United Bank SC has become the first entity to show an interest in attending the grand fundraising dinner that the Prime Minister is hosting at the historical Menilik Hall, located in the Office of the Prime Minister.
Recently, PM Abiy Ahmed introduced the 29 billion birr Addis Ababa Riverside Project, with the objective of changing city riversides into recreational, social and economic centers.
To finance the project Abiy sat down with several potential individuals and organizations. This included financial institutions.
Meanwhile the National Bank of Ethiopia, which regulates financial firms, has approached banks via the Bankers Association, which is made up of bank CEOs to donate 1.5 percent of their net profit. This has confused some banks’ board of directors, who say that this decision must be approved by the shareholders at the general assembly.
The United Bank’s 21st general meeting held on April 20, approved the proposal by the board of directors to be part of the project and attend the grand dinner.
The shareholders fully agreed to fund 10 million birr or to purchase two plates at the dinner that will take place in May.
Zafu Eyesuswork Zafu, who chairs the board, and the founder and major shareholder of the bank, said that the project has an economic value and pays respect and gives solidarity to the Prime Minister.
There was also a request to support displaced people and a project at Ambo in addition to the riverside, according to financial sector leaders.
Zafu said his bank evaluates every case differently. He said that during its 20th annual general assembly, the shareholders approved funding the equivalent of 0.5 percent of the bank’s profit for the National Disaster Risk Management Commission.
“We had already settled this corporate social responsibility work before we were asked to support the displaced people,” he said. According to the board chair, the Ambo project is related to the stadium and will be evaluated in the future.
“We understand that the capital city project has several marketing aspects like improving bank revenue by expanding tourism and creating jobs and Addis Ababa is the capital of the country and the continent,” he explained.
“The current shareholders’ decision is more than the initial request of 1.5 percent of the profit,” he added. According to our last year’s performance 1.5 percent meant 8.1 million birr, but the shareholders approved 10 million birr.
Meanwhile share holders talked about how much to fund, originally the ordinary general meeting was called to assign a new external auditor. They want to replace A.W. THOMAS L.P., who was assigned two years, since his asking price has gone up by 200 percent. He claims that implementation of IFRS has created more burden.
Then the board of directors called the general meeting to assign another new auditor and selected HST, a well known audit firm.
The general meeting used the opportunity to allocate one percent of a net profit to cover similar requests and provide corporate social responsibility. Based on the decision one percent of profits will be included in the annual budget to fund similar cases approved by the board of directors.
The current bank decision makes United the first body to officially announce that it will attend the dinner.
Zafu said that United Bank is keen to provide supports in collaboration with other financial firms in an organized manner.
United Bank first to attend River Dinner
Enterprise to snatch ‘Arqebe’ Kiosks from illegal owners
A new regulation framework has already been prepared by the Addis Ababa Job Creation and Development Bureau to confiscate the kiosk dubbed ‘Arqebe shops’ that are illegally acquired from the original holders.
Currently, over 9,000 metal shops, nicknamed after former Mayor, Arkebe Oqubay, are working as mini business under the title of a small and micro-enterprise.
The new regulation which is being sent to the city’s Justice Bureau should be implemented by the end of this month.
According to information that Capital obtained from the enterprise, of the currently operating 9,000 Arqebe’ Kiosks 30% of them have been sold and transferred to third parties, with the approval of the city administration.
The kiosks which have been built since 2005 were given initially to the startup entrepreneurs for five years but according to the bureau a majority of the kiosks were not taken back from them though they have ended their contractual agreements more than nine years ago.
Food, soft and alcohol drinks, electronics, construction materials, boutiques, barber and printing services are majorly operated in the kiosks. 
Sources in the bureau told Capital that the kiosks will be given to the people who haven’t had an opportunity to start a new business.
“Now the bureau is fully eligible to own the kiosks. We will decide who can work on them based on our research. In some cases up to five kiosks are owned by a single person and some of the kiosks were sold for up to half a million birr, even though they are owned by the government. We will clear out all these issues and we will do a fair job by giving the kiosks to the right person.’’
According to sources, the bureau will also administer the kiosks in the city which were built by different NGO’s as part of social responsibility.
Currently The Addis Ababa Small and Micro Enterprise is planning to construct a total of 2,000 solar kiosks in the ten sub cities of the city.
The kiosk which will be administered by the Enterprise’s Work Place Development and Administration Agency is expected to create job opportunities for 4,000 people and Kiosk operators will able to use the power during the day and continue operating late into the night. The construction of the kiosks will begin this fiscal year though the cost of the construction has not been revealed yet.
Side roads, bus and train station, junctures, areas near schools and colleges, private and government companies are the locations selected to construct the kiosks.
They will be on four square meters of land and then given to the entrepreneurs who will submit their business proposal to the agency. Then the agency will select the best proposal. The winners will be able to use the mini-shops.
Census still by 2020 CSA says
Despite a postponement, Ethiopia expects to complete it census in time to meet the AU’s agenda 2063, which says the census should be completed by 2020.
According to Biratu Yigezu, Director General of Central Statistics Agency (CSA) and Secretary of the National Population Commission, rescheduling the census doesn’t mean total cancellation. They believe the census can be finished as soon as the security situation improves.
CSA has worked hard to conduct the Fourth Housing and Population Census by using digital technology; despite being rescheduled for a fourth time. The census was originally scheduled for November 2017, and then changed to November 2018, and subsequently re-scheduled for April 7, 2019 before it was finally cancelled altogether, though the final decision rests on the joint session of the house of federation and lawmakers and yet make any decision.
The date for Ethiopia’s 4th housing and population census has been rescheduled by the commission for an indefinite time citing security and other reasons.
The decision to postpone the census by the Census Commission was challenged by the administration in Tigray because they said it would erode credibility and waste resources.
The Census Commission countered that they based their decision after assessing conditions on the ground and that it would be hard to conduct their census after exactly ten years.
The country should still aim at conducting the rescheduled census as soon as the conditions improve to have a credible census based on international standards.
According to Biratu, CSA they have already scouted the enumerator and finalized the necessary preparations.
“Ethiopia will be the reference for other African countries as most of them plan to conduct their national censes by 2020,” Collins Opiyo technical advisor at UNFPA said.
UNFPA, ECA, the US Bureau of the Census, ISTAT (Italian Institute of National Statistics) or the UK Office of National Statistics should also remain active in consultations and are in close collaboration with the census.
UNFPA supports more than 60 percent of the cost of its undertaking which is said to be unprecedented in African governments.
“Though the time matters, what matters most is reliability and credibility,” says Biratu.
Transport, housing allowances proposed for private school teachers
A new proposal is being delivered to the Addis Ababa Education Bureau for discussion and ratification, asking the government to allow transportation and housing allowances for private school teachers who work in Addis Ababa.
If the government approves it, school owners will add transportation and housing allowance money to teachers’ salaries.
Currently only government teachers get allowances for things like houses. Teachers’ entire salary is subjected to income taxes.
The study is being conducted by the Addis Ababa Private School Association. It will ask the government about the curriculum, the fee system, the current working rules towards private schools and to allow private schools to be represented at the highest decision-making level in education policy.
“The extra money for increasing teacher salaries is subjected to taxes and at the end the teachers don’t see take much home pay. But if there is a house and transport allowance then it is not taxed and the teachers will get a better income which will help to reduce turnover rates” a source told Capital.
The source added that questionnaires are being distributed to the all private schools in Addis Ababa to get feedback on the proposal which should be submitted to the government by the end of the Ethiopian year. The study is also examining the proper framework for licensing international schools and working procedures.
Medium private schools charge from 10,000 to 120,000 birr per year in addition to the cost of teaching books for their pupil. The range of private teacher salaries are 3,000 to 10,000 birr.
A majority of private schools have told parents that next year’s school fees will cost more due to the inflation of birr, the cost of educational materials, and the increase of teacher salaries.
Last year Addis Ababa Education Bureau closed 59 schools in the city for unqualified teachers, no libraries, laboratories, sports fields, poor toilets and sleeping rooms for the children. Among the closed schools 34 of them were Kindergartens, 14 Primary and nine High Schools. Currently, there are 1,631 private schools in Addis Ababa among these 919 are Kindergartens,569 are primary and 143 are High Schools.
