Ethio Lease, the first equipment leasing company to be licensed by the National Bank of Ethiopia, announced it has distributed 85 combine harvesters to beneficiaries, ten of which have been delivered to the Ethiopian Agricultural Business Corporation.
The company distributed the combine harvesters, which are worth over $16 million, today at the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis Ababa.
Girum Tsegaye, CEO of Ethio Lease said, “The equipment delivered here will be of paramount importance to our farmers and generate new economic activity for Ethiopia, by increasing efficiency and yield in Ethiopia’s harvest and bolstering the fight against the locust swarms that the country continues to face today.”
In a move to help mechanize farming in Ethiopia, Ethio Lease has, since August 2019, leased 60 tractors worth over $4.2 million all over the country.
Mr. Girum pointed out these deliveries will create "a significant impact in both boosting productivity and mitigating the losses generated by more traditional farming practices and unforeseen environmental issues like locusts."
Degol Gossaye, VP of Marketing and Sales at Ethio Lease remarked, “These combine-harvesters will produce more than half a million tons of barley and wheat per annum, with an annual local market value of $225 million. That is enough to bake two billion loaves of bread.”
“They will also benefit the equivalent of 180,000 smallholder farmers, reduce harvest losses to the tune of $66 million per annum, and create or sustain 850 direct and 34,000 indirect jobs.”
Source: FBC
