Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) signs an agreement with EagleLion system technology to launch a platform called ‘Nedaj’ to digitalize the fuel market and transactions thereof.
The agreement was signed on August 18, 2022 by Dahlak Yigezu, digital banking vice president of CBE and Besufikad Getachew, CEO of EagleLion.
“The bank is implementing information technology projects that will modernize our country’s payment system and bring it to the level the world has reached,” stated the vice president, adding that ‘Nedaj’ (‘Fuel’), is believed to help digitize the country’s fuel marketing system as the application enables the establishment of a simple, convenient and fast payment system for all parties by avoiding cash transactions.
Customers, in order to access the platform, should fulfill needed documents of ownership to open an account and download the app and should also be users of CBE-Birr. Vehicle owners and gas stations can use the service by installing the application called ‘Nedaj’ (Fuel) on their mobile phones and connecting it to the mobile banking service of the commercial bank.
“In relation to the bank’s efforts, it is also possible to upgrade the mobile application, which has great importance to vehicle owners, gas stations and fuel regulatory bodies, by modernizing our country’s fuel marketing,” Dahlak remarked.
“The application allows fuel trading to be carried out in a modern way. Gas stations, individuals and organizations that own motorcycles to heavy vehicles can use the application,” Besufikad, the founder and manager of EagleLion said whilst indicating that more than 11.2 million liters of fuel is sold per day with over half a billion birr in transactions.
CBE, EagleLion ink deal to digitize the fuel market
Gov’t tables 8 sugar mills up for grabs
The government issues an expression of interest (EOI) to sell eight sugar millers, with acquisition highs of 100 percent.
It can be recalled that in 2019 through the Ministry of Finance, the government had issued a request for proposal (RFI) on the way to privatizing selected sugar factories.
This time around, under the EOI, the government has appointed Ernst and Young LLP as the lead transaction advisor to assist with the transaction process.
On the invitation notice issued on August 19, the Ethiopian government disclosed that it has initiated holistic reform aiming at increasing private sector participation in the ownership and control of sugar companies to sustain rapid and inclusive economic growth by laying the ground for economic transformation that leverages the increasing role of the private sector.
The government has invited international and domestic investors to participate in the tendering of eight sugar factories; Omo Kuraz 1, 2, 3, 5, Arjo Dedessa, Kessem, Tana Beles, and Tendaho.
Most of the mills are recently built.
Interested investors have been invited to acquire up to 100 percent of the sugar factories that have been built in great infrastructure, abundant water, land resources and excellent cane growing agro climatic conditions.
The invitation notice stated that in addition to sugar production the enterprises were engaged in the production of ethanol and electricity for internal use and for supply to the national grid.
When the political economic reform was introduced in 2018, the government passed a decision that mega enterprises would be partly or fully privatized. Inclusive of that was the sugar sector and it was actually among the first ones to get on board of the privatization pipeline. However, excluding issuing RFIs, so far further processes had not been conducted.
EAC Secretariat’s Capacity Enhanced to address Land governance challenges
The African Land Policy Centre (ALPC) has enhanced the capacity of senior staff of the East African Community (EAC) Secretariat to facilitate the integration of land governance issues in programmes, epecially those of the productive sector. The capacity building workshop on implementing the AU Declaration on Land was held on 16 -17 August 2022, in Kampala, Uganda, under the auspices of a joint ALPC-EAC project which was endorsed by the EAC Council of Ministers of Environment and Natural Resources Management.
Emphasising the cross-cutting nature of land, ALPC Coordinator, Ms Joan Kagwanja, applauded the EAC secretariat participation at senior level in the workshop, noting that capacities gained to integrate land governance issues in programmes will greatly advance EAC interventions in support of achieving objectives related to agriculture and food security; environment and natural resources; tourism and wildlife management; energy, infrastructural and industrial development; gender and women empowerment, among others. She further commended recent efforts and commitment to engage with Partner States and establish a steering committee that will oversee the implementation of a road map, the first activity of which is the operationalisation of a platform for exchange of knowledge and best practices among partner states. This is what is envisaged in the AU Declaration on Land.
USAID Director announces $7.7 million investment in Amhara Region
The United States Agency for International Development’s (USAID) Ethiopia Mission Director Sean Jones announced a new $7.7 million investment to train the next generation of 750 Ethiopian disaster risk management professionals at Bahir Dar University (BDU), where he also met with university vice-president, Dr. Tesfaye Shiferaw. This new investment, Feed the Future Ethiopia Resilience Platform, is the largest single external investment in the history of BDU. It follows nearly two decades of U.S. government support to BDU, including funding the university’s Institute of Disaster Risk Management and Food Security Studies.
During his trip, Mission Director Jones met with the Mayor of Bahir Dar, Dr. Diress Sahilu. They discussed USAID’s historical support, urgent needs facing communities in the Amhara Region and continued U.S. support for peace and stability in the region. Mr. Jones thanked Dr. Diress Sahilu for the city’s decades of close partnership with USAID. As he met with local officials, humanitarian organizations, and internally displaced persons (IDPs), Mr. Jones reaffirmed the American people’s longstanding partnership with the people of Ethiopia.
