ETHIOPIAN EYES RWANDAIR STAKE AHEAD OF FORMAL PRIVATISATION PROCESS

There is growing indication that Ethiopian Airlines has engaged in direct talks with the Rwandan government, seeking a stake in national carrier RwandAir, even though no formal privatization process is in place at this moment in time.
It is thought that RwandAir’s Chairman of the Board of Directors, Girma Wade, himself a longserving former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines and brought to RwandAir to benefit from his extensive experience in successfully and profitably managing Africa’s largest airline, has been instrumental to set up the talks. Sources in Kigali have described as them as ‘exploratory’ but also conceded that this has been going on since sometime late last year. Confirmation has also been received from Addis Ababa where ET’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam has yesterday confirmed to Reuters that talks were ongoing.
Grapevine talk has it that Ethiopian may seek a shareholding anywhere between 26 and 49 percent and then take on a greater role in the management of RwandAir, over and above having an Ethiopian already serve in the capacity as General Manager Commercial, recruited in mid 2014.
Ethiopian Airlines, one of Africa’s three members in Star Alliance, is already Africa’s undisputed market leader but has over the past years sought to expand influence on the continent through strategic partnerships. First out of the starting blocks was ASKY in West Africa, followed by Malawian Airlines. Talks with the regime in Kinshasa have also been going on to establish a new national airline in the Congo, probably along similar lines like Malawian Airlines, where Ethiopian holds 49 percent and has seconded management to run the company.
Should talks with the Rwandan government yield results it would substantially widen ET’s reach in the Eastern African region, largely at the expense of Kenya Airways, which, according to a source close to the airline, has been caught almost unaware of the talks and the unfolding schemes by main African rival Ethiopian. Kenya Airways, saddled with losses in the recent past, seems to pursue a single, standalone growth strategy and with Ethiopian now having two financial partnerships already (ASKY and Malawian Airlines) and potentially a further three falling into place in the near future (Congo, Rwanda and South Sudan) will the gap between the two widen further and restrict options for KQ following suit.
RwandAir already enjoys a code share with Ethiopian for flights between Kigali and Addis Ababa and has maintenance agreements in place to service their Bombardier Q400NextGen aircraft, a second of which is due to join by early Q2.
RwandAir, serving 15 destinations out of Kigali, operates a fleet of four B737NG’s, two Bombardier CRJ900NextGen’s and currently one Q400, but has another B737-800NG on order for delivery late this or early next year. The airline is also eyeing the B787 Dreamliner to commence long haul flights out of Kigali by 2017/18 to China, India and Europe.
Only recently has RwandAir received fifth freedom rights for flights from Entebbe to Juba and is reportedly waiting for the Kenyan regulators to approve slots for two daily fifth freedom flights between Entebbe and Nairobi.
Fully owned and backed in its development plans by the government of Rwanda has the airline expanded rapidly in recent years. However, a financial stake by Ethiopian may relief the Rwandan government of a significant amount of cash requirements for future investments, if the new suitors can be contractually tied down to help pay for turning Rwanda’s vision for their national airline into reality.

Ethiopian Eyes Stakes In Rwanda, Congo Carriers

Ethiopian Airlines is in talks with Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of Congo to purchase stakes in their carriers and manage them, its chief executive said.
Discussions with Kigali and Kinshasa follow similar deals with Malawi and South Sudan, part of efforts to become a global carrier and put the airline at the heart of travel in Africa.
Ethiopia's state-owned airline is ranked the largest airline in Africa by revenue and profit by IATA.
"We have a technical agreement with Rwandair and we manage the technical maintenance of their fleet. We are going to expand that to a commercial and equity partnership," chief executive Tewolde Gebremariam told Reuters news agency.
"We are also in discussions with the Democratic Republic of Congo," he said, adding that the firm was also looking at opportunities in Uganda. He did not name carriers.
Ethiopian Airlines operates and manages Malawi Airlines after a deal signed in 2013 and has signed a memorandum of understanding with South Sudan to help set up a national carrier for a country which won independence in 2011.
The Ethiopian carrier has a deal too with ASKY, the West African airline, whose shareholders also include the ECOWAS regional bloc of countries and a number of banks.
Ethiopian currently has a fleet of 77 aircraft, including 10 787-8 Dreamliners. It was the first airline to fly the 787 commercially, has three more on order and wants to order more, including a larger version.
"Boeing is fully booked on 787 so as soon as we can get the slots we are going to order," Tewolde said.
For now, it has a total of 44 planes on order, including 14 Airbus A350s and 20 Boeing 737 MAX.
The airline is still evaluating the purchase of the Boeing 777X, part of plans to double its fleet to 150 aircraft by 2025, Tewolde said, adding decisions were likely by July.

source :Reuters

Ministry Suspends Issuing Exploration Licenses in Mineral Rich Areas

The Ministry of Mines announced that it has stopped issuing mineral exploration licenses in the South Western part of the country, a region known for different mineral deposits.
In a public notice issued last week, the Ministry of Mines, Mineral Licensing and Administration Directorate, announced that it has suspended issuing mineral exploration licenses in South West part of the country as this area is reserved for a joint geological study being undertaken by the Ethiopian and Chinese geological survey institutes. The directorate revealed that it will not accept applications from companies requesting exploration areas in this part of the country for unspecific period of time.
Local and foreign mining companies expressed their discontent over the large concession held by the Chinese and Ethiopian geological survey institutes for the joint geological study.
Based on a bilateral agreement signed by the governments of China and Ethiopia the Ethiopian and China geological survey institutes are undertaking a joint geological study in the South Western part of Ethiopia since 2012. The South Western part of Ethiopia is known for different mineral resources including gold. The concession includes tens of thousands of sqkm of land in South Western parts of Ethiopia. The geological surveys are trying to identify the mineral resources of the concession area. Chinese and Ethiopian geologists are jointly working to learn about the types of the existing minerals. The cost of the exploration project is covered by the Chinese government. However, Ethiopian and foreign mining companies are not happy about this project. They are wary of the Chinese move saying that this gives comparative advantage for Chinese mining firms.
The Ministry of Mines, Public Relations and Communication Directorate director, Bacha Fuji, told The Reporter that the Ethiopian and Chinese geological survey institutes are assessing the mineral potential of the area for the past two years. "They are collecting useful geological data. They are adding value to the concession. Hence, the Mineral Licensing and Administration Directorate will not process exploration license applications until the joint study is finalized," Bacha said. However, he said the Ministry will avail the crucial geological data for all local and foreign mining firms once the joint study is finalized.
"Apart from the concession area held by the joint study other concessions are open for interested local and foreign investors," Bacha said.
The Ministry of Mines recently introduced a stringent mineral exploration licensing procedures. It has also evaluated the performance of companies engaged in mineral exploration activities and revoked 56 companies licenses who failed to execute exploration work according to their commitments.