Ethio Lease Charters Harvesters Worth $16m

Nov 21 , 2020


Ethio Lease, the first private and foreign-owned equipment leasing company in the country, has presented 85 combine harvesters to different beneficiaries including the Ethiopian Agricultural Business Corporation. With a total investment of more than 16 million dollars, Ethio Lease purveyed the equipment during an event held in Bishoftu. It will benefit the equivalent of 180,000 smallholder farmers, reduce harvest losses to the tune of 66 million dollars annually, and create or sustain 850 direct and 34,000 indirect jobs, according to the company's vice president of marketing & sales, Degol Gossaye. The company had first leased 60 tractors to farmers in different parts of the country when it started its operations in August 2019. To date, it has signed lease agreements with more than 100 customers for over 200 units of various machinery. It is a subsidiary company of Africa Asset Finance Company Inc. (AAFC), which was launched in 2017 to address equipment leasing and asset-backed lending demands on the continent.


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...