The long wait for renewing passports has opened room for brokers, dealers and government employees to take bribes in order to speed up the process of getting a passport.
People are being asked to pay up to 50,000 birr as a bribe for a new passport. Normally a passport costs 600 birr.
According to Capital sources, the case is more serious for individuals who want to renew their passport for business. They will be asked for up to 100,000 birr by the dealers who have contact with the agency employees and will get their passport renewed within five days.
Wendowessen (his name is changed for privacy) is a business man who has license in the import and export business and frequently travels to China and Dubai, Waiting for more than five months puts him out of the game, so he chooses to go beyond the curtain to get his passport renewed.
“The agency has no alternate procedures for business people who are engaged in import and export which encourages people to break the law,” said a Capital source.
Under normal circumstance, it takes two months to get a new passport through normal procedures, which costs 600 Birr for 32 pages and 900 Birr for a 64-page passport. However, applicants can get their passport expedited to between three and five days after paying 2,186 birr.
For individuals who need to go abroad for medical purposes, they should get a document from the medical board to get the service.
Though there is less magnitude, the long waits are also observed in Adama, Semera, Dire Dawa, Jigjiga, Hawassa, Jimma, Dessie, Bahir Dar and Mekelle,
“The agency is trying to alleviate the existing problems still we are importing passports and the shortage of hard currency complicates the problem,” said Desalegn Teressa, Communication Director.
The Agency, was issuing an average of 2,000 passports daily. Previously, any individual with a kebele identification card and birth certificate can obtain a passport from the agency, as long as they present documents from the government institution as a letter of recommendation, Individuals with medical case, for individuals who have active visa, and for individuals who engage in import-export trade. It will not take more than a week.
Passport slowdown means more corruption
Enterprise to add 150 trucks
The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) opened an international bid for the procurement of trucks. Documents for the procurement of 150 brand new heavy duty trucks to improve its service and replace the old ones were submitted.
According to Wondimu Denbu, deputy CEO of the Enterprise for Corporate Service the enterprise finalized the technical evaluation last Tuesday December 17, 2019.
The procurement will be financed by loans from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and 30 percent will be financed by the Enterprise itself.
As Roba Megersa, CEO of ESLSE said, 14 companies participated in the bid, including the local firm; Mesfin Industrial Engineering plc.
The bid was expected to be opened last September, but it was postponed to October 20, in connection with bidders who wanted further clarification about axle loads and to get clarification from Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) and Ministry of Transport. The enterprise aimed to import 4 axle load capacity trucks which is not allowed in the country. “We are going to import tri axle trucks,” said Roba, which were allowed by the two governmental bodies based on the agreement that Ethiopia signed under COMESA and other treaties the four axle truck is not allowed to be driven on the street to protect the road from over loading.
Currently ESLSE has about 440 trucks, 215 Renault trucks were purchased about four years ago.
ESLSE wants to get rid of 123 trucks that are not suitable for its import export operation. According to the deputy CEO, the enterprise is waiting for the board’s decision to remove these trucks in the coming 15 days. Beside these 123 trucks, the enterprise has awarded bid winners for other 36 old Mack Trucks.
ESLSE is also leasing trucks from private transporters besides using its own. Ethio – Djibouti is one of the most expensive corridors in the world. There are many logistical problems. “The trucks are very old, after one trip to Djibouti they have to go to maintenance,” said Roba, This is also because of the road infrastructure. According to Roba, Ethiopia needs about 600 trucks for daily transportation of containers however, we only have the capacity of half that number. The 750km railway connecting Addis Ababa with the port in Djibouti launched last year and can cut a three-day journey down to 12 hours.
In the past budget year ESLSE, earned 1.7 billion birr. The enterprise is one of the mega public enterprises scheduled in the latest privatization process through partial sales.
City Administration
The Addis Ababa City Administration in collaboration with MIDROC Ethiopia launched a cooking oil processing factory on December 28, 2019. The factory is said to have a capacity of producing 600,000 liters of edible oil per day. (Picture: Addis Ababa City Government)
Six drug factories to start operation at Kilinto Park
The Ethiopian Investment Commission gave licenses to six pharmaceutical manufactures to set up factories inside the Kilinto Pharmaceutical Industrial Park.
The pharmaceuticals are, Domina Pharma Plc on one-hectare of land, Eva Pharma PLC on 1.5 hectares of land, Intrade co.UK Ethiopian branch on 3.125 hectares of land, Africure Pharmaceuticals on 1 hectare land, Global Pharma on 0.5 hectares and Dagim Dereje Pharmaceuticals on 1.6 hectares of land.
According to the commission, these manufacturers are expected to produce dermatological products, parasiticides, scabies treatment and dandruff therapy shampoo, syrups and nasal drops, nasal decongestants antibiotic, anti TB and anti-malaria drugs, contraceptive drugs, non-beta lactam, and beta-lactams, antibiotics antiretroviral and non-anti-microbial agents tablets ointments capsules with a view to helping the pharmaceutical sector, which is still dominated by heavy importation of pharmaceutical products from abroad. The park is expected to support Ethiopia’s economy through the export of pharmaceutical products as well as import-substitution.
Even if the construction of Kilinto Industrial Park was finished in early 2019, the commission has not set a rate to lease the land which has made it difficult for investors to get in. The land lease rate in Kilinto Industrial Park is an average of 3.59 USD per meter square per annum, which is based on a cost-recovery approach.
The duration of land leases will be 40 years. In addition to the land development cost, firms investing in Kilinto are expected to pay an additional one birr per square meter per annum for the duration of the lease period. Investors in Kilinto Industrial Park will construct their own factories and sheds, as these, must be tailored to the types of products being produced according to the commission.
Located in the south of Addis Ababa, the park lays on 279 hectares of land, 166 hectares of which will be dedicated to manufacturing. Kilinto is being developed in two phases in collaboration with the World Bank Group.
Kilinto Industrial Park is constructed by Chinese construction giant Tiesiju Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd. (CTCEGCL) at a cost of 204 million USD. The Park can host more than 1,000 pharmaceutical companies’ and offers serviced land, which includes the entire essential infrastructure such as a wastewater treatment plant, reliable water supply, and a dedicated power substation. It features 18-km of asphalt road, provision of basic social services, green areas, warehouses, business centers and car parking space, according to the Ethiopian Industry Parks Development Corporation.
In addition, a one-stop-shop will be located in the park, offering government services related to customs clearance, investment licensing, administration, product registration, etc. Joint warehousing, calibration, and testing services will also be available in the park.
The country plans to increase the number of industrial parks to 15 as part of a goal of turning Ethiopia into a light manufacturing hub in Africa. Currently, there are nine operational industrial parks. The government has secured USD 47 million in export earnings from products manufactured in industrial parks over the first quarter of this fiscal year. The performance has increased by 88 percent compared to last year in the same period. The conflicts in different parts of the country over the years, lack of infrastructure including electricity, foreign exchange, have affected the performance of the industrial parks.
