The long awaited National Palace renovations are set to start in April with the timeline of completion being projected for one year, Capital has learnt.
For the full renovation to take place, all the items of the property are being wrapped and packed to an undisclosed location as the palace preps to open its doors to the public.
The palace which was built in 1955 was named Jubilee palace to mark the Silver Jubilee of Emperor Haile Selassie. The Emperor at the time made the Jubilee Palace his main residence and since then the palace has become one of the most emblematic national buildings of Ethiopia, though it was never opened to the public and was used as an official residency of the president where official functions were hosted.
The renovation which is expected to start shortly is part of the commitments of the French government to strengthen the Ethiopian Heritage Program, following high French government officials visit to Addis Ababa in March 2019.
In July 16, 2020 an agreement was signed between Ahmed Shide, Minister of Finance, Valérie Tehio, French Development Agency /AFD/ Country Director and Frederic Bontems, the then Ambassador of France to Ethiopia and the African Union for ADF to provide 12 million euros in financing for the first phase of the renovation project of the palace.
The government had announced that a new building was in the works for the presidential office, which is currently housed in the same compound as the Prime Minister. The president is expected to move to the new building and presidential residence located around 6 kilo near US embassy, soon.
According to sources, the rehabilitation of the palace is said to maintain its original architectural beauty and integrity. However, comprehensive maintenances and additional construction activities will be underway to turn it to a leading tourist attraction site in the city.
The first phase of the Project will cost 20 million euros and will consist the opening of the Palace to the public.
The palace administration will be in charge of the implementation with the support of expertise from France. A French public agency and key actor in international technical cooperation and the French public institutions such as Versailles’ Palace organization will also take part in the renovations.
As part of increasing tourist destinations in the country and to increase income in 2019, the government also opened the Menelik Palace built in 1887 by Emperor Menelik to the public for the first time in more than a century after renovation.
Similarly, the French government is also supporting renovation projects of the rock-hewn churches of Lalibela, one of the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Ethiopia by providing funding and technical support to the project.
National palace to start renovations in April
Sugar corp resorts to shortlist bid invitations
Ethiopia Sugar Corporation (ESC) invites shortlisted companies to offer their price following the latest international sugar bid bearing no fruit.
It is to be recalled that few weeks ago the corporation opened an international bid to procure 200,000 metric tons of plantation white cane sugar which attracted three bidders; Sucden, ED & F Man and SY General Trading Fzco – East African Djibouti Holding.
The first two companies; Sucden, ED & F Man, which are by no means fresh faces to similar commodity bids in Ethiopia were able to comfortably pass the technical evaluation of the bid. However, experts who closely follow the case explained that hurdles were met on the financial opening which forced the duo to retreat.
Sources said that initially, the bid documents gave the bidders eight working days price validity, while the corporation requested them to give additional five days for the validity. To this end, Sucden refused and ED & F Man gave the price validity extension until the financial opening, which technically expired on the date that was March 8.
Based on the national sugar producer and supplier changes, the procurement thus resorted to short listed invitation.
Sources said that about six prominent global companies in commodity supply like Al Khaleej Sugar, Wilmar Sugar, Agrocorp International, and the two companies that were involved on the failed bid were invited mid last week to provide their offer until Monday, March 21 afternoon.
Agrocorp International, which won last year’s 200,000 metric ton sugar bid and successfully delivered the first 100,000 metric ton, neglected to participate in the latest open bid to which sources point out that it was disappointed by the corporation’s failure not to receive the remaining 100,000 metric tons of sugar that it won for the bid.
Recently, Weyo Roba, CEO of ESC, told Capital that it was the government’s direction to annul the procurement of the remaining 100,000 metric ton sugar from last year’s bid.
Experts argued that last year, the measure taken by the ESC affected this year’s bid which has resulted in international prominent bidders to lose trust on the country’s procurement system.
“I suspect that the low number of bidders for the last bid was an outcome of last year’s failure to buy the sweet as per the expectation,” one of the sector experts said.
He said that such kind of poor decision affects the country’s image on the eyes of global suppliers. “For instance the issue has been raised for discussion between stakeholders on the latest global sectoral event, Dubai Sugar Conference, which was held early this week. The concerns were raised on the country’s default on the bid,” the expert said, adding, “I advise government officials and the bidding committee members to be meticulous in such kinds of global bidding system including other commodity imports.”
Other expert on the sector also added that extending the biding and procurement process also affects the country. “Currently, commodity price is frequently hiking, which directly affects the country and the society,” one expert opined.
The expert argued that if the government procure last year’s 100,000 metric tons of sugar, it would restore an added advantage and trust in the process.
Experts explained that in last year’s bid, Agrocorp had agreed to offer the commodity by USD 549 C and F Djibouti. Currently, they estimate that the C and F price of sugar at Djibouti would run from USD 660 to USD 680.
The global commodity price is skyrocketing due to the after effect of the global pandemic which also spikes the freight price.
However, experts said that so far the Russia-Ukraine crisis is not visible on the sweet sector, while it has contribution for logistics cost increment.
The country annually imports up to 350,000 metric tons of sugar to address the gap. ESC has targeted to produce 413, 000 metric tons in the current budget year.
The sugar demand has been growing from time to time and it is estimated that the country’s annual sugar demand caps at about 1.2 million metric tons. Thus the remaining gap is covered by other importers who have special permit from the government and those who have Franco-Valuta privileges.
Key stakeholders’ partner to increase barley production
Public entities and private enterprises team up to boost barley production and income by 20 percent before 2025.
The scheme under the motto ‘better income through improved barley production’ (BITIB) brought together the Maltsters and GIZ GmbH to develop a framework for the funding program which GIZ will implement on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development of German.
At the project launching ceremony held at Inter Luxury Hotel, it was stated that key stakeholders of the barley value chain will come together to form a development partnership with the private sector.
Based on the new initiative local maltsters, Assela and Gondar malt factory along with Boortmalt Ethiopia, will partner with the Ethiopian Institute of Agricultural Research (EIAR) to provide new varieties of barley seeds that will be developed at the prominent research institute to local farmers.
The aim of the project is to sustainably improve the availability of quality seed of locally adopted barley varieties fulfilling industry standards, benefiting small farming households as the seed producer, in addition to sustaining the raw barley for malt and beer production.
Ethiopian Maltsters Association (EMA) shall intensify its technical cooperation and will provide investments in the barley breeding program of EIAR to ensure the timely release of new varieties as well as the production of sufficient and high-quality early generation seed by the institute.
“A new barley variety that is quickly available to farmers in the form of certified seed will reduce the use of fertilizer and fungicides, increase productivity compared to currently used varieties and thus increase the income of small farming households,” it has been stated.
Diriba Geleti, Deputy Director EIAR, noted that the aim of the project is to enhance the public-private partnership (PPP) modality in the agriculture sector. “This project will also enhance capacity and productivity of small holder farmers,” said the deputy, adding, “interpreting researches that are conducted on malt barley into reality is essential.”
Despite barley production having some changes in the past years, benefiting about 180,000 household farmers, the output is very low compared with the sharply increasing demand in the market.
Andria Ruediger, Project Manager of GIZ, said that Ethiopian highlands are suitable for barley production, while the actual supply for the market is very low compared with the demand mainly at the maltsters.
She said that in the past two years, the malt barley demand has increased by 160,000 tonnes due to two international malt companies that include Soufflet joining the barley value chain. “Currently, the malt barley demand in Ethiopia is 260,000 tones and in 2021 only 100,000 tones were collected locally,” Andria stated whilst highlighting the gap.
“Very limited seed production and a long time to market, are further challenges for the sector,” she added.
Tadesse Kassahun, Head of Gondar Malt Factory, said that the four Ethiopian maltsters are producing over 1.8 million quintals of malt barley per annum.
“To produce the stated amount, companies need about 2.6 million quintals of beer barley as input, while the actual local harvest was one million quintals last year, which shows that an additional 1.6 million quintals are needed,” Tadesse commented at the event.
String of charges hit long time partners
Court postpones Al- Amoudi’s lawsuit
The Civil Bench of Federal First Instant Court adjourns to hear the case that Sheik Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-Amoudi filed against his long-term partner and intimate friend Abinet Gebremeskel. The hearing has been set to take place next week.
The Civil Bench of Arada Division that appeared late this week gave an order for the lawsuit filed by the prominent tycoon to be heard this coming week owing to the absence of a judge ready to preside over the case.
In the charge which was filed in August last year through his lawyer Eshetu Woldesemayat, the business magnate and former chief attorney general of the then Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority, Al-Amoudi, claimed that the defendant abused the power which the plaintiff gave over Bole Towers Plc.
The company which was formed by the two individuals about 20 years ago, belongs 60 percent to Al-Amoudi while the remainder is owned by Abinet. With regards to management, Abinet was given the responsibility to manage the company, while Al-Amoudi had the power of attorney.
Al-Amoudi on July 15, 2021, then revoked the power of attorney that he gave to Abinet.
The plaintiff claimed that despite the general manager and representative of the major shareholder being expected to administer the company as per the memorandum of association and article of association, the defendant did not play by the rules.
The file added that the defendant transferred the plots of land sized 3,383 and 1,971 meters squared each which have a facility worth 120 million birr for his own, about three and two years ago respectively. The file claimed that as a result, the defendant damaged the interest of the major shareholder. Further adding that about seven months ago, the defendant tried to transfer the properties to third parties.
The lawsuit also entails the failure of the defendant to produce documents such as audit reports, minutes and accounting balance which are crucial for the case.
As per the claims, the plaintiff appealed to the civil bench for the defendant to make available relevant documents of the company, whilst he also called for the removal of Abinet from the general manager post at Bole Towers, which is located around Wollo Sefer, in addition for an appeal of audit of the company.
