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Allana Potash said yesterday that it had intersected potash mineralization in Holes 24, 25 and 26 at shallow depths in the south-western portion of its land position in Ethiopia.

In addition to previous holes completed by Allana, holes 24, 25 and 26 form a region of potash mineralization which occurs at depth between 75 and 200 metres below surface, Farhad Abasov, President and CEO of Allana said.  

“Allana management believes that the potash in this region may be amenable to mining by open pit methods and future studies will focus on this potential,” Abasov said.

Energoinvest, the largest Bosnian engineering group, and the Ethiopian government signed 45 million dollar contract this week for the building of 150 kilometres of electric power transmission lines.

The works are scheduled to be completed in two years according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The contract was signed by Meheret Debebe, general manager of the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation and Dzemal Vlahovljak, general manager of Energoinvest.

Energoinvest won the contract on July 21.

Ethiopia's year-on-year inflation jumped to 40.6 percent in August from 39.2 percent in July as food prices, especially those of cereals went up, the Central Statistical Agency said on Tuesday. 

Early in August, the agency had said that Ethiopia’s inflation rate climbed to 39.2 percent in July from a year earlier.

Inflation accelerated from 38.1 percent in June, according to the agency. Food prices increased by 47.4 percent in July after rising 45.3 percent in the previous month, while the cost of non-food items fell from 27.9 percent to 27.8 percent, it said.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) accepted offers last week from three European companies which responded to the bank’s desire to print 50 birr and 100 birr notes.

The bank wants to order the printing of notes with a total value of 52 billion birr to replace all-in notes under circulation. It will be the largest order ever, more than 90 percent of what it had printed last year.

Sugar Corp., a state-owned sugar producer, said that it was building ten new factories and was inviting private investment as part of a plan to become one of the world's 10 biggest exporters of the crop.

The project involves constructing plants and establishing farms at a cost of about 4.6 billion dollars in four regions of the country, Abay Tsehaye, director general of the company, said last week.

Abay said that Ethiopia hopes to become one of the top 10 exporters of sugar in the coming 15 years.

Ethiopia announced that it would build two more dams along its share of the Nile, six months after launching the construction of a 5,250 megawatt power plant on the river.

Ethiopia aims to produce 20,000 megawatts of power within the next ten years, part of a plan to spend 12 billion dollars over 25 years to raise power generating capability.

According to Reuters, officials estimate that the country has the potential to produce about 45,000 megawatt of electricity.

Income from the export of Ethiopia’s staple food, the injera bread, rose to 350,000 dollars to 400,000 dollars a month.

Five years ago the monthly revenue from injera was 10,000 dollars, according to the Ministry of Industry. The ministry expects that the revenue from the export of injera around the world will rise to five million dollars during the current fiscal year.

The United States is the major importer of injera followed by Europe and the Middle East.

Car sales slowed down in Ethiopia over the last week causing major importers of used cars to marginally cut prices.

Importers say that the latest trade and tax regulations are to blame for the slowdown. Industry observers on the other hand say that the increase in production and number of importers during the last few years have contributed to the slowdown.

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) signed yesterday power transmission project contracts worth around 330 million dollars with companies from ten countries.

Indian companies take the biggest share of the contract winning three contracts worth more than 50 million dollars. 

Among the companies which entered into agreements with EEPCo are Energoinvest DD of Bosnia & Herzegovina, ALISTOM GRID of France, ABB AG of Germany, AECOM of USA-Canada and Norinco International Limited of China.

The projects are expected to be completed within 12 to 24 months.

Allana Potash Corp., which has started feasibility study on its potash property in Ethiopia, announced yesterday that its common shares would start trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange at market open today.

Allana said that its stock symbol would remain "AAA".

Farhad Abasov, Allana's President and CEO, said that trading on the Toronto Stock Excange would enhance the company's already strong trading liquidity and attract a broader investor base to Allana.