The Addis Ababa Revenue Bureau has launched a tax campaign. The ceremony at the Intercontinental Hotel featured Deputy Mayor Takele Uma, federal and city officials, private businesses and the general public. The goal of the campaign is to increase revenue collection.
The Mayor announced that after discussions with the city administration and the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association, they decided to lift half tax they were asking from 4,040 tax payers who were undergoing arbitration. This was due to claims that the tax imposed was exaggerated. During the 2016/17 budget year tens of thousands of level C tax payers had their taxes revised.
According to the Addis Ababa Revenue Bureau, about four thousand tax payers, owed half of the estimated tax dues. They were undergoing arbitration. However, now the city is considering exempting the balance and letting businesses pay half of their estimated dues.
Another 1,070 businesses are either being sued or investigated by police for tax fraud. Now the city is working to annul their charges and get them to settle the expected tax in an amicable manner.
Still another group of businesses say they are unable to pay any tax. In this case the city will evaluate their activity and revise their tax.
Thirteen thousand businesses in the city filed tax claims during the past budget year and 82 percent of those have been resolved.
City makes public attempt to better tax collection
Ethiopia to dramatically expand coffee production
The Ethiopian Coffee and Tea Authority (ECTA) announced that there are 5.4 million hectares of suitable land available for growing coffee.
Currently coffee is cultivated in Oromia and SNNP regions but plans are in the works to expand coffee plantations throughout Ethiopia, according to a statement the Authority sent to Capital.
Birhanu Tsegaye, who leads the nation’s coffee, tea and spice development, said there are 5.4 million hectares of land usable for high level coffee cultivation and 17.7 hectares of land ripe for medium level coffee cultivation.
“In total the country has an additional 23.1 million hectares of high and medium level of land suitable for coffee,” he said.
In addition to Oromia and SNNP; Amhara, Gambella, Benishangul Gumuz and Tigrai are potential areas for growing coffee beans.
He said that if this land is used, the government will be able to reach their coffee production goals.
Currently there are about 2.52 million hectares of land covered by coffee plantations. From this, about 1.129 million hectares are being used for harvesting coffee.
“The country can benefit from its natural gifts,” Birhanu said.
The Authority is working closely with stakeholders to increase coffee production. There are two other areas where some coffee is grown in addition to Oromia and SNNP, these are Benishangual and Gambella. However, soon coffee will be growing throughout Ethiopia if the government’s plans become a reality.
The Coffee Authority was re-established three years ago after previously being placed under the Ministry of Agriculture. During the last twenty years there has been much tinkering with coffee administration. The current government created an exclusive entity for coffee and tea and their recent policy has focused on improvements in agriculture, mainly cereals and other cash crops.
Until recently, several ministries, including the Ministry of Trade and the Ministry of Agriculture, managed Ethiopia’s coffee industry. Coffee cultivation was run under the Ministry of Agriculture, and the marketing was carried out by the Ministry of Trade.
Before being administered under the agriculture ministry, it was governed through the Coffee and Tea Authority. It developed coffee plant nurseries and distribution for farmers. It also engaged in developing selected seeds to boost coffee development.
The Coffee and Tea Authority was also responsible for monitoring the production and exportation of all types of coffee through an auction system. It was later replaced by the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, which commenced coffee trading in 2008.
The first body responsible for coffee was the National Coffee Board of Ethiopia (NCBE) which pioneered coffee certification when established in 1957. The NCBE’s aims were to control and coordinate coffee production, traders and exporters and to improve the quality of Ethiopian coffee.
Coffee experts supported the re-formation of an independent office for coffee to ensure the sector’s development. They said that the coffee industry was hindered by being attached to MoA.
“The coffee sector needs very close attention and the formation of the new entity will be advantageous for its development,” experts said.
Agrer Consortium’s, the US consultancy firm, recommended improving the sector by establishing an independent office at the ministerial level to focus more on coffee.
Even though the Ethiopian coffee bean is flavorful and has different varieties, it has not been able to fetch the proper premium on the international market.
Various studies indicate that Ethiopia is the primary center of origin and that the Arabica coffee plant is genetically diverse.
The labor-intensive tree crop also provides much employment in rural areas and is the means of livelihood for over 25 million people in Ethiopia. It also retains the major share of the GDP.
In the stated regions there are 181 woredas dedicated to coffee production. This harvest season 786,766 tons of coffee are expected to be collected. The Agrer Consortium study recommended that a meaningful and effective strategy involve increasing quantity, quality, sustainability, consistency of supply and the geographic identity of Arabica coffee.
Ethiopia prohibits alcohol ads
The House of People’s Representatives (HPR) passed a draft bill restricting smoking in public places and banning alcohol advertisements on billboards and broadcast media.
The parliament ratified the bill after a long debate. It bans advertising on broadcast media totally.
In a bid to discourage the consumption of alcoholic drinks, the bill further puts stringent restrictions on advertising and promotion of alcohol, the bill states.
Previously, the bill intended to limit advertisement via broadcasting media during the night time only. Drinks with an alcohol volume of over 10 percent would be banned.
“We know the impact this has on the entertainment industry, however we share the concern of saving the next generation” Mesfin Getachew told Capital.
The ban may open the door for indirect advertisements placed in TV shows and movies, Mesfin adds.
The bill puts multiple limitations on advertisement and sales of tobacco and alcohol.
The new law also bans smoking within 100 meters of public and work places, health institutions and youth recreational centers.
The ratified bill also bans anyone from selling alcoholic drinks to people under 21.
The proclamation states that tobacco products are to have warning messages displayed on no less than 70pc of the packaging. It also prohibits any form of tobacco advertising on the packages.
A report released by Global Adults Tobacco Survey states that 3.4 million adults currently use tobacco in Ethiopia.
NEGATING NORMATIVE NARRATIVES
It seems the global status quo has become quite adept in the handling of spectacular disconnects than ever before. These fantastic disconnects are not always the old temporal phenomenon. For instance, the current theatrics taking place in South America is certainly not a case of paradigm shift, however dramatic. In fact, such happenstances in Latin America were quite frequent in centuries passed. Be that as it may, the prevailing unabashed chutzpah of the powerful, unleashed on Venezuela, is without a doubt, a blatant undermining of International laws! Mr. Trump, the president of the hegemon, (USA) has now declared a new president for the Venezuelan people! His allies or what many call the vassal states, have also endorsed, willy-nilly, his pronouncement, with the significant exception of Italy! Don’t forget Italy now has a coalition government comprised of ‘populist parties.’ This example on its own, illustrates the increased negation of establishment narratives in our world system. See the articles next column, on page 41 & 44. Disconnecting narratives taking place in Europe/USA are rather new and promise transformational potential. The political, economic, cultural, religious, etc. spheres, as established by the status quo, are being questioned by the sheeple (human mass) whose existential reality in the twilight of the modern world system is becoming increasingly arduous, even tenuous. The large majority of the sheeple in the core countries (over two thirds) doesn’t feel traditional political parties represent its long- term interests. As a result, it is actively seeking for comprehensive alternatives; politically, economically, culturally, etc.! On the political economy front, we have troubles brewing in the core countries of the system. Brexit, Trumpism, Yellow Vests, Indiganos, Syriza, Podemos, AfD, Lega Nord, Five Star, etc. are various reactions to the oppression of the prevailing world order. Almost all these movements represent first stage refusals, so to speak. At the same time, the elites remain delusional about the rising tides gathering force within the collective plebs! For example, the pretentiously opulent annual jamboree in the little alpine town of Switzerland is an epitome of this insolent hubris of the reigning global oligarchs and their operatives–the politicos. One cannot help but recall Somerset Maugham’s remark about Monaco during the similar but bygone era of the ‘Gilded Age.’ Monaco, he said; ‘is a sunny place for shady people.’ Mirroring the novelist’s characterization we can also say ‘Davos is a cool place for hot money’! If truth be told, the World Economic Forum (the Davos gathering) which has been going on since 1971, is the fruit of the regime of fictitious money. Value was literally unhinged from productive work after 1971, the year the Bretton Woods Agreement collapsed, i.e., the unilateral abrogation of dollar-gold convertibility by the US government (Nixon). By extension, all currencies that were once tied to gold were also let loose. After the abandonment of the ‘Bretton Woods Agreement’ fiat money established itself as the final arbiter of all productive economic engagements, globally! Consequently, whoever is/was close to the spigot of fake/phony money, became rich, while the working stiff, including oldfashioned entrepreneurs, lost out big time. The existing fiat currency regime facilitated by the narrative of Wall Street wheelers and dealers continues to distort the global economy and ravage the natural environment. Today the world wallows in the parasitic financialized world, from which criminal accumulation springs eternal! Since the trillions of phony money created from thin air needed plenty of investment outlets, the ideology of neoliberalsm had to be established rather promptly all over the world. Unencumbered access to resources and markets was a major requirement to profitably park all the fictitious money. Policies that espoused privatization, liberalization, deregulation, etc., soon became the rigid conditionalities of the BW and other institutions of dominant interests. In short, the euphoric globalization of empire was up and running, in earnest, after 1971. But this game was never fair to the majority of the global sheeple! In fact, it is this polarizing globalization that is now summoned to the street courts of the sheeple, mostly in the rich countries. Where are our jobs? Why is the middle class disappearing? Why is the 1% taking almost all (over 80%) of the income in OECD? The sheeple of the west is clamoring. In the case of the Global South, various grievances caused by polarizing globalization are also manifested, mostly as increased instability and failing/failed states. Clearly, neoliberalism is being rejected by the sheeple, both in the North and in the Global South. At the same time the ruling entities of the world system, along with their imbeciles in the South, still want to hold on to this unfair regime by hook or a crook. Something has to yield! The dead end narrative of trickle down economics as promoted by the establishment; BW, WTO, EU, etc. has finally reached an impasse. Old revolutionaries strategically analyze pregnant situations by utilizing the notions of ‘objective and subjective conditions’. What this boils down to is this: the sheeple on the ground is ready and willing to change things, i.e., look for drastic alternatives. This is called the objective condition. At the same time, agency/leadership might not be available or unwilling to take charge in the pursuit of desired objectives. In this latter situation the subjective condition is said to be lacking. If things do not synchronize soon, there will be an earth shattering rapture or a bifurcation. Subsequently, new leadership might well rise from the ashes, like the old phoenix. There is a lesson to be learned here, particularly to those of us in Africa. Beware; the gap between what revolutionaries call ‘objective and subjective conditions’ is increasing with unforeseen consequences. We all need to heed the fury of the sheeple, whether it is coming from the North or the South. “We have guillotined many for far less” Les Gilets Jaunes. Good Day!
