The Ethiopian Freight Forwarders and Shipping Agents Association (EFFSAA) was established in 1998 with the aim of growing the country’s nascent logistics sector, which has traditionally been dominated by the state-owned Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE). The sector is currently undergoing a seismic shift, moving away from state-controlled protectionism to full liberalization. Foreign investors can now fully own logistics and freight forwarding firms as the government seeks support from the private sector in solving the issues that have long defined Ethiopia’s logistics scene, which include high demurrage costs in Djibouti (whose ports accommodate nearly all of Ethiopia’s international trade), asset scarcity, and a lack of capacity.
At present, EFFSAA is headed by Dawit Woubishet (PhD), director and co-founder of WoubGet Holdings, a conglomerate with ventures in logistics, agriculture and real estate. The Reporter’s Sara Solomon caught up with the Association President for his take on the changes taking place in the logistics sector, and what can be expected moving forward. EXCERPTS: The Reporter: The 49 percent foreign ownership ceiling in the logistics sector has been scrapped and the sector is now fully open to foreign investment.
What kind of impact do you think this will have? Dawit Woubishet (PhD): Like other countries that have developed, our country relies on both imports and exports for the growth of its Homegrown Economy. Furthermore, because we need to make a significant contribution to the African Continental Free Trade Area [AfCFTA] and because Ethiopia must become a major exporter, bringing international logisticians into the country is an absolute necessity.
They are expected to bring three main things with them: knowledge transfer, technology, and finance. If logisticians with better capabilities in all three of these areas come here, they will share their knowledge with us. Since the logistics industry is massive and requires heavy investment, the infrastructure alone demands various types of development.
Right now, we are facing major challenges. For example, avocado is being produced in high quantities, but we lack the systems to ship it and the large-scale capabilities to reduce our post-harvest losses. This requires knowledge, handling, and funding.
Therefore, if there are logisticians who come fulfilling all t…
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