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The Ministry of Mines, Ethiopia, is to resume licensing for mineral exploration. The ministry is expected to begin accepting new applications for licensing in mineral exploration next month according to Sinkenesh Ejigu Ethiopian Minister of Mines.

It is to be remembered that the ministry halted the issue of new licensing in mineral exploration to evaluate operators already in the sector before issuing new permits.

Ethiopian Investment conferences are to be held in North California and Los Angeles on the 4th and 11 of February respectively. The conferences are planned to discuss opportunities for investment available in Ethiopia for members of the Ethiopian Diaspora.

The conferences to be held under the title “Collaborative Investing by the Ethiopian Diaspora in the U.S.” are a continuation of the inaugural efforts began in Washington D.C which attracted notable media coverage and a significant number of attendees according to organizers.

The Ethiopian Revenue and Customs authority held talks with business people from the Merkato area, center for business activity in Ethiopia. The meeting was held at the National Lottery Administration Hall last week.

The meeting was expected to relax some tension in the Merkato business community following the drastic measures enforced by the ‘The Merkato Project’ to enforce tax compliance.

Kuma Demkesa, Mayor of Ethiopia’s capital city Addis Ababa, laid the foundation stone for the construction of 42,000 new condominium housing. The city administration plans to construct condominium house at 16 sites around the capital.

The successful construction of new condominium housing is a priority for the city administration said Kuma.

The 9th African Fine Coffees Conference and Exhibition is to be held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The conference will include more than 1,500 buyers, producers, traders, marketers and equipment and input dealers. 

Participants will showcase their products at the exhibition noted the Eastern African Fine Coffees Association, organizing the Conference.  

The timing of the Conference is ideal as world prices for coffee are currently at a new high boosting the confidence of producers inclined to abandon coffee crop according to conference organizers.

It is expected that more than ten million power saving light bulbs imported in Ethiopia will save 176 MW of energy according to the Ministry of Water and Energy.

5 million previously imported power saving light bulbs have been able to save 88 MW of energy explained Bezuneh Tolcha, Public Relation and communication Director with the Ministry.

An additional 5 million bulbs imported last year are expected to raise the total amount of energy saved to 176 MW he said.

Alliance Transport Service S.C, Ethiopia signed an agreement for the import of 50 buses with Chinese manufacturer Xiamen King Long Automotive Industry. The deal was agreed for 72 million birr.

The agreement stipulated that parts of the pass including the engine will come from British company Kemens Engine with Xiamen handling the bodywork and assembly of the buses.

The buses, expected to arrive in three months, will have the capacity to seat up to 100 people offering modern conveniences and comfort to travelers according to officials from Alliance.

Yetebaberut Behrawi Petroleum S.C, Ethiopian announced a net profit of 18.7 million birr for the last Ethiopian financial year. The company’s profits were 13% above target announced Tsega Asamere Board Chairman at the annual meeting of the company held on the 2nd of January at the Hilton Hotel.

YBP made 27.6 million birr in profits before tax after earning 3.342 billion birr in revenue from the sale of 253.6 million liters of fuel said Tsega. YBP also raised 60.5 million birr through providing 34,000 liters of oil he added.

The petrol station operator has seen a 45 percent increase in sales from the previous year explained Tsega.

The construction of the Adama Wind Power Project, Ethiopia is progressing satisfactorily it was reported. 17 wind turbine towers are in place at this time, installed by the contractor for the project Hydro China-CGCOC, a Chinese partnership.

Construction on the wind power project launched in July of last year is planned to complete within a year.

It is expected that the project will generate 51 MW of electric power after all 34 proposed turbines are installed.

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation scrapped a proposed plan to restructure. The restructure called for Ethiopia’s electric power provider to be split into four separate entities.

A 33 million birr study carried out by Italian consultants Ben and Company had proposed the four way split into Power Distribution, General Administration, Utility Management, and Hydroelectric Power Dams.

It was planned that that the split into four different entities, that was to commence as of last November, would make the operations of EEPCo more efficient.