Ever since protests began in the State of Oromia back in 2013, Ethiopia has hardly been able to breathe the air of peace. Then, the protests intensified following discontent among the youth claiming the expansion of Addis Ababa into the State of Oromia was detrimental and unfair to farmers in the area. Later, the protests expanded as the youth in the State of Amhara joined the demonstrations.
The ten states with food crises in 2021 were the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Afghanistan, Ethiopia, Yemen, northern Nigeria, the Syrian Arab Republic, the Sudan, South Sudan, Pakistan, and Haiti. Nearly 70 Pct of the world’s population is thought to be in crisis or worse or an equivalent situation. Acute food insecurity was the main cause of conflict or insecurity in seven of these countries.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, December, 2022 – Ethiopia Real Estate and Home Expo, an annual gathering of the leading local and international Home developers showcasing the latest offers and solutions, is again back with the latest edition. Set to be held on the 17th and 18th of December 2022, the fifth Ethiopia Real Estate and Home expo comes at a time when the demand for residential houses in urban Ethiopia, especially in Addis Ababa, has dramatically risen over the past years.
If there has been anything interesting about the aspect of governance in Ethiopia these last couple of years, it would be the standoff between the Minister of Education and college entrance exam takers. Young TikTokers have been making humorous videos calling out Birhanu Nega (PhD), the Minister of Education, for the serious changes the Ministry was making around the way the entrance exams were to be administered.
The changes were necessary on the part of the Ministry as national exams have been stolen and distributed to students well before they were administered- a practice that has been typical for about ten years now. The bad habit started in 2014 when Jawar Mohammed, the then-exiled political activist, claimed to have had the exams stolen as the then incumbent, the Ethiopian People’s Liberation Front (EPRDF), failed to listen to the movement he was said to have been leading.
Africa is home to some of the world’s largest dams for the purpose of generating electricity from the power of water. While the world transitions to cleaner forms of power, dams have been a reliable source of electric energy for centuries or millennia—generating substantial amounts of electricity. Home to the Nile, Congo, and Niger Rivers, the abundance of water systems in Africa has resulted in a resurgence in the construction of massive dams to manage the supply of water distribution and generate hydroelectricity throughout the continent.
Housing Prices Have Tripled in Less than Two Years
Buying houses from real estate developers incurs 15Pct Value Added Tax (VAT) and 6Pct title deed transfer fee on the actual price tag. Additionally, real estate developers take more time to deliver housing units which further escalates the cost of construction—ultimately pushing the price tag further up. The price of houses developed by real estate firms has further skyrocketed because of the price of finishing materials, which are almost entirely imported, have dramatically shot up by over 200Pct over the past couple of years. This is attributable to the worsening foreign currency shortage and subsequent rising exchange rates of major foreign currencies against the local currency.
This makes houses built by real estate companies over expensive for the vast majority of Addis Ababans. As a result, house buyers have been looking for affordable options.
Villas developed by unlicensed individuals have become one of the options. These players have lesser tax obligations and deliver houses for less in a shorter time span by using adhesives and other chemicals to shorten the curing time of concrete. For this and the curativeness of the business, they are mushrooming and becoming more active in the housing market.
As their number increases, there is fear that the market will become even more informal and out of the watchful eyes of the government. EBR explores.
The global payments business leader, Mastercard Inc., has inked a partnership agreement with a local tech firm, Eaglelion System Technology.
MasterCard, a global payments company with a global reach that spans more than 210 countries, chose to collaborate with the tech firm to provide financial, technical, and advisory support on several products the firm developed.
Eaglelion has developed platforms with the monikers “Getrooms,” an accommodation search engine; “Get Fee,” which was unveiled in association with the state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia; and “Dubepay,” a novel”buy now, pay later” consumer financing platform in alliance with Dashen Bank.
“In the age of the digital world, it is a matter of urgency to revolutionize and make Ethiopian finance system, thereby boosting the flow of remittances in the country,” said Bersufikad Getachew, founder of Eaglelions System Technology, whose fintech-based platform portfolio increased by more than ten in just two years.
“We are gearing up to launch the first continental financial summit with the aim to foster financial inclusion and regional economic integration,” he said.
Elfaged Aregahegn, the business development director for MasterCard in Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia, revealed that the cooperation deal will begin to be implemented in January 2023 and said that the corporation considers the relationship to be a game changer.
MasterCard is a technology company in the global payments business, renowned for developing advanced payment solutions and seamlessly processing billions of transactions around the world, with over 1.9 billion cards and 35.9 million acceptance locations in 210 countries and territories and 150 currencies.
South Africa, Ethiopia, and other African nations anticipate receiving a portion of a USD 40 billion fund from Vatican and UK businesses to help their economies and fund government development initiatives.
The initial benefactor from these companies may be Tanzania, which is now working on its two large-scale strategic projects, the Julius Nyerere Hydropower and Standard-Gauge Railway (SGR).
Liberalization might increase prospects for foreign investment—it nurtures competition and improves efficiency. When trade and investment obstacles are lifted, businesses must engage in a more intense competitive field for market share. Resultantly, consumers will purchase goods and services of superior quality at lower prices. It can also inspire innovation and the improvement and efficiency of production methods of businesses. The ensuing cost savings may then be passed on to customers in the form of lower prices or better quality. A more prosperous firm then leads to increased tax revenue for governments.
Every year, the African Business Top 250 Companies charts the rise of innovative, strategic and resilient African businesses that straddle the continent, make huge profits and invest billions into Africa-wide strategies to seize future opportunities.
Telecommunications firm MTN Group soars from #13 to #4 on this year’s ranking after more than doubling its market capitalization to USD24.5 billion, up from USD11.1 billion in 2021.
Ethiopian Business Review | EBR is a first-class and high-quality monthly business magazine offering enlightenment to readers and platform to partners.
January 11, 2023
