Ethiopian Business News

Ethiopia earns $47 mln from gold, tantalum in H1

Wed Mar 3, 2010

Gold Bar ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia made $47 million from gold and tantalum exports in the first half of its financial year, the ministry for mines and energy told Reuters on Wednesday.

"Most of the money was made by Midroc Gold Co., which earned $40 million from exports," spokesman for the ministry, Bacha Fuji, said.

Midroc is owned by Ethiopian-born Saudi business tycoon Sheik Mohammed Hussein Al Amoudi.

Int’l specialty coffee buyers visit cooperatives of Sidamo, Yirgachefe Coffee Unions

February 26, 2010

Ethiopia the birth place of coffee poster Addis Ababa, (ENA) The first ever “coffee cupping caravan” comprising international specialty coffee buyers visited coffee farmers cooperatives belonging to the Sidamo and Yirgachefe Coffee Unions from Feb. 21 to 25, 2010.

The visit which consist 12 international buyers from the US, Canada, Greece and Taiwan was organized by the USAID- Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Program (USAID-ATEP).

17 safe water facilities go operational

February 26, 2010

Safe water facilities go operational Debremarkos, (ENA) Some 17 safe water facilities constructed in East Gojjam Zone, Amhara State at a cost of over 798,000 Birr have gone operational, zonal water resource branch office said.

Safe water provision coordinator with the office, Andualem Beyene told ENA on Thursday that more than 3800 residents benefit from the facilities.

Ethiopia plan to boost tea output causes jitters

By ALLAN ODHIAMBO

Posted Friday, February 26 2010 | BUSINESS DAILY

Tea tasting: Ethiopia currently produces seven million kilogrammes of produce and plans to increase the volume. Photo/FILE

Tea tasting: Ethiopia currently produces seven million kilogrammes of produce and plans to increase the volume. Photo/FILE

A spirited drive by Ethiopia to boost its tea output is causing jitters in the local industry as competition for both regional and international markets intensifies.

Though its production capacity is smaller compared to Kenya, its leaf quality is causing concerns that the country could soon launch a formidable challenge to Kenya’s tea exports, including in the blending segment.

“Many countries in the region are looking up to expanding their tea industries, but our immediate attention would be on Ethiopia because we share almost similar types of soil and climate and the quality of their tea is largely similar with ours,” Tea Board of Kenya (TBK) managing director, Sicily Kariuki told Business Daily.

First Bombardier Q400 aircraft to arrive in March: Ethiopian

February 19, 2010

Addis Ababa, (ENA) - The Ethiopian airline announced on Thursday the first Bombardier Q400 aircraft among its order for Canadian plane maker Bombardier Inc. will arrive on March 22, 2010 here.

Domestic Sales, Marketing and Operations Director of Ethiopian Abebe Angessa said Ethiopian had signed a purchase of agreement with the Canadian company to buy eight Bombardier Q400 aircrafts at a cost of 192 million USD.

Ethiopia starts trading premium coffee locally

Feb 17, 2010

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - Ethiopia moved trade in its specialty coffee to an Addis Ababa-based commodities exchange on Wednesday, instead of selling the beans at overseas auctions.

Up to 30 percent of the beans from Africa's biggest coffee producer are classified as premium, but higher prices for the fine coffees were not trickling down to farmers, the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) said.

Rice processing plant to be established in Ethiopia

February 15, 2010 | ENA

Director-General, Haile Asegide and President of the Japanese Company, Shoichi Tanaka signed the agreement. Addis Ababa, Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc. and a Japanese company, Satake International Co. Ltd. here on Monday have signed an agreement enabling to establish rice processing factory in Ethiopia at a cost of 125 million Birr.

Saudi Star Agricultural Development Plc. Director-General, Haile Asegide and President of the Japanese Company, Shoichi Tanaka signed the agreement.

France Telecom to makeover ETC

By Kirubel Tadesse - Ethiopian Mobil Phone user FEB 16, 2010 | CAPITAL

The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) and France Telecom are expected to seal a deal for the latter to makeover Ethiopia’s lucrative state-owned sole telecom provider.

In the last fiscal year alone ETC pocketed a net profit of 2.4 billion birr amidst severe power cuts and the latest upgrading work is expected to generate record sales this year.

Japan to Help Ethiopia Improve Coffee Quality to Boost Trade

February 12, 2010,

By Fred Ojambo

Feb. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese buyers are keen to resume imports of Ethiopian coffee and will help farmers to improve the quality of their beans and to comply with required standards, a Japanese food-trading company said.

A team of Japanese coffee importers will visit Ethiopia next week to meet government officials, coffee farmers and exporters to help them improve quality, Tomohiro Ishiwaki, of Ishimitu Co., said today in an interview in Kenya’s coastal city of Mombasa.

Amhara state reportedly reaps over 1.4 million quintals of sesame

February 7, 2010 | ENA

Sesame Bahir Dar, More than 1.4 million quintals of sesame was reaped from different parts of the Amhara State during the current harvest season, the state’s agriculture development bureau disclosed.

The stated amount of sesame secured during the current year exceeded that of the harvest of the previous year of the same period by more than 507,000 quintals, public relations department head with the bureau, Shiferaw Tesfaye told ENA.

Ethiopian Business News

More Articles...