2merkato

Ethiopia has obtained more than 500 million US dollars from mineral exports in the last fiscal year said Sinknesh Ejigu Minister of Mines this week.  

The Mining sector is making valuable contributions towards national development goals according to Sinknesh. The mining industry is a significant source of foreign currency even though it is not yet well developed she said.

The Minister discussed the opportunities available in the mining sector at a meeting with 80 companies engaged in mining. The meeting aimed to facilitate the exchange of current information amongst investors involved in mineral extraction. This in turn is expected to create a forum for sharing experience in regards to best practices and issues encounter.

The Southern Regional State will supply an estimated 171,000 tonnes of coffee to the central market this year according to the State Marketing and Cooperatives Bureau.  

This amount is more than that of the same period in the last fiscal year said Abraham Demissie Deputy Head of the State Bureau speaking at a workshop held in Hawassa. The revenue obtained exceeded that of the previous year by 122.5 million birr he said.

The Addis Ababa City administration received a loan of 4.4 billion birr from the commercial Bank of Ethiopia for its housing development project. The money is earmarked for the construction of more than 40,000 condominiums this year.

The loan agreement was signed between the bank and the housing development project office on Sept 27. The loan from the commercial bank needs to be paid off in the fourth year after the agreement was signed with six per cent interest, according to Befekadu. The agreement allows the first year for construction and extends a further two years as a grace period he said.

The first phase of a project to produce up to date and comprehensive data on the energy sector was completed and submitted to the Ministry of Water and Energy on Wednesday. The study was carried out at a cost of 4.3 million birr.

The project known as the ‘Energy Sector Mapping and Database Development (ESMAD) was initiated by the MoWE and financed by GiZ. The study was carried out by Professional Consulting on Energy and Development in collaboration with eight other private consultants.

It took 16 months to complete the first phase which included the development of GIS enabled, web based energy database. The database allows various energy maps to be produced on the basis of data collected on the supply of electricity, renewable energy biomass and hydrocarbons.

Enat Bank appointed Birtukan G. Ezgi as founding president pending confirmation by the National Bank of Ethiopia. Birtukan will be the third female bank president in Ethiopia upon approval of her appointment by the central bank.

Birtukan began her career with Commercial bank and served at district manager before moving to Abyssinia Bank where she is currently serving as the director of the International Banking Department.

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.