Government Hopes Diversified ‘Green’ Energy Will Mitigate Outages

Despite the government’s plans to improve the performance of the manufacturing sector, many factories still face considerable power outages that hinder their operations. Power outages aren’t new in Ethiopia, but the current drought has further hampered the country’s attempts to improve the electricity shortage facing factories that are so crucial to building a manufacturing-based economy. To that end, there are plans to better harness Ethiopia’s potential to produce hydroelectric, solar, and geothermal power, among others. The hope is that the country will produce 17,347MW of power, up from its current capacity of slightly over 2,000MW, in five years. Yet some experts say the government has a long way to go before it can reach its full potential and are sceptical if it can meet the demands of the growing manufacturing sector. EBR’s Ashenafi Endale spoke with manufacturers and government representatives to understand the efforts being made to reduce power outages.

Addis Ababa, while well know for its numerous construction projects, is also home to many plots that remain undeveloped, despite their intended use for construction. This comes at a time when there’s a massive land grab in the city, due to its scarcity and importance for commercial purposes, especially in prime locations. To help mitigate the problem, the city’s government is working to regulate the management of these plots to ensure they’re being developed in a timely manner. However, as EBR’s Fasika Tadesse reports, that task has proven to be difficult in the face of the logistical and legal hurdles that confront investors.

Will Capital Regulation Weed out Ethiopia’s Young Banks?

In the business world, a merger refers to the joining of two companies into one entity. The concept has made headlines recently because the two state-owned banks – the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and the Construction and Business Bank – ‘merged’ in December 2015. Advocates of mergers say they provide a number of benefits to the financial sector, not least of which is weeding out young banks, thereby strengthening the overall sector. Others, however, think that the concept may be too cumbersome for Ethiopia’s nascent private banking industry, which they say needs more time to mature. EBR’s Fasika Tadesse spoke with banking leaders and experts to get a better grasp of the concept and its potential role in Ethiopia’s fledging but promising private banking sector.

Why do foreign trade missions target Ethiopia?

Business investment forums provide an opportunity for foreign investors to visit Ethiopia in order to get a better sense of the potential economic opportunities in the country. Since the 2011/12 fiscal year alone, the country has hosted hundreds of delegations from countries like China, Turkey and India. Despite the promise of these forums in bringing investments to Ethiopia’s fledgling manufacturing sector, an ulterior motive exists for some companies: to use the events merely as an opportunity to market their goods. Still, the government thinks these forums prove fruitful, as even the marketing of goods can potentially lead to investment relations. EBR’s Fasika Tadesse spoke to government representatives and foreign investors to learn more about these forums and whether they are achieving their intended goals.