Ride: Driving out of dominance?

Ride: Driving out of dominance? Ride, the byproduct of Hybrid Design, became the first of its kind by being a mobility service platform in Ethiopia. It is currently one of the biggest ride-sharing applications in Ethiopia [and is worth more than hundred millions of dollars]. It didn’t start profits right away, it took some time to adjust the market and convince consumers. For two years it set off to fix the marketplace and work without profit by not taking a commission from drivers and allowing drivers to keep all the profits themselves, the first year with SMS order service and the second year with an app-based launch. After clearing the water and making sure that it was a feasible marketplace Ride worked on marginalizing its profit through commission. Other platforms have come into view with the same structure since Ride launched. Zay-Ride who initiated the first application for the ride-hailing system, companies like Ze-Lucy that branched out from Ride itself, Taxiye, Pick Pick, and more have emerged into the market. Feres arrived late to the scene, kickstarting in February 2020 after plenty of other ride hauling applications had already launched their platforms. Despite arriving late to the scene, it surpassed its competitors and is now in the race to take top place. There are a lot of factors contributing to the success of Feres. The initial marketing strategy was a tactical approach taken by the company and is one of the reasons for its success. The inclusion of incentives is another factor. Both the customers and the drivers were benefiting from this. Plus,  the demand for a platform like this had already grown, because its predecessors had already set out the road map. Currently, it seems as if Feres is competing for dominance in a market that was initiated by Ride. So what is Feres doing right that the rest aren’t? And what is next for Ride? The drivers play a major role in all this, they are the backbone of the ecosystem and from their viewpoint, they believe there are plenty of radical differences between the two platforms that might contribute to the drawbacks of Ride. After talking to a few drivers that had left Ride, and some who were working for both but preferred Feres, they shed a light on some key points causing this significant demand gap. The drivers believe the vetting process of Ride is a bit more bureaucratic than a digital platform needs to be, to register a vehicle the driver needs to take their car to the Ride garage where they will be charged extra fees to get checked. “This is unnecessary,” says one driver, he believed that as long as there is proof of document that the vehicle has been inspected by the authorized party that should suffice. He further goes on to compare Ride’s vetting process to that of Feres and he believes it’s far simpler. He goes on to say “I have never seen their office to this day, I finished registering my car online and they have helped me with all I needed without calling me to their office”. Another crucial issue the drivers mentioned in the queue time. Ride uses a mechanism that will put drivers on the waiting list until it’s their turn. It’s a first come first serve queue algorithm. Even when a customer is 10m close to a driver, the system will pick a driver within a 0.2km radius according to their turn. This system can be inconvenient at times. Whereas Feres on the other hand has a Nearby system, meaning the driver closest to the customer will receive the request. This isn’t the only difference with their systems, one driver says “Feres application has never failed me, I have used it for over a year and it had not once glitched or stopped. The Ride application on the other hand has stopped working or the system hasn’t responded to me more than once” He goes on to explain how Feres’s software is constantly being updated with new and more advanced features. The drivers also mentioned the corporate services, both the platforms had this feature but working on corporate means the money isn’t paid upfront by customers. Feres has an integrated system and as soon as one corporate trip is complete money will be deposited into the driver’s account through E-birr, they have not only incorporated digital payment, but they have also made it swift to use.  Moreover, it’s only recently that Ride has integrated digital payment in the form of Telebirr and CBEbirr. Ride’s corporate service is different, for a driver to get a payment from the corporate service he/she has given, they have to go to the office and fill out a form and follow a long line of procedures. ” It is honestly tiring, and because of this we are forced to decline most corporate requests,” says one of the Ride drivers, “Declining a request also means you are put on the last of the queue, and you would have to wait another 2 hours to get a new request.” Finally, looking at the incentives the drivers receive in all this, Ride takes a 12% commission from each driver whilst Feres only takes 8%. In addition to this Feres gives bonuses to its drivers for a certain amount of trips. For example, if drivers can make over 50 trips over a week they will be able to get an additional 200 birr bonus. Feres has brought with it a lot more advancement and service quality. Ride, despite its popularity and demand due to its initial arrival, won’t maintain its superiority for long if it stays on its current trajectory. Tags feres taxi ride taxi zayride

Ethiopian Airlines to order five Boeing 777 Freighters

Ethiopian Airlines to order five Boeing 777 Freighters Tags ethiopian airlines

Foreign banks who wants to operate in Ethiopia must partner with Local banks

Foreign banks who wants to operate in Ethiopia must partner with Local banks Foreign banks seeking to operate in Ethiopian following liberalisation of the country’s banking sector would be required to do so in partnership with local banks. Business Insider Africa observes that this could give room to some mergers and acquisitions in the Ethiopian banking sector. Ethiopia is in the process of liberalising its banking sector, with the aim of ending a decades-long restrictive banking policy that has prevented foreign banks from operating in the country. One of the newly proposed rules that would guide Ethiopia’s banking sector liberalisation is that foreign banks hoping to operate in the Horn of Africa country must do so in partnership with local banks. This was disclosed by the lead consultant that is overseeing the liberalisation process, who also mentioned that only regional banks are eligible to the opportunity for now. “The opening up might only be limited to regional banks in a joint venture basis with local banks… That will be easily manageable for the central bank. The first target is to boost the foreign currency inflow. There are many legal framework revisions underway and many are in a draft stage,” the consultant was quoted by Ethiopian newspaper The Reporter. The important caveat is coming just months after the Ethiopian Government announced that it had constituted a liberalisation committee whose job it is to establish the modalities that would guide the liberalisation process. The implication, therefore, is that we might be seeing some mergers and acquisitions in the Ethiopian banking sector anytime soon. Business Insider Africa reported earlier that the Ethiopian banking sector liberalisation committee has begun working towards replacing the country’s decades-old financial services code with a new one. The primary aim of the new financial services code is to end Ethiopia’s restrictive banking policy which has, up till now, prevented foreign banks from investing and setting up shops in the country. The first draft of the new code is expected to be ready by December 2022. It will, among other things, stipulate the modalities for foreign banks to operate in Ethiopia. Recall that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was the first to disclose Ethiopia’s ongoing plan to open its banking sector to foreign banks. Last month, he declared that “we will bring foreign banks because we need additional wealth and hard currency. Regarding this, the government is now preparing a policy amendment. Once preconditions are met and banks are prepared, we will (implement) that.” The banking reforms in Ethiopia presents an opportunity for some of Africa’s biggest banks to position themselves in the Horn of Africa country.

FIFA World Cup Trophy has finally arrived in Ethiopia!

FIFA World Cup Trophy has finally arrived in Ethiopia! FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour has officially begun with Her Excellency President Sahle-Work Zewde accepting the Trophy at the National Palace. During the reception, CCBA-Ethiopia Managing Director Daryl Wilson stated “as Ethiopia is amongst the selected 51 countries in the world and first of the nine countries in the African Continent, the trophy tour presents a unique opportunity for all of us to showcase our beautiful country Ethiopia to the world” The trophy will be showcased at Mesqel Square tomorrow May 25th, starting from 10 AM.Make sure you bring your entrance tickets for a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of touring and taking pictures with the actual #FIFA WorldCup Trophy. #CCBAEthiopia #BelievingIsMagic #RealMagic Tags ethiopian news world cup

Ethio telecom recieved approval to launch micro-credit service

Ethio telecom recieved approval to launch micro-credit service Ethio telecom’s Telebirr received a green light from the National Bank of Ethiopia to launch micro credit and saving services. Governor of the National Bank, Yinager Dessie (PhD), stated that the provision of these services through Telebirr would financially benefit a large number of Ethiopians. The National Bank’s decision was also given as part of the ongoing reforms to strengthen the Ethiopian digital economy. Telebirr, a digital cash that enables more than 18 million of its users to access financial services, has close to Birr 10 billion transaction value. Among other services rendered by the digital cash, users are allowed to transfer money locally and make purchases online and at convenient stores. It is expected that the introduction of micro credit and saving services will expand the reach of Telebirr.

Beu Delivery Surpass Deliver Addis & Raised Multi-Million Dollar Seed Funding

Beu Delivery Surpass Deliver Addis & Raised Multi-Million Dollar Seed Funding A Chinese overseas company focused on the African food delivery market, has completed a multi-million dollar seed round of financing, led by Y Combinator, Goodwater Capital and Ethiopian angel investor Addis Alemayehou. Chapter 42 has served as a financial advisor. The newly raised funds in this round will be used for market expansion and technology development: Xiaoman Technology plans to expand its business to Tanzania and Uganda this year; the company will further improve the existing ordering and distribution system and optimize the management system. It is reported that before this round of financing, Xiaoman Technology has raised 7 million yuan. In January 2022, Xiaoman Technology was selected for the Y Combinator 2022 Winter Incubation Project (YC 2022 Winter Batch). The main business of Xiaoman Technology is beU, a localized life service platform for the African market. From June 2021, it will start a takeaway business in Ethiopia. Founder Zheng Hao said that as of December 31, 2021, beU’s market share has reached 56.2%, making it the first in the local market. In February 2022, 8 months after the business started, beU’s market share has surpassed the second (formerly first) Deliver Addis by 20%. Zheng Hao summed up beU’s competitive advantages in three points: First, the market structure advantage of low penetration rate in Africa greatly helped beU to successfully explore in Ethiopia. Second, beU delivers faster than competitors such as Zmall, Deliver Addis, and Uber Eats, and typically takes half as long to deliver. Finally, in terms of ordering, in order to facilitate the ordering of meals for users in areas without internet, beU has adopted a variety of ordering channels, including telephone, official website and app, to ensure smooth ordering regardless of whether there is an internet connection or not. Talking about the future development plan, Zheng Hao told 36氪that Xiaoman Technology (beU LTD) plans to start the A round of financing early next year, and plans to raise about 12 million US dollars. In terms of market layout, the company plans to deploy the Uganda and Tanzania markets this year, and enter 10 African countries early next year. At the same time, in terms of business development, beU will start to try supermarkets and drug delivery at the end of this year. In the future, it will also try services such as hotel/homestay reservations, and 30-minute delivery of any product. In the end, beU will become a super service covering a number of O2O services. application. Y Combinator, the lead investor in this round of Xiaoman Technology, said: “Africa is the region with the fastest growth in venture capital in the world. In 2021, Africa will receive US$5.2 billion in venture capital, which is the sum of the past seven years. We are very optimistic that the beU team will take root. The local pioneering spirit also believes that with the large-scale expansion of the Internet economy in Africa in the future, beU delivery will develop better and better.” Tags beu deliver deliver addis

Ermias Amelega Recommendations for what ails the economy

Ermias Amelega Recommendations for what ails the economy Recommendations for what ails the economy: The road to stainable economic recovery and growth starts with a large (US$4-6 billion) non-debt foreign currency infusion to reboot the economy and anchor the liberalization of the exchange rate regime to a managed float after which market forces will balance supply and demand of foreign exchange. 2. The immediate effect of this measure will be the elimination of the currency black market and a redi rection/increase of official annual foreign exchange inflows by as much as US$10 billion+. This increased inflow will be US$3-4 billion from remittances, US$2-3 billion+ from illegal cross border exports of gold, Khat, live animals, etc., under-invoicing of imports and over-invoicing exports and US$4 billion+ fromi ncreased investment flows. 3. Is possible to secure the required US$4-6 billion and from where? The answer is yes, it is possible to ac quire such funding for the purpose of liberalizing the foreign exchange regime. 4. Build financial infrastructure – providing appropriate financial infrastructure will enable the optimal flow/allocation of domestic capital and pave the road for foreign portfolio investment (80%+ of global investment flows) into Ethiopia. 5. The pent-up demand for foreign exchange will be eliminated easing the upward pressure on the exchange rate Putting it all together, there is the potential to increase Ethiopia’s annual foreign exchange inflows by as much as US$10 billion+ 7. Inflation caused by exorbitant wholesale and retail profit margins will be replaced by competitive pricing given the elimination of product shortages. 8. Raw material shortages crippling all sectors of the economy will be diminished. 9. Significant capital flight caused by the closed currency regime will be reduced and funds formerly smug gled abroad may even be repatriated. 10. A major constraint to foreign investment (the inability to repatriate profits and import raw materials) will be diminished. Tags ermias amelega

Ethio Telecom Signs An Agreement To Lease Its Modern Modular Data Center For Five Institutions

Ethio Telecom Signs An Agreement To Lease Its Modern Modular Data Center For Five Institutions Ethio telecom built and launched a modern modular data center recently and has been utilizing it for own multiple purposes and leasing for enterprises. The company has signed a memorandum of agreement today with Zemen Bank, Rays Micro Finance, ZamZam Bank, Hijira Bank and Websprix that would enable these institutions use this modern high-capacity world standard data center for modernizing their information technology system, thereby providing reliable services to their customers. This modular data center is a high-capacity world class standard data center managed by skilled manpower and has more than five direction fiber connectivity with automatic switch over functionality to ensure service reliability and can help carry out quick incident detection and maintenance activities in case of network connection failure or other related problems. Furthermore, it is designed to ensure mission-critical data and equipped with extensive security and compliance system controls with 99.99% uptime track recorded availability, reliable connectivity, high electric power saving capacity and cooling systems, security cameras, modern network, fiber cable enclosures and compartments. Moreover, the data center’s major importance on customer experience includes high availability-best customer experience, flexibility to introduce new platform and service, reliability to run customers’ businesses, high level physical security, fast time to market to host for collocation/ cloud service for the existing and potential partners as well as enable companies, small and medium business and startups to focus on their core businesses, increase their competitiveness, productivity and efficiency. We would like to thank the executives of Zemen Bank, Rays Micro Finance, ZamZam Bank, Hijira Bank and Websprix for choosing to use our modern modular data center and we are also delighted to invite our data center service pursuing enterprise customers to visit our enterprise sales centers. Tags ethiotelecom Hijira Bank zemen bank Zemzem Bank

Tulu Kapi targets 250 Million USD of gold export annually from Ethiopia

Tulu Kapi targets 250 Million USD of gold export annually from Ethiopia Media Statement In London this morning 17 May 2022, KEFI shareholders formally approved the recent capital raisings which were in several stages providing GBP28 million for KEFI to inject into early development works mainly at Tulu Kapi and also at the two Saudi Arabian projects. The total is the equivalent of Ethiopian Birr 1.8 billion and represents part of the future development costs at Tulu Kapi of approximately Ethiopian Birr 18 billion which KEFI has arranged following successful meetings last week of the banks and others in the project consortium altogether in South Africa. The early development activities in Tulu Kapi are specifically community programs, engineering works and early construction works. KEFI operates in Ethiopia via Tulu Kapi Gold Mines S.C and is developing an industrial scale modern operation in accordance with 21st century standards as applied internationally with the latest environmental and social controls. By the time it is in full production of USD250 million of export gold annually, Tulu Kapi will employ over 1,000 local people directly. Training schemes are being planned now. Shareholder Meeting of KEFI Gold and Copper Tuesday 17 May 2022 KEFI Gold and Copper PLC Chairman’s Address General Meeting 17 May 2022 17 May 2022 KEFI Minerals (AIM: KEFI), the gold exploration and development company with projects in the Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, announces that at its General Meeting held earlier today, all resolutions were duly passed. As a result, the Company will now proceed with the allotment and issue of the Placing Shares and the Warrants, each as detailed in the Company’s announcement made on 27 April 2022. These financings are a part of the plan for financing our projects in Ethiopia and in Saudi Arabia. The Company has assembled first-tier project syndicates in both countries and, whilst KEFI’s own capital contributions are relatively small compared with the other planned sources of development financings, as project leader it is important that KEFI makes its finance commitments at certain points in time that are appropriate vis a vis its partners, banks and contractors. KEFI pivoted onto the front foot at the end of 2021, following the end of the Ethiopian civil war in the north of the country and because of exploration results and regulatory improvements in Saudi Arabia. KEFI appears to have a tail-wind on several key fronts: several projects at an advanced stage and against a backdrop of geopolitics having turned in our favour in both countries, as have the market prices of the metals underlying our resources. The Company is focussed on the sequential development path of three advanced projects over the next 3-4 years with targeted aggregate project production of 365K oz per annum gold and gold-equivalent copper, in which KEFI will have a beneficial interest of c.187K oz per annum gold and gold-equivalent copper. KEFI’s reported mineral resources today provide a solid starting position for growth.  Mineral resources are now a combined 4.7 million oz gold-equivalent and all ore bodies remain open. The Company’s beneficial interest in the in-situ metal content of the three projects is today a combined 2.1 million in gold equivalent terms. Tags ethiopia gold export ethiopia gold price