Farmers Obtain 152m Br Revenue from Irrigation Dev't

Farmers engaged in irrigation development in Central Tigray Zone have managed to obtain 152 million Br revenue this year, reported the Zonal Administration. It claimed 68,000 farmers have obtained annual income ranging from 2,300 Br to 20,000 Br from cultivation of spice and fruits on 7,600hct of farmland. The irrigation development was carried out through harnessing 11 dams and various rivers as well as water wells in the Zone.

Ethiopia, India Sign $640m Loan Agreement

India and Ethiopia have signed a 640 million dollar agreement and a Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreement (BIPPA) in an effort to boost their economic ties. The agreement was signed in Addis Abeba by Seyoum Mesfin, Foreign minister, and Pranab Mukherjee, the visiting Indian External Affairs minister. During the signing ceremony, India said it will give the entire loan in the coming two or three years to support Ethiopia's sugar industry, of which 122 million dollars will be released this year, 2007. India and Ethiopia have also signed a BIPPA to strengthen the two countries' relations in economic and investment areas. The two countries also agreed on a pact for establishing a joint ministerial commission and protocol on foreign office consultations to work together on national and international political issues. Mr. Mukherjee will also hold discussions with Alpha Oumar Konare, the chairperson of the African Union (AU), and is expected to address African permanent representatives to the AU.

Investors Create Jobs for over 15,000 Youth

According to the Zonal Organisation Labour and Social Affairs Office, investors in East Shoa Zone have created jobs for over 15,587 youth this fiscal year. Assefa Aredo, office deputy head, said 87 enterprises engaged in floriculture, meat export, agricultural development, construction, garment production and hotel services in the 11 weredas of the Zone created the jobs. He added, problems of labour relations have been observed in some of the enterprises following which labour unions were formed in 43 of the enterprises. Collective agreements were also signed in some of the enterprises. Supervision of basic working conditions was made on 40 enterprises to ensure the safety of workers, while they were made to fulfil safety equipment. There are over 500 investors in the Zone who have employed 41,179 youth, 7,000 of which are women.

EPE Importing Seven Mln Litres Petroleum through Djibouti Port Daily

The Djibouti branch of the Ethiopian Petroleum Enterprise (EPE) is importing close to seven million litres of petroleum through Djibouti Port daily. According to head of the branch office, the Enterprise is importing enough petroleum based on a study conducted on the country's petroleum demand. Accordingly, the number of fuel trucks transporting petroleum from Djibouti is increasing. Ethiopia imports regular gasoline, fuel oil, jet fuel gas oil and other petroleum products. Durale, EPE's computerised petroleum terminal constructed in Djibouti, has the capacity of loading 45,000lt of fuel per 30 minutes, adding that up to 200 fuel tracks are daily transporting fuel to Ethiopia. A study conducted by EPE said Ethiopia's annual petroleum demand reaches seven million tonnes, while the volume of fuel EPE is importing at a time stands at 100,000tn.

Manufacturing Industry Sector Takes Lead in Foreign Investment

The manufacturing industry sector took the lion's share of the foreign investment projects licensed after three quarters of the fiscal year. According to the document issued by the Ethiopian Investment Agency, out of the 838 investment projects licensed during the period, the manufacturing industry sector took the lead with 268 projects. Out of the 40.2 billion Br registered by investors for the execution of the projects, more than 20.7 billion Br came from the manufacturing industry sector. The information centre stated, agriculture and construction equipment lease follow the manufacturing sector with 185 and 152 projects respectively, while with regard to the amount of capital the two sectors use, they stand second and third with 9.5 billion Br and 3.9 billion Br respectively.

South Sudan Spends $9.5m to Save Biggest Bank

South Sudan spent 9.5 million dollars to bail out the autonomous region's biggest bank, privately owned Nile Commercial Bank Plc (NCB), after an ambitious expansion forced a restructuring. Samson Arap Ephraim, the NCB Operations manager said, NCB has received around 15 million Sudanese pounds (7.5 million dollars) from the South's central bank and 4 million pounds (two million dollars) from the government to save it. NCB had also incurred costs it could not afford to set up 23 branches across the South. A north-south peace agreement signed in 2005 ended more than 20 years of war. Since then, the largely underdeveloped South has been struggling to provide services, including banking, for the first time in many areas. Ephraim said NCB's 100,000 shares are currently owned by Sudanese and international individuals and companies. But the bank expects government investment in the institution soon. The government as of now has not entered officially but has promised to take 60pc of the shares.