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BGI Ethiopia inaugurated a new billion birr factory in Hawassa, Southern Regional State. The new factory has the capacity to produce 500,000 hectoliters every year.

BGI completed the factory, built on a seven hectare plot of land, in 14 months. The company expects to serve markets in the Southern and Western parts of the country and parts of Eastern Ethiopian.

The new factory is equipped with cutting edge European technology including a new high tech, 25 million US dollar waste management plant on the factory grounds.

Ethiopia lifted the almost year long ban on the export of raw cotton in view of the increase in production this year according to sources.

The decision was passed after a meeting between Mekonnen Manyazewal, Minister of Industry and Tefera Derbew, Minister of Agriculture and representatives from the textile industry last week.

The meeting followed a complaint received by the government from cotton growers who pointed out to excess cotton stored in their warehouses with textile factories purchasing less than the expected quantities.

The significant economic growth shown by Ethiopia over the last two years will help the Word Trade Organization membership process according to Pascal Lamy Director General of the WTO.

Population size is a WTO requirement which Ethiopia has been able to meet noted Lamy in a meeting held in Addis Ababa last week.

The WTO can offer support in addressing issues related to the quality of products and service said Mulu Solomon, President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations.

The African Development Bank is to approve a 231 million US dollar loan for the Ethiopia-Kenya power interconnection project said officials from the bank. 

The board of directors of the African Bank will be expected to appraise the project in the first quarter of the current financial before giving final approval according to Halima Hashi Ethiopian Country Program Officer for the AfDB.

British engine manufacturer Ricardo is to partner with Chinese car-maker Lifan in Ethiopia. Engineers from two companies have collaborated in producing a VVTI engine for the new Sport Utility Vehicle, Lifan X-60, produced by Lifan for the Ethiopian market. 

The agreement to design and develop an engine for the Lifan X-60’s was reached after months of negotiations between Ricardo and Lifan.

Tratos Cavi secured the contract to supply high and low voltage cable for Ethiopia’s Grand Renaissance Dam. The cable manufacturer secured the contract estimated to be in the multi millions from contractor Salini.

The dam being constructed on the Nile river is expected to have the capacity to carry 66 billion m3 of water and generate an estimated 15,100 GWh of electricity annually.

Ethiopia shipped 40 tons of organic banana to Saudi Arabia as the nation begun exporting the fruit for the first time.

International companies have shown an interest to export organic bananas to meet the high demand on the international market.

An agreement is in the process of being negotiated with one of the parties interested in exporting Ethiopian bananas for the export of 200 tons of the fruit to the Jeddah market every week.

Patrick Goodfellow has been appointed Chief Operating Officer for Nyota Minerals in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia as of January 2012. The company is also in the process of appointing a Chief Financial Officer. 

Nyota Minerals’ negotiations for a Large Scale Mining License with the Ministry of Mines in Ethiopia could conclude in mid 2012 according to its quarterly update.

Ethiopia earned near to 44 million US dollars from the export of textile and textile products in the last two quarters said the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute.

The revenue earned from textile exports in the last two quarters exceeded the amount collected in the same period of the previous fiscal year by almost 23 million US dollars according to Sileshi Lemma Director General of the textile development institute.

The Development Bank of Ethiopia announced selling more than the projected amount of Grand Renaissance Dam bonds in the last two quarters according to the bank’s six month report. 

The bank has estimated selling 600 million birr worth of bonds for the Grand Renaissance Dam in the last six months but actual sales exceeded one billion birr. The Development bank aims to sale 1.5 billion birr worth of Grand Renaissance Dam bonds in the current fiscal year.