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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.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia has earned more than 7 billion birr in the current Ethiopian fiscal year said a senior official with the bank.

The profits earned by the bank are higher then projected incomes for the financial year said the official.

The current gross of more than 7 billion birr is 67% higher than that of last year when the bank earned 4.2 billion birr.
The performance of the bank’s International Banking Department and the head office contributed a significant portion to the bank’s high profits.

Ethiopia suspended the production of tantalum concentrate at the Kenticha Tantalum Mine. The Ethiopian Minerals Development Enterprise stopped the production of tantalum to support the manufacture of value added tantalum products as per instructions from the Ministry of Mines.

The ban could also be due to the increasing contamination with uranium, a radioactive element, which is making it impossible to ship the raw material.

The uranium contaminated mineral has been mined by local traditional miners with no negative health consequences reported as of yet explained Traditional Mining Department of the MoM.

Ethiopian Entrepreneur, Bethlehem Tilahun, founder and manager of soleRebels was named the keynote speaker at the European E-Commerce Conference, taking place at the Teatro Circo Price de Madrid, in Spain from the 24th to the 25th of October.

The conference selected Bethlehem as keynote speaker in recognition of her status as e-commerce pioneer in Africa and the creator of an internationally successful consumer brand.

Bethlehem will be the first Chief Executive of and African based brand to be a keynote speaker at a major European digital commerce conference.

Nyota Minerals, engaged in gold exploration in Ethiopia, announced that it had received 1.3 million Pounds from the International Finance Corporation.

The company is expecting to use the investment from the IFC to support its Tulu Kapi project according to its announcement last month.

The company which is focused on gold exploration in Africa and development has also received consideration for 21.7 million new ordinary shares at 6p each.

The Board of Executive Directors of the World Bank approved the Eastern Electricity Highway project designed to link Kenya onto Ethiopia’s electrical grid with the aim of allowing power sharing between the two countries.

The World Bank will give 243 million US dollars to Ethiopia and 441 Million US dollars to Kenya from the International Development Association, a fund intended for the poorest countries in the world.

The project is part of the first phase of a program that is planned to implement power integration in the East African region which will ultimately cost an estimated 1.3 billion US dollars and benefit 212 million people living in five regional countries.

The first Ethiopian briquette factory, the African Briquette Factory, was inaugurated. The inaugural ceremony was attended by Wondemu Tekle, State Minister for Water and Energy and Dr. Tewoldeberhan Geberegziabher, Director General of the Federal Environmental Protection Authority as well as other guests.

The factory is producing 120 quintals of briquette, in one work shift, and is marketing the product in 10 and 50 kilogram packages according to Gerd Ladstatter, General Manager of the factory.

The briquettes are an important alternative to firewood in light of urbanization and population growth he said. It helps combat deforestation and environmental pollution by using recycled material explained Ladstatter.