Dashen Bank partners with WorldRemit for digital money transfers to Ethiopia
Leading digital money transfer service WorldRemit has teamed up with Dashen Bank for instant money transfers across Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian diaspora in over 50 countries can now send instant money transfers directly to Dashen bank accounts as well as 370+ new cash pickup locations at Dashen bank branches, using the WorldRemit app or website.
This deal supports WorldRemit’s plan to serve 10 million customers connected to emerging markets by 2020.
With a two million-strong Ethiopian diaspora living in countries such as United States, the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada, remittances play an important role in Ethiopia’s economy. However, the majority of its remittance flows are still going through informal, unregulated channels. Some estimates suggest that Ethiopia may have received over USD 3 billion in remittances in 2015, accounting for over 7% of its GDP.
Dashen is one of Ethiopia’s leading banks with 1.8 million customers and 372 branches across the country. It is renowned for introducing new technologies and services to the local banking industry, complementing WorldRemit’s mobile-first approach.
BASF closes acquisition of vegetable seed business from Bayer
BASF closed the acquisition of Bayer’s global vegetable seeds business, mainly operating under the brand Nunhems. The transaction adds a well-recognized brand with a very successful business track record to BASF’s portfolio. The acquired vegetable seeds business comprises 24 crops and about 2,600 varieties. It also includes well-established, strong R&D and breeding systems with over 100 unique breeding programs in more than 15 crops.
The addition of the vegetable seeds business enhances BASF’s global offer to farmers. It strengthens BASF’s seed platform and complements the recently expanded Agricultural Solutions portfolio, which includes seeds and traits, chemical and biological crop protection, soil management, plant health, pest control and digital farming.
This closing completes BASF’s acquisition of a significant range of businesses and assets with combined 2017 sales of €2.2 billion, which Bayer offered to divest in the context of its takeover of Monsanto. The all-cash purchase price amounts to a total of €7.6 billion, subject to certain adjustments at closing.
Number of IDPs in Ethiopia reaches 2.8 Mln- UNICEF
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday said the number of Internally Displaced People (IDPs) has reached 2.8 million in Ethiopia, up from 1.6 million at the beginning of the year.
In a press statement, UNICEF said Ethiopia also hosts more than 920,000 refugees, mainly from neighbouring Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan and Eritrea.
UNICEF said it expects seasonal flooding to affect 2.5 million people, possibly further increasing the number of IDPs in Ethiopia.
Helping the IDPs and refugees needs an estimated 111.8 million U.S. dollars, 31 per cent of which has so far been donated to UNICEF.
Increasing communal violence and natural disasters across various parts of Ethiopia in the first half of 2018 is thought to be behind the spike in the number of IDPs in the country.
Oromia, Somali and Southern regional states house most of the IDPs in the country.
