Capital Gears Up to Host Youth Feast


Capital Gears Up to Host Youth Feast

Young residents of Addis Abeba foresee a two-day skills-building boot camp on technology, business, communications and health. The Youth Festival is part of a five-year initiative by USAID that launched a year ago to engage the youth in economic and social opportunities. It is expected to provide a space for the youth to network with policymakers and prominent personalities in the business field, with an entertainment section featuring young musicians such as Rophnan. This is the third event following regional festivals in Hawassa and Bahirdar that engaged over 5,000 youth in dialogues, arts, sports and job fairs. It will take place at Millennium Hall at the end of April 2023, organized by Amerf Health Africa, in partnership with the Ministry of Women & Social Affairs.


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Electricity Bills Get the VAT Jolt

The new Value Added Tax (VAT) has begun implementation on electricity consumption and various service fees affecting customers who use more than 200 kilowatt hours of electricity per month. Based on a directive from the Ministry of Finance, the tax will be applied to the excess amount of electricity consumption above 200 kilowatt hours. The Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) began implementing the VAT on bills starting from November though both prepaid and postpaid customers will have to pay V...


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Gadaa Bank Expands Reach, Faces Lending Constraints

Gadaa Bank closed its first full fiscal year of operations with a net profit of 90.2 million Br. The 18-month-old Bank held its annual general assembly at Millenium Hall on Africa Avenue last week where the board announced that during the year, the Bank opened 15 branches and now has 85 operational branches. “Due to recently enacted policy measures on credit by NBE and unmet resource mobilization during the fiscal year, the Bank was unable to make loan disbursements,” stated Wolde...


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Oromia Bank's Branch Expansion Weighs on Profits

Oromia Bank reported a 47pc decline in net profit to take in 840.9 million Br for the past fiscal year. Interest income grew by 21pc to reach 7.19 billion Br while personnel expense grew by 36pc to hit 3.16 billion Br. The opening of 72 new branches, bringing the total to 575, led to a four percent growth of deposits to 56.4 billion Br. The profits are “unsatisfactory against our ambitious moves,” said Assefa Seme (PhD), board chairperson. “The deviation is primarily attributed to our aggr...