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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

The price of food rose to 40.7 percent in May from 32.2 percent in April according to Central Statistical Agency’s (CSA) consumer price index released on Tuesday, 14 June 2011.

Food price was deflating at the beginning of the current fiscal year. But since September prices have been escalating after the birr was devaluated against the dollar by 17 percent. The overall annual year on year inflation has now reached the two-year mark.

After assessing the situation in Ethiopia, the International Monetary Fund mission three weeks ago said that rising prices would slowdown the country’s economic growth. IMF’s prediction put Ethiopia’s economic growth for the coming fiscal year at around six percent which contrasts with the government’s estimate of 11 percent.

Source: Capital

Ethiopia earned over 8.2 million dollars from the export of garments and textile products this year, the Textile Industry Development Institute announced.

Compared with the income earned last year, this year’s earning has increased by 164.5 percent. The institute said in a press statement over the weekend that the amount of revenue the country earned in May this year exceeded that of the same period last year by 5.1 million dollars.

By May 2009, the country had earned 3.1 million dollars from the export of textile products for the 2008/09 fiscal year. Garments, textiles, yarn and fabric products earned about 59.8 percent, 19.8 percent, 19.3 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Those which earned the highest income in the textile and garment industry include Ayka Addis Textile & Investment, MAA Garment Factory, Kombolcha Textile and Adama Yarn Factory. Value-added apparel accounted for 49.3 percent among the exported items of the general textile products this year.  

Source: Fortune, ENA   

Fails to reach the original target

Ethiopia has earned about 78 million dollars from leather and leather products exported over the last ten months of the current fiscal year. And as this fiscal year comes to an end, the total earnings are expected to be 100 million birr. About the beginning of the current fiscal year, the government had planned to earn 200 million dollars from the export of leather and leather products. Half way through the fiscal year, however, the government lowered its projection to 120 million dollars as the entrance into the export market of new leather producers was delayed. This has brought about the failure of the Ethiopian leather industry to meet its second target for 2010/11.

Short supplies of skin and raw hide and rising prices are blamed for the failure to meet targets according to Brhanu Sergebo, corporate communication head of Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI). The government is offering to solve the shortage problem by allowing a duty free import of raw hide and skin. Experts in the leather industry, however, think that under performance is due to falling demand in the international market while local tanneries say that the price of raw hide and skin are skyrocketing because of demand by large foreign owned tanneries which started production over the last few months. Moreover, they say that the either the country has to switch from crust products to finished leather products or its export profits may go on failing to meet targets.

The government has targeted to earn half a billion dollars from leather and leather products exports by 2015 and it is planning to impose a heavy tax on crust export in the 2011/2012 fiscal year to stimulate an increase in the more profitable export of finished leather and leather products. In addition, the government has banned new investors from joining the industry with the intention of controlling the supply shortage. At present there are 25 tanneries in operation in the country.

Source: Capital