(HornTrade) -  * Eyes privatisation of another 40 firms

* Rules out airlines, telecoms and banks

Ethiopia has accepted bids worth 2.1 billion birr ($121 million) for seven state-owned firms, part of a plan to privatise dozens of corporations in the next three years, it said on Thursday.

The Horn of Africa nation, whose state-dominated economy ranks among the fastest growing in the world, aims to sell around 40 enterprises, including several large farms, a winery and a big hotel.

The Privatisation and Public Enterprise Supervising Agency accepted an 860 million birr bid from MIDROC Ethiopia for one of the country’s biggest farms, Upper Awash Agro-Industry Enterprise, said agency spokesman Wondafrash Asefa.

MIDROC Ethiopia is owned by Saudi-Ethiopian billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi, who is one of the world’s richest men according to Forbes magazine.

Source: Reuters