The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) vessel sets a new record on containerized cargo shipment to Berbera Port.
It is recalled that ESLSE’s vessels commenced regular scheduled liner service at the Berbera Port, Somaliland starting from July 2021.
The dock of the Ethiopian vessel was the first after 20 years. Since the commencement of regular operation, the Ethiopian vessels have been providing significant services to customers in the neighboring state.
As per the latest information Capital obtained from Roba Megeresa, CEO of ESLSE, the Jigjiga vessel, one of the 11 vessels ESLSE’s owns, has been docked at Berbera with a record of container consignment.
“Last week, Jigjiga docked at the Berbera Port with 758 Somaliland’s containerized cargos, which is a very huge consignment that was never serviced at the port not only by our flag carriers but also for those who are dominant on the global containerized cargo operation,” Roba explained.
The CEO reminded that his vessels had been transporting about 200 containerized cargos to Somaliland which have now been spiking as he stated, “This has immense meaning for the sector.”
“Our vessels market has widened,” he added.
Experts on the sector stated that operating with containerized shipment has been a lucrative business for the shipping lines.
Since ESLSE expanded its container box possession, it has stated that the operation of containerized cargo has expanded massively.
In the recently concluded budget year, ESLSE has increased its owned container by over three folds to reach 14,000 from about 3,000.
“Containerized cargo shipment is very profitable and has enabled us to change our bulk cargo vessels to operate with containerized cargo consignments,” Roba recently stated highlighting how the possession of boxes have become a game changer not only in serving cargos in Africa but also other new destinations.
Roba said that in related with the conflict between Russia and Ukraine and other factors, bulk ports in India have become congested, “Due to that transporting cargos with containers has become preferable. It is one of the reasons for the increment of containerized cargo which we are now handling.”
Ethiopian vessels have been transporting up to 11,200 metric tons of bulk cargo in a single voyage for the Somaliland market since it reintroduce its operation after two decades.
Jigjiga is a general cargo vessel that was built in 2013 sailing under the flag of Ethiopia with a carrying capacity of 28,084 DWT, which is similar for other general cargo vessels ESLSE operates.
The public enterprise has also two tankers that mostly provide lease services for other operators.
In the 2021/22 budget year, the Ethiopian vessels made a mark on cross trade services amplifying the performance of ESLSE, a sole flag carrier in Africa.
In the budget year, the vessels that were operated by ESLSE were in good condition to carry out cabotage services for cargos in neighboring African ports.
The logistics service provider managed 7.2 million metric tons of import/export cargos in the budget year despite global challenges with some expected incoming cargos having reduced.
In the budget year that ended on July 7, the vessels that were operated by ESLSE were in good condition to carry out cabotage services for cargos in neighboring African ports.
A couple of weeks ago, Roba said that through the cabotage operation scheme, the export cargos from Massawa of Eritrea, and containerized cargo of Djibouti have been transported by ESLSE vessels, besides providing regular service for bulk and containerized import cargos to Somaliland.
The logistics giant has also embarked on an initiative to connect Mombasa (Kenyan port) to other destinations with Ethiopian vessels, and has currently a fleet to other ports in the southeast coasts of African countries like Tanzania and South Africa besides some sort of voyage to western African nations.
The cabotage initiative has allowed the Ethiopian vessels to be a major revenue and hard currency sources for the Ethiopian enterprise.
“The cross trade operation at some point is a good strategy for ESLSE to widen its presence besides a significant hard currency generation for the enterprise,” Roba said.
In the budget year, the vessels that ESLSE operates have contributed to generate 1.8 billion birr, “The vessels have become profitable for the first time.”
“One of the major reasons for the best performance of our vessels was the cross trade,” Roba explained.
ESLSE has also concluded its process to add two more vessels that will be built in two years time once the contract is sealed.
This time around, the vessels will be supramax bulk carriers, which is highly preferable in managing bulk cargo at high volumes in the global market. As a result, there are huge expectations for an upward trend in the coming years, as the logistics giant upgrades from the current ‘Handysize’ general cargo vessels.
ESLSE’s Jigjiga vessel marks new record in containerized cargo
School supplies soar in pricing as New Year dawns
Cost of school supplies touches sky highs as preparation for the new academic year meets most families in tough times.
Shortage of foreign currency, lack of input materials and other factors has in recent times created the increased prices of school supplies.
The market for exercise books and education materials has steadily been on the rise for the past eight years in the stationeries across the country.
There are two kinds of exercise books in the market- the laminated and the non-laminated, with more buyers preferring the laminated ones because of durability, sellers explain. “The price of exercise book is increasing significantly within a short time,” said one seller that Capital spoke to at an Exhibition center recently.
“A few years back, the wholesale price of a single exercise book used to be around 10 birr, while now that narrative has changed to up to 80 birr. Distribution and supply of education materials is limited in the market resulting in the inflated pricing,” the seller further elaborated.
The high cost was created by the shortage of exercise book that came following foreign currency shortages. “It is a little bit harder to find foreign currency from the banks,” said sources from one of the private paper manufacturing companies indicating that some manufacturers are cutting their production and operating below their capacity whilst looking up to government for support.
As Abeba Tamene, head of public relations and communication at the Ministry of Industry said, “The Ministry doesn’t have such in-depth information on the situation. However, the ministry will try to evaluate the case.”
Fortunately, parents do not have to buy text books as the government provides for those who attend public schools. The private school students do buy books for only a little above the price that the schools buy from the government, adding the transportation cost they incur.
Same as exercise books, the price for other school items is higher than ever. Other school items that are in high demand during the holidays are school bags and uniforms. School bags sell for 1000 to 6000 birr at the exhibition.
Another market associated with the coming academic year is the uniform market.
“Our markets boom in between the months of July and September, and we are currently in preparation for this,” one trader explained, signaling that prices in the uniform market still remain high.
Dashen finances new region, inks MOU with Gambella admin
Dashen Bank, one of the biggest and oldest private banks, donates five million birr for the newly established South West Ethiopia region.
According to Asfaw Alemu, President of Dashen, his bank provided its contribution to support the developmental projects of the new region.
“Beyond contributing to expand access to finance in the region, we want to be allies with the people of the region in terms of contribution for developmental activities,” Asfaw said at the handing over ceremony held in Bonga, capital of South West Ethiopia region.
In related developments, Dashen Bank inked a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Gambella regional administration.
As per the bank’s disclosure, it will work to boost business activities in the region as well as support community based projects.
As per the cooperation, Dashen will provide 25 million birr to micro finance institution (MFI) in Gambella and the MFI will disburse the finance for micro and small enterprises at minimal interest rates.
Besides that, it has been stated that the agreement will allow for positive outcomes on the effort that the regional government is working on, in particular, agriculture, housing developments and other economic and social services in the region.
At the signing ceremony held at Gambella city last week, Dashen promised to pledge one million birr to support 100 university students who came from the Gambella region.
At the signing ceremony, Mulugeta Alebachew, Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer at Dashen, said that the bank will accelerate its support to heighten the effort of the regional administration, which works to improve regional development.
World Bank affirms commitment to Ethiopia
IFC buys $160 mln stake in Safaricom Ethiopia
The World Bank Group reassures its commitment to support Ethiopia for the work of betterment of its citizens.
Despite several global partners and international institutions retreating from providing their support due to the conflict in northern Ethiopia, the World Bank has been providing some sort of support for developmental projects in the country; even though some project have faced postponement.
For instance, in the ended budget year, most of the central government inflow loans came from World Bank, while the total new flow was reduced for the second consecutive year unlike the experience in the past.
However, there are some factors that led to the reduction, like the government’s decision to cut commercial loans and approve credits for public enterprises that are on their final stage.
However in a statement that the World Bank issued on September 8, it disclosed that it remains committed to continuing its partnership with Ethiopia for the benefit of all Ethiopians.
It said that multiple conflicts combined with historic drought and other shocks have severely impacted millions of Ethiopians, jeopardizing the economic and social development progress the country has achieved in recent years.
“Consistent with our strategy to remain engaged in situations of conflict and fragility and to support greater resilience of Ethiopia’s people, the World Bank Group remains committed to continuing its partnership with Ethiopia for the benefit of all Ethiopians,” it said.
“Accordingly, the World Bank Group is supporting Ethiopia to address its citizen’s demands for basic human services such as education, food security, health, clean water, livelihood support, women empowerment, social and environmental protection across the country,” the document reads, adding, “Over the past decade, our interventions have helped Ethiopia to make significant progress in key human development indicators: primary school enrollments have quadrupled, child mortality has been cut in half, and the number of people with access to clean water has more than doubled.”
It said that as a development focused organization, the World Bank does not have the mandate to get involved in the internal governance issues of its member states.
Recently on its bulletin to review the country’s debt, the Ministry of Finance disclosed that the total external public sector debt disbursement over the past twelve months (July 1, 2021 – June 30, 2022) was USD 1.087 billion, with approximately 73 percent going to central government projects from various creditors, the majority of which came from International Development Association that means the World Bank, and the remaining 27 percent going to SOEs primarily to Ethiopian Airlines.
In a similar development Safaricom and its partners in the Ethiopian venture will see their combined stake drop by up to 15.5 percent after the International Finance Corporation (IFC) the investment arm of the World Bank announced a plan to purchase $160 million worth of shares in the subsidiary.
Safaricom is the major shareholder in the Ethiopia venture with a stake of 55.7 percent and the entry of IFC as a shareholder could see its ownership drop to below the 50 percent mark, reducing its exposure in the populous nation.
Vodacom Group holds a 6.19 percent share of the business. Sumitomo Corporation and British International Investment (formerly CDC Group) control stakes of 27.2 percent and 10.9 percent respectively in Safaricom Telecommunication Ethiopia Plc (STE)which is the operating arm of the venture.
The partners together paid $850 million towards the license fee according to Business Daily Africa.
