Fashion Week Commences in Addis

Nov 9 , 2019


The All African Leather Fair and African Sourcing Fashion Week opens at Millennium Hall on November 9, 2019. Two workshops with themes “Tanneries improving competitiveness through environmental compliance, technology transfer and establishing strategic linkage” and “Ethiopia’s position in Africa’s Leather industry” will be held with the participation of development partners, investors and key stakeholders in the leather sector. Over 500 exhibitors from 35 countries and more than 10,000 traders, investors and fashion brands from over 45 countries are participating in the event that will remain open until November 17, 2019. At the opening ceremony, it will be announced that the United Nations Industrial Development Organization has launched a project dubbed "Leather Initiative for Sustainable Employment Creation." Funded by the EU, the project will be implemented in partnership with the Ethiopian Ministry of Trade & Industry. The launching of the project will be attended by high-level government officials, ambassadors and invited guests from development partners.


Radar

HEFTY GREEN

Street vendors around the Shola area take a rest in the shades of the capital's newly planted trees. Upon reporting on its 10-month performance before Parliament, the Agriculture Minister, Girma Amentie indicated that up to 43pc of the arable land in the country has been rendered acidic. This requires large amounts of limestone to be imported from abroad; the tight forex crunch has not allowed the Ministry of Finance to fund the endeavour easily. Following the rallying call of the Prime Minister...


Radar

DAMP DENIMS

Residents of communal houses around the Weji area hang their clothes on the fences outside. Textile manufacturing accounts for 87pc of Ethiopia's products from industrial parks. Expulsion from the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA) due to the war in the North resulted in Ethiopia being expelled from the preferential trade act. Most companies choosing to rent sheds within the industrial parks do so out of a desire to access the duty-free privileges provided for African countries. Ethiopi...


Radar

PRICY PLEASURES

Vendors put traditional beauty products from the Somali Regional State for sale around Mexico area. In November of last year, the Ministry of Finance banned imported goods under 38 categories, including cosmetics, packed foods, and furniture, from accessing letters of credit. The move resulted in the tripling of costs for cosmetic items like lipstick and nail polish. As Ethiopia ran a 14 billion dollar merchandise trade deficit last year due to import bills hiking by 26pc , a tight clampdown on...