Full implementation of realizing the Single African Air Transport Market (SAATM) across the continent would generate significant economic benefits for Ethiopia by creating 21,000 new jobs and adding USD 81.8 million to the GDP, states the International Air transport Association /IATA/.
“SAATM is the solution to unlocking travel within the African continent and in the post-pandemic it will provide an even more important economic boost to the continent,” said Kamil Alawadhi, IATA’s Regional Vice President for Africa and Middle East during his visit to Ethiopia. Kamil also added that the air liberalization allows new carrier to enter the market and existing carriers to better respond to demand, resulting in lower fares for passengers. Moreover, this will enhance air connectivity and more travellers will be able to access air service.
During his three days stay, the vice president visited Ethiopian airlines – seeing its day to day activities, met with the management team of Ethiopian airlines and with the ministry of finance and the ministry of transport.
“We congratulate Ethiopia for the positive steps it has taken to promote travel and air service connectivity throughout the pandemic. This includes accepting vaccinated travellers without restrictions, managing the cost of PCR testing to ensure it is affordable and implementing a testing regime which accepts both PCR and rapid antigen tests. These measures should put Ethiopia on a faster track to recovery, not just for air transport but across the economy,” said Kamil.
Even though Ethiopia is performing above the African continent’s average demand for air transport services and has made progress in the recovery, IATA) called on the government of Ethiopia to continue its focus on maintaining efficient air connectivity amid the COVID-19 crisis. “This will place Ethiopia in a strong position to weather the crisis and speed up the eventual industry and economic recovery,” said the vice president.
According to the assessment of IATA, allowing the full liberalization of all inter Africa air market could increase the overall GDP by 0.09 present /81.8 million dollars/, increasing the traffic by 42 per cent.
According to IATA, passenger traffic to, from and within Ethiopia in June 2021 was 30% less than in June 2019, a significant improvement on the 47% drop for January 2021 compared to January 2019. Ethiopia’s June performance was well ahead of the -66.6% (compared to 2019) recorded for the African continent. Passenger demand however is expected to recover to pre-COVID levels by 2023 stated the association.
As part of its key priorities to support and sustain a recovery, IATA argues to strength: Digitalization of health certificates to avoid queuing and crowding airports, and equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines.
“Nations, governments, politicians, and business must cooperate through COVAX so that everyone gets access to the vaccines they require, no matter where they are,” said Alawadhi.
Besides that, the vice president argues for the ‘Releasing of Blocked Funds’ for better growth of the aviation industry, “Approximately $59 million (as of August) in airline funds are being blocked from repatriation in Ethiopia,” said Alawadhi, adding, “Resolving this quickly is critical for airlines to continue providing connectivity needed to sustain jobs and energize economies as they recover from COVID-19.”
Apart from the lack of equitable distribution and vaccination rates across Africa, the continent and its people are vulnerable and the economic recovery from COVID-19 is at risk. Moreover, with more countries lifting travel restrictions for those vaccinated, the freedom of movement will be limited until vaccines are universally available. With less than 1% of Ethiopia’s population fully vaccinated, the challenge is particularly acute.
Unlocking travel in Africa
CR2 Continues to Transform Digital Banking in Africa
For over two decades, CR2 (www.CR2.com) has been at the forefront of digital banking and payments innovation across Africa that continues to generate significant positive societal impact. By several estimates—including The Global Findex Database the continent is home to the largest percentage of the world’s unbanked population, with a sizable number of underbanked SMEs and consumers. Working with over 60 banks in 35 countries (that serve a combined customer base of over 100 million in Africa alone), CR2 is empowering financial institutions to connect Africans in urban and remote areas with digital banking solutions that expand opportunity and improve everyday life. African banks utilize our digital banking platform to create products that connect SMEs with business enabling financial services and consumers to more convenient money transfer options.
The African continent is a diverse environment made up of 1.2 billion people and 54 countries, each with its own cultural and economic nuances. CR2’s knowledge and experience in individual markets ensures that our financial partners can tailor banking solutions and payments technologies that align with local needs and serve a diverse range of constituents— from small merchants to unbanked and underbanked individuals. The end result is greater financial inclusion in Africa for SMEs, consumers and women entrepreneurs. Here are some examples of CR2’s work across the continent.
Everyday convenience
In 2018, Ethiopia’s Dashen Bank and Addis Ababa based Fintech Moneta Technologies selected CR2’s digital banking platform to launch the Amole digital wallet for Ethiopia—home to Africa’s seventh largest economy and second largest population. Since its launch, Amole has opened up the ability for millions of Ethiopians to conveniently transact a diverse range of payments and services entirely online. These include buying airline tickets from Ethiopian Airlines, making retail and government payments, accessing e-commerce, acquiring concert tickets, utilising taxihailing services, topping up mobile phones, paying children’s school fees and school lunches and settling DSTV bills. Amole also expanded payment and money transfer options to include Person-to-Person (P2P), QR codes and card payments (gifts, prepaid).
Today, Amole is playing a significant role in moving Ethiopia towards a cashless society. Transactional volume on the digital platform has already surpassed retail card transactions and Amole is used as the payment method for over 50% of DSTV payments across the country. Using the power of seamless digital finance, Amole has positively impacted millions in Ethiopia by delivering the safety and convenience to make payments online and on demand, without the need to travel great distances to withdraw or deposit cash or make payments in person.
The digital wallet is also a major driver of financial inclusion in Ethiopia, where only 24% of the population is banked. CR2’s collaboration with Dashen Bank has provided the financial institution the means to offer a larger portion of the East African country’s people with fast and easy access to banking services that were previously not accessible.
Supporting Africa’s robust remittance markets
Tens of millions of Africans live and work outside of their home country, either in other African countries or further afield. The ability to send money home safely and conveniently is essential for these citizens abroad, as they support families in their home countries. This also applies to many who leave rural communities to work in Africa’s large cities and need to send money home regularly, but not at a high cost.
For over twenty years, CR2 has pioneered a money transfer solution, that provides remote workers the ability to easily transfer funds home to family who may not have a bank account or ability to receive payments. The sender simply sends the recipient a PIN that can be used to redeem cash at the nearest ATM. This powerful money transfer service targets the unbanked and underbanked communities and is far cheaper than traditional money transfer services. The service can then be extended to offer the cash recipient the opportunity to open a bank account, supporting financial inclusion mandates and facilitating easy entry to the banking environment. CR2 is operating these services with leading pan-African banks such as Absa and Standard Bank in multiple countries across the continent.
In Ethiopia, Dashen Bank’s Mobile App and Internet Banking solution, powered by CR2, provides Ethiopians living abroad the ability to easily and affordably transfer money back home, without paying prohibitive transfer fees.
CR2’s innovative digital banking solutions are enabling banks to ensure people can stay connected wherever they reside so they can continue to contribute financially in their home community. This valuable service is growing in importance, with economists predicting a steep rise in African remittances, as more Africans seek opportunities in neighbouring countries or further from home within the continent.
Reducing health risks during the COVID-19 pandemic
With a market environment so heavily impacted by COVID-19, banks are further accelerating their branch transformation strategies and facilitating customers’ needs with a richer set of services at self-service terminals.
Offering a richer set of services on digital channels reduces the need to queue in large banking halls, therefore reducing the risk of exposure to the COVID-19 virus for customers and staff.
CR2 is enabling banks to offer more advanced capabilities at the ATM such as:
- Contactless access at the ATM using NFC and QR codes
- E-receipts
- Account opening and onboarding
- Card Issuing
- FX
- Digital wallet load and unload
- Remittances/payments
- Instant loan
- Card self-service
- Register for mobile
Driving financial inclusion and sparking change
Fostering greater financial inclusion is at the heart of CR2’s engagement with banks in emerging and developing countries. Increasing access to banking services for unbanked and underbanked is a proven enabler to reducing poverty and boosting prosperity across the continent.
One example of the positive impact CR2’s offerings are having on financial inclusion can be seen through our partnership with Botswana Savings Bank (BSB). The bank is using CR2’s digital solutions to manage government payments, including social welfare payments to citizens in need. This enables thousands of Botswanans to receive government payments into bank accounts every week, saving them the inconvenience (and cost) of frequently travelling vast distances to receive these payments. BSB also uses CR2’s solution for enabling anonymous cash deposits.
As a state-owned bank, Botswana Savings Bank has been mandated to mobilise the nation to save, as well as providing inclusive financial services. BSB’s customer reach has been significantly increased through a partnership agreement with Botswana Post, which allows BSB to offer their banking services through the nationwide network of 120 postal outlets. These new digital channels have allowed Botswana Savings Bank to attract a wider client base and tap into the underbanked population in Botswana, a key driver for financial inclusion across the country.
Financially empowering female entrepreneurs
Creating female-centric financial products and solutions for Africa’s women entrepreneurs is gaining momentum as a core focus for banking and financial services industries on the continent. CR2 is proud to partner with banks that are actively supporting such initiatives.
A growing number of women are entering the fintech space as entrepreneurs and in leadership positions in the industry, supported by proactive steps from leading financial institutions to drive inclusion. The fintech industry has an important role to play in acknowledging and practically addressing issues around female inclusion, so it’s a win-win situation for all. CR2 enables banks in Africa to increase financial inclusion and digital empowerment among women with a banking platform that offers capabilities such as digital onboarding and a range of design tools to develop, launch and promote products and services that serve and engage with the banking needs of women in Africa today.
These products and channel options have had a marked impact on empowering women on the continent, many of whom found themselves excluded from traditional financial services, due to both societal and legal restrictions. Reducing these barriers to entry through digital banking and mobile wallets means these previously financially excluded women no longer have to rely on cash, have the ability to put money aside in savings, and have access to credit to grow their small businesses.
Enabling digital access to greater banking services for SME’s
Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) are key to Africa’s growth potential, accounting for around 90% of the continent’s businesses. Through CR2’s various digital banking partnerships, these SMEs now have easier access to credit and other banking services via digital channels, giving them the ability to grow and develop their businesses on a secure, managed platform.
This market segment is continually innovating and expanding, and CR2 is at the heart of this, creating products and services that enable this ongoing growth.
Africa continues to be a priority for CR2
For almost 30 years, CR2 has been truly invested in Africa. Looking ahead, CR2 will continually innovate solutions and seek out new partnerships across the continent to empower banks to drive financial growth and inclusion.
Increasing access to banking services unlocks economic potential, while delivering more financial empowerment and convenience to millions of African consumers, entrepreneurs and SMEs. For more information, please
visit www.CR2.com or email info@CR2.com.
Catching the Wave of Digitalization
By now, Huawei has been in Ethiopia for more than 20 years, with more than 100 employees. As the CEO of the company, my team and I often hold group discussions to estimate how Ethiopia is catching the wave of digitalization and how our company can ride in this wave.
The first input for our analysis comes from official published policies and national strategies.
Like many other developing countries, ICT technology is continuously transforming the market and society in Ethiopia. According to the FDRE Ten-Year Development Plan, by 2030 100% of population will have access to mobile and internet services; over 3000 tech start-ups will receive support from the innovation promoting mechanism; private sector jobs opportunity will take up to 80% of the technology and digitalization industry. It envisages huge potential for Ethiopia and for our business.
According to Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda and Digital Ethiopia 2025 strategy, ICT will become an enabler of transformation in Ethiopia, which creates new sources of productivity and job growth to the whole country. The telecom reform has already commenced with visible social effect; while digital ID system, WoredaNet, public internet access centers are also highlighted in the planning of the Ethiopian government on ICT and relevant fields. These are the country’s blueprints of digitalization, and also could be regarded as a beacon of our business.
Huawei and Oxford Economics found out the magnitude of digital spillover effect of ICT investment: every $1 invested in digital technologies over the past three decades has added $20 to GDP, on average. In large economies like China, the digital economy has taken up to 38.6% of GDP. Digitalization can play different roles in various industries, such as Tourism (e-travel), Healthcare service (e-health), Finance (WoredaNet), Retail (e-commerce), and government (e-government). Agriculture, manufacturing, and service sector can share benefit from improvement, transformation, and disruptive innovation that ICT infrastructure provides.
The second input comes from the current development stage of the country.
Huawei annually published Global Connectivity Index (GCI) gave ranks of 79 nations on ICT investment, ICT maturity, AI and digital economic performance. Based on 2020 ranking, Ethiopia belongs to Starter cluster together with Kenya, India, and others. Starter countries usually experience a faster economic growth rate and they are narrowing the gap with the leading economies thanks to improvements in broadband coverage and affordability.
However, the ICT industry in Starter cluster is still focusing on expanding connectivity coverage to enlarge digital access to more people. The insufficiency of basic infrastructure makes it more vulnerable during economic recession and harder to recover. During the hard time, people in Starter cluster countries are more likely to cut investment in IT budget for non-digital purposes, which makes the industry foundation less stable than the Frontrunner countries. This might further enlarge the digital gap between developed and developing countries.
Nevertheless, Huawei is trying to do our best to close bridge the digital divide of Ethiopia with our partners and other industrial stakeholders. Currently, one of our main business is to assist Ethio Telecom to improve coverage network and enrich service portfolio. 4G LTE network has been expanded from Addis Ababa to other regions, which has linked more and more unconnected population to broadband internet services.
Apart from telecom business, Huawei also commits to build a long-lasting ICT ecosystem in Ethiopia, especially in talent cultivation. Up to now, 40 universities has registered as Huawei ICT Academy partner. We have built an ICT practice center in Addis Ababa University in June with a training capacity of 2000 people over three years, organized ICT competition for undergraduate student in August with 1000 participants from the country.
And the last input comes from multiple external partners of Ethiopia, including insight and plan from international organization, financial institutions, and sovereign countries who expressed their readiness to help Ethiopia seize the opportunities of digital revolution. As a private company, Huawei is eager to learn about and participate in these opportunities.
This year, World Bank approved financing agreement for credit for Ethiopia Digital Foundations project with an amount of 200 million USD, and projects will focus on digital economy, enabling legal and regulatory environment; digital government and connectivity; digital business and entrepreneurship; project management; contingent emergency response component.
And recently, China announced that it will work together with African countries, including Ethiopia, to formulate and implement a plan for China-Africa digital innovation partnership, and proposed efforts in six aspects. First, strengthen digital infrastructure to ensure unimpeded information flow for socioeconomic development. Second, nurture the digital economy and promote the integrated development of the digital technology and the real economy. Third, advance digital education to produce a talent pool for digital innovation and thus remove the bottleneck. Fourth, enhance digital inclusiveness to make sure services benefit all African people. Fifth, jointly ensure digital security and improve digital governance capability. Sixth, build cooperation platforms to stimulate progress with exchange.
As a participant of Ethiopia’s digital transformation, Huawei is confident in the long-term prosperity of the country. We will continuously improve our service to meet contractual liability as well as external social responsibility, such as gender equality, technological inclusiveness, youth ICT literacy. Advanced technologies such as AI, IoT, VR, Cloud have already been deployed in many industrial scenarios around world, we will welcome these cases together with Ethiopian people.
Chen Mingliang is CEO of Huawei Technologies Ethiopia PLC
Serbian Coach Zlatko faces serious challenge at St George
The newly appointed Serbian head coach undoubtedly had a tough task on his hands as soon as he walked through the door at St George. Despite the evacuation of a number of senior players, he is told that his priority agenda is to steer back the club to the Premier League title as well book a place in African Champions League at the end of his very first season. “I don’t think St George could be one of the strong title contenders this season,” a club official who wants anonymity told Capital Sport.
Although the 64 year-old Zlatko Krampotic has been in the coaching business for the last three decades out of which the last seven being in Africa including a one year stay with DRC’s popular side TP Mazembe as assistant, the former Red Star Belgrade defender has no record of leading his club to any kind of trophy. This means he is yet to taste at St George, the most popular club in Ethiopia currently in desperation to claim back the league crown after frustrating four seasons.
It took more than a month for the 64 year-old Zlatko Krampotic to reach Addis Ababa in which time the transfer market was already getting mad with the big name players already leaving St George to join their rivals.
The evacuation of senior players in such big numbers is unprecedented in the champions’ recent time history. Both the team skippers Aschalew Tamene and Mentesenot Adane, strikers Salhadin Said and Getaneh Kebede, goal keeper Lealem Berhanu and rising playmaker Abel Endale all left the club while second fiddlers the likes of Gatoch Panom, Chernet Gugsa, Bereket Wolde and Desta Demu are the new comers.
According to a former Coach, the current development in the club is so unusual therefore St George is unlikely to become a serious title contender. “The regional clubs became more competent financially therefore St George is no longer in a position to call the shot,” added the former Coach.
