Ethio Telecom Plans to Transact 3.5 Trillion Birr in 5 Years


Ethio Telecom Plans to Transact 3.5 Trillion Birr in 5 Years

Ethiopia's most capitalised state-owned enterprise, Ethio telecom plans to facilitate the transaction of 3.5 trillion Birr through Telebirr in the next five years, the telecom giant announced. Garnering 2.5 million customers so far, Ethio telecom hopes its new platform will account for 40pc to 50pc of transactions in Ethiopia by 2025. The platform was launched three weeks ago with a plan of registering 33.7 million subscribers in a year. "Our progress indicates we can achieve even beyond our target," said Frehiwot Tamiru, chief executive officer of Ethio telecom, which owns 285,000 distribution centres, adding to the establishment of 1,500 centres dedicated to Telebirr services. Serving 52.8 million mobile voice subscribers and 24 million internet users, Ethio telecom has recently expanded its 4G LTE network to 33 towns across the country, achieving a third of its plan. In 2022, it has a target to introduce the 5G network to Ethiopia.


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...