The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE) plans to transport over 10 million tons of shipment and cargo this fiscal year.
Roba Megersa, CEO of ESLSE, told The Reporter that the enterprise prepared a detailed plan of activities to be conducted this fiscal year and presented it to various stakeholders for further discussions. He said the plan has been under implementation after it was approved by the Public Enterprises Holding and Administration Agency.
Roba also noted that in its effort to contribute its share to the national economy, the enterprise is undertaking different activities to increase the volume of commodities and items to be transported to the country.
Accordingly, he explained, the enterprises plans to raise the bulk of transported goods from 8.3 million tons last year to 10 million tons this fiscal year.
Speaking of this year’s plan, he said while the enterprise will use its vessels to transport six million tons of goods, the remaining four million tons will be solely transported by leased vessels from other service providers.
According to Roba, about two million tons of fertilizer is expected to be transported this year. Soil fertilizers account for the largest quantity of shipment.
Provided that fertilizers are procured on time, he added, necessary preparations have been made by the enterprise to transport fertilizers and deliver the product to farmers.
In addition, the purchase of freight vehicles is already under process. Roba stated that there are plans to procure 240 freight vehicles this year with order already submitted for 38 vehicles.
“We notified Djibouti port to carry out early preparations. A possible source of concern at the port of Djibouti is the disruption caused by rainfall. Djibouti has recently become a rainy country. The facilities are not designed for that, and port machineries are often damaged. Hence, requests have been made for the purchase of additional port machinery,” Roba said.
Roba further indicated that there will be no hesitation to use other ports. If necessary, he went on to add, arrangements will be made with Berbera.
To improve services rendered by the ESLSE, the enterprise has deployed a fully automated IT system. Accordingly, Mojo has been fully equipped with an IT system and has CCTV cameras. Two warehouses have also been constructed to unload and store cargo quickly instead of storing it at the port.
According to Roba, the Dire Dawa dry port that spans 34 hectares of land is expected to become operational this fiscal year. The construction of the dry port is said to have cost over two billion birr.
