Ethio-Djibouti Railway (EDR) embarks on an eco friendly vehicle cargo transporting operation. In a single voyage the company which is jointly owned by Ethiopia and Djibouti has the capacity to move 240 vehicles to the centre.
In the past few months relevant offices and logistics companies of the two countries have been working to introduce vehicle freights through the cross country electrified railway system.
“The new initiative will save energy and cargos will be transported in bulk in less than 20 hours. This is great progress since vehicles transported via trucks take at least four days, in addition to the huge fuel consumption,” Abdi Zenebe, CEO of EDR said, adding, “Most importantly, the new service apart from saving time is environmentally friendly.”
EDR has 20 wagons that can transport about 240 vehicles in a single fleet. According to the CEO, a single wagon can carry up to 14 vehicles and the number depends on the size of the vehicles.
Although dependent on the size of the cargo cars, the vehicles shipment capacity of EDR on average is about 24 folds of car carrier trucks on its single fleet.
In the ended budget year, the joint company registered a marvelous achievement despite constrains on the logistics sector.
For instance, according to the CEO, from the total coffee consignment in the 2021/22 budget year, 98 percent have been stuffed and shipped through the EDR line.
“Containerizing the commodity locally has allowed the country to save USD 2.07 million in foreign currency besides job creation in the stuffing operation,” he explained.
If the commodities were to be stuffed outside the country, which is mostly done at the port area, it may cost USD 108 per container.
Compared with the preceding year in terms of incoming containers, export containers, and bulk cargo, the company handling capacity has increased by 42, 56 and 9 percent respectively.
The railway system that has a capacity to move massive cargos in a single fleet plays a crucial role to reduce freight expense. Regarding this, Abdi said that the company contributed to save up to 54 percent cost in the import export activity.
In the year, EDR has handled 14,570 TEU and 56,781 TEU export and import containers in addition to 1,465,900 quintal bulk cargo.
“The railway mass freight transportation has saved 939 million birr which could have been spent if cargos were transported through trucks,” the CEO explained.
Through centric focus on the containerization and stuffing, the EDR has expanded the export commodity local stuffing capacity to 62 percent from 48 percent of the preceding year.
“Through modernizing the logistics handling as a nation, the country has saved 2.4 billion birr and of that almost half of it is our contribution,” Abdi explained.
In the year, EDR has also supported the export sector by supplying empty containers for export commodities mainly for coffee consignment at half price.
The CEO told Capital that in the budget year, the company has transported 50 million liters of edible oil from Djibouti.
“We have been engaged with CCECC Djibouti to diversify the operation and through the bulk cargo containerization agreement, we have 500 containers that allow us to transport bulk cargos with containers besides box wagons,” the CEO concluded.
Ethio-Djibouti Railway becomes a game-changer
Sustaining Ethiopia’s peace and stability
The Ethiopian civil society organization council holds a consultative dialogue with political parties on the importance of national dialogue in supporting peace and stability in the nation.
The forum was organized by the Council of Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations and the Ethiopian Political Parties Joint Council. It is recalled that the councils recently signed a memorandum of understanding in June to work together on current national issues.
Speaking on the forum, the Director General of the Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations Council Henok Melesse, emphasized that civil society organizations have an important role to play in keeping a close watch on the issues of the society and influencing the relevant
key stakeholders. He added, “Since the development of transparent and inclusive dialogue cultures is widely supporting our efforts to achieve peace, I call on all of us to develop this experience.”
Members of various political parties including the ruling party, members of the National Consultative Commission and representatives of various civil society organizations participated in the joint forum.
Participants mentioned that the active involvement of the two parties in the National Dialogue could play a key role in helping the nation to overcome challenges. As the objective of the National Dialogue is bringing sustainable peace and stability in the country, the councils are expected to effectively discharge their respective responsibilities and create fertile ground for the success of the deliberation.
“Puagmen le Tena”, Wudassie offers free diagnostic services
Wudassie Diagnostic Center has announced that it has prepared to give free test examination services to Ethiopians who cannot afford to pay under the annual program, “Puagmen le Tena”.
In a press conference held on Tuesday August 23, 2022, Dawit Hailu, owner and managing director of Wudassie, said, “The Puagmen for Health free diagnostic service program has continued without interruption for the last 12 years and has helped more than 45,000 people.”
Wudassie was established 13 years ago, in 2009. As indicated during the press conference, the Center has announced that it has started registration through its phone numbers and the managing director assured that the examination will be given to those who have the appropriate doctor’s papers and who are unable to pay. As stated by Dawit, the tests include MRI, CT scan, ultrasound and laboratory tests.
As Dawit also mentioned, the ‘Puagme for health’ as customary is held in a special way for health check-ups, but in addition the Center has a system of also providing support to the needy people throughout the year; especially those who are residents of Arada sub-city where the Center is located.
MassDel set to transform freight transport
A modern freight platform called ‘MassDel Technology’ joins the market with an aim to bolster the transport sector.
“MassDel is a platform that facilitates bookings between shippers that need to transport goods, and carriers with available loads. Contrary to traditional freight brokers that still rely on manual processes such as telephone, email or personal contacts, MassDel utilizes software to automatically match shippers and carriers,” explained Tewabe Yilak, MassDel’s Digital Technology General Manager.
“We have started our operation in Addis Ababa and plan to serve other larger cities in Ethiopia and abroad,” he further said.
The system will cover areas where the existing vehicles have not been addressed via applying digital technology and offering more transparent, convenient and efficient services via breaking constraints created in due course of service delivery.
“The system is said to enhance productivity of freight transport vehicles through reducing information asymmetry between carriers and shippers, and provides customers with fast, affordable and secured delivery,” Tewabe remarked whilst highlighting the merits of the platform.
Speaking at the launching ceremony, the Innovation and Technology State Minister, Huria Ali stated that this type of digital platform or electronics has shown growth in the nation for the last two years.
