(Horntrade) – Djibouti began participating in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF’s) General Data Dissemination System (GDDS) today, marking a major step forward in the development of its statistical system. Comprehensive information on Djibouti’s statistical production and dissemination practices now appears on the IMF’s Dissemination Standards Bulletin Board (http://dsbb.imf.org/Applications/web/gdds/gddscountrylist/). Read the rest of this entry »

(Horntrade) – Ethiopia, Djibouti and South Sudan reached an agreement to partner in infrastructure development. The tripartite agreement includes the construction of telecom, railway, oil pipeline networks as well as duty free zones linking the regional economy.

The agreement was signed by Sufian Ahmed, Ethiopian Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Ilyas Moussa Dawaleh, Djiboutian Minister of Economy and Finance and Kosti Manibe Ngai, South Sudanese Minister of Finance and Economic Planning at the Sheraton Hotel in the Ethiopian capital. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – The biggest cement factory in Ethiopia, worth US$600 million was inaugurated on Sunday, at a time when the Horn of Africa country braces for a construction boom.
The cement factory, Derba MIDROC Cement Plc, has a daily capacity of 8,000 metric tonnes and 2.5 million tonnes per annum.

Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire, Sheik Mohammed Hussein al-Amoudi owns the MIDROC Group, which built the mega factory. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – Ethiopian Billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi took over 80% of of Near East Financial Corporation which owns the Paul Ries group. The Paul Ries group is made up of Paul Ries and Sons in Ethiopia and Savon et Ries in Djibouti.

The Near East financial Corporation is a holding company based in Switzerland.

Business in the Paul Ries group companies in Ethiopia and Djibouti will continue as usual according to Daniel Le Roux the new Chief Executive of Near East Financial Corporation currently based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – Karuturi Agro Products, a subsidiary of Indian giant Karaturi International, is set to establish a sugarcane factory in Ethiopia.

The factory, with an estimated capacity of crushing 7,000 tonnes of cane a day, is to be built in Ethiopia’s Gambella Regional state.

Some 15,000 hectares of Karuturi land in Gambella will start producing sugarcane in three years, said Assefa Arega, manager of Karuturi’s sugarcane plantation. The company expects the crushing plant to be ready in time for the harvest. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – Allana Potash is expecting to acquire equity capital from new strategic investors for its project in Ethiopia, in the New Year.

The company expects that the positive preliminary economic assessment completed last month will result in developments in the coming year.

The PEA stated that a one million ton per annum mine at the Dankil project will cost 796 million US dollars to build. The capital cost figure makes the projects the lowest cost and possibly the highest return potash project in the world according to Farhad Abasov CEO of Allana. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – The Ethiopian Railway Corporation and the China Engineering Construction (CCECC) signed an agreement for the construction of an electric railway line between Me’eso-Dire Dawa-Dewale, a region which lies in the eastern part of Ethiopia, on the 16th of December.

(HornTrade) – Ethiopia signed an agreement with a Chinese state-run firm to build the final section of a railway line that will link its capital Addis Ababa to the tiny Red Sea state of Djibouti, an official said.

The deal signed late on Friday with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) covers a 339-kilometre line that will join another project to connect the capital with Djibouti.

“This agreement is a contract to construct between Mieso, which is half way from Addis Ababa, to the Djibouti border,” Getachew Betru, general manager of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation, told Reuters. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – Djibouti on Tuesday agreed a $36 million loan to build a new port and expand the business upon which the tiny country’s economy relies, a government minister told Reuters.

Djibouti serves as a port for its landlocked neighbour Ethiopia, which accounts for about 70 percent of traffic.

“The port project of Tadjourah aims to decongest the current Djibouti-Ethiopia corridor including the port of Doraleh, whose traffic continues to grow since it opened on February 7, 2009,” Amarah Ali, budget minister, told Reuters. Read the rest of this entry »

(HornTrade) – India has allowed shipment of 10,000 tonnes of non-basmati rice to Horn of Africa at prices lower than market rates, according to an official notification issued on Monday.

“Export of 10,000 tons of non-basmati rice to Horn of Africa (Kenya, Somalia & Djibouti) from Central Pool Stock of FCI (Food Corp. of India) at economic cost of 20,689.50 rupees per tonne shall be permitted,” directorate general of foreign trade said in a notification on its website. Read the rest of this entry »