2merkato

The international financial institutions claim that the Growth and Transformation Plan adopted by Ethiopia is over ambitious. The Ethiopian government counters the allegations by pointing to the 11.4% growth recorded in the last fiscal year.  

The plan leans too heavily on output by public companies such as Sugar Corp. and Metal and Engineering Corp. and may put the whole macro economic stability at risk according to a World Bank official.

The success of the plan is attested by the impressive 11.4% growth recorded argues Meles Zenawi Prime Minister of Ethiopia. The 15% annual growth set in the growth plan is a marker to urge progress and all financial planning is figured according to the more realistic 11% mark explained the Prime Minister.

Thirty two of the forty five International companies expected to participate in the  Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (ECCSA) trade fair are Egyptian according to Gashaw Debebe, Secretary General of ECCSA.

Companies from across the globe had been invited to take part in the trade fair through Ethiopian embassies and national chambers Gashaw said.

The significant representation of Egyptian companies suggests that the Business Council of Egypt was effective in promoting the opportunities available in Ethiopia to the Egyptian business community he noted.

Ethiopian drivers will soon have to pay an annual vehicle license fee towards maintaining the condition of the roads according to the Ethiopian Road Fund Office. It is expected that drivers will be charged 165 birr for a car when they renew their licenses.

Trucks will be charged more and additional fines will be exacted from trucks and buses that exceed weight limits or drive over long distances. The annual fee will be in addition to existing fuel taxes and vehicle charges from municipalities.

Ethiopia can expect to receive more than 511 million US dollars from the tourism industry this year according to Tesfaye Getahun, Tourism Development and Marketing Coordinator for the Tourism Ministry.

The anticipated revenue will exceed the amount from the last fiscal year by approximately 194 million US dollars said Tesfaye. This revenue is in step with the consistently increasing numbers of tourists to the country every year he added.

The South African company LontohCoal shipped 27,500 tonnes of Coal to Ethiopia on Wednesday. The shipment will be arrive through Port Djibouti for Huang Shan Cement and CH Clinker.

The two Chinese companies are subsidiaries of the Guangdong Chuanhui Group which signed the two year agreement for 480,000 tonnes of coal every year with LontohCoal.

The Coal was expected to arrive in September but was held up due to transportation difficulties.

Ethiopia has obtained more than 500 million US dollars from mineral exports in the last fiscal year said Sinknesh Ejigu Minister of Mines this week.  

The Mining sector is making valuable contributions towards national development goals according to Sinknesh. The mining industry is a significant source of foreign currency even though it is not yet well developed she said.

The Minister discussed the opportunities available in the mining sector at a meeting with 80 companies engaged in mining. The meeting aimed to facilitate the exchange of current information amongst investors involved in mineral extraction. This in turn is expected to create a forum for sharing experience in regards to best practices and issues encounter.

The Southern Regional State will supply an estimated 171,000 tonnes of coffee to the central market this year according to the State Marketing and Cooperatives Bureau.  

This amount is more than that of the same period in the last fiscal year said Abraham Demissie Deputy Head of the State Bureau speaking at a workshop held in Hawassa. The revenue obtained exceeded that of the previous year by 122.5 million birr he said.

The Addis Ababa City administration received a loan of 4.4 billion birr from the commercial Bank of Ethiopia for its housing development project. The money is earmarked for the construction of more than 40,000 condominiums this year.

The loan agreement was signed between the bank and the housing development project office on Sept 27. The loan from the commercial bank needs to be paid off in the fourth year after the agreement was signed with six per cent interest, according to Befekadu. The agreement allows the first year for construction and extends a further two years as a grace period he said.

The first phase of a project to produce up to date and comprehensive data on the energy sector was completed and submitted to the Ministry of Water and Energy on Wednesday. The study was carried out at a cost of 4.3 million birr.

The project known as the ‘Energy Sector Mapping and Database Development (ESMAD) was initiated by the MoWE and financed by GiZ. The study was carried out by Professional Consulting on Energy and Development in collaboration with eight other private consultants.

It took 16 months to complete the first phase which included the development of GIS enabled, web based energy database. The database allows various energy maps to be produced on the basis of data collected on the supply of electricity, renewable energy biomass and hydrocarbons.

Enat Bank appointed Birtukan G. Ezgi as founding president pending confirmation by the National Bank of Ethiopia. Birtukan will be the third female bank president in Ethiopia upon approval of her appointment by the central bank.

Birtukan began her career with Commercial bank and served at district manager before moving to Abyssinia Bank where she is currently serving as the director of the International Banking Department.