2merkato

Premium Print plc is to build a factory with the potential to produce 40,000 toner cartridges annually in Ethiopia.

The company, in partnership with EC Solutions, A British company, plans to substitute the import of toner cartridges into the country as well as to export to the regional market.

Premium Print launched the assembly of toner cartridges three months ago with a monthly production rate of 200 cartridges at a workshop it is renting until it acquires land to build its factory.

Berhan International Bank, Ethiopia has contracted with Ernst and Young to carry out an IT security audit to allow the bank to launch internet banking services.

The bank signed the agreement last week for an undisclosed amount of money estimated to be as much as 50,000 US dollars depending on the size of the bank and the range of the services that it intends to offer said Amaha Bekele, IT Advisory Head with Ernst and Young, East Africa.

Ernst and Young committed to finalizing the project within six weeks.

Flintstone Engineering, Ethiopia is to construct light industry shops furnished with all necessary machinery and equipment for sale.The shops are to be constructed for the manufacture of accessories, printing, leather, apparel and printing.

The shops will be built on land it has leased from the Addis Ababa City Administration.

Flintstone plans to construct 300 manufacturing shops in the first phase of the project with each unit ranging from 10m2 to 40 m2 explained Tsedeke Yihune, Founder and Chief Executive of Flintstone.

The annual inflation rate in Ethiopia slowed to 32.5% in March from 35.3% in February announced the Central Statistics Agency.

Food prices rose by 40.9% in March as compared to the same time last year, which is lower than the 47.4% increase seen in February. Non food inflation also eased rising 20.4% year on year as compared to 21.5% the month before.

Consumer prices month on month rose by 4.6% in March from 2.7% the previous month according to the report from the agency.

Ethiopia signed Double Taxation Agreements with four countries; China, India, Egypt and Sudan.

The agreements were presented to the House of Peoples’ Representatives for approval with the agreements expected to become active once they are ratified by the House.

The agreements will protect investors from double taxes on the same declared income thus enabling business from China, India Egypt and Sudan to pay income tax only once according to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development.

Ethiopia is to establish a chemical corporation to handle state owned chemical related industries in the future. The new corporation will be under the auspices of the Ministry of Industry and will be a part of the complex fertilizer project.

The fertilizer complex will be under the control of the chemical corporation expected to be set up by the end of the current fiscal year according to Tadesse Haile, State Minister of Industry.

Appropriate studies have been conducted for the establishment of the new corporation and it is expected that its formation will be ratified by the government soon said Tadesse.

The Construction and Business Bank of Ethiopia is to receive a 500 million birr capital injection from the Public Financial Institutions Supervising Agency.

The bank’s proposal for capital was approved at the end of the last financial year with preconditions attached. A primary condition of the agreement included expanding the number of CBB branches and the bank has plans to open 50 more branches in the current budget year to meet this criteria according to sources.

Enat Bank, Ethiopia has submitted its nomination of Brutawit Dawit to become its founding president to the National Bank.

The bank made its second nomination for president after first choice Birtukan Gebregzi was rejected by banking industry regulators with the central bank for lack of experience in credit management.

Brutawit was the president of Wegagen Bank from May 1997 to December 2004 before serving as president of Zemen Bank. She also served as the president of the Ethiopian Professional and Business Women’s Association.

Ethiopia has earned more than 500 million US dollars in revenues from the mining sector in the first three quarters of the financial year according to the Ministry of Mines.

108 million US dollars of the revenue earned was received from the larger companies involved in the sector explained Sinknesh Ejigu, Minster for Mines, speaking at a review meeting of mining stakeholders.

There are 257 licensed mining projects currently engaged in exploration and 137 active in production she said.

A website, www.rootsofethiopia.com, designed to showcase and promote various community products for tourism was launched at the Radisson Blu Hotel.

The website is intended to support the plans to make Ethiopia a notable tourist destination said Tadelech Dalecho, State Minister for Culture and Tourism at the launch.

The Ministry is committed to collaborate with stakeholders in the sector to implement the Tourism Policy which seeks to make Ethiopia amongst the top 5 tourist destinations in Africa by 2020 she said.