City Admin Annuls Condominium Lottery Draw


City Admin Annuls Condominium Lottery Draw

Addis Abeba Mayor Adanech Abiebie has annulled the outcome of a lottery drawing for the transfer of condominium units that took place earlier this month. The decision came less than a week after the latest round of lottery draw for over 25,000 units. Officials say discrepancies in the digital drawing system and the lottery process were behind their decision to scrap the results. Less than 80,000 eligible individuals who have saved up the minimum downpayment for units built under the 20/80 and 40/60 housing programmes were entered into the lottery. Hundreds of thousands of hopefuls were left out. A committee comprising officers from the Information Network Security Agency (INSA) and the National Intelligence Service found that close to 100,000 people had illegally entered the draw by accessing the digital lottery system. It is the latest hiccup in the tumultuous saga of the city's low-cost housing scheme. Hundreds of thousands of residents have been waiting to receive units for over a decade after depositing down payments with the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).


Radar

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...


Radar

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...


Radar

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...