Addis Ababa the second most expensive city in Africa

Addis Ababa the second most expensive city in Africa A report released by Statista in 2022, showed that Kampala is the most expensive city to live in in the East African region. Dakar city in Senegal ranked as the most expensive in Africa owing to the high prices of consumer goods as of 2022. Here is a list of 15 most expensive cities in Africa. Dakar, Senegal:  50.87 cost of living index score. Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: 50.49 cost of living index score. Abidjan, Ivory Coast: 47.06  cost of living index score. Harare, Zimbabwe: 45.69  cost of living index score. Johannesburg, South Africa: 44.87  cost of living index score. Pretoria, South Africa: 42.76  cost of living index score. Gaborone, Botswana: 42.7 cost of living index score. Cape Town, South Africa: 40.98  cost of living index score. Durban, South Africa: 40.33 cost of living index score. Marrakech, Morocco: 39.94 cost of living index score. Accra, Ghana: 38.74 cost of living index score. Lagos, Nigeria: 37.33 cost of living index score. Tangier, Morocco: 36.85  cost of living index score. Casablanca, Morocco: 36.59 cost of living index score. Kampala, Uganda: 5.98  cost of living index score. In May 2022, data from the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) showed that consumer prices in Kenya have registered their biggest jump in more than two years since February 2020. The data showed that in May, inflation hit a high of 7.1 per cent from 6.47 per cent in April. In most countries, the rising cost of living has been linked to the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia.

Ethiopia stripped its 19% stake at Berbera Port

Ethiopia stripped its 19% stake at Berbera Port Following Ethiopia’s failure to meet Somaliland government’s request it lost its 19% stake in the port of Berbera. According to the Somaliland Ministry of Finance, the Ethiopian government has been stripped of its ownership for failing to meet its ownership requirements on time. According to the Minister, one of the preconditions was fund contribution in which Ethiopia fails to do so.

Why Banning Cryptocurrencies in Ethiopia Is a Right Move

Why Banning Cryptocurrencies in Ethiopia Is a Right Move By- Lewoye Bantie Cryptocurrency (crypto) is defined as a decentralized digital currency intended to be used in buying or selling goods and services. Cryptocurrency is currently at the frontier of financial development. It provides both opportunities and risks in financial markets and has attracted significant attention in recent years. Accordingly, the number of market players involved in the cryptocurrency business has risen. Although many central banks issue warnings about the use of cryptocurrency and have explicitly denied its status as a currency, only a few have banned its use as a financial asset. Policy makers are concerned about the low liquidity, the use of leverage, market risks from volatility, and the operational risks of cryptocurrency. Many central banks emphasize that cryptocurrency is not legal tender and that users face the risk of unenforceability of cryptocurrency transactions. The Global Research Center (2018) compiled regulations on cryptocurrency and its report shows that, in countries where cryptocurrency is allowed, it can be legally traded as long as it follows existing rules or laws related to financial instruments. Regardless of the regulatory stance, policy makers are wary that cryptocurrency would be used for illegal activities, such as money laundering, trade in illegal or controlled substances, or terrorism finance. Policy makers are also aware of the potential lack of consumer and investor protection. Deposit insurance for holders of cryptocurrency is limited and not supplied by domestic monetary authorities. The combination of its potential benefits as well as macroeconomic risks begs the question of what determines policy openness or aversion to cryptocurrency. Uncertainty over security, the legality of its transactions, and the extent of consumer and investor protection has kept policy makers wary about its operations. Because of this, many central banks around the world try to inform the public about the difference between legal tender, which is backed by their central bank, and cryptocurrency, which is neither backed by the domestic nor other foreign monetary authorities. Furthermore, the combination of the speculative nature of cryptocurrency and its lack of supervision poses a threat to both investors and consumers. Although the cryptocurrency market itself is not large enough to pose a global risk at this time, it may still pose risks to consumers and investors in smaller countries where cryptocurrencies are being used. Cryptocurrencies are rapidly gaining popularity, but not everyone is on board, since several governments have outlawed dealing and trading in these digital tokens. While there are apparently over 5,000 recognized cryptocurrencies in the world today, analysts and experts are still anticipating a rapid rise in the value of Bitcoin, the world’s oldest and most valuable cryptocurrency, with only a few months remaining in 2021. However, while some nations, like as India, are fast expanding their crypto markets, others, such as China, Russia, and Bangladesh, have been breaking the code. China ban cryptocurrency before two months ago. he decision was made in favor of reducing energy prices and greenhouse fuel emissions associated with crypto transactions. The other country Egypt believes that cryptocurrencies might be harmful to the national security and economic health of the country. According to a source, the Ethiopian central bank has advised citizens against engaging in “illegal” cryptocurrency transactions. The central bank, according to the article, still does not recognize cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin as a payment mechanism. In Ethiopia cryptocurrencies are primarily used for money laundering schemes. In recent period there were increasing online money laundering schemes. As a digital technology, cryptocurrencies will be subject to cybersecurity breaches, and may fall into the hands of hackers. We have already seen evidence of this, with multiple ICOs getting breached and costing the country millions of dollars in different mechanism as the account is has not KYC. While cryptocurrencies have become widely known and are still gaining in popularity, it’s worth remembering that they have only been around for just over a decade. The concept only really emerged with the publication of a white paper on Bitcoin in 2008. Nobody really knows what will happen to cryptocurrencies in the future and you need to be brave to enter these uncharted waters as an investor. If a hard drive crashes, or a virus corrupts data , and the wallet file is corrupted, Bitcoins have essentially been “lost”. There is nothing that can done to recover it. These coins will be forever orphaned in the system. This can bankrupt a wealthy Bitcoin investor within seconds with no way form of recovery. The coins the investor owned will also be permanently orphaned. Since there is no central authority governing Bitcoins, no one can guarantee its minimum valuation. If a large group of merchants decide to “dump” Bitcoins and leave the system, its valuation will decrease greatly which will immensely hurt users who have a large amount of wealth invested in Bitcoins. The decentralized nature of bitcoin is both a curse and blessing. Since Bitcoins do not have a physical form, it cannot be used in physical stores. It would always have to be converted to other currencies. Cards with Bitcoin wallet information stored in them have been proposed, but there is no consensus on a particular system. Since there would be multiple competing systems, merchants would find it unfeasible to support all Bitcoin cards, and therefore users would be forced to convert Bitcoins anyway, unless a universal system is proposed and implemented.

India’s Arvind Limited cutting down its garment production capacity in Ethiopia

India’s Arvind Limited cutting down its garment production capacity in Ethiopia India’s Arvind Limited is gradually cutting down its garment production capacity in Ethiopia with uncertainty looming over renewal of the US African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA). The company, however, has earmarked ₹200 crore for capacity augmentation in its advanced material division and garmenting businesses, and cost optimisation projects for fabric business during fiscal 2022-23. “During the year we completed a restructuring of some of our facilities across India and also started to gradually bring down capacity in Ethiopia. We had shared that the AGOA Treaty has been kind of cancelled for now and hence duty-free exports from Ethiopia to the US have been halted. As such, the traffic for that location has come down, so we have started kind of reducing the footprint there. So, our installed capacity has come down to about 50 million pieces or so,” Samir Agrawal, chief strategy officer at Arvind, told analysts in a post-earnings call recently. Enacted in 2000, the AGOA offers sub-Saharan African countries duty-free access to the United States. It was renewed in 2015 till 2025, but faces uncertainty over its extension further. The key challenge in this segment has been the continuously rising prices of all the raw materials, most prominently cotton, which continued to climb even though the new harvest coming in the market around November, he informed. Tags ethiopia news ethiopian news daily India's Arvind

National Bank of Ethiopia grants license to 8 new banks

National Bank of Ethiopia grants license to 8 new banks National Bank of Ethiopia announces licenses to eight new banks Fraser Ayalew, Director of  Banking Control at the National Bank of Ethiopia said several banks are applying for licenses following the ongoing reforms in the financial sector. He recalled that the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has increased the minimum capital required to establish a bank in October 2014 from 500 million to 5 billion birr. According to the director, 8 out of the 25 new banks that have applied for a license have been granted licenses by eight banks. In addition to the eight banks licensed by the National Bank of Ethiopia, three banks are finalizing the process and will receive it in less than three months, he said. He said the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) would monitor the process from the beginning of the pre-application process until the issuance of licenses. Similarly, three small financial institutions have met the requirements of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) in 2012 EC. Two other small financial institutions are in the process of obtaining a license, he said. He said the banking sector has created direct jobs for more than 120,000 people and the arrival of new banks has greatly contributed to the provision of alternative services and job creation. The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has so far issued licenses to 28 banks, ENA reported. Tags commercial bank of Ethiopia Ethiopian Business News ethiopian news National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE)

The Federal Government has allocated 12 billion birr to Tigray State

The Federal Government has allocated 12 billion birr to Tigray State The Federal Government has allocated 12 billion birr to Tigray State out of the total budget allocation for the states for 2015. Out of the total 786 billion birr budget presented for the 2015 fiscal year, 71 billion birr for Oromia, 44 billion birr for Amhara, 26.5 billion birr for southern nations, nationalities and peoples, 20.5 billion birr for Somali region, 6.4 billion birr for southwestern Ethiopia and 8.4 billion for Sidama region. Similarly, 6.2 billion birr for Afar, 3.7 billion birr for Benishangul, 2.4 billion birr for Gambella, 1.5 billion birr for Harari, 3.2 billion birr for Addis Ababa city administration and 1.8 billion birr for Dire Dawa city administration. The House of Peoples’ Representatives, in its regular session on Jun 8, 2022, discussed the 2015 draft budget, which was chaired by the Council of Ministers. Billion birr allocated. Debt settlements account for 125 billion birr, 84 billion birr for defense, 66 billion birr for roads and 64 billion birr for education. A total of 477 billion birr is expected to be collected from the federal government’s domestic revenue sources and foreign loans in the current fiscal year, Finance Minister Ahmed told parliament. The government will receive 266 billion birr in domestic revenue in 2015, 438 billion birr in domestic revenue and the rest from project loans and grants. He said 234.4 billion birr net deficit will be accounted for in the 2015 General Budget, which accounts for 3.4 percent of GDP. He said 224 billion birr will be used to cover the budget deficit from domestic loans and 6.9 billion birr net loans. However, he added that development partners have significantly reduced their development support, especially in the form of budget support. On the other hand, the government had set a target of 8.5 percent economic growth in the coming fiscal year 2014, but the economic slowdown was slower than expected due to the CVD-19 epidemic and instability in some parts of the country, especially in the war-torn northern part of the country. He said it could drop by 7 percent. Tags Ahmed Shide budget ethiopian news

The 2022 Draft Budget focuses on debt relief, reconstruction of war-torn infrastructure,

The 2022 Draft Budget focuses on debt relief, reconstruction of war-torn infrastructure, The 2022 Draft Budget focuses on debt relief, reconstruction of war-torn infrastructure, humanitarian assistance to the victims and national security: Ahmed Shede Addis Ababa: May 30, 2014 (FBC) The 2015 Federal Government Draft Budget has been prepared with a focus on debt relief, reconstruction of war-damaged infrastructure, providing humanitarian assistance to the affected people and safeguarding national security, Finance Minister Ahmed Shede said. The Minister briefed the House of Peoples’ Representatives on the 2015 Federal Government Draft Budget. Minister Ahmed told the House that the Federal Government’s draft budget for the 2015 fiscal year has been prepared to alleviate the current pressure on fiscal policy. He said the preparation of the 2015 draft budget, which is 786.61 billion birr, is based on the country’s macroeconomic forecast. He said the country is expected to end the war and create a favorable macroeconomic economy.He said the country’s economy is projected to grow at 6.6 percent, lowering the forecast for economic growth and drought in the arid areas. He said the country’s economy is expected to grow by 9.2 percent in the current fiscal year. Regarding inflation, it was 36.6 percent in April, he said, adding that it would be difficult to reduce inflation to single digits in the short term. He said it is planned to reduce inflation to 11.9 percent by implementing the necessary policy and structural measures in the 2015 Ethiopian budget year. He said the draft budget would go a long way in easing the current pressure on fiscal policy. He noted that promising economic reforms were beginning to take shape through the strong implementation of the Indigenous Economic Reforms (IEP), which was supposed to help stabilize the volatile macroeconomic balance in Ethiopia.He said significant economic reforms implemented in Ethiopia in recent years have created the capacity to withstand the effects and challenges. He noted that the Ethiopian economy was facing many challenges and that the economic growth of many countries in the world had slowed down over the past two years. He noted that inflation has been a double-digit pace in the past two years and in the current fiscal year, adding that it is still a challenge for the economy. He noted the need for fiscal and monetary policy as well as integrated measures to address the supply chain and related problems. He said the government has allocated huge sums of money to subsidize the supply of basic commodities such as oil, sugar, wheat and other commodities. He said the 2015 Federal Budget focuses on debt relief, reconstruction of war-torn infrastructure, providing humanitarian assistance to war-torn and natural disasters, and national security. He said the budget deficit is higher than in the previous budget, but care should be taken not to negatively affect the price. He said the draft budget has increased compared to last year but is not enough in terms of the country’s development needs. Therefore, they say, the executive should use savings effectively. He also urged the executive to adhere to the government’s procurement system and to follow cost-effective procedures. He also called on the House of Peoples’ Representatives to support the ministry in its monitoring and oversight. Tags Ahmed Shide Ethiopia Budget

World Bank pledges $ 195 million to support health sector in Ethiopia

World Bank pledges $ 195 million to support health sector in Ethiopia The World Bank has provided $ 195 million to support the health sector in Ethiopia and to provide CV-19 vaccine to its citizens. Funding will also support Ethiopia’s efforts to make CV-19 vaccines available nationwide and rehabilitate conflict-affected public health facilities. In addition to helping the underprivileged health system in Ethiopia, the current funding will help increase the coverage of CVD-19 vaccine below 30 percent and reduce the spread of CVD-19 by expanding immunization activities across the country, said Osman Dion, Director of the World Bank in Ethiopia. In terms of maternal and child health, access to nutrition and other key services, the funding will contribute to the delivery of conflict-affected rural areas and vulnerable communities, as well as Ethiopia’s health system. In addition, the support will be used by Ethiopia to purchase CVD-19 vaccine, supply hospital inpatient unit (ICU) equipment, improve the treatment of patients with CVD-19 and other diseases, and train community health professionals. According to the Ministry of Finance, the grant will support Ethiopia’s efforts to deliver CV-19 vaccine to 60 percent by the end of 2023. An additional $ 195 million has been provided by the World Bank, which has provided $ 495 million in financial assistance to Ethiopia. Tags ethiopian news World Bank

Transport tariff reform to be implemented in the capital

Transport tariff reform to be implemented in the capital Transport tariff reform to be implemented in the capital tomorrow Addis Ababa: May 30, 2014 (FBC) The Addis Ababa Transport Bureau announced that it has revised its transport service tariff. The tariff increase is said to be in line with global oil prices. According to Yirgalem Berhane, Deputy Head of the Addis Ababa City Administration Transport Bureau, the tariff has been improved on Medi-bus and mini-bus service vehicles in the capital. Addis Ababa City Transport Bureau announced that it has increased the price of transportation from 0.50 cents to 3 birr 50 cents starting tomorrow. Thus, the minibus increased by 0.50 cents upto 2.00 birr depending on the destination and the minibus increased from 0.50 upto 3.50.