Ethiopian Business ReviewAccording to the United Nations Environment Program’s (UNEP) 2021 Food Waste Index Report, a total of around 931 million tons of food is annually wasted globally, of which 61Pct is at the household, 26Pct at the food service, and 13Pct at the retail level. In fact, the report stated the veracity of global household estimates is medium to low. Food waste is food (including drink) and associated inedible parts removed from the human food supply chain in the following sectors: manufacturing of food products (under certain circumstances); food retail; food service; and households. “Removed from the human food supply chain” means one of the following end destinations: landfill, controlled combustion, sewer, litter/ discards/ refuse, co/ anaerobic digestion, compost / aerobic digestion or land application.
The first coronavirus disease vaccine injections taking place at Eka Kotebe COVID-19 Hospital on March 13, 2021 in the presence of high-level government officials and other notable Ethiopians. Frontline health workers were first to take the jab.
The first COVID-19 positive case and vaccine were registered in Ethiopia on the same day of March 13 in 2020 and 2021, respectively, whether accidental or planned. The world seemed doomed by the invincible virus since the beginning of 2020. After unprecedented death, chaos, and ultimate test to science, new vaccines were created for the new pandemic.
Since Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) seized power in April 2018, many political reforms targeting an improved human rights environment were introduced in Ethiopia. To this end, several oppressive laws, criticized for enabling human rights abuses in the past, have been revised.
The first of its kind Global Crypto Adaptation Index launched in September 2020 assessed and ranked 154 countries on their level of adaptation and use of different digital currencies, in 12 months.
Only few countries have endured continuous and crippling high inflation rates like Ethiopia has in the past 15 years. The average annual inflation rate in this period was 16.4Pct and peaked above 20Pct in 2008, 2011, and 2020. Recall that when inflation spiked in 2008, food prices in Ethiopia rose by a staggering 92Pct within a single year.
Over the last 12 months alone, general and food inflation rates rose by 20.4Pct and 23.1Pct, respectively, according to the Central Statistics Agency.
The UN projects average world GDP growth at 2.7Pct in 2021, up from 2.5Pct in 2020 and 2.3Pct in 2019—a ten-year low since the 2008 global financial crisis. The pickup in global activity will likely be driven by somewhat faster growth in developing regions, where several large economies are expected to recover from adverse shocks. East Asia remains the world’s fastest growing region.
Ethiopia has been impelling for the expansion of Djiboutian ports to accommodate its mushrooming foreign trade on top of exploring alternative sea gates, including the purchase of a stake in Somalia’s Berbera port. The country is also under negotiations with Eritrea to develop the ports of Massawa and Assab. The recent establishment of a one-stop border post (OSBP) between Kenya and Ethiopia alongside the completion of the Hawassa-Moyale road project provides Ethiopia, with its heavy and increasing dependence on imports, another option with Lamu, Kenya’s second largest port after Mombasa.
Source: Mo Ibrahim Foundation, The Sustainable Development Goals Center for Africa. Sustainable Development Solutions Network
In the 2020 Africa SDG Index and Dashboards Report, most of the 17 SDG goals have witnessed serious setbacks, mainly due to COVID-19.
The slowdown of domestic economic activity translates into revenue shortfalls. The financing gap for SDGs in Africa that was already large is expected to widen, increasing the fiscal vulnerability of African governments. Without financial resources, sustainable development is elusive.
Mehrteab Leul Kokeb, a leading corporate financial services Lawyer in Ethiopia, has been practicing law for nearly three decades. After earning his law degree from Addis Ababa University in 1992, he worked as a judge in the high court and also as a litigator in the early 2000s. He then partnered with DLA Piper, a London based global law firm with offices in more than 40 countries, and joined the firm’s network by founding Mehrteab Leul & Associates (MLA) Law Office, a de facto law firm advising and representing corporate clients on business and investment issues in Ethiopia. Mehrteab has also studied financial services law at the University of London.
