Last week saw a pair of new appointments at Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics and Ethiopian Maritime Authority take place.

Roba Megerssa served as the CEO of the state-owned Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Service for the past five years with pleasure. He had led several large projects to completion, including the construction of the Dire Dewa dry port worth 3.4 billion Br, inaugurated last month.

With an undergraduate from Addis Ababa university and postgraduate degree from the International Maritime Law Institute, Roba is regarded by industry insiders as knowledgeable and competent. He was deputy director general of the Maritime Authority before assuming this position, following the footsteps of Yacob Molla in 2017.



His successor Berisso Amalo (PhD), says he is ready to fully commit to the Enterprise and help foster a smooth logistics hub. The father of three describes himself as bookish and said he does not like to remain idle.

"I plan to devote most of my time to work," he told Fortune.


Berisso earned his first community development and leadership degree from Ethiopian Adventist College and a post-graduate in transport and logistics from the Ethiopian Civil Service University.

He served in various administrative capacities in Oromia Regional State before pursuing his doctoral education in international relations from the University of International Business and Economics in Beijing, China.



Berisso was the Mayor of Ambo town, deputy manager of the Transport Bureau in the west Arsi zone and public relations director of Shashemene town.

He was posted as an advisor to the Urban Development Bureau before assuming the position approved by the board of directors, chaired by Ahmed Shide last week.


Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics is a merger of four enterprises under Ethiopian Investment Holding.


It manages nine dry ports, has 11 vessels, of which two are oil tankers, travels to 327 seaports and has single-handedly facilitated Ethiopia's logistics demand for the better part of seven decades.

Last year, it managed to amass a little over 5.6 billion Br in profit through its shipping, freight forwarding, trucking and dry ports services.

Abdulber Shemsu has been tasked to head the Ethiopian Maritime Authority taking the leash from Yehualshet Jembere.

The Authority was established in 2007 to oversee and operate separate departments for the accreditation of training centres and seafarer certification, registration of national fleet, and maritime security and safety.

Yehualashet was the State Minister of Transport & Logistics and deputy CEO of the Ethiopian Railways Corporation before assuming the position of serving at the Authority a year ago.


Problems linked to the unmitigated issuance of waivers by the Ethiopian Maritime Authority, under the Ministry, derailing the smooth operations of the ESL had been indicated by Yehualashet in the company's six-month performance report two months ago.

His successor Abdulber has been with the  Ministry for a decade serving as a deputy director of the Ethiopian Road Safety & Insurance fund service and director of Ethiopian Tolls Road Enterprise.

Abdulber has an undergraduate degree in civil engineering and a postgraduate degree in construction management and leadership.

He said that raising the country's logistics ranking internationally will be one of his main objectives as the new head of the Maritime Authority.

Abdulber considers participating in the automation of third-party insurance, which is to be availed next week and digital fuel purchase reform that began last week are the highlights of his previous tenure.

He expressed that bringing down the number of accidents per 100,000 cars which stands at 29pc, by one-third before leaving his seat would have satisfied him.



PUBLISHED ON Apr 03,2023 [ VOL 24 , NO 1196]


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