Cement is a very, very hot commodity in Ethiopia. Whether you are in the biscuit or plastic industry, you should think long and hard about venturing into the cement business because you are sure to make friends very quickly, especially of the foreign kind, says gossip.
 

The key phrase today is joint venture. There are legions of smart Indian entrepreneurs forging joint ventures with local companies to import cement into the country.
 

The Indians, says Gossip, have identified the feasibility of the cement business here and have flown from Mumbai to talk to local businesses who would like to import cement through a joint venture. And because the government’s Plan A does not seem to have quite worked out yet, the whole country is scrambling for Plan B and C.

Indeed, Derba MIDROC’s cement is not here yet, though the Prime Minister promised that it will arrive in a few weeks. It has already been couple of weeks since he had his latest press conference.
 

Gossip speculates that the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Ethiopian Investment Commission might become extremely busy issuing trade licenses for the cement joint ventures in the coming weeks.
 

And why not? Who cares, says the gossip corridor, if you have no foreign currency outside the country but your partner does? The major factor why you need the joint venture is because you are not allowed to have a foreign currency in the first place!
 

Those who think that the cement import business is a monopoly or that the Sheikh will have the lion’s share are wrong, says Gossip. The cement situation is just that serious. One of the businesses which will cherish this new inflow of visitors is the hotel business, actually if the hotels are  outgoing and creative they could arrange meetings for joint ventures to tap the potential in the new business venture.
 

When the going gets desperate, the government is happy to bring in cement any way it can. If you and your new Indian best friend can do it together, well go right ahead, says gossip.
 

The major sources for the cement will be Ukraine, Indonesia and Singapore and they will flourish with the high demand and joint ventures. Gossip speculates which cement will fit the quality level of the Ethiopian Standards and Quality Authority which announced last week that importers will have to pass the litmus test to import the right type of cement.

The current market price of 240 Br a quintal will settle a very good profit margin for the joint venture guys as you could import for only 170 up to 180 Br a quintal says Gossip. Will the new companies give constructors in Ethiopia a little break by bringing down the market rate to something a little more reasonable? For the time being, only Shiva knows !