Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
Addisu Deresse
18 May 2009
Shops trading in small diesel generators, particularly those around Aikilt Terra (the vegetable market) in Piazza area of Addis Abeba, are very busy these days. The demand for generators has significantly risen following the start of the power load shedding (shift) system that the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) introduced on April 3, 2009.
The unusually vibrant market situation for diesel generators is, in fact, not unique to the Aikilt Terra market. For example, over the past four months Electro Commercial, a private company engaged in the import of generators operating in another part of the city - on Temama Foq of Tessema Aba-Kemaw Street - has been handling double the number of customers' it handles in a normal market situation with no power shedding, like the same period last year, according to Roberto Gabrezi, the company's general manager.
The company's showroom is full of the 100KVA capacity IVECO brand of generators, which are sold for about 326 Br a piece, and has also experienced an upsurge in the number of queries from those looking to buy generators over the last three months.
"Our company could have marketed an even greater number of generators if it was not for the current import problem due to the foreign exchange shortage," the General Manager told Fortune.
The demand for different brands of the now commonplace commodity in most parts of Addis Abeba in fact varies.
The Chinese Super Tiger, for instance, is currently top of the list in terms of the most popular brand. Three or four months ago, Super Tiger used to be sold for half of the price people are paying for it now; it currently costs 1,600 Br, according to a shop assistant who sells generators in Piazza.
Normally, the demand for generators in the Addis Abeba market would only come from regions outside the capital. Any particular brand would only have one or two buyers interested in purchasing it each month. In the worst cases, sometimes not even a single generator would be sold in two months, according to accounts from people in the business.
But this fact seems to have become a thing of the past in the diesel generators market ever since EEPCo started the load shedding system, saying its dams have insufficient water to generate adequate hydroelectric power. In the current scenario, those in the trade sell at least one Chinese Super Tiger generators in two days.
On other hand, another brand of diesel generators - the Japanese Honda - seems to have seen no change in demand. A generator of this brand bought three months before is still in the shop; this has to do mainly with the higher cost of the brand, which sells for more than 13,000 Br a piece.
Fortune from the power shedding is not limited to the importers and retailers of generators alone; technicians stationed around the main market place - Piazza - have also seen their income increase by leaps and bounds as they repair generators. Whether it is due to the quality of the generators or to the frequent usage, those who have bought generators are also frequently in need of maintenance on the commodity that has become key to the sustainable operation of any business in the city. The maintenance works on these generators have kept the technicians so busy that more are joining the trade. More interestingly, sales people in the shops near the vegetable market also serve as part-time technicians.
Along with the high demand for generators, the market also seems to be running out of supply, which is expected to be another manifestation of the unusual boom in demand in the city. Another brand from Japan, Robin, is said to be unavailable in the market as the country's foreign currency situation cannot accommodate the high price of the brand, which costs more than 13,000 Br, and the equally high demand.
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