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Nyala Insurance Share Company has begun preliminary efforts to establish an Ethiopian re-insurance company. The company is carrying out initial studies to be presented to the board of directors according to Eyob Meherette CEO of the insurance company.

A local re-insurer will save Ethiopia the large amounts of foreign currency required by insurance companies to purchase policies from international re-insurers, said Eyob.

The Ethiopian Privatization Agency is offering Awash Winery, Commercial Printing Enterprise, and Hammaressa Edible Oil for privatization. The three companies failed to attract bids at previous auctions and are being offered for sale through negotiations.

Parties interested in negotiating for the companies are required to present financial and technical proposals said Wondafrash Assefa head of public relations head at the Privatization & Public Enterprises Supervision Agency (PPESA).

Artisan miners sold 109.5 million US dollars worth of gold to the National bank. The 2,064 Kg of gold sold by the miners was 52% more than the 1,357 kg the central bank expected to collect the first quarter.

Artisan miners increased production because of increases in the international market and the National Bank’s offer of 5% on the price, according to Tamrat Mojo, head of traditional mines, manufacturing & transactions department at the MoM.

United Bank, one of the private banks in Ethiopis, announced a profit of 231.8 million birr after taxes for the last fiscal year, on Thursday. The Bank raised 13.3 million birr in one week from the sale of 133, 477 shares in the first ever public auction of bank shares.

The move to expand the paid up capital of the bank by 40.2% has lowered the bank’s EPS which had stood at 52.8% for the budget year according to Abdulmena Mohammed, account manager of the London based Portobello Group.

The increase in paid up capital also lowered the Return on Equity from 27.4% the previous fiscal year to 25.7% explained Berhanu Getaneh, President of United Bank. 

The Ethiopian Ministry of Justice (MoJ) has drafted a new bill that authorizes the establishment of legal firms for the first time. The draft bill allows the establishment of law firms offering advocacy services as ‘Ordinary Partnerships’.

The new bill will prohibit members of a law firm from membership in multiple legal firms and from providing private advocacy services.

Ethiopia is to sign an agreement, in November, to ship and unload coal through Port Djibouti. The agreement to be signed next month with Djibouti allows Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise (EPE) to import coal to be used for fuel in cement factories.

Ethiopia and Djibouti have agreed on the general terms of the deal and the process of drafting the contract is underway said Mekonnen Abera, head of market research and business promotion for Ethiopian Shipping and Transit Services Enterprise.

Mekonnen traveled to Djibouti with Yigzaw Mekonnen director general of EPE to establish the terms of the agreement.

The Ethiopian insurance industry is anticipating compulsory third-party insurance proclamation with uncertainty. The attitude of the insurers is primarily because motor vehicle insurance has persistently been unprofitable over the years.

Motor vehicle insurance is unprofitable due to high rates of traffic accidents and consistently increasing vehicle prices and maintenance costs according to industry sources. The motor insurance sector has the highest premiums because of the heavy losses associated with it, explain insiders.

An estimated 10,000 condominium houses will be transferred over the next two months, to owners in the Ethiopian capital according to Kuma Demeksa, Mayor of Addis Ababa City Administration.

The condominium houses built at the Summit site will be transferred to new owners selected by random draws as well as to people relocated by the redevelopment projects currently underway in the city said Kuma.  

The new condos are in the final phase of construction awaiting finishing work such as painting, sewage systems, installation of water and electric lines said the Mayor.

A letter urging Ethiopian private banks to purchase new Treasury bills was sent out by the National Bank. The new bills will be charged to the banks’ Payment and Settlement Accounts (PSAs) at the NBE.

An agreement in regards to the purchase of the new bills was made between the Ethiopian Bankers Association and National Bank officials stated Yohannes Ayalew, Chief Economist and Vice Governor of Monetary Stability at the NBE, in his letter to the banks.

Private Banks will purchase T-bills to the value of the money in their PSAs, which approximates 3% of their total deposit according to the agreement mentioned in the letter.

Ethiopian Airlines announced that it will start code sharing with Singapore Airlines as of November 01, 2011. This agreement allows the two carriers to provide joint flight services between Addis Ababa and Singapore through Dubai.

Ethiopian Airlines further announced that the tickets for the code share flight will be available for sale immediately. The agreement between the two international carriers allows passengers to have wider range of flight services between Africa and Asia.