Ethiopia: City Municipality Scales Up Tech-Driven Home Delivery of Essential Commodities

Addis Abeba — The Addis Abeba Trade Bureau has reported that 294,000 customers have registered for a technology-driven distribution system of subsidized essential commodities such as sugar, cooking oil, and wheat flour.

This development follows the Bureau’s selection of Makeba PLC to manage the door-to-door delivery of essential items for low-income residents of the capital.

The new distribution system incorporates home delivery of essential commodities accompanied by digital payment options.

Recently, Awash Mohammed, the manager of Makeba, announced that the company is currently enrolling customers in the Addis Ketema, Lideta, Kolfe Keranio, and Nifas Silk Lafto sub-cities for a technologically enabled home delivery service of essential commodities.”

Additionally, Awash indicated that a pilot program has been initiated by enrolling customers in four sub-cities to provide home delivery of essential goods.

He also outlined a plan to expand this service to the remaining sub-cities in the future.

Makeba utilizes Agelgel, a subsidiary delivery company, to facilitate the distribution of basic items.

This initiative comes a year after the Bureau decided to expand the technology-assisted door-to-door distribution of essential goods.

In November 2023, the Bureau’s Strategic Council approved the expansion of its technology-driven home delivery service for essential commodities.

This decision enabled the technology-driven home delivery service, which was initially launched in the Kolfe Keranio, to be extended to additional areas, including the Lideta and Nifas Silk Lafto sub-cities, effective from December 2023.

This effort is part of the administration’s plan to outsource six of its 11 major services to a third party.

Among the six major services slated for outsourcing are the distribution of basic food items, the management of market centers, business registration and licensing, market price research, and postal message services.

However, the municipality currently relies heavily on the 140 cooperatives operating within the capital to distribute subsidized food items such as sugar, cooking oil, and wheat flour.

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