2merkato

The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange has lifted the minimum price limit of coffee to allow prices to adjust to the declining coffee prices on the New York Reference market.

As of last week the price of Arabica Coffee has shown the sharpest decline since last October of 2010 on the New York commodity future exchange market.

The price for Arabica registered last week was a 16 month low dropping to 1.8620 a pound.

The African Development Bank is to approve 100 million US dollars to finance the construction of a new hydro power in Ethiopia, this September according to Lamin G. Barrow, Ethiopia Country Office Resident Representative of the African Bank.

The hydro electric power project will consist of two power plants with a total potential capacity of producing 371 MW (1680 GWH) annually.

It is expected that the project will cost more than 400 million US dollars with the African Bank financing a quarter of the projected cost and the remainder being co-financed from other financial institutions.

Ethiopia expects to earn an estimated one billon US dollars from the export of textile goods by the end of the five year development plant according to Sileshi Lemma, Director General of the Textile Industry Development Institute.

All stakeholders in the textile sector including investors and the government have been exerting efforts to encourage the increase in export of textile goods explained Sileshi at a one day symposium held at the Addis Ababa Exhibition Center under the theme of 'Textile Industry and Its Prospects in Ethiopia'.

Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia’s flag carrier, was able to earn record operating revenues registering a growth of 50.4% in the first two quarters of the financial year according to Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer of the Airline.

The higher earning of the airline enabled it to absorb the 55% in increase and remain profitable in spite of a declining profit margin said Tewolde.

The growth registered by Ethiopia from July 8-Janury 9, the first six months of the Ethiopian financial year, is remarkable he said.

The Ethio-Italian Trade and Investment Forum expected to enhance bilateral business ties between Ethiopia and Italy was held last week in Rome according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The event was attended by more than 150 Italian and over 30 Ethiopian businesses noted the press release by the MoFA.

The opportunities that reside in the many unexploited natural resources of Ethiopia and the country's conducive investment and foreign trade policy were promoted by government officials attending the event.

The Revenues and Customs Authority of Ethiopia is dissatisfied with the annual inspection services offered to taxpayers by cash register suppliers. Cash register machines can fail in processing data transfers in the absence of appropriate servicing it was said.

ERCA has authorized about 11 companies’ to supply cash register machines on the local market. The suppliers are mandated to set up repair and maintenance facilities to offer annual inspections as per the arrangement with the tax authority.   

The regulations established by ERCA penalize taxpayers for falling to servicing their registers on an annual basis and yet only about a quarter of the 12,465 machines sold last year have been serviced this year.

Huwaei introduced a major mobile broadband technology program in Ethiopia over the last week. The company is committed to invest in the Ethiopian communications sector and is sure that it can bring new technology to the country.

Ethiopia companies are increasingly taking advantage of the benefits associated with ICT and local organizations are working in partnership with Huawei and other technology suppliers to realize the growing use of ICT in the country.

National Oil Company inaugurated the third ethanol and regular benzene blending plant in Ethiopia. The blending facility was established on 52 thousand square meters of land at a cost 45 million birr.

The NOC blending facility has the potential to blend 1000m3 of ethanol and regular benzene daily. The plant has three tanks able to store 3,200m3 of ethanol, regular benzene and diesel.

The facility is also equipped with an LPG storage and filling plant with the potential to fill 2,000 cylinders a day. 

Beer Export by BGI Ethiopia increased by 30% in the last fiscal year according to the company.

The 30% increase exceeded the 20% average annual growth registered by the company over the last years.

BGI exported 3,152 hectoliters of beer in the 2010-11 fiscal year, as compared to the 2,416 hectoliters it exported in the previous financial year. Exports by BGI in the last fiscal year earned an estimated 300,000 US dollars.

The Ethiopian-German Business Conference is to be held in Cologne Germany on the 6th of July. The conference aims to concentrate on marketing German goods in Ethiopia, enhancing networking opportunities between Ethiopian and German business and the effective use of innovative German products on the Ethiopian market.

The conference also hopes to create a positive image about Ethiopia and promote the range of investment opportunities available as well as working to enhance the relationship between the two countries.

Gunter Nokkie, the G8 Representative of Africa for the German Chancellor and Tadesse Haile, Ethiopian State Minister of Industry are both expected to the attend the conference which will be the first of its kind to held in Germany.