Since fighting erupted between the army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) in April 2023, at least 28 reporters have been killed, according to Sudan’s journalist union. Dozens more have been detained and tortured, while many have been displaced and cut off from electricity, water and internet…According to Reporters Without Borders, since the start of the war more than 400 journalists have fled the country…Yet some remain on the ground, working in secret with nothing to their name…In the North Darfur town of Tawila, where the UN says 180,000 survivors of nearby RSF attacks are sheltering, 30-year-old photojournalist Ibrahim works undercover to report on those trapped between famine and brutal violence…Last July, RSF fighters detained him in El-Fasher and accused him of being an army spy. He said they tortured him for five days and confiscated his equipment, documents and money. Since then, he has sent his family out of Darfur and relocated to Tawila, leaving his cameras behind. His mobile phone is all he has left…Still, Ibrahim continues, turning a coffee shop in Tawila — powered by a single public solar panel — into a makeshift newsroom. “Who else will tell the world what’s happening in Darfur if we leave?” he told AFP… “No one else will tell these stories. No one can imagine the atrocities happening here.” (AFP)
Nominal
Nominal is a common financial term with several different meanings. In the first, it means very small or far below the real value or cost. In finance, this adjective modifies words such as a fee or charge. A nominal fee is below the price of the service provided or presumably easy for a consumer to afford, or a fee that is small enough that it does not have any meaningful impact on one’s finances. Nominal may also refer to a rate that’s been unadjusted for inflation.
About wages
How much do you pay your workers? Do you think you pay too much? Or do you pay according to what you can afford? Do you pay what is average in your sector? Do you pay by a monthly salary or individual incentive pay scheme? Do you cut down on wages when the company is going through a difficult time? These are issues that you as the business owner or manager must take decisions on and cannot afford to delegate to others. Pay matters are very important indeed. Today we will look into some issues related to pay, that matter to the success of your company.
Let us have a look at two similar companies, which operate in the same sector, furniture for instance. Company A has 100 workers, with a salary of Birr 5000 per month. Company B also has 100 workers and pays them 6000 Birr per month. Company B’s productivity is 25% higher than company A. Secondary benefits are the same for both companies. Which company will have higher labour costs, company A or B? It is tempting to conclude that company B’s labour costs are higher but is that really so? While company A produces 1000 chairs per month, company B produces 1250 chairs. In relation to the labour rates, the chair costs 500 Birr each for company A and 480 Birr for company B. With a selling price of 800 Birr per chair, the return for company A will be 300,000 Birr, while company B will earn 400,000 Birr. Taking away overhead and other production costs of say 200,000 Birr, the profit for company A will be 100,000 Birr and for company B it will be 200,000 Birr. In other words, with a 20% higher pay and 25% higher production, company B makes double the profit than company A. It could even afford to pay its workers still more. Paying workers less may cost the company instead.
Suppose your company is struggling and your profits are going down. You need to take measures. You decide to let your production manager go. After all he is expensive with a salary of 25,000 Birr per month, and you replace him with a younger and cheaper production manager at 10,000 Birr per month. You expect that your costs will go down, but the opposite may happen instead, because the new production manager is less experienced, slower, and less capable. The paradox is that as a result your costs have increased by cutting on salary costs! So don’t confuse wages with production costs and realise that the wages may not represent that much a portion of your total production costs, as you may think. Check your accounts and analyse your figures.
It is often thought that low wages present a competitive advantage. One reason why foreign companies invest in countries like Ethiopia, is that the labour rates are relatively low. Cutting down on wages is tempting but there are more effective ways to compete, like quality, service, delivery, and innovation. In reality, low labour rates are an ineffective way to compete.
Another misunderstanding is that individual pay schemes, based on performance are the most effective way to motivate workers to be more productive. While this is certainly so for certain jobs, individual pay schemes may negatively affect teamwork. So, where you want people to work together, such payment schemes may result in the opposite. With individual pay schemes there is also the danger of fraud with workers carrying out services that are not really necessary to boost their production figures. Salespeople may become aggressive in their approach to customers, eager to boost their sales, chasing them away instead. Individual pay schemes absorb a considerable amount of management time and resources. They certainly have their value and place, but management needs to carefully consider the purpose and kind of jobs it will be used for. Group or team-oriented pay can be effective instead, resulting in cooperation among workers and peer pressure to perform.
In conclusion I suggest that managers who are trying to improve performance of their workers or who want to solve organizational problems by using pay as the only tool will get disappointed by the result. Not much may happen while in fact they will spend a lot of money instead.
People want more than money alone for their work. They seek an enjoyable work environment, also in Ethiopia. Workers will look for another job if that is not what they find in your company. Many business owners and managers think too much about wages, when other management tools work just as well, or even better.
Finally, be careful in recruitment. If somebody joins your company for money alone, he will also leave for money. It is therefore important to retain workers by making sure they like the work, the people, and the way the company is managed. Not the money, which every company can offer. Emphasizing pay as the primary reward encourages people to come and to stay for the wrong reasons. Make sure that workers are not stuck into working in a company where they don’t want to be simply for the money. Make sure also that the messages sent by the way you pay workers are intended. For example, talking about teamwork and cooperation and then not having a group-based component in the pay system but individual pay schemes instead is contradictory and indicates what the company believes is really important.
Ton Haverkort
Ethiopian Flower Supply Chain Predicament
” Will Ocean Fright Substitute Air Cargo? “
After successful sea trial shipment of flower to Europe in Dec 2023, Ethiopian Flower producing and exporting companies demonstrated their commitments to intensify blossom exports through sea transport option.
In mid-April 15, 2025, 20 palleted flower constituting 188,000 stem or 5382kg of summer and rose flower was consolidated by four companies, in refrigerated truck in Beshofetu town , and loaded on the vessel in Djibouti and left Jedda, Saudi Arabia. Once it arrives in Jedda it will be laden on ship by Mediterranean Shipping Company and sail to Spain, specifically to Valencia. The current trend in flower transportation focus on sustainability including the global warming, food safety fuel price, with a growing emphasis on ocean fright.
Today environmental risks are prompting countries to adopt improved practices through various strategies. These include adoption of alternative transportation modality, promotion of innovative cool chain management, implementing green initiatives, and fostering collaboration between exporters, governments, service providers and other stakeholders. As flower importing countries become increasingly aware of environmental and global market turmoil , flower farm operators, logistics service providers and inputs suppliers are adapting best transport option to ensure a greener future. The cut flower industry, which traditionally had a significant environmental footmark, is embracing more sustainable practices at every stage, from cultivation to delivery. Sea fright is now considered as the most viable options for addressing multiple challenge faced by floriculture industry.
Very recently Ethiopian floriculture industry is constrained by the occurrence of quarantine pest on its flower shipments. The False Codling Moth, a pest that could damage to fruits and vegetables, leading to economic losses in the citrus and other agricultural industries is a major concern for European flower imports, particularly from East African Nations. The European Union has increased inspections of flower shipments, especially rose exports, from Ethiopia, due to the risk of false coding moth infestation. This concern has led to increased inspection rates which has a profound consequence on trade restriction to Ethiopia.
Today sea frights have been considered as a viable means to manage false coding moth. The False Codling Moth is not well-adapted to low temperatures for extended periods and believed to slay all stages of pest’s life cycle. Exposure of flower to stable temperatures below 2 degrees centigrade with specific humidity level for extended periods could only work if flower is transported by sea. Extended transit time and prolonged journey typically lasting 3-4 weeks create an ideal condition to kill the egg of the pests. By contrast very short transit time and quick journey of flower by air cargo could not give a chance or an opportunity to control this quarantine pest. Due to this reason some farms gradually believed that ocean fright is beneficial for mitigation false codling moth .
There is also a growing concern on flower carbon foot print among European flower retail shops who are the major buyers of Ethiopia blossom, the concern surrounding flowers’ carbon footprint primarily stems from the air transport energy-intensive practice. The European Union is deeply anxious about reducing its carbon footprint and achieving climate neutrality. The EU has set ambitious targets for emissions reduction, including a legally binding target to reduce net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030 and achieve net-zero emissions by 2050.which is regarded as big risk for growers who export their flower product through plane.
Many research in logistics field reveal that air freight can have a carbon footprint that’s something around 10 to 50 times higher than sea freight for the same amount of cargo over the same distance. Airplanes burn a ton of jet fuel to stay in the air and move quickly. This results in a much higher carbon footprint per ton of flowers. Unlike Vessel, airplanes use jet fuel, which is more refined and contributes significantly to carbon dioxide emissions. By contrast Sea freight has lower toxic and carbon dioxide Emissions, Ships can carry massive amounts of cargo in trip. While they do burn fuel, the number of emissions per ton is significantly lower compared to airplanes.
Thus, ocean fright is considered as more advantageous than air fright. Ships are much slower, which means longer transit times. But this slower pace is what makes them more fuel-efficient. They’re like the tortoises of the transportation world. Ships use heavy fuel oil, which is cheaper but also dirtier. However, even with the dirtier fuel, the sheer volume of goods they carry makes the per-unit carbon footprint lower.
The other concern and frustration is fuel Price of existing transport options. As the price of fuel increase there is a natural tendency to increate tariffs and surcharge to cover those extra expenses. Ships often use heavy a thick, sludgy, and relatively inexpensive type o fuel, that’s left over after the refining process of crude oil. It’s not the cleanest less refined and readily available fuel. The lower cost of fuel contributes to the overall lower operating costs. By contrast cargo /Airplanes use jet fuel, which is a highly refined form of kerosene. Jet fuel is significantly more expensive than heavy fuel oil. This higher fuel cost is a major factor in the overall higher cost of air freight. Thus, using ocean transport is much cheaper than air transport Since the fright cost of sea transport greatly less than Air cargo charge, exporters who prefer ocean fright are more advantageous than exporters who prefer air transport. Although Air Fright takes less time there can be enormous temperature peaks during the journey which can negatively influence flower, By contrast sea transport the temperature remains stable and the flowers remain dormant.
Sea fright has another feature. one largest cargo ship in the world that can carry 24,346 twenty-foot equivalent units of cargo. Inother word, the ship can carry 24,346 20-foot containers. Each standard 20-foot container has 1,172 cubic feet of volume.
The capacity of air freight is just a fraction of this. The Boeing 747 is one of the largest aircraft in the world. When you configure this plane as a freighter, it can hold only about 26,000 cubic feet of cargo. So, if you are transporting bulky or heavy items, it is better to pick sea freight. This rule is also applicable to large-scale shipments.
Nevertheless, both sea freight and air freight come with their own set of restrictions. The extent of limitations can also vary depending on factors like cargo type, regulations, and destination. However, if you compare in terms of overall flexibility, sea freight seems to have an edge here.
Air freight tends to have a lot more restrictions when compared to sea freight. Not talking only about the stringent security measures at airports or weight limitations set by air cargo carriers. Restrictions on flower filler materials are also pretty common in air transport. Sea freight is generally more accommodating in terms of the types of cargo it can handle. on the whole, the more stringent rules posed by air freight make sea freight a more versatile option for loading. The choice between sea freight and air freight ultimately boils down to a delicate balance of priorities.
Generally, sea frights transport option has been considered by many as a feasible mean to control pest like false codling moth, cheap means of transportation, very low carbon foot print, bulk transport advantage.
However, it doesn’t matter which channel we choose, navigating the complex landscape of global logistics is not easy. We need to stay constantly informed and make data-driven decisions. This is where Freight, a cutting-edge freight tech platform, emerges as a game-changer. It offers real-time insights into sea freight and air freight rates and ensures that you are always one step ahead of your shipment, whether it is information about its cost, schedules or charges.
Mekonnen Solomon is a Horticulture Export Coordinator at Ministry of Agriculture and can be reached via ehdaplan@gmail.com
