The modern world teaches or orients or educates mostly to perpetuate the lopsided globalization. This lopsided globalization includes not only the totality of collective human affairs, but also the world of nature. The things the system considers important and practical are usually the ones that are destined to undermine the human animal in its comprehensive existence. Certainly the prevailing system is not in the business of enlightenment. We do not think there are serious critical thinkers who still believe that the main purpose of our global order is the wellbeing & enlightenment of individuals. The ideology of the system is unadulterated greed. Its aggressive implementation leverages all of the formal/informal institutions of orientation across the planet!
All the existing institutions wallow in irrationality when it comes to the interrogation of the global interstate system. We know of not even one university that systemically challenges the modus operandi of the existing order. The lunacy of the economic foundation (of the global order), mostly based on the stupid assumption of infinite growth and fractional reserve banking remain unchallenged. The idiotic infinite growth regime is easy to understand. The FRB (fractional reserve banking) is a globally entrenched system where fraud plays a prominent role. It is important to note that the current money system is based on fiat without anything backing all the currencies of the world. That is; it is money created out of thin air. By and large, this phony money is distributed to those loyal to the system. It robs the working poor and undermines nature, while creating parasitic oligarchs all over the world. Without questioning these two pillars of the system, no progress can be made in the fight for a more stable ecosystem and decent life. In the system, life and death matters are left out of the calculus. Let us simplify. First: the states are captured by the logic of the greed system. These states, almost without exception, are subservient to capital and are under the thumbs of the callous oligarch, whose only interest is to perpetuate this most destructive of all the world systems humanity ever devised. The sheeple (human mass) as usual, thinks these grabbers know better. Of course the bitter truth is they neither know nor do they care about what happens, not only to humanity but all life forms, including the life support system of the planet. The question is why can’t humanity stop this destruction? Herein lies the problem!
The existing institutions of orientation are there to make zombies out of people and not foster critical thinking within individuals. If these institutions try to enlighten, then obviously many questions will start to prop up. That will brew trouble. Private sector educational system can never teach criticality, as that will undermine their very reason d’etre. Non-profit organizations ultimately must secure their funding from somewhere. It is either from the state or the private sector. Again, this is a vicious circle or a catch-22 kind of affair. This poses a formidable challenge to change seekers. Who is going to awaken the sleeping giant, so to speak? After all, what is at stake is not a project of mere tweaking of an economic system gone berserk. One can think of the whole thing as resembling the proverbial precept of the golden goose. Killing the goose that was continuously delivering gold, is akin to what our stupid global system is doing.
Humanity is facing a challenge unseen before in its planetary tenure. It is unseen because the current system is comprehensively destroying life support systems, including non-renewable resources!
The choice is simple. Either humanity will challenge the stupid system or else it will go the way of the Dodo! It should be noted that enlightenment doesn’t necessarily mean the scary and fantastic concoctions of the system. The notion of humanity migrating to the outer world is one of the most preposterous narratives that is being pushed by the paid soldiers of the system, including the paid scientists. The exaggerated hoax of artificial intelligence is another. These are gimmicks to render the sheeple (human mass) docile. Just because the sheeple is ill educated doesn’t mean the scum of the earth should play on its fears. At this point, civil disobedience, which we have been tirelessly advocating might come in handy. But even that needs articulators, activist intellectuals, the likes of which are hard to come by, given the comprehensive indoctrination that prevails all around the world. New technics to fight entrenched interest that have a monopoly on all-important things imaginable, must come to the fore. Genuine reformers know the structural obstacles and the real power behind these obstacles. Even the process of democracy itself is used to stupefy the sheeple. Elections via representative democracy almost always have been farcical, especially when it comes to challenging establishment thinking!
Quietly, certain hopeful signs are emerging. The global youth is increasingly dropping out of it all! The new generation of youth has started to interrogate mindless consumption. Obviously, the world of its forefathers/parents is not going to be tenable anymore and the current crop of thinking youth knows it! Again the status quo is crying foul, because a segment of the youth is gradually abstaining from destructive consumption and stupidity worshipping. This challenges the system. Who is going to buy all the stupid gadgets that are being made in the make-believe world of non-stop growth (infinite growth)?
EDUCATING FOR CHANGE
ESL forwards files to NBE to acquire two gigantic vessels
The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL) under its new leadership, files its clarification for the second time to the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) in order to receive a green light for its lucrative investments of two new big vessels.
The enterprise which currently owns nine bulk carriers, besides the newly added second hand ultramax, a midsize vessel, has been in a project to buy two vessels on an aim to expand its operation in the sea freight.
As per the process, including the international bid, the state owned logistics enterprise has selected a Chinese ship builder, Xiangyu, to construct the brand new vessels that may take more than two years to hand over.
“We have concluded the framework agreement with the company to carry out the project, while the details will be determined when the financial issue is concluded,” Wondwossen Kassa (Cap), Deputy CEO of ESL, told Capital.
Wondimu Denbu, Deputy CEO for Corporate Service at ESL, told Capital that the enterprise has filed its explanation for the second time to the central bank as per the request of NBE.
“We have tabled the required document and explanation to get a permit for the foreign currency to commence the procurement of the two vessels,” he added.
As per the plan, the state owned financial giant, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), will facilitate 70 percent of the required fund for the procurement of the two vessels in a process that is said to take over two years.
“We will cover the 30 percent and CBE will facilitate the remainder as a loan if we shall get foreign currency,” Wondimu explained, adding, “We are under discussion with NBE to get approval for the foreign currency.”
He said that the payment will be concluded in five installments with 20 percent each. As per the framework agreement, the initial payment will be concluded when the contract is signed and the balance will be divided on steel cutting, keel-laying, launching and delivery.
“We need the foreign currency on five payment schedules that we clearly explained to NBE in filing,” he added.
“We are confident that the process will be finalized very soon,” he expressed his hope about the approval of the foreign currency.
As per the agreement the new coming vessels will be a dry carrier with an ultramax type carrying capacity of over 63,000 DWT. Currently, the nine dry carriers that ESL owns are ‘handysize’ vessels with about 28,000 DWT.
It can be recalled that about 11 years ago the successful logistics enterprise had embarked to purchase nine vessels including two tankers at a total price tag of USD293.5million courtesy of a loan backing from the Export Import (EXIM) Bank of China that made the vessel collection to 11, until recently.
However now it has passed a decision to manage the procurement by its own finance or a local source since it would gain better benefits than access from foreign financers.
Recently, ESL concluded a process to swap Bahir Dar and Hawassa, the firsttankers that ESL owned on its history with 42,000 DWT capacity each, with ultramax dry bulk carrier.
According to Chief Wondwossen, the process of swapping the tankers with the biggest ever vessel with a capacity of over 63,000 DWT is completed.
The vessel named MV Abbay II is currency at Shanghai, China and the ESL crew has already taken over the management to embark the operation with some adjustments like radio communication, trading and class certification.
The vessel is seven years old and is fairly a young carrier as experts on the sector explain.
Wondwossen told Capital that the vessel that was owned by US company, with German operator, and Marshall Islands was registered to be in good condition and was managed by good operator prior to its acquisition.
Experts said that possessing such kind of vessel is economically viable since owning brand new vessel takes years, “When the second hand vessel with few years of operation was spotted, the operator sought to include it on its fleet immediately.”
Ultramax is the latest bulk carrier vessel type in the logistics industry with less than ten years in the business. Currently, it has a huge market demand and competition. In terms of profitability and environmental issues, these vessels are considered highly friendly.
Ultramax come with their own cranes that allow the vessels to discharge or load on any port.
Wondwossen said that this vessel will be instrumental in meeting the target of ESL to be the biggest player on cross trade in the region.
The ESL operation on the cross trade, which is taken as one of major operations under the logistics enterprise, has become more profitable. In the first nine months of the current budget year, the enterprise has secured USD 20 million from this operation alone.
“Our vessel will become more profitable in the cross trade activity so the coming of huge vessels like the new coming one is expected to boost the activity of ESL in the region,” the Deputy CEO for Shipping Service explained.
ESL is also using other ultramax vessels to transport bulk cargos like fertilizer, coal and wheat to Ethiopia.
Experts said that the new coming big vessels shall support huge local cargos besides supporting the east African coast up to South Africa and Indian Gulf, which has a gap on container feeder service.
The two tankers were not economically viable; but were bought to transport Ethiopian cargos.
From the onset of the arrival of the tankers in Djibouti, which is the major port site for Ethiopian vessels, about ten years ago both vessels laid idle for six months until a Kuwaiti company which is affiliated with Ethiopia, through an oil supply partnership, took administration on behalf of the Ethiopian vessel operator.
After the administrative takeover, the vessels were then transferred to a Dubai based management company.
As per the agreement, the Dubai based company handled the ship and technical management while ESLSE took over the chartering. This however was not a profitable venture.
“The crew and the management are not ours,” Roba Megersa, former CEO of ESL told Capital a couple of months back whilst reminding that the tankers were not profitable since their arrival.
The logistics enterprise thought it best to part ways with the vessels but faced delays due to debt, but they were free at the end of the past budget year that allowed the company to swap them successfully.
When the seven 28,000 DWT multi-purpose vessels were built they cost USD 32.5 million each while the two oil tankers price points was USD 37 million each.
About 16 years ago, the enterprise also bought two multi-purpose vessels from China, ‘Shebelle’ and ‘Gibe,’ named after two rivers in Ethiopia.
Procurement authority urges suppliers to get on board the eGP platform, before it’s too late
The Public Procurement and Property Authority (PPPA) urges suppliers to take haste measures with regards to signing on to the electronic government procurement (eGP) platform in order for them not to be locked out of the system when all public offices are added to the procurement system in the coming budget year.
Currently, 74 public offices have taken part in the modern procurement system to which the PPPA target to add the remaining offices in the 2023/24 budget year.
Haji Ibsa, Director General of PPPA, said that because of the partial implementation of eGP, suppliers didn’t take appropriate measures to fully register on the system.
“The lag was evident since suppliers were able to be involved on the procurement of other public offices, which are not part of the electronic procurement. At the moment, one public office can procure through eGP while the others, who are not part of the scheme, are procuring through the manual traditional means giving room for laxity of suppliers to join the system,” he said.
“But when we include the remaining offices there will be no chance for traditional procurement. So we urge the supplier to join the platform if they want to continue providing their services,” the Director General added.
Currently about 8,000 suppliers are registered through the eGP portal; however, there are about 30,000 suppliers.
“So far we have less than 50 percent of suppliers registered on the eGP but when the remaining public offices get on board, suppliers will be forced to register on the new system,” Ibsa elaborated.
The new system is stated as a modern scheme for public procurement and will carry out its works swiftly with ample competition and lack of misdemeanor.
The scheme was originally introduced as a pilot about two years ago courtesy of nine public offices.
This budget year, the PPPA has rolled out the eGP to 74 public offices and so far over 1080 tenders and purchases have been published on the locally developed portal.
According to the plan, by the end of the budget year, about 490 billion birr worth of procurement will be undertaken through the eGP.
In the coming budget year, the public offices that will conduct their procurement procedures through eGP are said to be about 169.
ESL devices strategy for global markets breakthrough
The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics (ESL) eyes local and international breakthrough as a new strategy is under works to expand its operation on new verticals. With the logistics enterprise in recent weeks having welcomed new leadership at the helm, the new boss has promised to keep the growth trajectory and staff handling as they were.
Berisso Amallo who is the incumbent CEO of ESL, replacing the long serving logistics guru Roba Megersa, said that the enterprise is currently carrying out a strategic plan that will specify the public enterprise’s growth in the coming years.
“We are on the way to accomplish the strategic plan that was designed years back. We are now designing a new map that will define our future path,” he stated during his first press conference as a CEO of ESL, the sole flag carrier in the continent and multimodal monopoly in Ethiopia.
“We are now concluding a new strategic plan. When it is approved and comes to effect, we will have wide operations than the current status,” Berisso said, adding, “Our route will expand to Europe, middle and eastern gulf countries, India and other destinations.”
Expanding technology based services and expanding owned vessels are also strategies that ESL targets to deploy in the near future.
According to Wondwossen Kassa (Cap), Deputy CEO of ESL, the coming of new vessels will allow ESL to expand its operation and will be pivotal to its strategy going forward.
“With these new big size vessels, we shall have voyage to new routes like Europe, Australia and other continents besides the existed lines we operate,” he added concurring with the CEO’s statements.
As Wondwossen further elaborates, the details of the new strategy, which is currently concluded, will be disclosed when it receives approval from the board of directors. Nonetheless, he pointed out that the strategy targets to increase accessibility and considers changing the sector to attain big goals as a more profitable enterprise, “Our area, Indian Gulf and East African Coast has a gap on container feeder service, so if we invest more and increase our container ownership in terms of type, number and size we shall tap this huge benefit. If Djibouti’s SGTD, a container terminal, make minor adjustments at its facility we shall also expand our operation jointly with the partnership of Djibouti port operator as a feeder hub in the region.”
“We believe that our bulk vessels should work in destinations like America, Europe and Australia, so we are working to meet this vision,” Wondwossen added.
Siraj Abdulahi, Deputy CEO for Maritime Service at ESL, said that in the budget year that started July 2022, the operation has expanded in different ports of the region, “We are currently fully serving the Somaliland population through Berbera Port.”
Regarding capacity building and expanding skilled labour, ESL has also projected to expand its verticals on that front.
The CEO similarly highlighted that in terms of skilled labour, ESL academies will have big stake in the success of capacity building.
As Berisso explains, the aftermath of COVID 19 and Russia-Ukraine conflict has continued to be a bad repercussion for the sector and has likewise affected ESL’s business much like other actors affected globally.
Even though there are serious challenges on the sector, the CEO said that in the first nine months of the 2022/23 budget year, the enterprise has handled the operation of over 4.13 million tons that is 101 percent of the target.
Berisso said that in the stated period, ESL targeted to generate close to 35 billion birr as revenue, while the actual achievement clocked in at almost 31 billion birr or 88.3 percent of the target.
“Regarding profit before tax, the enterprise has secured over 4 billion birr that is 108 percent of the target,” he added.
The CEO said that his leadership style will be inclusive. He said that he has met with staff about the operation in the enterprise and the next forward moving journey, “We will exercise a modern leadership style that is aligned with the 21st century and as per the government strategy.”
He hinted that the new structural change will be based on educational readiness and experience, to steer the logistics enterprise to newer heights.
