By our staff reporter
In a significant step towards shaping the future of African commerce, the Pan African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PACCI) convened its Annual Meeting to discuss the organization’s progress, challenges, and its role in the rapidly evolving economic landscape. The centerpiece of the event was the election of the Executive Council and the President for the 2023-2026 term. The conference witnessed the active participation of 35 esteemed members, each representing their respective national chambers of commerce from across the continent.
Established in 2009, PACCI embarked on a journey that spanned years to cement its stature as the resounding voice of businesses throughout Africa. As the premier business group of the continent, PACCI has consistently demonstrated its commitment to advancing economic interests, promoting trade, and catalyzing investments. Its dedication has led the organization to allocate substantial resources towards bolstering the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), firmly positioning itself as a vanguard in advocating for its realization.
At the helm of PACCI’s strategic initiatives is its leader, Kebour Ghenna, a former President of the Addis Ababa and Ethiopia Chamber of Commerce. Under his meticulous stewardship, PACCI has carefully cultivated an influential business identity that revolves around economics, trade, and investment. As PACCI’s dedicated efforts gain momentum, the organization is emerging as a pivotal player, contributing significantly to Africa’s economic resurgence.
During the Annual Meeting, discussions on the AfCFTA took center stage, underscoring the business community’s collective sentiment. PACCI leaders sounded a cautionary note, expressing concerns over the gradual pace of AfCFTA implementation. As the foremost business advocacy group on the continent, PACCI made its position clear: businesses are eager for tangible outcomes, particularly in relation to the unfettered movement of people within Africa.
The event also marked a pivotal moment in PACCI’s evolution, with the election of the new Executive Council members and President for the upcoming three-year term. While the specific names of the new council members are yet to be unveiled, indications point towards a harmonious blend between English and French-speaking countries. A noteworthy milestone will be achieved as women are poised to take their rightful places on the Council, marking a significant stride towards gender inclusivity within PACCI’s leadership.
Outgoing President Youssouf Mussa Dawaleh from Djibouti, alongside outgoing 1st Vice President Melaku Ezezew, laid the foundation for stronger engagement with prominent continental entities like the African Union (AU) and the AfCFTA Secretariat. Their dedication to fostering collaborative ties underscores PACCI’s commitment to forging a cohesive and prosperous Africa.
In summary, the PACCI Annual Report and Executive Council elections for the 2023-2026 term serve as a testament to the organization’s enduring dedication to Africa’s economic growth. As PACCI continues to steer the continent towards greater economic integration, its resounding call for tangible results within the AfCFTA framework resonates as a rallying cry for businesses across Africa.
PACCI annual report highlights commitment to Africa’s business growth, advocacy
Akobo Minerals golden era to soon shine, partnerships solidify
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Akobo Minerals AB, the Scandinavian-based Ethiopian gold exploration and boutique mining company, which suffered delays of commissioning for gold mining due to external factors, announces it is on the final stage to realize its ambitions at the beginning of the Ethiopian New Year. To bolster, its golden era the company has signed a refinery agreement with a Swiss-based prominent player in the industry.
The company which has been engaging on precious mineral exploration for 12 years at parts of the lowland of the Akobo Basin, in the south west tip of Gambella region in Dima woreda, disclosed that despite the unforeseen issues which deterred its initial plans, its large scale site is currently on its final stage to start commissioning.
Tesfaye Medhane, General Manager of Akobo Minerals, told Capital that at the current stage the plant construction has reached 96 percent completion which means that any day now, the commissioning will begin.
He stated that the shortage of OPC was the major reason for delay to commence the commissioning, in addition to other minor issues that have now been solved.
A few months back, a South African company, IW Mining, was hired to operate the underground mine and to transfer knowledge to the local staffs, who will then take over the operation when the contractor eventually leaves the site in the coming months.
As the months progressed, IW installed a minor plant with the aim to ore test as well as provide training for locals who will be assigned on the industry level production.
“The installation of the small plant as a pilot was to train the team that will engage on the large scale production and at the same time it has also helped to test the ore,” Tesfaye said.
“The concept of onsite training has greatly equipped our skilled labor prior to being involved in the large scale production,” he added.
According to the General Manager, now the full team and required imported inputs and equipment are at the site, “This will allow us to commence production any time.”
He said that the commissioning and gold production will begin in the coming weeks, while in late October a grand inauguration will be held.
For its exploration, the company secured a large scale gold mining license in September 2021 through the Council of Minister, for its first production at Akobo area, on the reserve that it found.
Akobo Minerals has defined two areas for its exploration focus Segele and Joru. Segele is quite small, with high concentration of gold, while Joru covers a larger area, with a lower gold content.
The Segele deposit, which is about 10 km from the South Sudan border and about 750 km south west of Addis Ababa, is an Inferred Mineral Resource of 78ktons at 20.9 gram per ton.
“If you get three or four grams of gold from the crushing of one ton rock it is profitable but when it comes to our site we are expected to produce over 21 grams of gold from one ton of rock, which is a very high grade,” Tesfaye recently told Capital showing that the site in contrast to the global mining sites was still highly profitable.
The mining firm’s total exploration area is 182 km2, while the mining license it secured covered 16 km2 at the Segel deposit.
The Norway based public listed company has now got additional huge reserves on the exploration area to which it plans to continue further in its pursuit to assess the precious metal in order to declare the reserve amount in the near future.
For millennia artisanal miners have been dominating the gold production in Gambella, while Akobo Minerals was one of the two companies which were working to produce the metal at large scale.
In related developments, Akobo Minerals on August 9 announced that it had signed an agreement with Swiss-based MKS PAMP for a range of gold refinery-related services.
MKS PAMP will provide turnkey refining solutions to Akobo Minerals, from collection of the doré the semi-pure alloy of gold, produced at Akobo’s Minerals’ mine in southwest Ethiopia while managing the transportation of the gold through Addis Ababa and all the way to MKS PAMP’s refinery in Switzerland for further purification.
Other MKS PAMP services included; assaying, hedging and delivery of metal bars to customers around the world.
The company, which is one of the most respected precious metals industry players, is an independently operated precious metals refining and fabricating company and part of the MKS PAMP GROUP.
“Akobo Minerals carefully selected MKS PAMP as its partner due to the company’s strong commitment to Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles. Among all refineries, MKS PAMP stood out as the sole refinery dedicated to reducing its carbon footprint, a commitment that has been independently verified and confirmed by the Science based initiative (SBTI), an independent body,” the mining company said on its statement.
Jørgen Evjen, CEO of Akobo Minerals, stated, “Our agreement with MKS PAMP is the latest piece in the jigsaw for Akobo Minerals as we move towards production. As we set our sights on production from our Segele mine, we are delighted that we have secured a partner that will work with us to take our gold from our site to the global gold market. It is a true stamp of approval by one of the most respected London Bullion Market Association (LBMA)-approved refineries in the world.”
LBMA Good Delivery Referee is a key component of the LBMA’s quality assurance process for the worldwide bullion trading community.
An LBMA accredited refinery is a precious metals refinery that has been accredited by LBMA, the international trade association representing the global over-the-counter (OTC) market for gold and silver bullion. LBMA accredited refineries are required to meet strict quality and integrity standards to ensure the production of good delivery bars, which are widely accepted in the global bullion market. These refineries are subject to regular audits and inspections to maintain their accreditation.
As per the ten year development plan mining is one of the six key economic development sectors that the government targets to fetch.
AAICEC lobbies public enterprises to take stake in lucrative International Convention Center
By our staff reporter
Addis-Africa International Convention and Exhibition Centre SC (AAICEC) invites public enterprises to take equity of its huge facility located in the north eastern strip of Addis Ababa. As private and public companies dash for a piece of the pie, records show that the prosperous, Ethiopian Airlines Group, now holds the second biggest stake of the share company.
As Gashaw Abate, Deputy Director General of AAICEC indicates, the share company which is expected to become operational in the first quarter of the coming year has invited public enterprises to take stake of its facility which is getting underway to serve as a huge convention and exhibition center with international standards.
“We have invited the public business entities to invest in the project that has enormous national benefits,” Gashaw told Capital.
From the series of investing invites by the share company, there have been some resounding investments such as that of the national flag carrier of the hospitality business, Ethiopian Airlines Group, which bought a 300 million birr share at the facility that has a 5.5 billion birr in authorized capital.
“On its new investment, the Group has taken the second biggest charge as a major shareholder after the Addis Ababa City Administration, which has over 700 million birr in shares,” Gashaw explained.
This one of a kind public private partnership (PPP) project which was in process for almost two decades was initiated by the city chamber, Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association during the Berhane Mewa’s presidency period in the mid-2000s.
Currently, the city chamber has 10 million birr share at the facility that has 1.1 billion birr paid up capital.
Ethiopian Tourist and Trading Enterprise, a public enterprise which is part of the mammoth, Ethiopian Investment Holding (EIH), one of the biggest sovereign wealth funds in Africa that includes 26 state business companies, is so far the third biggest investor at AAICEC with 170 million birr capital.
The state owned financial giant, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, which is part of EIH, and Public Employees Social Security Administration have a share of 150 and 130 million birr respectively as a major shareholder.
Ethio South, a share company that was formed by the Ethiopian diaspora in South Africa closely follows the rest at a 115 million birr worth of shares on the Centre.
According to Gashaw in total there are 1050 shareholders including individuals in the PPP project.
Some of the privately owned investors are dominated by financial firms like Dashen Bank, Wegagen Bank, and Awash Insurance Company that have 54 million, 15 million, and 36 million birr worth of shares respectively; while the Ethiopian Reinsurance and Bank of Abyssinia have 20 million birr each in shares.
Gashaw said that his Centre is expects positive response from other public enterprises.
The facility that is located in front of CMC compound on the north eastern tip of the city has indoor and outdoor exhibition venues, multi-purpose halls, conference centre, auditoriums, office space, shops, restaurant and cafés as well as children’s playground within the area. It was established with the primary aim of hosting multiple international business events that can also boost the conference tourism, and commerce.
Recently, information circulated that the city administration bought the building facility in front of the Centre at a cost of 9.8 billion birr to make it part of the upcoming tourism and business destination but Gashaw declined to give further inform on this particular matter.
Dashen Bank, Mastercard pioneer virtual prepaid card in Ethiopia
By our staff reporter
As a leading digital financial institute, Dashen Bank in partnership with Mastercard introduces the ‘DashenMastercard’, a ground-breaking multi-currency international prepaid card.
The new initiative now breaks the market in what has been stated as a significant milestone in Ethiopia’s card business.
In its statement, the bank disclosed that the card offers both plastic and virtual options, providing customers with unparalleled flexibility and convenience for their international transactions.
The DashenMastercard features a dual-interface plastic card, allowing customers to make both, contact or contactless transactions at ATMs and POS machines. It also enables cash withdrawals from ATMs, payments on POS terminals, and offers users the freedom to make online purchases at any merchant website worldwide where Mastercard is accepted.
A key feature of the DashenMastercard is its reloadable nature, allowing users to load funds onto the card as needed at forex bureaus. The card also supports multiple currencies, enabling customers to have separate wallet accounts in different currency types, thus eliminating the need for a separate foreign currency account. This feature makes it an ideal choice for international payments and travel related expenses.
To ensure maximum security, the DashenMastercard incorporates an additional layer of protection by providing customers with a one-time password well known as OTP for every transaction made on e-commerce platforms. This feature enhances customer confidence and safeguards against unauthorized use of the card.
“This innovative offering is a testament to Dashen Bank’s commitment to delivering convenient and secure financial solutions to our customers,” stated Asfaw Alemu, President of Dashen Bank at the unveiling ceremony, adding, “The DashenMastercard empowers travellers with the freedom to manage their finances seamlessly while exploring the world.”
In addition to the card launch, Dashen Bank and Mastercard have also introduced the Mastercard Payment Gateway System, allowing Ethiopian merchants with mobile applications or websites to accept international payments online.
Customers from around the world can now place online orders and reservations and make payments to merchants integrated with the Mastercard Payment Gateway System using their cards. This product aligns with Ethiopia’s digital transformation strategy by facilitating smooth cross-border payments.
“Our partnership with Dashen Bank marks a significant milestone in our efforts to join forces with financial institutions in Ethiopia by leveraging the power of our products and solutions to bring more people into the digital economy,” said Shehryar Ali, Country Manager for East Africa at Mastercard, adding, “We are proud to collaborate with Dashen Bank to enhance the drive to access financial services, and our shared commitment to grow innovative payment solutions and seamless transactions for merchants and customers alike.”
The DashenMastercard is available to travellers above the age of 18. Interested individuals can obtain the card by visiting any forex bureau and providing essential travel documents such as a passport, visa, and flight ticket that are required during the application process.
