Ethiopian Review

The Government has allotted 44 million dollars to try and ease the cement shortage that has occurred due to the power crisis.

However, the responsible federal entity for distributing the cement, the Merchandise Wholesale and Import Trade Enterprise (MEWIT), has been experiencing transportation difficulties that have instead further increased the price.

On May 11, the Government announced a production ban for local cement producers due to the power problems and also revealed the plan to make up for the shortage.

The Ministry of Works and Urban Development (MoWUD) then imported two million quintals of cement and EWTE was assigned to distribute it at 250 birr per quintal.

Over 17 tonnes of cement had already been unloaded last week at Djibouti Port, but it could not reach the warehouses of the enterprise due to transportation difficulties, sources disclosed.

This is because the Government’s priority has been to move fertilisers from the port and distribute them before the rainy season ends.

This led the Government to deploy most of its trucks to transport fertilisers, leading to the non-distribution of the cement.

Currently, a quintal of cement is being sold for up to 450 birr, further constraining a construction sector crippled by the electricity blackouts.

However, Yimam Mohamed, general manger of the enterprise, claims that the shortages will be resolved in the coming two weeks.

“I communicated with MoWUD this week and they told me that 150 trucks are ready to transport the cement found at the port of Djibouti,” he told Capital.

A ship loaded with 42,000 tonnes of cement has reached the port and a remaining 67,000 tonnes will reach late next week, Yimam added.

Apart from the cement shortage and inflated prices, the power crisis has been causing losses for the cement factories. The ban on production at the high power consuming factories was only for two months, but it may be extended if the current volume of water entering the power generating reservoirs does not increase.

Mugher Cement Enterprise is the largest factory in the country with a 900,000 quintals production capacity per day. It lost 150 million birr within the last two months.

- By Yohannes Anberbir | Capital Ethiopia