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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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