New Player Joins Food Delivery Business

Nov 21 , 2020


A firm called eBiz Online Solutions Plc has released a new food takeout and delivery app dubbed Megbia (megbia.com). Developed in-house by parent company 2merkato.com,eBiz has registered restaurants on the app and has availed the service to the residents of Addis Abeba. 2merkato.com was set up by eCom Advertising a little over a decade ago, and the latter was incorporated as eBiz Online Solution Plc in 2014. eBiz provides integrated information on the Ethiopian market and serves as a guide to customers who wish to do business or shopping in the country. The project has taken nearly two years to come to fruition, according to Addis Assefa, editor and coordinator at eBiz. “The first year was spent in developing the business concept and data collection, and the second year was used to develop the app and refine the concept,” Addis said. The app provides its services in two languages, English and Amharic, and provides the option of a search engine that recognises neighborhood names in the capital city. “This is invaluable in a place like Addis Abeba where people hardly use street names,” said Addis. Currently, the app is available on Google Play Store and will soon be released on the App Store. The service also has a functional call centre (6131) that customers can use in place of the app.


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...