UNHCR to Finance Solar Farm Dev't

Nov 14 , 2020


The United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) has put up a tender for independent power producers to build photovoltaic (solar power) plants ranging from 60kW to 500kW of capacity. The Agency is currently accepting proposals for the construction of ground-mounted solar projects from producers who will finance, build and operate the solar plants. The final project will have a combined capacity of 1.8MW, and sites are expected to be deployed in combination with storage or diesel power generators along with diesel back up. The selected independent power producers are going to be awarded a long-term power purchase agreement (PPA), backed by the UNHCR’s Green Fund. The Green Fund is an innovative financing scheme that permits the Agency to contract out clean energy generation as a service through multi-year PPAs or similar leasing arrangements with private sector independent power producers.


Radar

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...


Radar

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...


Radar

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...