By Eyasu Zekarias

Illegal trading of khat deprives the country of much needed foreign currency.

As reports show, in the 2020/21 fiscal year, khat exports reeled in USD 402.6 million, but in 2021/22, the figure dropped to USD 392.2 million. As the Minister of Trade and Regional Integration (MoTRI) revealed to Capital, in the FY2022/23, $248.2m was earned from the khat business, which was down 144 million dollars in revenue from the previous fiscal year.

The ministry is now taking aggressive steps to crack the whip on the illegal trade as it seeks to stabilize the market through the lifting of gate and overlapping taxes with regards to khat export trade.

As Belayenesh Regasa, Communications Executive at MoTRI informs Capital, “Ethiopia is not getting the income it deserves from exports because of illegal businesses.”

Out of the 4991 licensed khat businesses across the country, only 486 have exported at least once in the fiscal year 2022/23. Out of the 645 exporters who sent in 2021/22, 162 of them sent only once in this FY, according to the information obtained from Capital.

To gain full clarity on who conducts such trades in a legal manner, the ministry recently issued requirements to remove illegal traders from the trading system through issuing licenses for khat businesses and new exporters.

The new move which has been enacted from November 7 and lasting up to November 25 will see new license applicants being obligated to provide a vehicle equipped with GPS with a covering net capable of transporting khat products. The go ahead is said to be given through a pre-license confirmation to send at least 100 metric tons in the fiscal year.

By Eyasu Zekarias

As the need for data grows, more than 5 data centers have shown interest though submission requests to invest in Ethiopia, in the last three years alone, which has pushed the government to include such centers within the umbrella of the country’s “Investment Promotion Plan”.

According to sources, the government and private financial sector in Ethiopia will be able to access the data in one center at a benefit of operating it at a low cost.

In a forum held at Sheraton Addis on November 8, the Minister of Innovation and Technology, Belete Molla (PhD), stated that Ethiopia is working with various entities to develop data centers.

Among them is one, Wingu Africa, which is providing services in four African countries, and has invested in the country’s ICT Park.

Wingu Africa, which has been operating in Ethiopia for 18 months now, pointed out that its firm has become convenient to aiding work for financial and technology institutions since they get to use the center without spending a lot of money to build their own data center.

As analyzed data shows, about 90 percent of those who run data center are Ethiopians. This move has played an instrumental role in creating jobs for young Ethiopian in the field of technology engineering.

As Henok Ahmed, CEO of IT Park Corporation, signaled out, the corporation’s biggest objective is to create an environment that allows ease of doing business.

“We are also working with huge international technology companies such as Microsoft, TikTok and Meta (formerly Facebook) to come to this country,” stated Wingu Africa executives, whilst highlighting the company’s breadth and depth of experiece.

Ethio Telecom makes strategic agreements with the Ministry of Water and Energy to implement smart service solutions, as part of its comprehensive plan to make digital Ethiopia a reality by 2025.

As highlighted in the agreement ceremony on November 9, 2023, the telecommunications firm has beefed up its procedure to help the infrastructure of the ministry with modern technology.

The telecommunications giant is said to digitize the facility by using modern cloud infrastructure in order to control the water saturation levels in the required manner.

Along with this, Ethio Telecom announced that it has made a support agreement called “Matching fund for sustainable support” with charitable institutions.

Mary Joy Ethiopia, Gergesinon Mental Illness Information Association, Ethiopian Heart Disease Children’s Aid Center, Ethiopian Cancer Association, Khair Charity Organization, Macedonia Elderly Information Center, Muday Charity Association and Ethiopian Red Cross Society are institutions that the firms have inked agreements with.

From November 2023 to June 2024, Ethio Telecom has stated that an income collection program will be held in the name of the charitable institutions for the next eight months.

As announced, the company has underlined that it will provide its own support during the fundraising campaign through its new subscription as well as spread the information by sharing the number given by the institution on its social media platforms.

By Eyasu Zekarias

Since the exposure of the export of donkey skin and meat to the foreign market in Ethiopia, prices have soared by a significant amount.

As data now reveals, the number of donkeys in the continent has been on a decrease due to hundreds of thousands of donkeys being slaughtered and exported mostly from African countries because of the great demand of their skin.

According to Brooke Ethiopia, an international animal welfare charity dedicated to improving the lives of working horses, donkeys and mules, the demand of donkey skin and meat in Ethiopia has driven to the price to surge significantly.

Brooke Ethiopia, which started its operation in Ethiopia in 2006, is currently rendering its services as a non-governmental organization operating in the Amhara, Oromia, and SNNPR. As the organization cited, since donkey meat has been exported by Ethiopia in recent years to earn foreign currency, based on the experience of other countries, the number of donkeys is projected to decrease owing to the significant numbers in slaughters.

According to Brooke Ethiopia’s observation, approximately 20 up to 300 donkeys can be slaughtered per day in Ethiopia, with the price increasing, from 3000 ETB to 11000 birr.

Due to the lack of foreign exchange, Ethiopia has exported 492 tons of donkey meat and hides in the last financial year, earning more than $600,000 in the process.

It is said that the demand comes mainly from China because donkey skin is needed for the production of gelatin ‘Ejiao’, which is used for Chinese traditional medicine and cosmetics.

In Ethiopia, there are more than 13 million cattle, of which about 8 million of them are donkeys, which are in demand in other countries.