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US Donates 42m Br Worth of Medical Equipment

Sep 10 , 2021

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has donated 46 modern tuberculosis diagnostic equipment worth one million dollars to the Ministry of Health. The handover took place in the compound of the Ethiopian Pharmaceutical Supply Agency in the presence of the Lia Tadesse (MD), minister of Health, and the US Ambassador to Ethiopia, Geeta Pasi. Dubbed GeneXpert, the new machines will reduce the time it takes to diagnose TB in a patient from two days to just two hours. Epidemiologists estimate that there are roughly 160,000 cases of TB across Ethiopia, while the country's capacity to test for the infection is underdeveloped. Around 24,000 people die of TB yearly.

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...

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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...

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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...

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