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News
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Column
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| News In Brief |
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Economy |
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AfDB Loan to Alleviate African
Food Crisis |
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The African Development Bank (AfDB)
will give an additional 1 billion dollars towards helping address
the food crisis in African countries, Reuters reported. This extra
funding would raise the bank’s portfolio of agricultural loans to
4.8 billion dollars. In late March, the UN World Food Program had
appealed to donors to help it offset a 500 million dollars increase
in aid costs to maintain deliveries already scheduled for this year.
The bank stated that it would also consider providing countries in
difficulty with support for state budget spending and would help
fund the provision of more fertilizers to increase farming
production.
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Publication |
The Ethiopian Herald,
May 4, 2008. |
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Commerce |
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Illegal Fishing Depletes Fish
Stocks |
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A study by the Institute for
Security Studies reports that the scale of fishing across Africa is
now so serious that it is in danger of decimating fish stocks across
the continent, the Nation stated. The report represents the
first detailed quantitative analysis of the problem on a global
scale and studies indicate that losses for sub-Saharan Africa total
1 billion dollars per year. Britain’s minister for Trade and
Development, Gareth Thomas, said that the scale of illegal fishing
could be double earlier estimates, with weak international
governance hampering progress in tackling the problem. The study
indicates that the scale of illegal fishing now threatens around 10
million Africans who depend on fishing as a source of income. The
malefactors in the devastation of African fishing stocks are
large-scale commercial fishing companies originating form the
European Union and Asia.
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Publication |
The Daily Monitor,
May 3-4, 2008. |
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Economy |
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AfDB Loan to Alleviate African
Food Crisis |
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The African Development Bank (AfDB)
will give an additional 1 billion dollars towards helping address
the food crisis in African countries, Reuters reported. This extra
funding would raise the bank’s portfolio of agricultural loans to
4.8 billion dollars. In late March, the UN World Food Program had
appealed to donors to help it offset a 500 million dollars increase
in aid costs to maintain deliveries already scheduled for this year.
The bank stated that it would also consider providing countries in
difficulty with support for state budget spending and would help
fund the provision of more fertilizers to increase farming
production.
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Publication |
The
Ethiopian Herald, May 4, 2008. |
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World Economy |
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Oil Prices Fall As US Dollar
Strengthens |
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Oil prices retreated further on
Friday May 2, reaching its lowest level since April 14 from the
early week record of nearly 120 dollars a barrel as a strengthening
U.S. dollar prompted investors to exit the market. This has lessened
oil’s appeal to investors who have betted that the U.S. dollar would
continue to lose strength. When the dollar gains ground, commodities
such as oil lose their value as a hedge against inflation, prompting
selling. The strengthening of the dollar makes oil more expensive to
investors overseas. Analysts caution that oil’s swoon could be
temporary. The dollar’s decline has been a major factor behind oil
rises from about 64 dollars a barrel a year ago, and the dollar’s
weakness in the future could easily push crude futures above 120
dollars, they say. The recent gains of the dollar have come against
the background that the US Federal Reserve is done cutting interest
rates; lower interest rates tend to weaken the dollar. The Federal
Reserve cut its key rate a quarter percentage point on Wednesday
April 30, without giving a clear indication of its future plans
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Publication |
The Ethiopian Herald,
May 3, 2008. |
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Health |
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US Pledges 50 Bn Dollars to Health Sector |
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Appreciating the developments
taking place in the health sector of Ethiopia, the U.S. Agency for
International Development (USAID) promised to further strengthen the
progress that the country has shown recently. The Assistant
Administrator for the Bureau of Health with the USAID expressed his
delight with the pending reauthorization of President’s Emergency
Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), which will provide 50 billion
dollars over 5 years to combat HIV/AIDS across the globe, with
Ethiopia as one of the fifteen countries of its focus. This pledge
places the US government as the largest bilateral donor to Ethiopia.
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Publication |
The Daily Monitor, May 3-4, 2008. |
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International Relations |
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Taylor
Amassed a Fortune in US Banks |
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Liberia’s ex-President, Charles
Taylor, had about five billion dollars in two US bank accounts while
in office, his chief prosecutor has told the BBC. A UN-backed war
crimes court is trying Mr. Taylor for supporting rebels in Sierra
Leone during his presidency. He denies allegations of selling arms
and diamonds for his own benefit. Any money found in his possession
would be distributed to civil war victims of Sierra Leone and
Liberia. The case has been transferred from Sierra Leone to The
Hague for security reasons.
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Publication |
Addis Zemen, May 4, 2008. |
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Investment |
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Substantial Increase to Flow of Investment |
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Trade and Industry Bureau of
Southern Nations, Nationalities and Peoples State said 918
investors, with a combined capital of over 5.7 billion Birr have
launched various investment projects in the state over the past nine
months. The investors are engaged in agriculture, industry and
provision of social services. The projects are expected to create
jobs for nearly 230,000 people when they are fully operational. The
flow of investment to the state has increased during the past nine
months due to extensive promotional activities, the favorable
climate created by the new Ethiopian Millennium celebration, the
prompt services provided by the Bureau and the readily available
plots of land. Industrial sites with necessary infrastructure
facilities have been designated in 16 towns in the state.
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Publication |
The Ethiopian Herald, May 4, 2008. |
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Politics |
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Anti-Corruption Commission Applauds Media Impact |
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The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) applauded
the role of media in creating awareness among the public concerning
corruption and related issues, as this year’s number of cases
reported by the public exceeds that of the previous year. The
commission said that it received around 2500 cases from the public
within a duration period of nine months. This is double the figure
reported last year. The Director of Ethics Education and Public
Relations Department of the Commission, Birhanu Assefa, said that
these cases confirm the impact of the media on the public.
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Publication |
The Daily Monitor, May
3-4, 2008. |
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Banking |
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Banking And Insurance Industry |
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The ever-increasing number of
banks and insurance companies in Ethiopia indicates booming economic
activity across the nation, Ethiopia’s Athletics legend, Haile
Gebre-Selassie, said. Haile made the statement while speaking at the
inaugural ceremony of the ‘Raguel Branches’ of the Anbessa Bank and
Anbessa Insurance Companies. The bank and insurance companies should
deliver efficient services to clients to remain competent in the
sector. Bank Acting President, Wolde-Gebriel Wedajo, said the bank
has established up-to-date information technologies to provide
efficient services to customers. The bank has installed relevant
banking software to interconnect the various branches. He said that
the bank has 16 branches with a combined capital of half a billion
Birr, while its sister insurance company has 8 branches.
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Publication |
The Ethiopian Herald,
May 4, 2008. |
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