Ethiopia looks to realise its geothermal energy potential
Ethiopia, like its fellow Great Rift Valley countries, has enormous geothermal energy potential. However, the costs involved and the need for skilled expertise have, until now, been major obstacles.
In late January, the Development Bank of Ethiopia announced that, over the next five months, it will offer an initial $20m to kickstart geothermal energy projects in the country’s private sector as part of a programme funded by the World Bank. A further $20m is expected to be made available at a later stage.
Last May, the World Bank granted Ethiopia $40m to help accelerate the development of renewable energy projects in the country’s private sector. The Development Bank of Ethiopia says it is in discussions with several interested parties and is collaborating with the World Bank.
The money will help cover the costs of early exploration and drilling activities. When drilling proves successful, the bank will invite private investors to lead geothermal projects and develop power plants in Ethiopia. Cluff Geothermal – a British company involved in developing Kenya’s first geothermal project, in Menengai – has been shortlisted.
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The ministry of finance and economic development on Wednesday announced that Ethiopia has registered an average of 10% economic growth during the past two years of the five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).
In a report, state minister Abraham Tekeste said Ethiopia’s economy showed 8.5% growth during the last fiscal year of 2011-2012, with 4.9 % growth in the agriculture sector, 13.6 % in industry and 11.1 % in the service sector.
Investment is also up by 6.7% from 27.9% to 34.6%, he added.
During the year, the country registered a national savings rate of 16%, exceeding the 15% initial target set by the growth plan.
Tekeste underscored that the nation will continue to register an average double-digit growth in the remaining three-year period of the GTP.
He further said that Ethiopia’s average 11% growth economic rate recorded during the past nine years is far better than the Sub-Saharan average of 5% to 6%.
Click Here: UPDATE 1-Ethiopia Dec inflation falls yr/yr, at lowest for 2012 | Reuters.
Ethiopian inflation dropped in December to 12.9 percent year -on-year, its lowest rate of 2012, official data showed on Wednesday. The government had targeted single-digit inflation in 2012, something it now hopes to achieve this year.
Click Here: Ethiopia Cuts Textile, Garment Import Duties.
To help the country’s textile and garment industry, Ethiopia’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MOFED) has announced that reductions have been made to the duties on its imported materials and spare parts.
From December 28, 2012, garment manufacturers will benefit from a duty on imported textiles that has been cut from 35% to 20%, while the duty on spare parts imported for businesses in the textile sector has been eliminated, as long as they cannot be produced locally.
However, MOFED has decided not to cancel completely the 10% excise duty charged on garment production in the country. That duty will, instead, be levied as a sales tax, when garments are distributed internally.
While the local industry welcomed the tax reductions, it had been hoping for a larger cut in import duties, which, it said, negatively affect the industry’s competitiveness in comparison with other African countries. It is hoped that the government’s loss in tax revenue from the reduced duties will be more than made up by additional corporate income tax receipts.
Click Here: Shoeing into Ethiopia |Business |chinadaily.com.cn.
East Africa Country welcomes Chinese manufacturers to take on large presence
As China’s labor, manufacturing and resources costs continue to rise, Ethiopia, one of the least-developed countries in the world is hoping Chinese companies will consider opening more factories there. ” China is one of our country’s main donors in building infrastructure, a big constructor and a major technology provider,” said Seyoum Mesfin, Ethiopian ambassador to China. “But China will also be a major factory owner in Ethiopia and a big market for products made in Ethiopia in the future”.
Click here: World Bank Launches $4bn fund to Invest in Ethiopia
The World Bank is set to pump $4 billion into Ethiopia in the coming four years in order to enhance competitiveness and employment generation through its country partnership strategy. Launching the new strategy on Wednesday in Addis Ababa, the bank said the money will be used to build on the progress achieved by Ethiopia during the past five years.
Click Here: World Bank Group : Ethiopia Economic Update – Overcoming Inflation, Raising Competitiveness.
Over the past decade, the Ethiopian economy has been growing at twice the rate of the African region, averaging 10.6 percent GDP growth per year between 2004 and 2011 compared to 5.2 percent in Sub Saharan Africa, according to a new report by the World Bank.
Click here: Ethiopia : Ethiopian textile & clothing industry on expansion drive – Textile News Ethiopia.
Ethiopian textile and clothing industry has experienced a major expansion drive and several leading retailers are now sourcing their textile and clothing requirements from the Country.
Click Here: Ethiopia’s Bank-Secured Sesame Seed-Sales Seen Boosting Exports – Bloomberg.
Ethiopia, the world’s fourth-largest sesame grower, may see earnings from exports of pulses, oil seeds and spices rise by a third to more than $900 million this year. Africa’s largest coffee producer and second-most populous nation is providing free land for processing and warehouses, as well as waiving related import and export duties, Haile Berhe, president of the 110-member Ethiopian Pulses, Oil Seeds and Spices Processors-Exporters Association said.
Chinese-led SEZs in Ethiopia yet to bear fruit
In November 2006 at the Forum on China Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit held in Beijing, Hu Jintao announced the establishment of Special Economic Zones in several African countries, the Eastern Industrial Park is one of them. Many expect that this SEZ programme will become a platform for Chinese investment on the African continent (even though investment does not need to be Chinese only) bringing job creation and technology transfer. So far, the visits of high-profile Chinese officials and business executives have confirmed the support from the Chinese side and this SEZ programme has become a buzzword. However it seems that it is not a simple task to materialize this vision.
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