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Ethiopia to be part of the free trade zone

African trade officials met this week in Johannesburg to launch negotiations for a free trade area (FTA) which would embrace more than 26 countries, and about a trillion dollars of economic output.

The proposed deal would unite three existing trade blocs in central, eastern and southern Africa. It is believed that the free trade area will do away with most trade barriers between participating countries. African leaders said that the Free Trade Area (FTA) would be practical within three years.

Two of the blocs, the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the East African Community (EAC), have already been enjoying tariff- and quota-free trade.

In the mean time, the third bloc, the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), only has levies on 15 percent of goods and should be removing those by January.

When the negotiations are concluded, the enlarged FTA would include Ethiopia, Angola, Botswana, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, DRC, Egypt, Eritrea, Kenya, Lesotho, Libya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Rwanda, Seychelles, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Commerce within Africa is limited with not more than 10 percent of the continent's trade being conducted between African countries, while the balance goes overseas.
After its formation is complete, the free trade area will be hopefully open to regions throughout the whole continent, Diouf of the African Agency for Trade and Development said.

Source: Christian Science Monitor, Reuters

Leather exports from Ethiopia earned 11.7 Million US Dollars in revenue in the month of June according to the Ethiopian Leather Technology Development Institute.

The revenue was earned through the export of products that include finished leather good such as shoes and gloves noted Birhanu Sirjabo, Director of communications with the Institute.

The amount earned in the month is 4 million US dollars more than what was earned in the month of May he claimed.

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

A legal framework that will strengthen the involvement of the Ethiopian diaspora in the digital economy and investment is being prepared, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology announced.

The Legedadi ground water project built at a cost of more than 1.5 billion birr earmarked by the government of Ethiopia was inaugurated on Saturday, The Daily Monitor reported.