The Ethiopian Communication Authority (ECA) will be responsible for regulating tariffs when the two new telecom companies receive licenses next March, said Balcha Reba, Director General of the Authority.
The Ministry of Finance held talks about the telecom’s draft regulation document on Tuesday, November 12, 2019 at Sheraton Addis Hotel.
After the government’s bold decision to liberalize telecom last year the Ethiopian Communication Authority was established to regulate the telecom sector.
Some of their responsibilities will be to license and supervise telecom service providers, regulate tariffs and specify technical standards.
“The government announced liberalizing the sector, indeed with the objectives of creating a more competitive environment, promoting customers’ choice, attracting investment and accessibility, lower prices and a higher quality of service,” said Ahmed Shade Minister of Finance.
This was the first opportunity for stakeholders to meet in person although there is a platform for commenting on the Internet.
“Tariff regulation is one of the economic regulatory frameworks, the Authority is dealing with in order to protect the customer, create a fair play ground and consider the expense of the operators when setting the tariff,” Balch added.
More competition means lower prices and better service, according to Balch.
The Director General pointed to security concerns as one reason for keeping telecom in State hands, however now with cyber security technology they are more confident that this can be managed well.
The authority has the right to access data after a court decision and they can fit a router interception at the tower of any operator if they feel security concerns warrant this action. INSA is also working with the Authority to address cyber security issues.
The regulatory framework is supposed to be aligned with an international modality and stakeholders are expected to give feedback in order to create well developed documents.
Other issues addressed at the meeting included the selection process, what mechanisms they would use, the timeline for regulations to be put in place, and standards for competition with Ethio-telecom. 
“I don’t see any problem for a certain company to compete for both [partial privatization and operation] as long as they are capable,” said Tim Kelly from the World Bank group.
“In terms of the timeline, March 2020, is unchanged for both partial privatization and operator licensing the ministry is doing both side by side and the selection process, mechanisms will be decided after the consultation is made with international bench marks,” said Biruk Taye Senior Adviser of the Ministry of Finance.
ECA to regulate new telecom fees
United profits up 55%
United Insurance Company SC (UNIC Ethiopia) has registered massive achievements in the past fiscal year with 55 percent profit growth.
In its annual general assembly held at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel on Thursday November 14, UNIC disclosed that its gross profit for the 2018/19 financial year stood at 121.2 million birr, which is one of the top in the industry.
The net profit stood at 106.6 million birr, which is a 55 percent growth compared with the preceding year’s insurance business or operation profit.
Although in the 2017/18 financial year the company’s net profit stood at 123.7 million birr, Meseret Bezabih, CEO of UNIC, told Capital that the previous year’s profit was high as the insurer had secured large revenue from the sale of its shares in Raya Brewery which BGI Ethiopia fully took over last year.
“Comparing the performance of the two years, that is the 2018/19 financial year’s operation with the 2017/18, in terms of insurance business, the latest year’s achievement is over half of the preceding year’s,” Meseret clarified.
In the 2017/18 financial year, UNIC secured close to 56 million birr from its share sales at Raya Brewery, which is located in Maiychew town, 667 km north of Addis Ababa. It has played a role in increasing the insurance company’s profit for the period.
According to the annual report of UNIC, the 2018/19 underwriting profit stood at 173.5 million birr, which was only 121 million birr in the 2017/18 performance period.
The report indicated that the net income of the past financial year expanded to 258.5 million birr when compared with the 237 million birr a year before last year.
One of the pioneer private insurance companies not only in terms of operation but also in terms of paid up capital, UNIC has registered several significant achievements for the past financial year.
For instance, the loss ratio has declined to 60 percent. The loss ratio for the year 2017/18 was 68 percent; that means the latest performance has declined by 8 percent, which is rare in the sector.
UNIC has also registered the highest premium compared with the industry average. For the reported year the company collected 533.6 million birr in premiums from both general and life businesses, which has increased by 13 percent compared with the preceding year. Since the sector premium increase is 6 percent that indicates that UNIC’s premium growth trend was over double compared with the industry performance.
According to the company report , from the general (non life) insurance business UNIC was able to register close to 495 million birr premium that was 438 million birr a year ago and about 39 million birr from life sector. Due to weak performance in the export /import business, the marine premium has declined, while other businesses grew during the period, according to the annual report.
During its 11th extraordinary meeting held a year ago shareholders agreed to double the company capital to half a billion birr that is one of the highest in the sector. Of the 500 million birr capital, close to 375.6 million birr is paid up as of June 30, 2019.
Based on the 2018/19 fiscal year that is closed on June 30, 2019 the total asset of UNIC has reached to 1.52 billion birr from 1.34 billion birr a year ago.
A week ago the company has inaugurated its head quarter located at Tewodros Square. This new facility increases the assets of the company that also owns two other buildings in Addis Ababa, in Qality and Bole Medhanealem area and one in Bahir Dar. The 12 storey head quarter that has a unique set up of four basement parking areas rests on 2,000 square meters and consumed 300 million birr.
In its 25 year history, the company has settled over 1.7 billion birr in claims for its customers. At the same time the company has settled 7.5 million birr in claims for PVT (political violence & terrorism) insurance coverage, a product that was recently introduced in the country and very few other insurance companies offer.
UNIC was formed by less than 100 share buyers has now 478 shareholders, according to the annual report, while it has 50 branches including 12 contact offices. The company was formed in 1994 with a paid up capital of 8.1 million birr.
This year three insurers including UNIC and one bank celebrate their 25th anniversary in different programs.
USAID supports land survey, consultancy
USAID launched the forth land government activity project for urban and rural land. It will remain until 2024.
The new project surveys land information analysis of the land management registration process, utilization of land management system, gathering of pilot areas related to land, Information with the latest technology and efficient production methods.
LGA supports merging the rural and urban land administration functions and services and strong organizational structure amendments.
This project is expected to accomplish the implementation of transparent and sustained integrated land governance systems, establish an operational system for the urban land information system, strengthening the government’s ability to have a strong land information system and policy, through unified land administration roles, setting a land data exchange framework between the public and the government. This could lead to an innovative data and system infrastructure with unified systems platform organizational structures.
Ethiopia’s land governance policy enhances the efficient land administration service and utilization of land, recognition of property rights by introducing a secured and sustained property registration system.
USAID has been working with land tenure and property rights in Ethiopia since 2004.
In the past three projects are lots of assessments has been identifies; the need for awareness on land users on the rights and obligation of the owners, capacity building, georeferenced parcel map and computerized register, Including policy formulation, land legislation, decision making in rural land governance programs.
The old organizational structure of the national, regional and woreda city level, a decentralized database for transferring data at the regional level and federal level are other challenges to developing scalable approaches to adjudicate, demarcate register and certify pastoral landholding and support participatory land-use planning by supporting pastoral institutions in the areas of pastoral regions mainly Oromia, Somalia, and Afar.
The land system is classified within registered (permit hold, state hold and leased hold) and unregistered (non-formal, informal and encroachment).
The new project will help strengthen the institutionalized system for efficiency to land acquisition facilities, access to land for the farmers and safe human settlement, environmentally friendly and gender-responsive, infrastructural development, local service centers land banks and land tribunals.
EU film festival through Nov 24
The 32nd edition of the European film festival opened at VAMDAS entertainment and cinema, on November 14 and will remain until November 24. This year’s festival will show 21 selected films which reflects European arts, culture and history of 20 participant countries from the European Union. Azerbaijan, Belgium, The Czech Republic, Denmark Finland, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, UK, Turkey will feature films. Others are selected by the EU delegation for the African Union.
One local film has been selected for closing day, ‘Running Against the Wind’ Jan Philipp Weyl’s Oscar nominated film was chosen as a perfect illustration of creative interaction between Europe and Ethiopia. Selected short movies made by Addis Ababa university school of fine art students will also be presented.
The European film festival was hosted by the EU delegation as part of the European External Action Service’s network of diplomatic missions and offices in third countries, implements the EU Global Strategy and other key foreign and security policies in close collaboration with the Member States of the EU. The festival is one of the frameworks for promoting cultural relations by increasing awareness of the EU, its institutions and its programs between Ethiopia and the European Union.
