Hibret Bank would like to invite interested Local and International Bidders to bid for the supply & related service of the following ATMs:
S.No
Description
Unit
Quantity
1
Standard Lobby ATM
Pcs
30
2
Standard TTW ATM
Pcs
20
3
Recycler Lobby ATM
Pcs
5
Interested bidders shall submit their proposals as per the following conditions.
The bid document shall be obtained commencing April 28, 2026 from Procurement Division, which is located at Lideta sub city, Woreda 08, Ras Abebe Aregay Street, in front of Addis Abeba University School Of Commerce, Hibir Tower, 19th floor. against payment of a non-refundable fee of Birr 500.00 (five hundred Birr) or its equivalent US dollar in Account Number IN0403007 in any branch of Hibret Bank during office hours.
Interested bidders are advised to review the bid document carefully before preparing & submitting their bids.
Bids must be submitted on May 20, 2026 until 2:00 PM at Hibret Bank Head Office, Procurement Division Hiber Tower 19th floor.
Each bid must be presented in a sealed envelope and strictly in accordance with the instruction to bidders indicated in the bid document.
The bid will be opened at Hibret Bank Head Office located at Lideta sub city, Woreda 08, Ras Abebe Aregay street, Hibir Tower, 4th floor at presence of bidders or their representative who choose to attend in the bid opening on May 20, 2026at 2:30 P.M
Failure to observe the instructions & conditions provided in the bid document will constitute grounds for rejection of the bidder from competition.
Bidders have to furnish the guarantee from other bank (out of Hibret Bank).
The Bank reserves the right to accept or reject the bid partly or totally.
For additional information bidders can contact by the following address.
Tel. 011 465 5222 ext. 212 and 211 or 011 4673208Hibret Bank
The Great Ethiopian Run has held 5km and 15km races in Jimma as part of its “Know Ethiopia Classics” series, using the event to promote public health awareness under the slogan “END POLIO NOW.”
The third stage of the six-city series, organized in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism, took place today April 26, 2026 and brought together athletes, fitness enthusiasts and children in a day that mixed sport with a vaccination message aimed at parents. Organizers said the event was designed to encourage timely immunization for children as part of broader efforts to eliminate polio.
The race featured 15km, 5km and children’s categories, attracting participants from more than 10 countries, including Ethiopia. More than 90 runners traveled from Addis Ababa and other cities for the 15km race, while the 5km event drew local Jimma athletes and more than 4,000 fitness enthusiasts.
The day’s activities also included entertainment and sightseeing on the eve of the races. Participants visited the Midroc Horizon Plantation coffee farm and joined a 5km walk, with organizers saying the programme offered a chance to showcase Jimma’s tourism potential and its identity as the birthplace of coffee.
A range of partners supported the event, including Ethio Telecom, Telebirr, the Ministry of Tourism, Rotary Ethiopia with GPEI partners, Pepsi, Dashen Bank, Midroc Horizon, Top Water, Haile Hotel and Resorts, and African Hospital. Organizers said the collaboration was key to ensuring the success of the Jimma edition of the series.
The Jimma races followed earlier editions in Debre Berhan and Hawassa, marking the third chapter of this year’s “Know Ethiopia Classics” tour. The series is expected to continue highlighting host cities while combining sport, tourism promotion and social messaging.
The current West Asia crisis impact is beyond the region, particularly pertaining to stalling of oil and gas supply chains through the Strait of Hormuz. The crisis provides an external shock for Africa, which is already dealing with structural vulnerabilities of high debt, reliance on imports, and uncertain growth. Conflict brings a “severe risk” to Africa’s growth, according to the estimation from the African Union (AU), UNECA and the African Development Bank. This risk of varied hues obtains a straight impact on sustained development goals, food production, energy balance, financial stability, and geopolitics.
Africa is now facing serious energy disruption due to the Iran war. Among the major supply disruptions since WWII based on the closure or blockade of the Strait of Hormuz. Through this a high proportion of global oil and gas transits through. With a negative impact all over Africa, oil prices have crossed $100 per barrel. Many African countries are very susceptible to such price movements since they are, despite having oil producing countries, remain dependant on import of processed petroleum products. Several countries have seen price rises in energy prices; some pf which are over thirty percent. 10.9% of Africa’s exports and 15.8% of its imports come from West Asia. More than half of the oil used by fifteen African countries comes from this region. Since 2025, the Iran crisis coincides with the time when about 31% of African State revenues are for debt servicing , and FDI inflows diminish by 42%.
The Impact of the Crisis
Some parts of Africa face economic effects of the current Iranian war. According to analysts, recovery efforts would be decreased if the crisis lasts beyond six months, as it could reduce African GDP growth by nearly 0.2% in 2026. Problems pertaining to cost-of-living prices has ensued due to rising energy and staples prices. Since March 2026, nearly thirty African currencies have lost value. Delivery schedules are extending and transport and insurance costs are rising due to disruptions in regional logistics, particularly due to the diversion of sea routes around the Cape of Good Hope. Besides, lower LNG supplies from the Gulf place fertilizer production at risk, threatening agricultural productivity during the onset of the important planting season between March to May.
Indirect Impact of the Crisis
The Iran crisis impacts African s differently region: coastal States such as South Africa, Namibia, and Mauritius are likely to benefit temporarily from enhanced port activity and rerouted sea trade, while net importers like Kenya, Egypt, and Sudan face serious economic difficulties.
Inflationary impact is a consequence of the disruption of energy supply chains. National budgets face increasing local transport costs, the cost of power production, and the need for State budgets to either charge consumers higher prices or provide subsidies. Minor cost increases provide impetus to serious social impact in countries where major sections of the people depend on informal economies and spend a large proportion of their small income on daily living. With Africa looking at a period of reduced fiscal resilience, the situation now is similar to earlier world crises, including the oil shocks of the 1970s, the Covid pandemic and the impact of the Ukraine crisis. These supply chains are disrupted by the Iran crisis, increasing fertilizer prices and risking food productivity. Agriculture continues to be the pillar of small farmer income and food security for many countries. Increases in such input prices, particularly during planting seasons, may lead to reduced productivity, which would impact food prices and increase food poverty. Least Developed countries are particularly sensitive to these impacts due to increasing food and energy costs, the International Monetary Fund has alerted.
The factors responsible for a more extensive cost-of-living crisis throughout the continent are created by this combined shock of food and energy. As they are deeply dependent on market-priced food and transportation, urban Africans are particularly susceptible. As their economic resources become constrained, governments may face enhanced incentives to augment subsidies or create further social protection programmes.
Africa’s Development Challenged
The larger impact on Africa emanating from these issues is a cause of anxiety. African development levels, which were depicting improvement, is now endangered of major slowdown. Extended crisis can reduce growth by up to 1.5 percent in some countries. This is sensitive to trade disruptions. A major part of African global trade, emanates from West Asia, and any longer disruption impacts trade flows, insurance fees, and shipping routes.
Further, interested investors have become more cautious. In response to the Iran crises, international financial markets often shift funds out of emerging and frontier markets and towards perceived safer havens. This creates greater borrowing costs, diminished FDI, and increased currency pressure on African States. Nations that are facing difficult debt servicing, often encounter IMF programmes, and thus are placed in particularly difficult positions.
Grasping Opportunities, Improving Implementation
The impact of the Iranian war differs among countries and regions of Africa. Higher global prices may provide windfall advantages for oil-exporting nations like Nigeria, Angola, Libya, Congo and Algeria. In such times, though, the benefits are often uneven. Since several countries import processed petroleum products, national fuel prices are linked to global process. Moreover, windfall revenues sometimes impinge on governance issues without contributing to sustainable development unless a just transition is envisaged.
The Iran war has important regional influence upon Africa beyond economic issues. Africa faces the risk of diminishing in the attention it receives from its partners, with their priority altering on development aid, and security perception as global powers look more deeply at West Asia. This perception gap provides other partners, mainly China, Russia, and regional States, the chance to enhance their influence. Africa has seen increasing regional rivalry, which may escalate as other countries seek geo-strategic influence, markets, and resources.
Concerns about Africa’s Security
Africa’s security situation is also impacted by the crisis. In many African nations, social unrest is usually associated with rising food and gasoline prices. Economic shocks can worsen instability in vulnerable areas like the Horn of Africa and the Sahel, where conflict and problems with governance already exist. Additionally, there are worries that increased global rivalry for resources and interruptions in humanitarian supply chains could exacerbate already-existing crises.
Certain adaptive dynamics are also developing at the same time. Port activity in Southern Africa has increased because of disruptions in regular shipping routes, which have increased maritime traffic near the Cape of Good Hope. The concerns pertaining to the Bab El Mandab on the Red Sea is causing anxiety too. Further, some States seeking alternative energy sources and regional supply chains. For instance, creating domestic refineries, like Nigeria’s Dangote refinery, may later reduce dependence on import of processed fuels.
Challenges in Dealing with the Crisis
The efforts for energy alternatives and widening of sourcing could be enhanced due to the Iran war. Africa’s major dependence on petroleum product imports has shown itself as a strategic challenge. FDI in diversified supply chains, regional electricity groups, and increased renewable energy assets could reduce weakness to future problems. However, these alternatives require major fund and legal coordination, which are yet difficulties to many State economies.
The humanitarian issue is also a major issue. Providing assistance across Africa to needy areas is now much more difficult due to rising diesel prices and logistics costs, augmented by reduced foreign aid budgets. Humanitarian crises in endemic regions have the problem of worsening as demand increase but budgets diminish.
The Iran War manifests Africa’s structural appreciation in the geoeconomics of the world. It has very little influence over the reasons of the conflict starting in the first place, yet Africa is very liable to external impact. Africa often carries the cross of external crisis, including through disruption of supply chains, international finance, or energy market mechanisms. This acknowledges how important it is to create resilient capacities through regional connectivity, diversification, and increased domestic capability.
Conclusion
Africa confronts a complex and varied set of challenges because of the Iran crisis. It is beyond merely an energy supply jolt; it is a structural unevenness which impacts sustained development, political movements, food security, and economic stability. Even if some countries may have windfall profits from oil prices, the larger impact is more likely to be difficult as the crisis keeps going on as net importers are more vulnerable. The crisis is a calm reminder of the requirement of structural alternatives for more autonomous, diversified economies, and strengthened and resilient systems. Besides dealing with the current crisis Africa’s must grasp the opportunity to catalyse it for deeper and structural transformation.
In Ethiopia’s ongoing effort to strengthen its health system, the conversation is shifting from policy frameworks to practical ownership, from expansion to equity. Dr. Tsion Terefe Abeme, Program Development Manager at Orbis International, reflects on what it takes to translate ambition into sustained results. In this wide-ranging interview with Capital, she discusses the meaning of genuine country ownership, the central role of women in leadership, and how financing, flexibility, and trust at local levels can transform the health workforce into a more equitable, responsive, and resilient system. Excerpts;
Capital: Ethiopia recently hosted dialogues on building a “competent, responsive, and equitably distributed” health workforce. From your vantage point, what does genuine country ownership of the public health agenda look like in practice and not just on paper?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: As a woman and a public health professional, genuine country ownership of the public health agenda is something I understand through both evidence and lived experience. It goes beyond alignment with global commitments or the existence of national policies. In practice, it is reflected when priorities are shaped by local realities, financed increasingly through domestic resources, and implemented with real decision-making authority at regional and woreda levels. It also means translating global frameworks into locally driven solutions—designed, tested, and refined by national institutions and frontline health workers who understand community contexts.
From my perspective, ownership also becomes most authentic when women’s leadership is recognized and institutionalized. Women carry much of the health workforce and remain closest to communities, often bridging service delivery, accountability, and trust. Opening up leadership and ownership to women strengthens inclusion, relevance, equity, and sustainability in public health programs.
Ultimately, genuine country ownership is achieved when communities—especially women—are not treated as passive beneficiaries, but as co-owners of health outcomes, actively shaping priorities and holding systems accountable for results.
Capital: Over the past decade, Ethiopia has expanded training institutions, formalized health extension workers, and improved licensure systems. Where do you see the biggest gaps now—in numbers, skills, or distribution—and what are the first three things you would change if you could?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: From where I stand, the biggest gaps in the health workforce are no longer about absolute numbers, but about distribution and skills mix. Rural, pastoralist, and fragile settings remain systematically underserved, while many health workers are not adequately equipped to respond to evolving health needs such as non-communicable diseases, mental health conditions, and public health emergencies. These gaps directly affect equity, quality of care, and system resilience.
If I could change three things, first, I would redesign incentives for rural and hardship postings by combining financial packages with clear career progression pathways and housing or social support. Second, I would prioritize sustained investment in continuous professional development, particularly for mid-level and frontline cadres who carry the bulk of service delivery. Third, I would strengthen supportive supervision and mentorship systems, with specific attention to women and newly deployed workers, recognizing that technical competence and wellbeing are both critical for retention and performance.
Capital: The new HRH Strategic Plan 2024–2030 sets ambitious targets. Are there any bottlenecks to achieving it, and how can these be addressed?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: From my experience, there are clear bottlenecks to fully achieving the HRH Strategic Plan 2024–2030. One of the biggest challenges is financing, especially when it comes to implementation at regional and woreda levels, where plans often exist but resources fall short. Another key gap is health workers being trained without a clear pathway for deployment or long-term support. In addition, many regions and woredas still have limited capacity to absorb and manage health workers, even when positions are approved.
Addressing these challenges requires practical shifts rather than new plans. Budgets need to better reflect health workforce priorities, and stronger coordination across ministries and institutions is essential. Progress will depend on how well national ambition is matched with local capacity and trust.
Capital: Can you share a concrete example where a decision taken closer to the community led to better health outcomes?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: From what I have seen in practice, community-level decision making can lead to clear improvements in health outcomes. In several woredas, health centers and kebeles were allowed to adjust outreach schedules based on seasonal mobility, particularly in communities where families move for work or pastoral activities. When services were planned around how people actually live, rather than fixed timetables, access to care improved noticeably.
In these settings, Health Extension Workers worked closely with community women’s groups to identify the best times and locations for maternal and child health services. As a result, missed appointments dropped significantly and service uptake increased. This is a clear example of how decisions made closest to the communities they serve are often the most practical and effective, especially when women are involved in identifying solutions and shaping how services are delivered.
Capital: Ethiopia’s health workforce still faces inequitable distribution and productivity challenges. How should decision‑making power and resources be rebalanced between federal, regional and woreda levels to address this?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: From my perspective, decision-making power needs to be more deliberately balanced across all levels of the health system. Federal leadership plays a critical role in setting national policy direction, standards, and equity safeguards. However, regions and woredas need greater autonomy over practical issues such as health worker deployment, incentive structures, and day-to-day supervision, where local context matters most.
For this shift to work, resources must follow responsibility. Without adequate fiscal and managerial space at subnational levels, accountability remains symbolic.
Capital: The dialogues highlight the need for “data‑driven decision‑making.” Where are we under‑using data right now in Ethiopian public health, and what would a more evidence‑driven culture of decision‑making actually look like?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Data is one of our most underused assets in strengthening the health workforce. We collect large amounts of information, but it is rarely used to guide deployment decisions, performance management, or workforce planning. In many cases, data remains fragmented across systems or is used mainly for upward reporting, rather than for solving real problems at facility and woreda levels.
A truly data-driven approach would look different in practice. It would mean routinely using data on Human Resources for Health (HRH) at facility and woreda levels to inform decisions on postings, promotions, and training opportunities. It would also require creating safe and supportive environments where data is used for learning and improvement. When health workers and managers trust data and see it linked to meaningful action that addresses the challenges on the ground, it becomes a powerful tool for improving performance, motivation, and accountability across the system.
Capital: Financing is repeatedly cited as a constraint. Beyond “more money,” what specific health financing reforms would most improve recruitment, performance and retention of frontline workers?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Improving health workforce financing in Ethiopia is not only about increasing the overall budget, but about how resources are designed and reach the frontline, especially in relation to women.
Beyond more money, financing reforms must recognize that women make up the majority of Ethiopia’s health workforce—particularly health extension workers and midlevel cadres—yet often work in underserved areas with limited incentives and support. Financing mechanisms that ignore these realities risk reinforcing existing gender and geographic inequities.
First, performance-linked financing tied to quality and equity outcomes can encourage better care while recognizing the additional effort required in hard-to-reach communities. Second, targeted hardship and retention packages designed with the specific needs of women in mind, including safe housing, family considerations, and career progression—are critical for retention in rural and pastoralist areas. In addition, more predictable and decentralized operational funds are needed so facilities and woredas can respond to local workforce needs in real time.
Finally, strengthening women’s participation in the health workforce by equipping them with the skills and resources they need to progress and lead, for example through coaching and mentorship programs such as WomenLift Health’s Leadership Journey, is part of this equation. In the Ethiopian context, financing that empowers local managers—many of them women—to confidently lead and make practical decisions is essential for building a more equitable and responsive health system.
Capital: The Health Extension Program has been a flagship for community‑based primary care. What needs to happen now to move from expansion to deepening quality and last‑mile delivery, especially in hard‑to‑reach and fragile settings?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Quality improvement, rather than simply adding more tasks, should guide this transition. As Ethiopia’s Health Extension Program moves into its next phase, the focus must shift from expansion toquality, specialization, and sustained support. While the program has achieved wide coverage, future gains will depend on strengthening referral linkages, ensuring reliable access to essential supplies, adapting service delivery models for fragile and hard-to-reach settings, and upgrading the skills of Health Extension Workers (HEWs)—most of whom are women and who are the backbone of primary health care in Ethiopia.
Digital tools and stronger community partnerships can support their work, but only if HEWs are genuinely supported, respected, and protected within the system. This means investing in their training, safety, career progression, and wellbeing, particularly in rural and pastoralist areas. From my perspective, improving the quality of the program is inseparable from recognizing the value of women’s labor and leadership at the community level and ensuring they have the tools and conditions needed to deliver high quality care.
Capital: From your experience, where does multisectoral collaboration work well today and where does it still break down?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Multisectoral collaboration works best in areas where roles and responsibilities are clearly defined and outcomes are shared. In Ethiopia, this is most visible in areas such as nutrition, WASH, and school health, where health, education, water, and local government actors have learned to work toward common goals at community level. When collaboration is anchored in practical service delivery and community needs, it becomes easier to align efforts and see real results.
However, collaboration often breaks down when accountability is unclear, priorities compete, and budgets remain siloed within individual sectors. Too often, coordination is reduced to periodic meetings without shared targets or joint responsibility for outcomes. Effective multisectoral action requires moving beyond coordination to true collaboration—where sectors agree on common results, align resources, and are collectively accountable for impact. From where I stand, progress depends less on creating new platforms and more on designing systems that reward shared outcomes, especially at regional and woreda levels where implementation actually happens.
Capital: How can Ethiopia better engage regions, professional associations and frontline workers themselves in co‑creating solutions, rather than only consulting them after policies are drafted?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Ethiopia can strengthen co-creation by moving beyond consultation toward genuine shared problem solving. Too often, stakeholders downstream are engaged after key decisions have already been made. Real collaboration starts when regions, professional associations, and other national actors are involved early in policy design, helping to shape priorities based on implementation realities rather than reacting to finalized plans.
In practice, co-creation also means piloting reforms at local level before scaling them nationally and establishing structured feedback loops with frontline workers—many of whom are women delivering services in challenging contexts. When their experiences inform course corrections, policies become more realistic and effective.
Ultimately, trust grows when stakeholders see that their voices influence decisions and outcomes, not just validate processes that are already predetermined.
Capital: Many health workers feel over‑stretched and under‑recognized. What are the most impactful, realistic steps Ethiopia could take in the next 2–3 years to improve motivation and well‑being of its health workforce?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Improving the motivation and well‑being of health workers over the next two to three years requires realistic and focused actions rather than large‑scale reforms. A critical first step is improving working conditions and safety, particularly for women, who make up much of Ethiopia’s frontline health workforce and often work in challenging environments. Feeling safe, supported, and valued at work directly influences performance, retention, and trust in the system.
Capital: Conflict, displacement and climate emergencies are reshaping service needs in parts of Ethiopia. How should health workforce planning and deployment adapt to this new risk landscape?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: Traditional static staffing models are simply not sufficient in settings affected by instability or recurrent emergencies. Planning needs to prioritize mobile health teams, surge staffing mechanisms, and cross-training of health workers so they can adapt quickly to changing needs, especially in fragile and hard-to-reach areas. Ethiopia must become far more flexible and risk-informed to respond effectively to conflict, displacement, and climate-related shocks.
Equally important is deploying health workers from affected communities whenever possible, as they understand the context and are more likely to remain during crises. Women leaders—who often manage health responses at community level, particularly during displacement and climate shocks—should be central to this planning. Building resilience in the health workforce is not just a technical task; it requires recognizing and strengthening the leadership already present at community level.
Capital: If you had one message for political leaders and one message for community leaders about “country ownership” of health, what would you tell each of them?
Dr. Tsion Terefe: To political leaders: Country ownership means investing in people and systems not just delivering projects. It requires trusting regions and woredas with real authority, ensuring they are adequately funded to implement priorities, and measuring success by improvements seen at community level. Ownership becomes meaningful when national leadership enables local action and holds itself accountable for real health outcomes, not just plans or reports.
To community leaders:Health is not something delivered to communities; it is something built with them. Your leadership is central to creating trust, accountability, and lasting impact. When communities, especially women leaders, are actively involved in shaping and sustaining health services, systems become more responsive and resilient. Strong community leadership is not an add-on to country ownership; it is its foundation.
