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Salini Construction Spa has expressed interest in constructing the headquarters of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.

The Italian construction company responded to a call for interest in the design and construction of the 52 storey building. Twenty other international bidders also expressed interest in the project.

In 2009 Commercial Bank awarded the design to Universal Consultants partnering with Henn Architekten a German company. Various challenges resulted in this deal failing to materialize.

Three months ago the bank issued another invitation for consultancy services to handle the design modification and supervision.

Anteneh Assefa, Vice President of Operations at the Bank of Abyssinia has been nominated as the president of Zemen Bank, Ethiopia. The Board of Directors of Zemen Bank has submitted its nomination to the National Bank of Ethiopia.

The last president of Zemen Bank Brutawit Dawit resigned earlier this year for personal reasons. Helawi Tadesse, Senior Vice President has been acting president ever since. The board of Zemen decided upon a nominee after serious deliberation assessing professionals in the banking sector according to sources.

Ethiopian ministries of Mine, Agriculture and Industry are conducting a study to develop a national soil fertility map in collaboration with the Agriculture Transformation Agency.

The national soil fertility map is part of the plans to enhance agricultural productivity set out by the Ministry of Agriculture. The plans prioritize replenishing soil fertility and a more cautious use of fertilizers.

The map is expected to identify soil fertility in different areas said Takalign Mamo, advisor to the State Minister of MoA.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority amended the directive that required custom and duties to be calculated for insurance coverage to exclude diplomats.

The directive that enabled the authority to collect customs duties from insurance coverage when accidents occur had caused complaints from international and regional organizations as well as diplomatic missions.

The China-Africa Overseas Leather Factory, Ethiopia announced that Chinese tariff free policy for exports from least developed countries is a benefit.

The tariff free policy allows products to be competitive in the international market according to Yacob Tadesse, Administrative Manager of China-Africa Overseas Leather Factory.

The policy also encourages other investors to come to Ethiopia to invest because of the advantages it provides to export to China he explained.

Alecto minerals acquired Rift Valley Resources, a Tanzanian company, with control of a three year exploration license for gold and emerald in Waya Boda in the prospective Adola green stone belt in Southern Ethiopia.

The Waya Boda concession is a promising venture in gold and emerald exploration in a region of Ethiopia known to host significant deposits according Alecto Managing Director Damian Conboy.

The rules of formation for the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise were made public last week.  The set up capital for the enterprise was established at 3.7 billion birr.

The rules of formation show the enterprise to be a government development corporation as well as establishing the rights, responsibilities and regulations of the company.

The enterprise is expected to offer shipping services, stevedoring and shore handling services for import and export purposes, multi modal transport, dry port and warehousing, freight forwarding and clearing amongst other logistical services according to the rules of formation.

Ethiopian Airlines has been awarded by The African Airlines Association for registering the best financial results in 2010 and consistent profitability over the years.

Ethiopian Airlines was recognized with the award at the 43rd AFRAA Annual General Assembly held in Marrakesh, Morocco last week.

Nyota Minerals has announced that it is completing its definitive feasibility study on its 1.5 million ounce concession at Tulu Kapi in Ethiopia. The study is required to support the project's financing.

The company has developed the Tulu Kapi concession from zero to more than 1.5 million ounces through drilling an estimated 230 holes in two years according to statement released by Nyota to its investors.

USAID signed an agreement with Ethiopian private banks this week that will allow the banks to extend more credit to agriculture and health projects.

The agreement allows for loans up to 20.7 million US dollar for agro processing industries, health enterprises outside of Addis Ababa, small scale farmers and farmers co-operatives.

The three banks that signed the accord with USAID are Zemen, NIB and Abyssinia.