Ethio telecom which is aggressively upgrading its service and with its continues expansion of 4G LTE advanced network, has launched its LTE advanced service in its South West region on Tuesday, June 15, 2021. The region include the towns of Jimma, Agaro, Bedele, Masha, Bonga, Koisha, Mettu, Mizan and Teppi.
Despite the process of privatization the sole telecom provider is advancing its services in different parts of the country.
Ethio-telecom has been capitalizing on creating cash less society via its well expanding telebirr in different parts of the nation as standardization of payment mechanisms on the Internet is essential to the success of running business, stated Company CEO Firehiwot Tamiru.
Firehiwot said the world has now been advancing towards full and efficient digital technology utilization and “our country is also in a position to well enjoy digitalizing.”
“The company has been working to enable citizens to use internet services as much as possible,” she added during the launching ceremony held at Central Hotel in Jimma.
The series of expansions have been based on where the company has noted high mobile data traffic and surge in demand.
The project is completed within ten days by Ericsson. “We worked together with our strategic partner Ericsson and finished the difficult task to deploy the 4G LTE advanced in South West Region,” Firehiwot said.
Ethio Telecom has expanded its 4G LTE service to Addis Ababa, South East Region, North West Region, East East Region, South West Region, East Region, Central East Region, North East Region and North East Region.
In the future, “the company has completed the expansion of its 4GLTE service in line with the data growth and demand, the company is endeavored to expand the service to all parts of the country,” Frehiwot explained.
Apart from its network expansion Ethio telecom is working to successfully integrate its mobile money platform Telebirr with banks and other money transfer companies. So far according to the CEO 4.1 million customers subscribed telebirr.
Firehiwot said that digital transformation is a long term commitment to differentiating and growing companies by reexamining all aspects of their business, “telebirr is unique to our partners and we have found that this step is playing critical role in attaining a successful digital transformation initiative.”
Ethio telecom launches its 4G LTE service in its South West Region
DBE takes over Etur Textile
The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has taken over the management of the Turkish-owned Etur Textile Limited, which has been unable to repay its loan which is over one billion birr. According to the Development Bank of Ethiopia, it has taken over the management of the textile factory in Adama, which is registered as a loan company due to its inability to repay the loan. The Development Bank has also appointed former managers of the textile factory as the company’s general manager, finance manager, marketing and other officials for management positions.
Etur Textile, founded in Turkey in the 1950s and a world-renowned supplier of textile products, entered Ethiopia in 2002. At the time, it was one of the Turkish-textile factories that borrowed billions of birr from the Development Bank of Ethiopia.
The factory, which was set up in Adama, mainly produces elbows and has been providing inputs to various local companies that use elbows.
However, like other Turkish companies, it has not been able to repay its loan on time. For the past six years, the factory has not been able to repay the loan of the Development Bank, and it has been on record of bad loans.
The bank has repeatedly written letters to the company to repay the loan, but the textile company failed to do so.
According to sources, the factory loan will exceed 1.2 billion birr with interest. Although the Development Bank had repeatedly sought to sell the factory and return the money, the company did not comply with the auction due to the fact that the factory and the machines it imported were too small for the high cost of the loan.
Two Turkish companies, Alsi Addis and Aika Addis, have failed to repay billions of birr in loans from the Development Bank of Ethiopia. It is well known that loans to Turkish companies, in particular, have been criticized for exaggerating the loans made by the factory and the imported machine.
MoA, regional agriculture bureau collaborate in Tigray farmlands
Ministry of Agriculture (MoA) announces 70 percent of the farmers in Tigray have started their farming for the coming major crop season.
Sani Redi, State Minister of MoA, said that latest information indicates that farmers in the Tigray region are in activity to cover long-season crops like sorghum and maize in the coming rainy season, which is the major harvesting period not only in the region but for the country.
“The Tigray grain crop production has mainly commenced in Meher and on average we expect to cultivate 950,000 hectares,” he said.
He added that agricultural development experts have started providing farm-to-farm extension services in 46 rural woredas.
He says based on the preparation for the coming agriculture season 1.8 billion birr is allocated to purchase and transport 800,000 quintals of fertilizer, out of which 322,864 quintal NPS and Urea are transported from port of Djibouti to Mekele central warehouse. “In addition to 214,864 quintals of fertilizer a total of 537,728 (67%) quintal fertilizer has already been made available in central warehouse and 210,795 quintals transported to 27 Woreda and also 91,000 quintal fertilizer distributed to farmers,” the state minister explained.
Regarding improved seed supply, the state minister said that 335 million birr is allocated to purchase and transport 120,000 quintal of seed. Of which 97,246.5 quintals have already been purchased with 66,387.5 quintals and 44,656 quintals being transported to Mekele and Woredas respectively, while 26,000 quintal seed being distributed to farmers.
Similarly, agro chemicals are also under distribution and or will be distributed in some parts as per the schedule.
Mekelle University and Agricultural Transformation Agency are working together to provide tractors to plough land of farmers who have been looted of their oxen.
In addition to that, the interim government of the region has allocated 24 million birr to purchase tractors to give ploughing services through cooperatives.
“As the livestock resource has a great impact on the livelihood of the farmers, the government and partners have allocated 71.9 million birr for livestock restocking and over 11.1 million birr to purchase and supply of 6,660 quintal of fodder seed. Of which, 23,058 quintal is purchased and 180.5 quintal is distributed,” Sani added.
He said that for its very special situation in Tigray, this Meher cropping season plan was prepared jointly with MoA and Regional agriculture bureau. From the 70 percent of 950,000 hectares of land is expected to be cultivated which will result in 1.4 million metric ton of production of mainly sorghum, teff, sesame, wheat, finger millet, barely, and maize will be harvested. “If the peace and restoration become promising in all woredas of Tigray, the Meher performance will be in better of that of 70 percent,” the state minister added.
According to Sani, the food gap in Tigray is expected to be filled by the coordinated action of the Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) which already supporting 1.1 million beneficiaries in 55 woredas and can increase its number of beneficiaries through scalable PSNP and humanitarian food support.
Furthermore, the supply from the national market and the neighboring Amhara region which produces a marketable surplus can create a positive impact on grain market supply as long as the peace is maintained.
Hellotaxi bridges tourist transport gap
Hellotaxi handed over more than 200 locally assembled 7-seater tourist standard vehicles for drivers on June 17, 2021in the presence of senior government officials.
“Realizing that there is not enough tourist transport facility in the country to accommodate both local and international tourists, our company has launched the first large-scale tourist taxi service in collaboration with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism,” said Daniel Yohannes, owner and general manager of the company.
The cars, initially worth one million birr, have gone down to 690,000 birr with the tax exemption. Hello taxi also facilitated loans to its customers with an initial payment of only 25 percent of the car with the rest of the payment to be completed within 5 years,
During the handing-over event, Culture and Tourism State Minister, Buzena Alkider said that Ethiopia has a huge potential for job creation opportunity on the tourism sector.
O’Clock General Motors, which had initially started the process of recruiting different blue taxi owners in the city nearly two years ago, delivered it through Hello Taxi, which will be working with the drivers in providing the tourist service.
“We are honored to be able to create jobs for many citizens, both directly and indirectly,” said Daniel.
Previously, Hello taxi handed in the first round a year ago, Toyota Yaris Sedans with a four-cylinder 1.3 horsepower five-seater, currently used in Dubai, at the Sheraton Addis Hotel, and in the second round handed over 36 7-seater cars mostly from Turkey and Thailand.
