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Ethiopian coffee production estimated to fall 18%

Tanzanian Coffee Board said today that the country’s coffee output may fall 20 percent in the year through June 2012 following a drought stunted growth.

Production may fall to 45,000 metric tons from 56,247 tons in the 2010-11 season, Adolph Kumburu, director general of the board, said.

The International Coffee Organization (ICO) said yesterday that coffee output in Ethiopia might drop by 18 percent in the 2011-12 crop year as a result of a smaller crop in the country.

Output in Ethiopia is expected to fall to 14.4 million bags the coming season from 17.5 million bags in the 2010-11 crop year. The ICO attributed the drop in production to poorer performance in the country.

Central Statistical Agency said yesterday that Ethiopia’s inflation rate hit to 38.1 percent in June up from 34.7 percent the previous month driven by higher food prices a rise in the prices of wheat, maize, barley, meat and potatoes among other items.

Food prices rose to 45.3 percent in June after rising 40.7 percent in the May, according to the agency.

Ethiopian Airlines's Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft is scheduled to arrive in March next year, Fikre Degife, the airlines's area manager for China said on Thursday. The Dreamliner will be deployed on long direct flights including a new destination in China.

Boeing was supposed to deliver in December four of the ten 787s Ethiopian had ordered according to Fikre who said that the arrival in March was confirmed.

Ethiopian launched a new flight to Hangzhou on 3 May 2011, its fourth destination in China next to Guangzhou, Beijing and Hong Kong.

The Bench Majji Zone of the Southern Nations and Nationalities and People's Regional State earned about 900 million birr from sale of over 11,480 tonnes of coffee supplied to the market over the fiscal year which ended on 7 July 2011, the market cooperatives department of the zone said.

Centamin Egypt, Egypt's major gold producer offered a 'fair valuation' for Sheba, which owns several concessions in the resource-rich northern Ethiopia.

Centamin Egypt announced that it offered a recommended 12 million dollars for a small gold exploration company operating in Ethiopia, thereby expanding its reach outside of Egypt.

Ethiopian Airlines announced that its annual revenue had grown by 40 percent in the 2010/11 fiscal year which ended on 7 July 2011. The airline made it in spite of airplane fuel price hike, Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of the carrier, said.

According to Tewelde, the number of passengers Ethiopian carried in the 2010/11 fiscal year has also grown by 34 percent. 

Ethiopian Airlines flies to 63 destinations around the globe and to 17 destinations locally. According to Tewelde, flights to Banguwi, Hanju, Malacal, Milan and Muputo were launched in the fiscal that just ended. 

The fuel price hike has claimed 41 percent of the airline’s expenditures according to the ailines’s CEO.

Source: Walta Information Centre

National Airways, a private airline established last year, announced that it was preparing to float shares to the public.

Established with a 10 million birr capital in July 2010, National Airways was licensed by the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority (ECAA) and the Ethiopian Investment Agency. 

Yetim ePayment Service PLC, a newly formed local company, Friday launched a service that provides instant information including schedules of Ethiopian Airlines's departure and arrival, foreign exchange rates, prices of coffee, gold and related items as well as cinema schedules via cell phone to potential customers.

Seven Seas Technologies (SST), a Kenyan integrated information technology services provider, is set to open an office in Addis Ababa.

The Kenyan SST said that it was going to invest nearly one million dollars in its move to register a strong market presence within the horn of Africa region.

SST's venture into the Ethiopian market is powered by a joint venture agreement with Netcom Limited an Ethiopian company.