The Shipping and Logistics Enterprise of Ethiopia has made a minimum of 9% discount on ocean freight transport for the next month.
The Enterprise did not officially announce the discount, which has been effective since the 9th of February with importers discovering it through lower prices on shipments.
The discount is due to the coordinated efforts of the various government agencies that have come together to form the new Enterprise according to an official.
The Enterprise is an amalgamation of the former Ethiopian Maritime Transit Services, Dry Ports Services Enterprise and the Ethiopian Shipping Lines. The ESLE is currently the only company operating in sea freight and multimodal operations.The discount is a significant move by the new company which is still in the process of coordinating the efforts of three formerly independent bodies. The move is a concession to importers who persistently complain about the high sea freight cost charged by the Enterprise according to operators in the sector.
It is to be remembered that the Ethiopian Ministry of Transport issued a Multimodal Transport Implementation Directive effective as of January of 2012.
Private importers with Letters of Credit from State banks are expected to deliver container shipments to ERCA dry ports and warehouses according to the directive. State banks will organize a directive to organize Letters of Credit for vehicle importers taking delivery of their shipment at dry ports.
Importers will arrange agreements with the ELSE for the transport of their shipment to Port Djibouti handling all clearance requirements and delivering the shipment to dry port facilities at Modjo or Semera.
Source: Addis Fortune
