Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS holds the 3rd General Assembly Meeting

The Ethiopian Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS holds its 3rd general assembly meeting on March 13, 2007 at Global Hotel. Teshome Zewudie, vice president of the Board, reiterated the importance of forming the business coalition to fight HIV/AIDS, opened the meeting and presented the performance report for the year 2006. Participants from more than 41 member and partner organizations attended the meeting and questions and answer sessions.
Also election was held to replace three board members who were no longer active in the board. Accordingly, six nominees were presented to the house and Mr. Tassew Haile from Misrak Floor and Bakery, Mr. Melaku Telhun, from Shebele Transport and Mr. Ambachew Semma from Wallia Tannery voted to join the board.
In a related development, the Coalition has finalized preparations to kick off a one year a project agreement with GTZ, worth 1.2 million. Abeje Tesfaye, Programme Mange, noted that in the face of ever-increasing impact of AIDS on the business, the questions for the business community are no longer whether this is for real, but rather "what can we do to prevent AIDS, how can we help those infected, and how we can minimize its impact on business in the future". He indicated that the project will address some of the capacity limitations the coalitions had in the past to scale up its programmatic activities to the business sector HIV/AIDS prevention. (Press Release)

Team of Ohio State University professors,officials to arrive here

A research team that comprises professors and officials of the Ohio State University would come to Ethiopia, shortly, for a week long study work, the Ethiopian Consulate General Office in Losangeles announced.
The team was organized with the call made by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Addisu Legessed.
Ethiopian Consulate General Office coordinated establishment of the team.
The office told Ethiopian News Agency on Friday that the team, during its stay in Ethiopia, would collect inputs for its research works by traveling to various places in Ethiopia.
The team would present reports of its findings to Deputy Prime Minister Addisu at the end of the tour. (March 16, 2007 ENA)

Chinese investment important for Africa’s growth: NEPAD

New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) Secretariat said Chinese investment and its huge infrastructure projects in Africa are an opportunity for the growing continent, Sub-Saharan Informer reported on Friday.
Chief Executive of NEPAD Secretariat, Professor Firmino Mucavele comments came this week at the expert group meeting held in Addis Ababa, entitled 'Investment for African Productive Capacity' organized by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the African Union (AU), the report said.
When quizzed regarding the pros and cons of Chinese investment in the continent Professor Mucavele said that lack of infrastructure is being menace for investment expansion in Africa.
"Lack of adequate infrastructure hinders private sector initiatives and increased their investment costs. China is giving Africa infrastructures railways, roads, and others which other development partners are not providing."
The head of the secretariat said that Africa is really different than it was six years ago that the continent has exceeded 5 percent growth rate for the past three years indicating an end to decades of economic stagnation. (March 16, 2007 ENA)

Eritrea becoming hot bed of terrorism: Meles

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that Ethiopia was aware that the Eritrean army’s intelligence section recruited, trained, and led the individuals who kidnapped the Europeans and the Ethiopians, Al Jazeera TV reported on Wednesday.
It quoted Meles as having said that it was outrageous the Ethiopians have not been released. “We know who was involved in this kidnapping affair.”
“We know they were taken across the border to Eritrea and therefore we hold the Eritrean government responsible for the safety and security of our people,” it quoted Meles as saying.
It is becoming very clear to everyone in the region that Eritrea is becoming a hot bed of terrorism, Meles said, and added that it has been involved in backing terrorist groups in Somalia, it has also been involved in the kidnapping of these individuals. (March 15, 2007 ENA)

USAID doubles budget for anti-HIV/AIDS activities in Ethiopia

USAID has doubled its budget for two consecutive years in a bid to successfully contain the spread of HIV/AIDS in Ethiopia, Mission Director Glen Anders disclosed.
USAID Mission Director Glen Anders told WIC recently that as part of the overall cooperation programs in Ethiopia the agency is expanding its programs on HIV/AIDS through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR).
The government has doubled its assistance to anti-HIV/AIDS activities in Ethiopia from 100 million in 2006 to 200 million in 2007 and 2008 consecutively.
He further stressed that the government of Ethiopia has also been making a good start in the last five years and added that with the additional resources, the country will be able to contain the spread of the virus in the coming two years.
The Mission Director pointed out that core programs in its support will focus more on HIV/AIDS and malaria. (March 16, 2007 WIC)

Beneficiaries of microfinance institutions reach 1.5 million

The number of microfinance institutions in Ethiopia has reached 27 and the beneficiaries exceeded 1.5 million this year, Association of Ethiopian Micro Finance Institutions (AEMFI) said.

AEMFI General Manager Dr Wolday Amha told WIC yesterday that the institutions which were 20 five years ago have now reached 27 and the number of beneficiaries grew from 450,000 to 1.5 million.

The 500 million birr capital five years ago also jumped to two billion birr, he said, adding that community members with low-income have also saved over 750 million birr. (March 16, 2007 WIC)