Little known company has just offered the lowest price for the supply of 80,000 metric tons of wheat on the bid conducted by Public Procurement and Property Disposal Service (PPPDS).
The bid that was opened about a week ago has invited interested bidders to supply the grain to three warehouses located at Adama, Dire Dawa and Kombolcha.
The grain will be bought by the Food Security Coordination Directorate of the Ministry of Agriculture for Rural Productive Safety Net Program and the bid shall be facilitated by PPPDS, which is responsible in the undertaking of huge federal government’s procurements.
According to the bid document from the total 80,000 metric tons; 26,000 metric tons shall be delivered to Adama Central warehouse, 30,000 metric tons to Kombolcha and the remainder 24,000 metric tons to Diredawa Central warehouse.
Nuhizy Alrfay Mohamed, Promising International Trading Co, Ameropa AG and Falconbridge Resources have participated and offered their rates for the supply of the grain.
Excluding single bidders, the rest gave different rates based on the destinations of the warehouses.
In the stated order, Nuhizy Alrfay Mohamed, which is a little known company surprisingly offered the least bid. The company offered a similar price of USD 342.1 per ton for grain to be transported to all the three warehouses. In total, the company has offered USD 27.36 million for the 80,000 metric tons.
Promising International Trading Co of Dubai has offered USD 351.7 per ton for wheat that will be transported to Adama, USD 349.95 per ton for the destination at Kombolcha and USD 340.95 per ton for Dire Dawa warehouse, which is closer to the sea port.
In total, promising, which has been involved on the wheat bid in the past, has offered USD 27.82 million to supply the product.
Ameropa’s offer for wheat that shall be delivered to Adama was USD 356.37 per ton, USD 351.37 per ton to Kombolcha warehouse, and USD 341.37 per ton for Dire Dawa warehouse. Its aggregate offer was USD 27.99 million for the 80,000 metric tons.
Falconbridge Resources has offered the highest in comparison to the stated three with an aggregate offer of USD 28.37 million.
The company has tabled USD 361 per ton for the product to be available at Adama, USD 356 per ton to Kombolcha, and USD 346 per ton at Dire Dawa.
Nuhizy Alrfay Mohamed seem to be the likely candidate to win based on lowest bid offer, but since the procurement is financed by the World Bank after finalization from PPPDS, the World bank will evaluate and weigh in on the final approval.
The bid was opened on September 30.
Little known company offers least bid
PDC to finally table its development plan
Planning and Development Commission (PDC) disclosed that the ten year development plan will be tabled to the Council of Ministers by the end this month.
The Ten Year Perspective Development Plan is the long term economic and social development plan set to register tangible achievements in the coming decade.
The commission, which is the higher body in-charge of mobilizing, managing and implementing the plan had targeted to commence its public consultation with stakeholders in March but was faced with a set back by the Covid-19 pandemic.
In spite of the setback, the commission went forward with its consultations through different platforms including direct meetings with different stakeholders and political parties in recent months.
Fitsum Assefa, Commissioner of PDC, disclosed that the ten year plan would have 10 pillars set to achieve its targets. This plan will be tabled to the Council of Ministers at the end of October or the first week of November for evaluation which will later be followed by approval for implementation.
She remarked that even though the ten year plan had not received ratification by the council, public offices as from the onset of the budget year {July 2020} had designed their year’s target with respect to the framework of the ten year plan.
“The public consultations have contributed significantly in the inputs towards the development plan. Initially the plan had six pillars but a further four have been added from quality inputs provided at the consultations,” Fitsum said.
Covid-19 not only delayed the consultation but also redefined the commission’s strategy. “In every plan we are forced to redefine our targets. For instance we gave emphasis on technology and innovation, research and development, and development of a resilient system,” she added.
The ten-year Perspective Development Plan will be different from past similar plans. This is because this development plan looks at failures from the past and uses its setbacks as stepping stones for a better growth. For the past two years, 12 different studies have been conducted as an input for the ten year development plan.
Sectors augmented by PDC have also been engaged in coming up with their own plan in alignment to the development plan. To this effect, several discussions with stakeholders from every sector were undertaken from inception level to drafting the ten year development strategy.
Fitsum vocalized that basic infrastructure development which was also part and parcel of previous plans is still at the heart of the ten-year plan.
“The ten year plan will also give priority to expand productivity in the agriculture and manufacturing industries sector to fill the growing demands,” she keenly expressed at the press conference held at Hilton Hotel on the 8th of October, 2020.
She emphasized that quality economic growth and fair distribution of growth are crucial for the public. In order to realize this goal, PDC has introduced a Monitoring and Evaluation System to centralize the evaluation and performance of federal offices in the first quarter of the budget year.
Banks bolstering the “Dine for Ethiopia” call
Ever since the Prime Minister’s call to join ‘dine for the nation (Ethiopia)’ event that will be hosted to raise funds for the rehabilitation of three tourist destinations, banks have shown their solidarity in supporting the project.
This week alone three private banks have announced their support to the project. Two of the three banks on Wednesday, October 7, 2020 namely; Wegagen and Birhan bank have announced their support to the project. On behalf of Wegagen Bank, Abay Mehari, president of the bank, informed journalists that the bank has decided to give 10 million birr to support the project. 
Birhan Bank also announced that the bank has allocated 20 million birr to attend the gala dinner in support of the project
Oromia International Bank, the third of the lot, has announced on Thursday the 8th of October that it will contribute 10 million birr to the cause.
“This pledge will go a long way in supporting the beautification of the project, widening of the tourist sites, restoring natural resources and creation of attractive recreational options across the country. Furthermore, it will create job opportunities as well as income opportunities to the society at large,” stated Abraham Alaro, President of Birhan Bank. The same sentiments were also echoed by Teferi Mekonnen, president of Oromia international Bank.
The three rehabilitation tourist destinations are located at Gorogora in Amhara Regional State, Wonchi in Oromia Regional State and Koisha in Southern Nations, Nationalities & People’s Regional State. The fundraising activity to finance the development of the three major greenery and beatification projects is under an organized committee, which is responsible in mobilizing resources for the construction of the projects.
Different investors, enterprise, financial institutions have purchased tickets to attend the event. The diaspora communities have also started depositing to forex accounts to support the projects. Moreover, government employees at different levels have been committing their monthly salary for the cause. Recently, Ethiopian insurance company also supported the cause by offering 30 million birr to the project.
The Prime Minister clearly stated that the resource mobilization will continue until the target of 3 billion birr is achieved. Last year the Prime Minister served the “Dine for Sheger” event which was a project that was successful in the beautification of Addis Ababa.
Government to re-employ inactive, retired teachers
The Ethiopian government has called back inactive and retired teachers to help cope with the pandemic crisis that has affected the education system.
According to the Ministry of Education, as of from Monday October 12, 2020, retired or inactive teachers can start applying for these positions. This is an aim from the Ministry to ensure that there are sufficient teachers as schools re-open following months of closure caused by Covid-19.
Hareguwa Mamo, Communications Director at the Ministry, highlighted that teachers responding to this national call can register at their regional education offices. This new employment will also not make them lose their retirement income. The Communication Director also emphasized that the Ministry has not stipulated how long this program will stay active.
Academic institutions have been closed for about 7 months now due to the fear of transmission of the pandemic. As these institutions resume, the Ministry has put in place strict guidelines that fall in line with the Ministry of Health to prevent the surge of the pandemic through the schools. In the coming three weeks schools and academic institutions will be preparing to resume classes.
Upon re-opening, schools are expected to adhere to the Ministry of Health guidelines by; Wearing face masks, cleaning and disinfecting classrooms and maintaining the maximum capacity to students per classroom to 25 and one student per desk to maintain social distancing.
In preparation, the Ministry has started the distribution of protective equipment to students and staff. The Ministry is acquiring the facemasks from the local industry parks including, Hawassa industrial park. The facemasks are reusable and are per the standards set by WHO.
The Ministry is also taking different awareness creation measures at different levels with different stakeholders. These measures are to take into account the capacity of the prevention of spread of the virus. The Ministry’s committee, which comprises of members from different sectors, is set to counter check on the adequate preparation and the learning process.
Ethiopia has about 26 million students. Schools up to high school level are about 45,000. On a tertiary level, public universities are 50 whereas private academic institutions are 250. Close to a million learners obtain education from these tertiary institutions.
Of the 45,000 schools however, 34,000 lack access to proper water systems. This will prove to be a bottleneck for the Ministry.
As disclosed by the Ministry, schools in Addis Ababa and around Addis Ababa will start on November 10, 2020; however, schools out of Addis Ababa will start class on October 19 and October 26. Recently, the World Health Organization and UNICEF have been recommending countries to reopen schools and Ethiopia is aligning itself towards these recommendations.
