it manages it was said.

The Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office issued 1500 separate patents and creative rights ownership certificates in the just concluded fiscal year it announced.

The office granted certificates after careful evaluation and all due consideration to ensure the originality of the creation both at home and internationally said Awkoke Shiferaw, Head of Communication Service with the office.

The office also took steps to publicize the ownership claim to public to entertain any counter claims to the creative rights of the creations before issuing final certification said Awkoke.

The first Boeing 787 Dreamliner that will be delivered to Ethiopian Airlines has been painted in the airline’s livery and is in the final stages of preparation for delivery announced Ethiopian Airlines.

The aircraft was painted in the national colors of green, yellow and red and will fly back to Seattle from San Antonio, Texas it was said in the company press release.

Ethiopian Airlines is proud to the first African carrier to fly the much awaited, state of the art Dreamliner and anticipates delivery within the next month according to the release.

Preparations for the second African Trade Fair to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from the 24th to the 26th of September are underway. The trade fair will be held under the theme of ‘Boosting Intra-African and Establishing the Continental Free Trade Area’.

The trade forum is a collaborative effort between the African Union Commission, Economic Commission for Africa and the African Development Forum.

The forum is being organized amidst increasing commitments to enhance Intra-African trade and establishing the Continental Free Trade area said Mr. Kyerematin, Head of the African Trade Policy Forum.

Ethiopia has significant salt deposits according to studies conducted at various times said the Ministry of Mines. The resources are estimated to be sufficient for more than 100 years said the ministry.

The studies conducted show that the salt resources are to  be found in parts of Afar and Somali regional states explained Bacha Fuji, Director of the Public Relations Directorate of the Ministry. The Dalol area in Afar Regional State is particularly notable for large salt reserves he said.

Efforts are underway to begin salt exports to generate foreign currency from the sector noted Bacha. Four companies currently engaged in salt production secured more than 30 million US dollars from the export of salt in the just concluded fiscal year he added. 

Ethiopia has earned 3.1 billion US dollars in revenue from foreign trade in the just ended financial year according to the Ministry of Trade.

The revenue was earned from the export of 1.25 million tons of items exported during the fiscal year according to Amakele Yemam, Public Relations and Communications Director with the ministry.

The revenue earned in this last financial year was 14.8% higher than the 2.7 billion birr raised in the previous reporting period.

Addis International Bank, Ethiopia signed an agreement with Re-wire ICT solutions plc for Mobile Money Transfer Services.

The Danish IT supplier will partner with the bank to provide the software to facilitate money transfer options from mobile phones including sending and receiving money, paying bills and buying airtime.

Re-wire will in turn receive a share of the revenues earned from providing these said Endeshaw Kebede, Head of the IT Department of Addis. He however declined to disclose how much the bank will be paying for the technology upfront.

Brazilian petroleum company, Petra Energiya, submitted a proposal for a concession in the Ogaden and Abay basins of Ethiopia according to sources.

The actual blocks that the company has submitted a proposal for are yet to be disclosed as the proposal is being evaluated by experts in the Petroleum Licensing and Administration Section of the Ministry of Mines.

The MoM awards concession upon negotiation with companies unless there are several companies interested in the same block in which case the ministry floats a tender according to officials.

Gold production by artisan miners in Ethiopia has been 37% less than projected output in the just concluded financial year.

The artisan miners produced 8327 kilograms of gold as opposed to the 13,200 kilograms anticipated by the Ministry of mines.

The revenue earned from the export of gold however was only 17% below the projected revenue due to the increased price of gold on the international market. Consequently the revenue was just 88 million US dollars short of the 528 million US dollars projected by the ministry noted a report from the MoM.

The performance registered in the reporting period, however, exceed that of the previous year with the total amount exported (6,515 kilograms) surpassing what was exported last year (5250 kilograms).