Ethiopian
Commodity Exchange forming
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), the first commodity exchange
market system, introduced by Eleni G.Medhin, senior economist of
the World Bank, has launched the first membership registration this
week, with the government allocating 194 million birr.
According to Eleni Zaude Gabre Medhin (PhD), ECX chief of party,
any individual, company, public enterprise and cooperative that
meets the requirements for exchange actor recognition from the Ethiopian
Commodity Exchange Authority is eligible for ECX membership.
 MORE
New deal for Ethio-Djibouti railway
By Muluken Yewondwossen
The Ethio-Djibouti Railway Authority has begun talks with the
Fuad Algarim Group, a Kuwaiti company, to give a concession for
twenty years. According to our source from the Ethio Djibouti Railway
Authority, the discussion is promising.
The source said that the company will improve the system and import
modern locomotives because the existing are old and of poor quality.
MORE
Ethio – French relations blossoming
By Abiy Demilew
A French parliamentary delegation led by Jean-Louis Christ, permanent
parliamentarian and mayor of Ribeauvillé, on a special two
day visit to Ethiopia, announced that French-Ethiopia and French-Africa
relations are opening new pages of bi-lateral and multi-lateral
relations.
The delegation of French parliamentarians has held talks with Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, Teshome Toga, Speaker of the House and Professor
Alpha Omar Konare, Chairperson of the Africa Union, on French-Africa
relations and cooperation.
Birtukan’s group considers forming
new party
By Kirubel Tadesse
After the National Electoral Board (NEB) decided in favor of Ayele
Chamiso and awarded the party’s name, ‘CUDP’ to
his group, Birtukan’s group, which is forming a union with
parliamentarians led by Temesgen Zewdie (MP), is considering forming
a new party and obtaining a new name, Birtukan Mediksa told Capital.
“We are discussing the option of forming a new political party
so that we can obtain legal status. It is one possibility but the
door to further struggle to obtain our party’s name is not
a dead option yet,” said Birtukan, “whatever we decide,
one thing remains, we will keep the program and policies of the
CUD.”
Basic Metals and Engineering Industries
Association begins functions
By Addis Mulugeta
The Basic Metals and Engineering Industries Association established
five months ago, has officially started operations. This was announced
last Monday, at the Hilton Hotel. Members of the Association, the
Minister of Trade and Industry, Tadesse Haile and other distinguished
guests attended the occasion.
Holland Car plc expands assembly
By Addis Mulugeta
Holland Car plc has expanded its car assembly independently with
out the involvement of the Dutch share company. Chinese Gona company
technically assists the new model cars, Abay and Cassiopeia.
Engineer Tadessee Tessema explained that his company launched new
models, Abay and Cassiopeia, but has not entirely abandoned to assemble
Holland Car which it makes on order.
MORE
House endorses 85 mln USD loans An EPRDF MP
gives up seat
By Kirubel Tadesse
The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) has endorsed
two bills which help secure combined loans of over 85 million USD,
planned to be spent on two separate projects.
The HPR in its 14th regular session passed the two loans by majority
vote. The loans are to be obtained from the International Development
Association (IDA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD).
Council ratifies regulation on housing development
corporation
By Groum Abate
The Council of Ministers on Friday passed decisions on a draft
regulation for the establishment of a housing development corporation.
The council, during the discussion, underlined that shortage and
poor quality of residential houses and houses for other purposes
is a pressing problem in Addis Ababa and other towns of the country.
HSBC funded buses arrive
By Groum Abate
The first 100 batch of 500 medium-sized passenger buses imported
from China with a loan secured from HSBC, arrived in Addis Ababa
on Thursday January 17, 2008.
The buses, which are imported with a view to alleviating the acute
shortage of transportation in the city, will be sold to provide
taxi services to the public in Addis Ababa and other major towns.
MORE
Djibouti Diredawa-Mesone asphalt road project
on study
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Study work on the upgrading of a gravel road to asphalt from Meson-
Arere- Diredawa –Dewele connecting Djibouti to Diredawa and
central Ethiopia is being carried out by the Scott Wilson (England)
design company for 1.618 mln Euro.
According to Samson Wondimu, Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) public
relations head, the project is underway with funds secured from
the European Union (EU). He further noted that 92 per cent of design
work has been completed.
Boeing announces 787delay
By Our Staff Reporter
The Boeing Company has announced a postponement of the maiden flight
of the 787 Dreamliner. The highly anticipated date had been set
between the end of the first quarter to the end of the second quarter
this year.
The revised date for deliveries has now been set for early 2009.
It is to be recalled that Ethiopian Airlines, the Dreamliner’s
Africa launch customer has ordered 10 of the ultra-modern aircraft
and it is not known how the latest announcement by Boeing will impact
on the airline’s growth plans.
Women lawyers claim police ignores spousal
rape
By Kirubel Tadesse
Women lawyers have said that there is a lack of proper law enforcement
by police in investigating wife battery cases. “Refusing to
investigate domestic violence and establishing two types of rape,
explains this problem,” stated the lawyers.
“Rape is rape, it simply means any kind of forced sex,”
explains one lawyer, “we can not say forced sex is not rape
when it happens in marriage and it is rape when it happens outside
marriage.”
White Nile and MoME agree on petroleum exploration
and development
By Muluken Yewondwossen
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has entered an agreement with
White Nile Limited, a British based and registered petroleum company,
to explore and develop petroleum in the Southern Nations, Nationalities
and Peoples, National Regional State, on January 15, 2008, at Sheraton
Addis.
MORE
Westerners detained in Ogaden
By our staff reporter
Ethiopia says it has detained some American and European citizens
on suspicion of terrorist activities in the restive Southeastern
region of Ogaden. The leader of Ethiopia’s Somali region,
told visiting international journalists that his government is holding
an unspecified number of American and European passport holders.
According to the VoA, regional President Abdullahi Hassan did not
say when they were detained. He said they were being held at a camp
near the Eastern Ethiopian city of Jijiga and added the journalists
could meet some of the detainees in the coming days.
U.K. endorses new TFG cabinet
By Tesfu Telahoun
The formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers for the Transitional
Federal Government of Somalia has been lauded by the United Kingdom
as a positive development.
The UK’s Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch –Brown, according
to a British Embassy press release sent to Capital, strongly urged
all stakeholders to work towards advancing the political process
in order to better the lives of the Somali people.
MORE
Evolution and substance of core social and
cultural values appraised
By Addis Mulugeta
Renowned Ethiopian and foreign scholars who have extensively written
on Ethiopia presented papers on the evolution and substance of core
social and cultural values which sustained the country’s unity
in the past and highlight the potential contribution of these values
to expand the political space and participation of social and political
actors in the new millennium, on January 15, 2008, at the UN Conference
Center, organized by Inter African Group (IAG).
MORE
Ethiopian Quality Award launched
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Ethiopian Quality Award was launched officially on Thursday 17,
2008 at Addis Ababa University Senate hall. The award is sponsored
by Walta Information Center and the AAU.
The award has been organized under a board of directors, in which
there is jury, technical evaluators, a financial section and administration
units. The award is issued annually to organizations which show
performance excellence in product and service quality in the different
sectors of participation.
MORE
Safeway Travel and Tour joins Hogg Robinson
Group network
By our staff reporter
Safeway Travel and Tours becomes Ethiopian partner to the Hogg
Robinson Group, an international corporate services company which
owns and majority controls travel operations in twenty of the key
driver and growth markets throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and North
America.
Religious leaders reach consensus on peace
building
By Addis Mulugeta
Various religious leaders discussed and presented their problems
to build peace in the country at a workshop held from January 14-16,
2008, at the Ras Amba Hotel, organized by EOC-DICAC in collaboration
with the Norwegian Church Aid (NCI), Mulu Wengel Evangelical Church
Protestant denominations and Muslim leaders.
MORE
Iranian delegation visits Ethiopia
By Kirubel Tadesse
An Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines delegation,
led by Seyed Shemesudin Khareghani, Deputy President of International
Affairs, arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday January 13, 2008 for a
four day working tour.
On Monday January 14, 2008 the seventeen members of the Iran Chamber
of Commerce, Industries and Mines met and held discussions with
the board of directors of Addis Ababa and Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce
and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA).
‘Ethiopia to host ‘Science with
Africa’ conference
By our staff reporter
Ethiopia is due to host the “Science with Africa” conference
that seeks to promote and enhance the role of science and technology
in the continent’s development.
The event, which will be jointly organised by the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Intelligence in Science
(ISC), is scheduled to take place from 3 to 7 March, 2008.
MORE
E.U. delegation to AU arrives
By Tesfu Telahoun
The newly appointed Head of the European Union Delegation to the
African Union has presented his credentials to Alpha O. Konare,
chair person of the A.U. Commission, on January 16, 2008. A career
diplomat with extensive experience in Africa and African issues,
H.E. Ambassasor Koen Vervacke was head of Africa Unit at the General
Secretariat of the E.U. Council.
WB grants $256mln USD for PBS, Ethio-Sudan power
Ethiopia and the World Bank on Thursday signed two financing agreements
amounting to 256 million dollars.
The first agreement was signed for a grant amount of 215 million
dollars and is meant to serve as an additional resource to the ongoing
Protection of Basic Services program that aims to protect the delivery
of basic services at sub-national levels.
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Ethiopian
Commodity Exchange forming
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX), the first commodity exchange
market system, introduced by Eleni G.Medhin, senior economist of
the World Bank, has launched the first membership registration this
week, with the government allocating 194 million birr.
According to Eleni Zaude Gabre Medhin (PhD), ECX chief of party,
any individual, company, public enterprise and cooperative that
meets the requirements for exchange actor recognition from the Ethiopian
Commodity Exchange Authority is eligible for ECX membership.
Addisu Legesse, Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, on
the occasion said that the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is
a new initiative for Ethiopia and the first of its kind in Africa.
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange Authority (ECEA) is accountable
to the Prime Minister and governed by a board comprised of a chairman
and a member each from the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development,
Ministry of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural
Development and the National Bank of Ethiopia. This Authority is
established under the proclamation number 551/2007.
Eleni Zaude said that the vision of ECX is to revolutionize Ethiopia’s
tradition bound agriculture through creating a new marketplace that
serves all market actors – farmers, traders, processors, exporters
and consumers.
She stated that ECX assures all commodity market players the security
they need in the market through providing a secure and reliable
end to end system for handling, grading, and storing commodities,
matching offers and bids for commodity transactions, and a risk
free payment and goods delivery system to settle transactions, while
serving all fairly and efficiently.
According to Eleni Zaude ECX creates opportunities for unparalleled
growth in the commodity sector and linked industries, such as transport
and logistics, banking and financial services and it provides market
integrity.
Sources told Capital that ECX currently uses only the Commercial
Bank of Ethiopia and Dashin Bank for its banking system. According
to Eleni these two banks are selected owing to their good IT system.
“We have started our exchange by maize, wheat, haricot bean
and sesame grains, but will include teff and coffee,” Eleni
said.
ECX will have warehouses in Addis Ababa, Bure, Humera, Nazreth,
Nekemte and Shashemene referred to be the main centers of the market.
“But we have a plan to increase the centers to ten”
Eleni Zaude stated to journalists.
The ECX documents show that the standard lot size of an ECX contract
is 50 quintals or 5 tons for all commodities, tailored to current
conditions of small truck transported in rural Ethiopia.
A standard ECX contract for any commodity specifies the grade, lot
size, payment terms, price quotation, tolerance, disputes and other
parameters, “so that buyers and sellers only have to agree
on the price and quantity,” Eleni Zaude said.
The ECX trading system combines a physical trading floor located
in Addis Ababa and transition to an electronic trading platform
over time. The trading floor relies on open outcry price bidding
where all interested sellers and buyers verbally negotiate simultaneously
during trading hours from 8 to 12 am. Only ECX members or their
authorized representatives can use the ECX trading system on behalf
of them or on behalf of clients.
ECX transforms the commodity trading business in Ethiopia by providing
accurate, reliable and timely data on a continuous basis to all
market payers. An aggressive ECX market dissemination approach combines
multiple layers of market price dissemination. During trading hours,
data opening price, highest price, lowest price, last traded or
current price, and volume of trade is transmitted continuously using
electronic networking to electronic price display boards located
in public sites in Addis Ababa and other thirteen major market centers
around the country in real time for every commodity grade traded
on the ECX trading floor.
In addition market data feeds are transmitted daily to radio, print
media, television, and innovative uses of SMS and inter active voice
recognition using mobile telephony to rural areas.
According to Eleni Zaude, ECX is a service providing commercial
entity with a commitment to providing low cost, reliable service
to the broadest possible set of market actors. “All revenues
earned by ECX are reinvested in scaling up operations, innovation
and service provision,” she said.
ECX providing weighing, sampling, handling, and product certification
(weight and quality), inventory control and management, warehouse
receipting and central depository transfer of title and transaction
order execution services.
The ECX service charged will be 1.45 ETB for product certification
and handling per 100 kg bag, 0.04 ETB storage service charges daily
per 100 kg and 0.002 per cent for exchange transaction fee.
The ECX document indicates that management board will be composed
of 6 owner representatives appointed by the government of Ethiopia
and five representatives independently selected by members.
The preliminary capital of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange will
be comprised of a projected capital injection by the government
of Ethiopia and its external partners in the amount of 194.4 mln
ETB. And the capital of the company will be further increased by
5 mln ETB through the current offer of sale of one hundred membership
seats.
ECX members are the core actors of the market. Membership is acquired
through the purchase of a membership seat; members are required
to follow the rules of the exchange and thus maintain the integrity
of the ECX market place. Members are liable for the transactions
they conduct through ECX.
The exchange will have two classes of membership; the first one
is trading member that can only trade on his account and the other
one is intermediary member, this member may trade either on his
own account or on behalf of clients.
The ECX membership registration document indicates that the membership
requirements are designed to ensure that members are of sound financial
standing and solid ethics and able to maintain the standards of
conduct of the exchange. The financial requirements for both classes
of membership are fifty thousand ETB payments for membership seat,
net worth 500 thousand ETB for trading membership and one mln ETB
for intermediary members and provision of refundable security deposit
in ECX settlement guarantee fund for the duration of membership
200 thousand for trading member and 300 thousand ETB for intermediary
member.
In addition, the member should have recognition by the Ethiopian
Commodity Exchange Authority as an exchange actor and needs evidence
of commercial activities in exchange traded commodities either on
own account or on behalf of others and other related requirements
are included for membership.
The Ethiopian parliament endorsed the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange
(ECX) establishing proclamation in July 2007.
New deal for Ethio-Djibouti
railway
By Muluken Yewondwossen
The Ethio-Djibouti Railway Authority has begun talks with the
Fuad Algarim Group, a Kuwaiti company, to give a concession for
twenty years. According to our source from the Ethio Djibouti Railway
Authority, the discussion is promising.
The source said that the company will improve the system and import
modern locomotives because the existing are old and of poor quality.
The source noted that the rail transportation sector will compete
with other forms of transportation provided that the talks become
fruitful.
COMAZAR, a South African registered company was negotiating over
the concession with Ethiopia and Djibouti for three months but it
could not make a deal.
In related news, the Ethio Djibouti railway rehabilitation project
will be completed by June 2009. The project includes the changing
of old and damaged tracks and bridges of the 114 km of line. On
this project, nine concrete bridges will be replaced and another
forty metal bridges will be strengthened.
The line that is to be replaced and strengthened is from Hurso to
Lassarat. “When this rehabilitation project is completed,
the speed of the trains will increase and the derailment reduced,”
Solomon Eshetu, the project manager said.
Currently the strength of this 114 km railway line is 20 kg/m and
this will increase to 40 kg/m, increasing the carrying capacity
and speed of trains.
Currently the project contractor company is completing construction
of a factory that produces concrete sleepers to replace the old
metallic sleepers of the 114 km railway line.
The railway line around Beseka lake near the city of Metehara has
been made safer with a 3 meter high bridge.
The European Union funded fifty mln Euro for this project, including
the supervision. The rehabilitation work is carried out by Consta,
an Italian company and the supervisor is INECU-SPT, from Spain.
The Ethio Djibouti Railway Authority gives its transport services
twice a week from Dire Dawa to Djibouti, while it transports people
and goods to Kaliti, the industrial town found 25 Km from Addis,
only once a week ever since the work on Gotera Road Inter Exchange
project has been started.
Ethio – French relations
blossoming
By Abiy Demilew
A French parliamentary delegation led by Jean-Louis Christ, permanent
parliamentarian and mayor of Ribeauvillé, on a special two
day visit to Ethiopia, announced that French-Ethiopia and French-Africa
relations are opening new pages of bi-lateral and multi-lateral
relations.
The delegation of French parliamentarians has held talks with Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, Teshome Toga, Speaker of the House and Professor
Alpha Omar Konare, Chairperson of the Africa Union, on French-Africa
relations and cooperation.
Jean-Louis Christ, president of the delegation, exclusively told
Capital that the French government has revised its relations with
Africa and developed a new initiative to tighten this historical
relationship. “After the election of our new president, we
have revised our relations with Africa to develop new arenas of
cooperation and collaboration” he told Capital.
According to Jean-Louis Christ, France is opening new chapters in
relations with Anglophone Africa, besides the strong bond it has
with Francophone Africa.
“We decided to open up in our relations with the rest of Africa
in economic, political, security and other issues to develop better
and meaningful relations,” Jean-Louis Christ affirmed Capital.
Michel Terrot, a member of the delegation and of the French parliament,
also told Capital that Ethiopia plays a significant role in east
African and African stability and development. “We are here
in Ethiopia as the country is a centerfold for regional and French-Africa
relations and cooperation” said Michel Terrot.
The delegation that met Prime Miniter Meles Zenawi held discussions
on French-Africa relations, the Ethio-Somalia situation and the
Ethio – Eritrea border situation.
“The prime minister told us Ethiopia gives peace a greater
chance and follows the Algiers agreement as the tool” Jean
Louis told Capital.
“We hope Ethiopia takes a step in full or partial withdrawal
of its forces from Somalia, for regional peace and stability”
Michel Terrot told Capital.
Prime Minister Meles asked the French government to support the
African Union forces deploying in Somalia.
Teshome Toga also told the French delegation that the Ethiopian
parliament wants to embrace the French parliament’s experiences.
“We are ready to cooperate in all levels including sharing
of parliamentary experience of 200 years as the Ethiopian parliament
is just 15 years of age” Jean Louis Christ confirmed Capital.
The French parliamentary delegation is composed of members of the
ruling and opposition parties. The delegation left Ethiopia on Friday
night.
Capital will feature the full version of an exclusive interview
with the French parliamentarians next week.
Birtukan’s group considers
forming new party
By Kirubel Tadesse
After the National Electoral Board (NEB) decided in favor of Ayele
Chamiso and awarded the party’s name, ‘CUDP’ to
his group, Birtukan’s group, which is forming a union with
parliamentarians led by Temesgen Zewdie (MP), is considering forming
a new party and obtaining a new name, Birtukan Mediksa told Capital.
“We are discussing the option of forming a new political party
so that we can obtain legal status. It is one possibility but the
door to further struggle to obtain our party’s name is not
a dead option yet,” said Birtukan, “whatever we decide,
one thing remains, we will keep the program and policies of the
CUD.”
Earlier this week, Engineer Hailu Shawl’s appointed acting
President, Abayneh Berhanu, announced plans to sue NEB and to call
a general assembly. Abayneh also disclosed that more than forty
elected people are facilitating the general assembly expected to
be called soon.
Birtukan told Capital that it is only the executive committee which
can call the general assembly. “No individual can call a general
assembly; whether he is a chairman or a member. Even if it is unlikely
we will be called to attend the so called general assembly, we will
not accept and see it as a general assembly since it did not emanate
from the right source.”
After losing the struggle to secure the CUDP name in appeals made
to the court and NEB, parliamentarians led by Temesgen Zewdie (MP)
are planning to make their participation in parliament as a parliamentary
group, sources told Capital.
The victory sign which was used by the CUDP for the May 2005 election
is now the sign of Lidetu Ayalew’s EUDP-Medhin party. Temesgen
issued a strong opposition protesting the decision saying that it
is unjust. “First they gave our sign which is found on our
stamp to another party, now they gave the party to those who do
not represent the coalition,” Temesgen stated.
Engineer Hailu Shawl is expected to arrive in Addis Ababa in the
coming few days and it is reported that he is in good health. Sources
explain that even if Engineer Hailu calls a general assembly, its
legitimacy will be seriously questioned as Birtukan, second in command
of the former coalition, and other executive committee members who
support her, denounce the general assembly.
Attempts to bring together Engineer Hailu and Birtukan’s group,
which was earlier led by Dr. Berhanu Nega, to discuss and resolve
their differences have failed and according to Birtukan, reconciliation
is unlikely.
Basic Metals and Engineering
Industries Association begins functions
By Addis Mulugeta
The Basic Metals and Engineering Industries Association established
five months ago, has officially started operations. This was announced
last Monday, at the Hilton Hotel. Members of the Association, the
Minister of Trade and Industry, Tadesse Haile and other distinguished
guests attended the occasion.
President of the association, Sisay Tesfaye, explained that the
association now has more than 51 members. Among these, 12 have already
started working together with the association, and nearly 40 members
have been prospected.
However, the association has a number of problems, including lack
of industry that produces raw metals in the country. The Taxes on
the industry which equal imported finished products, is one of the
burdens on association members along with financial problems. Not
all of the members know each other and this creates competition
among similar industries. On the other hand, sub-standard products
by a few of the members weakens the association. The association
also lacks consultants on basic issues.
Managing Director, Mesfin Gezaw, told Capital that the association
has a technical committee and has studied the problem. The government
is aware of these problems and there are plans to fund the association
in order to strengthen it. One of the aims of the association is
to create strong relations among members and develop awareness and
trade practices in the country.
Holland Car plc expands
assembly
By Addis Mulugeta
Holland Car plc has expanded its car assembly independently with
out the involvement of the Dutch share company. Chinese Gona company
technically assists the new model cars, Abay and Cassiopeia.
Engineer Tadessee Tessema explained that his company launched new
models, Abay and Cassiopeia, but has not entirely abandoned to assemble
Holland Car which it makes on order. Abay has safety features such
as air bag and air conditioning, remote control, full power windows,
hydraulic steering and 16 valves. He said that the spares are also
cheap and the price lower than any other model car. Abay costs almost
150,000 birr and is guaranteed for one year. The company sells from
4-6 cars everyday.
Cassiopeia car plc is the second car assembly plant established
in Ethiopia in January 2008, with the aim of assembling pickups,
four wheelers, minibuses and light duty trucks. The total investment
of the project is around 30,000,000 birr and will generate work
for about 100 people.
He applauded that the company has plans to produce more than four
thousand cars a year and a project to expand sales to the rest of
Africa such as the likes of the Sudan, Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, Mozambique
and Djibouti. He commented that each country expressed interest
to work closely with their company. He added that the plan to expand
to these countries is slow because local demand is very high.
Tadessee pointed out that an agreement with Holland Car terminated
last year in July.
House endorses 85 mln USD loans An EPRDF MP
gives up seat
By Kirubel Tadesse
The House of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR) has endorsed
two bills which help secure combined loans of over 85 million USD,
planned to be spent on two separate projects.
The HPR in its 14th regular session passed the two loans by majority
vote. The loans are to be obtained from the International Development
Association (IDA) and the International Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD).
One of the bills, the Ethio-IDA loan agreement, enables Ethiopia
to obtain 65.6 million US dollars which will be used to complement
the execution of an irrigation development project launched in North
Gonder Zone, Amhara State, around the Lake Tana area.
This 110 million USD project was launched to develop 20,000 hectares
of land through irrigation and envisions ensuring food self-sufficiency
in the area through improved agricultural production. The government
will contribute 12 million USD while other beneficiaries in the
area are expected to cover 3 million USD of the total cost.
The other endorsed bill, the Ethio-IFAD loan agreement, enables
the Ethiopian government to secure 20 million USD to support the
five-year poverty reduction program and to assist capacity building
activities in water resource development schemes. The loan is to
be paid within 30 years.
One Member of Parliament (MP) expressed his concern that the country’s
total loan commitment loans should be calculated before another
loan bill is presented to the HPR, in order to avoid burdening generations.
Shiferaw Jarso (MP), government whip in the House, replied that
such concerns are well addressed and Ethiopia is far from such threats.
His explanation was interrupted as Bulcha Demeksa (MP) of the Oromo
Federalist Democratic Party asked Teshome Toga, Speaker of the HPR,
to stop explanations to unasked questions and topics. Even if the
Speaker allowed Shiferaw to continue, another remark which came
at the end of his explanation resulted in another disciplinary appeal
from a different MP.
At the end of the 14th regular session, the HPR revoked the membership
of Kiflie Jeguba (MP), who since 2005 represented the ruling party,
Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).
The decision came after a request filed by the MP himself.
Council ratifies regulation
on housing development corporation
By Groum Abate
The Council of Ministers on Friday passed decisions on a draft
regulation for the establishment of a housing development corporation.
The council, during the discussion, underlined that shortage and
poor quality of residential houses and houses for other purposes
is a pressing problem in Addis Ababa and other towns of the country.
Hence, the council said it found it important to establish an institution
that would be responsible to build and sell buildings for residential
and other purposes.
After holding discussions and adding some amendments, the council
decided that the regulation would be effected after being published
on the Negarit gazette.
Parliament recently proposed a proclamation that empowers the housing
agency to administer not only nationalized houses since 1975 but
also new houses constructed by government since. The agency will
also have the authority to sell or transfer, on behalf of the government,
the houses it administers once a decision is made by the government.
It will also have the right to build new houses.
The housing agency will be accountable to the Federal Ministry of
Works and Urban Development. The draft proclamation also empowers
the new agency to conduct arbitration whenever the need arises.
Such powers were not bestowed upon its predecessor, i.e. agency
for the Administration of Rented Houses.
Moreover, the agency will have the authority to evict tenants when
it deems it necessary instead of going to the courts which normally
take a longer time to settle a dispute. Article 6 (3) of the draft
proclamation which lays out the duties and powers of the agency,
stipulates that the agency has the authority to “give and
execute expulsion orders to tenants of government houses who have
breached their obligations under their lease contracts and to persons
occupying such houses without having any contracts; enforce, as
may be necessary, the demolition of illegal construction works undertaken
on government houses and possessions.”
HSBC funded buses arrive
By Groum Abate
The first 100 batch of 500 medium-sized passenger buses imported
from China with a loan secured from HSBC, arrived in Addis Ababa
on Thursday January 17, 2008.
The buses, which are imported with a view to alleviating the acute
shortage of transportation in the city, will be sold to provide
taxi services to the public in Addis Ababa and other major towns.
Each bus, which has a capacity of seating 27 passengers, was procured
at a cost of 332,000 birr.
Public Relations Section Head with the Ministry of Transport and
Communications, Berhanu Amsalu, told Capital that the 100 buses
that have already arrived in the city go into service in the next
two weeks. He further said that a tariff has already been calculated
per kilometer.
The remaining 400 buses are expected to arrive in Addis Ababa late
this month.
The buses, according to some of the drivers who drove them from
Djibouti, should not have fetched the above mentioned prices adding
that the ministry should have had trial tests before purchasing
the buses in this quantity.
The head said that the ministry has already secured buyers for the
100 buses that arrived, of which 30% of the cost should be paid
first with the rest paid in five years time.
Victor Gao, Project Manager for the Chinese bus maker Higer, told
Capital that they sold their buses at a price of 26,300 dollars
at point of production. He said a team of technicians has arrived
to give technical support.
According to him, Walya Inter City Buses is represented for the
after sales services.
The project manager said that this is their first major African
deal and added that they also have a market in Algeria.
According to him, Higer Buses is the biggest bus manufacturer in
China, where over half of the country’s demand is met by his
company.
Djibouti Diredawa-Mesone
asphalt road project on study
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Study work on the upgrading of a gravel road to asphalt from Meson-
Arere- Diredawa –Dewele connecting Djibouti to Diredawa and
central Ethiopia is being carried out by the Scott Wilson (England)
design company for 1.618 mln Euro.
According to Samson Wondimu, Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) public
relations head, the project is underway with funds secured from
the European Union (EU). He further noted that 92 per cent of design
work has been completed.
According to Abate Feleke, Ethiopian Roads Authority Diredawa District
general manager, construction work will be started between 2009
and 2010. He said that this road construction project is more preferable
than the Meson-Asebeteferi-Diredawa asphalt road for large trucks.
The construction covers the 145 km from Meson to Diredawa and the
221 km from Djibouti border to Diredawa. The gravel road follows
the railway line and is currently highly damaged. The road from
Djibouti port to the Ethiopian border is already asphalted.
Abate said that this asphalt upgrading construction project provides
a good opportunity for transporting imported goods from Djibouti
port to central Ethiopia and does away with almost 60 km from the
previous road besides being suitable for trucks as it is much more
leveled.
Currently trucks use the Meson-Asebeteferi-Hirna-Kulubi road up
to Diredawa but this area is known to be difficult for heavily loaded
trucks to drive.
Bahir Ame, Diredawa City Administration Investment Office general
manager stated that when this asphalt road construction is completed,
Djibouti will become much closer, helping increase the import-export
flow.
“Ethiopia exports khat, vegetables, fruits and livestock to
Djibouti and these export goods need more care for transporting
so the asphalt construction is advantageous for our export earnings,”
Bahir added.
Boeing announces 787delay
By Our Staff Reporter
The Boeing Company has announced a postponement of the maiden flight
of the 787 Dreamliner. The highly anticipated date had been set
between the end of the first quarter to the end of the second quarter
this year.
The revised date for deliveries has now been set for early 2009.
It is to be recalled that Ethiopian Airlines, the Dreamliner’s
Africa launch customer has ordered 10 of the ultra-modern aircraft
and it is not known how the latest announcement by Boeing will impact
on the airline’s growth plans.
Explaining the reasons behind the delivery delays, Scott Larson,
president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes, stated in a press
release, “The fundamental design and technologies of the 787
remain sound. However, we continue to be challenged by start up
issues in our factory and in our extended global supply chain”
Boeing also reassured that the latest delay will have no impact
on 2007 financials and no material impact on 2008 earnings guidance
Boeing is enjoying robust sales from its defense business as well
as from in-production commercial aircraft.
Women lawyers claim police
ignores spousal rape
By Kirubel Tadesse
Women lawyers have said that there is a lack of proper law enforcement
by police in investigating wife battery cases. “Refusing to
investigate domestic violence and establishing two types of rape,
explains this problem,” stated the lawyers.
“Rape is rape, it simply means any kind of forced sex,”
explains one lawyer, “we can not say forced sex is not rape
when it happens in marriage and it is rape when it happens outside
marriage.”
The nationwide survey conducted on domestic violence by the Ethiopian
Women Lawyer Association (EWLA) supports the lawyer’s claim.
Even if the survey is yet to be finalized and the association has
asked not to be on it, the survey seeks changes (amendment) or the
enactment of a separate act, due to the increase in domestic violence.
The survey is uncertain whether the increment is due to more reporting
or more violence.
EWLA says that its suggestion for injunction orders as civil proceedings
to be included in the revised criminal code is completely ignored.
This shows the lack of concrete effort by all stakeholders, states
EWLA.
Even if domestic violence is unacceptable, the majority of women
respondents covered by the EWLA survey stated that they are too
ashamed to talk about it. The perception about domestic violence
by women themselves is shown by the research to be on the side of
acceptance. According to experts, high numbers of Ethiopian women
believe that a husband has the right to beat his wife for any reason
and a wife has no right to refuse sex to her husband.
Domestic violence is in most cases violence perpetrated by men against
women. Women can also be violent, but their actions account for
a small percentage of domestic violence. Domestic violence is known
to manifest through physical, sexual, psychological, and economic
abuses with varying magnitudes. The major types of domestic violence
that prevail in Ethiopia were found to be wife beating (battering),
insult and shows of disrespect to women spouses, intimidation, forced
displacement from home, rape and female genital mutilation.
White Nile and MoME agree
on petroleum exploration and development
By Muluken Yewondwossen
The Ministry of Mines and Energy has entered an agreement with
White Nile Limited, a British based and registered petroleum company,
to explore and develop petroleum in the Southern Nations, Nationalities
and Peoples, National Regional State, on January 15, 2008, at Sheraton
Addis.
Twelve exploration and one development agreements were signed until
recently. The current agreement is an additional achievement to
the previous petroleum agreements in a new petroleum province in
the Southern Ethiopian rift basins.
The agreement was signed by Alemayehu Tegenu, Minister, Ministry
of Mines and Energy on behalf of the Government of the Federal Democratic
Republic of Ethiopia, and Mr Philippe Edmonds, Chairman and Chief
Executive Officer (CEO) of White Nile Limited.
White Nile Ltd. has secured an exploration area of 29,465 square
kilometer and will pay 1,000,000 (one million) US dollars in signature
bonus to the Government of Ethiopia. The company will pay 200,000
USD per year for community development and allocate funds to train
Ethiopian personnel in the field of petroleum exploration and development.
As part of the transaction, White Nile Ltd. will also pay land rent
annually and commence exploration work late in 2008, with a minimum
expenditure of 8 mln USD.
Currently, twelve exploration and one development agreements have
been in place with regard to petroleum. The current agreement is
an additional achievement to the previous petroleum agreements in
the Southern Ethiopia rift basins.
The Southern Ethiopian rift basins in the Omo and Chew Bahir areas
are considered to be some of the petroleum potential areas in Ethiopia.
White Nile Ltd. had a Joint Study Agreement (JSA) with the Ministry
of Mines and Energy, which was concluded in August 2007.
The JSA has allowed both the Ministry of Mines and Energy and White
Nile Ltd to evaluate the petroleum potential of the areas and establish
their relationship with the Southern Sudan basins as well as northern
Kenya rift basins. White Nile Ltd has acquired other exploration
targets in the adjacent areas, which are geologically related to
the Southern Ethiopian Rift basins.
“This will help in the petroleum exploration effort to find
meaningful petroleum discoveries in Ethiopia and give additional
input for the fast growing economy we are achieving from time to
time” Minister Alemayehu Tegenu said.
White Nile Ltd is a London Stock Exchange quoted oil and gas exploration
company with interests in Southern Sudan, Ethiopia and a number
of other African countries. With 50% of its stock owned by Nile
Petroleum Corp, the state owned Petroleum Company of the Government
of South Sudan, White Nile Ltd, will be changing the way the oil
industry does business with the Third World.
It has conducted geological and geophysical surveys on 70 thousand
km square area of the southern rift basin for two years after it
entered into a joint study agreement with the Ministry of Mines
and Energy in July 2005. White Nile has been granted exploration
rights for four years.
Westerners detained in
Ogaden
By our staff reporter
Ethiopia says it has detained some American and European citizens
on suspicion of terrorist activities in the restive Southeastern
region of Ogaden. The leader of Ethiopia’s Somali region,
told visiting international journalists that his government is holding
an unspecified number of American and European passport holders.
According to the VoA, regional President Abdullahi Hassan did not
say when they were detained. He said they were being held at a camp
near the Eastern Ethiopian city of Jijiga and added the journalists
could meet some of the detainees in the coming days.
According to the VoA website, Abdullahi Hassan indicated that those
being held are ethnic Somalis working with a regional insurgent
group known as the Ogaden National Liberation Front.
“Those destroying this country are living in Europe and America,
they are collecting money, they have passports, originally from
here, but they are over there, they are living there, so they are
buying with this money weapons, mines, and explosives which are
destroying us, this is the truth whether you believe it or not,”
said Abdullahi.
Abdullahi Hassan described the detainees as members of what he called
“anti-peace” elements and international terrorist organizations
and suggested they would be held in similar circumstances to detainees
at the U.S. facility at Guantanamo Bay.
He said Ethiopian authorities had not formally notified U.S. and
European authorities of the detentions, but he said they probably
know.
“We didn’t......I hope they know,” he said.
According to the report, a spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Addis
Ababa said they have no information about Americans being detained
but they are following up the issue with Ethiopia.
The Ogaden National Liberation Front has been fighting to achieve
greater autonomy from Ethiopia, and accuses the government of human
rights abuses against ethnic Somalis who are part of Ethiopia’s
Muslim minority.
The government accuses its arch rival Eritrea of funding and providing
refuge to the ONLF. The Somali region is the largest of Ethiopia’s
administrative areas but is sparsely populated, mostly by pastoralists.
The Somali region is in southeastern Ethiopia, bordering Kenya and
Somalia.
U.K. endorses new TFG cabinet
By Tesfu Telahoun
The formation of a new Cabinet of Ministers for the Transitional
Federal Government of Somalia has been lauded by the United Kingdom
as a positive development.
The UK’s Minister for Africa, Lord Malloch –Brown, according
to a British Embassy press release sent to Capital, strongly urged
all stakeholders to work towards advancing the political process
in order to better the lives of the Somali people.
Lord Malloch – Brown stated, “Emphasizing the U.K’s
continued support for the Transitional Government, we stand ready,
with our international partners, to provide assistance to the Government
and Transitional Institutions, to help deliver the transitional
period. I call on all other parties with a stake in Somalia’s
future to engage in this process constrictively. Somalis have suffered
for far too long from the effects of conflict, political instability
and lack of security.’
It is to be recalled that following numerous failed attempts, a
Cabinet of Ministers was at long last established with the overwhelming
support of the Somali Parliament.
Evolution and substance of
core social and cultural values appraised
By Addis Mulugeta
Renowned Ethiopian and foreign scholars who have extensively written
on Ethiopia presented papers on the evolution and substance of core
social and cultural values which sustained the country’s unity
in the past and highlight the potential contribution of these values
to expand the political space and participation of social and political
actors in the new millennium, on January 15, 2008, at the UN Conference
Center, organized by Inter African Group (IAG).
Executive Director of IAG, Tamrat Kebede, stated at the occasion
that the conference was one of IAG’s major millennium programs,
designed to provide a forum for reflection and analysis on the shared
social, cultural and historical essential values of Ethiopia, with
a view to protecting and enhancing in the new millennium the elements
that have sustained Ethiopia as one nation. He said the main purpose
of this conference is to look into the social fabric and reservoir
of shared historical assets that made this possible. These national
assets, properly nurtured and expanded, would serve as the social
and political infrastructure to build the new and solid democratic
culture and sustained economic development.
Professor Donald N. Levine, University of Chicago, presented in
his paper that historically in Ethiopia, as elsewhere, affairs at
the center were handled by authorities who did not need to consult
with subjects and nor could even communicate with them readily.
Overthrowing the monarchy changed this situation but for the worse.
The Derg opened channels of communication with the peripheries but
used them to command, not listen to, an increasingly mobilized citizenry.
According to the professor, the present regime took steps to improve
the situation through a more open, if still tightly controlled,
press and party system. This advanced notably during 2004, but so
reversed itself in the aftermath of the 2005 election that the committee
to protect journalists named Ethiopia as the “world’s
worst backslide on press freedom”. He further discussed in
his paper that local communities are essential and building blocks
for a democratic public and serve as places where people engage
issues of communal concern and thereby form habits of public communication.
In that perspective, he added, Ethiopia is well endowed with a national
public. He discussed that nearly all the local traditions of the
greater Ethiopian culture exhibit some form of public action, through
which persons express mutual respect, effective conflict resolution
and public problem solving. He further commented that their level
of communal responsibility and civility might put shame on many
modernized Ethiopians at home and in the Diaspora - not to mention
members of the United States Congress.
He pointed out that considering local traditions of public communication
are evident in the Qemant, who have a formal council of elders,
the Gudamaalee a council of clan leaders in Sidama, baito home of
customs in Tigray, ‘hiyoda’, the Konso council of elders,
while Ethiopia’s proto-democratic local traditions appear
in Oromo culture. These are traditional systems of solving conflict
in Ethiopia and have contributed to modern Ethiopian history.
Professor Bahru Zewdie, historian and executive Director of Forum
for Social Studies (FSS), presented his paper on “The challenge
of the new millennium: Renaissance or Reappraisal?” This paper
focuses on the role both positive and negative that the Ethiopian
elite have played in the evolution of modern Ethiopia. It is true
that Ethiopia faced convulsions reminiscent of Gudit in the middle
of the second millennium. The wars of Ahmad Gragn (1529-43) were
followed by the Oromo population movement. But while it is difficult
to think of any redeeming quality in the former, the later could
only be seen in historical perspective as one of those mixing and
blending of peoples that have given Ethiopia its enduring shape
and character.
Ethiopian Quality Award launched
By Muluken Yewondwossen
Ethiopian Quality Award was launched officially on Thursday 17,
2008 at Addis Ababa University Senate hall. The award is sponsored
by Walta Information Center and the AAU.
The award has been organized under a board of directors, in which
there is jury, technical evaluators, a financial section and administration
units. The award is issued annually to organizations which show
performance excellence in product and service quality in the different
sectors of participation.
EQA has four different categories which are manufacturing industries,
construction industries, service profit making and service non profit
making.
“One of the objectives of the Ethiopian Quality Award is to
promote quality concepts in the nation,” said Dr Engineer
Daniel Kitaw, EQA board secretary and the industrial cooperation
director of AAU. “To this end the EQA self assessment document
is well deployed in to basic criteria, sub criteria and questions
cascaded one over the other,” he added.
The EQA has two basic forms called trophy award and an excellence
award. In addition to this, organizations that participate and are
short listed will get certificates of participation in the award
program. The concept of quality will be included to the organizations
award program through feed back of each evaluation process of the
technical committee and the jury.
According to Daniel, The jury of the EQA is composed of independent
concerned citizens who are competent and knowledgeable persons from
a wide area of expertise. For different categories of the award,
EQA will take care to avoid conflict of interest while forming the
juries from different sections of society.
Recognizing the need for implementation and integration of quality
concepts in the operations of Ethiopian manufacturing and service
industries, Addis Ababa University (AAU) and Walta Information Center
(WIC) initiated the EQA in 2007.
AAU President, Professor Andreas Eshete, said that EQA is designed
to appreciate the organizations for their achievements in quality
and performance and raise awareness on the importance of quality
and performance excellence in this age of stiff global competition.
Safeway Travel and Tour joins
Hogg Robinson Group network
By our staff reporter
Safeway Travel and Tours becomes Ethiopian partner to the Hogg
Robinson Group, an international corporate services company which
owns and majority controls travel operations in twenty of the key
driver and growth markets throughout Asia Pacific, Europe and North
America.
“I am delighted that Safeway Travel is joining the HRG worldwide
network. Combining our in-depth country knowledge with the extensive
resources of HRG is great for corporate clients and I am excited
about the opportunities that this relationship will create as Ethiopia
continues to grow and develop,” commented Mohammed H. Durri,
General Manager of Safeway Travel and Tours.
David Radcliffe, Chief Executive of HRG, welcomed Mohammed and his
colleagues to the HRG world wide network. “Ethiopia faces
some unique challenges,” added Radcliffe, “and it is
essential that we have the support of a strong local partner who
is committed to offering the very highest standards and consistency
of service in common with all our HRG partners worldwide, to help
our clients with their corporate services requirement.”
In addition to Safe Travel and Tours, who joins Africa region as
partner of HRG in Ethiopia, HRG operations on the African continent
currently include Algeria, Botswana, Cameroon, Egypt, Ghana, Kenya,
Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania,
Zambia and Zimbabwe. Safe Travel and Tours was registered in 1991
and is now recognized as one of the top two corporate travel operations
in the country.
Religious leaders reach
consensus on peace building
By Addis Mulugeta
Various religious leaders discussed and presented their problems
to build peace in the country at a workshop held from January 14-16,
2008, at the Ras Amba Hotel, organized by EOC-DICAC in collaboration
with the Norwegian Church Aid (NCI), Mulu Wengel Evangelical Church
Protestant denominations and Muslim leaders.
Protestant, Evangelical, Muslim and Orthodox leaders and government
representatives from different corners of the country attended the
forum. The aim of the workshop was to point out activities to be
carried out by the forum and identify major problems faced so far.
EOC-DICAC Commissioner, Dr Negusse Legesse stated during the occasion
that the workshop focuses on working with religious leaders to build
peace by introduce members of the forum with each other, by networking
and awareness creation on conflict early warning.
Dr Negusse said that this workshop will establish strong peace building
among stakeholders and contributes to the country’s development
activity. He said that religious leaders, elders of the community,
government officials, youth, traditional associations and civil
societies should be responsible to build peace and reconciliation
in the country. He added that the EOC-DICAC, Norwegian Church Aid,
Muslim communities and Christian denomination had been working on
peace.
Religious leaders from different parts of the country, Harrar, Mezan
Tefferi, Gambella, Godere(Metti), Assosa, Ambomasa, Shashemena(Kore
and Koffeli), Seketa, Jimma, Bale Robe and Gonder presented and
discussed on peace and problems of building peace in the future.
At the end of the workshop, the representatives reached a consensus
to work to resolve conflict when it occurs, give training to youth
on peace and secure funds from NGOs and governmental bodies.
Iranian delegation visits Ethiopia
By Kirubel Tadesse
An Iranian Chamber of Commerce, Industries and Mines delegation,
led by Seyed Shemesudin Khareghani, Deputy President of International
Affairs, arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday January 13, 2008 for a
four day working tour.
On Monday January 14, 2008 the seventeen members of the Iran Chamber
of Commerce, Industries and Mines met and held discussions with
the board of directors of Addis Ababa and Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce
and Sectoral Associations (ECCSA). The delegation also met members
of the Ethiopian business community and discussed on ways of establishing
joint ventures at a consultative meeting held at ECCSA later in
the afternoon.
During the discussion, ECCSA President, Getachew Ayenew stated that
Ethiopia and Iran have long standing economic and cultural relations
which they should continue and build on.
“Ethiopia is a country endowed with various lucrative investment
opportunities, particularly in the areas of agriculture, livestock,
agro processing, industry, mining, construction and tourism,”
explained Getachew. He also stated that Ethiopia has one of the
most liberal investment codes in Africa and this encourages foreign
investors to invest in Ethiopia.
Seyed Shemesudin Khareghani, on his part stated that trade between
the two countries is lower than 20 million USD, annually. He explained
that in order to improve this, private companies from the two countries
should work to establish joint ventures for common gain. He added
that Ethiopia has the potential to attract foreign investors as
it is an African trade center.
Business People in the delegation and Ethiopians who came representing
different private companies were introduced to one another. Some
of the Ethiopian companies export items to Iran through other countries
like Dubai or United Arab Emirates. Currently they are hoping that
they can export directly to Iran through the partnerships created
through contacts with the visiting delegation.
‘Ethiopia to host
‘Science with Africa’ conference
By our staff reporter
Ethiopia is due to host the “Science with Africa” conference
that seeks to promote and enhance the role of science and technology
in the continent’s development.
The event, which will be jointly organised by the United Nations
Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Intelligence in Science
(ISC), is scheduled to take place from 3 to 7 March, 2008.
It symbolizes a joint effort between Africa and its partners in
the promotion and consolidation of “strategic research”
development.
In a statement, the organisers said the timeliness of the ‘Science
with Africa’ initiative is evidenced by the EU-Africa Summit’s
adoption of a renewed strategic partnership, including a chapter
on Science, Information Society and Space.
This chapter emphasizes the priority to strengthen cooperation on
science and technology programs and to promote the application of
the two to achieve specific Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)
as well as promote the participation of the African research community
into European programs.
Organised under the theme “science and innovation policy,”
the conference will examine methodologies for improving science
program participation by scientists and researchers in African nations.
Speakers will include senior policy makers from Africa and else
where, eminent scientist, research project managers, among others.
The Addis Ababa conference is a follow-up to the January 2007 summit
meeting of heads of African states in which leaders declared 2007
the year of science and technology and strongly urged all member
countries to allocate 1% of their gross domestic product to R&D
by 2020.
“For Africa to accelerate its development and achieve the
Millennium Development Goals, African countries have to scale up
their investments in Science and Technology,” Abdoulaye Janneh,
UN ECA Executive Secretary, was quoted as saying.
A congressional briefing is scheduled on 8 February in Washington
to further raise awareness of the ‘Science with Africa’
initiative on the global arena.
E.U. delegation to AU arrives
By Tesfu Telahoun
The newly appointed Head of the European Union Delegation to the
African Union has presented his credentials to Alpha O. Konare,
chair person of the A.U. Commission, on January 16, 2008. A career
diplomat with extensive experience in Africa and African issues,
H.E. Ambassasor Koen Vervacke was head of Africa Unit at the General
Secretariat of the E.U. Council.
The Ambassador, a multi-lingual Belgian national, stated at the
ceremony that the primary task of his mandate is the implementation
of the new partnership launched at the December 2007 Africa-E.U.
summit in Lisbon, Portugal.
On his part, H.E. Alpha O. Konare applauded the resolution of the
European Union to establish an EU Delegation to the AU and to have
appointed Mr. Vervacke. The chairman added that the A.U. is set
to collaborate in close partnership with the newly opened E.U. Delegation
in all spheres of mutual interest.
WB grants $256mln USD for PBS, Ethio-Sudan power
Ethiopia and the World Bank on Thursday signed two financing agreements
amounting to 256 million dollars.
The first agreement was signed for a grant amount of 215 million
dollars and is meant to serve as an additional resource to the ongoing
Protection of Basic Services program that aims to protect the delivery
of basic services at sub-national levels.
The grant is meant to contribute to the deepening of transparency
and accountability in service delivery. It is also meant to finance
projects in health, education, agriculture, water sectors and assist
the country meet health sector millennium development goals.
The second agreement is signed for the provision of a 41 million
dollar loan which is intended to finance the implementation of the
Ethio-Sudan Power Interconnection Project.
The project is aimed at promoting the country’s power export
capacity through the development of a regional trade opportunity.
Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Sufian Ahmed and World
Bank Country Director for Ethiopia and the Sudan, Kenichi Ohashi
signed the agreements on behalf of the two parties.
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