Capital

AAWSA shortlist 7 companies for 12 boreholes rehabilitation

By Groum Abate

EPA negotiation doesn’t address Ethiopian concerns

By Andualem Sisay

Eritrea shuns IGAD

By our staff reporter

Anti-corruption probe to move on to ETC, ERA, WWCE

By Groum Abate

Private sector marginalized-PSDSD

By Andualem Sisay

United Bank doubles paid-up capital

By Andualem Sisay

DBE, Tendaho sign 1.7 bln br loan agreement

By our staff reporter

DACA clamp on 13 firms

By our staff reporter

Microsoft to offer three-dollar Windows

By Groum Abate

Three bln br water projects to be finalized this year

By Groum Abate

Millennium Malaria Campaign on track

By Andualem Sisay

Africa needs 11 mln jobs a year to meet MDGs

By Andualem Sisay

Bringing the Nile to the fore

By Andualem Sisay

NIB to be Awarded the Best Bank-Ethiopia, 2007

By our staff reporter

Africa Command to be operational by fall

By our staff reporter

Fresh clashes in Mogadishu

By our staff reporter

AAWSA shortlist 7 companies for 12 boreholes rehabilitation

By Groum Abate

The Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA), has short listed seven private companies to rehabilitate the 12 already drilled boreholes in Addis Ababa to curb the severe shortage of water in the city.
After AAWSA examined the companies’ stock at hand in the country, it short listed the companies on Friday April 20, to rehabilitate the boreholes and install the holes for distribution.
AAWSA last week requested water drilling companies to present their capacity for drilling 30 new emergency wells in Addis Ababa, which include pumps and other accessories.
The Authority notified the short listed companies to present their price tag for rehabilitating the holes.
Biselex, WATT, Tensae, and Yadot are among the companies short listed for rehabilitating the 12 boreholes.
The short listed companies would start work on the boreholes by making use of their stock at hand, which would be much easier and less time consuming.
Only 48% of the Addis Ababa population gets access to treated water currently.
The authority also advised the companies that before the Legedadi Dam rehabilitation project starts, the wells should be in line and supply the city with water. When the dam is in rehabilitation in three months time, it would decrease production capacity by almost half.
The authority recently increased the price of water, which is the last part of the price adjustment that has been going on for the last five years.
The adjustment of water tariffs is introduced in order to ensure financial sustainability in the provision of utilities and viability of planned expansion programs of the authority.
According to a World Bank Group report, water tariffs are less than 20% of operations and maintenance costs. Moreover, the price increase in Addis Ababa aim at total cost recovery through time (which covers operation & maintenance costs, depreciation and debit servicing).
Average water production in Africa costs about 0.20 dollars per cubic meter, while average water tariff is 0.10 dollars per cubic meter.
Furthermore, the authority charges 1.60 birr per cubic meter cube for the first block of consumption and 2.85 birr for the second block, which will be added after consuming seven cubic meter of water for the first block. The price would also rise gradually more the consumption rate.
AAWSA has so far executed 13 major water supply projects. These are Kebena Mini-Dam, Kechene Mini-Dam, Series of Springs Development, Entoto Water Treatment Plant, Gafarsa-I Dam, Gafarsa-II Dam, Gafarsa-III Dam, Water-I (Legedadi Dam & Water Treatment Plant), Water-IIA (Legedadi Water Treatment Expansion & Rehabilitation of the Existing Legedadi & Gafarsa Water Treatment Plants), Water-IIB (Replacement of the Existing Legedadi transmission & Major Lines as well as Construction of Service Water Reservoirs), Wells & Springs Development-Emergency, Akaki Town Water Supply and Dire Dam-Emergency Projects.

EPA negotiation doesn’t address Ethiopian concerns

By Andualem Sisay

The current state of the negotiation on the Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) between the European Commission (EC), and Eastern and Southern Africa (ESA), members has not adequately addressed Ethiopian concerns.
This was indicated on the workshop for Parliamentarians entitled the status of EPA negotiation, challenges and the way-forward presented by Geremew Ayalew on Tuesday, April 17, 2007.
Failure of the negotiations to have a development focus, the imbalance towards a focus on trade liberalization, lack of appreciation of major adjustment challenges, a focus on timetables and not on the content; are among the reasons listed for the EPA negotiations being unable to address adequately Ethiopia’s interests.
Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Sudan, Burundi, Rwanda, Madagascar, Congo Democratic Republic, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Seychelles, Comoros, Mauritius, Kenya and Uganda are the sixteen ESA members out of which 12 are least developed countries.
The negotiation between the EC and the 12 least developed countries of ESA began in 2002 and has reached its final stages and is expected to be signed on December 31st, 2007.
Development issues, market access, agriculture, fisheries, trade in service and trade related issues are the six clusters that ESA region has agreed to negotiate on EPA.
Ethiopia and most ESA members advocate more emphasis on the development issues cluster of the negotiation. According to the paper, it is the most critical and controversial cluster that can determine the success or failure of the EPA negotiations.
In this connection, after the EC recently agreed for the EPA text to contain a development chapter, Ethiopia has been given the task to compile the chapter considering Ethiopia’s leading involvement on the issue. For the time being, the agreement is only on the structure, negotiations will continue on substance after the development of the chapter is finalized.
The need for additional funds and a separate EPA facility vs no separate EPA disbursement mechanism, only 10th EDF, extra funding to come direct from other donors and the EC is another gap. Recently, two bln euros aid for trade was as an announced as additional resource.
The EPAs are viewed by some as the European Commission mostly forcing the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries to unfairly open up their markets to European Union firms, while the EC states that it wants to make the EPAs “development friendly”.
“We argue that much of the contention is driven by the EC’s insistence on separating out the issue of market access (trade liberalization) from the issue of development assistance, and that successful market access requires more than jut reductions in form barriers to trade,” says Geremew. “In the way-forward we suggest for the EPs to include development priorities based on reducing these impediments to trade, and for which trade related development assistance will be provided.”
The European Union has been providing development and technical assistance to the 77 ACP countries as a result of the Lomé Agreement of June 20, 1975. These countries were able to export their products free of tariff in the European market.
In June 23, 2000 ACP countries had also signed an agreement in Cotonou, Benin with 15 EU member states, which be valid for 20 years. The Economic Partnership Agreement was one cluster of this agreement.
The intention of the agreement was to make the EPA WTO-compatible and support ACP countries join the global market. It includes reversing the non-reciprocal trade relation of ACP countries and enhance their potential of attracting investment.

Eritrea shuns IGAD

By our staff reporter

The Government of Eritrea has announced a temporary suspension of its membership with the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD). Diplomats say the move shows the self-inflicted alienation of the Eritrean government from among the regional countries.
Eritrea TV reported on Saturday that Asmara shelved its membership with IGAD saying IGAD served as a cover for repeated measures being taken that violate regional peace.
At this time when IGAD member states demonstrate firm commitments for the creation of durable peace and stability in the Horn of Africa region, the decision from Asmara shows heedlessness on the part of the government of Eritrea to peace and stability, the diplomats said.
They said the Eritrean government with its foreign policies and measures is finding itself in difficult situations.
Eritrea has been alienating itself from many international assemblies, they said, adding its latest decision was a move from bad to worse.
The 26th ministerial meeting of IGAD has recently expressed appreciation of Ethiopia's sacrifices in helping the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia (TFG) discharge its missions and helping peace and stability to prevail in the region.
IGAD that comprises Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti, Uganda, Somalia and Eritrea as members has been striving for peace and stability in the Horn region.
Following suit of Ethiopia's sacrifices, Uganda has also sent peacekeeping troops to Somalia.
Eritrea however did not want the TFG in Somalia to take a foothold, but rather has been giving support to anti-peace forces and international terrorists.

Anti-corruption probe to move on to ETC, ERA, WWCE

By Groum Abate

The Federal Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission is going to start clearing the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) and Water Works Construction Enterprise (WWCE) shortly from illegal activities considered as corruption.
The commission has almost completed a study on the above three governmental institutions and would directly go to action in the coming few weeks.
ETC and ERA have been focal points for the last few years for alleged corruption.
The commission has already started apprehending suspects for alleged involvement in illegal activities related to the granting of land in the capital city.
According to state owned Ethiopian Television the commission is putting in place a system to eradicate the rampant problem in land administration and improve the procedures.
Three land administration officials and staff of Kolfe Keranyo Sub-city and two alleged accomplices were detained and brought to court on Friday.
The court adjourned for further investigation.
The commission is also investigating corrupt practices committed in connection with granting land in Yeka, Bole, Akaki Kaliti, Nefas Silk Lafto and Kolfe Keranyo Sub-cities.
Investigation will be intensified in the other sub-cities as well, in order to effectively curb rising corruption.
The commission also notified that government officials, civil servants and individuals involved in illegal granting of land would be prosecuted.

Private sector marginalized-PSDSD

By Andualem Sisay

The absence of the private sector while programs and policies of the country are discussed or decisions made, is mentioned as a major structural weakness for the failure of Ethiopian private sector to contribute its level best in the growth and development of the country.
This was emphasized on the presentation of Private Sector Development Strategy Document (PSDSD), at the 2nd National Private Sector Development Conference on Thursday April 19, 2007 at the Sheraton Addis. According to Ermyas Amelga’s presentation, the private sector is generally marginalized in the planning and formulation of development strategies and programs.
“At best, it is seldom that the sector is invited to comment on already developed policies and programs to create the perception of participation. As such, there is often little private sector buy-in and ownership of government policies.”
The document also highlights the private sector being unable to adequately organize itself as another major weakness of the Ethiopian private sector. These are major structural weaknesses that can and must be addressed to promote private sector growth in Ethiopia to get the best out of it in the growth and development of the country, according to the document.
A clearly articulated vision of how the state and development partners can directly facilitate the growth of the country must be developed. The document highlights the need for the formulation of a partnership architecture that allows the required kind of direct engagement and sophisticated package of support that can produce meaningful results.
“Private sector growth and job creation is the preeminent development challenge facing Ethiopia today and we need to proceed with all haste, diligence and commitment to formulate a plan of action we can effectively execute,” said Ermyas.
The first National Private Sector Development Conference, which took place on March 3, 2006 and this follow up, were prepared with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA) in collaboration with the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (AACCSA)
Mrs. Gunvor Engstrom, former Managing Director of the Swedish Federation of Private Enterprises addressed the gathering and shared some of her experiences under the topic Enterpreneurship, job creation and economic growth.
A paper entitled, The role of institutions in promoting private sector development: an international partner’s perspective, prepared with SIDA’s support, was also presented by the World Bank Country Office.
The conference was officially opened by Tadesse Haile, State Minister of Trade and Industry who emphasized the ever-increasing role of the private sector in the country’s economy.
The Ethiopian Private Sector Development Hub was founded in January 2005 following the signing of a program agreement between the AACCSA and SIDA in hosting the PSD Hub program on behalf of the Ethiopian business community.
Company registration, preparing a project for implementation of the Ethiopian accounting and auditing standards road map, finalization of commercial codes and networking with top-level decision and policy makers are among the activities undertaken through PSD Hub program.

United Bank doubles paid-up capital

By Andualem Sisay

The fifth Extraordinary General Meeting of Shareholders of United Bank decided to double its capital by offering 200 million birr worth of shares for sale.
At the meeting held at the Hilton Hotel on Thursday, April, 19, 2006, it was agreed to increase the bank’s paid up capital from 200 million to 400 million birr. The bank is planning to obtain the money by issuing 2 million ordinary shares for subscribers in five years as of June 1, 2007. As a result, the authorized capital of the bank will rise to 500 million birr.
Satisfying the ever increasing demand , becoming more competitive with other banks in the country and those who are on the way to join the sector and maintaining depositor confidence in the bank were mentioned as some of the reasons for the bank to double its paid-up capital, according to Eyessuswork Zafu Chairman of the Board of Directors of the United Bank SC.
Currently, United Bank has 25 branches in the country out of which 17 are found in Addis Ababa. It has 1,250 shareholders. United Bank was established in 1998 with a 20 million birr capital and eight years later has a staggering 130 million birr of paid up capital and 200 million birr in authorized capital.
United Bank provides both domestic and international banking services. In 2005, the bank enjoyed a 34.73% return. In 2006, the number of clients of United Bank depositing their money was more than 70,000. To establish a bank in Ethiopia, the minimum capital requested is 75 million birr.
Awash, NIB, Wegagen, Dashen, Abyssinia, United and Lion Bank are the private banks operating in the country. In addition, there are some private banks in the pipeline such as Access and Birhan banks.

DBE, Tendaho sign 1.7 bln br loan agreement

By our staff reporter

The Development Bank Ethiopia (DBE) and the Tendaho Sugar Plantation and Factory Project signed a 1.7 billon Birr loan agreement on Friday to enable the bank provide loans for the latter.
The sugar plantation and factory project, which is under construction near Ayssaita in the Afar State at a cost of 10 billion Birr, would increase sugar supply of the nation to 600,000 tons per year. The project envisages boosting the annual sugar supply of the country five-fold.
Bank president, Yewendwosen Teshome and the Tendaho Sugar Plantation and Factory Project General Manager, Belete Alemayehu signed the agreement.
Signing the agreement, the president said the loan is the largest amount of loan ever granted by the bank with a view to making significant contributions toward the growth of the national economy.
Belete on his part said the first phase of the transplantation of sugarcane on 50,000 hectares of land as well as the construction of house and irrigation schemes are well underway at present.
Construction of a dam with a capacity of holding 1.8 billion cubic meter of water is also proceeding well. The dam is expected to produce 100 megawatts of electric power.
The project would create jobs for over 45,000 persons, the manager said. The project would contribute for the establishment of various socio-economic institutions for people living in the area.
The project also envisages producing 61,000 cubic meter of ethanol every year.
The Ethiopian government has earmarked 4.7 billion Birr for the execution of the project while the Indian government granted 3.24 billion Birr loan for the same cause, according to the manager.

DACA clamp on 13 firms

By our staff reporter

The Ethiopian Drug Administration and Control Authority (DACA) said it has taken legal measures on 13 business firms engaged in wholesale and retail drug trade for involvment in illegal businesses.
According to state owned Ethiopian Television, the authority took the measure on eight are wholesale and five are retail establishments.
The authority took action on the firms following tips from the public.
The firms were found to have been importing and distributing uncertified drugs and were also obtaining drugs and medical equipment from local governmental health institutes at cheap prices and selling them on to the public at inflated prices.
The firms have been importing and selling narcotic and psychotropic drugs, as area strictly controlled by the government.
The authority also noted business enterprises engaged in the sector to adhere to the standards set for them and to refrain from illegal activities.
Recently two local companies that manufacture pharmaceutical products have been forced to shut down because they have been unable to compete with importers. The local manufacturers claim that the government has created better opportunities for importers compared to those for local manufacturers.
They said that local manufacturers have to pay 38% tax whereas importers pay only 5%.
Lifeline and Biosol are the two companies have closed their gates after being unable to compete against medicine importers.
As a result of the two companies that went off the market, the number of local pharmaceutical factories is now 15 while there are more than 80 pharmaceuticals importers.
The authority has also recently banned some 67 pharmaceutical manufacturers from exporting their products to Ethiopia.
The 67 manufacturers out of 104 companies that are based in Kenya, China, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Egypt, are excluded from importing list by the authority.
A group of experts from the authority toured through the above-mentioned countries where they paid visits to the manufacturing companies that used to export their products to Ethiopia.
The manufacturers that used to export their drugs are banned for not complying with the approved standard. DACA used the World Health Organization’s Good Manufacturers Practice (GMP), to evaluate the manufacturers.

Microsoft to offer three-dollar Windows

By Groum Abate

Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates unveiled plans on Thursday for a 3 dollar software suite for students in developing countries.
The announcement marked the US software giant's most ambitious attempt to date to bridge the digital divide between technologically advanced countries and the developing economies.
The Student Innovation Suite was announced as Microsoft faces increased challenges from open source operating systems like Linux and free web-based applications like those offered by Google, both of which target the company's dominance in personal computer software.
Another threat to Microsoft is the One Laptop Per Child Project (OLPC), which aims to sell millions of its innovative units for 150 dollars each to developing countries by 2008. Libya, Nigeria, Egypt, Rwanda and Ethiopia have already ordered millions of these laptops.
The low-cost Microsoft package includes Windows XP Starter Edition, Microsoft Office Home and Student 2007, Microsoft Math 3.0, Learning Essentials 2.0 for Microsoft Office and Windows Live Mail desktop.
Microsoft hopes the scheme will help to double the number of global PC users and bring computing to an additional billion people by 2015.
Governments in developing countries can purchase the cut-price software, if they provide free PCs for schools.
'In each country, it is tailored to the interests of the government and citizens, but it's about innovation, it's about integration, and it's about creating jobs in those regions,' Gates said, speaking at the conclusion of the two-day Microsoft Government Leaders Forum Asia in Beijing.
Founded by Massachusetts Institute of Technology academics, the non-profit "One Laptop per Child" project will roll out nearly 2,500 of its 150 dollar-laptops to eight nations in May.
The experiment is a prelude to mass production of the kid-friendly, lime-green-and-white laptops scheduled to begin in July, when five million will be built.
Its technological triumphs include a hand crank to charge its battery, a keyboard that switches between languages, a digital video camera, wireless connectivity and Linux open-source operating software tailored for remote regions.
The project's operators say the price should fall to $100 apiece next year, when they hope to produce 50 million of the so-called "XO" machines, before dipping below $100 by 2010 when they aim to reach 150 million of the world's poorest children.

Three bln br water projects to be finalized this year

By Groum Abate

The Ministry of Water Resources announced that it would finalize projects that have been underway with over three billion birr this Ethiopian year.
Activities are underway to finalize the Kesem, Tendaho and Koga irrigation development projects that can cultivate 25,000 hectares of land in the budget year.
The irrigation schemes underway in Amhara, Oromia, SNNP and Tigray states with the financial assistance of International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) to cultivate over 10,000 hectares of land would also be finalized this fiscal year, the ministry announced.
Various irrigation projects which have a capacity of cultivating over 2,500 hectares and under execution in various states through the financial assistance of the French Government would be finalized on the eve of the millennium.
Upon completion of the dams in the coming December, the sugar production of the country which stands at 275,000 tons would quadruple.
The Tendaho and Kessem dams have the capacity to hold 2.3 billion cubic meters of water.
Under the joint auspices of ministries of Trade and Industry, and Water Resources, the Tendaho project was launched at the beginning of 2005, its feasibility study conducted by an Indian firm, G. J. Mukherjee.
Of the 64,000ht of land the project has, 14ht will be allocated for infrastructure and construction of residential houses for the projected 45,000 workers to be deployed in the factory.

Millennium Malaria Campaign on track

By Andualem Sisay

The Ministry of Health is working on a 22 mln birr Millennium National anti-Malaria Campaign (MNMC), that will be implemented during the one and of half year Ethiopian millennium festival starting from this June.
This was indicated on the second meeting of Coalition of Media Against Malaria in Ethiopia (CMAME), formed last September by journalists of all regions of Ethiopia after attending a workshop prepared by an international non governmental organization Malaria Consortium-Coalition Against Malaria in Ethiopia, (CAME). During this follow up two-day workshop, which took place at the Global Hotel from April 6-7, 2007, Dr. Worku Bekele, Secretary of MNAC, said the objective of the campaign is to scale up the intervention against malaria in Ethiopia.
“The objective of the campaign is to contribute to the overall reduction of malaria disease burden and sustain low transmission by implementing highly focused interventions,” he said.
During this period, the ministry plans to halt the shortage of skilled human resources, attain increased political commitment, boost community awareness and promote behavioral change towards positive development of malaria control intervention among others. 483 weredas across the country have been selected by the health bureaus depending on the region’s priority.
Currently in Ethiopia, 50 mln people, who lives bellow 2,000 meters (68 per cent of the total population) live in Malaria epidemic-prone areas. Malaria is the number one public health problem in Ethiopia and significantly affecting the country’s GDP.
During the 2003 epidemic, out of the total deaths in Ethiopia, 3 per cent died to malaria. But, currently deaths due to malaria in the country is at 10 per cent of total deaths.
Its seasonal and unstable nature, which is different from other African countries, makes worse malaria’s consequence in Ethiopia. It usually occurs from September to December and from April to May when farmers begin preparing their land for cultivation.
The ministry is planning to get the money for the campaign from both federal and regional governments as well as the Global Fund, including resource mobilization donations, sales of proposals and the like.
The government has set up a plan to achieve 100 per cent access to effective and affordable treatment for malaria by the end of 2008 by providing two health professionals at every health post.
In a related development, as decided by African leaders on Abuja Conference 2000, Ethiopia for the seventh time celebrates African Malaria Day on April 25, 2007.

Africa needs 11 mln jobs a year to meet MDGs

By Andualem Sisay

Africa needs to create 11 mln jobs every year in order to meet Millennium Development Goals /MDGs, an indicated ILO report of the Director-General.
Despite a pick-up in growth over the last three years, employment is only expanding by around 8.6 mln a year, with a consequent increase in the numbers of jobless persons. To reduce Africa’s unemployment rate to the world average of just over 6 per cent by 2015(a target year to meet MDGs by halving poverty from the world), would require an increase in employment of around 11 million per year.
Unemployment represents one of the greatest challenges to the development of the continent. The 2006 overall unemployment rate in Africa was estimated at 10.3 per cent and in Sub-Saharan Africa at 9.8 per cent. The estimate for North Africa was 12.7 per cent. When the number of working poor is included, the employment picture looks even more unfavorable.
While the total number of people worldwide living on less than One USD a day declined from 1.45 bln to 1.1 bln, between 1981 and 2001, mainly as a result of the rapid economic growth in China and other countries in Asia, the number in Sub-Saharan Africa increased from 164 mln to 314 mln. Out of this total, some 155 million are women and men of working age. Africa has the largest number of working poor in total employment of any region.
It is estimated that around 55 percent of all people employed in Sub-Saharan Africa do not earn enough to lift themselves and their families above the one USD a day poverty line and that about 80 per cent are subsisting on less than two USD a day.
world, Africa urgently needs to create“So far, we are doing well. But we need to do more to meet MDGs,” said Mrs. Regina Ahmadi-Njoku, ILO Regional Director for Africa, briefing on Thursday on the regional 11th ILO Regional Meeting scheduled to take place in Addis from April 24-27, 2007.
In recent years, the annual increase in Africa’s labor force has risen to 9 mln per year and will continue upwards to average around 10 mln per year in the period through 2015.
If extreme poverty is to be halved by 2015, an employment-centered growth strategy is required. With the highest incidence of poverty in the more employment and thus tackle the scourge of hunger, malnutrition and overall low living standards, the report recommends.
Further more, it advises African policy makers to make economic growth pro-poor and employment friendly, to harness the potential of globalization to create decent jobs and facilitate private sector investment to create jobs. Transforming rural economies to reduce unemployment and poverty and addressing youth unemployment should also be the main intervention areas of African leaders, according to the report.
Africa accounts for 11.9 per cent of the total world labor force, with over 368 mln women and men employed.

Bringing the Nile to the fore

By Andualem Sisay

The Ethiopian Nile Basin Dialogue Forum (EtNBF), held a national consultative workshop on mainstreaming the Nile into the media, academia and research institutions.
Opening the workshop at the Global hotel from April 19-20, 2007, Adugna Jabessa, State Minister of the Ministry of Water Resources, highlighted the fact that close to 30 mln Ethiopians live in absolute poverty despite the country’s immense potential of water resources for irrigation and related purposes. He also called on the participants to incorporate the issues of water resources in general and the Nile issue in particular in their respective programs.
According to Adugna, his ministry has been making every strategic and cautious approach to the intricacies of the water resources utilization and management in Ethiopia. He also highlighted the Ethiopian Water resource Management Proclamation of 2000 and the Ethiopian Water Resources Management Regulation of 2005 as important legal framework that provided legal basis for the policies, strategies and master plans. During the workshop various scholars presented their papers on issues related to the Nile.
The Nile is the longest river in the world at 6700 km, starting from its upper source in Burundi to its destination in the Mediterranean Sea. The basin area is estimated at 3.349 mln km2 and includes varied ecosystems: highland forest, lakes, wetlands and desert.
The total population of the Nile Basin states is 300 mln out of which 160 mln resides with in the basin. This number is expected to double in 25 years. Burundi, Congo Democratic Republic, Egypt, Eritrea (as observer), Ethiopia, Kenya, Sudan Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda are members of NBI.
The Nile Basin is generally characterized by endemic poverty, severe environmental degradation, political instability and rapid population growth.
To face these challenges and also to exploit opportunities, the basin provides, the ministers of water affairs of the Nile Basin countries at the launch of NBI, February 22, 1999 adopted a shared vision: ‘to share sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefit from the common Nile basin water resources’.

NIB to be Awarded the Best Bank-Ethiopia, 2007

By our staff reporter

Global Finance, a New York based monthly magazine designated NIB bank for the second time as ‘Best Bank- Ethiopia 2007’. Ato Merga Kassa, President of the bank said about the award “Though we are pleased with the award, I keep asking if this is truly us succeeding. I have mixed feelings of joy and awe.”
The magazine selected the best market banks in the region and 24 countries; criteria for the selection of winners were based on growth asset, profitability, strategic relation ship and like. According to a letter from Global Finance, “We employed both subjective and objective criteria in picking our winners.” The Award ceremony is expected to take place on October 22nd in Washington.
The magazine has been selecting top performers for the last fourteen years. Asia, Middle East, Africa, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe are where the magazine conducted its survey. A press release sent by the publishers of Global Finance, said, “We have identified the banks that provide service to corporations seeking to take advantage of substantial opportunities for growth in a sometimes challenging environment.”
The private commercial bank has been in the industry for the last eight years and has been awarded by ‘The Banker’ and ‘Global Finance’ magazines in 2005 and 2006 respectively. In the last three years, the bank’s net profit has shown an average annual growth of 69.6%.
The 20 years old magazine, ‘Global Finance’ is estimated to reach over 158 countries targeting investors who control over 80% of all assets under professional management.

Africa Command to be operational by fall

By our staff reporter

U.S. plans to develop a new military command headquarters based in Africa are moving ahead, and initial operations should be ready to start this autumn from Germany, the admiral in charge of the project said Thursday.
Although the Africa Command, or AfriCom, headquarters is not expected to be fully operational until September 2008, it is on schedule to begin work on a lesser scale a year earlier and should have a commander to lead it by then, said Rear Admiral Robert Moeller, head of the Africa Command Transition Team.
“We would anticipate the commander of AfriCom will be in place by the time we establish our initial operational capability,” he told a small group of reporters at U.S. European Command’s headquarters in Stuttgart, where his team is working.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates in February announced the plan to establish a full headquarters in Africa, a nod to the continent’s increasing strategic importance.
It is a so-called “unified combatant command” that will be made up of all branches of the military, as well as civilians from the Defense, State, Agriculture, Treasury and Commerce departments, as well as USAID, Moeller said.
AfriCom will initially operate as part of European Command in Stuttgart, then become independent at the end of 2008. It is not yet known when the headquarters will move to Africa, and it is possible that even by September 2008 it will still be based in Germany, Moeller said.
Already, Ryan Henry, deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, has met this week with leaders in six African nations — South Africa, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kenya, Ghana and Senegal — for preliminary consultations on U.S. plans.
The headquarters would oversee peacekeeping, humanitarian aid missions and military partnership operations with African countries, as well as defense support to nonmilitary operations.
Critics have charged that establishing a headquarters on the continent could provoke anti-American radicals, but Moeller said such considerations are being carefully thought through in determining where the operation would be established and how big it would be.
So far, he said, there has been no decision on either count, although officials in Washington have said they would expect AfriCom to be about the size of other such command headquarters — roughly 1,000 personnel.
“Part of the rationale behind the development of this command is clearly the growing emergence of the strategic importance of Africa from a global ... security and economic standpoint,” he said. “This allows us to work more closely with our African partners to, in working with them, enhance the stability across the continent, broadly speaking.”
The U.S. military has a system under which each region of the world is overseen by a specific command. Africa is now split among European Command — which has the largest area — Central Command and Pacific Command.
The establishment of AfriCom — which is to take responsibility for all of Africa excluding Egypt, which will still fall into Central Command’s sphere — is designed to make it easier to coordinate all of the programs and allow the U.S. to better address regional issues.
Central Command, which has responsibility for the Horn of Africa, set up a task force there in an attempt to catch al-Qaida terrorists escaping from Afghanistan after the war started in late 2001. It since has expanded to humanitarian and other missions.
European Command has sent Special Forces on training exercises in North Africa and done humanitarian projects, medical training and other missions, such as harbor maintenance in oil-producing nations in the Gulf of Guinea.
These efforts are aimed at building partnerships and strengthening the ability of African governments and militaries to do their jobs. The hope is the activities will make nations there less vulnerable to the recruiting efforts of terrorists and help catch those already using them as havens.

Fresh clashes in Mogadishu

By our staff reporter

At least nine civilians have been killed and 12 wounded in renewed fighting between Ethiopian forces and Islamist insurgents in the Somali capital, witnesses said.
They said eight were killed when a mortar landed on a bus station in southern Mogadishu.
"I have counted at least eight bodies, some of them dismembered," said eyewitness Hussein Mohamed Abdi.
Another civilian was killed in Fagah district in northern Mogadishu, said Alaso Haji Warsame, a local resident.
Meanwhile, an Ethiopian military truck exploded after it hit a landmine in the Lasole area, about 18 kilometres south of the capital as an army convoy headed to Mogadishu, residents said.
Witnesses said two civilians in a passing minibus were injured in the incident.
Four days of fighting that broke out late last month was the worst violence in Mogadishu for 15 years and efforts to agree a lasting ceasefire have since been dogged by repeated clashes.
On Tuesday, at least seven civilians were killed and several houses destroyed when the rivals clashed in southern Mogadishu.
Elders from Mogadishu’s dominant Hawiye clan have unsuccessfully sought an end to the clashes and have accused Ethiopian forces of breaking the truce they announced after last month’s violence.
However, the Ethiopian troop leaders have refused to meet again with the elders until commanders of the insurgency agree to attend negotiations.
Addis Ababa deployed its forces to Somalia late last year to help the weak interim government oust the Islamist movement from the country’s southern and central region.
Remnant Islamists have continued to wage attacks against the government forces, while their leaders have called for Ethiopia to withdraw.
A suicide car bomb exploded at an Ethiopian army base on the outskirts of the Somali capital, the deputy defense minister said. He blamed the attack on al-Qaida elements.
No Ethiopian or Somali soldiers were injured in the attack, said Deputy Defense Minister Salad Ali Jelle. The only people who died were those inside the car.
"Al-Qaida elements were behind the suicide operation. The people inside the car were killed. Our troops and Ethiopians have not been injured," Jelle added.
In another twist, the Somalia’s Transitional parliament has fired 30 of its members of parliament for failing to attend sessions in recent months, SABC TV reported.
About 150 other government officials have approved the decision in what may be a government move to further consolidate its control to the legislature, the report said.
A number of the officials that were fired are in Asmara, Eritrea, which has been accused of supporting Somalia’s fundamentalist movement.
In related development, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and President Abdullahi Yousuf of Somalia said anti-terrorists campaign from Somalia would be strengthened.
During talks held at the Office of the Prime Minister here on Thursday, the two leaders said maximum efforts should be exerted to minimize civilian causalities and property damages in the course of the anti-terrorist operation in Somalia.
The two leaders discussed the need to strengthen clearing terrorists from Mogadishu and ensure peace in the city.
The two leaders discussed on the next step to be made to bring law and order in Somalia.
They had deliberated in particular the national reconciliation conference that would involve all parties and which is expected to be held soon.
President Abdullahi expressed his firm belief that the conference would be a meaningful reconciliation.
The conference would be free of government pressure and would be headed by an independent commission to be presided over by former President Ali Mahadi.
Mahadi has continued to discuss with civil societies, various clan and political leaders on the conference by organizing commission members himself.

AAWSA shortlist 7 companies for 12 boreholes rehabilitation

EPA negotiation doesn’t address Ethiopian concerns

Eritrea shuns IGAD

Anti-corruption probe to move on to ETC, ERA, WWCE

Private sector marginalized-PSDSD

United Bank doubles paid-up capital

DBE, Tendaho sign 1.7 bln br loan agreement

DACA clamp on 13 firms

Microsoft to offer three-dollar Windows

Three bln br water projects to be finalized this year

Millennium Malaria Campaign on track

Africa needs 11 mln jobs a year to meet MDGs

Bringing the Nile to the fore

NIB to be Awarded the Best Bank-Ethiopia, 2007

Africa Command to be operational by fall

Fresh clashes in Mogadishu

MORE

AAWSA shortlist 7 companies for 12 boreholes rehabilitation

EPA negotiation doesn’t address Ethiopian concerns

Eritrea shuns IGAD

Anti-corruption probe to move on to ETC, ERA, WWCE

Private sector marginalized-PSDSD

United Bank doubles paid-up capital

DBE, Tendaho sign 1.7 bln br loan agreement

DACA clamp on 13 firms

Microsoft to offer three-dollar Windows

Three bln br water projects to be finalized this year

Millennium Malaria Campaign on track

Africa needs 11 mln jobs a year to meet MDGs

Bringing the Nile to the fore

NIB to be Awarded the Best Bank-Ethiopia, 2007

Africa Command to be operational by fall

Fresh clashes in Mogadishu