Content: Fortune News

  • Lucy Bolsters Yield for Third Year

    One of the younger insurance firms, Lucy Insurance Company, has reported a 26 million Br net profit in the last fiscal year, which makes for a 60pc increase. Named after Lucy, the 3.2 million-year-old hominid, the insurance company has been reporting profit growth for the past three years. Increase in interest income and underwriting surplus […]

  • Real Estate Firm Selects Architects to Design 25-Storey Complex

    A 25-storey apartment, office and entertainment complex has stepped closer to realisation after OIB Oda Real Estate selected K2N Architecture & Engineering Consultancy to prepare a final design. The concept design, prepared by K2N Architecture, was chosen on November 27, 2018, at a ceremony held at Elilly Hotel on Joseph Tito Street. The building will […]

  • New Jute Sack Factory Joins Market

    A local trading company, G-Seven General Trading & Industry opened a new jute sack manufacturing factory in the Hadya Zone of the SNNPR for a cost of 60 million Br. The factory, which lies on 3,600Sqm of land, will produce 8,000Kg of jute sacks a day, each with holding capacities ranging between 30Kg and 100Kg. […]

  • Abyssinia Hikes Profit, But Dividend Goes Cold

    Abyssinia Bank registered a net profit of 562.8 million Br in the last financial year, a 10pc increase. But dividends to shareholders declined to 6.1 Br per share. During the previous 2016/17 financial period, the bank registered a 40pc growth and paid out 8.7 Br per share. Its president, Mulugeta Asmare, blamed stringent laws enacted […]

  • THE BET ON DEMOCRACY

    Two former judges, Birtukan Mideksa (left), a prominent activist and politician, and Meaza Ashenafi, president of the Supreme Court, stood before parliament last Thursday, November 22, 2018. Birtukan was nominated by the Prime Minister to chair the Electoral Board before being approved by MPs and then sworn in by Chief Justice Meaza. The parliament did […]

  • NBE Issues Directive to Ease Dividend Payments for Shareholders and Insurance Companies

    Dividend payments to shareholders of banks and insurance companies will be settled right after shareholder meetings, according to a new directive issued by the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE). The new directive was issued four weeks ago to rescind the former directive that mandates the approval of shareholders regular and extraordinary meeting minutes by the […]

  • Ahmed Hamza (B. Gen) Appointed as New Director General of Ethiopia’s State-owned Military-industrial Conglomerate MetEC

    Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) appointed Ahmed Hamza (Brig. Gen) as a new director general of the state-owned military-industrial conglomerate, Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), replacing Bekele Bulado (PhD). Ahmed, who has been deputy director of the Corporation for the past seven months, was assigned to the post on November 13, 2018, but took over […]

  • Renegotiation Brings Back La Gare Eagle Hills Project

    After a two-month delay caused by differences on land lease payments, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) cut the ribbon for the 50-billion-Br La Gare Eagle Hills Project early last week. Kicked off jointly by Abu Dhabi-based private real estate company Eagle Hills and the city administration, the project encompasses building three hotels, 4,000 apartments, a […]

  • PetroChina Lands Low Bid to Freight Nation’s Petroleum

    PetroChina offered the lowest bidding price of 27 billion Br to freight nearly 2.2 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2019. Three international companies, Vitol, Trafigura and PetroChina, bid on the tender, while 36 responded to the tender, which was initially floated in late September but was then cancelled and re-floated on October 28. During […]

  • Shegole and Qality to Get Bus Depots Valued at 1.3 billion Br

    Two bus depots are under construction and are expected to be operational in three months time. Located in Shegole to the north and Qality to the south of Addis Abeba, the depots cost 1.3 billion Br. Managed by the Transport Programs Management Office, the construction of the Shegole and Qality depots has reached 95pc and […]

  • Transport Authority Spends 45 million dollars for an Integrated Transport Management System

    The Federal Transport Authority will institute a digital system that integrates traffic and transport management systems. By the time it is operational, it will have cost the Authority an estimated 45 million dollars. The Transport & Traffic Management System will integrate driver training, testing and licensing, vehicle registration and inspection, penalty management and road accident […]

  • Ethiopia Signs $123m Grant Agreement With African Development Bank

    Ethiopia signed a grant agreement for 123 million dollars with the African Development Bank (AfDB) to be used in support of basic services. The agreement was signed at the Ministry of Finance between Finance Minister Ahmed Shide and Gabriel Negatu, regional director of AfDB, on Friday, November 23, 2018. The grant will be disbursed in […]

  • Trade Bureau to Launch Application to Ease Registration Hassles

    The city Trade Bureau is launching a new online application in an effort to ease the process of acquiring certificates of competency, trade registrations and business licensing. The new system, One Window System, is expected to minimise the number of people required to visit the bureau to obtain official documents, according to Abdulfetah Yesuf, head […]

  • Berhan Bank Reports Slight Earnings Increase but Returns Fall for Shareholders

    Berhan Bank, one of the late entrants to the private banking industry, posted a slight profit increase during the last fiscal year, recording 327.85 million Br. The firm’s shareholder return declined by 33pc to 20.36 Br from two years prior. The profit growth of the firm has slowed down due to a newly introduced reporting […]

  • Judges Order Police to Bring Investigation Evidence on Ex-Security Deputy Head

    Judges at the Federal High Court have ordered Police to present preliminary evidence showing probable cause from their investigations on Yared Zerihun, former deputy director of the National Intelligence & Security Service (NISS) who is suspected of alleged human rights abuse. A panel of three judges of the 10th Criminal Bench of Lideta Division has […]

  • Federal Judges Deny Bail Rights to an Official, a Businessman in MeTEC Probe

    Judges at the Federal High Court of 10th Criminal Bench have denied the bail request of Assefa Yohannes (Col.), head of Ethiopia Power Engineering Industry of MetEC, who was suspected of grand corruption case. The Judges have granted police 10-days for further investigation. Yohannes, who was represented by a public defender, was arrested on November […]

  • FOR THE REGION, BY THE REGION

    It was a cheerful Worqneh Gebeyhu (PhD) (second from left) that chaired the Intergovernmental Authority on Development’s (IGAD) 66th extraordinary session of the Council of Ministers. It came two days after the United Nations Security Council lifted sanctions against Eritrea, which Ethiopia had requested a few months ago and voted in favour of on Wednesday. […]

  • Wonji Sugar Factory Up for Privatisation

    A local share company has started negotiations with the government to buy the oldest sugar estate, Wonji Shoa Sugar Factory, with an offer of 11 billion Br. In a letter dated October 16, 2018, Ethio-Sugar Manufacturing S.C requested the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation and the Office of the Prime Minister to provide it with priority preference […]

  • The Presumption of Innocence Before the Courts Establish Guilt

    Slowly but consistently, public opinion towards the state-owned Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) has been turning negative since its establishment in 2010. The military-industrial conglomerate had begun to seem less like the domestic-bred, capacity-building manufacturing nucleus it was promised to be, and more like an inefficient parastatal as cost over-runs and project delays came to […]

  • Water Pours From 1.2b Br Wells in the City

    Addis Abeba city administration inaugurated eight water wells at a cost of 1.2 billion Br on Saturday, November 18, 2018. The wells are located at Kilinto, Keye Fechi and Tuludimitu areas. Built by the City Water & Sewerage Authority, the wells began pumping several weeks ago and are expected to supply potable water to 440,000 […]

  • Gov’t Invests in Standard Agency’s Training Academy

    The Ethiopian Standard Agency is building a training academy at a cost of 300 million Br. The academy will consist of two structures, a seven-storey building, which mainly consists of classrooms, and a five-storey building for dormitories and other facilities. The buildings will sit on a 2,200Sqm plot, while the entire premises of the academy […]

  • World Bank Restores “Trust” with Ethiopia’s Gov`t

    The World Bank appears to have regained its confidence and restored its “trust” in the government of Ethiopia to resume direct budgetary support, after years of interruptions following electoral disputes. It was in the 2005 national elections where the Bank and many other development partners switched their support from direct budget support to protection of […]

  • Debub Unveils New Premium Branch

    Debub Global Bank, one of the youngest financial institutions in the country, has become the third bank to open a premium branch. Located near Medhanialem Church in Bole District, the bank’s premium branch takes up 170Sqm inside the first floor of the Abyssinia Building. Debub invested 2.1 million Br to install the interior design work […]

  • Companies Begin Bid for Multi-Mission Satellite Receiver

    Eight international companies are bidding to supply a multi-mission earth observation satellite receiver and tracking equipment for the Ethiopian Space Science & Technology Institute. The satellite receivers will be used for data acquisition, archiving, processing, analysis and distribution. The bid was floated on July 31, 2018, and opened two months later in early October. While […]

  • Digata Hands Over Soil Test Center

    Digata Industries Inc handed over the one-million-dollar National Soil Test Center, which has been in dispute for the past four years. It also received a payment of 270,000 dollars. The company, which conducted the feasibility study and prepared a proposal for the centre, handed over the centre three weeks ago and received all outstanding payments […]