Browsing: Ethiopia

Solving the Sovereign Debt Crisis in Africa

Sovereign debt crisis solution: African countries trading more with each other

Countries

To have only 3 of the eligible countries in Africa signing up for the initiative is tragic especially given the global economic environment of the world presently. A crippling sovereign crisis is looming on the African horizon. Catalysts of the crisis include a strong United States dollar which has been resurgent during the year.

Debt on the on the books of most African countries is denominated in the greenback and its strength will have an adverse impact on their public finances and their ability to service their loan obligations timeously.

This problem is further compounded by rising interest rates which are certain to make the cost of debt that much more expensive for countries that already cannot afford to be overextended financially.

The debt of most African countries is in the hands of private creditors who in recent time have become as important as their multilateral counterparts. These private creditors…

…
Wheat

Lessons from Ethiopia increasing its local wheat production  

Countries

Dr. Tiberio Chiari, former Manager of the Agricultural Value Chains Programme in Oromia- Ethiopia, within the Ethio-Italian Development Cooperation Framework, offers some of these efforts that the government has implemented in the Ethiopian wheat value chain that other African countries can learn from.

Launch and execution of suitable growth policies

The government keeps working harder to ensure the country’s current dependence on wheat importation (of about 1.7 million tonnes) is fully nullified. After years of field experimentation, in 2021, the Ethiopian government launched its new plan.

The objective of the plan is to cut down the import of wheat by producing during the cold season in pastoral dry areas currently available in the Awash, Omo and Shebelle river basins. The approach includes the cultivation of 400,000 hectares of land and the deployment of a large-scale commercial farming model to achieve a productivity of 4.4 tonnes/ha.…

[elementor-template id="94265"]

…
Safaricom and NCPWD partner to connect persons with disabilities with jobs.

Safaricom kicks off phased operations in Ethiopia’s second largest city

Business
  • Safaricom has officially kicked off a large-scale customer pilot of its network in Ethiopia as part of ongoing plans to officially launch operations in Ethiopia 
  • The telco has launched the trial network in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia’s second largest city after its capital Addis Ababa
  • The launch of the network is part of Safaricom’s phased city-by-city regional network roll-out and rigorous service tests building towards its national launch in October

Safaricom Ethiopia has officially kicked off a large-scale customer pilot of its network in Ethiopia as part of ongoing plans to officially launch operations in the Horn of Africa country.

The telco has launched the trial network in Dire Dawa, Ethiopia’s second largest city after its capital Addis Ababa.

The launch of the network is part of Safaricom’s phased city-by-city regional network roll-out and rigorous service tests building towards its national launch in October.

Safaricom Ethiopia said the customer pilot would …

Aviation Africa 2022

AfCFTA: Africa banking on transport sector to grow economy

Industry and Trade

The Entebbe airport stands to transform Uganda’s movement over time as it advances to become an oil economy alongside Tanzania.

South Africa, one of the wealthiest countries, has the largest road network, 750,000kms, while Tanzania, East Africa’s competitive economy, has more than 86,000km of roads.

In the current economic scenario, where uncertainty brought by economic shocks from the pandemic and political tensions force nations to expand their horizon of influence, the past years have shown why African infrastructures must be robust and conducive to enhancing value creation.

Whoever moves fast and swiftly dominates the economic conversation. South Africa, Kenya, Namibia and Nigeria are among the top African nations with more robust economies.…

Ethiopia economy is a stake due to conflict

US-Ethiopia Relations: The deep root of for better or worse  

Industry and Trade
  • Ethiopia is one of the largest countries in Africa
  • The US has a long diplomatic relation with Ethiopia dating 1903
  • Ethiopia is building a hydroelectric dam that will generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity

Ethiopia economy is one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies with a GDP projected to trend around US$ 112 billion, representing at least 0.10 per cent of the world economy.   Thus, US-Ethiopia relations have presented rather effective diplomatic potential for one of the populous nation in the region.   

The East African nation has made noteworthy and tremendous economic improvements which have seen the nation’s GDP per capita rise from US$162 in 2005 to US$790 in 2018, an average annual growth rate of more than 14 per cent, according to information from the US Department of State.  

Ethiopia with its rich history has recorded substantial economic strides over the past decade, and the United States of America (USA) is one

…
The war between Russia and Ukraine could revamp Exports in Africa. www.theexchange.africa

Ethiopia: Africa’s biggest beneficiary of the Russian-Ukrainian war?

Industry and Trade

Ethiopia is the biggest Wheat producer in Africa, producing about 5.1 million tonnes in the 2020/2021 financial year. Russia’s restriction on the importation of Wheat has created a business gap in the African market and all over the globe.

Russia and Ukraine account for more than 70 per cent of Egypt’s imported wheat demand. In 2019, wheat imports from Russia to Egypt were worth US$2.55 billion, and Nigeria’s imports amounted to US$394 million. Other countries that import Russian Wheat include Sudan, Senegal, Tunisia and Morocco. Ethiopia will hold talks with Egypt and Sudan in March 2022 over the Nile waters’ use. Both countries are importers of Wheat, and production in Ethiopia could fulfil the demand from these two countries without exerting pressure on their production.…

[elementor-template id="94265"]

…

Africa’s race for Foreign Direct Investment

Investing

UNCTAD World Investment Report 2021 specifically states that “Greenfield investments in industry and new infrastructure investment projects in developing countries were hit especially hard.”

These financial flows of investment dollars have deep-rooted implications for Africa in the sense that they are vital for sustainable development in less developed and poorer countries.

The decline in investment flows was disproportionately skewed towards developed countries where FDI fell by 58 per cent according to UNCTAD. Investment flows in developing economies fell by a moderate 8 per cent mainly because of resilient flows in Asia.…

[elementor-template id="94265"]

…
Cardano targets to improve banking and education in Africa. www.theexchange.africa

Cardano’s vision to revolutionalize banking, loans and education in Africa

Banking
  • Traders holding the Cardano token will obtain loans of up to 70 per cent of the ADA tokens they hold.
  • The concept of decentralization and blockchain technology can replace traditional financial services such as commercial banks. Cryptocurrencies can also be used as an investment tool, and so can Cardano (ADA). 
  • The government of Ethiopia and Cardano Development had sealed an agreement to introduce 5 million secondary school students and 700,000 teachers on the Cardano blockchain app.
  • The downside of taking loans on Cardano is that the borrowers will have to self-manage the risk of the fluctuating Cardano price.

Cardano (ADA) is proof to take blockchain led by Ethereum co-founder Charles Hoskinson. Charles initial purpose in designing the token Cardano was to create competition for the Ethereum token. Cardano launched on September 29, 2017, after two years of development.

Cardano combines pioneer technologies to provide unparalleled security and sustainability to decentralized …

Kenya will import 400 Megawatts of power annually from Ethiopia. www.theexchange.africa

Kenya-Ethiopia renew US$1.3 billion cheaper electricity deal

Kenya
  • The hydropower project is worth an estimated US$1.3 billion that will see Ethiopia import 400 Megawatts of power annually.
  • The World Bank approved US$684 million for the power line in 2012- Kenya got US$441 million of the share, and Ethiopia got US$243 million- raising eyebrows why the project has not been completed ten years later.
  • The project started in 2012, but Ethiopia has blamed Kenya for the delays even after several lenders allocated funds for the project.

Kenya Ethiopia Electricity Trade

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s administration has reached a new agreement with Ethiopia to gear up further the purchase of cheap hydropower from Addis Ababa.

The two countries agreed with an Ethiopian delegation, led by Ethiopia’s Minister for Finance, Eyob Tekalign, visiting Nairobi from February 2nd to 4th this year.

The new arrangement was revised on previously signed power trade agreements. The two countries finalised the operational guidelines and procedures and …

ndegwa

Kenya: M-Pesa starts Ethiopia operations by May 2022

Investing

Safaricom has a network of partners whose collaboration allows subscribers to send and receive money from more than 200 countries and territories.

The launching of the M-Pesa supper app has also enabled its users to operate mobile money transfer easily and securely making it rise faster in the African continent.

For instance, access to financial services and products in Kenya grew by an astonishing 56 per cent between 2006-2019 due to the availability of the mobile money services . M-Pesa has been credited with lifting at least two per cent of Kenyan households out of extreme poverty.…