Within the framework of the celebration of the 125 years of corporation between Ethiopia and France, the Ethiopian Heritage Authority, the National Museum of Ethiopia, the French embassy in Ethiopia together with the French center for Ethiopian studies inaugurate a historical archaeology permanent exhibition hosted at the national museum.
The inauguration ceremony which was held on September 29, 2022 was attended by president Sahle-work Zewde, Nasise Chali, Minister of Tourism, and Rémi Maréchaux, Ambassador of France to Ethiopia.

The gallery for historical archaeology collections of the national museum has been renovated as per the Franco-Ethiopian bilateral corporations for heritage enhancement implemented by the presidency of the French republic and the Ethiopian Prime Minister.
Indicating the long relationship between the two countries, president Sahle-work appreciate the support of the French government to protect the historical heritage of Ethiopia.
Whilst speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Amb. Rémi Maréchaux indicated that the exhibition show cases archaeological heritages from all parts of Ethiopia which put in to light the life and cultures of the past society from the antique period to the medieval times.

The Public Procurement and Property Authority (PPPA), through its recently introduced modern public procurement platform, Electronic Government Procurement (eGP), is preparing to knit its system with tele birr for its modern payment system of the public procurement venture. The authority has now called upon all suppliers to register to its eGP platform so as to be part of the public procurement.
PPPA announced that the new system which was introduced about a year ago through a pilot of nine public offices is now facilitating the procurement of 73 central government offices and is now working with Ethio Telecom to integrate telebirr with eGP to provide an alternative payment system for the public procurement proceed.
So far, the eGP system has been integrated with banks for payment.
According to Abebe Alemu, Communication Specialist at eGP Project Office, the integration works are being carried out between the two systems for its clients to use telebirr as an e-payment instrument for public procurements.
According to Abebe, in the near future, a memorandum of understanding between the two parties will be signed to realize the operation.
One of the major goals of emplacing eGP on public procurement is to insure transparency and to uplift the benefit of the public. In this regard, using telebirr would have significant opportunities, as Haji Ibsa, Director General of PPPA explains.
He emphasized that using the telebirr platform would increase credibility in the procurement and transaction of goods, services or works for public purchase.
Telebirr which officially commenced operation in the first half of 2021 as a business arm of the state owned telecom giant for its mobile money service has garnered over 24 million customers with over 65 billion birr in transactions.
The integration with eGP will be a new big lucrative advantage for telebirr business since the major portion of government’s budget is spent on procurement.
So far the procurement platform is handling 73 public offices as of April, 2022 and is expected to jump to 125 by the end of the budget year from the total 169 public offices accountable to the central government.
The others that are mostly higher education institutions will be part of the eGP in the process and the next phase will be setting up offices for regional administration.
So far, for those included on the new platform, carrying out procurements through eGP is believed on average to reduce 50 percent of the procurement transaction costs.
The Authority has also disclosed that suppliers who want to be part of the bidding or procurement scheme with public offices ought to register on the portal online.
Haji said that there are 44,000 local and foreign suppliers that are registered on the PPPA system, while as from December 10, only suppliers registered under the eGP system will be allowed involvement on the procurement system for public offices that are registered on the platform.

He called suppliers to register within the given timeframe so as to be active through the modern procurement mechanism.
As per the information that PPPA disclosed, at the current stage about 3,000 suppliers have registered on the eGP platform.
To expand the number of suppliers who are registered on the system, the authority is undertaking different awareness schemes.
For instance it is facilitating an event that will gather at least 1,000 suppliers to speak about the eGP system so as to attract suppliers to be part of the system.
Abebe said that the event that will gather huge crowds is expected to be held on November 8, “different suppliers will attend the session which will help them to get information about the modern electronic scheme and to be involved in it.”
eGP refers to the use of digital technologies to enable a more efficient and transparent exchange of information, and interactions and transactions between government and the business community in the procurement of goods, services and works. E-GP automates and streamlines the end-to-end public procurement process from the preparation and publication of annual procurement plans, managing the various tendering activities, and administration of contracts.
On the way to modernize the government procurement with eGP lack of willingness to perform procurement operation via the new platform, lack of commitment from the leadership at public offices and low human resource and infrastructure have been a challenge besides limited awareness about the system among the business entities.
In Ethiopia up to 70 percent of government’s annual budget is allocated to public procurement, while public procurement takes up 14 percent of the GDP.

BRUH Finance launches its service to provide; trainings, workshops, and leadership programs with the aim to expand a range of skilled manpower in the financial sector. BRUH in collaboration with the Association of Ethiopian Insurers and the Chartered Insurance Institute also launched a chartered insurance institute and education program in Ethiopia as part of its service.
The launching ceremony which was held on Thursday September 29, 2022 at the Hub hotel was attended by senior management officers of insurance companies.
“There is a big skills gap and shortage of trained human power in the financial sector,” said Getachew Beshahwred, General Manager of BRUH Finance and Managing Director of GB & Co. Chartered Accountants and Management Consultants based in London.
“There are plans for significant changes to the marketplace with the prospect of foreign banks and insurance companies being granted licenses in addition to the establishment of a Stock Exchange. Thus the coming two years would pose a great opportunity and threat to the Ethiopian financial sector, and only those who have done extensive preparations will survive the competition. Of course, human capital is at the heart of staying competitive,” Getachew emphasized.
To improve lack of skills and trained human power problems, BRUH has come up with the idea of launching a chartered insurance institute and an education program in Ethiopia.
“BRUH Finance will ease the skill gap, particularly in a time when we need to hasten the knowledge expansion in a bid to be competitive with international financial institutions, which are going to join the local financial market,” Getachew highlighted whilst pointing out that the new initiative will provide various education and training schemes in certificate, Diploma, Advanced Diploma and Chartered programs, to junior, middle and senior levels managers.
“It is widely expected that foreign banks and insurers will be allowed into Ethiopia in the coming few years. There is need for local banks and insurances to improve their capacity to deal with this new competition as they need high investment in human capital,” Getachew underlined.
As Getachew indicates, BRUH Finance has both local and international partners. Its international partners are the Chartered Institute for Securities and Investment, Chartered Insurance Institute, London Institute of Banking and Finance, and the London International School of Finance. The Association of Ethiopian Insurers and the Ethiopian Bankers Association also form as its local partners.
As Getachew elaborates, the programme combines international best practice with local contextualization to ensure relevance. The faculty includes qualified and experienced insurance and management personnel including former Board members of major international insurance companies. It will also provide a unique opportunity to connect with the London ecosystem through various networking events. Delegates will be provided with a Certificate and a study guide that summarizes key learning points together with recommendations.
As experts stressed, the global insurance sector is going through a period of rapid transformation driven by mega trends of digitalization and sustainability. It has also been significantly impacted by major events such as the pandemic and geopolitical events. In this environment for insurers to prosper, good governance and sound risk management to ensure resilience is noted as a base requirement. This also needs to be allied with strategic foresight to be responsive to new market opportunities.
Beside the insurance sector, BRUH is working to come up with two more programs for international trade and finance and banking qualification programs as well as capital market qualification programs in partnership with the London Institute of Banking and Finance and the Chartered Institute for Security and Investment in London.