ETC to launch 3G mobile phone service on millennium

The Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation disclosed that it is making preparations to provide the new generation 3G mobile phone for guests visiting the country during the new millennium.
Corporate Communications Division Manager Abdurahim Ahmed told WIC that the 3G mobile phone will enable customers to watch TV programs and use e-mail services.
Abdurahim said 1.2 million mobile phone lines are going to be made available for sale under the Millennium Mobile Telephone Expansion Project. Of those lines 250,000 would enable customers to use the 3G technology service, he added.
The corporation has also carried out works that enable it to launch roaming service so that the guests could use mobile phones they were normally using in their respective countries of origin. ETC has signed agreement with 140 countries of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to start the roaming services, Abdurahim indicated.
The Millennium Expansion Project underway may create problems on the existing mobile phones, the General Manager said, urging customers to inform the corporation about such problems by dialing 969. (WIC)
Government to give presents to babies born on first day of millennium
The government would distribute gifts to children born on the Ethiopian New Year, according to the Ethiopian Millennium Festival National Council Secretariat.
Deputy Director of the Secretariat and Assistant Whip, Netsanet Asfaw, told Abiyotawi Democracy newspaper that the government will make the gifts for children born on September 12, 2007 to mark the historic day.
She said the gifts would include the FDRE constitution, government policies and strategies, ancient coins, ancient books, pictures of ancient churches and mosques as well as endemic animals.
Indigenous trees which could live thousand years are going to be transplanted by parents of the children on June and July next year, Netsanet said, adding that the places would be fenced as parks and named after the children. (WIC)

Ethio-Japanese team discovers 10 million-year-old fossil

Thought to represent a basal branch of the gorilla line, fossils of a 10 million-year-old African great ape were discovered by an Ethio-Japanese team. They are given the new name of Chororapithecus abyssinicus.
"This would be the earliest recognized primate that was directly related to the living African great apes (gorillas, chimpanzees and bonobos). These [the fossils] show that humans and African great apes probably split much earlier than considered by molecular studies."
The discovery includes nine teeth of a large ape. The first specimen, a canine, was found in February 2006, and eight molars were found in March 2007, said the team.
The new fossils were discovered at the southeastern end of the Afar rift in Ethiopia, about 170-km east of Addis Ababa (straight distance), the team said in a press briefing organized by the National heritage preservation authority. (ENA)

USAID Hands over Assayita livestock market in Afar Region

The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has handed over the Assayita Livestock Market completed under the Pastoralist Livelihoods Initiative (PLI) on August 23, 2007.
The Assayita market, located in Assayita town of Afar Region, represents a link in an improved "value chain" to strengthen livestock sector performance that will lead to economic benefits for pastoralists. The handover ceremony, organized by ACDI/VOCA (formerly VOCA-Ethiopia) was attended by officials of the Regional government.
In October 2005, USAID launched the PLI project in Somali, Afar and Oromia Regions of Ethiopia to help pastoralist communities build more sustainable livelihoods and become less vulnerable to drought and other shocks. The livestock marketing component of PLI, implemented by ACDI/VOCA, seeks to strengthen Ethiopia's livestock marketing system by increasing sales to high value domestic and export markets. An essential activity toward achieving this goal is to construct key livestock market facilities to reduce costs and improve pastoralists' access to markets.
The market sites to be constructed were selected based on agreed criteria and through consultations with pastoralists, livestock traders, government officials and NGOs, as well as on recommendations from a value chain analysis conducted by ACDI/VOCA and other PLI partners. (ACDI, VOCA press release)

Town to construct over 100 million Birr Millennium memorial museums, parks

Mayor of Awassa town said the town is preparing to construct millennium memorial museums, parks and other facilities with an outlay of over 100 million Birr.
Activities that would enable the construction of Millennium memorial facilities are in progress, the mayor, Ayano Beraso told Ethiopian News Agency.
The museum would reflect the cultural values of different nations and nationalities within the country. Meanwhile, the municipality is taking on the designation of parks that would reflect the same theme.
Schools and health posts are among the other facilities that Awassa hopes to build for the millennium. (ENA)

President Riyale confers with Meles Zenawi

Somaliland President, Dahir Riyale Kahin, on August 23, 2007, conferred with Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on matters of trade, security and other bilateral issues.
The president who arrived in Addis Ababa on Wednesday evening had a working lunch with senior Ethiopian Ministers discussing on the use of the Berbera port and the recent agreement reached between the two countries to deploy the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation's fiber optic cable to East African Submarine Cable System (EASSy) via Berbera and fighting terrorism in the Horn. Also included in the discussions were areas of cooperation in electricity as well as road construction. (The Sub-Saharan Informer)