COVID-19 in Ethiopia

  • Impact on Public Health
  • Impact on Investors Performance

 

December 17, 2020. 

ET   

Covid-19 Hotline

 

8335/952

Total Confirmed Cases

 

118,006

New Confirmed Cases

 

464

Total Deaths

 

1,818

Recovered

 

97,969

 

  1. Please visit https://www.covid19.et/ for the latest information on the number of cases in Ethiopia
  2. Please refer to the National Comprehensive COVID19 Management Handbook for a detailed guideline on the GoE effort to contain the pandemic.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 

 

The Ethiopian Investment Commission has launched a survey to help us better understand the impact of COVID-19 on investors’ operations and to gather feedback on the required support. This survey will be distributed to investors on a bi-weekly basis.

If you have not received the survey, please take it here. We welcome all inputs as the survey is a valuable tool to help us understand our investors’ needs.

The anonymized results of the responses will be published on a bi-weekly basis. The first survey result is available here.

In addition, a weekly newsletter that communicates the latest initiatives implemented, frequently asked information, and testimonies of experts on how to respond to COVID-19 will be published. Please find this week's newsletter here.

  • Survey Respondents Profile
  • Survey Findings on Challenges
  • Requested Area of Support
  • Feedback on Government Support

 

Basic information on survey respondents

  • 70% of the respondents are in the manufacturing sector
  • Respondents to this question = 63

slide 1.1.1

 

  • 74% of the companies are fully foreign-owned
  • Respondents to this question = 54

slide 1 2

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  • 38% of the respondents are exporters
  • Respondents to this question = 56

slide 1 3

Read More

 

Challenges with the highest impact on operations

  • Respondents to this question = 47

slide 3

The EIC is exploring potential support measures to address investors’ challenges and will communicate them with investors after approval.

Read More

 

Tax breaks and subsidies and access to finance are the most requested areas of support

  • Respondents to this question = 31

slide 4

Current efforts to support investors

The EIC is exploring potential support measures for investors and will communicate after decisions have been made. Below are current government measures to support the economy and investors.

Tax breaks and subsidies

•The Ministry of Finance has announced tax debt relief measures. Please refer to the MoF directive here for details.
•The Council of Ministers has exempted tax on import of COVID-19 response material and equipment
•The Ministry of Revenue is expediating VAT returns
•The Council of Ministers has announced a number of measures to support the economy, including:
 
  1. Government donations are deductible from the 2012 EFY taxable income. Deductibles cannot exceed 20% of the taxable income.
  2. VAT and TOT declaration and payment period for the period Megabit 2012 – Ginbot 2012 can be paid on Sene 2012
  3. Employee pension payments for the 3 month period Megabit 2012 – Ginbot 2012 can be paid onSene2012

Access to finance

•The National Bank of Ethiopia has availed 15Bn ETB liquidity for private banks to enable them to provide debt relief and additional loans to their customers in need
•Banks are instructed to avail foreign currency for importers primarily importing goods and input material for the prevention of COVID-19

Operational Support

  • The Ethiopian Food and Drug Authority (EFDA) has issued a temporary COVID-19 medical products approval and import permit authorization directive and a guideline to expedite the authorization processes for manufacturers, importers, and sales of COVID-19 medical products
  • The EFDA has issued a directive on
  • The Ministry of Transport, Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services, and Ethio-Djibouti Rail have announced price reductions for inland transport and dry ports to support exporting manufacturers. Details can be found under the government services tab here
  • The Customs Commission has suspended demurrage costs for the duration of COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia

A full list of government measures can be found here

 

Repurposing production to supply COVID-19 response goods

  • Respondents to this question = 48

slide 5

 

 

 

Support request for re-purposing

Investors re-purposing productions mainly need the below support

  • Confirmed orders
  • Raw materials procurement
  • Logistics support
  • Financial support

Current efforts to support investors

PPE products catalogue: EIC is developing a PPE catalogue to connect our investors with buyers. If you would like to be included in this product catalogue, please submit your product information here.

The EIC is exploring additional potential measures to support investors’ that are re-purposing operations and will communicate them with investors after the decision has been made.

Read More

 

  • Respondents to this question = 31

slide 6

EIC has launched three platforms to strengthen communication with investors:

1. Bi-weekly surveys to understand the impact of COVID-19 on investors’ operations and gather feedback on support
2. Weekly newsletter to communicate top national news, useful information to manufacturers, and latest EIC initiatives
3. The latest government measure and support areas provided to investors are summarised and easily availed in one place. 
Read More

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