Investors Launch Projects in Shashemene

Investors in Shashemene town administration of the Oromia Regional State have launched investment projects with an aggregate capital of over 236 million Br during the just-ended budget year, the town administration said. Gemeda Bedassa, town general manager, said the investors are running their projects on 216,000sqm of land. The administration is preparing 21,000sqm plots for other investment projects with a combined capital of 226 million Br. Gemeda said, investors with an aggregate capital of 614 million Br have been operating in the town for the last three years. Meanwhile, over 134 local investors have been engaged in coffee development on over 30,000hct of land during the past two years. Over 30 investors with a registered capital of over 362 million Br have been licensed since 1985.

EU Provides Five Mln Euros in Humanitarian Aid

The European Commission (EC) said it has allocated five million euros (60 million Br) in humanitarian aid to vulnerable people in Ethiopia affected by conflicts, climatic as well as public health hazards. The Commission said the aim was to provide humanitarian assistance to around 750,000 vulnerable people including internally displaced persons in the sectors of health, water and sanitation and protection. All the funds are channelled through the Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department (ECHO), under the responsibility of the European Commissioner for Development and Humanitarian Aid, Louis Michel. Ethiopia is also one of seven countries which benefit from 10 million euros (120 million Br) in humanitarian aid to improve drought preparedness in the Horn of Africa.

311.8m Birr Obtained from Gold Supplied by Traditional Miners

Over 311.8 million Br was secured in hard currency from the export of gold supplied by artisanal miners through the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) last budget year, Mines and Energy Minister, Almayehu Tegenu, said. The sum was obtained from close to two tonnes of gold supplied that was shipped to foreign markets during the reported period. Over six million dollars was also generated from the export of 706kg of tantalite during the reported period. Alemayehu said the number of artisanal miners who want to have licenses has been increasing from time to time due to successful efforts launched to enable the miners to engage in legal rather in illegal ones.

Association Loans Nearly 412m Br

The Oromia Credit and Saving Association has loaned nearly 412 million Br to clients both in rural and urban areas last budget year. The Association used to provide loan service to clients both in rural and urban areas last budget year. Gemechu Dubesa, Association general manager, said, the loans were given to over 225,700 clients during the reported period. The Association has provided some 363.3 million Br to clients in rural areas and 45.6 million Br to those in urban areas. Of the set target of collecting 218 million Br from clients during the reported period, the Association has collected 215.5 million Br. Similarly, the Amhara Credit and Saving Institute said it has provided about 74 million Br in loans to 76,000 low-income community members in East Gojjam Zone, Amhara Regional State, during the past six months.

Ethiopian Registers Total Revenue of 7.7b Br

Ethiopian Airlines registered an all time high total revenue of 7.7 billion Br in the just ended Ethiopian fiscal year. However, its major spending has considerably increased as it spent 2.3 billion Br for fuel cost alone among other major costs. According to Girma Wake, CEO of the national carrier, over fly and handling aviation costs of the airline was 990 million Br followed by an all time high figure of 550 million Br for aircraft lease. In the just ended fiscal year, Ethiopian transported over two million passengers. Girma told the general staff of the airline that the company was short of its target net profit of 450 million Br. For the next Ethiopian budget year, the airlineplans to spend 120 million Br for the expansion of its information technology as well as 12 million dollar simulator aircraft of 737-700 for the training of pilots.

CBE Bags 1.2b Br in Gross Profits

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) secured over 1.2 billion Br in gross profits during the 2006/07 Ethiopian budget year. The Bank's gross profits during the reported year surpassed that of the earlier one by 100 million Br. However, the amount of the profit secured was short by 200 million Br of the Bank's forecast gross profit for the fiscal year. As the reported budget year winds up, CBE's deposits also reached about a record 35 billion Br, the amount is up by around seven billion Birr from the level a year ago. CBE, East Africa's banking giant, currently operates across 191 branches, and will soon open four new ones in a month's time.

NLA to be Independent of Ministry of Revenues

The National Lottery Administration of Ethiopia (NLA), which is under the Ministry of Revenues (MoR), is scheduled to be independent of the Ministry. This is in line with the decision of the Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) programme. NLA, Ethiopian Customs Authority (ECA) and Federal Inland Revenues Authority (FIRA) are all under MoR as stipulated by proclamation. Merging of other departments under the Ministry is also expected soon. NLA has planned to earn a net profit of 24.38 million Br during the fiscal year. However, it has managed to collect only 17.57 million Br during the past nine months because of delay in Lotto sale and sale of regular lottery as expected. During the nine months of the fiscal year the Administration had planned to sell bingo Lottery at a cost of 1.7 million Br but managed to sell 470,000 Br only.

Care-Ethiopia, Partners Launch 10m Br HIV/AIDS Project

Care-Ethiopia, in collaboration with Bright Hope Organisation, Dawn of Hope Ethiopia, Organisation for Social Service for AIDS (OSSA) and the Ethiopian Women lawyers Association (EWLA), on Tuesday, August 7, 2007, launched an urban HIV/AIDS prevention project at a worth over 10 million Br. The project getting ahead aims at reducing the socio-economic impact of HIV and AIDS on vulnerable women and children through enhanced governance, Feven Tassew (PhD), project manager with Care Ethiopia. The projects are to be implemented in Addis Abeba and Bahir Dar through a period of three years, Dr. Feven noted.

Another Commercial Bank for Ethiopia Under Formation

Another commercial bank, Berhan International Bank SC, is set to join the industry with 300 million Br subscribed capital that would be raised from the public. Each share is being sold for 1,000 Br par values. Currently there are two commercial banks under formation; Oromia International Bank and Access Bank. Prospective investors are required to buy a minimum of 20 shares worth 20,000 Br; while the maximum shareholding is limited to 20pc of the subscribed capital. The country's central bank, National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), requires that the newly formed commercial bank have a minimum of 75 million Br before being allowed to operate.