Tax revenue contributes 51.2pc of national budget, 8.51pc of GDP

Melaku Fenta, director general of the ERCA, heads up the press conference at his office on August 12, 2010.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) reported collecting 35.6 billion Br from tax and non-tax revenues in the 2009/10 fiscal year, beating its target by a billion Birr and contributing 51.2pc of the national budget.

Ethiopia’s total exports reached two billion dollars in the 2009/10 fiscal year. China, the United States, and India are major export destinations consisting of 36.5pc, 9.5pc, and 8.9pc of the total revenue gained from the export sector. Traditionally, Germany, has been a major destination for Ethiopia’s exports but its percentage share has decreased with the rise of China’s.

Three-dimensional theatre makes its debut in Ethiopia at Matti Multiplex Cinema

Moviegoers gain a whole new level to their experience by donning the eyeglasses that enable one to view a movie in 3D, using stereopsis, making Jake Sully’s avatar in the film (below left) appear even more lifelike.

During the 2008/09 fiscal year, the trade balance recorded a deficit of 5.1 billion dollars as compared to 5.3 billion dollars in the 2007/08 fiscal year.

The Bank of Abyssinia (BoA) shortlisted four international vendors on Thursday, July 8, 2010, of which one will be awarded the contract to help the bank implement core banking solutions at the end of this week.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) registered yet another record gross profit of 2.8 billion Br in the 2009/10 budget year.

The financial result, which is yet to be audited, showed a slight increase in the gross profit of the previous year that stood at 2.7 billion Br, which in turn was significantly higher than the preceding year when the gross profit was 1.9 billion Br.

Zemen Bank SC is to offer parts of its loan funds to micro finance institutions (MFIs) through an agreement signed with KfW Entwicklungsbank, a developmental bank owned by the government of Germany, on Tuesday, July 6, 2010.

Farmers and businesses in Ethiopia are now able to borrow money from United Bank SC against agriculture products and goods stored at warehouses of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) through “warehouse receipt financing.”

Ethiopian shoe factories are to sell six million dollars’ worth of shoes through USAID’s Agribusiness and Trade Expansion Programme (ATEP) after delivering the test order issued to them.

Zemen Bank SC will deploy new modules of its core banking system with Oracle’s FLEXCUBE Core Banking in August 2010.

An updated Exporters’ Guide to replace the previous edition which came out a decade ago was presented to stakeholders on Friday, June 11, 2010 at Hilton Hotel during a meeting of the Ethiopia Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (ECCSA).

Hewlett Packard has selected six local companies to be the official and authorised partners in Ethiopia to sell HP’s products, including the new Laser Jet Printer 1100, it announced Thursday, June 3, 2010, at the Sheraton Hotel.

Ries Engineering SC signed an agreement with Ford Motor Company to be its local representative.

The state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) is eyeing its second subsidiary branch in Juba, the capital of South Sudan.

Over 38 Ethiopian horticulture growers and exporters have set up a non-profitable marketing cooperative that will replace the existing costly logistics and freight forwarding services provided by private companies.