Ethiopian Business ReviewOn April 26, 2022, a number of people were killed in Gondar following an incident that involved the fighting of two groups divided along religious lines. As reports have it, the incident happened during the funeral of Sheikh Kemal Legas. Apparently, a person who wanted to get a burial stone from a nearby Christian place of worship got into a fight with another who refused to the taking of the stone. The matter escalated to spread from the Islamic cemetery to the city.
The BIG 5 Construct Ethiopia is to be held at the Millennium Hall in May 2023. Endorsed by the Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure, the exhibition will showcase opportunities across Ethiopia’s construction sector, which currently contributes 5Pct towards Ethiopia’s workforce, according to the Central Statistics Service (CSS).
Organized by dmg events and its local partner Ethel Events and Communication, and part of The Big 5 global series of events, the three-day exhibition is to host local, and international attendees that are intent on taking part in Ethiopia’s growing construction sector. The goal of The Big 5 Construct Ethiopia is to accelerate construction industry innovations and complement Ethiopia’s economic growth, investment, and a sustainably built environment.
The Chinese technology giant, Huawei, held a program at the Hilton Hotel in Addis Ababa to promote and certify its technologies with its partners and institutions in Ethiopia. In attendance were Huria Ali, State Minister of the Ministry of Innovation and Technology alongside senior officials from Huawei and organizations and domestic partners. The minister stated that Huawei is contributing to the realization of the Ethiopian Digital 2025 Strategy by bringing the best technology in the world to Ethiopia, including the recently launched 5G network.
Following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s (PhD) advise to eat greens as a main dish, there seemed to be public opposition to not only the remarks but to the whole idea. Social media gigs continuously presented the idea as one that came from an administration that failed to sustain food supply to its population despite continued advocacy on public media towards urban farming.
In addition to being Africa’s biggest trading partner, China is building the future of the continent’s urban landscapes almost single-handedly. Between 2007 and 2020, China’s two main overseas development banks invested USD23 billion in infrastructure projects on the continent which is USD8 billion more than what the other top eight lenders combined, including the World Bank, African Development Bank, and US and European development banks, contributed.
OLA Energy Group unveiled a new brand for its pan-African network of retail outlets, channels, and petroleum products.
Formerly OiLibya Ethiopia Limited, both the local and pan-African company has now been renamed and rebranded to OLA Energy Ethiopia Limited and OLA Energy Group on February 7, 2022. The new branding is now taking foot in Ethiopia, originally with few service stations in Addis Ababa, followed by a phased rollout over the entire retail network across the country.
The company also introduced their Accel Auto Care Center at their Meskel Square service station, aiming to provide better quality services at their service stations across the country. Towards this, they have struck a collaborative deal with Gigar Trading and Technical Center, which will be operating the premium car maintenance center in the country.
When Sahle-work Zewde was appointed as President of the Federation, feminist groups and Ethiopians at large applauded Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s (PhD) pick for the post. He was further commended when he filled half of his cabinet with women alongside other key posts. As laudable as these decisions were, his time in the premiership is identified as one that has brought nightmare to women nationwide. His administration’s incapability to put conflicts nationwide under control has put women in particular in precarious positions—leaving them with added responsibility and burden in caring for their themselves and families—while denying them their human, social, and economic rights.
The index is based on data that measures women’s inclusion, justice access, and security in 170 countries. Norway, Finland, and Iceland topped the list on women’s well-being, while Afghanistan, Syria, and Yemen were at the bottom. This year’s report showed a larger range in scores, with the top score three times better than the worst, as compared to two times worse in 2017.
Coca-Cola Beverages Africa – Ethiopia inaugurated its new factory built at a cost of USD100 million which will provide jobs for 500 permanent employees and produce more than 100 million packages per year. In addition, the plant has the capacity to produce inputs including plastic bottles and caps.
Coca-Cola first opened its Ethiopian operations in the Abinet area of Addis Ababa in 1952 and the new plant in Sebeta of the State of Oromia commenced construction in 2019. The company has plans to expand with a Hawassa plant in the future.
The company now has over 3,500 permanent employees, while more than 70,000 are beneficiary through their value chain. With the opening of the new plant, the beverage giant will introduce Minute Maid drinks to the Ethiopian Market.
Photo Credit: Samuel Habtab
Dashen Bank and EagleLion System Technology signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish a new mobile app, DubePay. The collaboration has a mission to shift the financial sector ecosystem which mostly serves large enterprises and only 10Pct of households, leaving the remainder without credit.
The application allows a DubePay user of any commercial bank to purchase items on credit from suppliers and merchants enrolled on the platform, including flight tickets, home appliances, apparels, electronic equipment, and others. Therefore, it was announced that it will provide modern services by removing traditional credit services.
Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) is a short-term consumer financing method allowing customers to buy items and pay for them in installments with minimal or no additional costs.
Users can review their accounts by simply logging into the DubePay app and granting access to their account using the credentials supplied by the bank when the account was created. Bersufikad Getachew, Techpreneur and Owner of EagleLion, is known for his disruptive innovations in areas including education, hospitality, travel, and banking. He stated that “the application is accessible for both iOS and Android users and in five different languages.”
Once signed up, users may see their credit amount, minimum monthly payment, payment due date, payment summary, credit increment request, payment alternatives, and other features. Merchants can collect receivable payments and analyze transaction history.
