Standing Committee First Visit to Private Foreign Firm Garners New Era


Standing Committee First Visit to Private Foreign Firm Garners New Era

Safaricom Ethiopia stated that it has become the first private foreign company to host a visit by a standing committee from the House of People’s Representatives, with the Democracy Affairs Standing Committee touring the company’s operations last week. Wim Vanhelleputte, CEO, presented the company's half-year results, showcasing growth in mobile and M-PESA services. Notable achievements include expanding 4G coverage to 46pc of the population, acquiring over 6.1 million active subscribers, and seeing a surge in data usage to an average of 6.6 GB per user. Ewinetu Alene, committee chairman, emphasized the committee's oversight role and noted the occasion as a new era of private sector engagement with government stakeholders.


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New Unit to Oversee City Tax Audits

The Addis Abeba City Administration Revenues Bureau has launched a new work unit to ensure the quality of tax audit decisions through a re[1]auditing procedure. According to Adane Sule, the head of the bureau's office, the new audit quality assurance unit will seek to address gaps and malpractices that previously existed due to the absence of a similar body to verify tax audit decisions. He asserts that the unit's main goal is to re-audit decisions, verify their quality and relevance, and correc...


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Shipping Behemoth Beats Profit Target Despite Cargo Dip

Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics (ESL) announced its six-month performance report for the fiscal year, revealing a mixed outcome. While it achieved 95pc of its operational service target, handling 2,880,187tn of cargo, this represents a slight decrease compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. The ESL attributed this dip primarily to global difficulties, notably Red Sea shipping disruptions. Despite these hurdles, the company reported exceeding its profit targets. Projecting...


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Customs Hits Revenue Target, Cracks Down on Smuggling

The Ethiopian Customs Commission announced that it has exceeded its revenue collection target for the first six months of the fiscal year. The Commission collected 203.75 billion Br, surpassing the planned 190.9 billion birr by 106.73pc, representing a 106.7 billion Br increase compared to the same period in the previous fiscal year. Commissioner Debele Kabeta noted that coordinated efforts with other institutions to prevent contraband contributed to the successful outcome, resulting in the seiz...