Ethiopian Business ReviewThe Blue Nile is an everlasting bond between riparian countries. For millennia, the river amassed water from upper riparian countries and provided Sudan and Egypt a life line. It has, however, been the Egyptians who relied heavily on the longest river in the world. The Greeks even called Egypt “the Gift of the Nile.” Considering Ethiopia contributes 85Pct of the Nile waters, it would be logical to say that ‘Egypt is the gift of Ethiopia.’ Despite its tremendous share of the Nile waters, Ethiopia has never used the river. On the other hand, Egypt does not contribute a drop to the river; however, it claims to have historic use rights that should not been questioned.
According to the AfDB report released in June 2020, only 15 African countries have foreign currency reserves that cover their import for over five months. These countries either have oil resource or they have small import proportion. The African average is 3.2 months. ‘Countries with low foreign currency reserve will have less room to import medical equipment under the covid19 era’, according to the report.
Acquisition of Fixed Assets
Buying houses from real estate developers incur 15Pct Value Added Tax and six percent title deed transfer fee of an actual price tag. Additionally, real estate developers take more time to deliver housing units which further escalate cost of construction that ultimately push price tag further.
This makes houses built by real estate companies more expensive for the vast majority of Addis Ababans. As a result, house buyers have been looking for affordable options.
Ethiopia is currently undertaking a partial privatization of ethio telecom. The plan of the government is to maintain 55Pct of the stake while selling 40Pct of the company to a global telecom operator. It aims to sell the remaining 5Pct to the general public. The government has also expressed its intention to license two private telecom operators. Accordingly, 12 foreign multinational telecom operators have expressed interest for both opportunities.
Top 10 Host Economies, 2019
Source: UNCTAD, 2020
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) flow to developed economies shrank by six percent to an estimated USD643 billion from their revised USD683 billion in 2018, according to UNCTAD. FDI remained at a historically low-level, at half of their peak in 2007.
Ethiopia’s exports of goods and services witnessed a moderate growth this financial year. The country shipped two billion dollars of goods until the end of the third quarter of the existing fiscal year, showing a 10Pct growth compared to the same period last year.
Yared Molla has been in the insurance industry for over 27 years. Before joining NyalaInsurance seven years ago, he worked for Ethiopian Insurance Corporation. After assuming the role of CEO at Nyala Insurance, he has stirred the company to the forefront of the insurance business as it became the most profitable insurer in the country for almost half a decade. Under his leadership, Nyala grossed a profit of ETB184 million in 2019/20, which is a record-high in the private insurance industry and ETB15.5Pct higher compared to the preceding financial year. Its gross written premium also reached almost half a billion birr, while having an asset of over ETB2.1 billion. Enthralled by his performances, African Insurance Organization (AIO) bestowed up on Yared the prestigious ‘CEO of the Year’ award for his unparalleled leadership capability and outstanding contributions to the insurance industry. EBR sat down with him to clear the recent confusion over the coverage of pandemics under life insurance policy and his career in the insurance industry.
Economic growth in sub-Saharan region is projected to contract by 1.6Pct in 2020, according to the World Economic Outlook report published by the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The Fund, which earlier forecasted that the region’s economy would grow by 3.1Pct, changed its previous estimates due to the economic disruption from the spread of the Coronavirus.
With the spread of the coronavirus across the globe, no one seems to be certain about the future. While the scope of the virus is widening alarmingly every second, the number of infected people and the death toll is skyrocketing with no end in sight. Countries with better health infrastructure, like the US and Europe, have been stretched beyond capacity.
The slowdown of manufacturing in China due to the corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak is disrupting world trade and could result in a USDUS50 billion decrease in exports across global value chains, according to a report published by UNCTAD on March 4, 2020. The most affected is the manufacturing sector, especially producers of precision instruments, machinery, automotive and communication equipments.
