Issue 39: RIDE to Scale to Djibouti

Hello, One of Ethiopia’s most successful ride-hailing platforms is expanding to Djibouti while another Ethiopian startup is launching the first motorcycle ride-sharing platform in the country. This week's edition of Shega Weekly Newsletter ( Issue # 39) highlights the major stories from Ethiopia's startup ecosystem. If you are here because someone forwarded you this email, you can subscribe here to get future newsletters.

RIDE to Scale to Djibouti

Hybrid Designs is taking RIDE to Djibouti. The company took to social media to announce the news and stated that it had finalized operations to launch soon.   

RIDE is scaling its operations to Djibouti with a population of one million after five years the company broke ground in Ethiopia.

This is not the first time Ethiopian ride-hailing companies have announced their expansion to other African countries. Platforms like Catch Taxi and Zayride had previously shared similar goals, with Catch operating in Kenya for a few months before it closed while Zayride's plan failed to materialize. 

Dashen Bank Inaugurates $4.4M Tier-III Ready Data Center

Dashen Bank has become the latest institution in Ethiopia to join the data center race, unveiling its facility set up at the cost of 230 million birr (4.4 million dollars).Built to Tier-III standards, the Bank installed the Huawei FusionModule2000, a next-generation, smart modular data center solution that integrates power, cooling, rack, cabling, and management systems.The center’s redundant system allows Dashen to work on the setup without taking it offline. At the same time, its backup generator keeps operations running in case of a local or region-wide power outage. Read More. 

Ethiopia on Course To Reach 70 Million Ethiopians With a Digital ID by 2025Yodahe Zemichael, Executive Director of Ethiopia’s National ID Program, has said the country is well on course to reach 70 million Ethiopians with a digital ID by 2025.In an interview with Biometric Update on the sidelines of the ID4Africa Augmented General Meeting, which took place last week, Yodahe stated the IDs are expected to reach 100,000 people by the end of July.“In the last quarter of 2022, we plan to reach 500,000 people. By the beginning of 2023, and within the next two years, it will be an intensive nationwide rollout phase,” he added. Read More.

New Ride-hailing Startup Bets on MotorcyclesA new startup is betting on motorcycles’ ability to avoid the capital’s frequent traffic congestions and is launching the first motorcycle ride-hailing platform in Ethiopia.Available for Android phones, for now, the two-wheeled ride-hailing platform by Addis Motor Taxi is backed with a call center, 9530. Providing package delivery services besides ride-hailing, the startup has already signed up 1000 drivers to its locally developed platform. Unofficial sources state close to 50,000 cars are working under several ride-hailing platforms in the city. But Addis Motor Taxi says it’s going after a different market. Read More.

EIH Onboards 27 Public Assets, Launches OperationsThe Ethiopian Investment Holding (EIH), a recently formed state-owned commercial entity has conducted an onboarding summit and launched operations.EIH, which aims to serve as a strategic investment arm of the government, has an estimated asset holding of over two trillion birr within its portfolio.The 27 state-owned enterprises, including Ethiopian Airlines, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, and Ethio Telecom, under EIH generated a revenue of 350 billion birr and contributed 10 percent to the GDP in the past year. Read More.

Opportunity Alert Pitch AgriHack 2022 Open for ApplicationsAGRF, Heifer International, and Generation Africa announced the launch of Pitch AgriHack 2022, marking the second year the organizations have come together to provide cash grants that accelerate entrepreneurial growth and job creation in Africa’s agriculture sector. Apply here.

Here is what we've been reading:

From B2C to B2B and back: how one of Africa’s oldest fintechs evolvedKenya-based food-tech startup Kune shuts down due to lack of fundingNigerians are learning to buy now and pay laterIf you are here because someone forwarded you this email, you can subscribe here to get future newsletters.