Sululta | Leather Factory | $27mill | Completed

Multi-Million US Dollar Leather Processing Factory Inaugurated in Ethiopia

A modern leather processing factory built in Sululta town of Oromia State at a cost of 27 million USD by China- Africa Overseas Leather Products S.C was inaugurated.

The factory, built on 80,000 square meters of land on the outskirts of Addis Ababa City, has a capacity of producing 450 million pieces of processed leather per year, General Manager of the company, He Mingliang said during the inaugural of the factory.

He said the factory employs 500 local people.

The General Manager also announces plan that the factory would be expanded if the condition is favorable by injecting 25 million USD. This will enable it to produce the stated products valued at 120 million USD.

Tiger Brands (South Africa) to enter the Ethiopian market
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26 November 2010

South African consumer goods and foods group Tiger Brands has taken the next step in its African expansion strategy, with the announcement of two investments in Nigeria and one in Ethiopia.

These acquisitions are expected to generate a combined annualised turnover of approximately R500-million in the first year.

Tiger Brands has signed an agreement with the East African Group plc to form a new food, household, personal care and cosmetics joint venture which will operate in the Ethiopian market. Tiger Brands will own 51% of the new company, with East African Group and its associates holding the remainder.
"Ethiopia, which has a population of approximately 85 million, has experienced high GDP growth rates for a number of years," Tiger Brands said in a statement this week. "Most categories in the packaged consumer goods sector are enjoying good growth, stimulated by the fast growing economy."

The principal activities of the joint venture will comprise the manufacture and marketing of various home and personal care products, biscuits, flour and pasta, which categories currently form part of the East African Group's existing operations.

The East African Group is the largest manufacturer of detergents in Ethiopia and this business will also form part of the joint venture. - source
Tiger Brands is South Africa's biggest food company

United Insurance Adjudicates HQ Design


Construction subject to acceptance of design by board of directors despite competition win


United Insurance SC (UNIC) is slotted to become the third insurance company to construct its own headquarters after announcing Geretta Consult Plc the winner of the design competition for the building on Monday, November 22, 2010, at the Hilton Addis.
Winning design is the one on the left


Awash Insurance SC inaugurated the headquarters it shares with Awash International Bank (AIB) earlier this month, while Nile Insurance SC is slotted to start construction of its own offices in December.

Although 10 companies had purchased the bid document for the design competition tender which was floated by UNIC in July 2010, only five submitted their designs by the deadline in October.

“Some of the bidders had requested an extension, but we declined,” Eyessuswork Zafu, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of UNIC, told Fortune.

Creating the winning design earned Geretta Consult Plc 70,000 Br in prize money. Metaferia Consult Plc and Afri Consult Plc were awarded 40,000 Br and 30,000 Br for second and third place, respectively; while MH Engineering Plc and National Engineering and Architecture were awarded fourth and fifth place, respectively, as well as 10,000 Br each.

Yet, despite being selected as the winner by the five-member jury chaired by Mulugeta Metaferia (Prof), a veteran architect, the design still has to be approved by the board of directors of UNIC, according to Eyessuswork, who is also president of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA).

If the board gives it the go-ahead, the ground plus 12 structure with a solid facade containing minimal glass will be constructed on a 1,976sqm plot located around Thewodros Square on Churchill Avenue in Piazza. By limiting the amount of glass, the company did not have to deal with UNIC’s request in the programme for the design that cleaning solutions and measures against reflective and glare issues be included in the submission if glass was used extensively.

The winning design also features two separate basement parking lots and a semi basement due to a three-metre elevation difference created by the slope of the road it is situated on.

UNIC had bought the plot with a residence on it within the first five years of opening its doors in 1997. Since it was reapportioned by the Addis Abeba City Administration two years ago, the company has been using it for storage.

However, the insurance company came a step closer to changing this when it announced the competition’s results last week. Earlier on the same day, it had announced a net profit of around 25 million Br after taxes for the 2009/10 fiscal year.

The construction of Geretta Consult’s design, which was headed by Biniam Nigussie and Million Teshome, senior architects at the firm, is projected to cost a little over 200 million Br, according to the design.

Other designs by the firm, which was established in June 1997 by Getaneh Reta, are not new to the streets of Addis Abeba or competitions.

Its design for the third Mega Building is waiting to begin construction on a plot behind the original building upon the finalising of clearing work on the site. It was also awarded third place in the design competition for the headquarters of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) almost a year ago

Bando,
We have seen the construction, but the main issue is not having large or modern buildings, but who is the sole owner of those buildings and who are the beneficiaries?

Instead of posting such kind of senseless crap you should answer this simple question, because Ethiopians are not stupid as you and your tribal chiefs are assumed; however, everybody knows that the Tigrains ethno-apartheid rulers are the sole owner of those buildings, companies, transportation vehicles, banks and so on.

So, what is left for Ethiopians is trash area and sleeping under the bridge while the elite narrow Tigrians are building high rise buildings.

Even in the old time some poor and homeless individuals used to sleep close to the buildings to protect themselves form rain, but no more in the land of weyane and no seeking shelter close to the property of the new Tigrian millioners.

We have seen that yesterday’s guerilla fighter become filthy rich and billionaires; the secret of their wealth must be mystery and no one could have such astronomical transformation in a poor country like Ethiopia unless there a ways of using once hand under the table.

I am sure World bank and IMF officers have better information about the wealth of narrow Tigrians.

Bando,
We have seen the construction, but the main issue is not having large or modern buildings, but who is the sole owner of those buildings and who are the beneficiaries? ....

my bitter askari, the owners are ethiopians who worked hard to own it while you sit and cry [deleted] day in and day out ofcourse, the beneficiaries are ethiopians too

btw, are you that stupid to write the above blabber??

City to construct condos on cleared Lideta plots

After little success in its attempt to auction plots as part of the Lideta Sub City’s rehabilitation project, the Addis Ababa City Administration is now contemplating to construct condominium apartments in seven out of the ten areas that were originally set for private investors.

The administration had cleared 26 hectares of land in front of Lideta Church to construct two thousand condos as part of the Local area Development Plan (LDP), which aims to rehabilitate shabby parts of the city into best suited living areas. The remaining plots of land are designated to private investors after the failed auction. “Out of the ten areas that were supposed to be sold, only three were bought by private banks,” said Mekuria Feleke, director of the Lideta Sub City’s Land Administration and Construction Permit Authority Office.

Instead of carrying out another auction, sources told Capital that the administration is now considering constructing condos and a new headquarters for the Lideta Sub City. The administration doesn’t confirm this, but fails to rule out the plans.

“Until now we have not received any plan,” Mekuria said, “but we are waiting for the directive that decides what to do with the remaining plots”. He said Lideta has sent its land project proposal, but doesn’t mention the details.

The bids of two private financial institutions, Awash International and Dashen Bank, to buy the remaining three areas were accepted. Awash has bought one plot, Dashen the remaining two.

Due to lack of interest of bidders for the Lideta land, the administration has failed to generate income as planned.

Meanwhile, Awash International Bank was able to acquire 2,800 square meters of land at a cost of close to 18.8 million birr, with its bid offer of 6,705.26 birr per square meter accepted by the administration. Dashen Bank, on the other hand, bought two areas at a different price.

Dashen Bank’s bids to buy 2,696 square meters of land at a cost of 6,037.5 birr per square meter and 2,261 square meters of land for 4,050 birr was accepted by the Sub City. The banks are expected to construct buildings in the range of five to seven storeys, according to their plans.

Best African airport award 2010 given to the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport


The Addis Ababa Bole International Airport received African Airlines Association "Airport of the Year". the airport general manager said.
The award was given to the airport for its exceptional and outstanding services to the African Airlines Industry, the Manager, Hailay Gebretsadik told ENA on Wednesday.
The airport received the award at a ceremony held here on Tuesday at the United Nations Conference Center.
The Bole Airport had already been elected “better African airport” in 2007 during the 17th annual conference of the African aviation that took place in Cairo.
The manager said the award shows how the airport is dedicated to the African airlines industry.

Ethiopia to Make Private Sector Social Security Mandatory
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In an attempt of encouraging domestic saving and encourage investment, Ethiopian government is set to introduce private sector social security scheme.

As of January 2011, all employees in the private sector are obliged to save 5 percent of their salaries while their employers will contribute 11 percent, which will go to provident fund account of the companies.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi told the parliament this morning (December 2, 2010) that the current government employees’ social security system will also be adjusted to 5 and 11 percent and will be uniform with the private sector social security scheme.

He made the remark in response to the parliamentarians while briefing on the funding sources for the full implementation of his government’s five year Transformation and Growth Plan (TGP).

Meles who commented on the ‘ambitious’ TGP of the country that the House passed today, also indicated that local bank saving interest rate will also be adjusted in order to encourage saving.

Meanwhile he didn’t mention his government’s plan by how much percent to raise the current 5 percent minimum saving interest rate of banks. In addition, he also noted that new local saving schemes such as Residential Hose Construction Saving, Investment Weapons Saving will be introduced soon along with attractive interest rates.

Government saving Bond will also be sold in every part of the country for people who are interested to use the bond as collateral to get loan from any banks in the country, according to Meles

Ethiopia gets 16,000 Indian chicks to spur poultry industry
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New Delhi, Dec 2 (IANS) Corporate and Minorities Affairs Minister Salman Khurshid Thursday flagged off a consignment of 16,000 day-old chicks to Ethiopia as part of a programme to introduce and breed superior quality poultry in the African nation.

The consignment from a Gurgaon-based poultry breeding company, Keggfarms, consists of a variety of chicken branded "Kuroiler" that can live and thrive in the resource-poor, foraging village environment and yet produce much more meat and eggs than the existing stocks, the company said in a statement.

Also part of the consignment are 4,000 Kuroiler hatching eggs.
The initiative to supply the Kuroiler chicks came after Keggfarms was approached by Flow Equity, a US-based fund, to introduce the chicken in Ethiopia.

Flow Equity is managed by three young US citizens, who are working for the upliftment of social conditions of the African poor, especially in Ethiopia and Uganda.

"Some months ago at the initiative of Arizona State University and Govt. of Uganda, Keggfarms had supplied a batch of Kuroiler Hatching Eggs to Uganda," said the company.

"Not only did the Kuroiler Hatching Eggs yield a far superior hatchability but in the tests being conducted by Arizona State University and the Govt. of Uganda, they are hugely outperforming the local birds."

This Kuroiler variety is proven to be capable of expressing its genetic potential in a scavenging village habitat. Such chicken can produce up to 150 eggs, compared to 40 from other local varieties.
According to the company, Flow Equity intends to ramp up their requirement to import 100,000 Kuroiler chicks per month within the next few months.
"In the larger sense it represents the potential of an Indian mindset, an Indian approach and an Indian product to play a significant role in the upliftment of the poor in Africa," said a Keggfarms spokesperson.