The Ethiopia Commodity Exchange (ECX), in collaboration with Commercial Bank of Ethiopia and International Finance Cooperation, launched warehouse receipt financing (WRF) for maize on Thursday.
During the launching ceremony, CEO of ECX, Wondimagegnehu Negera, said WRF will allow farmers, cooperatives, traders and processors to store maize and use it as collateral to access credit from the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia.
He added that they can access credit after handing over goods receiving note and without any additional collateral.
The CEO said warehouse receipt finance is an inclusive form of lending that “allows large and small-scale players in the agriculture value chain to access loans from bank.”
Loans worth up to 70 percent of the value of the stored commodity will be issued at a competitive interest and repaid within three months, it was learned.
“This in particular is important for farmers who often lack bankable collateral and are therefore forced to sell their crops immediately after harvest when prices tend to be at their lowest,” Wondimagegnehu elaborated. (ENA)
Ethiopia acquires over 550 joint venture investments
Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) Wednesday disclosed that the country has acquired 559 joint venture investment projects over the last five years.
Mekonnen Hailu, Communication Director at EIC, told The Ethiopian Herald that out of the total 559 projects licensed from January 2014 to December 2019, 182 have already gone operational. While 113 of them are at implementation stage, the remaining 264 projects are in pre-implementation phase.
He said that the manufacturing sector took the huge share in joint venture investment whereas agriculture, construction, and service sectors follow. According to Mekonnen, with 113 companies, Chinese inventors have a lion share in terms of joint venture ownership. Among others companies that have owned joint venture businesses are companies from the United States, Netherlands, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Italy, Germany and Canada, he added.
Working with foreign companies has its own merits for local investors and the country, particularly in filling gaps related to capital, management, capacity, market access and competitiveness, technology transfer, expertise and so on, Mekonnen said. (The Ethiopian Herald)
Electoral board recognizes Prosperity Party
The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) passed a decision on Wednesday to issue Prosperity Party with a certificate of recognition.
The Board was discussing at the beginning of this week questions regarding political parties’ registration and has passed other decisions too.
The decision is passed in light of political parties’ registration and election proclamation 1162/2011, the Board indicated.
Prosperity Party submitted its application to the National Electoral Board of Ethiopia earlier this month seeking recognition. The Board requested additional documents after receiving the application before passing decisions.
The way parties ended their separate status, and the agreements they made to merge themselves to form Prosperity Party, are in line with legislative requirements, and the board has decided to cancel their individual status and recognized them as Prosperity Party, the board announced.
Three members of the ruling EPRDF and five other ally parties reached an agreement to end their existence and form Prosperity party on December 1, 2019 – days before application for recognition was submitted. (Walta)
IFC invests EUR 50 mln in Ethiopia’s Habesha beer
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has partnered with Habesha Breweries SC to increase local barley sourcing investing EUR 50 million.
IFC’s investment of up to EUR 50 million in Habesha aims to help the company expand operations in Ethiopia and increase local barley sourcing from smallholder farmers, according to the press statement from the Corporation.
“The loan is co-funded by the Dutch development bank (FMO) and Dutch banks Coöperatieve Rabobank U.A. (Rabobank) and ING Bank N.V. (ING Bank). Ethiopia’s brewing industry is fast growing and an important contributor to economic growth, but the sector imports as much as 90 percent of its malt barley needs,” it said.
IFC and FMO will help Habesha support farmers’ access to improved seed varieties and other agricultural inputs and provide best practices on agronomy and business management, according to the statement.
The project is expected to boost income for 15,000 smallholder barley farmers, double farm yields of participating barley producers and create 500 jobs. (World Grain)
