Fertiliser Giant's Subsidiary Tackles Soil Acidity


Fertiliser Giant's Subsidiary Tackles Soil Acidity

USAID and OCP Ethiopia Fertilisers Manufacturing PLC (OCP-EFMC) have partnered to tackle soil acidity, aiming to boost crop yields and farmer incomes. By introducing innovative fertiliser blends, the collaboration seeks to address the widespread issue of acidic soil, which hampers agricultural productivity. The partnership is demonstrating the blends through field trials in various regions. This initiative aligns with Ethiopia's goal of increasing fertiliser production to meet growing demand and improve food security. Established in September 2015, OCP-EFMC is a subsidiary of the OCP Group, a leading global provider of phosphate-based fertilisers. The company focuses on teff, maize, sorghum, wheat, sesame and coffee. Sofia Kassa (PhD), state minister for Agriculture, outlined plans to increase blended fertiliser production to 200,000 tns per year, covering 20pc of Ethiopia’s fertiliser requirements.


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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 VAT a...


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World Bank Greases Financial Overhaul

The World Bank approved 700 million dollars in credit from the International Development Association (IDA) to scale up support for the financial sector. The funds are targeted at modernizing the regulatory and supervisory framework of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), supporting governance reforms, balance sheet restructuring, and recapitalization of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), and transforming the Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) into a sustainable development finance institutio...


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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 Bulto,...