www.eastafricaforum.net http://www.addisfortune.com/Ethiopia%20Slides%20down%20Business%20Climate%20Ranking.htm
Fortune, Ethiopia September 14, 2008 Ethiopia Slides down Business Climate Ranking
OMER REDI
Drop attributed to improved performance of rivals
Ethiopia has dropped further down the rankings in an annual World Bank study of business climates around the world.
“Doing Business 2009” positions Ethiopia 116th out of 181 countries. This is a drop of seven places from last year’s study.
The study reports that over the last year, no reforms with a positive or negative effect have been enacted by the government, suggesting that the slide could be attributed to the improved performance of rivals.
The report, which has been running for seven years, rates the regulations affecting businesses and the level of property protection at 10 stages of a company’s existence. These are: Starting a business; dealing with construction permits; employing workers; registering property; getting credit; protecting investors; paying taxes; trading across borders; enforcing contracts; and closing a business.
Ethiopia ’s best performance was in taxes paid, dealing with construction permits, closing a business and enforcing contracts, respectively.
It ranked 37th in taxes paid, with contributors making 20 payments in just under 200 hours and with the total amount collected by the Inland Revenue Authority at a relatively modest 30pc of a firm’s profit.
An example of entrepreneurs who suffer at the hands of the taxman on the continent are those in Central African Republic , rated 178th; they have to make over 50 payments per year, which takes three weeks and ends up costing them over 200pc of their profit.
Ethiopia was a respectable 59th in dealing with construction permits and 74th for closing a business, which took, on average, three years, cost 15pc of the bankrupt estate’s value to resolve and recovered 32.2 cents for every dollar invested in the insolvent enterprise. By comparison, in Zimbabwe , ranked 154th, it took 3.3 years, cost 22pc of an estate and there was a meagre recovery rate of 0.1 cents for every dollar.
To enforce contracts took 39 procedures, a little under two years and consumed 15pc of the claim. These statistics put Ethiopia at 78th, while in Benin (175th) there were 42 procedures that took 2.25 years and cost 64pc of the claim.
Areas where Ethiopia lagged are in trading across borders (152nd), registering property (154th), getting credit (123rd) and starting a business (118).
The study also reveals that Ethiopia has one of the highest number of mandatory annual paid days leave (33). Sneaking in ahead of them are the Eritreans, who enjoy an extra day of enforced leisure.
Eight documents are needed to import or export from or to Ethiopia , a process that takes six weeks and costs just over 2000 dollars to export and just under 3000 dollars to import. In high ranking Djibouti (35th) five documents were needed for both export and import, a process that took 19 and 16 days, respectively and cost around 1000 dollars.
Ethiopia has one of the highest number of procedures (14) to register a property, which contributed to its low ranking. The process takes six weeks and costs seven percent of the property’s value. In top nation Saudi Arabia , the process is free, takes 48 hours and requires two documents.
A major obstacle for starting a business in Ethiopia is the minimum capital requirement at registration. This is set at over 1500 dollars, seven times the average annual salary. In reforming Egypt , the requirement is only 2pc of the average salary.
Getting credit is an issue for Ethiopian business, which the report partially ascribes to the fact that credit information is stored on less than one in a hundred borrowers. In many of the top performing economies, such as Australia and Norway , the coverage is 100pc.
Ethiopia ’s neighbours, Eritrea and Djibouti , fare even worse on this indicator and are in the bottom ten of all the tested nations.
Overall, in the ranking Eritrea remained 173rd; Kenya 82nd, a fall of four places, Djibouti 153rd (the same as last year) and Sudan 147th, down by five.
The top performer on the continent was South Africa (32nd) an improvement of five places, followed by Botswana , which leapt from the 52nd position to 38th.
The top ten, for the second year in succession, were Singapore, New Zealand, United States, Hong Kong (China), Denmark, United Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, Australia and Norway.
The worst performer was the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The report lists about 15 Ethiopian individuals drawn from government agencies, including the Ethiopian Investment Agency, the private sector, financial institutions and private attorneys as sources in compiling the report.
However, Abi Woldemeskel, director general of the Investment Agency, told Fortune that he is not aware of any official contact from the World Bank on this matter. He declined to comment on the ranking.
“I cannot comment on the report before evaluating and comparing it with our own,” he told Fortune.
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http://www.issafrica.org/dynamic/administration/file_manager/file_links/SITREP150908.PDF?link_id=3&slink_id=6572&link_type=12&slink_type=13&tmpl_id=3
Institute for Security Studies, Africa-based research institute SITUATION REPORT:
The Eritrea-Djibouti Border Dispute Complete report is attached as a PDF File 15 September 2008 Berouk Mesfin From the Introduction: The objective of this situation report is to provide timely and relevant information and analysis on the border dispute that recently broke out between Eritrea and
Djibouti. The facts at hand being fragmented, it is too early and difficult to provide a definite judgement on the diverse set of factors that caused the border dispute, its exact course, and long-term implications for bilateral relations and regional security. Yet, some significant observations can be made on some of the most
important issues involved.
This report comprises three sections. In the first section, relations between Eritrea
and Djibouti since 1991 are described, including prior border disputes. In the
second section, the colonial source of the border dispute is traced and details are
given of its course.
The third section examines the most significant and recent developments which lie at the centre of the lack of peace and security in the Horn of Africa, where the present borders were arbitrarily established at the end of the nineteenth century by treaties drawn up by the British, Italian and French colonial powers. Finally, the report provides a conclusion and a number of recommendations to find a durable basis for peaceful relations between the two states.
It is important to note at the outset that the terms Eritrea, Djibouti or Ethiopia
used in this report for the purpose of convenience refer primarily to the group of
decision-makers who, by virtue of their governmental position, have the power to
make decisions binding on the populations of their respective states and commit
their resources.
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http://www.news24.com/News24/Africa/News/0,,2-11-1447_2393752,00.html
News24, South Africa
EU to protect ships off Somalia
15/09/2008
Brussels - European Union foreign ministers agreed on Monday to set up a special unit to co-ordinate warship patrols off the coast of Somalia to protect shipping from pirates.
In a statement, the ministers said the Brussels-based unit should be established within the next few days to co-ordinate "surveillance and protection activities" by the navies of EU nations.
Several EU nations have sent warships to the coast of the east African nation to deter pirates who have seized yachts, freighters and fishing boats.
Ships from France, Denmark, the Netherlands and Canada have also escorted vessels carrying food aid into Somalia for the United Nations since November.
The ministers also approved planning on a possible fully fledged EU naval mission to waters off Somalia.
However, EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said he hoped it would not be necessary to send such a mission.
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