Local Professionals to Take Over Management of Railway

Nov 16 , 2019


The Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway (EDR) will start transferring captaincy to locals from the Chinese by the end of next year. Sixty-five young train drivers from Ethiopia and Djibouti will travel to China to undertake theoretical and technical training. Currently, a consortium of Chinese companies manages all the maintenance, rail captaincy and control operations of the 752Km-long railway that connects Addis Abeba to neighbouring Djibouti. Such transfer of knowledge and expertise will require from one year to a maximum of six years of theoretical and practical training depending on the nature of each task, according to Tilahun Sarka, director general of EDR. Thus far, a total of 600 local professionals have received training related to the normal functioning of the railway system. The railway is currently used to transport freight including perishable goods, vehicles, cereals and fertilizers from the Djibouti port to Addis Abeba.


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...