Kenya is negotiating an increase in electricity imports from Ethiopia by 50 to 100 megawatts (MW) to address rising domestic demand and avoid potential power rationing, officials at Kenya Power said on Thursday.

The planned imports are intended to stabilise electricity supply during peak evening hours, between 6 p.m. and 10 p.m., when demand has placed growing pressure on the national grid.

Kenya’s peak electricity demand reached a record 2,238 MW in August 2024, up from 2,057 MW in 2023 and 1,860 MW in 2022, driven by increased industrial activity and higher household consumption. The country currently has a reserve margin of just 9 MW, well below the 310 MW required for grid stability and the 20 to 35 percent margin recommended by the International Energy Agency.

Ethiopia, which relies heavily on hydropower, supplies Kenya with 200 MW under a 25-year agreement signed in 2022, at a tariff of 6.5 US cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh). The rate is lower than Kenya’s thermal generation cost of up to 20 US cents per kWh and domestic geothermal at 8 to 10 US cents per kWh.

The additional imports, expected to be agreed by mid-2025, would draw from Ethiopia’s Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which has surplus capacity.

Kenya’s efforts to expand domestic power generation have been hindered by a moratorium on new power purchase agreements, imposed by parliament in 2023 to contain rising electricity costs. Although the Cabinet lifted the freeze in February 2023, its implementation remains stalled. As a result, Kenya is relying on electricity imports from Ethiopia, Uganda (10 MW), and Tanzania (5 MW).

“We’re operating with our hands tied,” a Kenya Power official said. “Ethiopian power is our quickest fix to avoid load shedding.”

Kenyan electricity tariffs rose by 16 percent in 2023 and 8 percent in 2024, triggering public concern. While hydropower imports may reduce generation costs, analysts have warned that dependence on cross-border supply could expose Kenya to regional climate variability and diplomatic tensions. Ethiopia’s GERD has been a source of contention with downstream nations, though relations between Nairobi and Addis Ababa remain stable.

(BirrMetrics)

Alleged illegal immigrants from Ethiopia taken in for processing in Sandton

Forty-four alleged illegal immigrants from Ethiopia were found after a complaint of people screaming in a house in Parkmore, Sandton, on Thursday.

Police spokesperson Lt-Col Mavela Masondo said the immigrants are being processed at the department of home affairs and preliminary investigations revealed that they are males aged between 15 and 22.

“It is reported that private security officers who were conducting routine patrols in the area received a complaint about people who were screaming and making a noise at one of the houses in Parkmore,” said Masondo.

“The complaint was then escalated to the local police station and police proceeded to the scene. At the scene, police discovered 44 males who were locked in the back rooms of the main house.

He added that it is alleged they were being kept against their will and there is a possibility that they were trafficked into the country.

“An investigation is under way to establish how they came to the country and ended up being locked inside the house,” said Masondo.

(TimesLive)

Oakland, California-based Royal Coffee recently opened a new office in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, with a stated goal to become “the leading American importer of Ethiopian coffee.”

The genetic birthplace of coffee and one of the most highly prized coffee origin countries in terms of arabica quality and diversity, Ethiopia and its coffee sector have also faced numerous challenges bringing traceable specialty coffees to the export market in recent years, including political conflict in key coffee-growing areas, domestic market mechanics and other logistical hurdles.

“Ethiopia is one of the most important and complex coffee origins in the world,” Royal Coffee CEO Max Nicholas-Fulmer said in an announcement of the opening. “Establishing a permanent presence in Addis allows us to adapt in real-time to the shifting dynamics of the Ethiopian coffee market — while continuing to deliver the highest standard of quality and service our partners have come to expect.”

According to Royal, the new location will include a fully equipped cupping lab and an operations team. The office will be led by Haileyesus Andualem, who has worked with Royal for more than a decade. Licensed Q Grader Segenet Gashaw will oversee the lab, and Beti Asefa will lead logistics and support quality control.

Royal said the new facility is designed to broaden the company’s Ethiopian supplier network, including increased engagement with smallholder producers, resulting in more green coffee offerings and diversity for roasters. The office is also designed to improve shipment efficiency, the company said.

(Daily coffee News)

Ethiopia expects $3.4 bln deal on IMF review within days

Ethiopia expects to reach a preliminary agreement on the third review of its USD 3.4 billion loan program with the International Monetary Fund early this week and sees formal debt talks with bondholders starting in summer, State Finance Minister Eyob Tekalign told Reuters.

The country, which struck a four-year, USD 3.4 billion programme IMF deal last July, is in the midst of a far-reaching reform push, including the floatation of its birr currency and a push to get its debt restructuring over the line.

Speaking on the sidelines of the IMF and World Bank Group spring meetings in Washington, Eyob said he had met IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva as well as other staff to discuss progress on reforms.

“They are very much pleased with how the programme is going,” said Eyob in an interview on Saturday. “The results we’ve seen now were pleasant surprises, because we’ve over-achieved in many areas, whether it’s in reserve accumulation, in inflationary trends or in export growth.” Eyob expected the Fund’s executive board to sign off on the review in June – a step needed to trigger the next payout of the loan programme.

Meanwhile, talks in Washington with some holders of Ethiopia’s sole USD one billion international bond had also been productive, he said, adding formal talks aimed at hammering out details of a debt rework could start in the summer. “We cannot get into substantive discussions, because they are waiting to see the latest DSA macro tables from the fund,” he said, referring to the IMF’s debt sustainability analysis.

Ethiopia in March reached a draft agreement with its official creditors on restructuring USD 8.4 billion of debt, but has been locked in a standoff with its bondholders.

Bondholders and Ethiopia are at odds over whether the country is facing a liquidity issue, meaning it might only need more time to pay, or a solvency issue, which could require more debt writedowns known as haircuts.

A draft deal with official creditors, which is expected to be finalised within months, gives the government more time to pay but stops short of an outright haircut in favour of focusing on payment extensions, lowering the debt service during the IMF programme and cutting interest levels.

Eyob said the country had to follow the principle of comparability of treatment with other creditors. “Haircut or not, I think this is sometimes an unnecessary debate,” he said. “The whole exercise is to help the country sustainably finance its development – that’s the whole idea behind the debt treatment.”Ethiopia opted to restructure its external debt under the G20’s Common Framework in 2021, before it defaulted on its sole Eurobond in December 2023.

Eyob also said he was in talks with China’s main trade policy banks – Export-Import Bank of China and the China Development Bank – over concessional financing for projects such as Addis Ababa’s city rail and airport expansions.

He also held meetings with the US International Development Finance Corporation.“We understand that they see us as one of the priority countries, so we should be able to see more investment from the US side,” he said, adding discussions had focused around direct project financing as well as guarantees across a range of sectors, including energy.

(msn)