The Catalytic Actions of the Joint AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Programme on the Governance of Labour Migration for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP Action) project was launched in Ethiopia on July 25, 2022.
‘JLMP Catalytic Action’ is one of several projects making up the AU-ILO-IOM-ECA Joint Programme on Labour Migration Governance for Development and Integration in Africa (JLMP) and was launched in 2015 to implement the 5th Key Priority Area of the Declaration and Plan of Action on Employment, Poverty Eradication and Inclusive Development adopted by the Assembly of Heads of States and Governments in 2015. The Programme aims to strengthen the governance and regulation of labour migration in Africa, in line with the First 2023 Ten Year Plan of the AU’s Agenda 2063 and of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
This was the latest national launch for selected African Union Member States and Regional Economic Communities (RECs), following similar unveilings in Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire and Cameroun over the past few months.
The ceremony was attended by officials of the African Union Commission (AUC), the government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Embassies of German, Switzerland and Sweden, who are funding the Programme, as well as the International Labour Organization (ILO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) and Deutsche Gesellschaftfür Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ), who are implementing partners. Also in attendance were representatives of the Intergovernmental Authority for Development (IGAD), the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (COMESA) and various labour organizations.
AU-ILO-IOM-ECA jointly launch national program
Huawei renders cyber security training to communications authority
Huawei Ethiopia has provided Ethiopian Communications Authority (ECA) with a three-day cyber security training, with Huawei’s top cyber security experts leading the training.
The Ethiopian Communications Authority Director General, Balcha Reba, attended the opening of the training and in his opening remarks appreciated and acknowledged Huawei’s efforts into building a digital Ethiopia. “A security issue is not something provided by an external body to us, it is a system and a strategy we have to develop internally. It is not only a tactical or technological input; it is also policy and strategy as well. So, all the leaders as well as the vendors, the industry all together needs to work on accountability,” remarked the communications authority head.
He also added that when discussing cyber technology, it is important to understand the; who, how, and what. He underlined that it is a must to understand who the hackers are that affect our systems by stealing data, how viruses work, and which components of our software and systems must function effectively to safeguard our systems. “Therefore, such trainings are beneficial in learning more about cyber security issues and acting accordingly,” Balcha stated.
CEO of Huawei Ethiopia, Chen Mingliang, expressed his gratitude and respect to the Ethiopian Communications Authority for the efforts made to coordinate and to build a better-connected Ethiopia and for the endeavors that makes Ethiopia to enter the 5G era.He also emphasized that we live in a highly interconnected world, where the physical and digital worlds are increasingly converging, and the network boundaries are blurring.
Cyber security and privacy protection are increasingly important. And Huawei has established 7 cyber security transparency centers around the world, including 2 global centers located in Brussels and Dongguan (China), with 3,000 employees working full-time on cyber security Research and Development (R&D). Each year, and about 5% of its R&D budget are spent on cyber security and privacy protection related to R&D. By the end of 2020, Huawei held more than 100,000 active patents across over 40,000 families, among which 2,963 are related to cyber security and privacy protection.
The training covered global cyber security challenges and analysis, introduction to cyber security governance standards, introduction to Huawei’s end-to-end cyber security assurance system, 5G security technologies based on 5G security considerations, and a virtual tour exhibition in the Cyber Security and Privacy Protection Transparency Exhibition Hall.
The public relations director of Huawei Ethiopia, Ye Liming, during the final day session, said “With the knowledge you learnt these days, I believe that all of you will put what you learnt into practice and be devoted into digital Ethiopia building.”
The training took place from July 25 to July 27, 2022 and was attended by 20 experts.
Clients in outrage over railway tariff
Clients who have a freight service contract with Ethio Djibouti Railway SC (EDR) are in outcry over the company’s imposition of a new tariff prior to the deadline they had signed for their consignment. On the flip side, the logistics firm has dismissed the claim.
On the notification letter via email, EDR disclosed that it has revised the consignment tariff as of August 1.
According to the contract amendment that EDR sent to its clients, the new tariff has an increment of over 16,000 birr per container and unlike the past the new rates are in USD.
An exporter that Capital spoke to explained that he has a contract rate with the firm with his set duration yet to be complete, and with the new rates kicking in, he expressed his worry, stating, “it will affect my export since I am running the business as per the existing logistics expense that I agreed with EDR.”
Another exporter who signed a six-month contract agreement with EDR and has so far used the first three months, explained that the rate he had agreed upon was 24,960 birr from Indode Terminal and 22, 512 birr from Mojo for a forty feet container, “I have an active contract that does not mention any price revision but they have revised the rate to USD 744 for a forty feet container that shall be loaded from Indode.”
Both exporters have similarly argued that the contract agreement they signed was not inclusive of any tariff revision.
They expressed that the service that EDR provides is seamlessly perfect and incomparable with truck operations, while such sudden rate revisions will erode and diminish the trust with the service provider, they opined.
They also reminded that the logistics sector is crucial for trade and competitiveness in the global market.
The revised contract that was sent by Teshome Eshete, Chief Operation Officer (COO) of EDR, said that the price of container transportation from Indode railway freight yard to SGTD container railway freight yard shall be USD744 per 40ft container and USD 753 per two TEU containers.
“If the client makes payment in Ethiopian Birr, the exchange rate from USD to ETB shall be the prevailing exchange rate of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia at the date of payment,” it added.
Teshome said that the railway company has neither revised the price nor increased it, “from the inception as per our operation the rate is stated on USD, but we have been giving a price at lower exchange rates that was converted years back, which is against the latest official exchange rate.”
“Issuing the daily rate is the mandate of the National Bank of Ethiopia, because of that the relevant government body ordered us to use the proper exchange rate rather than using our own rate,” he explained.
“Revising the rate is the responsibility of shareholders; we don’t have a right to put new price,” the COO told Capital.
He reminded that the rate that was mentioned on foreign currency was set in 2017 when the Ethio Djibouti Electric Railway system commenced service, “we are saying that the dollar rate was not properly exchanged that is now corrected.”
The COO added that the operation cost is growing due to different reasons including the price hike on petroleum that EDR is using for shunting, which is a process to transfer cargos at loading/unloading sites that are not connected with electricity.
“As far as my knowledge, only one person has complained regarding the latest payment change on foreign currency,” he added.
He argued that the railway consignment rate is still very fair compared with the road transport.
“The road transport for two TEUs is in minimum 120,000 birr that is about 80,000 birr at the railway transport. We have a minimum of 40 percent lower rate than road transports,” he elaborated.
He added that the rate is also lower compared with regional markets, “compared to Kenya, we have at least 15 percent lesser pricing.”
EDR has over 800 customers, who use the line to transport their cargos.
In the ended budget year, EDR said that even thought there is constrain on global cargo schemes it stated that it accomplished the budget year with the best performance in terms of lifting cargos on time and other operations.
Institutionalization of corporate legal service continues to thrive
In the context of a new law enabling the registration and licensing of law firms, a new firm, Aman & Partners LLP is yet another corporate legal service provider that has completed its registration as a de jure law firm obtaining its license from the Ministry of Justice. First founded by Aman Assefa, a reputed corporate lawyer with over two decades of experience, the new firm is established based on a partnership agreement signed between four advocates: Aman Assefa, Bahakal Abate, Ermias Ayalew and Micael Sehul bolstering a combined experience of more than 70 years in the legal profession.
The firm is currently advising on major foreign direct investments in their legal needs across various sectors and industries including telecommunications, infrastructure, healthcare, manufacturing, textile, beverage, fin-tech, media, data protection, acquisitions, corporate governance and many others. In the practice of corporate and commercial law for over two decades, the firm currently employs 20 staff members in total who hold diverse specializations in various fields of law from reputed universities in the USA, UK, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, South Africa and Australia.
Having worked and practiced together in a de-facto partnership since 2017, the team at Aman Assefa & Associates Law Office have had a strong and dependable working relationship and a synergy that is reflected in the recently announced legal awards by IFLR, a law firm rating institution, that awarded the team to be the winner in the “National Firm of the Year” category.
It is also remembered that Bowmans, a reputed Pan-African law firm, had signed an alliance agreement with the founders of Aman & Partners LLP back in 2019. A statement shared by Richard Harney, Senior Partner and founder of the Bowmans Kenya team celebrated the new development by saying “we congratulate the whole team at Aman & Partners LLP on this timely transition into a full-fledged law firm. At Bowmans, we continue to be optimist about the potential of Ethiopia as a vibrant and burgeoning market and are very happy that our alliance partners in Ethiopia are taking this historical step in institutionalizing their high-end corporate legal service in the market.”
Aman who was appointed as the first Managing Partner for Aman & Partners LLP said,“ I am thrilled to witness this historic transition and even more so in anticipation of what our strong and tested track record would mean in continuing to provide increased quality of service to clients and realizing our dream, which was, and still is, establishing a firm that will outlive the founders.” Aman stated this in light of the law which allows establishment of law firms which will help formalize and ensure the continuity of legal partnerships and institutionalization of legal service delivery in Ethiopia.
It is to be recalled that one of the biggest challenges to the legal industry has been lack of appropriate legal framework to institutionalize and guarantee the continuity of legal service to clients. It is not so long ago that the late Teshome Gebremariam’s law office had to close its doors due to the sudden passing away of its founder; alas at a time when law firms did not have the opportunity to institutionalize and register under the relevant legislation at the time.
Since the enactment of the new law, it is recalled that firms such as Habesha Advocates LLP and Mihrteab & Getu Advocates have also been incorporated. In a joint statement from Aman & Partners LLP, the team has emphasized that they will “continue to elevate the standard of legal service delivery in Ethiopia through thought leadership and ensuring dependable and tailored legal service to investors and businesses in Ethiopia.”
