The Addis Ababa City Administration has lifted the heavy-duty truck restriction for daylight hours on Saturday. Starting July 8, the administration imposed restrictions on truck movement in the city during the daytime until 8:00PM to reduce traffic in the capital. Medium sized trucks, like those with a capacity of 3.5 tons or less were excluded. Now, however all trucks can move freely in Addis on Saturday.
Semere Jelalu, Traffic Safety and Management Deputy Head at Addis Ababa City Transport Programs Management Office, told Capital that since the ratification of the directive trucks were not allowed to move through the city between 6:30 am and 8pm except on Sunday and holidays.
“Now we have added Saturday and Sunday and holidays for trucks to drive in the day time in the city,” Semere said.
Several businesses said their work was negatively impacted by the directive.
Because most intercity transportation requires traveling through Addis Ababa the new law forced those shipping goods across the country, to wait on the edge of the Capital until night. Others like exporters of fresh goods including flowers and meat exporters were disappointed by the city’s decision. They claimed that their products were perishable and suffered from the delay. Most of the flower farms and abattoirs are out of the city but need to transport their product to Bole International Airport every day for export.
Even though most of the businesses have expressed their opinions, the Ethiopian Bottled Water and Soft Drinks Manufacturing Industries Association (EBWSDMIA) has come up with concrete evidence showing the advantage and disadvantage to the water industry.
According to the information from EBWSDMIA, the study is undertaken by professionals from Addis Ababa University and the outcome submitted to the Ministry of Trade, Ministry of Transport, Office of the Prime Minister and City Transport Bureau.
The study argued that bottlers stock increased at their production site because they did not have ample time to distribute the product since some of the industries were forced to halt one of the three production shifts followed by layoffs of one third of the employees.
They also expressed the concern that it is not easy to do business at night because of security problems, and infrastructure like adequate street lights banks and labor issues.
“The study insists that small trucks up to 3.5 tons of capacity run in the city from 10 am to 4 pm. This means it pushes bottlers to expand the number of small trucks for product distribution which increased the number of vehicles in the road,” Ashenafi Merid, head of the association said.
The study that Capital reviewed recommended that at least medium trucks should be allowed for such kind of business or the hour limits be reduced either in the morning or nighttime.
Ashenafi told Capital that the association leaders have gotten the chance to meet and explained the barriers for several city and federal officials including Girma Birru, Macro Economic Advisor of the Prime Minister.
He believed that the current decision of the city administration allowing trucks to move on Saturday is a good contribution for the economy.
Truck ban lifted for Saturdays
Arba Minch town water and sewer to use M-Birr
The water and sewer authority for Arba Minch signed an agreement with MOSS powering, which is a developer of M-birr, to collect water utility bills last Tuesday at Hyatt Regency Hotel.
The Authority previously collected the bills through less than ten branches which was inconvenient for the customers and even for the authority, according to Werkeneh Abrham, General Manager.
M-birr allows a person to transact money with their phone and does not require an Internet connection.
“In the region M-birr has been partnering with OMO saving and credit micro finance institution which is mainly operating in the Southern People’s Nation and Nationality region. This makes the platform simpler to use because people are familiar with the service,” he adds.
The platform reduces late payments, collects bills on time with a minimal transaction payment rate. To use the platform, it costs 4.6 birr up to 6000 birr and 52 birr of the maximum for 100,000 transactions.
According to the authority there are more than 13,000 customers in the town but since there are many projects underway that number is expected to increase.
Studies show that banks and microfinance institutions in Ethiopia began providing mobile banking services some years ago which is late compared to other African nations.
The available mobile banking services include balance inquiry, transaction details, payment of utility bills, bank statements, intra-account transfers, and alerts for withdrawal on a customer account.
The government-owned giant bank, CBE, launched mobile banking service in December. As of March 2018, there were 2,745,716 mobile banking subscribers across the country mostly to pay bills.
This service can be used for utility water, electricity, and telecom, traffic fines, including tickets for Ethiopian Airlines and some bus transportation such as Selam Bus, Walia Bus and others.
Following the government direction to create a cashless society, all utility payment transactions began migrating from Le Hulu, to CBE through CBE birr and other payment methods five months ago. M-Birr provides the service through more than 5000 agents across the nation.
Hyatt plans to double African presence
Hyatt Hotels Corporation disclosed that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with seven hotel developers in Africa which is to be opened in the coming three years. The Seven Hotel of Hyatt Regency which is in the pipe line would bring the total number of Hyatt-branded hotels to 15 by 2021.
Currently, there are eight Hyatt regency Hotels which are operational in Egypt, Morocco, Tanzania, South Africa, Algeria, Kenya, Ethiopia and Mozambique.
“Hyatt has been focused on growing its brand presence in the Africa, with gate way cities and tourist destinations being one of most important development strategies, said Tejas Shah, regional vice president of development of sub-Saharan Africa, Hyatt.
As Hyatt Regency this is a milestone in expanding the existence in the African market as Hyatt increasingly is gaining popularity with leisure travelers.
“We are proud to be working with Hyatt again to introduce its brands to the global city of Manchester,” said Tejas Shah, regional vice president of development sub shahran Africa, Hyatt.
Tourism in Africa is projected to increase and drive job opportunities for over 3.5 million people in the next 10 years, as the number of tourists expected to grow by 4.4 percent in the coming 15 years.
“Africa, and particularly East Africa, remains a focus for Hyatt with an increasingly favorable business climate and heightened tourism spend, encouraged by relaxed,” Shah adds.
Dakar-Senegal, Marrakesh-Morocco and Cairo- Egypt are among the new destinations where the Chicago-headquartered Hyatt’s opens its door until 2021.
According to the UNWTO Tourism 2018 Edition, international tourist arrivals in sub-Saharan Africa have grown by 5.8 percent from 2005 to 2017, which is well above the global average of 4.2 percent. Furthermore, the continent saw a sustained growth of 8.6 percent in international tourist arrivals last year visa rules, travel incentives, and a growing middle class.
“The opening up of more Hyatt in Africa can make to serve our esteemed customers to provide the highest level of service beside the direct and indirect job drive created by this hospitality industry”, the Vice President stressed.
Nisir Micro Finance doubles loan amounts
Nisir Micro Finance SC plans to increase its loan total from 200,000 to 400,000 birr as part of its five-year strategic plan to support young entrepreneurs starting this year. They also plan to deploy tech-based banking services.
Established in 2015, with 215 shareholders with 14.7 million birr in paid-up capital, the company wants to reach the ‘Missing Middle’ class in Addis Ababa to support new business and improve existing ones through their five branches.
Nisir provides loans for small and medium business (SME) and was able to mobilize over 450 million birr in five years of operation. In order to reach a majority of the public, the company plans to deploy modern financial technology to become more accessible. This makes Nisir the first among microfinance institutions to render core-banking, mobile banking, Internet banking, and ATM services.
The company also plans to increase the number of customers to 10,000 and mobilize over 850 million birr to benefit more youth. They found that eighty percent of those taking loans are between the age of 18-34.
”Nisir is targeting youth because they have been the reason for our existence,” said Binyam Tadesse, Board secretariat of Nisir Micro finance SC.
Nisir Micro offers loans service for students of higher institutions to buy laptops at low interest rates.
According to the board of secretary, the company can process all types of loans within a week, which is faster than most banks.
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), is drafting a directive to allow Microfinance Institutions to operate like regular banks.
NBE’s data shows that the total assets of the 38 MFIs, , have reached 76.5 billion birr. Their total loan amount is 51.7 billion birr. Their assets have grown by 26 percent.
In five years, the company has grown to employ 70 people in five branches. 
