The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) and the Chinese telecom giant Zhongxing Telecom Corporation (ZTE) are sponsoring a golf competition in Addis Abeba.

The event will be held at the Addis Abeba Golf Club (AAGC) on Saturday, December 5, 2009, officials at ETC and AAGC told Fortune.

The two telecom companies are sponsoring the event to build their image among golf competitors and admirers, most of whom are from the foreign community, according to the officials.

An ETC source said that the corporation considers foreign nationals in the country as potential customers for its expanding services such as networking.

The firms together pooled about 400,000 Br to cover the cost of the competition, including prizes, promotional articles such as T-shirts and a dinner reception.

BGI Ethiopia, Ethiopian Airlines and Kenyan Airways have previously sponsored similar events at the club. 

Located in the old airport area of the Lideta district, the Addis Abeba Golf Club is the only commercial golf club with nine holes in Ethiopia.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) on Friday, November 20, 2009, issued a warning to institutions and individuals. The notification was specific in targeting businesses that highlight transactions using foreign currencies without licences commonly known as black market. The rebuke delivered was, in essence, to stop doing so or face "tough measures."

Institutions allowed to engage in transactions involving foreign currency include hotels with star designations, duty free shops, airline ticket offices, the Main Department for Immigration and Nationality Affairs and the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Agency, according to a statement the Central Bank sent to Fortune on Friday, November 20, 2009.

However, the Bank says that it has found out some unauthorized companies doing business transactions with foreign currencies. Failure to comply with the Bank's announcement could lead to serious legal measures.

Parliament passed a bill, Thursday, November 19, 2009, on money laundering and financial assistance for acts of terrorism. The Financial Intelligence Center will also be established to enforce the law.

According to the introductory statement attached to the bill by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) the proclamation was initiated to tackle mainly money laundering which encourages corruption, affects the healthy environment of financial institutions and degrades Ethiopia's acceptability on the international stage.

Some of the major elements of the bill include the freezing, seizing and confiscating of assets by the Center as well as ensuring the legal responsibility of institutions to check the status of their customers.

According to the bill, a financial institution is legally bound to give whatever information to the Center about its customers who are under investigation or prosecution for suspected crimes involving money laundering or financing terrorism.

Some opposition parliamentarians claimed that the article would damage the relationship between financial institutions such as banks and their customers.

In its article 19, the bill states that criminal liability of a person who commits a crime involving money laundering or financing of terrorism will not be barred by any statute of limitations.

Land Administration and Building Construction License Authority of the Addis Abeba City Government ordered all districts to handover a list of ongoing constructions which are in process to be transferred by sale.

The authority made the order, mid November, after receiving several complaints from people who wanted to sell estates before their construction was completed.

Around mid October the authority had issued a directive to suspend the transferring of partially completed constructions in a bid to tackle the expansion of small business transactions among land developers, and unlawful conduct of businesses.

The authority made the ban as an immediate measure to stop the already extending sale of incomplete constructions until the City Cabinet finds a lasting solution for all land holders in the capital. However, the implementation of the directive created much discontent among those who already have traded on-going constructions, forcing the authority to start looking for better ways of handling the situation.

East African Power Pool (EAPP), which aims at creating power connection among 10 East African countries, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP).

The agreement was concluded in Addis Abeba, Wednesday, November 18, 2009, during the 42nd Ordinary General Assembly of Union of Producers Transporters and Distributors of Electric Power, UPDEA.

"The agreement was made between the two regional projects in a view to accelerating cooperation towards facilitating and eventual connection of power," Jasper Oduor, project secretary general, told Fortune.

The agreement includes the sharing of information, competence, knowledge and assistance through capacity building trainings and exchange of experiences.

The Addis Abeba based East African Power Pool was established in 2005, following various agreements reached by ministers of energy and heads of power utilities like the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo).

The pool aimed at ensuring the optimal use of available power in the region by helping sub regional countries develop, connect and share power that the public can get at affordable prices. The available types of power include hydro, geothermal, gas and oil.

Ethiopian Airlines, the fastest growing African airline, has announced at the Dubai Air Show the order of Trent XWB-84 engines, worth 540 million dollars, at list price, that are designed to power the Airbus 350-XWB. The price includes an additional four spare engines.

Similarly, GE 90-115B engines to power its five Boeing 777-200 aircraft, including one spare engine, were ordered from US-based General Electric, at a list price of 350 million dollars.

Rolls-Royce claims that the Trent XWB-84 engine, specifically designed for the Airbus 350-XWB, is the most fuel efficient and environmentally sensitive large design on the market, according to a press statement.

Furthermore, Ethiopian CEO Girma Wake says, "As a rapidly growing world-class African airline, we are enhancing our reach and offering better choices to our customers through continuous expansion of our route network."

Including the recent order of twelve A350s and eight Bombardier Q-400s, Ethiopian will operate Africa's most comfortable and efficient fleet.  

The FIFA World Cup trophy arrived in Addis Abeba on its Coca Cola promoted world tour, Tuesday, November 17, 2009. At the airport reception were Kefyalew Azeze, Addis Abeba City Deputy Mayor, (top) and Aster Mamo, minister of Youth and Sports, (third from top) along with other the dignitaries who later escorted the Cup to the National Palace for an official ceremony. The trophy stayed the following day for a photo-op with Ethiopian football fans at the Millennium Hall before making its way to Dar Es Salaam, anzania.

The Cup began its tour on September 21, 2009 from FIFA headquarters in Switzerland and will head around the world before ending up in South Africa on May 4, 2010. FIFA ranked Ethiopia 131st on November 20, 2009 out of its 208 member countries.

Meaza Ashenafi (left), founder and former executive director of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, is now the chairperson of the committee which initiated the idea of starting a women's bank, currently under formation. Last Friday evening, November 13, 2009, the initiators invited prominent businesswomen to a consultation meeting held at the Belgium Embassy. Rahel Zewde, wife of Gunther Sleeuwangen, Belgian Ambassador to Ethiopia, is one of the ten women initiators who are involved in different business sectors. The initiators, who submitted their application to the National Bank of Ethiopia more than a week ago, are waiting for its approval to open a blocked account and start selling shares to the public. They expect the approval to come within a week or two.

The Ethio Poultry Expo was held at the Addis Abeba Exhibition Centre from November 4 to 6, 2009. The expo was organized by a Sudanese company, Expo Team Services Co. with an Ethiopian partner Prana Promotion. The organizers expressed their hope that the expo would be a springboard to attract international companies to enter the poultry markets in Ethiopia and other African countries. Culture and Tourism State Minister, Mahmoud Ahmed Gass, visited the expo where various poultry technologies were displayed.

The construction of the condominium houses of the Gergi site were completed six months ago. Since then, residents have started moving in. Nonetheless, the houses have no electricity and the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) was only able to provide power to some of the residents. Consequently, residents with no access to power are sharing with those who have power by using cables which they have extended themselves. Some of the cables extend for 400 metres, Abebe Daneo, a resident, told Fortune. The cables cost about one Birr per metre and the selling residents could charge the buyers up to 50 Br for a month's share of electricity.