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A business delegation from South Africa visited Ethiopia this month according to Yayheyrad Abate Deputy Director of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations.

The delegation is part of a series of bilateral agreements to enhance relations he said. The areas of agricultural, education, human resources and tourism were discussed as potential areas of cooperation he noted.

The Johannesburg Chamber of Commerce was represented by the delegation along with companies from the construction sector and a supplier of crushing equipment and an agricultural company.

The Journey, South African based tourism consulting and marketing firm has concluded an agreement with Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism under the ‘Ethiopia Sustainable Tourism Development Program’ to set up a national tourism marketing strategy and tourism brand for Ethiopia.

South African mining firm by the name Altus Strategies PLC, has been given the license to explore gold in Ethiopia. The company, experienced with exploring gold, silver, copper and other natural resources in Ethiopia, Morocco, Liberia and Cameroon, will now undertake the exploration work in Daro, Tigray State.

Vale South Africa Exploration Ltd, the second largest metal mining company in the world, secured an industrial mining exploration licence in the Southern Nations Nationalities (SNNPR) and Peoples Region after depositing one million dollars in a closed book account last week.

The company acquired a 1,822sqm plot of land in Konso, SNNPR. And it seeks to explore cobalt, nickel and copper.

Before it applied for the mining licence, Vale South Africa Exploration Ltd had acquired last year a prospecting licence to assess SNNPR's potential. 

Wednesday, 15 June 2011

Culture and Tourism Bureau of the Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's State said it had collected over 71.6 million birr income from tourism.

Mikias Israel, deputy head of the bureau said yesterday that the 71.6 million birr was obtained from 403,470 local and 72, 537 foreign tourists who visited attraction sites in the region over the last nine months.

Mikias said the amount of the income obtained and the number of tourists who visited the region over the last nine months had increased by 56 percent and 45 percent respectively, in comparison with the same period the previous year.

Expansion of infrastructures such as road, telecommunications, electricity and tourists' facilities as well as extensive promotion made by the bureau contributed to the income and increase in number of tourists, he said.

The region is rich with sites of natural and historical attraction like crocodile ranches, hot springs, caves and waterfalls among others and Mikias said the Bureau was doing its best to exploit these.

Source: Walta Information Centre