Egypt’s Minister of Trade and Industry Rashid Mohamed Rashid said Tuesday that Egypt will establish a large company for the cultivation of tobacco in Ethiopia in collaboration with a number of international companies specialized in the production and processing of raw tobacco. Rashid said that "This project comes within the framework of enhancing cooperation between Egypt and the Nile Basin countries"

The Ministry of Defence (MoD) will soon join the hospitality industry in the country, owning chains of hotels across the country, including its first to be built in Mekelle, the seat of Tigary Regional State, 780km north of Addis Abeba, Fortune learnt. It will be the first involvement in the military’s history, after senior commanders in charge of logistics and administration at the MoD agreed that to own and operate chain hotels saves money from recurrent budgets spent on accommodations, whenever guests come from abroad, according to officials at the Ministry. Though it is mainly constructed for such guests brought in by the Ministry, the hotels will also open be to the public, these officials said.

(MENAFN - Qatar News Agency) Sudan's Minister of Finance and National Economy Ali Mahmoud Abdul-Rassoul has affirmed Sudan keenness to reactivate its economic and commercial relations with Ethiopia, besides revampting all the commercial and banking protocols signed between the two countries as part of the activity of the joint cooperation committee, which is scheduled to be held during the first quarter of 2012.

Ethiopian Airlines (ET) has placed an order with Aviation Partners Boeing (APB) for blended winglets for its Boeing 767-300ERs—a fleet it has already begun to retire. The order includes three firm and seven options. Installation will take place at the ET Addis Ababa maintenance facility and begin with three aircraft in February.

As many as nine million Ethiopians have disabilities - about 10 per cent of the population. Yet, the population often misunderstands the causes of physical disability and some Ethiopians believe it is a curse from God. One NGO working to change attitudes is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Cheshire Services is celebrating 50 years in Ethiopia this year, a remarkable feat given the upheavals the country has known in that period.