2merkato

The Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority's (ERCA) Large Taxpayers and Western Addis Ababa branch offices are relocating this month from the headquarters building of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association to the authority's former headquarters at Beklo Bet.

The Large Taxpayers and Western Addis Ababa branch offices of the ERCA have been occupying five floors of the Chamber's building.

ERCA's central server for the registration of daily sales coming from customers' cash register machines had been installed in the Chamber's building in front of the Mexico Square. The central cash register machine server will move to the authority's current headquarters at Megenagna, officials said.

South Korean President Lee Myung Bak is scheduled to visit Ethiopia, South Africa and Democratic Republic of Congo from July 2 through July 11. The president will visit Ethiopia on July 8.

He is expected to discuss ways to expand cooperation with Ethiopia and the other African countries over various areas like nuclear power, energy and raw materials, his office said in a statement today.

Stratex announced today that AngloGold Ashanti, the world's third-largest gold producer, was taking an 11.5 percent share in Stratex Internationl Plc. The funds will be used for speeding up gold exploration in the Afar Epithermal gold province in Ethiopia and Djibouti.

AngloGold will make a 3 million pound private placement into Stratex.

Ethiopia signed a 590 million dollar grant and loan agreement with France to boost water and energy projects, as well as for the construction of electricity transmission lines with Kenya, the Embassy of France in Ethiopia said.

The agreement will enable the French Development Agency to develop water and sanitation schemes and support the management of geothermal and windmill projects.

M-Birr Limited, an Irish company, announced last week that it had concluded an deal with the National Bank of Ethiopia and Ethio Telecom to start providing mobile banking solution to financial institutions through M-Birr ICT Services Plc, its subsidiary Ethiopia.

M-Birr will install two huge data centres here which will support and streamline the mobile banking services. M-Birr will also train the staffs of financial institutions for which it will provide the services, Thierry  Artaud, CEO of M-Birr Limited and general manager of M-Birr ICT services Plc, said.

The mobile banking service, also known as SMS banking or M-banking, allows clients to check their balance, make transaction and payments from their accounts, and perform credit application and other banking transactions from their cell phones.

M-Birr has signed a memorandum of understanding with five micro-financial institutions like Dedebit. It will also hold talks with private and state-owned banks to provide them with the latest technology in the banking sector, according to Artaud.

The company will launch the project with an initial investment of 1.5 million euro.

The partly implemented National Payment System in the country is said to be ideal in supporting and streamlining such services as mobile banking among financial institutions.

Source: The Reporter

Syrah Resources concluded a deal with Aramis Resources Limited for the acquisition of an 80 percent interest in three large projects of gold exploration in Ethiopian.

Syrah will acquire the stake through paying 1.5 million dollars in three instalments spread over two years, issuing 25 million shares and up to 5 million options, and the expenditure of 2.5 million dollars on the projects within 3 years.

Syrah will explore 2,000 sq km of prime ground and get access to various assets with mineral exposure.
The ground consists of three project areas at Moyale, Nejo and Dawa which are all found close to areas of significant gold mineralisation in southern and western Ethiopia.

Moyale contains one granted tenement covering 440 sq km. 

The Dawa Project contains two granted tenements covering 1,000 sq km south of Lega Dembi Mine in southern Ethiopia. Gold production at Lega Dembi is reported to have hit 3 million ounces over the last two decades and it is still producing more than 100,000 ounces annually.

The Nejo project contains four granted tenements covering 771 square kilometres in the western part of the country, north of Nyota Minerals Limited's Tulu Kapi Project (currently 1.2 million ounces in resources).

Small areas of high grade mineralisation associated with quartz veins in intrusives have been mined at a small scale on the licence at the Chamuk Prospect. Drilling has proven that there is good potential for resources to be outlined.

Syrah Resources shares climbed 31.25 percent to 0.105 dollars in intraday trading today.

Source: Proactive Investors  

Ethiopia concluded a 337 million euro loan agreement with the government of France yesterday.

The government of France offered 70 million of the 337 million as a grant and the balance as a loan.

The money is intended to be used to finance the country’s five-year Growth and Transformation Plan, especially development programs in the energy, urban infrastructure, agriculture as well as water and sanitation sectors.

Source: Walta Information Centre

Over 1,600 kg of gold was supplied to the central market from Guji Zone of the Oromia Regional State over the last nine months, Mines Office of the zone said.

The amount exceeds the set target by 100 kg and that of the same period last year by 549 kg, Mekonnen Lema, head of Mines Development Administration Office, said.

The cooperatives in Guji, which supplied the 1,600 kg of gold to central market this year, are preparing to supply more than 2,000 kg of gold to the market for the coming fiscal year.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Ethiopia has earned more than 2.4 billion dollars in foreign exchange over the last 11 months meeting 82 percent of the plan, the Ministry of Trade said while presenting this year’s performance report to the Trade Affairs Standing Committee of the House of Peoples' Representatives. 

Source: ERTA    

Ethiopian Coffee Exporters' Association (ECEA) and the Chinese Guangzhou Coffee Association (GCA) signed yesterday a memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the promotion of the Ethiopian coffee brand in the emerging market of China.

The MoU was signed by Emebet Tafesse, vice president of ECEA, and Lin Guangchao, chairman of GCA, during a ceremony held in the ECEAconference hall.

The MoU is designed to create a joint partnership between the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters' Association and the Guangzhou Coffee Association for the purpose of encouraging coffee consumption and culture.

The ECEA statement said that the two associations had agreed to assist Ethiopian coffee exporters and Chinese coffee importers to come together and promote coffee trade and investment between citizens of the two countries.

The MoU includes for the two associations activities like organizing and carrying out coffee-related researches and promotional programs.

Source: Walta Information Centre