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Belayab Enterprise plc inaugurated a new car assembly plant in Ethiopia in the presence of several dignitaries and notable guests.

The factory is located on 30,000m2 and has the potential capacity to assemble 18 cars a day in three work shifts. It is expected to create employment opportunities for 200 people and will create more jobs when it enters a full production stage.

The automobiles to be assembled at the plant will be station wagons and single and double cabin pickup produced by Zhougzhou Nissan Automobile and Sedan Automobiles under FEW which is said to have a paid capital of over 100 million birr.

Hawassa Bank, still under formation, has requested that National Bank of Ethiopia transfer of equity contributions of shareholders to Berhan International Bank. The promoters for Hawassa decided on the merger with Berhan following the increase in capital requirement for banks by the central bank last September.

Berhan Bank is more active and its management has agree to work on the merger in good faith said Solomon Afework, Promoter of Hawassa Bank.

A Memorandum of Understanding for a merger was signed a month ago but the move was rejected by the National Bank which stated that such a merger between a bank still under formation and one that is already established is not allowed in Ethiopian law according to Solomon.

Hyatt Palm Oil returned to the Ethiopian market this month after the government added the manufacturer FELDA iFFCO to the list of authorized oil suppliers to Ethiopia.

Hayatt had been out of the Ethiopian market for almost a year said Yeshi Kernessa, Manager of the Ethiopian Market from the manufacturers’ East Africa Regional Commercial Representative Office. Hayatt had discontinued supplying the oil after a disagreement on pricing following the Ethiopian government’s takeover as the sole supplier of Palm oil nationally.

Ethiopia is a large market and the company is happy to supply its product here according to Yeshi.

Pfizer, the leading global health company reiterated its commitment to fighting counterfeit medicines by helping to build capacity of major stakeholders in the health sector including decision makers, by partnering with the Government of Ethiopia's regulatory agencies and through creating awareness by the use of media.

Pfizer also announced that it will launch products in its Cardio Vascular (CV) portfolio in response to the rising incidence of cardiovascular diseases in the country.

In his speech during a press briefing at the Hilton hotel on April 24, Dr. Enrico Liggeri, Country Manager, Nigeria and East Africa region (NEAR) described Ethiopia as the second largest market interest and focus of business expansion.

As part of its awareness campaign, Pfizer partnered with the AU to engage medical experts and created a platform to discuss current trends on cardiovascular diseases in the country.

Ethiopia secured a loan from the World Bank for the construction of substations for the project of the power interconnection of Ethiopia and Kenya. The loan was confirmed by Haji Mohammed, Head of Public Relations, for the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

Delegates including Mihret Debebe Chief Executive of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation traveled in Washington DC to the bank headquarters to negotiate the terms of the loan. The loan agreement will be signed between Ethiopia and the World Bank this coming July.

It is expected that the project will be launched next year and is expected to supply 400 MW of electricity in four years.

Emirates Airlines is offering special fares to a large range of destinations in Europe and America to customers in Ethiopia.

The special Economy Class fares offered by Emirates’ to the United States include $1123 to Seattle and Dallas, $1273 to New York, $1673 to Los Angeles and $1672 to Houston. Fares to the US are valid for ticketing on or before the 31st of May for travel before the 30th of June.

Offers for European cities include offers of $694 to Rome and Geneva, $692 to Milan and Venice, $716 to Zurich, $710 to Amsterdam, $749 to Frankfurt and $774 to Paris. Fares to Europe are valid for travel and ticketing on or before the 10th of June.

The Endowment Fund for Rehabilitation of Tigray is building the first PVC resin plant in Ethiopia with a capital investment of seven billion birr. The plant will manufacture other industrial chemicals as well as PVC resin.

The plant will be constructed in Tigray Regional State near on a 48 hectare plot of land which has large deposits of limestone. It is expected that the plant will have the potential production capacity of 60,000 tons employing a method of production that is known as the limestone to calcium carbide to acetylene route.

EFFORT floated the first tender for the plant a year ago drawing interest from international bidders but cancelled the bid before floating another bid last week for the consultancy service to execute the project.

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange was visited by business people taking part in the 22nd World Economic Forum on Africa, last Friday. The business people visited the various facilities of the Exchange including the trading floor and the price display boards.

The group was briefed on the evolution of the Exchange by Ahadu Woubshet, Chief Operation Officer with the ECX.  

The Exchange has seen a growth in its trading from 138,000 tons when it was launched operation in 2008 to 222,000 tons in the second year and 508,000 tons in its 3rd year said Ahadu.

Meles Zenawi, Prime Minister of Ethiopia hinted of a potential oil discovery in the next year. The Prime Minster made the claim while addressing participants of the Ethiopia Investment Forum which was a side event to the 22nd World Economic Forum on Africa.

There are investment opportunities in the extractive industry including oil exploration told Meles to more than 200 domestic business leaders and as many international corporate CEO’s.

The Prime Minister claimed that Tewodros Ashenafi, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of South West Energy will be the bearer of good news.

The Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange, Eleni Z. Gabremadhin (Dr.) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian President Goodluck Johnathan to set up a commodity exchange in Nigeria according to the model of the ECX.

The MoU signed at the ECX office states that the Exchange will provide the assistance and the model for the Nigerian Commodity Exchange to be operational in one year.   

Nigeria already has a commodity and stock exchange markets in place although the commodity exchange is not as modern as the ECX. The Nigerian President is seeking to replace the Abuja Securities and Commodity Exchange plc with an Exchange that is driven by technology.