Ethiopia’s flagship carrier, the Ethiopian Shipping Lines (ESL), has announced a record high profit of 233 million Br from its operations during the just ended Ethiopian fiscal year (1998), its officials disclosed.
 

The latest performance, disclosed to a board of directors’ meeting held on Thursday, August 3, and chaired by Getachew Belay, former minister of Revenues, represents a growth of 39pc from last year. It comes as a result of even larger volume of goods (42pc more) than the company transported in 2005-06; the 42-year old carrier moved 1.6 million tonnes of cargo, largely comprising construction materials such as steel and electrical appliances.
 

“I feel great,” Ambachew Abraha, managing director of the company, who has served in that position for 10 years, told Fortune. “I’m very pleased.”
 

It is a long way and an impressive performance from what had been its depressing year in 1999, when ESL sustained a loss of close to 19 million Br. A political decision made by the government in providing shelter from competition on inbound cargoes injected a lease of life that turned the company’s fortune around. 
 

An economist, however, says the expanding volume of the whole economy, with a massive investment in publicly financed infrastructure, has contributed to the growth of the company’s profits. He sees mega construction activities undertaken by companies such as the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation as major contributors not only in steel shipment but also electrical equipment.

What is more interesting is the place vehicles have in the breakdown: ESL transported between 400 and 500 cars every month in the last year alone.
 

China seems to prove its increasing importance to Ethiopia’s bilateral trade. Close to half of 60,000 containers shipped by ESL during the year were brought from there, representing 43.3pc. Following are Malaysia, Singapore and countries within the EU.

Not surprisingly, ESL’s forte is with inbound cargoes since importers are discouraged to use other liners from ports where ESL vessels call or where it charters slots. Although observed to have grown from last year, ESL covered only 60,000tn out of the 793,511tn of cargo Ethiopia exported to over 100 countries, during the year.