Ethiopian Airlines and the US Embassy inaugurated an ultramodern baggage scanner machine on Monday, April 9. Present at the inauguration were Ethiopia Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam and US Ambassador to Ethiopia Michael Raynor. The ambassador stated that the United States’ role as a partner in Ethiopia’s aviation success is something the Embassy is very proud of, and committed to building upon.
“Today we’re celebrating the installation of state-of-the-art equipment that will enhance the safety of millions of travelers who either visit Ethiopia or transit through this important hub every year. Ethiopian Airlines’ rapid growth comes with enormous benefits in terms of trade, commerce, tourism, and investment opportunities – not just in Ethiopia, but in the United States and beyond.
The screening devices are provided by the US Government and employ a new technology called computer tomography that represents the latest in imaging for baggage scanning. The technology is expected to enhance Ethiopia’s ability to detect not only potentially hazardous items, but contraband items such as drugs and illicit wildlife products. It is the first to be deployed in Africa.

The continental reinsurance giant, Africa Reinsurance Corporation (Africa Re) announced that it will diversify its investment in Ethiopia’s capital by up to USD 10 million.
The 146th meeting of board members was held at Sheraton Addis on Monday April 9. They reviewed Africa Re’s activities and final accounts for 2017 and after the meeting leaders told Capital that they had decided to expand investments.
Hassan Boubrik, Board Chairman, and Corneille Karekezi, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of African Re, said that even though market conditions have been tough the reinsurance company’s businesses had grown.
The CEO stated that a reinsurance firm must be liquid so they have invested in several African stock exchanges including: Johannesburg, Casablanca, Legos, Cairo, and Nairobi. They also have invested in many other business sectors. .
“We have made some decisions today to invest in real estate in Mauritius and we are studying a proposal to invest in Ethiopian real estate,” he added.
The corporation has an office in Mauritius. In 2011 it also opened one in Addis Ababa. “We are investing in Addis to increase visibility in a market where we have a host agreement and to improve the source of income,” the CEO said. “The possible investment in Ethiopia is difficult to mention right now but it is something from USD 5 million to 10 million. We are still studying the proposal given by the municipality of Addis Ababa,” Karekezi said.
Currently the corporation invests in local banks as a term deposit.
In the past fiscal year the gross written premium of Ethiopian insurers reached USD 170 million of which the USD 42 million has been transferred to reinsurers including the recently formed Ethiopian Reinsurance, a local reinsurer. From the stated USD 42 million transferred to reinsurers the Africa Re stake has been close to USD 17 million.
The Africa Re gross written premium has grown to USD 746.83 million, 16.3 percent above the 2016 performance.
The corporation’s net profit amounted to USD 88 million and net combined ratio stood at 95 percent. The technical margin and return on investment stood at 5.1 percent and 5.5 percent respectively. The corporation stated shareholders’ funds grew by 11 percent to reach USD 902 million in 2017.
Africa Re was established in 1976 and includes 41 AU member states including Ethiopia and private banks, African Development Bank and non-continental actors as shareholders. Ethiopia is one of the founding shareholders. The corporation was given an A minus rating by S&P and A by AM.

Abebu Dinku Water Bottling and Non-Alcohol Beverage Factory has introduced a new bottled water product.
At a ceremony held on Thursday April 12 at Elilly International Hotel the company launched its Top water brand.
During his opening speech Abebe Dinku, General Manager and owner of the factory, said that his company would do well by supplying high quality products.
“To do that we have installed our own plastics factory, and a state of the art lab equipped with latest Italian technology,” Abebe said.
Abebe said that his company is one of the few that produces its own water bottles.
Soon they will install a second production line at their factory, increasing their capacity and turning them into one of the biggest bottled water producers.
The factory has obtained its machines from the global Chinese company Newamastar, which specializes in machine installation in bottled water production plants.
The production process at Top Water follows a very careful process. It is tested during various production steps and is never touched by humans, according to Tewodros Eshetu, Production and Technical Director of the company.
So far the company has installed a bottling machine at the industry located in Tatek, Gefersanono (Burayu), Oromia regional state, 18kms northwest of Addis Ababa, with the capacity of packing 18 thousand bottles of water per hour.
Tewodros said that Top Water employs the latest technology to control its production quality to the utmost level which is a stark difference from most in the industry.
“The fact that we produce the bottles along with their cover avoids shortages and ensures the quality of the water,” Abebe explained.
The company has invested more than 273 million birr to establish the factory and produce Top Water, which is sourced from a spring in the Aegedu Highland. Currently the company employs 147 people and that number will increase when they finish the expansion. After the expansion, the company will be able to produce 42 thousand bottles of water per hour at its 11,000sqm compound. The water will be sold in five sizes including a 20 liter jug.
During the ceremony company officials also talked about corporate social responsibility.
Shimeles Ajema, sales manager of the water company, said that Top plans to drill at least four water wells in places suffering from water scarcity.
“We have accomplished an adequate study to implement this by deducting 0.2 cents from every water bottle. We will have a sales of 67 million bottles of water per annum which means earnings of over 1.33 million birr, so that covers the cost of four wells,” Shimeles explained.
According to company experts, top water uses environment friendly technologies and a method to recycle the water bottles. The company they have plans to install plastic bottle collection sites in Addis Ababa.
Soon the company plans to make other products as well.

TECNO Africa has announced the release of its latest smartphone duo- the CAMON X and CAMON X PRo. The announcement was made during a glamorous Global Spring Launch at Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos, Nigeria.The new phones have advanced designs and cameras.
The CAMON X Pro debuts a 24MP +16 MP front camera with an increased image definition of 30% over that of the CAMON CX to ensure that images are clear and sharp. It dons a 6 _inch FHD screen with 2.5D corning third glass,industry leading 18:0 view full screen, 64GB ROM, 4GB RAM and superfast face recognition technology.
Speaking at the launching event Andy Yan, Vice President, of TRANSSION Holdings-parent Company of TECNO said “We do not adopt a one -size-fits all approach in developing our products.We take insights from our customers’ habits, preference and needs to develop the next groundbreaking product that fits perfectly into their lifestyle and consequently displaces the competition.” The new phones will be expected to be introduced in Addis Ababa in one month.