By Farhaanah Mahomed

Grow Africa partners have doubled their investment commitments towards African agriculture and food security to 7.2 billion US dollars.

This is according to the second Grow Africa annual report which was released on Monday by Grow Africa, a partnership platform between the African Union (AU), the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) to accelerate the transformation of Africa’s agriculture through the Comprehensive African Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP).

Of the 7.2 billion US dollars in new commitments, the Grow Africa partners have already invested 970 million US dollars, which has directly led to the creation of 33,000 new jobs and has assisted 2.6 million smallholder African farmers with provisions of new services, sourcing, contracts or training.

(READ MORE: farmers vital to Africa’s agricultural transformation)

The investment is also in line with the World Bank’s African agriculture growth forecast, which they believe will triple in size by 2030 to become a 1 trillion US dollar industry.

(READ MORE: Agriculture to become Africa’s new frontier for growth)

Most investments to date have been made by African based companies while half of the invested funds have been towards Nigeria due to the size of its economy, as well as its government’s renewed political commitment to agriculture which has attracted domestic and international investors.

(WATCH VIDEO: Nigerian agriculture sector to create 3.5 million jobs by 2015)

The Grow Africa annual report also highlighted a number of best practices for African farmers looking to scale up their businesses. It also discusses new public sector bodies such as the Agricultural Transformation Agency in Ethiopia, as well as frameworks to attract private investments into specific regions like Tanzania’s Southern Agricultural Growth Corridor.

The report however noted that Africa’s agriculture sector must address a number of challenges such as the lack of access to relevant financial products and the fragmented relationship between public and private institutions, before it can reach its full potential.

“The 2013 Grow Africa report shows good progress on many fronts, but overall, it shows that the level of investment, and the speed and reliability of reforms to the sector remain too slow to be truly transformative for Africa’s smallholders,” said Ibrahim Assane Mayaki, chief executive officer (CEO) of the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency.

“Governments must accelerate action to improve the enabling environment in response to market priorities and the private sector must innovate and be willing to take on and share risk.”

(READ MORE: Investment essential to boost agriculture growth)

Rhoda Peace Tumusiime, commissioner for rural economy & agriculture at the African Union, added that there also needs to be more focus on the inclusion of female farmers.

“The year 2014 is a clarion call for concerted efforts by governments, farmers, development partners and private sector players to sustain CAADP momentum. In particular, we need to ensure well-designed public investments in agriculture result in better inclusion of women, who make up the bulk of smallholder farmers yet do not benefit equally from investments in agriculture,” she said.

Arne Cartridge, CEO if Grow Africa, stated that the partnerships’ focus for 2014 will on strengthening stakeholder relationships as well as empowering Africa’s youth.

“Grow Africa’s focus for 2014 will remain on creating better linkages between stakeholders and projects to accelerate the speed of return on investment. We will also put specific emphasis on projects that engage African youth at a time when so many are moving to cities. Nearly 90 per cent of rural youth who work in agriculture contribute up to one third of Africa’s GDP (gross domestric product) and we cannot afford to lose this growth driver.”

The Grow Africa Investment Forum is set to take place in Abuja, Nigeria on the 6 to 9 May 2014. 

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Sourced here  http://www.cnbcafrica.com/news/special-report/2014/05/05/grow-africa-doubles-agriculture-investment-to-us$72-billion/

World Bank Extends 380 million USD Support

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Addis Ababa May 05/2014 Ministry of Urban Development, Housing and Construction disclosed that it has received 380 million USD from World Bank for the expansion of infrastructural development in 44 cities.
The ministry held a consultative meeting that discussed programs for the execution of urban development safety-net strategies with participants drawn from regional states and Addis Ababa Administration on Sunday.

Urban Development and Construction Minister Mekuria Haile said the support would have immense use in realizing green development, urban farming and employment creation.

Realizing this, stakeholders are expected to integrate their efforts to involve the public in various development works and ensure food security, the minster emphasized.

Ministry Strategey Organizers Chair Geletaw Benebru on his part said the strategy will play a huge role in reducing the level of poverty in cities by creating jobs during the coming five years.

Strengthening rural and urban integration, reducing vulnerability to disasters, creating conducive situation that protects citizens from living in the street are the goals of the project, according to him.
The consultative forum participants on their parts should focus on creating attitudes as they have big role in ensuring food security and job creation, he stressed.

http://213.55.98.22/enae/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=1990:world-bank-extends-380-million-usd-support&Itemid=260

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Ethiopia to get debut sovereign rating within 2 weeks: finance minister

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Ethiopia expects to get its first sovereign credit ratings within two weeks, Finance and Economic Development Minister Sufian Ahmed said, paving the way for the country’s first foray on to international bond markets. 

The three main rating agencies – Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and Fitch – visited the Horn of Africa nation in February and March to assess its economy.

“I think next week, or probably the (week after)…, the three …agencies will announce the rating,” Sufian said.

 

Ethiopia, whose economy and population are among the fastest growing in Africa, is keen to attract international investors to help shift its largely agrarian economy towards textiles and other manufacturing.

It has ruled out privatising its banks and telecoms sector.

But it does plan “not only a Eurobond but other bonds as well” once it secures a rating, Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn told Reuters in an interview in October.

Sufian spoke late on Sunday on the sidelines of a meeting with a Chinese delegation led by Premier Li Keqiang.

“Everybody will see where (Ethiopia)… is now, and why a number of investors from China, India and Europe are coming here,” the minister added.

Beijing is a major partner in Ethiopia’s bid to expand its infrastructure, with cumulative investments by Chinese firms to date reaching well over $1 billion, according to official figures.

The International Monetary Fund expects Ethiopia’s economy to grow 7.5 percent in each of the next two fiscal years but says the government needs to encourage more private sector investment to prevent growth rates from falling thereafter.

http://www.theafricareport.com/East-Horn-Africa/ethiopia-to-get-debut-sovereign-rating-within-2-weeks-finance-minister.html

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Africa seeks more regional trade to beat low sugar prices

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Africa produces 14 million tonnes of Sugar annually. Photo©Reuters

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African sugar producers on Tuesday sought ways to increase trade of the commodity on the continent to survive falling world prices and the end of duty-free access to the European Union.

Sugar prices on the global market especially in the European Union (EU), Africa’s biggest external market, have fallen sharply over the last years due to oversupply, and African producers are seeking new markets to cushion themselves.

The EU, which allowed a duty free market to many African producers, decided last year to end sugar quotas in 2017, and its internal prices are expected to fall significantly.

“The world market is going to be very volatile,” Alan Wood, American Sugar Holdings (ASR Group) Head of Global Commodities, told Reuters at the fourth Africa Sugar Conference in Kenya’s port city of Mombasa.

“We have had four years in a row where supply has exceeded demand. When prices are low, people produce less.”

Africa produces 14 million tonnes of Sugar annually, lower than its 19 million tonne consumption rate, according to the International Sugar Organisation, and experts at the conference argued that was a perfect opportunity for the continent to trade with itself, to compensate for the deficit.

African sugar producers who export to the EU are extremely concerned they will be hurt by its decision to end sugar quotas.

The ACP group of producers, comprising 79 African, Caribbean and Pacific states, said last June it was “appalled” by the decision. It had sought the extension of quotas until 2020.

Some producers in eastern and southern Africa are among the world’s lowest cost producers and should, however, be well placed to win sales to other markets although the business may be less lucrative.

Lindsay Jolly, International Sugar Organisation’s (ISO) Senior Economist said the fall in EU prices had been caused by, among other factors, a decline in demand.

“The most logical choice is to look at regional markets… They can also look elsewhere on the world market,” Jolly told Reuters.

Europe buys 34 percent of all its sugar needs sugar from Africa.

The price of a tonne of sugar on the international market has declined by 450 Euros in the past two years, falling from 800 Euros in 2012, to 350 Euros in 2014, according to statistics from the ISO, seen by Reuters at the conference.

“Post-2017 when we have a free market in Europe, the prices will probably fall further,” Jolly added.

“African producers must deal with how to live together with other sugar-producing countries, harmonise policy, share markets and reduce the cost of production. Governments might have to change their mind sets and help to develop these trade corridors.”

http://www.theafricareport.com/North-Africa/africa-seeks-more-regional-trade-to-beat-low-sugar-prices.html

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China to aid Africa in its fight against poverty

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CHINESE Premier Li Keqiang yesterday unveiled extra aid for Africa totalling at least US$12 billion, and offered to share advance technology to help with the development of high-speed rail on the continent.

Li pledged the additional funding in a speech at African Union headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

China is to increase credit lines to Africa by US$10 billion to US$30 billion and will boost the China-Africa Development Fund by US$2 billion, taking it to a total of US$5 billion, Xinhua news agency reported.

Li depicted a dream of all African capitals connected by high-speed rail so as to boost pan-African communication and development.

As China has advanced technologies in this area, Li said it was ready to work with Africa “to make this dream come true.”

Li is paying his first visit to Africa since he became premier last year.

His four-nation tour follows a trip to the continent by President Xi Jinping in March 2013, when he renewed an offer of US$20 billion in loans to Africa between 2013 and 2015.

In his speech at the AU headquarters, the premier reaffirmed China’s commitment to further deepening the China-Africa comprehensive cooperative partnership.

China is ready to expand cooperation with Africa in building roads, railways, telecommunications, power grids and other infrastructure so as to help the continent realize regional interconnection, Li said, adding that the Chinese government also encourages Chinese enterprises to form joint ventures with African counterparts in a bid to improve Africa’s regional aviation industry.

In a bid to reduce poverty, China will train 2,000 agricultural technicians and management personnel for Africa in the coming five years, and tilt its assistance toward such welfare areas as drinking water and prevention and control of epidemics, Li said.

Stressing that ecological protection is a shared responsibility of all humanity, Li said the Chinese government will provide Africa with US$10 million of free aid for wildlife preservation and promote joint research in protecting biological diversity, preventing and controlling desertification and promoting modern agriculture.

In respect of people-to-people exchanges, Li said China will provide African countries with 18,000 government scholarships and help them train 30,000 various professionals.

On peace and security, Li said China stands ready to assist Africa in building capacity in such areas as peace-keeping, counter-terrorism and anti-piracy.

China, he said, will also offer South Sudan another 50 million yuan (about US$8 million) of aid to help deal with the humanitarian crisis there.

On Sunday, China signed a raft of agreements with Ethiopia after Li arrived for the first leg of his four-nation Africa tour aimed at shoring up burgeoning Sino-Africa ties that saw trade top US$200 billion last year.

Chinese ministers and company executives accompanying Li signed 16 deals with their Ethiopian counterparts, including loans and cooperation agreements for the construction of roads and industrial zones.

Huawei Technologies Co Ltd — the world’s second largest telecom equipment maker — and ZTE Corp are currently working to introduce a high-speed 4G broadband network in Addis Ababa and a 3G service throughout the country.

Officials said both firms have now signed an US$80 million deal to lay optical ground cables to form a nationwide network in Ethiopia.

http://english.sina.com/china/2014/0505/697628.html

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Ethiopia earns close to $100 million from leather export

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Addis Ababa, 3 May 2014 (WIC) - Ethiopia earned 99.89 million US dollars in revenue from leather export during the last nine months, the Ethiopian Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI) said.

LIDI Corporate Communication Director, Berhanu Serjebo, told WIC the revenue increased by 11 percent compared to the 89 .75 million US dollars earned the same period the previous year.

He said finished leather products made 73.29 per cent of the revenue followed by shoe, leather gloves and leather attires each generating 23.9 per cent, 2.5 per cent and 0.29 per cent, respectively.

Ethiopia has set a plan to boost leather export earnings to half a billion US dollars by the end of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13271-ethiopia-earns-close-100-mln-from-leather-export-

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China, Ethiopia pledge to push for new progress in bilateral relations

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Addis Ababa, 5 May 2014 (WIC) - Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and his Ethiopian counterpart, Hailemariam Desalegn, vowed here Sunday to strive for new progress in the development of the bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership.

In his talks with the Ethiopian prime minister, Li lauded the profound traditional friendship between the two countries and the steady deepening of bilateral cooperation, expressing the hope that his visit will further consolidate China-Ethiopia friendship and steer China-Ethiopia and China-Africa relations toward new achievements.

Noting that strengthening bilateral cooperation serves the fundamental and long-term interests of both sides, Li stressed that his country stands ready to make concerted efforts with Ethiopia to maintain the momentum of high-level mutual visits so as to further cement mutual political trust.

The two sides, Li proposed, should prioritize cooperation in infrastructure construction and development of energy and resources while expanding mutual beneficial collaboration in such fields as light rail and highway construction.

Beijing supports Ethiopia’s efforts in establishing special economic zones and industrial parks, and is willing to share experience with Ethiopia in this regard in an unreserved manner and transfer to Ethiopia industries and technologies that suit the development needs of local communities, added Li.

China will continue to encourage Chinese enterprises and financial institutions to invest in Ethiopia’s domestic construction, Li said, adding that Beijing hopes that the Ethiopian side will provide a better business environment and investment facilitation measures for Chinese firms.

Meanwhile, China is also ready to work with Ethiopia to boost cooperation in such areas as culture, education, health, technology and tourism, and enhance bilateral communication and coordination on major global and regional affairs so as to safeguard the legitimate rights of development countries.

For his part, Hailemariam extended a warm welcome for the Chinese leader, saying the comprehensive cooperation between Ethiopia and China has promoted Ethiopia’s economic growth and transformation.

Thanking China for its long-term, sincere and selfless assistance, he said Ethiopia is ready to further strengthen high-level engagement with China and work with China to map out a future strategic plan for bilateral cooperation.

Ethiopia, he added, welcomes more investment from Chinese enterprises and is willing to provide them with more facilitation measures. African countries will carry out closer cooperation with China under the frameworks such as the China-Africa Cooperation Forum, and join hands with China to play a more active role in global and regional affairs, he said.

After their hour-long talks, the two leaders witnessed the signing of several cooperation deals covering such areas as technology, industry, infrastructure and finance.

“I believe the cooperation between China and Ethiopia will bring real benefit to the two countries and two peoples,” Li told reporters after the signing ceremony. “We are willing to see Ethiopia moving fast and steadily on the track of development and make greater achievements in its efforts of poverty reduction.”

Hailemariam described his country’s ties with China as “strategic,” and hailed the development of bilateral relations over the decades.

China is the largest developing country and Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economy in the world, he said, adding that the two countries share a “common destiny” and should work together to achieve common development.

At a joint press conference after the signing ceremony, Li pointed out that the destinies of China and Africa, which have always supported each other and treated each other as equals during the course of national liberalization and construction, are closely linked.

“We believe Africa deserves an important place and should have an important role in the international political landscape,” said the Chinese premier.

Noting that China is the world’s largest developing country and Africa is the continent with the highest ratio of developing countries, Li said the two sides are in pursuit of common development.

Cooperation between the Asian giant and the land of hope, he said, will not only bring forth mutually beneficial and win-win results, but also help promote world economic balance and inclusive growth.

China-Africa relations also feature exchanges and mutual learning in terms of civilization and culture, Li said, adding that respect and learning between different civilizations and cultures is conducive to diversity of world civilizations and multi-polarization.

Also speaking at the press conference, Hailemariam said Africa and China share a common destiny, noting that Ethiopia-China and Africa-China relations are built on mutual trust, mutual understanding and mutual benefit on an equal footing.

Ethiopia, he added, is ready to learn from China’s development experience and continue to deepen bilateral strategic cooperation in the fields of politics, international affairs, economy and people-to-people exchange so as to uplift the bilateral comprehensive cooperative partnership to higher levels.

Li arrived here earlier in the day for an official visit to the East African country, during which he is also to pay a visit to the African Union headquarters and deliver a speech there to expound on China’s Africa policy.

The Horn of Africa country is the first leg of Li’s four-nation tour, his first to the promising continent since he took over the Chinese premiership in March last year. He will also visit Nigeria, Angola and Kenya.

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13282-china-ethiopia-pledge-to-push-for-new-progress-in-bilateral-relations

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Ethiopian Fertiliser Plants Crucial

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The Ethiopian industry ministry recently announced intentions to spend $2.8 billion for setting up new fertiliser factories 300 kilometres west of Addis Ababa.

According to the same sources, the plants are expected to come into operation in three years and have the capacity to manufacture 300,000 tons of fertiliser each year.

The Ethiopians are not wasting time to get things moving, because the government believes self-sufficiency in fertiliser is a key to revitalising Ethiopian agriculture.

No one wants to be reminded of those harrowing days in the mid-1980s, when people starved to death.

For those who are wondering what the fuss is all about, fertilisers can make plants grow faster and better. It is fertilisers that have been at the core of many a successful Green Revolution, especially in South East Asia.

There continues to be heated debate surrounding the intensive use, but at this moment it is far less controversial than resorting to an all out mass distribution of those miracle Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs).

By the way, Ethiopia’s national seed bank is the oldest and largest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, having been in existence for nearly 40 years.

Against this background, adopting GMOs is a decision that will not be taken lightly. However with a population of just over 80 million people the government is under pressure to set the pace.

According to FAO, rising incomes will create a disproportionally higher demand for food, meaning that over the next three decades food production will need to increase by about 60% across sub-Saharan Africa.

Nearly all of the increase in production will have to come from intensification of agriculture. In other words more yield per unit time and per unit area and that means fertilisers.

As urbanization reduces the rural workforce, agriculture will also need to adopt new forms of mechanization and shift to land use intensification, with all of its connotations.

Those scenarios point to an increase in use efficiencies of all natural resources, particularly water, and to the need for greater – although not proportionally greater – use of mineral fertilizer. The global phosphate fertilizers demand is increasing due to the growing world population and increasing food demand.

Increasing milk and meat consumption in the world has necessitated large feed volume that in turn has increased the demand for maximum forage production. The global demand for phosphate fertilizers is projected to grow by 3.2% annually, from 2013 to 2018.

Last week Addis Ababa hosted a regional agriculture meeting which agreed farmers are at the centre of Africa’s transformation agenda. Therefore it is in the best interests of food security that Ethiopia invests the $2.8 billion in fertiliser projects.

http://www.busiweek.com/index1.php?Ctp=2&pI=1110&pLv=3&srI=79&spI=454&cI=10

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Ethiopia: The WB to Support Improved Local Government Performance in Expanding Key Infrastructure and Services in Booming Cities

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WASHINGTON - The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$380 million credit to help improve the capacity and performance of local urban governments to expand sustainable urban infrastructure and services in cities across Ethiopia.

As the first phase of the program is nearing completion; the government is now embarking on a second phase, and has requested the World Bank to continue its support.  Through the use of the Program for Results (PforR) instrument, the International Development Association (IDA*) credit for the Second Urban Development Program (ULGDP II) will scale up support to 26 new Urban Local Governments-for a total of 44 ULGs-across nine regional governments.

“Ethiopia is rapidly becoming more urban which means poverty becomes more of a city phenomenon. In 2000, 11 percent of Ethiopia’s poor lived in cities, but this rose to 14 percent in 2010/11,” said Guang Zhe Chen, the World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. “Through efforts to leverage well-functioning and productive urban centers, the operation is expected to maintain a focus on the urban poor and increase access to basic infrastructure services, spur inclusive growth and fuel job creation.”

The ULGDP aims to address institutional and fiscal gaps at the urban local government level by supporting improved performance in the planning, delivery, and sustained provision of urban services and infrastructure by local governments.

The ULGDP II aims to enhance the institutional performance of participating urban local governments in developing and sustaining urban infrastructure and services. “The ULGDP II will consolidate and expand the achievements of the first phase by providing  grants to urban local governments based on their performance across a range of areas including fiduciary management, asset management, revenue generation, management of environmental and social systems, , planning and budgeting practices, execution of planned operations and maintenance, governance, transparency and participation, among others,” said Abebaw Alemayehu, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the program.

The program funds are disbursed on the basis of the performance of the participating local governments and are earmarked for investment in urban infrastructure and services.

The success of the first phase has shown great promise that this program will help the urban population in Ethiopia. As of July 2013, around 2.6 million people have benefited from the infrastructure and services financed under ULGDP. Some 670 kilometers of roads and 588 kilometers of drainage system, 171 latrines and 110 community water points have been constructed, with 29,000 people given access to improved water sources.  As a result of the roads built by program funds, particularly cobblestone, mobility for residents has increased, flooding has diminished, property values and small enterprises have increased.  These changes are transforming city and town centers into lively and welcoming places in which to live and work.

http://www.noodls.com/view/FC18DEAB596E0CF010F9E1C889504F787C537814?585xxx1399403314

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China remains committed to support Ethiopia’s development activities: Premier Li Keqiang

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Addis Ababa, 6 May 2014 (WIC) – Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang said that his country will continue assisting Ethiopia’s massive development activities.
The visiting Chinese Premier Li Keqiang held discussion with Ethiopian President Dr Mulatu Teshome here today.
Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Ambassador Dina Mufti who attended the discussion told journalists that China will provide financial and technical support to Ethiopia’s effort to reduce poverty and improve the livelihood of its people.
Premier Li also pledged to support the second phase of the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) of Ethiopia.
During his state visit to Ethiopia, Li Keqiang approved 3 billion US dollars loan for the Ethio-Djibouti railway project.
He also pledged to provide 475.6 million birr as grant and 475.6 million birr interest free loan to Ethiopia to finance development projects.
Ethiopian President Dr Mulatu Tosheme, who thanked Chinese premier for his promises, said that China is providing what Ethiopia needs to its booming economy.
The president also said his country is ready to expand cooperation with China in the construction of rail, road and other infrastructure.

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13299-china-remains-committed-to-support-ethiopias-devt-activities-premier-li-keqiang

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Ethiopia most successful in Africa at cutting maternal deaths

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Addis Ababa, 6 May 2014 (WIC) – Pregnancy-related deaths in Ethiopia have fallen by nearly two-thirds, making it the African country that has most successfully lowered its maternal mortality rate thanks to its lifesaving investment in female health workers and girls’ education, Save the Children said on Tuesday.

Ethiopia’s maternal deaths have fallen from one in 24 women dying due to pregnancy in 2000 to one in 67 today, Save the Children wrote in its annual report State of the World’s Mothers.

Out of 178 countries included in the report, Save the Children ranks Finland as the best place to be a mother or child and Somalia as the worst.

Care For Woman By Women

A decade ago, the Ethiopian government hired 30,000 basic health workers to provide preventive and curative health care services across the country. There is a health post, staffed by two health workers, for every 5,000 people.

All of the health workers are women because it is easier culturally for them to talk to other women about family planning, healthy pregnancies, clean delivery and childcare. The health workers also connect those who need more sophisticated care with larger health centres and hospitals.

As a result, the number of women receiving antenatal care has risen from 27 percent in 2000 to 42 percent in 2011, said Metasebia Gizaw Balcha, Save the Children’s regional health adviser.

“They work with the pregnant woman on birth preparedness,” she told Thomson Reuters Foundation at the Save the Children office in Nairobi. “If it’s a delivery that’s known to have risks, definitely she would plan to have it in a health facility.”

Common risks include becoming pregnant before the age of 16 or after 35, and having less than two years between deliveries, as well as anaemia, sexually transmitted diseases like HIV/AIDS, and eclampsia, a complication marked by high blood pressure that can lead to seizures.

Most maternal deaths occur during labor, delivery or soon afterwards.

Key to reducing maternal mortality is for women giving birth to have a doctor, midwife, or nurse present in case they need skilled assistance, such as the use of forceps, administration of drugs or surgery.

In Ethiopia, skilled assistance at delivery has increased from 6 to 10 percent in the last six years, according to government statistics.

Most women still deliver at home, with 57 percent helped by a relative and 28 percent by a traditional birth attendant, but now women are more educated about the risks.

“Traditional birth attendants do not know how to detect complications or conduct clean deliveries,” Gizaw Balcha said. “They usually did not clean the umbilical cord and used to apply some other herbs or even cow dung on it. They used to delay women at home even if there were complications. That will not happen now with health extension workers.”

A woman who becomes pregnant more often also faces greater chances of dying, so improved family planning can improve rates of survival.

Ethiopia’s fertility rate has dropped from 5.5 children per woman in 2000 to 4.8 in 2011, and contraceptive use is up from 8 to 29 percent. (Thomson Reuters Foundation)

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13300-ethiopia-most-successful-in-africa-at-cutting-maternal-deaths-

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‘dVentus’ Technologies launches smart electric meters

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‘dVentus’ Technologies, a renewable energy technology company, held a product launch event on Friday May 2nd for its smart electric meters along with a distribution automation system. According to the company, the system is complimentary to the smart grid rollout plan of the Ethiopian government as well as the Ethiopian Electric Utility.
“The smart electric meters will be replacing the current postpaid meters that are installed everywhere,” said dVentus CEO Daniel Gizaw. He also stated that dVentus is working in partnership with the Metal and Engineering Corporation (MetEC) and Ethiopian Electric Utility.
According to the company’s claims the smart meters should ensure reliable and efficient energy supply, accuracy in billing and tariff management, saving in distribution cost and revenue increases. It is expected to contribute greatly to improving customer service for the Ethiopian Electric Utility.
Back in January 2012, MetEC was in discussions with the then Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) to start replacing the analogue meters that are read manually with digital smart meters that automatically capture information about electricity consumption and transmit the information  back to EEPCo.
MetEC  previously had about 2,000 workers that would replace the existing meters with the new smart ones. Smart Meters are different than pre paid meters as they have real-time sensors, power outage notification capability and power quality monitoring, which utilizes two-way communication between the meter and the central system.

http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4312:dventus-technologies-launches-smart-electric-meters-&catid=35:capital&Itemid=27

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US praises Ethiopian growth

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ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — United States Secretary of State, John Kerry has praised the rapid economic development underway in Ethiopia. 

He was in Addis Ababa last week to have talks with Prime Minister Haile Mariam Desalegn on several bilateral and regional issues, including the conflict in South Sudan.

“I think it’s fair to say that Ethiopia, in terms of its economy and in other ways, is really on the move, and it is a place that is generating enormous energy. All you have to do is drive through Addis, as I have several times in the last hours, and you see the economic activity, you can see the numbers of cranes and construction that is taking place, and it provides a snapshot of the country’s rapid development. It is no wonder that Ethiopia is one of the eight African economies that is one of the 10 fastest-growing economies in the world,” Kerry said during a news conference.

He said the US remains committed to supporting Ethiopia’s growing prosperity.

“We do that because strong commercial ties and this rate of development are critical to having shared prosperity, critical to providing opportunity to the broad population, and they also it helps to provide stability and helps to provide the capacity for Ethiopia to be able to lead in some of the other initiatives that are so critical to stability in the region,” he said.

http://www.busiweek.com/index1.php?Ctp=2&pI=1116&pLv=3&srI=75&spI=116&cI=10

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Sudan reaffirms its support for the GERD

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Sudanese president Omer Hassan al Bashir has pledged that his country will extend the necessary support for Ethiopia’s massive hydro-power plant project which Ethiopia is building along the Blue Nile River.
Bashir made the remarks at a symposium of Ethiopian intellectuals held in Ethiopia’s northern city of Bahirdar under the theme “intellectuals on Ethiopia’s imperatives of utilisation of the Nile for development”.
In his keynote speech, the Sudanese leader said his country supports the construction of the Grand Ethiopia Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Egypt fears could diminish its water share from the Nile River.
Bashir lauded Ethiopia’s contribution to furthering regional integration through energy power.
He pledged to push Sudanese intellectuals to jointly work with their Ethiopian counterparts on the Nile River and Ethiopia’s power plant project.
Sudanese President Omar Bashir participated in the forum along with Ethiopian governmental officials including Kassa Teklebirhan Speaker of the House of Federation and Ambassador Berhane Gebrekirstos State Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The two-day forum concluded on Wednesday after thorough discussions about how to utilise and manage the Nile’s water resources sustainably.
The forum discussed issues related to the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and the importance of the Nile River for development purposes.
Participants also debated what role the Ethiopian intellectual community should play to deepen cooperation over the Nile waters and the roles the governments of the riparian states, African inter-states organisations, and the international community should play to foster a cooperative atmosphere for Nile river basin.
In a joint communiqué the Ethiopian intellectuals said they encourage the riparian countries to preserve the path of equitable and reasonable utilisation of the Nile water.
They urged all riparian countries to continuously engage in an inclusive dialogue deepening cooperation and refrain from any act of provocation.
They further said they would continuously discourage any hegemony of power over the use of the Nile’s resources.
The symposium, prepared by a local think tank group, Center for Developmental Studies (CDS) and hosted by Bahir Dar University, brought together the country’s most prominent scholars and prestigious institutions, as well as 32 public universities in Ethiopia.

http://capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=4307:sudan-reaffirms-its-support-for-the-gerd&catid=35:capital&Itemid=27

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Khartoum to host Sudan-Ethiopia investment forum

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Sudanese capital Khartoum is due to host the Sudanese-Ethiopian Investment Forum this Saturday.

The two-day forum is organized by Sudan’s National Investment Agency in collaboration with the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum.

Higher Council for Investment State Minister Ali Tawer said in statement here Sunday that the forum would provide a strong boost for the progress of economic, social and cultural relations between the two countries.

It also reflected Sudan’s keenness to activate investments between the two countries, he added, noting that the forum’s agenda would focus on achievement in the investment field through a review of various working papers on joint opportunities for trade and investment, banking transactions and the activation of bilateral and regional agreements.

Tawer also revealed that meetings of the Sudanese-Ethiopian Ministerial Committee will be convened between May 24 and 28 in Addis Ababa, where a Sudanese trade and investment exhibition will be held. (Diretube)

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13291-khartoum-to-host-sudan-ethiopia-investment-forum-

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Chr. Hansen looks to support camel milk business in Kenya, Ethiopia

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Analysis shows investments in fledgling seed companies with local focus could net big returns for African food production on small farms

ABUJA, Nigeria, May 7, 2014/African Press Organization (APO)/ – Locally-owned African seed companies participating in a program to offer high-yield crop varieties to smallholder farmers across the continent have collectively become the largest seed producers in sub-Saharan Africa, according to a new report released today at the Grow Africa Investment Forum (http://growafrica.com/events/gaif14-abuja-nigeria) alongside the World Economic Forum on Africa. The analysis by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) (http://www.agra.org) reveals 80 small- to medium-size African seed companies in 16 countries are on track to produce over 80,000 metric tons of professionally certified seeds in 2014.

Logo: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/plog-content/images/apo/logos/agra.jpg

Photo 1: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1049
(Cassava production in Mozambique (Image credit: SABMiller)

Photo 2: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1050
(FICA Seeds company truck (Photo credit: AGRA)

Photo 3: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1048
(Agro Dealer in Kenya (Photo credit: AGRA)

Photo 4: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1047
(Amount of AGRA-supported seed production in 16 Countries in 2013 (Image credit: AGRA)

Photo 5: http://www.photos.apo-opa.com/index.php?level=picture&id=1046
(The number of crops and seed varieties released by AGRA-supported groups (Image credit: AGRA)

“The rapid growth of local seed companies over a very short time period is a testament to the entrepreneurial spirit percolating in communities across Africa and to the pent-up demand among Africa’s smallholder farmers for improved, high-yield crop varieties,” said Dr. Joe DeVries, director of AGRA’s Program for Africa’s Seed Systems (PASS.)

AGRA launched PASS in 2007 to inject new energy into Africa’s commercial seed sector, which was failing to provide African farmers with a steady supply of locally-adapted, improved crop varieties—something that farmers elsewhere in the world take for granted. The stagnant state of commercial seed production often is cited as a key reason why yields per hectare in Africa for staple crops like maize are up to 80 percent below what farmers outside of Africa achieve.

According to the report, “Planting the Seeds of a Green Revolution in Africa,” PASS started out working with a handful of companies that together produced about 2,000 metric tons of seed. Today, seven years later, it is partnering with some 80 companies across the continent that produce professionally certified seed for an array of African staple crops including maize, cassava, millet, rice, sorghum, beans, sweet potato, cowpea, groundnut, soybean and pigeon pea. These companies are focusing on varieties “carefully selected by local crop breeders for their compatibility with specific African agricultural environments.”

For example, in Nigeria, Maslaha Seeds was launched in 2006 and produced only about 600 tons of seed in its first year, mostly for high-yield rice—such as the popular “New Rice for Africa” (NERICA) developed by the Africa Rice Center—and for a type of high-yield maize known as a “hybrid.” But it worked with PASS and other partners to rapidly expand and now produces thousands of tons of seed each year for a wide menu of crop varieties, including high-yield sorghum, millet, and cowpea developed specifically for Nigeria’s growing conditions.

“Nigeria has the potential to become one of the world’s great breadbaskets, and giving our farmers access to certified seed for high-yield crop varieties is crucial to fulfilling that promise,” said Ibrahim Abdullahi, managing director of Maslaha Seeds.

There already are indications that increasing access to the improved seed is helping farmers coax far more food out of the same amount of land. A 2013 survey of farmers in nine countries found that the majority of farmers who have invested in improved crop varieties have seen yields rise by 50 to 100 percent.

For example, 69 percent of farmers surveyed in Kenya, 74 percent in Nigeria, and 79 percent in Mozambique said improved maize varieties had allowed them to double the amount of maize harvested per hectare. Meanwhile, 79 percent of farmers surveyed in Ghana reported doubling rice yields, and 85 percent of farmers surveyed in Uganda reported doubling yields from cowpea.

A Local Focus to Strengthening Africa’s Commercial Seed Sector

The analysis of AGRA’s seed program notes that the following successes can be attributed to a strategy focused on addressing weak links across what agriculture experts call the seed “value chain”—particularly education, breeding, production, and distribution.

•          Publicly-funded crop breeding programs supported by AGRA since 2007 have released 464 new varieties of 15 important crop species developed for specific African climates and soils. Many breeders employed at a national level work collaboratively with international breeders from the CGIAR Consortium who provide breeding stock and, sometimes, finished varieties. Through public-private partnerships with seed companies, more than 300 of these new varieties already are available to farmers via local seed companies.

•          To address the fact that many farmers in rural areas don’t have a shop nearby that sells seeds and fertilizers, AGRA has trained and certified more than 15,000 local small business owners to sell farm supplies. The report found that these modest businesses are having a big impact. The “agro-dealers” supported by AGRA now provide smallholder farmers in 16 countries with 400,000 metric tons of seed and 1 million metric tons of fertilizers each year. Additionally, they have held around 7,000 technology demonstrations and 4,000 “farmer field days” where local growers can examine test plots planted with new crop varieties.

•          AGRA’s goal to train a new generation of African crop breeders has resulted in 66 scientists earning doctorate degrees and 135 earning master’s degrees by the end of 2013.

The report also identified challenges to ensuring that the majority of smallholder farmers in Africa have access to improved crop varieties—and to the fertilizers and other inputs required to achieve their full yield potential. For example, national governments need to free up the supply of foundation seed developed by their public-sector breeding programs and offer tax incentives to encourage investments in processing equipment, irrigation technology, and other seed production infrastructure. Also, local seed companies need more access to investment capital, and farmers need to learn more about the benefits of investing in quality seed of superior varieties.

Building on a Success: Focus on Local Companies and Small Farms

Donor countries are increasingly viewing agriculture as the key to alleviating poverty in Africa. Major new initiatives are being launched, such as the New Alliance for Food Security, a shared commitment of African leaders, private sector partners, and donor governments to lift millions out of poverty over the next decade. As part of that initiative, AGRA, with support from Feed the Future through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is accelerating the adoption of high-yield crop varieties and complementary technologies by smallholder farmers in Africa through the Scaling Seeds and Technologies Partnership (SSTP), a US $47 million effort in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Mozambique, Senegal and Tanzania.

“It’s clear that increasing incomes for small farms, and for the local businesses that supply them, is the key to prosperity for millions of people living in sub-Saharan Africa,” said Dr. Richard B. Jones, SSTP Chief of Party at AGRA. “Now we’re building on that success by working with the private sector and governments to form country-led initiatives that will substantially increase and maintain the development, production and distribution of quality seed of superior varieties.”

The discussion at the World Economic Forum on Africa of the benefits gained from investments in local seed production occurs at a time when many people inside and outside of Africa see agriculture as the engine that can drive economic growth across the continent. For example, Akinwumi Adesina, Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, believes agriculture has the potential to become Nigeria’s “new oil” (http://onforb.es/1fnccml) and has embarked on an ambitious program to dramatically increase food production in Africa’s largest economy.

At the same time, with all the new activity around agriculture in Africa comes concern that rapid growth could marginalize smallholder farmers and local agriculture business. Officials at AGRA insist that the focus has to stay on boosting production on smallholder farms and nurturing local agriculture-related enterprises.

“When we talk about a unique Green Revolution for Africa, we are talking about something that is indeed revolutionary, which is the development of a modern, highly productive agriculture sector that remains focused on small, family farms,” said AGRA President Jane Karuku. “Our seed program has shown that, if given access to the essential ingredients of modern agriculture, smallholder farmers in Africa can rapidly increase food production and become the bedrock of food security for the continent.”

Also:     Investments in fledgling seed companies could drive African food output – report

Distributed by APO (African Press Organization) on behalf of Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA).

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Sourced here  http://appablog.wordpress.com/2014/05/07/new-report-finds-african-seed-industry-now-dominated-by-local-start-ups/

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BY Dinfin Mulupi

East Africa has made significant economic progress in recent years. Over the last decade new resources have been discovered, economies have been growing and the middle class has expanded, beckoning foreign investors. But what does the future hold for the region?

According to Gabriel Negatu, East Africa Regional Resource Centre director at the African Development Bank, “the next 20 years look very attractive” for East Africa.

“[In] the last few years the economic performance of this region has been extremely impressive. The decline of the 1980s has been [over]turned and Ethiopia, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda have been some of the fastest growing economies in the world,” Negatu said at the recent East Africa Property Investment Summit.

Integration holds most promising prospects

Negatu said that East Africa’s growth story will be sustained by a number of factors, among them regional integration.

“This region is already fairly integrated but is set to grow more and faster by integrating better. A borderless East Africa will also potentially create economies of scale. For instance, infrastructure will allow people and services to move freely, reducing the cost of transactions.”

The region’s integration will rely heavily on physical infrastructure including roads, railway lines and information technology, Negatu noted.

However, the infrastructure projects needed to connect the region require billions of dollars, money that is increasingly becoming “hard to come by”, hence the need for governments to make projects attractive to the private sector.

Jobs for the youth or else…

Young people are also a key ingredient in East Africa’s future success. Negatu described the booming youth population as a “double-edged sword”. If effectively harnessed, he said, the demographic dividend could be a major contribution to the economy, but if not, it could pose other dangers.

He warned that unless there are deliberate efforts to ensure growth is inclusive and sustainable over the next two decades, then “the slightest event could trigger a very strong reaction” from citizens as has happened in some Arab nations.

“It’s very easy to look at growth figures and to be positive, but… if we continue in the current trend of growth… that is not inclusive, then we stand the risk of having the ‘East African Spring’ in a very short period.

“I lived in Tunisia a couple of years ago when the Arab Spring broke out. If you looked at Tunisia before that incident it was a well performing society, the infrastructure was first world, the economy was robust, [the country was] peaceful and so on. [But] it took one sole individual to set himself on fire to unleash the Arab Spring. And this was done by the young generation.”

According to Negatu, youth employment and inclusion could “be a game changer” in the next 15-20 years, adding that expanding the private sector will be central to creating jobs.

Governments, too, have a role to play in providing education and health “that is required for a robust, healthy workforce”.

Skills also need to match demand. While there is an influx of graduates in certain professions, emerging industries such as mining face skilled labour shortages.

“I am willing to bet that all the petroleum engineers in East Africa do not add up to 100. I am told most of the Kenyan mining engineers are in Australia because mining was not a priority [here] a few years ago. As the economy begins to transform and shift then we need to make sure the labour supply meets the demand, and not only in terms of numbers but in the quality of labour that is demanded.”

Negatu expressed optimism that East Africa’s private sector “will undoubtedly drive growth” in the region but urged governments to improve the business environment. He noted that while smaller economies such as Rwanda and Burundi have reformed in recent years, bigger countries like Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania remain sluggish.

Instability a concern

Instability, and its spillover effect on the economy, is also a key concern. In recent years there has been conflict in South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Somalia, as well as repeated terrorist attacks in Kenya which has hampered sectors such as tourism.

“It is a very unstable region. This country [and] that country may be stable but conflict is not contained in one single country. Conflict has a very high spillover effect. What happens in Somalia spills into Kenya and into Ethiopia, what happens in South Sudan spills in all directions [and] what happens in DRC spills [into other countries].”

Sourced here  http://www.howwemadeitinafrica.com/east-africa-over-the-next-20-years-expert-shares-his-thoughts/38895/

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African Leaders Commit to Increased Investment in Agriculture

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Cairo, 8 May 2014 – Five African leaders reaffirmed their commitment to transforming the agricultural sector across the continent at the 2014 Grow Africa Investment Forum, taking place in Abuja, Nigeria, in the lead-up to the World Economic Forum on Africa, which started today.

According to a News release World Economic Forum sent to WIC, building on recent successes of the Grow Africa partnership – a joint initiative of the African Union Commission, the NEPAD Agency and the World Economic Forum – the leaders agreed that increased private sector investment in agriculture is key to delivering economic opportunity and food security within their countries.
“There are huge opportunities in agriculture. This will create jobs and achieve food security,” said Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, President of Nigeria. “The key is not just producing enough food for local consumption, but also creating jobs along the value chain,” he added.
“For years, Africa’s agriculture was marked by low productivity, low production,” noted Jakaya M. Kikwete, President of Tanzania. Thanks to an agriculture transformation based on a blueprint started at the World Economic Forum on Africa in 2010 in Dar es Salaam, he said his country is seeing dividends. As a result, “hunger can be overcome, and increased income reduces poverty.”
In 2013, Grow Africa partners doubled their commitments for agriculture and food security to $7.2 billion. Of this, $970 million is already invested, which has led to the creation of 33,000 new jobs and assistance to 2.6 million smallholder farmers throughout the continent.
“We have made some progress on the ground,” said Paul Kagame, President of Rwanda. He said this is largely due to investments in land management, seed quality, technology, water management and other factors, including the important role of smallholder farmers.
As an African-owned and country-led platform, Grow Africa works to catalyse increased and inclusive investment and multistakeholder partnership in the agriculture sector, in line with African countries’ Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) plans.
Grow Africa is currently operating in nine Partner Countries in Africa: Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Rwanda and Tanzania. At the meeting, Daniel Kablan Duncan, Prime Minister of Côte d’Ivoire, announced that his country will join the partnership as the 10th member.
One priority area that was identified for future action was the issue of gender parity. Erastus Mwencha, Deputy Chairperson, African Union, said: “We are not seeing women emerging as entrepreneurs with increased income: how can you increase production if you do not involve the 50% of women who are our farmers?”
Also at the Grow Africa Investment Forum, Grow Africa and IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, signed a cooperation agreement to implement projects on the ground with the aim of doubling the incomes of at least 25,000 smallholder families by leveraging more.

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/editors-pick/13316-african-leaders-commit-to-increased-investment-in-agriculture-

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China to Finance Construction of Five Sugar Factories

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http://213.55.98.22/enae/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2005:china-to-finance-construction-of-five-sugar-factories&Itemid=260

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Unlocking the CVTFS in the Djibouti Corridor

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COMESA Secretariat is in the process of fast- tracking the implementation of the Virtual Trade Facilitation System (CVTFS) in the Djibouti Corridor. During a mission to Djibouti and Ethiopia last week, Secretary General, Sindiso Ngwenya expressed concern that the CVTFS pilot test was not going as initially agreed since COMESA had provided the project with the necessary support to both Djibouti and Ethiopia.

Mr Ngwenya held discussions with the Djibouti Minister of Budget, Mr Bodeh Ahmed Robleh; the Secretary General, Ministry of Budget, Mr Simon Mibrahtu; Mr Ali Doud, the CVTFS Djibouti Country Coordinator; and Mr Tesfaye Berhanu, the CVTFS Ethiopia Country Coordinator. The aim of the discussion was to identify and unlock the barriers that have hampered implementation of the trade facilitation system.

Among the issues identified by Djibouti were the improperly working roaming facilities between the country and Ethiopia. In addition, some of the devices provided to Djibouti by COMESA did not have sufficient facilities between the country and Ethiopia. In addition, some of the devices provided to Djibouti by COMESA did not have sufficient signals. It was agreed that Telecom Companies in both countries address the issue to enable roaming services to work.

Mr Ngwenya pledged to dispatch a team of technicians to sort out the device problems and re-activate the vehicle tracking units in the first two weeks of May 2014.

The Minister and the PS of Budget of the Republic Djibouti expressed their commitment to materialize CVTFS in co-operation with COMESA and the Ethiopian counterpart. Among the key actions to be taken was the provision of a list of Djibouti transport associations to participate in the pilot test and allow vehicles entry into the port with COMESA CVTFS tracking units.

Both country coordinators briefed the meeting that the preparatory activities including the training of customs officers and those of transport companies has been finalized except some issues remain to be sorted out.

The CVFTS is an information communication technology-based system, which seeks to reduce delays and bureaucracy in the trade chain. The system allows all customs in the various COMESA Member States to track the movements of the goods through different corridors. It also enables traders to locate their goods and trucks while in transit.

http://www.comesa.int/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1156:unlocking-the-cvtfs-in-the-djibouti-corridor&catid=5:latest-news&Itemid=41

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Chinese companies to build industrial zone in Dire Dawa

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The Ministry of Industry and four Chinese companies signed on Tuesday a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build an industrial zone in Dire Dawa.

The industrial zone would be the biggest ever zone in Africa, according to China’s Ambassador in Ethiopia Xie Xiaoyan.

The companies that signed the agreement to engage in building various industries are China Railway Group Limited, China Communication Construction Company, China Civil Engineering Construction Company, and CCG Overseas Construction.

On the occasion, Ethiopian Ambassador to China Seyoum Mesifn said the agreement shows the landmark achievements of the two countries cooperation and the special attention given to industrial transformation.

The ambassador appreciated the Chinese commitment to engage in various industrial zones in Ethiopia.

The Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia Xie Xiaoyan on his part said the agreement is a reflection of the two nation’s commitment for development and this is the first economic tie in Africa and many more steps to follow.

After the signing of the memorandum, MoI State Minister Sisay Gemechu said the agreement is based on an earlier agreement reached by the two prime ministers following their discussion in the capital.

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13308-chinese-companies-to-build-industrial-zone-in-dire-dawa

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Support for Special Economic Zones and industrialization

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Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn , summing up the three day visit of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang and his wife, Cheng Hong, described the visit as highly successful.

He said that as Ethiopia strove to transform its economy from agriculture to industry , the support of China which had world-best experience in economic zones construction was vital and China, he said, had agreed to support Ethiopia in its efforts to industrialize.

The Prime Minister told members of the press that among the agreements made between the two sides was one to establish a China-Africa Railway Academy in Addis Ababa.

Prime Minister Hailemariam also noted that a number of programs identified as areas for cooperation between the two countries were accepted by the Chinese Premier.

There were agreements on aviation, connecting cities with fast rail transport systems and infrastructure development in general.

Prime Minister Hailemariam underlined the importance of special economic zones to ensure industrialization, and noted that four Chinese companies have signed agreements with the Ministry of Industry to develop an industrial park.

The Prime Minister also added that agreements were reached to cooperate in tourism, culture and people-to-people relations.

He also said that as human development was the key to growth, the two sides had agreed to cooperate in academic issues.

http://www.mfa.gov.et/news/more.php?newsid=3099

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Nation Secures 2 bln USD Revenue from Sesame Export

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http://213.55.98.22/enae/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2002:nation-secures-2-bln-usd-revenue-from-sesame-export&Itemid=260

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Chinese eye surgeons restore sight to hundreds of patients

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More than four and a half million people in Ethiopia suffer from blindness or poor vision. For many, it’s a problem that can be fixed. Yet the country has long been lacking proper treatment facilities. Now a new programme, led by Chinese eye surgeons, is helping transform hundreds of lives.

Intricate surgery, but this team are experts in their field…and when they’re finished here, it means this woman will have a new lease on life, her sight restored after so long spent in darkness. They’re just one of hundreds set to benefit from a programme known as the journey of brightness.

China has been sending medical teams to provide vital health services in Ethiopia for more than four decades.
This venture is something new, a team of top eye surgeons trying to make a difference to hundreds of lives through an intensive 2-week session of surgeries.

The team is from Peking Union Medical college hospital, and the surgeons are working at the Alert Referral hospital in Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa.

“The patient situation is more complicated that the one in Chin because they come to hospital too late . and its not just about the cataract but they have other infections as well .but still we can do the operations . we’ve brought some advanced equipment which will help,” said Dr. Fangtian Dong, Chinese team leader.

Ethiopia has made huge progress in recent years in developing its health services, particularly for children.
But cataracts – the clouding of the lens inside the eye – remain a curse many live with.

Too few local doctors are qualified to perform the relatively simple surgery and for many rural folk, treatment is simply not accessible. So even this small team can make a big difference.

“They have brought high tech to make services simple , increase quality . previously to introduce lenses with guess work without calculating power of the eye,” said Dr. Solomon Bussa, Alert hospital.

And it’s not just people in Ethiopia who are benefiting. The journey of brightness has been rolled out to six other African countries.

Full story with video here  http://english.cntv.cn/2014/05/07/VIDE1399419005546929.shtml

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Chinese Car Company to Launch New Multi-Million Dollar Plant

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The investment will enable the Yangfan change the semi-knockdown assembly into complete knockdown.

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Yangfan Motors Plc is launching a new 4.5 million dollar plant on May 7, 2014, at the Eastern Industrial Zone in Dukem town, where it says it will be able to assemble one car in 30 minutes.

The Chinese company concluded the deal for the new facility in an agreement signed on June 27, 2013. The new facility would enable the company to transition from semi-knockdown to complete knockdown assembly, Liu Jiang, general manager of Lifan Motors Ethiopia, said at the time. Although the plant will now continue with a semi-knockdown process.

The company has spent 4.5 million dollars for the customised building and 800,000 dollars for the machinery, said Daniel Tamerat, the company’s market section head.

The plant has 10,780 sqm of space, an assembly system, computerised wheel alignment, test lines and a professional test drive road, according to Semere’ab Sereke berhan, plant manager.

The new plant will increase the production capacity of the company from six to 16 cars a day, at an average of one every 30 minutes, Semere’ab says, pushing annual capacity up from 1,000 cars to 5,000 cars.

The Company started operations in Ethiopia in 2009, and has assembled a total of 3,000 cars, in eight different models, through the Semi-Knock Down (SKD) process. Yangfan’s initial investment, according to the Company’s official website, was 1.5 million dollars.

The company first came to Ethiopia in 2007 and started working with Holland Cars Plc, until they broke apart in 2009. When the company joined the industry, there were three other companies in the same business – Holland Car Plc, BH Trading & Manufacturing Plc and Belayab Motors Enterprise.

http://addisfortune.net/articles/chinese-car-company-to-launch-new-multi-million-dollar-plant/

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Building resilience for food and nutrition security

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IFPRI 2020 International Conference | May 15–17, 2014 | Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Poor people and communities are being hit by shocks ranging from droughts, floods, and earthquakes to conflict and food price spikes, and these shocks are putting people’s food and nutrition security at risk. This brochure considers a number of issues related to the efforts to improve people’s resilience in ways that enhance their food and nutrition security. It reviews the concept of resilience, looks at shocks we can expect in the future, asks what has worked to improve resilience for food and nutrition security in the past, and identifies key knowledge gaps concerning resilience for food and nutrition security.

The themes addressed in this brochure will be explored in depth at the international conference “Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security,” organized by IFPRI and its 2020 Vision Initiative. For more information on the conference and its associated activities and products, go to www.2020resilience.ifpri.info

Published date: 2014

Publisher: International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)

PDF file:

2020resilience_brochure.pdf(801.4KB)

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Sourced here  http://www.ifpri.org/publication/building-resilience-food-and-nutrition-security

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Delayed Payments Threaten PPESA Edible Oil Sale

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Although the Ethiopian partner has satisfied its part of the contract, the Indian businessman must pay his share in full.

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The Privatisation & Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) is waiting patiently for advance payments from buyers of three state enterprises sold during its latest endeavour. This is despite all buyers missing their deadline of one month.

Out of 20 enterprises it attempted to sell, it managed only Hamaressa Edible Oil S.C., Bekelcha Transport S.C. and Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing S.C.

Buyers for Hamaressa and Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing S.C. have both made partial payments of the advance, but the Agency is more hopeful with the Edible Oil maker.

If all expected payments come, Hamaressa will be sold to Ethio Asian Industries Plc, the sole bidder, which was established by the East African Soap & Detergent Factory of the East African Holdings S.C., owned by Bizuayehu Tadelle, and an Indian businessman, B.S. Shetty.

Ethio Asian was created when Shetty bought a stake in the already existing East African Soap & Detergent Factory, which was established in 1996 by Bizuayehu.

Hamaressa was on offer twice before without attracting successful bidders.

Ethio Asian offered 50.5 million Br for the Edible Oil maker, with a payment proposal of 35pc in advance and 65pc over five years. The Agency approved the sale in March 2014.

Hamaressa, located near Harar town (526 km from Addis Abeba), manufactures edible oil products from oilseeds, including groundnut, rapeseed, sesame and cotton seed.

Ethio Asian was supposed to pay the advance payment in a month’s time, after the Board of the Agency approved its offer. As a rule, however, the PPESA only lets local buyers pay a 35pc advance, while foreign buyers need to make a full payment.

Based on this payment system,  only Bizuayehu Tadelle has paid his due, while Shetty is yet to come up with the full payment in proportion to the share he will have in Hamaressa, which is holding back the handover, according to Wondafrash Assefa, Public Relations head of the Agency. The Agency has sent a letter to him, to which he has not yet replied.

Shetty, who is in Ethiopia, told Fortune, that he intends to make the payment in a short period of time.

The Agency is yet to hear from the buyers of the two other companies for which sales have been approved: Tikur Abay Transport S.C., which offered 325.9 million Br for Bekelcha Transport S.C., and Medi Tech Ethiopia Plc, which offered 436.6 million Br for the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing S.C., but has thus far paid only 20 million Br out of a total advance of 152 million Birr.

http://addisfortune.net/articles/delayed-payments-threaten-ppesa-edible-oil-sale/

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Yemeni Company Seeks Majority Stake in Ethiopia’s Sole Tobacco Producer

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The PPESA may be unwilling to sell, as Sheba Investment have not been actively involved in the business

The Public Enterprises Board will decide on whether or not to accept Sheba Investment Plc’s request to buy an additional 48pc share in the National Tobacco Enterprise S.C. Friday by May 9, 2014.

The Yemeni company already has a 22pc share in the lone tobacco maker, which it acquired in 1999. The tobacco company had been producing with the one machine it acquired when established in 1941 for over 60 years, until it acquired new machinery in 2003 for 150 million Br, attaining a production capacity of six billion sticks a year in the Nyala, Gisilla, Elleni, Delight and Nyala Premium brands.

The year has not been good for the Privatisation & Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA). It set out to sell 20 enterprises during the year, but has managed to sell only three over the past nine months, including the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Manufacturing S.C. Hamaressa Edible Oil S.C. and Bekelcha Transport S.C .- although the buyers have missed the deadline set to make payments.

The Agency has, over the years, used different approaches, including full sale, partial sale or joint venture, as well as the lease of the factory facilities. The Bahir Dar Textile Factory had been leased to a Chinese company, but the Agency was not happy with the way that company handled it.

Sheba approached the Agency proposing to boost its shares following the Agency’s interest in selling out a more modest 27pc share – although the Agency declined to officially confirm the figure, saying it was confidential.

Sheba’s proposal has been referred to the Agency’s board, according to Wondafrash Assefa, public relations head at the Agency. However, Sheba is not likely to get a decision in its favour, as the Agency feels that it is not actively taking part in the ongoing business of the Tobacco Enterprise, according to an official.

The PPESA wants to use aggressive promotion to sell the enterprises still in state ownership, claiming in its six month report, in February 2014, that the reasons it was not able to sell as much as it would like were poor promotion and the lack of interest from investors to engage in the manufacturing sector.

http://sodere.com/profiles/blogs/yemeni-company-seeks-majority-stake-in-ethiopia-s-sole-tobacco-pr

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Ethiopian, ICBC Financial Leasing Co. Ltd sign MoU

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During Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s state visit to Ethiopia, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between Ethiopian Airlines and ICBC Financial Leasing Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as “ICBC Leasing”).

According to the MOU, ICBC Leasing will provide Ethiopian Airlines financial support for its fleet expansion plan, including but not limited to B737 and B787 aircraft in the form of finance lease, sale and lease back, commercial loans or operating lease from ICBC Leasing’s Boeing order.
The MOU is one of the largest financial cooperation in the aviation industry between the two countries, which is an important step of China’s financial industry to go international.

“We are delighted to work with Ethiopian Airlines-the top leading operator in the Africa, and to support its fleet expansion.” said Chief Executive Officer of ICBC Leasing, Mr. Cong Lin, “The MOU marks a significant milestone between China’s Lessors and African airlines, which will promote deep financial cooperation between China and Africa.”

“We are pleased to have ICBC Leasing, a leading global leasing company, as a strategic partner.” said Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam.

“The cooperation with ICBC Leasing and its parent company ICBC Bank, the largest commercial bank in the world, will support our Vision 2025 fast, profitable and sustainable growth strategy. We look forward to a long-term and mutually beneficial partnership with ICBC.”

Ethiopian Airlines, the flag carrier of Ethiopia, was founded on 21 December 1945 and commenced operations on 8 April 1946. It is the most profitable and fastest growing global Pan-African carrier currently serving 80 international destinations across 5 continents with over 200 daily flights, and using the latest technology aircraft such as B777s and B787s.

ICBC Leasing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC), with a registered capital of 11 billion Yuan, was founded in November 2007. It is the largest and the most innovative Lessor in China.

With domestic and foreign assets of 200 billion Yuan as of the end of March 2014, it manages more than 380 aircraft, of which 168 aircraft were delivered to more than 50 domestic and foreign world-class airlines.

According to a press release issued by Ethiopia, ICBC Leasing is not only the top aviation leasing company in China, but also one of the leading Lessors in international aviation leasing market.

http://www.ethiopiainvestor.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5021&Itemid=88

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May 08 2014

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For more than a century, Africans have nursed the dream of taking a train across the continent, only to see various railroad schemes crash and burn. Now, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang is vowing to make it come true, expressing support for a continent-wide railroad network in Africa, a bold promise and a tall order but one that could transform the economy.

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In recent years, China has started to shift some of its public investment focus in Africa away from natural resources and toward infrastructure, a sector badly in need of development to fuel economic growth, but historically plagued with logistical and political challenges. But the question remains whether the Chinese will succeed where others have failed.

In a speech at the World Economic Forum in Nigeria on Wednesday, the premier promised his support for a high-speed rail network connecting African capitals, emphasizing that his vow comes “with no political strings attached,” to address concerns over China’s growing influence in the region.

Infrastructure development is badly needed in the fast-growing continent. Poor conditions on roads, railways and harbors add an estimated 30 to 40 percent to costs of trading goods among African countries, according to the Infrastructure Consortium of Africa. This is one of the largest deterrents to foreign investment, but also a major opportunity.

The financing of infrastructure, including rail transportation, is one of the most important ways Africa can “seize the opportunities that regional integration offers for economic transformation,” by further integrating local economies, according to a report from the Boston Consulting Group released at the WEF that outlined the importance of the sector, as well as the related challenges..

“The world is eager to do business with Africa, but finds it difficult to access African markets, especially in the interior, due to poor infrastructure,” wrote Andre Pottas, advisory leader for sub-Saharan Africa at Deloitte, in a report.

He estimates that more than $93 billion will be needed over the next decade to overhaul the systems now in place, but only about $25 billion is being spent on capital expenditures.

This has left a giant hole in financing — and an opportunity — which China is eagerly exploring.

“While initially Beijing seemed to be primarily motivated by its insatiable thirst for natural resources, its interests have steadily become more diverse and complex,” wrote Loro Horta, Africa specialist for the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, in a recent note.

Li’s promise follows dozens of agreements made with African leaders during his four-country visit to the continent this week, during which he also said China would set aside $2 billion for an African Development Fund.

On Wednesday, the premier signed a slew of deals in Nigeria, including cooperation on infrastructure projects. Though exact details were not disclosed, the meeting came just two days after the China Railway Construction Corporation made a $13.1 billion deal to build a 860-mile high-speed railway in Nigeria that would employ more than 4,000 workers during construction, and 5,000 more afterward, according to China Daily.

Li started his African visit in Ethiopia, and will soon be visiting in Kenya and Angola.

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Sourced here  http://www.ibtimes.com/chinese-premier-li-keqiang-vows-help-build-railway-through-africa-no-strings-attached-1581850

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Statue of emperor Haile Selassie teaching 12 students at the National Museum of Ethiopia in Addis Ababa. Picture: Stephen Scourfield

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There’s a little drum riff, the brass section comes in on the off-beat, then there’s Bob Marley’s unmistakable voice . . .

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Until the philosophy which hold one race superior . . .

And another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned . . .

Everywhere is war . . .

It’s Marley’s song War, a powerful anthem for equality, and the lyrics are mostly the words delivered by Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie to the United Nations General Assembly in June 1963.

The emperor had ended his list of unacceptable inequalities across Africa with the words “the African continent will not know peace”, but Marley introduced the word “war”.

Despite his death from cancer, Marley is still the most visible devotee of the Rastafarian movement which, though more associated with his home country of Jamaica, has its roots here in Ethiopia.

Emperor Haile Selassie I took this name as the ruler of what may be described as the world’s original country (the country in which human ancestors developed, and which we first walked out of), but his original name was Tafari, and “ras” means “head” or leader.

He was born in 1892, crowned emperor in 1930, but lived in exile during the brutal Italian occupation of Ethiopia from 1935 to 1941 – some of it staying in the Abbey Hotel in Malvern, Worcestershire, while his daughters attended Clarendon School in North Malvern (I was later nearby at North Malvern Primary School).

During his time in Malvern he attended services at Holy Trinity Church, in Link Top (where, incidentally, my mother and father were married and opposite my grandfather’s pharmacy).

When Haile Selassie returned as emperor of Ethiopia in 1941, he set about modernising the country.

Political opposition, rising unemployment and famine are seen as contributing to him being ousted in 1974 by a Soviet-backed junta led by Mengistu Haile Mariam which, it is believed, finally killed him.

So, how does the music of Jamaica, and Bob Marley in particular, fit into all that?

Many Rastafarians believe that Haile Selassie was God incarnate, or the reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

Indeed, in her book No Woman, No Cry, Marley’s wife Rita, also a Rastafarian, claimed she had seen a stigmata on the palm of Haile Selassie’s hand, resembling the marks left by Christ being nailed to the cross, as Selassie waved to crowds during his visit to Jamaica in 1966.

Other Rastafarians might just see him as God’s chosen king on Earth.

In using his words, Marley furthers the two aspects of the emperor – as head of State and as the living God of Rastafarian belief.

Haile Selassie’s shadow can still be seen in Ethiopia, though some Ethiopians I talk with comment that it may be the long-time ruler Meles Zenawi, who died last year, who did even more in advancing the country than the former emperor.

Haile Selassie’s tomb is alongside that of his wife in the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Addis Ababa.

And the last words to Emperor Haile Selassie – some of the words from that speech to the UN in 1963, used in Marley’s song . . .

. . . until there are no longer first-class and second-class citizens of any nation; that until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes; that until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all, without regard to race; that until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but fleeting illusions,

to be pursued but never attained . . .

until bigotry and prejudice and malicious and inhuman self-interest

have been replaced by understanding and tolerance and goodwill;

until all Africans stand and speak as free beings, equal in the eyes of all men,

as they are in the eyes of Heaven;

until that day, the African continent will not know peace.

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Sourced here  https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/travel/a/23327284/the-legacy-of-haile-selassie/

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Fitch Rates Ethiopia ‘B’; Outlook Stable

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PARIS/LONDON, May 09 

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- Fitch Ratings has assigned Ethiopia Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) of ‘B’.

- The Outlooks on the Long-term IDRs are Stable.

– Fitch has also assigned a Short-term foreign currency IDR of ‘B’ and a Country Ceiling of ‘B’.

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KEY RATING DRIVERS

Ethiopia’s IDRs reflect a balance between weak structural features indicating vulnerability to shocks and strong economic performance and improved public and external debt ratios since debt relief under HIPC in 2005-2007. More specifically, the ratings reflect the following key rating drivers:

-Despite impressive improvement over the past decade, Ethiopia’s ratings are constrained by a weak level of development. The country ranks among the weakest Fitch-rated sovereigns on UN human development indicators, with a GDP per capita of USD500 in 2013, well below ‘B’ medians. Governance indicators as measured by the World Bank are broadly in line with ‘B’ medians.

-Economic performance is strong. With an average real GDP growth of 10.9% over the past five years, Ethiopia has outperformed regional peers due to significant public investments in infrastructure as well as growth in the large agricultural and services sectors. Despite a track record of high and volatile inflation, it declined significantly in 2013, reflecting lower food prices and the authorities’ commitment to moderate central bank financing of the government.

-Fitch expects real GDP growth of 9% in 2014 and 8% in 2015. Ethiopia’s growth over the medium-term can be sustained by large, untapped resources, including large hydro-electric potential. However, the private sector’s weakness, reflecting the country’s fairly recent transition to a market economy, and its inadequate access to domestic credit, could limit growth potential over the medium-term as public investment slows.

-Despite large capital expenditure, the general government (GG) budget deficit remained contained to an average 1.4% of GDP over the past five years, due to low levels of current spending, including a limited wage bill and modest interest payments. As a result, headline GG debt declined steadily in 2005-2012 following the 2005 HIPC/MDRI debt alleviation, and reached 25.8% of GDP in June 2013, well below the ‘B’ median and regional peers.

-Significant investments in infrastructure (including roads, electricity and railways) have been made possible by the heavy involvement of state-owned enterprises (SoEs), which finance a large part of investments on their own, mostly through heavy recourse to domestic bank credit. Fitch estimates that total SoE debt amounted to at least 25% of GDP at end-June 2013, doubling consolidated total public debt.

-Ethiopia’s structural current account deficit – at 5.4% of GDP in 2013 – reflects low value-added exports and investment-related imports. It exerts pressure on international reserves, which at two months of current account receipts, are low compared with peers. However, with debt service also low, reserves relative to debt service are above the ‘B’ median. Net external indebtedness has risen steadily since 2007, though it remains moderate and in line with ‘B’-rated peers. However, growing recourse to non-concessional financing, particularly by SoEs, could increase debt service. RATING SENSITIVITIES The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch’s assessment that upside and downside risks to the rating are currently well balanced. The main factors that could lead to a positive rating action, individually or collectively, are: -Stronger external indicators, including higher exports, as well as stronger FDI and international reserves

-A sustained decline in inflation reflecting an improved macro-policy environment

-Further improvement in structural factors, including stronger development and governance indicators The main factors that could lead to a negative rating action, individually or collectively, are: -Rising external vulnerability related to declining international reserves, widening current account deficit or rising external indebtedness

-Increased risk of contingent liabilities from SoEs and publicly-owned banks materialising on the government’s balance sheet KEY ASSUMPTIONS The ratings are reliant on a number of assumptions, in particular, the following: -Continuity in the development model of the country

-Continued strong support from the international community, implying continued aid inflows to the country to support its development

-Demand for Ethiopia’s exports (including coffee, other agricultural products and gold) benefiting from the gradual recovery in the global economy, with world GDP growth forecast to increase to 2.9% in 2014 and 3.2% in 2015 from 2.3% in 2013

-No major change in the political regime in the coming years

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Contact:

Primary Analyst Amelie Roux Director +33 144 299 282 Fitch France S.A.S 60 rue de Monceau – 75008 Paris

Secondary Analyst Richard Fox Senior Director +44 20 3530 1444

Committee Chairperson Tony Stringer Managing Director +44 20 3530 1219

Media Relations: Peter Fitzpatrick, London, Tel: +44 20 3530 1103, Email: peter.fitzpatrick@fitchratings.com.

Additional information is available on http://www.fitchratings.com

Applicable criteria, ‘Sovereign Rating Criteria’ dated 13 August 2012 and ‘Country Ceilings’ dated 9 August 2013, are available at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Applicable Criteria and Related Research: Sovereign Rating Criteria here Country Ceilings here Additional Disclosure Solicitation Status here

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ALL FITCH CREDIT RATINGS ARE SUBJECT TO CERTAIN LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS. PLEASE READ THESE LIMITATIONS AND DISCLAIMERS BY FOLLOWING THIS LINK: here.

IN ADDITION, RATING DEFINITIONS AND THE TERMS OF USE OF SUCH RATINGS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE AGENCY’S PUBLIC WEBSITE ‘WWW.FITCHRATINGS.COM’. PUBLISHED RATINGS, CRITERIA AND METHODOLOGIES ARE AVAILABLE FROM THIS SITE AT ALL TIMES. FITCH’S CODE OF CONDUCT, CONFIDENTIALITY, CONFLICTS OF INTEREST, AFFILIATE FIREWALL, COMPLIANCE AND OTHER RELEVANT POLICIES AND PROCEDURES ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FROM THE ‘CODE OF CONDUCT’ SECTION OF THIS SITE. FITCH MAY HAVE PROVIDED ANOTHER PERMISSIBLE SERVICE TO THE RATED ENTITY OR ITS RELATED THIRD PARTIES. DETAILS OF THIS SERVICE FOR RATINGS FOR WHICH THE LEAD ANALYST IS BASED IN AN EU-REGISTERED ENTITY CAN BE FOUND ON THE ENTITY SUMMARY PAGE FOR THIS ISSUER ON THE FITCH WEBSITE.

http://in.reuters.com/article/2014/05/09/fitch-rates-ethiopia-b-outlook-stable-idINFit69988020140509

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Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Begins Laying

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HONG KONG, May 09, 2014 (Menafn – SinoCast Daily Business Beat via COMTEX) –First overseas electric railway with a whole set of Chinese technology standards begins laying in Dire Dawa, an eastern city in Ethiopia.

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Pictures here  http://english.people.com.cn/business/8622940.html

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Connecting Ethiopia capital Addis Ababa and Djibouti capital Djibouti city, the railway is another cross-nation one constructed by China overseas after the Uhuru Railway in 1970s. Length is 740 kilometers. Designed per-hour speed is 120 kilometers. Total investment is about USD 4 billion, of which about 70% is loans from the Export-Import Bank of China. It started construction in April 2012 and is expected to run into operation in October 2015.

CCECC of China Railway Construction Corp. General Manager Yuan Li said the laying marked a major periodic achievement.

http://www.menafn.com/87bf378e-8dd5-414e-b29a-806ee49cf50b/EthiopiaDjibouti-Railway-Begins-Laying?src=main

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First rail transport training institution to be established in Ethiopia

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Dr. Getachew Betru, CEO of the Ethiopian Railway Corporation, told members of the press that preparations were underway to establish a Rail Transport Training Institute in Ethiopia.

The institution which will become operational within the next Ethiopian year (2014-15) will train engineers and mechanics as well as provide course in security related areas.

The Institution will aim to employ as trainers those students who are currently taking courses at the Tiajing Training Institution in China.

Preparations for the development of the courses for the Institute have been completed said Dr. Getachew, who underlined that establishment of the Institute will help Ethiopia become a hub for railway training in the region as it has achieved for aviation services.

Dr. Getachew said Ethiopia could benefit from providing such services to the region as at the moment such training has to be provided from as far away as South Africa or China.

http://www.mfa.gov.et/news/more.php?newsid=3108

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African Livestock Exhibition and Congress Opens in Ethiopia

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The 2nd African Livestock Exhibition and Congress (ALEC) was opened on Thursday, May 8, 2014 in Ethiopia. The exhibition and congress is focused on facilitating the promotion of trade and investment, technology and integrating all stakeholders across the region, according to The Ethiopian Herald.

During the opening of the exhibition and conference Dr. Mebrhtu Meles, State Minister for Industry, said the livestock sub sector in general and in particular the meat and dairy products is given priority to the development of the manufacturing sector.

He further stated among many challenges of the sector; limited capacity of processing companies, shortage of quality investment, under capacity performance of operational companies, lack of proper animal husbandry management and investment in modern commercial rearing of animals.

Nebeyu Lema, Prana Promotion’s Managing Director, on his part said the event is dedicated for the progress of the livestock industry.

In addition to its contribution to the promotion of the livestock sector, the exhibition is designed to serve as a networking pool for all stakeholders from the region and will be a good opportunity to link professionals, business owners, policy makers and various stakeholders, he added.

More than 80 local and 20 international companies have taken part in the three day event.

http://www.2merkato.com/news/alerts/2939-african-livestock-exhibition-and-congress-openes-in-ethiopia

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Dr. Tedros meets officials of Stella International Holdings and Brown Shoe Company

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Foreign Minister Dr. Tedros met with officials of the Stella International Holdings and Brown Shoe Company on Wednesday (May 7) and explained the business opportunities available in the leather and footwear sectors.

Dr. Tedros noted that Ethiopia, which had almost no economy twenty years ago, had now become the fourth largest economy in sub-Saharan Africa and hoped to get its first international credit rating shortly.

He pointed out the government was committed to encourage industries to export.

Daniel Friedman, Division President, Global Sourcing and Supply Chain of Brown Shoe, expressed his support for the progressive partnership between the government and footwear companies in Ethiopia.

With the largest cattle population in Africa and fine leather quality, he said, he saw a real opportunity for Ethiopia to be an important hub of the leather industry in Africa. T

he footwear companies also emphasized their interest in engaging in capacity building in husbandry and skill development to improve the fundamental knowhow and resources in Ethiopia.

Dr. Tedros said the government would render any assistance needed to facilitate their business in Ethiopia.

http://www.mfa.gov.et/news/more.php?newsid=3113

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Tendaho Sugar Factory to Commence Production This Month

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The first phase of Tendaho Sugar Factory will start production in three weeks time, according to the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation.

Shiferaw Jarso, the Corporation’s Director General, said the factory will have a capacity of grinding 13,000 tons of sugarcane in a single day. He added the second phase of the project will be launched in February 2015.

Apart from the second phase of the Tendaho Sugar Factory project, there are four more projects expected to commence operation next year. According to Shiferaw these projects are; Beles 1 and 2, Kuraz 1, Kessem sugar factories.

When most of these factories commence production, the Corporation will acheive 70 percent of the target set under GTP plan. According to Shiferaw, residents of the sugar factories area are benefiting from infrastructure facilities that have come along with the construction of the factories.

http://www.2merkato.com/news/alerts/2940-ethiopia-tendaho-sugar-factory-to-commence-production-this-month

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MERCK Opens Office in Ethiopia

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Merck, a German company engaged in innovation and provision of high- tech pharmaceutical, chemical products and other medical services has opened a new office in Ethiopia.

At a press conference held on Thursday, May 8, 2014, Franck Stangberg, Board Chairman of MERCK, said the opening of the of the office will be an alternative for the Ethiopian heath sector with regard to medicine, vaccine, biological therapies, consumer care and animal health products.

Frank noted MERCK is planning to create a long term business relation with Ethiopia as it’s economy is growing at a healthy pace. He added “We are committed helping Ethiopia to improve access to health through our quality pharmaceutical products”.

During the press conference, Frank announced his company has donated two mini-labs to Ministry of Health in order to assist the Ministry’s effort to fight counterfeiting. Frank added, his company’s products are affordable and very effective in curing diseases.

Eleni Ergunon, Executive Vice President and Global Head of Commercial MERCK SERNO, on her part commented on the good will of MERCK. She said “I strongly believe that our trusted name and products, value and unique qualities will support partnership approach to build and sustain success in Ethiopia.”

MERCK was established in 1668 in Germany.

http://www.2merkato.com/news/alerts/2938-merck-opens-office-in-ethiopia

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Adami Tulu Pesticide Expands its Plant to Produce 2,4-D

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The Ethiopia’s Adami Tulu Pesticide Processing S.C. has announced that it is expanding its factory to produce Dichlorophenoxy Acetic Acid (2,4-D), The Ethiopian Herald reported. This chemical is a common systemic pesticide that is manufactured to control broad leaf weeds.

According to Dr. Teshome Fetene, Company Project Coordinator, it was following the high demand of pesticides and the wide adoption of chemicals in the agricultural sector that the company made the feasibility study for the project. He further elaborated the nation imports these chemicals.

The project is being run by Adami Tulu’s management. According to Teshome if the project was undertaken by a private construction company it would have costed the company 63 Million Birr. However, the imported machinery and spare parts of the project have costed the company only 15 Million Birr.

Teshome added the project is now 85 percent through. When it is over, the company expects itself to produce 1.5 Million liters of Dichlorophenoxy acetic acid every year. And it is expected to create job opportunity for 70 to 100 people. The company expects to produce as much chemicals for the Mehere and Belg season.

The remaining task is addressing the dalliance of electric supply for the project, Teshome noted. And if the electric supply is effected within the scheduled time, the company will be able to produce all the chemicals according to the plan set.

It is also the company’s plan to produce chemicals needed in sugarcane and other large-scale framings.

According to Lema Bogale, representative of the Deputy General Manager, in the last fiscal year Adami Tulu managed to earn 45 Million Birr out of the targeted 42 Million Birr. He says the company’s products are the favorites for farmers, the community and customers because of their relatively expire dates and their easy accessibility in the market.

Nonetheless, Herald has written the country’s 60 to 70 percent of pesticides demand is met from import.

And with to regard to safety, Lema said workers of the company wear and also use safety keeping materials. There is also a clinic in the company compound. The employees are also insured and they get medical treatment at hospitals as per the agreement the company has entered into.

Adami Tulu is a public enterprise that was established in 1985 E.C. for the production of chemicals that are used for agricultural purposes and the prevention of malaria. It currently produces around 22 types of chemicals that are used in the health and agricultural sector.

http://www.2merkato.com/news/alerts/2936-ethiopia-adami-tulu-pesticide-expands-its-plant-to-produce-24-d

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PVH Corporation Eyeing Investment Opportunities in Ethiopia

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The American PVH Corporation, a clothing company, is to consult with the Ethiopian government as well as investment consultants on the opportunities in Ethiopia, according to a press conference held on Monday, April 28, 2014.

The Reporter has learned from Bill McRaith, Chief Supply Chain Officer at the PVH Corporation, that PVH has seen an encouraging situation in Africa. In fact he compared the situations here in Ethiopia to what he saw in China in the 1990s when he was operating the company there.

Minister of State for Industry, Tadesse Haile, said his country is ready to host giant global companies. He highlighted the double digit growth, dependable energy supply and low inflation rate. He added the nation expects the Grand Renaissance Dam to generate its 6000 Megawatt energy in three years time. He further noted Gilgel Gibe III Dam will start producing 1800 Megawatt in the coming year.

On the other hand McRaith also had things to say about the nation’s infra structure and labor rights. Commenting on the infrastructure he said infra structure should come ahead of need. He continued, China is the only country whose infrastructure goes ahead of need”.

PVH Corp. is a global company that owns brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein.

http://www.2merkato.com/news/alerts/2934-pvh-corporation-eyeing-investment-opportunities-in-ethiopia

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Africa hosts the oldest surviving trade union – the Southern African Custom Union (SACU). It is 40 years older than Europe’s equivalent. Whereas Europe shares a currency union, Africa trades less within itself than with the rest of the world.

Despite having 17 overlapping regional trade blocs, inter-African trade has stood at 11pc of the continent’s total trade for over two decades. At 2012 prices, this equates to 130 billion dollars, or 14pc of Africa’s gross domestic product (GDP) – the lowest in the world.  By comparison, 60pc of European and Asian, and 40pc of North American trade happens within their own continents.

Southern African Development Community (SADC) accounts for half of the inter-African trade, in which South Africa trades with its smaller neighbours. All six African countries that make up 30pc of their total trade in Africa are members of the SADC. Only Lesotho and Zimbabwe trade more than 50pc, both with strong ties to the South African economy.

South Africa itself sells 17pc of its industrial produce to its neighbours. Across the continent, 27 countries trade less than 10pc within Africa, and North Africa conducts almost all its trade with Western Europe.

The effect of this low trade between African countries is obvious. Those regions, including emerging ones, where regional trade is higher add more value to their exports and are, therefore, more competitive than Africa in global markets.

For example, Nigeria is the second largest producer of citrus fruits in the world, but still spends one billion dollars annually on importing juice. Many oil nations export crude-oil only to import refined products at a much higher cost.

Zambia and Ghana have copper and aluminium in profusion, with no industrial base to add value. Nigeria and Zimbabwe could supply uranium if only there was an African nuclear power plant. The Ivory Coast and Ghana still export raw cocoa.

Yet, Africa is ripe for regional trade. The continent is among the world’s fastest growing economic regions and return on foreign investment is the highest anywhere. McKinsey, a consultant, estimates that Africa’s GDP will grow from 1.6 trillion dollars in 2008 to 2.6 trillion dollars by 2020 – with an even stronger outlook beyond that. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) believes that 11 of the 20 fastest growing countries in the world will be African through to 2017.

More promising is Africa’s fast growing consumer market, propelled by the rapid urbanisation of a middle class. In 1980, just 28pc of Africans lived in cities compared to 40pc today. As less people depend on subsistence farming, and increase their income through higher paying jobs, the potential for inter-regional trade increases.  Twenty-seven African countries have already gained “middle income” status, where as much as 40 (75pc of countries in the continent) could be in this group by 2025.

Similarly, Africans spent 860 billion dollars on goods and services in 2008 – more than Indians (635 billion dollars) and Russians (821 billion dollars). This figure is projected to be 1.4 trillion dollars in 2020. By 2030, according to McKinsey, the top 18 cities in Africa could have a combined spending power of 1.3 trillion dollars.

And there are some promising efforts to take advantage of. In 2010, for example, the East African Community (EAC) – a customs union of five African countries – took full effect. Cutting out tariffs on goods sold within the region, trade between the countries has jumped by 50pc since 2005. Twelve members out of 15 in the SADC launched a free trade zone, removing import tariffs on goods from member nations. A customs union is currently under negotiation. There are positive signs that the Economic community of West African States (ECOWAS) will follow suit.

In 2012, Erastus Mwencha, deputy chairperson of the African Union, unveiled plans to create a continental free trade area by 2017.

The EAC has also vowed to reduce roadblocks – one of the major non-tariff barriers in Africa – in its transport corridors to boost business. Kenya’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, reduced police roadblocks from seven to two recently, reducing the average number of days for goods delivery to its neighbours from 14 to four. The regional bloc hopes to cascade this further.

Given the potential, however, these are barely strides. Many countries have difficult import and export procedures, tariff and nontariff barriers, inefficient border control, corruption, unsupportive export policies and unpredictable government services.

African trade tariffs are among the highest in the world. On average, they are 50pc higher than Latin America and Asia. It cost Africans 2,000 dollars to export a container from Africa compared to just 900 dollars from South-East Asia. Furthermore, whereas it costs 935 dollars to import a container from South-East Asia, it costs almost 2,500 dollars to import the same container from Africa. It takes 39 days to import goods into Africa compared with 25 days in Brazil, Russia, India and China (BRICs).

African also has a fragmented market. Most trade blocs remain blocked for outside business, where a significant amount of trade takes place between member countries. Barriers between blocs are extensive, prompting many countries to be part of multiple trade agreements. Most African countries belong to more than one; some, like Kenya, belong to three. Only 12 are in a single bloc.

At a micro level, although best placed to serve the continent, firms face small market sizes. Given the local presence, they have shown that they can tailor their businesses in a manner that overcomes poor roads, low technology reach and numerous other limitations in many countries. Limited markets, however, hinder mass production and the delivery of goods and services, affecting cost and efficiency.

Thus, only 24 firms headquartered in Africa are in the top 2000 companies on the Forbes list, with none in the first two hundred.. Of the 75 best known brands in Africa, according to the African Business Magazine, only 18 are African.

To take advantage, Africans have alternatives. Creating larger regional markets by merging the currently scattered regional blocs is a good start. Through increased market size and manufacturing base, counties and firms could specialise on their competitive advantage. Firms could produce for local and regional markets where they have the advantage of local knowledge. They could build African brands, shape industry policy, consumer preference and advance new technologies tailored to Africa’s realities.

This would also enable diversified and stable economies to be less dependent on natural resources. For example, Africa’s four advanced economies (Egypt, Morocco, South Africa and Tunisia), where manufacturing and services make up 70pc of the GDP, have a steady growth in Africa. In contrast, Africa’s oil giants do not.

Algeria, Angola and Nigeria, the three largest producers, earned one trillion dollars from 2000 through to 2008 from oil exports, compared to just 300 billion in the 1990s. However, manufacturing and services account to just a third of their GDP.

Africa also needs to focus on some key industries where its competitive advantage lies. McKinsey argues that four areas hold this promise: telecoms, banking, agriculture and infrastructure, with potential revenue of 2.6 trillion dollars a year by 2020 – one trillion dollars more than current levels.

With rapid population growth and urbanisation, telecoms and banking are growing rapidly in Africa. Banking assets have doubled since 2000 and mobile telecoms revenue has grown by 84pc since 2004. Having inside knowledge, African born companies tailor their products to local realities and grow their business with it.

The Kenyan telecoms company, Safaricom’s mobile phone money transfer service (M-PESA) is a good example. Similarly, Ecobank successfully runs in 29 African countries, MTN in 21, Shorite in 17 and UBA in 16.

Agriculture probably has the most potential, with Africa currently importing food worth 40 billion dollars a year. Africa’s spending on food and drink is projected to increase to 544 billion dollars by 2020 – an increase more than any other consumer category.

Furthermore, agriculture has the most potential for value addition. Africa houses 60pc of the uncultivated arable land in the world – a green revolution in waiting. If Africa is to develop just 500,000 hectares a year, it could raise its production by over 200 billion dollars by 2030. If yield increases to 80pc of the world’s norm, where Africa’s fertiliser use is just a quarter of world average, it could increase its production by another 200 billion dollars.

The major stumbling block for inter-Africa trade, infrastructure, might also hold fruits of its own revival. The World Bank estimates that Africa needs to invest 118 billion dollars a year just to clear its infrastructure backlog, which is 46 billion dollars over current investments. But, Africa’s private investment in infrastructure is the lowest in the world – 13pc of the total by emerging markets. This, although challenging, presents an opportunity for African firms and countries with a potential return of as much 10 billion dollars a year.

Noting the usual forerunners, such as political stability, macroeconomic prudence and political will, regional trade could provide Africa with its next growth spurt. Ignored, the continent risks missing out on yet another opportunity.

A British court has ruled that HM Revenue & Customs acted unlawfully and irrationally in refusing to disclose information on the status of an investigation into the export of a UK-based spyware to repressive regimes.

May 12, 2014

A British court has ruled that HM Revenue & Customs acted unlawfully and irrationally in refusing to disclose information on the status of an investigation into the export of a UK-based spyware to repressive regimes.

HMRC, the body responsible for enforcing export regulations, claimed that it was prohibited from revealing information about any activities relating to the exports of British Gamma International’s FinFisher surveillance technology.

It was repeatedly asked by Privacy International to reveal whether it had started an investigation into Gamma International, following documentary evidence that it illegally exported surveillance technology to suppressive governments including Bahrain, Ethiopia, Egypt and Turkmenistan.

But HMRC refused to provide any details. It said it was “statutorily barred from releasing information to victims or complainants”, the High Court heard.

Justice Green found that HMRC committed a serious error in not providing information about whether it was investigating Gamma International. The court described the actions of HMRC as irrational and inconsistent with the legislation.

It pointed out that “the rationale which justifies the provision of information by HMRC to the press applies in large measure to disclose of information to pressure groups and other NGOs”.

The court also established the principle that NGOs and pressure groups such as Privacy International “acts as guardians of the public conscience”.

Privacy International’s deputy director Eric King said: “For two years we have been asking government to come clean on what they are doing when it comes to the illegal export of FinFisher and to stand up for victims targeted by surveillance technology made on British soil.

“Today’s ruling is an important victory and step in the right direction to holding Gamma International, and the rest of this secretive industry, to account.”

FinFisher is a sophisticated government spying software used by many countries to monitor dissidents, journalists and human rights activists. The products secretly install software in a target’s computers and mobile phone.

 

A Map of the FinFisher servers around the globe which are now found in 36 countries including the UK and US. (Credit: Citizen Lab)

Privacy International explains:

Once the user installs the software, victims’ computers and mobile devices can be taken over, the cameras and microphones remotely switched on, emails, instant messengers and voice calls (including Skype) monitored, and locations tracked. Investigations have revealed that such technology has been used in monitoring and tracking victims who are subsequently subjected to torturous interrogations.

The spyware suite is sold as a “governmental IT intrusion and remote monitoring solutions”. It operates in at least 36 countries according to the latest Citizen Lab report, including Bahrain, Egypt and Turkmenistan.

The judgment said NGOs and pressure groups acted “as guardians of the public conscience”

http://abbaymedia.com/2014/05/12/a-british-court-has-ruled-that-hm-revenue-customs-acted-unlawfully-and-irrationally-in-refusing-to-disclose-information-on-the-case-of-finfisher/

Israel Chemicals profit plunges

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Potash sales reached a record in the first quarter but were sold for lower prices.

Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) reported a sharp fall in profits in the first quarter of 2014. Revenue was $1.61 billion in the first quarter, down slightly from $1.61 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2013. The fall from the corresponding quarter was mainly due to a drop in global prices, which was offset by a rise in sales volume.

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Gross profit for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $563 million, compared with $659 million in the first quarter of 2013. Operating profit for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $243 million, 33% down from $363 million for the first quarter of 2013.

The bottom line was that net profit to shareholders for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $131 million, down 57% from $305 million for the corresponding quarter.

Adjusted net profit was $189 million in the first quarter of 2013, after eliminatiing $58 million for non recurring tax expenses following assessment discussions in European subsidiaries and increased costs due to a strike at Rotem Amfert.

In the first quarter of 2014, Israel Chemicals unit ICL Fertilizers sold a record 1.46 million tons of potash, up 12% from 1.3 million tons in the corresponding quarter. The rise was mainly due to increased sales in China, Brazil and Europe.

The company’s board of directors will distribute $91.5 million in dividends on June 25.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 15, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

Mining the green gold of Ethiopia’s Danakil

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The Danakil Depression holds the world’s largest potash deposit – production should start by 2015. Stocktrek Images/Richard Roscoe/Getty

As companies rush to secure their claim on Ethiopia’s mineral riches, the government is keen to show it supports international transparency measures.

Ethiopia is in the midst of a gold, oil, mineral and gemstone rush. More than 250 companies are currently scouring the territory hoping to strike it rich.

We started our exploration in mining at a good time because we are not learning the hard way. We have seen what happened in different underdeveloped countries

“Ethiopia is a very large country. There is a diversity of geology,” says Tolesa Shagi, the minister of mines. “There is huge potential for different minerals – that is what we understood after we invited foreign mining companies.”

Just over half of the country has been surveyed so far and it already appears that there are significant reserves of gold, oil and potash as well as valuable deposits of coal, tantalum, cop- per, platinum, opals, rubies and other gemstones.

The mining sector currently accounts for around 1% of the Ethiopian economy, but the government expects that in 10 years’ time it will represent 10% of GDP. Potash is likely to be one of the first commodities to contribute to this growth.

In the remote and arid Danakil Depression, in northeast Ethiopia, lies the world’s largest potash deposit. Three companies – Allana Potash Corporation, Yara International and Ethiopian Potash Corporation – are exploring the reserves.

Allana expects to start production by the end of 2015 and Yara by the end of 2017, pending the results of its feasibility study.

Sanjay Rathore, executive director of Yara’s Ethiopian subsidiary Yara Dallo, says the company expects to extract 600,000tn of high-grade sulphate of potash every year.

“This means our project will produce about 10% of the current world market at start-up,” he says, adding that the Danakil deposit is special because all the required chemical components are naturally present in the salt mixture.

Tax incentives

Commercial mining operations like those planned by Yara are the exception in Ethiopia, where 90% of all mining activity is artisanal and small-scale.

There are only two large-scale mines: a state-owned tantalum mine in Kenticha, Oromia (production there has stopped while the government searches for an investment partner) and Lega Dembi gold mine in Adola operated by Midroc, a company owned by Ethio-Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi.

The government is offering a variety of incentives to attract investors, including tax holidays, import-duty exemptions, lower royalty levels and guarantees on selling rights. But it is wary of the dangers associated with the exploitation of mineral wealth.

“We started our exploration in mining at a good time because we are not learning the hard way. We have seen what happened in different underdeveloped countries,” he says. “That is why we are trying our best to become a member of EITI [Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative]. We have to make a transparent system.”

In March, three years after its first application, Ethiopia was accepted as an EITI candidate despite the reservations of some board members and vociferous opposition from international organisations like Human Rights Watch.

There are concerns that the legal and political climate for civil society organisations will prevent them from being fully involved in industry oversight – a key requirement of the EITI process.

But Ethiopia has been working to build the capacity of local organisations, says Kirsten Hund, senior mining specialist at the World Bank, which has been assisting Ethiopia with the preparation of its EITI application.

She says membership is important for the sustainability of the sector: “EITI is not going to solve all the problems in the extractives industry but I think it is a very good way forward, especially because the Ethiopians are starting the process at the very beginning of the take-off of their minerals industry. They are working on a legal mechanism to enforce EITI implementation.”

http://www.theafricareport.com/East-Horn-Africa/mining-the-green-gold-of-ethiopias-danakil.html

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Gao Hucheng: Deepen China-Ethiopia Economic and Trade Cooperation and Bolster Common Prosperous Development

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On May 5, Minister of Commerce Gao Hucheng talked about China-Ethiopia economic and trade cooperation during an interview. The main contents are as follows:

In 2013, President Xi Jinping put forward the cooperative concept of “Sincere, Honest, Close and Earnest” during his visit in Africa, injecting new contents of the times to the China-Africa new strategic partnership. This year, Premier Li Keqiang took Ethiopia as the first leg of his visit to Africa, which is coincidently the same arrangement as that during late Premier Zhou Enlai’s visit to Africa 50 years ago. It fully shows that China pays high attention to developing comprehensive partnership with Ethiopia.

I’m probably the only ministerial official in the State Council who has lived, studied and worked in Africa for many years. The unique experience gives me great affections toward Africa in my later career. Although the two countries with ancient civilizations are far away, their friendship is long standing due to similar historical experiences and the tradition of safeguarding national independence, and the friendliness between the two peoples has been natural. Over the 44 years since the establishment of diplomatic relations, China and Ethiopia have adhered to equality, sincerity and friendship, holding hands together in revitalizing their economy and realizing common prosperity and development.

In recent years, China-Ethiopia relationship has been growing rapidly, with bilateral economic and trade cooperation enjoying a strong momentum and achieving remarkable results. Ethiopia has become the bellwether of China-Africa economic and trade cooperation. Over the past decade, bilateral trade witnessed an average annual growth of nearly 20% to reach US$ 2.19 billion in 2013. By the end of 2013, China’s direct investment in Ethiopia amounted to US$ 720 million, contract projects signed by Chinese enterprises were valued at US$ 22.4 billion, and the projects under construction had a combined worth of over US$ 15 billion. China has been the largest trade partner, main source of investment and projects contractor of Ethiopia for many consecutive years.

At present, a large number of Chinese enterprises including private enterprises have invested in manufacturing in Ethiopia, with the accumulated amount exceeding US$ 600 million, which takes up 80% of investment in Ethiopia and covers building materials, leather, pharmacy, automobile assembling and food processing. Not only advanced and practical manufacturing technologies have been transferred to Ethiopia to bolster the expansion of “made in Ethiopia”, but also created more than 5,000 jobs, with 80% of employees being local residents. Besides, Chinese enterprises have taken an active part in fulfilling their social responsibilities, digging wells and paving roads for local communities, sponsoring medical treatment and public health as well as culture and sports, and enjoying a harmonious coexistence with local people.

In terms of construction, Chinese enterprises have undertaken a batch of large-scale and influential infrastructure projects. The first wind power plant and first expressway in Ethiopia have been completed, and the first light rail and a transnational railway are under construction. All of the achievements show the painstaking efforts of Chinese and Ethiopian engineering personnel, and demonstrate the two countries’ friendship and cooperation. The African Union Conference Center is not only a landmark of Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa, but also a new monument of China-Africa friendship. The success of these projects makes “constructed by China” famous, and enables China’s electricity and transportation equipment and technological standards to become renowned in Ethiopia.

Now bilateral relationship has entered the best period of development. China is comprehensively deepening reform and opening up, striving to achieve the two centennial goals. Ethiopia is carrying out plans of economic growth and transformation, making efforts to realize national revitalization. Further strengthening bilateral economic and trade cooperation accords with the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries and their people. Under this background, Premier Li Keqiang’s visit to Ethiopia will be conducive to improving cooperation, promoting solidarity and seeking common development. During the visit, several documents of economic and trade cooperation are expected to be signed, covering the fields of industrial parks construction, energy and mineral resources exploitation, intensive processing of agricultural products, infrastructure construction and loans for small and medium-sized enterprises.

Though different in development phases, China and Ethiopia have common ideas and strong wishes for cooperation. Following the cooperative concept of “Sincere, Honest, Close and Earnest”, China is willing to make concerted efforts with Ethiopia to display their complementary advantages and deepen bilateral economic and trade cooperation.

In manufacturing investment, China and Ethiopia are highly matching in industrial transfer and reception, and have wide cooperation space. Ethiopia has favorable conditions to develop labor intensive industries, including superior investment environment, high facilitation for business operation, abundant labor resources, and substantial market potential. The two countries can take the existing achievements like the Eastern Industry Zone as the foundation, continue to create a favorable policy environment for Chinese enterprises to invest in Ethiopia or transfer technology, cultivate more laborers with proficient work skills as well as professionals in operating management. In this sense, Ethiopia can be turned into the main destination in Africa to undertake the transfer of Chinese manufacturing.

In infrastructure construction, Ethiopia will start a series of large projects in electricity, transportation and telecommunications fields to support its industrialization. On the basis of former achievements, the two countries will do their best to implement the key projects including Addis Ababa light rail, Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway and Adama wind power phase II. Meanwhile, the two countries will encourage financial institutions, on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win as well as risk control, to study innovative financing modes to resolve the shortage of funds for construction of Ethiopia. Besides, China pays high attention to the cooperation on regional connectivity in Africa, and is willing to provide supports to project planning and feasibility studies concerning Ethiopia, and positively participate in the construction, financing and operation of the projects.

Looking forward to the future, we have the reasons to believe that China and Ethiopia will take this visit as an opportunity to make more progress hand in hand, and drive China-Ethiopia economic and trade cooperation to a higher level and a wider domain.

http://english.mofcom.gov.cn/article/newsrelease/significantnews/201405/20140500587311.shtml

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Building Resilience Tops Agenda at Global Conference in Ethiopia

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Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, May 13, 2014—Poor countries and vulnerable people are facing a barrage of shocks: economic shocks such as volatile food prices and financial crises; environmental shocks and natural disasters such as droughts, floods, and earthquakes; food safety, diseases, and health shocks; and social and political shocks such as conflicts and violence that disrupt the food supply and threaten food and nutrition security.

On May 15, more than 800 experts and practitioners from food, nutrition, health, agriculture, humanitarian, and related development sectors will meet in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a three-day conference, “Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security,” to discuss how to incorporate resilience into the post-2015 agenda and improve policies, investments, and institutions to strengthen resilience so that food and nutrition security can be achieved for all.

The conference is the centerpiece of a consultative process led by the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and its 2020 Vision Initiative and their partners.

Partners for the conference are the CGIAR Research Program on Agriculture for Nutrition and Health; the CGIAR Research Program on Policies, Institutions, and Markets; The Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation; Royal DSM; DuPont Pioneer; Farming First; the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development; Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit; the International Fund for Agricultural Development; the International Livestock Research Institute; Irish Aid; The Rockefeller Foundation; the Resilience Learning Consortium; UPL Limited; and the United States Agency for International Development.

Building resilience means helping individuals, households, communities, and countries anticipate, prepare for, cope with, and recover from shocks and not only bounce back to where they were before the shocks occurred, but become even better off.

The concept of resilience is currently the subject of wide attention in the development community, but resilience in the context of food and nutrition security is less widely discussed.

“The post-2015 agenda must take resilience seriously to ensure an end to hunger and under-nutrition sustainably and forever,” says IFPRI director general Shenggen Fan. “A resilience approach has the potential to improve livelihoods and support economic growth and transformation while mitigating future shocks. In fact, it can help us tackle issues that run across the entire agriculture, food, nutrition, and environmental system.”

The conference will be opened by H.E. Hailemariam Dessalegn, Prime Minister of Ethiopia, and Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission. Also, heads of various international agencies (United Nations World Food Programme, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and The Global Environment Facility), government ministers, and key leaders from nongovernmental organizations, private sector, and research institutes will participate.

For more information, including the program and conference papers, please visit the conference website: http://www.2020resilience.ifpri.info/.

The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) seeks sustainable solutions for ending hunger and poverty. IFPRI was established in 1975 to identify and analyze alternative national and international strategies and policies for meeting the food needs of the developing world, with particular emphasis on low-income countries and on the poorer groups in those countries. www.ifpri.org.

Contact Information: 

Sarah Immenschuh Brawner,

IFPRI

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http://www.ifpri.org/pressrelease/building-resilience-tops-agenda-global-conference-ethiopia

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World Bank to help create new jobs and improve competitiveness through development of industrial zones and strengthening linkages with local economy

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WASHINGTON, May 13, 2014—The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors today approved a US$250 million credit in support of the Government of Ethiopia’s effort to create new jobs and increase competitiveness in the light manufacturing sector through the development of industrial zones and enhancing linkages with the local economy.

“Growth of the manufacturing sector creates employment opportunities for the poor, as light manufacturing primarily uses unskilled and semi-skilled labor,” said Guang Zhe Chen, the World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia. “Job creation through industrialization will help contribute to the reduction of extreme poverty and promotion of shared prosperity which are key goals of the World Bank Group.”

Representing a transformational engagement in Ethiopia, today’s credit from the International Development Association (IDA*) supports the Competitiveness and Job Creation Project. The project is designed to establish industrial zones as a platform for catalyzing investment and job creation, with a focus on export-led manufacturing, and tackling cross-cutting constraints for private sector development.

The project will provide large and medium-sized firms with new, serviced industrial land and buildings (including water, electricity, and transport connections), and with a One-Stop Shop to reduce the transaction costs of doing business.  The project will also target small to medium-sized enterprises that will act as local suppliers for the light manufacturing sector, as well as sector institutes that will be involved in project implementation and in developing skills and training of workers with requisite skills.

Drawing on the lessons learnt from global practices, the positive impacts of the project will not be confined to the industrial zones being developed under the project but are expected to contribute to the strengthening of the government’s larger industrial zones program and jobs agenda as well as attract new investors to Ethiopia.

“The project will benefit people who will be employed as a direct consequence of creation of new jobs in the targeted zones, said Asya Akhlaque, the World Bank Task Team Leader for the project. “The majority of the beneficiaries are expected to be women employed in the garment and shoe industries that initially set up business in the project area.”

The project is well-anchored within Ethiopia’s Country Partnership Strategy (FY13-16) and is expected to support its first pillar, ‘fostering competitiveness and employment’, that outlines increased competitiveness and productivity, and improved delivery of infrastructure as its strategic objectives. The project is also well aligned with the World Bank Strategy for Africa that focuses on competitiveness and employment.

http://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2014/05/13/ethiopia-world-bank-to-help-create-new-jobs-and-improve-competitiveness-through-development-of-industrial-zones-and-strengthening-linkages-with-local-economy

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Nation Earns Over 1.5 bln USD from Tourism

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More than 1.5 billion USD has been earned from tourists during the past nine months, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The stated amount was obtained from 509, 000 tourists who visited Ethiopian destinations in the reported period.

Speaking at a work performance evaluation forum, Culture and Tourism Minister Amin Abdulkader noted that the government has given due attention to the development of tourism sector. This has resulted in a continuous growth of number of tourists visiting the country.

Culture and Tourism State Minister Tadelech Dalecho said on her part Ethiopia has become one of the top ten countries visited in the world due to the peace and stability prevalent in the country.

The income earned from the sector has also been growing by 12 percent annually, following the construction of airports in various regions, she added.

The performance during the report period has exceeded that of same period last year and efforts are being exerted to earn more during the remaining months of the fiscal year, the State Minister concluded.

http://213.55.98.22/enae/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2039:nation-earns-over-15-bln-usd-from-tourism&Itemid=260

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Turkey’s Anadolu News Agency officially opens an office in Ethiopia

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Turkey’s Anadolu Agency (AA) officially inaugurated its new regional bureau in Addis Ababa on Monday (May 12) as part of the agency’s plans to bolster its Africa coverage. Formally launching the bureau along with Ethiopian State Minister in Charge of the Government Communication Affairs Office, Mr. Ewnetu Bilata, the Anadolu Agency Director-General and Board Chairman, Mr. Kemal Ozturk, said the new Addis Ababa office would produce Africa news in English, Arabic, Turkish and French languages.

He pointed out that the new Ethiopian bureau would be the agency’s biggest in Africa after Cairo and Tunis, and noted that AA had some 1500 subscribers around the world. He indicated that the agency would also soon open offices in both Senegal and South Africa.

The Turkish Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr. Osman Riza Yavuzalp, said that the opening of the office would help to further bolster the existing excellent relations between Ethiopia and Turkey. He said the the new Addis Ababa bureau would cover not only Ethiopia and the African Union, but also other African countries. He underlined that the Anadolu Agency was “one of the most respected news agencies in the world”, adding “I only have one wish: that this office will produce good news for people to see the beauty and stability of Africa.”

State Minister Ewnetu said he hoped the new bureau and Ethiopia’s official news agency would work together as “real partners,” suggesting that they could share experience, technology and expertise. He said the government would provide the necessary support to make agency’s work successful.

http://www.mfa.gov.et/news/more.php?newsid=3124

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Private Sector Investments Create Sustainable Markets for Ethiopia’s Food-Insecure Households

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Private-sector investments can create more sustainable markets for farmers as well as build food security for households, reports SNV, a Dutch development organisation.

At the international “Multi-Stakeholder Conference on Agriculture Investments, Gender, and Land in Africa” held in South Africa, Nicholas Nyathi of SNV Ethiopia said private sector investments in training, quality inputs, and leadership development are helping farmers grow better quality produce and expand their markets. Combined with technology, farmers are better able to understand and access markets.

“Initiatives by SNV and its collaborators have increased farmer access to technology so they better understand and can access reliable markets, thus creating greater demand for their produce,” Nyathi said.

According to a press release Agricultural Communication Coordinator of  SNV sent to WIC,  an estimated 8 million Ethiopians live in chronic food insecurity with most of them located in rural areas and dependent on rain-fed agriculture. Production is hampered by lack of access to technology and inputs, financial services, market information, and sustainable markets. Gender inequities and limited opportunities to generate income from other businesses are also barriers to food security.

These households are heavily reliant on subsistence farming where yields are too low to facilitate their graduation to food security.

In response, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) created “Graduation with Resilience to Achieve Sustainable Development” (GRAD).

In addition to SNV, the GRAD collaboration includes CARE, Agri Service Ethiopia, Catholic Relief Service in Oromia, Organization for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara, and the Relief Society of Tigray. GRAD has also worked closely with Ethiopia’s Household Asset Building Program, agricultural extension offices, and national and woreda cooperative agencies.

Through the years, some prejudices have formed towards woredas (or districts) which are third-level administrative divisions of Ethiopia. They are composed of a number of wards or neighbourhood associations, which are the smallest unit of local government. There are about 670 rural and about 100 urban woredas.

In an effort to change the attitude towards these woredas and attract the private sector into these areas, SNV Ethiopia brought together private sector actors; uncovered the market potentials of GRAD woredas; and devised contextual, market-based solutions. The effort resulted in improvements in honey, livestock, malt barely, potato, legume, and red pepper production and marketing.

GRAD helps farmers learn more about on-farm quality, negotiations, market dynamics, and general business skills to meet market demands. GRAD engages the private sector to provide agro-services such as seeds and fertilizers; link farmers to markets and other value chain actors such as food processors; and innovate or develop appropriate business models up and down the food chain.

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13360-private-sector-investments-create-sustainable-markets-for-ethiopias-food-insecure-households

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EPRDF says preparations for upcoming production season going well

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Executive Committee of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) said that preparations for the 2006/7 Meher (production) season are going as per plan.

The Executive Committee, in its regular session yesterday, evaluated the preparations for the upcoming Meher season as well as deliberated on various agendas and put directions.

The Committee, while closing its regular session, said that the direction put to increase crops that would be used for food, export and for industrial inputs is well underway.

The Executive Committee also confirmed the availability of sufficient select seed and fertilizer that enable to attain the target set to register a 20 per cent increase in major crops.

The Executives Committee also deliberated on the disturbances recently occurred in some universities of Oromia regional state.

It said the situation was masterminded by few anti–peace forces that have been waiting for to seize the opportunity to create violence through spreading distorted campaign.

The Committee also expressed its deep sorrow over the losses of life and property in connection with the disturbance.

The residents are leading a normal life as the problems that were occurred in some areas of the regional state are being solved through discussion, the Executive Committee said.

The Executive Committee finally said that the government would continue to ensure safety of its citizen as well as it vowed to bring to justice those who are responsible for the problem.

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/editors-pick/13355-eprdf-says-preparations-for-upcoming-production-season-going-well-

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By  Tom Gara

China’s was once known as cheapest factory floor on the planet, but in the last two decades its economy has transitioned to become one of the world’s most advanced industrial powers. That means someone else needs to start making all those shoes and sweatshirts, hence all those apparel companies in recent years moving their factories to Vietnam and other cheap spots throughout Asia.

And it’s not just Asia. China’s Huajian Group plans to invest up to $2 billion in Ethiopia in the next decade, turning the country into a shoe manufacturing base for exports to the U.S. and Europe. As the WSJ’s Peter Wonacott reports:

Mounting labor costs in China are part of what makes Africa so attractive. The average monthly wage for a low-skilled Ethiopian factory worker, for example, is about 25% of the pay for a comparable Chinese worker, according to the World Bank. As the wage gap widens between unskilled Chinese workers and their counterparts elsewhere in Asia and in Africa, as many as 85 million factory jobs could leave China in the coming years, according to former World Bank chief economist Justin Yifu Lin.

In addition to its pool of low-cost labor, Africa represents an enticing market for Chinese products manufactured on the continent. Africa is now home to six of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies, according to the International Monetary Fund, and many African countries are reducing their dependence on extracting resources, such as oil, metals and gems.

Africa’s poor infrastructure and uneven distribution of skills erode its cost advantages, however. The World Bank study estimated that a Chinese worker making shirts, for example, could produce about twice as many per shift as an Ethiopian worker.

Chinese factory wages have been rising an average of 20% a year for the last decade, pushing low-cost manufacturers toward places where salaries are stagnant. Here’s a chart the WSJ put together last year:

And as China steps more prominently into Africa, what do its officials say in response to suggestions the country could act as a new form of colonial power? In an interview with the WSJ, Chinese ambassador to South Africa Tian Xuejun had little time for such claims:

Some media say China assists Africa only for the market and resources, and they talk about “neocolonialism,” but I say these kinds of criticisms are absurd. One reason is that they don’t know much about China-Africa cooperation. Another reason is maybe that they have other agendas.

China has assisted in the building of infrastructure, roads, bridges and railway stations. This has greatly improved the investment environment in many African countries. China has invested in manufacturing and sent agricultural experts to other countries. China also has helped to build many hospitals, schools and stadiums.

People are talking about neocolonialism but what is neocolonialism? People in Africa know very well about colonialism—this is about using gunfire to open the door to Africa to grab their resources. It is China who buys resources with a fair price under internationally recognized rules.

See also:
China Inc. Moves Factory Floor to Africa - WSJ

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Sourced here  http://blogs.wsj.com/corporate-intelligence/2014/05/15/why-made-in-ethiopia-could-be-the-next-made-in-china/

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Ethiopia earns over 1.5 billion US Dollars from tourism during past nine months

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The revenue earned by Ethiopia’s tourism sector has increased greatly. Ethiopia has registered more than 1.5 billion US Dollars in earnings from tourism during the past nine months, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

The stated amount was obtained from the 509,000 foreign tourists who visited Ethiopia during the reported period, said Culture and Tourism Minister Amin Abdulkader when he addressed a work performance evaluation forum in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

He noted that the government had given due attention to the development of the tourism sector and this had resulted in a continuous growth in the number of tourists visiting the country.

State Minister for Culture and Tourism Tadelech Dalecho said Ethiopia had become one of the top 10 countries visited in the world because of the peace and stability prevalent in the country.

The income earned from the tourism sector had been growing by 12 per cent annually, following the construction of airports in various regions, she added.

The performance during the report period had exceeded that of same period last year and efforts are being exerted to earn more during the remaining months of the current fiscal year, she said.

http://www.travelandtourworld.com/news/article/ethiopia-earns-over-1-5-billion-us-dollars-from-tourism-during-past-nine-months/

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Sudanese minister calls for strengthening of economic ties with Ethiopia

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Sudan’s Minister of Investment, Dr. Mustafa Osman Ismail, said at the meeting of the Sudan-Ethiopia Forum in Khartoum at the weekend that the environment was now conducive for establishing good economic relations between Sudan and Ethiopia.

He called for increased integration in relations between the two countries, noting that Ethiopia possessed water sources and Sudan had vast and fertile land.

He suggested that the policy of the state required the private sector to take over 70 per cent of economic activity and that if civil society organizations were activated they could undertake a greater role than official bodies.

He noted that there were over 700 Sudanese investment projects in Ethiopia and called for the removal of all obstacles that might hinder the expansion of trade between Sudan and Ethiopia.

The Commercial Attaché of the Ethiopian Embassy said the Sudan was on top of Ethiopia’s priorities in terms of economic relations and noted that more than 50 trade agreements had been signed between the two countries since 2000. (MoFA)

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13409-sudanese-minister-calls-for-strengthening-of-economic-ties-with-ethiopia-

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President Hadi confirms depth of Yemeni-Ethiopian relations

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Yemeni President Abdu Rabbu Mansour Hadi confirmed on Thursday the depth of Yemeni-Ethiopian relations, praising the role of Ethiopia and its position in the region and in the African Continent.

This came during President’s meeting with Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister, Dr Tedros Adhanom, who is currently visiting Yemen to take part in the 5th meeting of the Yemeni-Ethiopian joint ministerial committee.

Hadi stressed the importance of enhancing the cooperation relations between the two friendly countries, in particular in the economic and trade fields, emphasizing in this regard the need for activating cooperation and trade exchange between the two countries’ commercial champers.

For his part, Ethiopian Foreign Affairs Minister briefed Hadi on his meetings with Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi along with other relevant institutions, which resulted in signing on nine agreements in various areas.

He noted that there is five other agreements would be signed on the upcoming meeting of Yemeni-Ethiopian joint ministerial committee.

Dr Tedros renewed the President Mulatu Teshome of Ethiopia’s invitation to President Hadi to visit Ethiopia, which he said would open a new horizon between the two friendly countries at different levels.

Early on Thursday, Yemen and Ethiopia signed on a number of agreements and protocols of bilateral cooperation in trade, investment, higher education and standards and specifications.

The agreements and protocols co-signed by Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi and his Ethiopian counterpart Dr Tedros Adhanom at the concluding of the 5th meeting of the Yemeni-Ethiopian joint ministerial committee. (Saba)

http://www.waltainfo.com/index.php/explore/13393-president-hadi-confirms-depth-of-yemeni-ethiopian-relations

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Weather-based insurance for African farmers has issues

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Flickr/ Pablo Tosco, Oxfam International

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Just how well weather index-based insurance will work for smallholder agriculture in Africa is still highly debatable.

This is about investing in insurance to help farmers manage, mostly, drought risks in Africa where agriculture is a prime source of food and earnings for millions of smallholders, but is increasingly facing multiple challenges.

The insurance is meant to cushion farmers against the vagaries of weather; prolonged droughts and in some cases flooding. And climate change-related impacts are complicating matters for the needy seeking to eke a living out of scratching the earth bare and sprinkling seeds and water, sometimes hoping against hope.

At the Building Resilience for Food and Nutrition Security conference organised by the US-headquartered International Food Research Institute (IFPRI) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, this week (15-17 May), I have gathered that weather index-based insurance faces myriad challenges.

According to Ruth Hill, senior economist, Africa Region Poverty Reduction and Economic Management Network at the World Bank, it has two contrasting positions.

On one hand, it can manage agricultural risk in rain-fed production systems that require a financial product to pay many farmers at once for weather-related failures.
“Weather index insurance is a unique financial product that provides the only realistic solution to managing risk for rural households,” Hill says.

But on the other hand it is a hedging product and as such the basic risk is too high for it to offer much value to farmers.

Not just these two positions: There are too many pilot projects, but few are being implemented on a large scale, according to Guush Berhane, associate research fellow at IFPRI, Ethiopia. The product design is complex and the actuarial or insurance skills needed are missing.

It suffers from the lack of required extensive data that is still unavailable in most parts of the continent

Berhane adds that its implementation by stakeholders is often weak, and lacks infrastructure such as meteorological equipment for weather monitoring.

Next to that, Berhane says, is the challenge of transferring risk internationally — linking to re-insurance can be a nightmare.

More still needs to be done to shape weather index-based insurance into a more workable and viable fall-back outfit for smallholders across Africa.

This article has been produced by SciDev.Net’s Sub-Saharan Africa desk.

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http://www.scidev.net/sub-saharan-africa/agriculture/scidev-net-at-large/weather-based-insurance-for-african-farmers-has-issues.html

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GTP, Green Strategy Helping to Improve Agricultural Production, Ensure Food Security: Premier

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Addis Ababa May 16/2014   Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the implantation of the growth and transformation plan, and the green strategy as well as building resilient agricultural system helped Ethiopia improve agricultural production and ensure food security.

While addressing the 6th building resilience for food and nutrition security conference here yesterday, the Premier said Ethiopia has been taking various policy measures and investments to anticipate, adopt and recover from shocks.

According to Hailemariam, Ethiopia have approached the challenge in anticipating, adopting and recovering from shocks such as droughts through several ways.

The Premier said the government has recognized that unrelated policy decisions and shocks could cause disaster to the global and local food systems.

Considering this, the country has started to implement the five-year growth and transformation plan in 2010 to build resilient economy. The plan consists of investments and policy approaches for enhancing agricultural productivity, expanding key infrastructures and promoting industrial growth.

This exemplifies the government’s key strategy in enhancing resilience to shocks of many forms, which is to build a ‘robust and diversified’ economy, he remarked.

Another move the government has taken to build resilient economy was the adoption of the green economy strategy in 2011, Hailemariam explained. Rehabilitation of degraded land, afforestation and reforestation, and increasing crop and livestock productivity, are the major elements of the strategy.

The government has invested in raising productivity of small-holder farmers, strengthening agricultural marketing systems and increasing area of land developed through irrigation, among others.

The country has put in place a successful social protection scheme, safety net program, to help poor farmers ensure their food security. Apart from ensuring food security of poor households, the program supports the creation of assets such as roads and irrigation schemes which enhance resilience of communities.

These and other investments and policy efforts have helped ‘to raise economic growth, improve food and nutrition security, reduce poverty and, we believe, make us more resilient country, better able to cope with shocks as they arise.’, Hilemariam added.

Ethiopia is the fastest growing non-oil economy in Africa with growth of about 10 percent, and the second largest floriculture supplier in Africa, said Kanyo Nwazne, President of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD).

Because of the strong leadership and policies to address macroeconomic issues and increased investment in drought preparedness and small holder farmers, the impact of the 2011 Horn of Africa drought on Ethiopia was very limited, he added.

The country’s determinedness in allocating 15 percent of its annual budget for the agriculture sector is one of the highest in Africa.

The World Food Program has decided to change its way of supporting poor countries, which was only providing with emergency aids during shocks, the Executive Director, Ertharin Cousin told reporters.

WFP has recognized that his traditional way of assistance is not helping poor countries ensure food production, she added.

Soon WFP will anew its system and work in collaboration with the countries to support their efforts and bring change in this regard, the Director said.

The three-day conference brings 800 participants from 75 countries across the world to deliberate on investment in resilience for food and nutrition security.

http://213.55.98.22/enae/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&id=2057:gtp-green-strategy-helping-to-improve-agricultural-production-ensure-food-security-premier&Itemid=260

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Ethiopia’s ‘Super Grain’ Teff Finds Its Way To European Supermarkets

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By Kevin MwanzaEthiopia, one of the world’s poorest countries, is also the native home of teff, a highly nutritious ancient grain increasingly finding its way into health-food shops and supermarkets in Europe, CCTV reported. Teff’s tiny seeds are high in calcium, iron and protein, and boast an impressive set of amino acids.

Naturally gluten-free, the grain can substitute for wheat flour in anything from bread and pasta to waffles and pizza bases. Like quinoa, the Andean grain, teff’s superb nutritional profile offers the promise of new and lucrative markets in the west.

Tedd is grown by an estimated 6.3 million farmers in Ethiopia, with fields of the crop covering more than 20 percent of all land under cultivation. But growing appetite for traditional crops and booming health-food and gluten-free markets are breathing new life into the grain, increasingly touted as Ethiopia’s “second gift to the world”, after coffee.

Source (with video) here   http://sodere.com/profiles/blogs/ethiopia-s-super-grain-teff-finds-its-way-to-european-supermarket

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AFRICA OIL PROVIDES OPERATIONAL UPDATE AND FIRST QUARTER RESULTS

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May 14, 2014 (AOI–TSX, AOI–NASDAQ OMX First North) … Africa Oil Corp. (“Africa Oil” or the “Company”) is pleased to provide first quarter 2014 financial results and an update on its operations in Kenya and Ethiopia.

The Company currently has six rigs operating in Kenya and Ethiopia which are focused on three main activities; 1) Drilling new basin opening wells; 2) Drilling new prospects in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya; and 3) appraising and testing existing discoveries.

Two basin opening wells are currently drilling with results expected in the second quarter of 2014. The Sala prospect, on Block 9, is being drilled in the Cretaceous Anza graben and will test a large anticlinal feature along the northern basin bounding fault. This well is operated by Africa Oil which holds a 50% interest and operatorship with partner Marathon Kenya Limited B.V. holding the remaining 50%.

The other new basin opening well is the Shimela well being drilled in the Chew Bahir basin on the South Omo block in Ethiopia.  This basin is located along the Tertiary rift trend and has many similarities to the recent discoveries in Kenya. The rig will move to the Gardim prospect following the completion of Shimela which is a basin bounded fault prospect located in the southern portion of this basin. The Company holds a 30% working interest in this block along with operator Tullow Oil plc (“Tullow”) (50%) and partner Marathon Ethiopia Limited B.V. (20%).

Plans are also underway to drill prospects in three additional new basins this year.  The Dyepa-1 well will spud in the second quarter and will target the South Kerio basin which is proximal and geologically similar to the discovered basin in Northern Kenya in Block 10BB.  This well is designed to test a basin bounding fault prospect on the western flank of the basin similar to the string of pearls field discoveries such as the initial Ngamia discovery.  A number of additional prospects have been identified in this basin which would be de-risked if Dyepa is a discovery. This rig will then move to test the Aze prospect which is located in the North Kerio basin and is comprised of a large, four-way dip closed anticline on the southern shore of Lake Turkana.

The last basin to be targeted this year is the West Turkana basin in Block 10BA in Kenya and the first well in this program is expected to spud later this year. The first prospect to be drilled will be the Engomo (formerly Kiboko) prospect on the western shore of Lake Turkana. It is also a basin bounding fault prospect and has similar potential to prove a petroleum system that would lead to accelerated drilling on a number of identified prospects. In both of these basins, as in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya, the Company holds a 50% working interest along with Operator Tullow Oil plc (50%).

The only well which is currently being drilled on a new prospect in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya is the Ekunyuk-1 well which is located on the eastern flank play, on trend with recent discoveries at Etuko and Ewoi. The well has now reached a final total depth of 1,802 meters and has encountered some 5 meters of net oil pay, within approximately 150 meters of reservoir quality water-bearing sandstone and an equal thickness of a basin-wide rich oil shale. This rig will now be moved to the Agete-2 location.

Three additional rigs are currently pursuing appraisal and testing activities on the existing discoveries.  The Sakson PR5 rig is continuing drilling operations on the Twiga-2 up-dip appraisal well. The initial wellbore was drilled near the basin bounding fault and encountered some 18 meters of net oil pay within alluvial fan facies, with limited reservoir quality. A decision was made to sidetrack the well away from the fault to explore north of Twiga-1 and some 62 meters of vertical net oil pay has been discovered in the Auwerwer formation, similar in quality to the initial Twiga-1 discovery. The well is currently being deepened to evaluate the Lower Lokhone sand reservoirs and a testing program for this successful well is planned to be conducted later this year. This rig will then move to drill a down-dip appraisal of the Amosing discovery, which appears to have high quality reservoir and may be one of the largest discoveries in the basin to date.

The PR Marriott 46 rig is currently drilling ahead on the Ngamia-2 appraisal well which is expected to be completed by the end of the second quarter.  This rig will then drill the Ngamia-3 appraisal well.

Testing operations are ongoing on the Agete-1 well using the SMP-5 rig and expected to be completed by the end of May. The plan is for this rig to continue testing operations on discovery and appraisal wells in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya.

Additionally in Ethiopia, the Company has recently completed the drilling of the El Kuran-3 appraisal well on Block 8.  El Kuran-3 was an appraisal of a discovery made by Tenneco in the 1970’s, and encountered a significant but tight gas-condensate zone in Jurassic Hammanlei carbonates. The well has been suspended pending a decision on conducting a fracture stimulation, which will be required to assess the long-term productivity of the formation.  Discussions are ongoing with the Government of Ethiopia to secure an extension to the Exploration Period under the PSC to assess the economic viability of the discovery.

Africa Oil CEO Keith Hill stated “We are looking forward to the results of the new basin opening wells which have the potential to unlock significant value in terms of new prospects and resources. The ongoing drilling in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya has been quite helpful in understanding the distribution of the best reservoir facies and will no doubt be enhanced by the ongoing 3D seismic survey.  We remain very bullish in not only the existing discoveries but in the remaining prospects in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya such as Etom, the largest remaining prospect along the Western ‘String of Pearls’ trend, which will be drilled in the third quarter of this year. Our goal is to open up at least one new basin and to move a significant number of barrels from prospective to contingent resources by the end of 2014 as we move the field development program forward.”

The Company is also actively pursuing development studies in the Block 10BB/13T area including commencement of the pre-front end engineering design (pre-FEED) and environmental and social impact assessment (ESIA) studies for the pipeline, export terminal and field facilities. It is the goal the Government of Kenya and the joint venture partnership to achieve project sanction, including the approval of an export pipeline, by the end of 2015/early 2016.

As was previously announced, the company has now graduated to the main board of the TSX and plans to apply for graduation to the NASDAQ OMX Stockholm main board.

 

Further Significant Events During The First Quarter of 2014:

• Africa Oil ended the quarter with cash of $434.3 million and working capital of $360.1 million.
• In January, the Company announced a new oil discovery at Amosing-1 located seven kilometers southwest of the Ngamia-1 discovery along the Basin Bounding Fault Play in Block 10BB.  Logs indicated 160 to 200 meters of potential net oil pay in good quality sandstone reservoirs.
• In January, the Company announced a new oil discovery at Ewoi-1 located four kilometers to the east of the Etuko-1 discovery in the Basin Flank Play on the eastern side of the discovered basin in Northern Kenya in Block 10BB.  Logs indicated potential net pay of 20 to 80 meters to be confirmed by well testing.
• In February, the Company announced the results of five well tests conducted on five Lokhone pay intervals at Etuko-1 located on the Basin Flank Play in Block 10BB.  Light 36 degree API waxy crude oil was successfully flowed from three zones at a combined average rate of over 550 barrels of oil equivalent per day.  In March, the Company announced the results of the Etuko-2 exploration well drilled to test the upper Auwerwer sands overlying the previously announced Etuko discovery.  Etuko-2 penetrated a potential significant oil column identified from formation pressure data and oil shows while drilling and in core, with good quality reservoir but flowed only water on drill stem test.  The results are considered inconclusive and analysis is underway to consider further options to evaluate this reservoir.
• In March, the Company announced the results of a well test on the Ekales-1 discovery drilled in 2013 and located on the Basin Bounding Fault Play between the Ngamia-1 and Twiga South-1 discoveries.  Testing operations on the Ekales-1 well confirmed this significant oil discovery.  Two drill stem tests were completed and flowed at a combined rate of over 1,000 bopd from a combined 41 meter net pay interval.  The upper zone had a very high productivity index of 4.3 stb/d/psi.
• In March, the Company announced the results of the Emong-1 well located four kilometers northwest of Ngamia-1 field discovery in Block 13T (Kenya).  The well encountered oil and gas shows while drilling, however the Auwerwer sandstones that are the primary reservoirs in the Ngamia field were thin and poorly developed in Emong-1 and the well was plugged and abandoned.  It is believed that the reservoir was poorly developed due to its proximity to the basin bounding fault and its location within what appears to be a local isolated slumped fault margin.  This well, which was trying to establish an additional play, has no impact on the potential of the Ngamia oil accumulation or any other prospectivity in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya.
• In Blocks 10BB and 13T, the acquisition of a 550 square kilometer 3D seismic program over the discoveries and prospects along the Basin Bounding Fault Play in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya is ongoing and is scheduled to complete at the end of the third quarter.
• In March, the Company completed a farmout transaction with Marathon whereby Marathon acquired a 50% interest in the Rift Basin Area leaving the Company with a 50% working interest. In accordance with the farmout agreement, Marathon was obligated to pay the Company $3.0 million in consideration of past exploration expenditures, and has agreed to fund the Company’s working interest share of future joint venture expenditures to a maximum of $15.0 million with an effective date of June 30, 2012. Upon closing of the farmout, Marathon paid the Company $3.0 million in consideration of past exploration expenditures. Subsequent to the quarter end, Marathon paid the Company $10.2 million being Marathon’s and the Company’s share of exploration expenditures from the effective date to the closing date of the farmout.
• In March, the Company completed a farmout transaction with New Age whereby New Age acquired an additional 40% interest in the Company’s Adigala Block leaving AOC with 10% working interest. In accordance with the farmout agreement, New Age is obligated to fund the Company’s 10% working interest share of expenditures related to the acquisition of a planned 1,000 kilometer 2D seismic program to a maximum expenditure of $10.0 million on a gross basis, following which the Company would be responsible for its working interest share of expenditures.
• The Company has a significant exploration and appraisal program set out for 2014 which will see over 20 wells completed.  The program is focused on drilling out the remaining prospect inventory in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya, appraising existing and future discoveries with the aid of the new 3D Seismic survey, drilling six new basin opening wells and progressing development studies towards project sanction in the discovered basin in Northern Kenya.  This significant program in 2014 is fully funded.

—

For complete report see attached file.

Africa Oil’s Certified Advisor on NASDAQ OMX First North is Pareto Securities AB.

For further information, please contact: Sophia Shane, Corporate Development (604) 689-7842.

Related Articles

http://globenewswire.com/news-release/2014/05/14/636516/0/en/AFRICA-OIL-PROVIDES-OPERATIONAL-UPDATE-AND-FIRST-QUARTER-RESULTS.html?f=22&fvtc=7

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Ethiopia: First Overseas ‘China-Standard’ Electric Railway Laid

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Beijing — The first overseas electric railway built to Chinese standards started having its tracks laid on Thursday in Dire Dawa, an eastern city of Ethiopia, China’s railway authorities said.

The railway, which will stretch 740 kilometers linking Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa with Djibouti’s capital Djibouti, is expected to be completed by the end of 2015, with a total investment of 4 billion U.S. dollars.

An inland country, Ethiopia depends on imports and exports on the port of Djibouti. It takes around one week for cargo to be transported between Djibouti and Addis Ababa by road.

“The railway, once in operation, will reduce the traveling time to seven or eight hours,” said the Ethiopia Railway Corporation, adding that the railway will also cut transportation costs.

The train will run at a speed of 120 kilometers per hour, the fastest ever in Ethiopian railway history.

“The track-laying marks an important construction stage of the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway,” said Yuan Li, general manager of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, one of the two major constructors.

Yuan said the railway will follow Chinese standards as tracks, trains and signal systems are all made-in-China. The whole process ranging from design, construction to supervision will be run by Chinese companies.

The construction is the second transnational railway to be built by Chinese enterprises after the landmark Tanzania-Zambia construction in the 1970s.  - Xinhua

http://allafrica.com/stories/201405150852.html

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Ethiopia life expectancy increased by 19 years, second top achiever in the world

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Life expectancy in the globe’s poorest countries has risen by an average of nine years over the past two decades, thanks to major improvements in infant health, the United Nations said Thursday.

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In its annual statistics, the UN’s World Health Organization (WHO) said that six of the countries had even managed to raise life expectancy to over 10 years between 1990 and 2012.

The top achiever was Liberia, where average lifespans increased by a full 20 years, from 42 to 62.

Next in line were Ethiopia (from 45 to 64 years), Maldives (58 to 77), Cambodia (54 to 72), East Timor (50 to 66) and Rwanda (48 to 65).

“An important reason why global life expectancy has improved so much is that fewer children are dying before their fifth birthday,” WHO chief Margaret Chan said in a statement.

Globally, average life expectancy rose by six years during the same period.

Based on global averages, a girl who was born in 2012 can expect to live to around 73 years, and a boy to the age of 68, the WHO said.

“But there is still a major rich-poor divide: people in high-income countries continue to have a much better chance of living longer than people in low-income countries,” Chan said.

A boy born in 2012 in a high-income country can expect to live to the age of around 76 ?- 16 years longer than a boy born in a low-income country.

For girls, the difference is even wider, with those in high-income countries likely to live to the age of 82 and those in poor nations to 63.

Female life expectancy in all the top 10 countries of the globe is 84 years or more, the WHO said.

Women in Japan enjoy the world’s best life expectancy, at 87 years, followed by Spain, Switzerland and Singapore on 85.1 years each.

Life expectancy among men, meanwhile, is 80 years or more in nine countries, with the longest in Iceland (80.2), Switzerland (80.7) and Australia (80.5).

“In high-income countries, much of the gain in life expectancy is due to success in tackling non-communicable diseases,” said Ties Boerma, head of the WHO statistics division.

“Fewer men and women are dying before they get to their 60th birthday from heart disease and stroke. Richer countries have become better at monitoring and managing high blood pressure for example,” he added.

Declining tobacco use is also a key factor in helping people live longer in several countries, the WHO said.

At the other end of the scale, life expectancy for both men and women is still less than 55 in nine sub-Saharan African countries: Angola, Central African Republic, Chad, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ivory Coast, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria and Sierra Leone.

http://sodere.com/profiles/blogs/ethiopia-life-expectancy-increased-by-9-years-second-in-the-world

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It is not common for a senior Chinese government official to meet an African leader trained in China and able to speak Han Chinese. But, Li Keqiang, prime minister of China, last week met, in Addis Abeba, a head of state who studied in the same college that he did.

President Mulatu Teshome (PhD) not only studied philosophy and economics at the Peking University in the mid-1980s, where Prime Minister Keqiang spent the same academic year studying law, but was also chairman of the Association for International Students. Premier Keqiang, simultaneously, was chairman of the Chinese Youth League of the Peking University, which was first established in 1898. A year before his appointment to the premiership in 2013, Keqiang was praised by the New York Times as “China’s best educated leader.”

The University both leaders spent their formative years at is considered as the pre-eminent academic establishment in China with, “a long tradition of liberal teaching”, according to The New York Times.

Although the two leaders had no knowledge of each other back in their student years, they met on Tuesday, May 6, 2014, at the Jubilee Palace on Menelik II Avenue – a day before the Prime Minister concluded his first stop in Ethiopia, as part of his four nations’ tour in Africa.

“It’s my first trip two Africa after becoming Prime Minister,” Keqiang told diplomats accredited to the African Union (AU) and Ethiopian government officials who turned out to listen to his policy statement on China-Africa relations, held on Monday at the AU conference hall. “I was only in Egypt five years ago.”

Keqiang’s first address to Africa’s diplomats was received with enthusiasm. Not only has he declared the “great renewal of China and Africa is unstoppable”, but too he pledged to provide Africa with an additional 10 billion dollars in credit facility to the 20 billion dollars his predecessors offered five years ago.

This is a fund earmarked largely to bridge the public infrastructure gap on the continent, but also to support industrialisation, urbanisation and agricultural modernisation, the Prime Minister told an otherwise delighted audience. This comes without the price to policy space that some African leaders, including Ethiopia, always argue for. Keqiang assured Africa that his country’s desperately needed economic assistance “won’t be tied to political strings, and is based on mutual respect”.

Analysts see this as part of China’s “clear and comprehensive” strategy to use soft power to advance its economic interests in Africa through promoting the “Chinese Model”.

Valerie Niquet, a China analyst and professor teaching at the prestigious French CID-Ecole, writes – “Beijing is employing a south-south ‘third-world’ form of discourse, based on constantly re-invoked past common struggle against all forms of imperialism”. It is an insight reinforced by a policy statement Keqiang made in Addis Abeba last week. Friends who shed tears together in the past are more likely to remain strong, than those who shared laughter, he said.

Such is a view equally shared by Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, who sees the “best days of vibrant partnership with China” ahead. His administration has signed bilateral agreements, no less than 16, including three treaties, four grants and loans.

The loan agreements were to finance a three billion dollar loan the construction of a railway line between Djibouti and Ethiopia; and an optical fibre over-ground wire (OPGW) project, the Dire Dawa-Dewelle road project and financial support for economic and technical corporations. The latter will be part of the five billion dollar fund, which Keqiang declared last week is to be allotted for economic cooperation with Africa, where his country has 25 billion dollars in foreign direct investment and 250 billion dollars in trade transactions. Close to 1.5 billion dollars of this is invested in Ethiopia, while Ethiopian shares over a billion dollars in trade with China.

The optimism in China’s engagement is perhaps demonstrated in no other way than the inauguration of Ethiopia’s first expressway – from Addis Abeba to Adama – whose largest portion of nearly seven billion Birr was financed by the Chinese EX-IM Bank. On the same afternoon that Keqiang addressed the AU, he was driven to the toll gate near Tulu Dimtu, close to three kilometres off the main road in Kality, where, along with Hailemariam, he opened the six-lane 84.7km expressway. It was designed and built by the China Communications Construction Company (CCCC)and consulted by Beijing Expressway Supervision (BES).

The road will be managed by the Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) for the meanwhile, however, until operational management is transferred to a new autonomous enterprise, soon to be established, accountable to the Ministry of Transport (MoT). Although the establishment of an autonomous agency to manage toll roads seems an absolute certainty, its proposed mandates to build new toll roads in addition to their management has already proven to be prone to dispute. This is because the construction mandate is one that the ERA officials loath sharing.

The ERA’s officials believe that the country is inexperienced in the management and administration of the toll road and operating machinery, and the CCCC will continue to provide advisory services to ERA for some years to come. An agreement is expected to be signed. The expressway has seven toll stations to collect money from drivers, 48 gates on the toll road and three checkpoints to thwart cargo overloading on freight vehicles.

The expressway will be officially functional in three weeks and toll fees are calculated separately for personal passenger vehicles, freight vehicles and commercial passenger carriage vehicles, a senior official at the ERA who requested anonymity disclosed to Fortune. However, it is very likely for automobiles to get charged a rate of 50 cents a kilometre and big trucks one Birr, according to this official.

Hailemariam hopes the road will reduce the problem of trade logistics that Ethiopia faces on its main artery to the Port of Djibouti, and he promised for the road to continue up to Djibouti.

It was a promise made based on pledges Keqiang made in his meeting with President Mulatu the following day. He promised to deliver support to Ethiopia for the construction of dams and roads, as well as manufacturing plants. For a country whose debut in Ethiopia was in the mid-1860s in building the first road that paved a military expedition by Colonial Britain against Emperor Tewodros, such is a promise within the realm of possibility.

Sourced here  http://addisfortune.net/articles/china-africa-the-great-renewal/

Hunde Melka, chief geologist at the Geological survey of Ethiopia and State Minister Tewodros Gebregziabher (pictured, above) at the workshop

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Written by  Kaleyesus Bekele

The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF-led) government has been criticized for not giving due attention to the mining sector.

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http://www.israelhayom.com/site/newsletter_article.php?id=17601

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Israel Chemicals to invest $600m in Ethiopian potash mine

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Idan Ofer told allAfrica: We want to turn Ethiopia into Africa’s potash hub.

Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO) controlling shareholder Idan Ofer has promised to make Ethiopia “Africa’s center of potash production,” and invest in the country’s electricity infrastructure, reports allAfrica.

Israel Chemicals, controlled by Israel Corp. recently bought a 30% stake in Canada’s Allana Potash, which is preparing to mine potash deposit in the Dalol region in the Afar Regional State, in northeast Ethiopia.

Ofer who last year moved to London from Israel visited Ethiopia for two days last week. He visited the potash mine in the Dalol region and told journalists that he was satisfied with his visit. “I am happy with the development at the potash exploration site, the future potash mine. Officials of Allana are closely working with the local authority and they are conscious of the demand of the local community. They pay much attention to the local community. So I am happy with that.”

Ofer said that Israel Chemicals is planning to build a potash fertilizer factory at a cost of $600 million in Ethiopia. According to Ofer, before starting mining the potash deposit, Israel Chemicals will import raw materials and produce potash and phosphate fertilizers. “After we start mining the potash deposit we will locally manufacture the potash fertilizer. We will primarily supply the potash fertilizer for the local market in Ethiopia. But we will also export some portion of it. We want to turn Ethiopia into Africa’s potash hub.”

Ofer was accompanied by Israel Chemicals CEO Stefan Borgas who said that Israel Chemicals has already invested $25 million dollars in Allana’s potash project and was committed to invest an additional $59 million dollars in the near future. Borgas said his company will build the fertilizer factory within a year. “We will invest $600 million dollars in the fertilizer processing plant. The potash mine and the factory will together open up 5,000 jobs. We have already invested $600,000 in farmers education on the use of fertilizers. There are six hundred demonstration sites all over the country,” Borgas said.

Ofer and Borgas met with Ethiopia’s President Mulatu Teshome, Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom, Minister of Mines Tolossa Shagi, and senior officials of the Ministry of Agriculture top discuss investment issues.

Ofer said, “They are supporting our investment projects. They promised us that they will build a 130 km road from the mine to the Djibouti border in the near future. What I like about the Ethiopian government officials is that they encourage investment and they deliver what they promised. That does not often happen in other countries and that is why we want to invest here. If we were not satisfied we would not invest this amount of money here.”

Ofer is also interested in the power generation sector. He said that if the Ethiopian government wants to sustain economic development of the country, it has to ensure power supply. “There should be a reliable power supply. And I am interested in investing in power generation,” Ofer said. Israel Corp. has two companies engaged in power and natural resources development – Quantum Pacific and IC Power. Quantum focuses on investments in Asia while IC Power is engaged in power development in Africa, particularly in Kenya, Nigeria and Congo.

Ofer said, “I will send a technical team to Ethiopia that will undertake a study on power generation. I did not yet decide whether it is hydro, geothermal or wind. But I want my company to invest in power generation. It is the technical team that conducts a study and recommends the type of power source.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 19, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

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State wins Israel Chemicals royalties arbitration

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The decision could be worth NIS 2.5 billion to the state up to 2030.

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The state has won a victory against Dead Sea Works of the Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) group. At the end of the first stage of the arbitration proceedings between Israel Chemicals and the State of Israel, the panel of arbitrators decided that Israel Chemicals has to pay the state royalties for the past use of minerals it extracts from the Dead Sea and other sites that are natural resources belonging to the state. The decision was by a majority. Supreme Court judge (emeritus) Tova Strassberg-Cohen and Adv. Alex Hartman sided with the state, while Adv. Ram Caspi sided with the company. The amount that Israel Chemicals will have to pay is yet to be set.

Legal experts estimated today that, in the wake of the arbitrators’ decision, up to 2030, when its concession for mining at the Dead Sea expires, Israel Chemicals will have to pay the state some NIS 2.5 billion.

The state demanded that Israel Chemical should pay royalties amounting to $291 million for the period from 2000 to the date the claim was filed, March 2011. A substantial portion of the claim related to bromine-based products from minerals that the company extracted at Ramat Hovav. The state argued that these were products on which Israel Chemicals owed royalties that it had avoided paying for years, even though its managers were aware of the matter and had expressed concern at board discussions that a claim might arise.

Israel Chemical argued that the state itself had exempted it in the past from paying royalties when it privatized the company and sold it to Shaul Eisenberg.

The dispute between Israel Chemicals and the state hinged on the question whether Dead Sea Works was obliged to pay royalties to the state on derivative products produced by companies in the group with plants located outside the Dead Sea area. The state argued that by virtue of the fact that these companies were part of a concern that represented a single economic entity, Dead Sea Works had to pay royalties on the derivative products that they produced, and that the geographic location of the plants had no bearing on matter.

Dead Sea Works argued that it was liable to pay royalties on derivative products only if the plants concerned were located in the Dead Sea area.

Strassberg-Cohen and Hartman accepted the state’s argument. “Common sense, legal logic, and economic logic, as well as the purpose of the concession, are inconsistent with a situation in which if a compounds plant of the concern is located at the Dead Sea, Dead Sea Works pays royalties on its products, but if it is located a few meters away, Dead Sea Works will be exempt from paying royalties.” Strassberg-Cohen said that Dead Sea Works’ geographic approach distorted the delicate balance between its interest and the public interest.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 19, 2014

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Israel Chemicals threatens to halt local investment

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The Sheshinski Committee recommendations are bad mistake, the company said.

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Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) has fiercely criticized the recommendations of the Sheshinski II Committee and warned that, “implementation of the recommendations might lead to a reduction of activities in Israel and badly hit the livelihood of 30,000 families in the Negev.

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Israel Chemicals said in a statement following publication of the recommendations today, “The interim recommendations of the Sheshinski Committee are a bad economic and social mistake that will compel Israel Chemicals to halt most of its investments in Israel, and force it to focus on lowering expenses and reducing activities in Israel in favor of increasing activities in plants overseas alongside new investments abroad.”

Israel Chemicals added that implementation of the recommendations would be a fundamental violation of its concession agreement and the salt harvesting agreement and rise in royalties from 2012, and the company plans realizing its legal rights.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 18, 2014

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Israel Chemicals isn’t going anywhere

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Israel Chemicals’ Dead Sea potash operation is simply too valuable for them to relinquish.

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The threats made by Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) to end the majority of its investment in Israel and to fire many workers is one of the biggest and ugliest financial media spins we have seen in a long while.

Let’s begin at the end: Israel Chemicals cannot afford to abandon its Dead Sea potash resource. Moreover, if this company tries to lay off thousands of workers, it will encounter a brick wall in the form of the strongest workers’ unions in the Israeli market. Therefore, Israel Chemicals’ threat looks like a bluff, just like those made by Noble Energy Inc. (NYSE: NBL) and Delek Group Ltd. (TASE: DLEKG) when the first Sheshinski Committee published its recommendations on the state’s take from gas and oil discoveries.

ICL won’t leave

The draft recommendations of the Sheshinski II Committee seek to strike a balance between maintaining adequate profitability for ICL, and making adequate royalty payments to the government, i.e., the taxpayer. This follows many years during which ICL enjoyed tax benefits under the Law for the Encouragement of Capital Investment, which it lost eligibility for a little over two years ago, and, with it, the relatively low tax rates. Sheshinski II seeks to fix a years-old distortion, not to deliver a blow to ICL. Any attempt to otherwise describe the reality is itself a severe distortion, to say the least.

ICL will not abandon the Dead Sea, period. It doesn’t matter how many threats are sounded by management – ICL will not leave. The company’s revenue last year was $6.2 billion, half of it in Israel. You don’t walk away from $3 billion so quickly. Profit last year was $820 million. But there is another side to the story, beyond money. Dead Sea potash can be stored for long periods of time, due the environmental conditions, unlike potash at other mines around the world. This is a unique advantage of the Dead Sea, and it is one of the reasons that Canadian potash giant Potash Corp. is eyeing ICL and has tried to buy control of the company.

Potash

And on the topic of Potash Corp., we should mention that the company holds 13.84% of ICL, and is the second-largest shareholder, after Israel Corporation (TASE: ILCO), which holds 52.29%. Why haven’t we heard any threats from Potash Corp. in light of the Sheshinski II recommendations, which have been developing for such a long time now? Why aren’t we seeing a PR blitz coming from them, alongside threats to end their investment in Israel? Maybe, just maybe, Potash doesn’t want to make threats that it has no intention of following through on, because it knows that Dead Sea potash will be attractive after Sheshinski II as well?

Flashback to 2010

Threats have become routine at ICL recently, whether directed at the Sheshinski Committee, or at Minister of Health Yael German over the right to mine Sde Barir. Note what ICL CEO Stefan Borgas said last December at the Sheshinski Committee meeting: “Raising the state’s take from ICL will lead to a reduction in the company’s contribution, and harm public interests. We want to invest a lot in Israel in the coming decade, in order to preserve and expand our production operations here in Israel, but I simply do not understand why the government is doing everything it can to prevent us from being able to invest, and is pushing us almost forcibly to invest in other countries, which are actually very interested in our investments.”

Does that sound familiar? No? Allow me to refresh your memory. In 2010 Noble Energy and Yitzhak Tshuva’s Delek Group staged an all-out war against the first Sheshinski Committee, which recommended raising the government’s take from the gas discoveries, following the discovery of the Tamar gas field. Then, too, the companies threatened that the Sheshinski Committee would chase investors away, and said that the government could not change the laws retroactively. At one of the heated hearings on the subject in the Knesset, a Noble Energy representative even threatened that the US would take Israel to the International Court of Justice in The Hague.

And the rest is history. The recommendations of the first Sheshinski Committee passed, the Tamar field opened, and the gas is flowing. Because when you are holding onto a treasure, you don’t rush to let it go.

The layoffs that won’t happen

If there is a threat more hollow than the threat to leave Israel, it is the threat of massive layoffs at ICL. The same ICL that conducted months-long negotiations over the voluntary retirement of 115 Rotem Amfert Negev workers is now threatening to fire thousands of workers? The same ICL that sought to fire 127 workers, encountered a workers union as strong as a rock, and eventually reached a settlement in which it gave exceedingly generous benefits to the workers it let go – now it will fire thousands of workers? Hundreds? One would have to be very, very naive to believe this.

Government decision makers would be well advised to ignore ICL’s empty threats, and to act in favor of the public interest, to repair the historic injustice. The effects of Sheshinski II’s recommendations will be very similar to those of the first Sheshinski Committee: the threats will vanish, and the investment will continue.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 19, 2014

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014

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Sheshinski II to recommend surtax on bromine products

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The proposed change will greatly boost Israel Chemicals’ transfers to the government.

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The Sheshinski II Committee will recommend a surtax on downstream bromide products – a major change in the new draft published by the Ministry of Finance today, compared with the previous draft, published last week.

The Sheshinski II Committee decided to adopt the surtax method (a surtax on a return of over 11%), but the Ministry of Finance greatly feared that Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL), known for its aggressive tax planning, would succeed in evading the surtax by selling its products to affiliated companies at low prices, which would be the basis for collecting the tax.

Last week, Accountant General Michal Abadi-Boiangiu led a tough very line that was totally at odds to the position of Sheshinski II Committee chairman Eytan Sheshinski. She demanded a meeting with Minister of Finance Yair Lapid, in which she outlined the problem of downstream products, which would allow “a syphoning off of excessive profits”, in the words of the committee report. Taxing downstream products (the sale of products to Israel Chemicals affiliates) is at the heart of the arbitration between the State and Israel Chemicals. The main problem with bromine – a critical product for which there is no clear market price – the necessary figure for calculating the surtax. Worse, Israel Chemicals is the most influential player in the market as the world’s largest bromine producer.

The Sheshinski II Committee found that there are resources for which the market prices are difficult to calculate because of the industry’s market structure and the lack of a global index for setting the market price. These resources include bromine, which is mainly sold to subsidiaries or affiliated companies that manufacture or sell downstream products. There is considerable concern that it is impossible to set transfer prices in a way that will guarantee no leakage of extra profits to these companies.

The committee therefore plans to consider this key issue in subsequent discussions and review which supplements and changes are needed to deal with this key problem. The options that will be considered include setting a resource price “that takes into account the price of the compound or another method to be determined,” states the report.

The proposed change will greatly boost Israel Chemicals’ transfers to the government, reportedly amounting to hundreds of millions of shekels a year. The government’s take from natural resources alone will increase by NIS 500 million a year when the recommendations are approved. The Sheshinski II Committee recommends levying uniform royalties of 5% on natural resources, excluding oil and gas. The current royalties rate is 2-10% of the value of the quarried material (after legally mandated deductions).

The committee also recommends that the Israel Tax Authority closely track the basic price of bromine.

Deputy Budget Director Uri Adiri said in response, “There was no dramatic change in the bromine issue. The change is cosmetic and marginal.”

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 18, 2014

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Israel Chemicals profit plunges

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Potash sales reached a record in the first quarter but were sold for lower prices

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Israel Chemicals Ltd. (TASE: ICL) reported a sharp fall in profits in the first quarter of 2014. Revenue was $1.61 billion in the first quarter, down slightly from $1.61 billion in the corresponding quarter of 2013. The fall from the corresponding quarter was mainly due to a drop in global prices, which was offset by a rise in sales volume.

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Gross profit for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $563 million, compared with $659 million in the first quarter of 2013. Operating profit for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $243 million, 33% down from $363 million for the first quarter of 2013.

The bottom line was that net profit to shareholders for the first quarter of 2014 totaled $131 million, down 57% from $305 million for the corresponding quarter.

Adjusted net profit was $189 million in the first quarter of 2013, after eliminatiing $58 million for non recurring tax expenses following assessment discussions in European subsidiaries and increased costs due to a strike at Rotem Amfert.

In the first quarter of 2014, Israel Chemicals unit ICL Fertilizers sold a record 1.46 million tons of potash, up 12% from 1.3 million tons in the corresponding quarter. The rise was mainly due to increased sales in China, Brazil and Europe.

The company’s board of directors will distribute $91.5 million in dividends on June 25.

Published by Globes [online], Israel business news – www.globes-online.com – on May 15, 2014

 

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