Dawud Ibsa, chairperson of the Oromo Liberation Front, in an interview with Addis Zemen, the Amharic daily (December 10, 2019), when asked if he thinks the Prosperity Party will try to bring a unitary state structure. He said he does not think so.
Month: December 2019
World Bank, IFC Conclude Lighting Project
Lighting Africa, a joint International Finance Corporation and World Bank initiative, concluded the national programme after electrifying the households of 12 million people with solar technology.
The four-year project was launched with the aim of promoting access to off-grid lighting and energy services for those not connected to the grid by mobilising the private sector to build sustainable markets for affordable, high quality and modern off-grid solar products.
The programme also trained over 300 solar technicians, solar distributors and retailers. Moreover, the programme reached over 20 million people with consumer education campaigns.
The goal of the project was to develop a commercial market for high-quality solar lanterns and kits that enable access to safer off-grid lighting for 11.8 million people by December 2019 by working in partnership with companies in the off-grid lighting sector.
Audit Reveals Inconsistencies at Haramaya University
The financial audit report conducted on Haramaya University revealed a nearly 25-million-Br audit gap due to uncollected income tax revenues and unsettled payments over ten years.
The audit report was presented to the Public Expenditure Administration & Regulation standing committee of the parliament last Wednesday.
The gap was found unaccounted for as a result of the unauthorised procurement of medicine, uncollected income tax payments for guest lecturers, over expenditures and inflated overtime payments for security guards, as well as uncollected revenues and unsettled payments.
The audit also revealed that nearly 1.6 billion Br was spent for construction of a new building, which was not properly registered as the permanent property of the University.
American Firm Invests in Local Food Maker
PepsiCo, an American multinational food, snack and beverage corporation, joined Senselet Food Processing Plc as a major shareholder.
Veris Investment, a private equity firm, and PepsiCo will run the company, the former being a minority shareholder.
Veris Investment, which is engaged in the food value chain in Sub-Saharan Africa, founded Senselet Food in 2015. Senselet makes the SUN Chips brand from locally-sourced potatoes. SUN Chips is distributed with various flavours and different sized packs.
The company has established business partnerships with local farmers over the past three years.
Along with the Dutch government, the company has been facilitating farmer training programmes intended to increase yield and produce high-quality potatoes.
Located around 65Km from the capital, Senselet has more than 150 employees.
Authority Revives Delayed Road Project
The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) kicked off the construction of Worabe-Bojeber asphalt concrete road on December 26, 2019.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Minister of Peace Muferiat Kamil, Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges, Deputy Head of SNNP Regional State Ristu Yirdaw, State Minister for Transport Hiwot Mosisa and Director of the Ethiopian Roads Authority Habtamu Tegegne.
Markan Trading Plc was awarded the construction contract for 795 million Br after the contract given for Yemane Girmay was terminated for underperformance.
The road is expected to be completed within three years, and Stadia Engineering Works Consulting Plc will supervise the project.
The road will have a length of 40.5Km and a width of 21.5m including the shoulder, although it will be 12m wide in kebelesand 10m in width in rural areas.
Once the road becomes operational, it will connect the main road that stretches from Addis Abeba to Hosanna with Butajira rural roads.
Ministry to Launch Virtual Map App
The Ministry of Transport is set to launch the first digital mapping technology that will show Ethiopia’s road map as a virtual image.
This technology will enable users to view the details of the major and feeder roads of the country and give accurate representations of particular areas.
Alongside this technology, the Ministry has also introduced the first-ever trip planning application that shows the directions of different routes.
The data of the routes of Addis Abeba Light Rail, Anbessa City Bus, Sheger Public Transport and minibus taxi services have been incorporated into the new system.
The soft launch of the programme was held on December 27, 2019, at the Hilton Hotel with the presence of Dagmawit Moges, minister of Transport.
IFC Loans 50m to Habesha Brewery
Habesha Brewery S.C. signed a 50-million-euro agreement with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to ramp up barley sourcing from local smallholder farmers.
The loan was co-funded by Dutch Development Bank, Rabobank and ING Bank.
Alongside the monetary financing, the financiers will help the farmers access improved seed variants, agricultural inputs, capacity building in the best practices of agronomy and business management.
The brewing sector imports as much as 90pc of its malt barley, because local production cannot satisfy the demand of the industry.
The project is expected to double the current yield production and augment income for 15,000 existing farmers and create 500 jobs.
“We aim to increase the number of farmers from 1,000 to 14,000 in the course of five years and uplift their income,” Zewdu Negate, CEO of Habesha Breweries, said.
Abandoned
The City Administration came up with a hastily arranged plan to give temporary shelter to small entrepreneurs to display their products. That did not go well with local residents whose neighbourhoods were turning into local markets or those who worry about the aesthetics of the city, not to mention the traffic disruption. They now seem to be abandoned, as these sheds around Gofa are turning green with the sprouting grass.
Digging Up Qera
Construction has started in earnest on one of the busiest roads in Addis Abeba, the 3.8Km-long road from Gotera to Pushkin Square. The city’s most expensive road project, at 395 million Birr a kilometre, broke ground in October and seems to be making good progress. With the roads leading to it from the Gotera exchange closed off with no detour signs, motorists will do well to plan their routes carefully in advance.
WAITING IN THE RAIN
Long, winding lines at taxi stands are a common experience for commuters in Addis Abeba. The unpredictable weather of brilliant sunshine interrupted with sudden light showers that the city experienced last week adds another challenge for this group of morning commuters in Mexico Square. The prescient had their umbrellas ready.
Dashen Rolls Out Job Creation Plan
Dashen Bank announced a 100-million-Br job creation scheme dubbed the Ethiopian Talent Power Series programme.
The initiative aims to create jobs by providing financial aid to talented individuals and reduce the unemployment rate.
The initiative was launched on December 26, 2019, at Intercontinental Addis Hotel with the presence of Mamo Mihretu, senior advisor to the Prime Minister, Asfaw Alemu, CEO of Dashen Bank, and Yihenalem Akenaw, Dashen’s chief transformation and customer experience officer.
The project also aims to build the capacity of medium and small-scale enterprises, finance higher education programmes, aid the formation of business networks and finance trade chains. The project will be implemented in six selected cities in the current fiscal year.
As part of the recent Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda, the government plans to create three million national jobs in the current fiscal year. The jobs will be mainly created in the private sector.
The 23-year-old bank netted a profit of over one billion Br in the last fiscal year with 413 branches. It also accumulated assets of 56.2 billion Br and increased its capital to 5.5 billion Br.
Ex-Electric Power CEO Faces Corruption Charge
Federal prosecutors charged Azeb Asnake, the former CEO of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP), with alleged corruption involving 5.2 billion Br.
Azeb was charged with 49 individuals from the Metals & Engineering Corporation (MetEC) and the EEP. Mulu Woldegebriel (Col.), former deputy director-general of the Corporation, is also a co-defendant.
The charge filed on December 27, 2019, states that the EEP signed a 5.2 billion Br agreement with MetEC on November 26, 2014, for 123,189ha of forest clearing for the under-construction Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).
The project should have been delivered in 720 days, but it only progressed 30pc during the contract delivery period, according to the charge. It also states that the defendants allegedly amended an article to make a half a billion Birr down payment from MetEC before signing the contractual agreement.
“The officials intentionally delayed the contract in a way that seemed to be done to cost the government one billion Br,” the charge reads.
Azeb departed EEP on August 2018.
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