Ministry of Mines (MoM) revokes 63 investment licenses, of which 38 are mining and the rest are exploration companies. Underperformance, failure to renew licenses, and wasting public resources are mentioned as the rationales, according Takele Uma (Eng.), recently appointed minister of MoM.

Over the last five months, the mining sector generated USD302.9 million from export, of which USD299.1 million is from gold export, a magical comeback from a mediocre USD27.9 million for the whole 2019/20 fiscal year.

Foreign currency generated from export of Gold exceeded coffee, for the first time. Gold generated USD265.3 million during the first quarter of 2020/21, while coffee USD230.5 million, followed by cut flower and khat, at USD138.2 million and USD129.5 million, respectively.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced there are only 12 days left to transact with the old currency notes. After the 12 days, people can bring the old notes to banks and change it with the new ones, but cannot transact with it.

The Addis Ababa city administration has discovered over 1,000-hectare plots of land whose owners are unknown and held illegally. The administration also found 100 houses unidentified with legal owners.

The informal land and housing market mushroomed in the capital, is under reform, according to Adanech Abebe, deputy mayor, while disclosing findings of undergoing land and housing audit assessment.

Number of Ethiopian asylum seekers crossed into Sudan has surpassed 25,300, according to United Nations for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA). “the UN is alarmed by the escalating conflict in north Ethiopia, increasing insecurity in western and southern Oromia, as well as eastern Benishangul Gumuz region,” stated the organization, on November 16, 2020.

Ethiopia’s new commercial code, which is currently at draft stage at the House of People’s Representative (HPR), allows establishment of One Person PLC, a provision not included in the existing code, which was ratified in 1960.