Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu wins 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize

Imprisoned Ethiopian journalist Reeyot Alemu has won the 2013 UNESCO-Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize.

Reeyot was recommended by an independent international jury of media professionals in recognition of her “exceptional courage, resistance and commitment to freedom of expression,” UNESCO said in a press release on Tuesday. The Jury took note of Reeyot Alemu’s contribution to numerous and independent publications. She wrote critically about political and social issues, focusing on the root causes of poverty, and gender equality. She worked for several independent media. In 2010 she founded her own publishing house and a monthly magazine called Change, both of which were subsequently closed. Alemu was arrested n June 2011, while working as a regular columnist for Feteh, a national weekly newspaper. She is currently serving a five year sentence in Kality prison.
The UNESCO Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize was created in 1997 by UNESCO’s Executive Board. It is awarded annually during the celebration of World Press Freedom Day on 3 May, which will take place this year in Costa Rica.
Source: RTT News

Kenya Consolidates While Ethiopia Opens Up

Kenya continues to be the dominant banking force in East Africa both in terms of domestic as well as foreign expansion. Some local banks are outperforming multinationals. Ethiopia, it now seems certain, is also set to open up its hitherto closed banking sector. Wanjohi Kabukuru reports.

While there have been considerable changes in the personalities running the East African banking industry, the general pattern has remained more or less consistent over the recent past.

Kenyan banks have continued their expansion strategies in the sub-region. Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB), Equity Bank, Cooperative Bank, NIC Bank, Diamond Trust Bank (DTB), and Fina Bank are extending their portfolios across the Kenyan borders into the larger East and Central African region.
The only other bank to venture outside its national borders is the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), which is hoping to profit from South Sudan’s emerging economy. In 2009, CBE moved into Djibouti but later closed this subsidiary. Ethiopia is not a member of the East African Community (EAC).
KCB, East Africa’s largest bank, has recently invested some $10m in opening its Bujumbura subsidiary. KCB becomes the first locally owned bank to have a presence in all the five EAC member states covering Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and now Burundi, plus South Sudan.
Other banks following KCB’s lead in expanding their portfolios in the region include Cooperative Bank, which recently opened its South Sudan subsidiary. DTB and Family Bank plan to do the same in Juba in early 2013.
In February 2012, Equity Bank spent $12m to set up its Rwandan operation. Equity Bank first set foot in Rwanda in October 2011 with three branches, but decided to push its official launch in Kigali to February 2012, opening seven branches in Rwanda in an elaborate promotional strategy.
Other than the EAC bloc, the larger Horn of Africa, covering Ethiopia, South Sudan and Somalia, is considered a lucrative business region. Strategies adopted by most banks to reach the majority that still remain unbanked include using technology platforms incorporating mobile phones – and agency banking, which began in Kenya and is now being introduced in Rwanda and Uganda.
Agency banking in Kenya was launched in late 2010, when the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) changed some of its banking laws to allow banks to offer their services through a third party. According to the CBK, “agent banking is intended to enable institutions to provide banking services more cost effectively to customers, particularly to those who are currently unbanked or underbanked”.
Using new models to reach new customers and expanding their horizons within the region, the trail-blazing banks are raking in profits from their subsidiaries. Both KCB and Equity are the stars of EAC banking, even surpassing the multinational banks. As of September 2012, KCB’s International Business (subsidiaries in Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and South Sudan) registered a 70% growth in profits. In 2011, KCB’s International Business profits stood at $6.2m; in 2012 and the profits have grown to $10.5m, justifying KCB’s regional expansion plans.
Equity Bank Group realised $137.9m profit before tax and KCB clocked up $151.8m profit before tax. Barclays Bank of Kenya (BBK) reported a profit before tax for the 2012 third quarter of $108.4m. In the same period, Standard Chartered Bank announced a profit before tax that had grown by 68% to $107.8m.
Ethiopia opens up financial sector
The year 2012 ended on a high note with the positive signal that Ethiopia, long closed to foreigners, was keen to open its lucrative financial sector.
“This is a strong and dynamic region to do business. Financial services companies are expanding both geographically and in response to customer needs, which are increasing in complexity,” Richard Njoroge, assurance partner of PwC, says. “When we look at the industry here in Eastern Africa, there is a convergence of risks and opportunities that will influence the way that we all do business.”
Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn visited Kenya in late November 2012, as a signal that Ethiopia was finally opening up for business. He held a breakfast meeting with the Kenya Private Sector Alliance (KEPSA) and later visited milk processor Brookside Dairies, cellular operator Safaricom and the Aga Khan Hospital.
Before he returned to Addis Ababa, Desalegn signed a special status agreement with his Kenyan host President Mwai Kibaki lifting several restrictions that Ethiopia places on foreign investors, key among them on the banking sector.
Kenyan bankers led by Dr James Mwangi, the CEO of Equity Bank, have openly stated their interest in doing business in Addis Ababa. Following Desalegn’s visit, Kenyan banks have received permission to open representative offices there. They can conduct research and credit assessments to allow lending from their Nairobi headquarters but they cannot lend directly to Ethiopians or generate deposits.