Ministry Hires Firm to Rethink Industrial Incentives

Oct 8 , 2022


[ssba-buttons]

A private consulting firm has been hired to reexamine incentives for the industrial sector as earlier incentives made a decade ago were criticized for failing to encourage manufacturers. The incentives used for over a decade were criticized for overlooking the electronics, electrical, and automotive industries. Officials of the Ministry of Industry have selected Hemen Consultancy for the job, after securing 4.5 million dollars in loans from the African Development Bank (AfDB). Only two firms responded to the bid. "We're collecting data from agro-industrial parks," said Mengistu Birhanu, general manager of Hemen Consultancy. A committee of six comprising members from the ministries of Industry and Finance and the commission of Investment and Customs Commissions began a study last month. Experts from the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) have joined the effort. A draft policy drafted by the Ministry's experts aims to promote the tagline: "Let Ethiopia Produce." However, domestic manufacturers are hit by a severe foreign currency crunch, high prices for imported parts and tax burdens.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...