Japan Donates $30m for Food Relief

Sep 19 , 2020


Japan has contributed 30.2 million dollars to help Ethiopia meet its food needs for communities that have been affected by the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19), desert locusts, droughts and floods. The donation, channeled through the National Disaster Risk Management Commission (NDRMC), is expected to address the acute food needs of over 1.6 million people dwelling in the regions of Afar, Amhara, Oromia, Southern Nations, Nationalities & People, and Tigray regional states under the framework of the 2020 Humanitarian Response Plan. The World Food Programme has been handling the procurement, shipment, receipt and overland transport of 72,440tn of wheat to the country under this support from the Japanese government. The wheat will then be forwarded to distribution points by the Commission. The donation was made through the initiative of the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which first took place in 1993 and has since then met seven times.


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...