Monday, April 29

Ethiopia

Wheat in Ethiopia CREW AfDB
  • Fresh financing will bolster Ethiopia’s progress in achieving wheat self-sufficiency.
  • Data shows Ethiopia’s wheat productivity has struggled to match the demands of a rising population, urbanization, and economic expansion over the past decade.
  • Statistics show that Ethiopia’s annual wheat imports average roughly $600 million.

Ethiopia, the second-largest wheat producer in sub-Saharan Africa, has received a significant boost from the African Development Bank (AfDB) in the form of an $84.3 million grant aimed at propelling the nation’s wheat production to new heights.

The grant, a collaborative effort between the AfDB, the Government of the Netherlands, agribusiness firm OCP Africa, and the Global Center on Adaptation, holds the promise of not only enhancing wheat production but also bolstering exports.

CREW initiative in Ethiopia’s wheat production

As wheat gains prominence as a major crop cultivated across the vast expanse of African plains, Ethiopia strategically positions itself as a pivotal player in the sub-sector.…

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Safaricom Ethiopia
  • Safaricom targets a customer base of at least 10 million across 25 cities in the next year.
  • Since Safaricom Ethiopia switched on its mobile telecommunications network, it has grown coverage from an initial 11 to 22 cities.
  • Safaricom Ethiopia is building a wholly-owned mobile network and also has infrastructure sharing deal with state-owned Ethio Telecom.

Safaricom is now targeting a customer base of at least 10 million in Ethiopia in the next one year. The move is tailored to shake up the country’s telecommunication industry. Latest developments follows huge investments in the country, with cash transfer service M-PESA now on the table.

Since Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia switched on its mobile telecommunications network and services in Addis Ababa in October last year, major inroads have been made in the second-most populous country in Africa.

It has grown coverage from an initial 11 cities when it launched to 22. The telco with …

The Nigeria Morocco Gas Pipeline.Source MWN

Africa has been hailed as the next frontier in the provision of global oil and natural gas resources, especially now in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

This crisis has not only altered the global energy landscape, but also instigated an inflation in gas prices, given the former’s position in the hierarchy of major global producers. As sanctions continue to soar, Europe has embarked on a quest to find contingency energy supplies, as it seeks to minimize its dependency on Russia; which has already cut off gas supplies to countries like Finland, Poland and Bulgaria, over energy payment disputes.

Consequently, Africa’s gas resources have gained a newly found prominence, pertinently by the European Union (EU); owing to the continent’s rich endowment of oil and deep gas reserves. The mounting global demand for gas, has been pushing international energy companies to reconsider African projects. The numerous ongoing and upcoming oil …

Ethiopia and Mauritius attract leading M&A law firm Bowmans

Bowmans Law firm, a leading pan African legal entity specializing in business deals, merger and acquisitions (M&A) is set to launch its base in Ethiopia and Mauritius at the beginning of October 2019. The move is seen as an expansion of the company to two countries where FDIs have remained high coupled with financial growth.

Bowmans is opening a fully-fledged office in Mauritius, having joined forces with FirmWise, a local firm that specialises in corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, banking and finance, investment funds, tax, compliance and private equity.

Robert Legh, chairman, and senior partner, says ‘This move, which is effective from 1 October 2019, is an investment in the ambitions and success of our clients across Africa. Mauritius and Ethiopia are key jurisdictions for many of our clients and our presence on the ground there will help us to better support them.’

The law firm already has a presence …

Ethiopian Airlines announces plans to 'restructure its entire U.S. network' which will see them opening new destination, adding frequencies and shifting gateways - The Exchange

Ethiopian Airlines is expanding its partnership with CellPoint Digital a leading provider of digital commerce and payment solutions for airlines, to offer more popular payment methods to its passengers with a specific interest to Chinese visitors.

Last year, Ethiopian Airlines adopted CellPoint’s Velocity payment platform to implement a mobile-first payment strategy and create a more seamless customer experience in its mobile app. Ethiopian Airlines initially added Alipay and saw promising growth in bookings through its mobile app in some markets. Ethiopian Airlines is now introducing WeChat Pay and KNET to cater to the international travel market.

China is set to displace the United States as the world’s largest aviation market by the mid-2020s and is a key growth market for Ethiopian Airlines. Millions of Chinese tourists use Alipay and WeChat Pay to make travel purchases, and together these two alternative forms of payment cover more than 90% of the Chinese …

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

Goh Betoch Bank a new financial institution that aims to introduce mortgage banking offers its shares to the public in Ethiopia.

Getahun Nana, the former VP of the central bank of Ethiopia, who is now one of the founding members of Goh Betoch Bank said: “Currently there are 1.2 million housing shortages in Ethiopia.” He added that Ethiopia needs to provide additional houses every year in order to meet the growing demand for housing that is why they have introduced the bank to provide loans for housing construction.

Getahum said that only less than 4% of the loans in Ethiopia goes to housing construction for both real estate developers and individuals as he briefed potential investors to the new bank.

Eng. Aisha Mohammed, Minister of Ministry of Construction and Urban Development of Ethiopia, expressed her hope that the new bank will benefit individuals who are engaged in real estate …

Egyptian tuk-tuk company Halan to expand to Ethiopia

Halan an Egyptian technology startup that uses tuk-tuk to transport passengers and goods will begin operating in Ethiopia.

The company targets under-served communities and is expanding in more cities in the Egyptian governorates of Sharqeya, Daqahleya, Damietta, Qena and Gharbeya before the end of this year, said

The company was founded in November 2017 and already operates in around 20 to 25 cities in Egypt and Sudan.

Halan’s app allows customers to request for the three-wheeled vehicles, motorbikes or order food or goods for delivery through motorbikes or cargo tricycles.

Nakhla said the app has around 10,000 active drivers per month.

He continued to add that Egypt has around 70,000 tuk-tuks in its streets and Uber has 90,000 monthly active drivers in Egypt.

The company’s founder said, “Halan completes a few million rides per month, almost half a million of which are in food deliveries.” He further said that adding …

Ethiopia rejects Egypt proposal on Nile dam operation

Ethiopia rejected a proposal by Egypt to operate on the $4 billion hydropower dam Ethiopia is building on the Nile.

This rejection is further deepening the disputes between the two nations over the project being conducted by Ethiopia.

In a press conference in Addis Ababa Ethiopia’s capital, Sileshi Beleke, minister for water, irrigation and energy described Egypt’s plan, which includes the volume of water it wants the dam to release annually as “inappropriate”

He further said that the proposal from Egypt was unilaterally decided and did not consider their previous agreements.

“We can’t agree with this…we will prepare our counter-proposal.”

In 2011, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) was announced, it is designed to be the centrepiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, generating more than 6,000 megawatts.

The dam has been the center of disagreements between Ethiopia and Egypt as the two countries disagree over the …

Dollars

Ethiopia emerged as the largest recipient of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in East Africa, a new report released by financial consulting firm EY shows.

The 2019 survey carried out by EY Attractiveness showed that Ethiopia attracted foreign investments worth Ksh.726.6 billion last year compared to Kenya’s foreign investments, which stood at Ksh.207.6 billion in the same period.

Tanzania’s foreign investment stood at Ksh.103.8 billion.

According to the report, the FDI Ethiopia received translated to 16,000 jobs from 29 projects, while Kenya created 6,000 jobs from 64 projects and Tanzania created 3,000 jobs from 19 projects.

An expert said that Ethiopia’s “efficient” business environment has helped its much higher FDI flow compared to the rest of the region.

Mr Francis Kamau, a tax partner at audit and consultancy EY East Africa said,” “Ethiopia has affordable electricity supply and is served by an efficient airline”.

Mr Kamau also added that Ethiopia has …

LB Investment
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