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Business

Sunshine Construction to build Ethiopia’s first Marriott Hotel

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Do you have a habit of staying at a hotel when you visit places in Ethiopia?
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marriott Hotel
A model of one of Sunshine’s future projects: supper-deluxe condominium apartment in Ethiopia’s Capital – Reporter

The first Marriott hotel in Ethiopia is in the plans according to a report by Addis Ababa based Reporter newspaper. The paper said, Sunshine construction, one of the largest construction companies in Ethiopia, is to sign a franchise agreement with Marriott International to build a four Star Courtyard Hotel (near Bole Medhanialem area) in Addis Ababa and a five-Star executive apartment near Meskel Square (in front of Estifanos Church), in Ethiopia’s capital.

According to the report, Marriott International will manage the hotel and luxury apartments while Sunshine Construction PLC will construct and own the hotels.

Sunshine will invest 250 million Birr ($20 Million*) for the apartment building and 200 million Birr ($16 Million*) for the construction of Courtyard by Marriott hotel. Marriott Executive Apartment will have 110 rooms while the courtyard, whose construction has yet to be launched, will have 160 rooms.

Marriott International, which is based in Bethesda, Maryland, is a leading lodging company which has more than 3,200 lodging properties located in the United States and 66 other countries and territories.
Source: Amharicmovies.com

World

Brazil ‘to write off’ almost $900m of African debt

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Do you have a confidence that Africa will be the next prosperous continent?
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Brazil
Brazil has announced that it will cancel or restructure almost $900m (£600m) worth of debt with Africa.

Oil- and gas-rich Congo-Brazzaville, Tanzania and Zambia are among the 12 African countries to benefit.

The move is seen as an effort to boost economic ties between the world’s seventh largest economy and the African continent.

Official data in Brazil show that its trade with Africa has increased fivefold in the past decade.

The debt announcement was made during the third visit in three months to Africa by Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff, who attended the African Union summit in Ethiopia.

‘Strategic’
“Almost all (aid) is cancellation,” Ms Rousseff’s spokesman, Thomas Traumann, told reporters.

“To maintain a special relationship with Africa is strategic for Brazil’s foreign policy.”

He added that most of the debt was accumulated in the 1970s and had been renegotiated before.

A spokesman for Brazil’s Foreign Ministry told Efe news agency that the debt restructuring for some countries would consist of more favourable interest rates and longer repayment terms.

Congo-Brazzaville owes the most to Brazil – $352m – followed by Tanzania ($237m) and Zambia ($113.4m).

The other countries to benefit are Ivory Coast, Gabon, Guinea, Guinea Bissau, Mauritania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, and Sudan.
Source: BBC

Business

Toyota overtakes BMW to regain most valuable brand title

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Do you own Toyota car?
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toyota
Brand value can be a fickle thing. It’s impossible to measure accurately and it can be affected by numerous volatile factors. But at the end of the day, if a consumer is willing to pay more for one brand over another then brand value becomes a vital indicator of a company’s overall value.

Nowhere is this more apparent than in the auto industry, where a consumer’s perception of a brand can often be the main decisive factor when it comes to buying a new car. One of the best indicators of how valuable each brand is compared to its rivals is the annual BrandZ Top 100 global survey, conducted by influential market research firm Millward Brown.

In its latest study, Millward Brown researchers found that Toyota is once again the most valuable automotive brand in the world, with an estimated value of $24.5 billion, a gain of 12 percent on last year’s result. BMW, which has held the top spot since 2010, has been relegated to second, with its value coming in at $24 billion, a drop of 2 percent on last year.

Toyota’s strong gain was said to be brought about by increasing interest in hybridvehicles while BMW’s image was tarnished slightly by its performance in the slumping European market. Interestingly, only four other automakers made it into the BrandZ Top 100 global survey this year: Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Nissan and Volkswagen.

Apple, which has been the top ranking brand since 2011, is once again on top, with an estimated brand value of $185 billion.

For the study, brand value is essentially the sum of all earnings that a company’s brand alone is expected to generate. It is calculated based on information from surveyed consumers, who are asked to judge a brand based on attributes that are important to them.

World’s most valuable car brands in 2013 in $ billion; rank in top global 100; % value change from 2012

1) Toyota $24.5 — (23) +12
2) BMW $24.0 — (24) -2
3) Mercedes-Benz $18.0 — (43) +11
4) Honda $12.4 — (71) -2
5) Nissan $10.2 — (86) +3
6) Volkswagen $8.8 — 3 (100) +3
7) Ford $7.6 — (*) +8
8) Audi $5.5 — (*) +18
9) Hyundai $4.0 — (*) +11
10) Lexus $3.5 — (*) +2

(number) = overall top 100 position
(*) = Did not rank in the top 100

Source: Yahoo News

Politics

“The future is being defined by countries like Ethiopia”: John Kerry

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Will John Kerry's visit to Ethiopia strengthen the ties between the two countries?
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Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn held talks with the United States Secretary of State, John Kerry on Saturday on bilateral and continental issues.

After the discussion, the Secretary along with his Ethiopian counterpart Tedros Adhanom briefed journalists on the essence of their discussion. The discussion between the two has focused on bilateral issues of economic development and regional peace and security.

He said that Ethiopia has been a very strong partner of the United States and commended it for its significant contribution to peace and security in the continent, particularly in Sudan South Sudan and Somalia.

“With respect to the economic growth…Ethiopia is one of the ten fastest growing countries of the world. It is a double digit growth. It is a quite extraordinary story. So, the US private sectors need to focus on Ethiopia and recognize the opportunities that are here. And hopefully we can encourage more companies to come here and engage,” he said.

Talking about the economic success registered in Ethiopia over the past decade, Kerry said, “I think the future is being defined by countries like Ethiopia, future of Africa which we are celebrating in this 50th Anniversary today”.

Kerry stated that “there has been enormous transition over the last 50 years” in the continent and “many more transitions in democracy” in Africa that countries like China, Brazil, India , Russia, Japan and others are moving in taking the advantage of the growth and development. He also admitted that “the US has been behind on that, we need to change that,” he said.

He also expressed that his government would support Ethiopia’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO).

Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom for his part said Ethiopia is effectively using the support from the US in the health sector.

He said the two sides have had a very successful discussion on bilateral and regional issues.

Source: Erta

Politics

Anti Corruption Commission in Ethiopia targets land fraud next

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Is the Ethiopian government fighting corruption hard enough?
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Following last week’s shocking announcement of the sudden arrest of the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority’s (ERCA) top officials,
the Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (FEACC) continued its campaign against corruption this week with the announcement of its investigation of other governmental offices. Next is the investigation of a massive land fraud that the Commission is currently working on.
In his ten months performance report to the House of People’s Representatives on Tuesday May 14, Ali Suleiman, Commissioner of FEACC, reported that his commission is also investigating major corruption frauds in other government offices involving high level officials.
On his report the Commissioner indicated that his office has finalised the long and painstaking investigation on land fraud worth close to one billion birr.
According to the report, the trial related to 3,226 square meter misappropriated land, valued at 21.1 million birr is ongoing.
Meanwhile, “the corruption investigation on a 3,837 square meter land worth 25.1 million birr is completed and delivered to the Prosecutor General to take legal measure. Another massive land related corruption attempt concerns 128,709 square meter plot worth 842 million birr that is currently under investigation,” Commissioner Ali explained in his report.
Last week the commission has detained high level government officials and high profile businessmen on alleged involvement in corrupt activities. The detained officials include Melaku Fenta, ERCA’s director and his deputy Gebrewahid Woldegiorgis.
Five days after the measure the Commissioner assisted by his top officials presented the performance of their commission. Commissioner Ali said that the investigation that led to the latest crackdown on ERCA started three years ago under the leadership of the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi. “The investigation was completed last year and was going to be presented to the late prime minister but it was suspended in connection with his poor health and later his passing away,” Ali clarified.
He added that the commission is also undertaking various investigations in other governmental institutions, and it will take the necessary measures after it completes the investigation. The commissioner further stated that procurements worth 164.6 million birr and 2.9 million USD conducted in different governmental institutions is currently under investigation.
Following the report members of parliament (MP) raised questions mainly focussed on the latest scandal.
Source: erta
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