Content: Fortune News

Mulatu Teshome (PhD), who has been serving his country as a president for the past four years, has tendered his resignation to a joint session of both legislative houses today. His resignation was accepted by both houses.

Muferiat Kamil (left), a newly appointed head of the newly established Ministry of Peace, which will oversee the Information Network Security Agency and the National Intelligence & Security Service among six other federal agencies, left her position as speaker of parliament to assume her new post last Tuesday, October 16, 2018. Tagesse Chafo, former minister […]

The state-owned military-industrial conglomerate, Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), has lost another contract,  Yayu Multi-Complex Industries. This is the latest mega project terminated by government action. The decision to cancel the contract came from the Office of the Prime Minister following repeated calls to terminate the contract by the Ministry of Public Enterprise, owner of […]

In a bid to ensure transparency, the government has introduced a new system that compels public institutions to submit quarterly reports of tax holidays and incentives they grant investors. The Ethiopian Investment Commission and the Ministry of Mines, Petroleum & Natural Gases are two bodies that grant tax holidays and incentives to investors, and are […]

The new cabinet composition of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed`s (PhD) administration, formed based on gender equity and competence, brought in 10 new faces to ministerial posts. The new cabinet also brought in 10 women to the highest political decision-making body in the executive branch by boosting female cabinet representation portfolios to 50pc from 20pc. The […]

Justices at the Cassation Bench of the Supreme Court closed a five-year court battle between former business partners over machinery ownership, awarding Yonas Kassahun three pieces of construction equipment valued at 106,000 euros. During their last session held on October 15, 2018, the five justices including the president of the Supreme Court, Dagne Melaku, passed […]

Parliament has undergone a thorough digitisation process in a bid to expedite the execution of its responsibilities and to bring about transparency at a cost of seven million Birr. It took three months to complete the project while parliament was in recess. On October 8, 2018, President Mulatu Teshome (PhD) opened parliament with a speech […]

The Federal Housing Corporation is reviewing its structure on how to accommodate employees from the now dissolved Building Materials Supply Enterprise. The restructuring is expected to be completed in the coming 10 days, after which complaints can be submitted. Pursuant to an amendment of a regulation by the Council of Ministers last July, the Enterprise, […]

Nib Insurance hired China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) to construct its head office. The agreement will cost the 16-year-old private insurance firm 812 million Br after a negotiated discount of one percent. “Our current offices are not convenient for our daily tasks, and the rent price is increasing from time to time,” Zufan Abebe, CEO […]

Cooperatives across the country will soon get grain silos to be constructed at a cost of 22.4 million Br. Four regional states will see 25 silos constructed between them by the Federal Cooperative Agency, owner and coordinator of the project, under a Memorandum of Understanding signed with the heads of regional cooperatives on October 11, […]

Mogle Bottled Water Manufacturing, bottler of One Water, is set to triple its production capacity and manufacture plastic bottles and caps. The expansion will enable the company to bottle 96,000 bottles of water an hour, up from the current 32,000 bottles. It will also enable the company to manufacture 18,000 plastic bottles and 20,000 caps […]

Ethiopia is soon to ban the import of lead-based paints containing more than the maximum allowable lead content. The Council of Ministers has approved a regulation drafted by the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change to affect the ban. The regulation bans the import, export, manufacturing, wholesale, distribution and retail of paints and any […]

Italy`s leftist leader, Giuseppe Conte, was received in Addis Abeba last week by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) and his senior ministers at the start of Conte`s two-day visit here and a stopover in Asmera on his way back home. Regional stability, investment opportunities and putting a hold on migration were high on the agenda. […]

A Legislation is making its way through the Council of Ministers (CoM) that would regulate the use of nuclear energy in Ethiopia. It would also re-establish the existing Ethiopian Radiation Protection Authority as the Ethiopia Radiation & Nuclear Protection Authority. The regulation follows the law Radiation and Nuclear Protection Proclamation issued in August 2018. The […]

Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC), the state-owned military-industrial conglomerate, is changing its name to National Industrial Engineering Corporation, and narrowing down its activities to the manufacturing of industrial products only. A bill to re-establish the corporation has been working its way through MetEC management and approval by its board in the past two months. The […]

Phase one construction work on the development of the Berbera Multi-Purpose Port has started with a ground-breaking ceremony held in Hargeisa without the presence of delegates from Ethiopia, which owns one fifth stake in the port. The ceremony was held last Thursday in Somaliland, which has a 30pc equity. It was attended by Muse Bihi […]

Effective September 27, 2018, importers of solar energy appliances are no longer subject to quality assessment processes and invoice guarantee payments. The Ministry of Trade exempted importers from payments made to obtain import authorisation certifications. For sample during inspection processes, importers were expected to pay 19,000 Br and deposit 0.5pc of the total import value […]

The completion period for the stalled headquarters building of the Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise has been extended for an additional six months. The Enterprise and contractor Tekleberhan Ambaye Construction (TACON) have reached an agreement to extend the completion period. The construction that began a decade ago is only at 65pc completion, falling short […]

Two local companies and partnership with one foreign firm have been recruited to build a 98.8-million-Br data centre facility and to install network and security systems for the newly built headquarters of Wegagen Bank. A joint venture formed between Alta Computec and Inlaks was awarded the installation of the data centre facility; while Moti Engineering […]

Two international investors and one local company have teamed up to develop high-end real estate in the capital. Rockstone Real Estate, a German real estate company, in partnership with Schulze Global Investments (SGI) and BIGAR Builders and Developer, a local construction and design company, have joined forces for the real estate scheme. The project has […]

Member states of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are set to form a regional labour union in Addis Abeba at the end of this month. The idea of establishing a regional union was tabled a decade ago. It became practical last June in Geneva, Switzerland, where member states of IGAD, the eight-country trade bloc […]

Employers in the transport industry have formed, the Ethiopian Transporter Employers Federation, during a ceremony held at Capital Hotel & Spa last August. The Federation aims to modernise the nation’s transport sector by working to ensure the rights of members are upheld, maximise the profitability of the industry and improve networking, according to the establishment […]

Oromia Water, Mineral & Energy Bureau terminated the exploration and extraction concessions of 84 mine developers and operators in mid-September. The firms were unable to execute their duties, failed to pay royalty fees and taxes, and did not create employment opportunities, according to the Bureau. Their concessions were terminated according to a mining directive, which […]

When Hawassa, capital of a Southern regional state, hosted the 11th congress of the ruling EPRDF last week for the third time in the post-Dergue era, none of its 20 founding members of the executive committee were in attendance. Neither of the senior political leaders of the coalition who took part in the 1994 second […]

Though the International Monetary Fund indicated that inflation could remain a source of macroeconomic risk this fiscal year, the government has reported that the rate dropped to 12pc in September 2018. The latest consumer price index from the Central Statistical Agency shows that inflation rate slid down by 1.4 percentage points from the previous month. […]