Local Technology Company called Booking Technologies PLC has launched Room.et an online platform that serves as an aggregator by providing a marketplace for hotels, guest houses, and apartment rooms in Ethiopia.
“By using Room.et people can discover, reserve, and list hotel rooms, and it is accessible via a mobile app, and website,” said Natnael Mekonnen, CEO of Booking Technologies adding that Room.et enables users to discover the nearest hotel rooms alongside their price, type of rooms, and services they want to get with alternative payment solutions.
As he said the platform is working to integrate its system with Amole and Telebirr to give alternative payment solutions with seamless and hassle-free hotel booking experience for users.
Users are able to write reviews regarding the service of hotels they have used and are also able to view reviews given by previous hotel users during their search process.
“Room.et enables you to discover the nearest hotel rooms with a filtered price. The key factor where Room.et plays a major role is in making the transaction cycle shorter. In the hospitality industry, where you always have various touch-points with the customer, Booking Technologies PLC has focused on creating a highly efficient, easy-to-use, localized mobile application for the customer.
The company managed to develop an application that allows customers to book a hotel room in simple three steps. In the first step, search query, based on which the application comes up with several suggestions in the locality. The second step is to choose from the room type, choose date and number of rooms, and lastly, just a confirmation click to reserve. “Booking technologies designed a simple business model to work with hotels. It provided owners to follow basic standards of service, features, staff, pricing, security, and then lists them on room.et web portal and application,” said the CEO.
“What triggered us to start this business was the non-existence of local OTA (Online Travel Agency) like Booking.com in Ethiopia. Then when we further studied the market and the result was shocking. This market opportunity for local players made the company be more interested in the hospitality industry,” said Natnael adding that the company had started its process to establish the platform three years ago. After the completion of the feasibility study, Booking Technologies discovered trust and predictability of services as main challenges in the hotel booking experience and an opportunity to fill that gap through an online platform.
“The global pandemic obstructed the company from getting in action. As a result it started its trail operation on March. Currently there are about 20 member hotel found in the platform and we are working to increase the number to give different options for customers,” explained Natnael.
Room.et launches targeting accommodation convenience
New digital auction platform lures Dashen bank, other entities to follow suit
Adugenet Technology Group plc introduces a digital auction solution to modernize and eye-catch entities like banks, insurance, real estate developers and public offices. Dashen bank has become a pioneer partner under the new scheme.
The platform that launched on October 7 at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel from inception targets to ease the existing and traditional auction scheme with a digital system that shall also catch more players than the previous trend.
Tadesse Tessema, prominent entrepreneur, founder of the pioneer car assembly in Ethiopia, Holland Car and has now established the Adugenet online auction platform. He said that the ultimate goal of the digital auction is to make lucrative for auctioneers that enable clients to sale their goods and properties on real market price. The real market price will also contribute for the government to earn proper revenue through the transaction tax.
He told Capital that he was studying the Ethiopian auction system that has an annual transaction of over 100 billion birr, “As per our assessment we identified that the range is very narrow for very few and regular participants and there are also issues regarding transparency.”
“Our system will solve such kind of concerns and allow more participants to play on the auction from every corner of the world and would have a benefit for companies or public offices to gain more value than the existed experience,” he said.
On the launching ceremony Tadesse expressed to potential partners that the online auction makes sales efficient and simple in the internet.
“The hybrid international online auction is transparent to all, and gives much more exposure than the traditional auction,” he explained.
“Besides generating high revenue than the traditional system it has the opportunity to earn foreign exchange under the scheme since buyers shall come from the diaspora or other interested potential investors that shall invest in the country,” he added.
An expert who observed the new platform elaborates that if a bank forecloses a facility and a foreign investor who is interested to invest in the country shall involve itself on the auction to get it on the aim for his or her future investment.
About the scheme Tadesse stated that sellers see ascending closing price at an agreed upon time, buyers can make a bid 24/7 and more buyers more price shall be gained, “The auctions that regulates as per the commercial codes of the country can monitor real time activity electronically.”
According to the scheme buyers shall bid more than once from anywhere all over the world globe.
“The platform is flexible to bid anytime anywhere at the convenience of smartphone or computer, while it is ample for sellers or buyers to control the process,” he said.
He recalled that the current scheme involves physical activities, that is: to buy bid document, evaluate the condition of the property, pay bid bond, and attend the biding and other processes. The new scheme will change that and auctioneers shall make available the description products or property online and all procedure like payments to access the bid document while others will be concluded online, with same time and costs risk reduction and optimizing the value in win-win terms.
“You can view the products prior to starting your bidding until end of the auction and keep an eye out for your fellow bidders’ bids, making sure you seize the opportunity to get your hands on that car you have been dreaming about, your home or home appliances. Besides that you can buy products from all over around the country,” Tadesse told participants.
According to the developer of the new technology that was built in India with its server based in the Netherlands, the new scheme is suitable for banks to sell property and other products that they foreclosed, and insurances that are frequently auctioned products that they received after compensation.
“Real estate developers shall also easily sale their houses for potential buyers through the platform. And similarly public offices like disposal bodies shall manage their activity on the modern scheme with better revenue for the government than the trend now,” he elaborates.
On the launching ceremony participants mainly who came from insurance companies welcomed the system and said it will totally change the traditional system and allow companies to benefit more.
At the event Adugenet and Dashen Bank signed the agreement to allow the bank to use the scheme. “Prior to the launching we have approached almost all potential customers and almost all of them are delighted by the system and expected to be included on the system,” the entrepreneur told Capital.
He said that the platform will also target to involve on the export sector as an ecommerce.
DAESUNG SMARTHIVE, KOTRA boost beekeeping through donation
DAESUNG SMARTHIVE and KOTRA-Addis Ababa Korean firm donate three hive controllers machine to the Ministry of Agriculture on Thursday October 7, 2021.
The firm has donated 12000 dollars’ worth of modern beekeeping and harvesting machine said to develop the country honey export volume and value and increase Ethiopian share in the international market competitiveness, as well as help farmers to harvest huge amount of honey from small farm land and increase income for the farmer.
During the donation ceremony at the compound of the Ministry of Agriculture, CEO of DAESUNG SMARTHIVE, JeongHyuk said that the donation will improve and change the existing traditional beekeeping and harvesting system to modern technology oriented mechanized honey production.
Ethiopia ranks last in Digital Quality of Life Index
The third annual edition of the Digital Quality of Life Index (DQL) ranks Ethiopia 110th among 110 countries. Covering 90% of the global population, the DQL study is conducted by the cybersecurity company Surfshark and evaluates countries based on a set of five fundamental digital wellbeing pillars. Joining the study for the first time, Ethiopia displays low results in internet affordability (104th), internet quality (110th), e-infrastructure (110th), e-security (107th), and e-government (107th).
Ethiopia has room for improvement in all digital wellbeing areas, as its DQL is 60% worse than the global average and last among all indexed countries. Ethiopia has a similar GDP per capita to Zambia, but both countries’ digital quality of life differs substantially. Zambia ranks 94th, while Ethiopia comes in last place overall.
All Ethiopia’s DQL pillars rank in the last 10%. Its highest ranking is 104th in internet affordability. Ethiopians have to work almost 1.5 hours for 1GB of cheapest mobile data, nine times the global average. To purchase the cheapest broadband internet package, people have to spend as much as 13.5 hours working, 7.5 hours more than the worldwide average.
“Digital opportunities have proved to be more important than ever during the COVID-19 crisis, stressing the importance for every country to ensure fully remote operational capacities for their economies,” explains Vytautas Kaziukonis, CEO of Surfshark. “That is why, for the third year in a row, we continue the Digital Quality of Life research, which provides a robust global outlook into how countries excel digitally. The index sets the basis for meaningful discussions about how digital advancement impacts a country’s prosperity and where improvements can be made.”
In an all-around picture, 6 out of 10 countries holding the highest scores are located in Europe, following last year’s trend. Denmark ranks 1st in DQL for the second year in a row and is closely followed by South Korea. Finland ranks 3rd, while Israel and the U.S. round out the top five of 110 nations that were evaluated. The bottom 5 countries are Ethiopia, Cambodia, Cameroon, Guatemala, and Angola.
Regionally, the U.S. stands out as a country with the highest digital quality of life in the Americas, while South Korea takes the leading position in Asia. Among countries in Africa, people in South Africa enjoy the highest quality of their digital lives whereas Australia leads in Oceania, outperforming New Zealand in various digital areas.
Other significant findings of the report include, broadband is globally less affordable this year. Comparing countries included in both DQL20 and DQL21, people have to work 11% more (25 min more) to afford broadband internet in 2021. However, people have to work 29% less (28 min less) to afford mobile internet this year.
Moreover the report states that the world’s worst internet is the least affordable. People in some countries, such as Nigeria, Côte D’Ivoire and Mali require approximately a week’s worth of work to afford the internet.
The 2021 DQL research examined a total population of more than 6.9 billion people in terms of five core pillars and 14 underpinning indicators that provide a comprehensive measure. The study is based on open-source information provided by the United Nations, the World Bank, Freedom House, the International Communications Union, and other sources.
