The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) traded close to three billion birr in agricultural commodities during July.
The electronic trading facility facilitated the trading of 32,291 tons of coffee, which is the biggest and first product traded at the floor. During the month it has also traded 11,273 tons of soybeans, which recently came to ECX but still registered extraordinary performance, 5,817 tons of sesame seeds that is the second largest export earnings for the country, 1,765 tons of white pea beans, 28 tons of mung beans.
The monthly statement of ECX indicated that in total the trading floor facilitated a trading of 51,174 tons of commodities in July, which is one of the ending months for stored products of the last harvest season that is mainly from October to January.
In July, which is also the first month of the 2019/20 budget year; the trading of coffee has taken 63 percent of the trading volume and 81 percent of the value.
The share of export coffee which is affected by the lowest price rate on the international market in 13 years was 67 percent in terms of value and volume. Compared with the preceding month the green bean has shown an increase of 23 and 30 percent in volume and value respectively.
Last week the commodity exchange announced plans to include some other commodities on the trading floor including cotton.
If the trading of cotton begins at ECX, it would be a new move for the trading floor as the first industrial product.
In its 11 year operation the commodity exchange has traded food commodities, while the target is to expand its operation on other items. The electronic exchange has also targeted trading niger seeds, which is one of the oilseed products exported to different markets like the US for bird feed.
It has also announced that warehouse receipt financing will be provided on some selected products during the budget year.
In the current budget year, the trading floor has targeted to trade 35.6 billion birr worth of 788.910 tonns of agricultural commodities.
For the 2018/19 budget year 711,850 tons of commodities have been received by ECX warehouses with the achievement of 93 percent of the target and three percent higher than the preceding year.
In the year ECX traded 681,845 tons of commodities an increase of one percent from the target and 3 percent more compared with the 2017/18 budget year.
Coffee takes the highest share by 45 percent and followed by sesame seeds that stood at 34 percent. ECX wanted to trade 30.3 billion birr worth or products, while the actual amount registered 33.8 billion birr or a three percent increase.
ECX trades 3b birr in July
New long distance transport service features e-ticketing
Odda Integrated Transport Services S.C. will start providing long distance public transportation services, by next week.
The company, which was established, last year with close to 10,000 shareholders in order to provide multiple business entities including public transportation services, has already purchased 50 modern buses from the Volvo Group, a Swedish multinational manufacturing company headquartered in Gothenburg. They are being assembled in Brazil by a company called Marco Polo.
The overall costs of the bus are a little bit more than 400 million birr, according to Eshetu Zeleke CEO of Odda.
Efficiency, operational excellence, and comfort is world class and all the buses meet the standard of the new transport directives.
Volvo, the Swedish car manufacturer has already delivered four buses two months ago for trial and the board chairman and the CEO traveled to Brazil to check the quality of the assembled busses recently.
European giant car manufacturers such as Man, Iveco, Mercedes, were among the competitors.
There are 46 buses are already at Djibouti port and they have cleared custom issues, they are expected to arrive in Addis this week.
For Eshetu Zeleke, the buses are new and the first for the Ethiopian road as they are made in Europe
The company already recruited and trained nearly 120 drivers and helpers. The company is expected to create more than 250 direct job opportunities and many more indirect jobs.
ODDA buses are expected to provide transportation services to 40 destinations, in all directions.
The ticket will be done though modern technologies to avoid a paper-based ticketing system and Odda is connecting the application. The buses have the capacity of 55 passengers, are expected to deliver transportation services throughout the country and beyond.
“Our plan is also integrating east Africa, by having our brand that will deliver long distance transportation from Addis to Mombasa, Juba, Djibouti, Khartoum, Nairobi, and Asmara,” Eshetu told Capital.
Alliance plans to construct modern parking lots in different parts of Addis Ababa, as part of its strategic plan. The buses will have a GPS online tracking system to increase efficiency.
According to the CEO, all buses, which have CCTV cameras, speed controllers, GPS, and air conditioning systems.
The company has a well-equipped maintenance center with the aim of being the center of excellence. Odda has also opened two petrol stations on the outskirts of Addis to supply petroleum beside a plan to add more buses in the near future.
Fake job recruiters exploit, abuse nation’s most vulnerable
According to the Addis Ababa City Administration Bureau of Labour and Social Affairs around half of the Capital’s 317 employment agencies are exploiting people through illegal practices.
The Bureau’s assessment found 117 agencies posting fake jobs, demanding money from the potential employees, manipulating people into doing excessive work, not paying taxes, and sexually harassing women.
The Bureau pointed out that 39,800 jobs posted by the agencies demanded payment from those seeking work, which is illegal. Then they would turn around and ask employers to pay the worker’s salary directly to them claiming the pay was commission.
Many jobs were fake but still the agencies would take money from those desperately looking for work. The Bureau said 20 agencies had their licenses revoked for posting fake jobs.
“Fake recruiters are catfishing desperate job-seekers, seducing them with the promise of a high-paying job before stealing their money,” Bureau Head Alemtshay Paulos told Capital.
According to her many agencies are exploiting people looking for domestic or service industry work.
“Fake recruiters are impersonating legitimate people at real companies. When the person contacts you, everything appears real-a real company with a real person’s name and photo that appears in that company’s directory of employees. The agencies charge you hefty fees but later you are informed that the job offer is fake.”
She added that some agencies have been bringing many girls from rural areas, keeping them in small rooms in Addis promising that eventually they will send them to Arab countries for domestic work.
“We have not started yet to send people abroad for domestic work, we are in the preparation stage but some agencies bring girls and take money from them. They promise that they will soon send them abroad. Often they are sexually assaulted or face other abuse.
She urged all stakeholders to stop these crimes by working together and asked that people tell them if they are aware of such illegal agencies.
“Workers will be subjected to a mandatory pre-departure training and verification of their contracts of employment before leaving Ethiopia. Those wishing to engage in recruitment must become familiar with the new requirements and regulations,” she added .
Thousands of Ethiopian migrant workers are in the Middle East as domestic workers, cleaners, drivers, chefs ect. Some say recruiting agencies are part of the problem.
Eliminating phosphates from detergent for a clean environment
BASF a German multinational chemical company operating in Ethiopia since the early 1960s, organized a workshop in collaboration with the Ethiopian Standard Agency (ESA). The goal is to replace phosphate with other ingredients to make soap and detergents. Sector professionals attending the daylong workshop including, ESA, academicians, environmental experts, regulatory bodies from the Ministry of Trade and Industry and experts from the Chemical Institute as well as managers from soap and detergent manufacturers, came together to talk about standardization and possible ways to replace phosphate as an ingredient in soap and detergent production in an effort to produce environmentally friendly products.
In Ethiopia, it is compulsory for manufacturers of soap and detergent to use less than 10pct phosphate.
Research indicates that the use of phosphates has come under increasing pressure from environmentalists and politicians because of their contribution to the eutrophication of water, which promotes excessive plant growth and decay, severely reducing water quality when it is discharged into the environment. This is now causing demands for a reduction or even banning the use of phosphates in detergents.
“BASF prioritises the need to contribute to the U.N. SDGs through products and solutions along the value chain to create a sustainable future. This is embedded in our corporate strategy as a company,” said Gift Mbaya Business Lead and General Manager at BASF TRO, Ethiopia.
Eutrophication is caused by either the addition of fertilizers to a water source (typically the run-off from agriculture), or from the mass use of phosphates from detergents and cleaning products that are improperly disposed off.
European countries banned the use of phosphates in dishwashing detergents because of the chemical compounds that pollute lakes and streams. They create algae bloom and starve fish of oxygen.
While some regions have installed reduction agreements to avoid the use of phosphates in cleaning products, a variety of products can be used in addition to BASF solutions.
Even in Africa, countries are considering the ban on the use of phosphates in detergents. Countries like Tanzania already banned it some years ago.
BASF, headquartered in Ludwigshafen Germany, runs five major business divisions, chemicals, performance products, functional materials & solutions, agricultural solutions, and oil & gas. Across these segments, the multinational was able to sell at a value of EUR 62.7 billion in 2018. Present in more than 80 countries with its subsidiaries and joint ventures, it has 390 production sites in Europe, Asia, Australia, the US, and Africa.
“Business success tomorrow means creating value for the environment, society and for business. We do this in collaboration with our customers by developing highly innovative products and solutions aligned to consumer needs. This in turn enables our customers to grow and effectively contribute to the development of the country,” Mbaya adds.
BASF spends more than two million euro for research and development with around 11,000 employees worldwide. Effective and efficient research is a key cornerstone for the company’s development.
