The Ethiopian Horticulture Producer Exporters Association (EHPEA) called on the government to avail land and ease its bureaucratic hurdles to help local and international horticulture firms looking to invest in Ethiopia.

Speaking to The Reporter this week, Executive Director of EHPEA, Tewodros Zewdie lamented federal and regional authorities’ weaknesses to provide land and their extended bureaucratic systems, amid the enormous request which is coming from international and domestic horticulture firms to invest in different parts of the country.

The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services announced it has finalized preparations to construct a new dry port at Kombolcha with an estimated cost of 1.5 billion Birr.

The Shipping Enterprise has been undertaking a feasibility study to relocate its existing dry port in Kombolcha town, which has been active for over a decade and build a new one that is adjacent Kombolcha Industry Park and the railway line that crosses the town.

To Float bid to secure concept design for the projects

The newly established Land Bank and Development Corporation announced its plans to issue expression of interest to secure a concept design for a project that will be developed to investment projects on landholdings of federal government offices.

The competition will be launched for the redevelopment of federal landholdings in Addis Ababa located along the “Bole–Entoto” and “Lagar–city hall” strip.

Lands, Agriculture, Water and Rural Resettlement Minister Dr Anxious Masuka has advised farmers to have a good relationship with banks as Government’s plan to establish Agribank as a land bank is in order and will be complete in the next two months.

Dr Masuka said Agribank will be responsible for investment support and group landing as the Government intensifies commercialisation of the agriculture sector.

He was speaking at Nyamuseve Irrigation scheme in Guruve while touring such schemes and farms in the province on a technical assessment visit.

Ten cases of land disputes that lasted for over 15 years have been solved by the Banteay Srei district administration by understanding and peaceful mean on January 19.

Banteay Srei governor Khim Finan said on 20 January that a land dispute that had gone on for 15 years now had become an impediment to the citizens of the province on both sides of the dispute’s ability to live in safety and harmony in addition to having prevented either party from making productive use of the land.

Today in the building of the Central Communications Service Olga Shiyan, Executive Director of Transparency Kazakhstan, presented the results of the study «Monitoring the state of corruption in Kazakhstan for 2020», implemented with the assistance of the United Nations Development Program in Kazakhstan.
Transparency Kazakhstan experts interviewed 9,000 respondents at the level of cities, regional and district centers and studied 1,347 applications received on the Open Dialogue portal.

• Experts have warned that a controversial deregulation act will serve as a springboard for greater corruption in Indonesia’s forestry sector.
• They say a pervasive lack of transparency will allow companies such as plantation operators to whitewash their illegal occupation of forests or take control of larger swaths of land than permitted, among other risks.
• The experts have called for greater transparency, especially on the beneficial ownership of companies, and more detailed guidelines on how to implement the deregulation law.

JA

A Chinese state-owned company has signed a deal to redevelop and manage a fisheries port in Brunei.

China's Guangxi Beibu Gulf International Port Group has signed a deal to expand and run the Muara Fish Landing Complex alongside its partner Brunei's Darussalam Assets, a government-backed investment agency. The two jointly own the Muara Port Company Sdn Bhd, a joint venture set up in 2017.

It is hard to miss the two little houses sitting defiantly in the middle of the Singapore building site.

It's instantly reminiscent of the award-winning cartoon Up, the Pixar film which tells the tale of an old man who refuses to move from his home as towering blocks of flats rise around him.

Indeed, the owners of these two homes are just as determined to stay put, refusing offers reportedly worth millions to move elsewhere.

Main photo: Bidco Africa group co-founder and chairman Vimal Shah said the uncultivated land mass could cater for a longer term perspective with wide open opportunities available for both countries. — Reuters pic

Malaysian palm oil companies have been invited to enter the African market by utilising available unused land mass of 600 million hectares for palm oil cultivation in the continent.

• A report by Global Witness has found that more than 100 Indonesian palm oil mills supplying agribusiness giants ADM and Bunge have been accused of land and human rights violations and environmental destruction.
• Global Witness found that neither company is addressing the majority of these allegations through their formal grievance processes, and effectively passing on this “conflict” palm oil to major consumer brands such as Nestlé, Unilever and PepsiCo.
• ADM and Bunge have denied any failure to police their suppliers, but have also pledged to look