Entrepreneurial Forum for Peace and Development (EFPD) – a forum built on the foundation of engaging the business community in the peace process of the country whilst promoting peace and fostering development across the IGAD region has officially been launched.
On an event held on Monday August 1, 2022 at Sheraton Addis hotel with the presence of president Sahle-Work Zewde, former president Mulatu Teshome and different senior government officials and the business community, as well as representatives of embassies and international organization; the forum has officially kicked off .
The forum is a non-governmental organization headed by former President and Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Mulatu Teshome, and Hailemariam Desalegn and works towards the promotion of peace and development in Ethiopia and gradually to the IGAD region to promote peace and economic growth in the region. Also EFPD is expected to engage in a wide range of activities that will help foster job creation and investment in the region.
“There is no sequencing between peace and development rather there is a nexus between the two,” said President Sahle-Work Zewde in her speech during the ceremony adding that, “We have to work on peace as we have vividly seen how lack of peace can have a downhill turn in the development of a country.”
EFPD Executive Board Chair and former Ethiopian President, Mulatu Teshome said that the private sector was at the receiving end of all the damages caused by the war in the country over the past years.
“The forum, by coordinating the business community, will work to resolve conflicts in Ethiopia and the region through peaceful means, to prevent conflicts from occurring and to carry out rapid rehabilitation after they occur, to continue economic and social development activities on a regular basis,” Mulatu elaborated.
EFPD General Assembly Chairperson, Belayneh Kinde said that the country’s current situation forces the private sector more than any other time to stand for peace.
He added that the business community is committed and determined to actively participate in the government’s efforts to ensure peace and sustainable development.
Leaders push for peace in new forum launch
China: Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan is dangerous and provocative
On August 3, Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made remarks on U.S. violation of China’s sovereignty. Wang said that in disregard of China’s solemn representations, U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi brazenly went ahead with her visit to China’s Taiwan region. This move seriously violates the one-China principle, maliciously infringes on China’s sovereignty and blatantly engages in political provocations, which has aroused strong indignation among the Chinese people and widespread opposition from the international community.
Wang emphasized that it proves once again that some U.S. politicians have become “troublemakers” of China-U.S. relations, and that the United States has become the “biggest destroyer” of peace across the Taiwan Strait and for regional stability. The U.S. should not dream of obstructing China’s reunification. Taiwan is a part of China. The complete reunification of China is the trend of the times and an inevitability of history. China will leave no room for the “Taiwan independence” forces and external interference. Here is the link of his full speech: https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjb_663304/wjbz_663308/activities_663312/202208/t20220803_10732743.html.
And according to the Statement by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of China which is issued at the same day, the Chinese side pointed out that there is but one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable part of China’s territory, and the Government of the People’s Republic of China is the sole legal government representing the whole of China. This has been clearly recognized by United Nations General Assembly Resolution 2758 of 1971. Since the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, 181 countries have established diplomatic relations with China on the basis of the one-China principle. The one-China principle is a universal consensus of the international community and a basic norm in international relations.
It should be reiterated that the position of the Chinese Government and people on the Taiwan question has been consistent. It is the firm commitment of the more than 1.4 billion Chinese people to resolutely safeguard state sovereignty and territorial integrity. It is the common aspiration and sacred responsibility of all Chinese to realize the complete reunification of the motherland. The will of the people is not to be defied, and the trend of the times cannot be reversed. No country, no forces and no individual should ever misestimate the firm resolve, strong will and great capability of the Chinese Government and people to defend state sovereignty and territorial integrity and to achieve national reunification and rejuvenation. China will definitely take all necessary measures to resolutely safeguard its sovereignty and territorial integrity in response to the visit. All the consequences arising therefrom must be borne by the US side and the “Taiwan independence” separatist forces. Here is the link of this full text:
https://www.fmprc.gov.cn/mfa_eng/wjdt_665385/2649_665393/202208/t20220802_10732293.html.
The Chinese side pointed out that China and the U.S. are two major countries. The Taiwan question bears on China’s core interests and is the most important and sensitive issue in China-U.S. relations. The Chinese side strongly urges the US to stop playing the “Taiwan card” and using Taiwan to contain China. It should stop meddling on Taiwan and interfering in China’s internal affairs. It should stop supporting and conniving at “Taiwan independence” separatist forces in any form. It should stop its acts of saying one thing but doing the opposite on the Taiwan question. It should stop distorting, obscuring and hollowing out the one-China principle. It must take credible actions to observe strictly the one-China principle and the provisions of the three China-U.S. Joint Communiqués, deliver on the “five noes” commitment made by the U.S. leadership (i.e. not seek a “new Cold War”; not seek to change China’s system; the revitalization of its alliances is not against China; not support “Taiwan independence”; not look for conflict with China), and not go further down the wrong and dangerous path.
Also, a spokesperson for the NPC (National People’s Congress) Standing Committee of China made remarks on Pelosi’s visit, and stressed that the Anti-Secession Law has made clear stipulations on major issues including upholding the one-China principle, deterring separatist moves toward “Taiwan independence” and opposing interference in the Taiwan question by external forces. And any attempt to obstruct China’s complete reunification and great national rejuvenation is doomed to fail.
African airlines deserve more than lip service
By Kamil Alawadhi
Aviation’s post-pandemic recovery was predicted to be uneven across markets and dependent on financial and economic factors, government policies, and the relaxation of travel restrictions and requirements.
Partly, this was caused by the aviation industry grounding to a halt worldwide in 2020. To stay afloat, airlines, airports, ground handlers, and other services suppliers accumulated debt in various shapes and forms, which they now must repay.
At the same time, across the board, in industry and governments, hundreds of thousands of staff were retrenched, retired, or furloughed to cut costs and preserve cash. Many industry players are now trying to rehire or hire new people, but for various reasons—such as the slow pace of security vetting of new airport-based workers in the United Kingdom—many entities are ill-equipped to take full advantage of the surges in demand that are being seen as markets reopen. Instead, we have entered the surreal, where airlines are forced to cancel thousands of flights. And London-Heathrow, an iconic global hub, has capped traffic at 100,000 passengers a day to prevent operational gridlock.
Traffic flows
Although Africa’s airlines and airports are not experiencing the same chaos as many of the big northern hemisphere gateways, their recovery and sustainability are affected as they are heavily dependent on north-south traffic flows. They are struggling to find a sure footing in the face of numerous other factors facing them too.
For most African carriers, this is an arduous journey with no relief or support from any of the continent’s governments, despite public acknowledgement of the vital social and economic contributions airlines make. And so, those African airlines that have survived COVID are once again being pushed to the brink, with at least one carrier, Comair, going into bankruptcy.
These factors include rising charges for infrastructure and other services, as airports, air navigation service providers, regulatory bodies, and other suppliers look to recoup foregone revenues and cover their inflationary costs.
In some countries, notably Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, and Eritrea, the situation has exacerbated shortages of foreign exchange, prompting central banks to block or severely limit the repatriation of more than $800 million of foreign airlines’ revenues derived from sales in those territories.
On top of this are increasing demands and pressure to invest in and adopt environmentally sustainable technologies and processes.
Fuel prices
By far the biggest headache for every airline is the sharp increase in fuel prices. Even though Africa only accounts for 1.9% of the global air travel market, the continent’s carriers are not immune to this geopolitical shock.
According to IATA’s most recent analysis, the global average jet fuel price in mid-July was $146.4/barrel. At this level, airlines worldwide will incur an extra $134.3 billion to their combined total fuel bill for 2022.
Although fuel prices have come off their June 2022 peak, in Africa, jet kerosene sells at a premium and averaged $160.63/barrel for the first ten days of July. This was 79.8% higher than it had been over the same period last year.
To put this in perspective, aviation fuel historically accounted for between 20%– 25% of most African airlines’ cost base. Today, it can be as much as half, if not more, and is their biggest single line item. Although airlines are trying to mitigate the combined impact of jet fuel prices and other inflationary costs, they are running out of headroom.
Jet fuel usually trades at a $20 premium over crude oil, but this gap has widened to more than $50 since March.
This compounds the challenge many African carriers face. They generate most of their revenues in weaker home currencies but incur their input costs, often including fuel, in US dollars and euros. Every time the dollar price of fuel goes up or the dollar strengthens against softer local currencies, the revenue-cost gap widens.
It may seem incongruous that jet fuel in Africa, which boasts several oil-producing nations, should sell at such a premium. A large component of the additional cost relates to transport and logistics. Because jet fuel is no longer refined in Africa, it must be imported, shipped by sea, and transported from harbors to inland storage depots and airports, often far from the coast. In some places, it is carried by rail or pipeline, but for the most part, it is transported by road.
In addition to the logistics and associated costs, recent events, such as the trucking blockades on South Africa’s motorway between Durban and Johannesburg and the floods that swept away sections of the rail tracks linking the two cities underscored the vulnerability of these supply lines.
The floods around Durban triggered a jet fuel supply crisis at Johannesburg’s O.R. Tambo International Airport, which is unlikely to be resolved before Q4 this year. At its onset, this caused some airlines to cancel flights, with others incurring additional expenses as they diverted flights to refuel at other airports or carried extra fuel (if they could do so). Recently, pressure on fuel supplies intensified with the National Refinery (NATREF) in South Africa shutting down. It operates the dedicated jet fuel pipeline to the airport.
Political will
With so much of Africa’s fortunes dependent on safe, efficient, and affordable air transport, the sustainability of its airlines—both state and privately owned—is crucial. It is time for governments to do more than pay lip service.
The industry does not require state bailouts. Relief from rising statutory charges and taxes on fuel and aviation would be far more effective. The release of blocked funds is crucial, as is the guarantee of secure, reliable, and efficient fuel supplies. Lifting caps on foreign investment and equity in African airlines would also bring much-needed liquidity.
At an intra-Africa level, the biggest and most achievable wins require all African governments to demonstrate their political will by removing the barriers to market entry and ensuring fair and equal treatment for all carriers in each market. This is the basis for the African Union’s Single Africa Air Transport Market (SAATM). Africa’s leaders have been talking about it and signing solemn undertakings since 1988. Having talked the talk, now it is time to walk the walk!
Kamil Alawadhi is the Regional Vice President, Africa & Middle East at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IATA is the global air transport industry body. It’s membership comprises 290 airlines in 120 countries, representing 83 percent of all scheduled airline and air cargo traffic worldwide.
CBE sifts high profits despite turbulent economy
The state financial giant, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), continues on its astonishing performance stride for the second consecutive year by surpassing targets despite the challenging economic hurdles faced in the past budget year.
For the financial year that closed June 30, 2022, the financial enterprise disclosed that the gross profit it earned surpassed set targets, in addition to its total asset surpassing over a trillion birr.
According to Teklewold Atnafu, Board Chair of CBE, the ended year was very difficult and was accompanied by several and huge challenges, “the problem is not of CBE or the banking industry or of the Ethiopian economy, but these are global economic challenges that have a ripple effect on us as well, and which sadly are still ongoing.”
He reminded the price spike on food items, petroleum, fertilizer and other commodities in the global market, and adding that reduction of aid and external loans and internal factors like conflict in the north, drought and other natural disasters in the south and other places had huge effect on the economy.
“Despite pressures from external and internal sources in the economy, we were able to register 6.6 percent growth, which I believe within the financial sector is a positive stride in the right direction,” he added.
Abie Sano, President of CBE, said that even though the financial year was full of problems; his bank was able to attain success in comparison to the preceding year surpassing its set targets for the 2021/22 financial year.
For the 2021/22 financial year, CBE targeted to mobilize an additional 112.8 billion birr in deposits and of it 110.6 billion birr was from the private sector depositors.
“The actual add up on the deposit mobilization was 154.9 billion birr which is 137 percent of the target and 11 percent higher compared with the preceding year,” Abie highlighted.
The private sector contribution for the fresh deposit mobilization was 105.6 billion birr placing the private sector saving position to 655.4 billion birr from the total deposits to stand at 74 percent share.
As of June 30, CBE’s deposit mobilization had reached 890.1 billion birr increasing by 21 percent from 735.2 billion birr of June 30, 2021.
Regarding repossessing of loans and advances that was given in the previous period, the bank targeted to collect 121.6 billion birr, and achieved a sum of 120.6 billion birr which is 102.5 percent higher in comparison to similar period of the 2020/21 fiscal year.
In the budget year under review, the fresh disbursed loan and advances was 179.2 billion birr which showed an increment of 67.6 billion birr compared with the same period of 2020/21 financial year.
According to Abei, the loan that was provided for the private sector was 34 billion birr.
In the year, the foreign currency earnings were USD 2.6 billion of that USD 2.2 billion was secured from remittance. According to the President, the hard currency earnings attained 89.2 percent of the target and were almost similar to that of the previous year.
The bank also provided USD 7.7 billion for import, of that, USD 1.4 billion was for the private sector and USD 995 million for fertilizer import.
“The foreign currency that was supplied for the year had an increment of over 42 percent compared with the same period of last year,” the President said, during the opening session at the annual performance evaluation event held at the newly built CBE HQ skyscraper.
Regarding profit, the bank secured 27.5 billion birr which is 16.3 percent higher than the projection set and 43.9 percent higher from the preceding year.
Similarly, the financial giant’s asset has risen to 1.2 trillion birr from 991.3 billion birr a year ago.
The bank that manages 1,824 branches has 35.9 million deposit accounts of that five million account holders are interest free banking service clients.
