The International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced the results of its 2022 Global Passenger Survey (GPS), showing that travelers top concerns for travel in the post-COVID crisis period are focused on simplification and convenience.
“Travel during COVID-19 was complex, cumbersome and time consuming due to government-imposed travel requirements. Post-pandemic, passengers want improved convenience throughout their trip. Digitalization and use of biometrics to speed up the travel journey is the key,” said Nick Careen, IATA’s Senior Vice President for Operations, Safety and Security.
Passengers want convenience when they plan their travel and when choosing where to depart from. Their preference is to fly from an airport close to home, have all booking options and services available in one single place, pay with their preferred payment method and easily offset their carbon emissions.
Convenience is Top Priority for Passengers Post Pandemic
Ethiopia starts commemorating World Polio Day in Afar
As Ethiopia commemorates the 2022 World Polio Day (WPD) in Afar Semera, on Saturday November 5, it is said that to highlight progress made by the Ethiopian Ministry of Health and partners towards polio eradication, and the World Health Organization (WHO), UNICEF and ROTARY – will reaffirm the commitment to continue delivering on their promise until polio is eliminated in Ethiopia.
World Polio Day commemorations for this year kicked off globally on 24th October 2022 with the theme “World Polio Day 2022 and Beyond: A healthier future for mothers and Children”.
Global partners and health workers have worked tirelessly for many years to bring polio cases down by 100 per cent worldwide. Africa has also made tremendous progress towards the eradication of the wild poliovirus (WPV), and in 2020, the WHO Africa Region was certified as wild polio-free, thanks to countries’ sustained commitment and coordination of partners.
However, the job is not yet done, and a non-wild polio variant continues to circulate in under-immunized communities until wild polio still threatens a few countries in Africa and beyond.
Countries must commit to vaccinating every child and strengthening disease surveillance to end any form of polio, anywhere in the world, as it is a threat to children everywhere.
Last month, donors pledged about US$ 2.6 billion at the World Health Summit that will help the Global Polio Eradic
ation Initiative (GPEI) to continue its critical role in fighting poliomyelitis to strengthen health systems around the world to end polio.
The remarkable progress in Ethiopia would not have been possible without the leadership of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, the commitment of frontline workers, and the generous support of polio partners such as the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ROTARY, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), USAID, WHO, UNICEF, Consortium of Christian Relief and Development Associations (CCRDA/CORE Group) and other Global Polio Eradication Initiative partners.
Huawei Ethiopia awarded as platinum level loyal taxpayer
The fourth round of the Federal loyal Taxpayers’ Recognition Ceremony was held on October 20, 2022 in the presence of Sahilework Zewdie, President of Ethiopia. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Revenue recognized most loyal and highest tax payers for the fiscal year that ended on July 7,2022.
The event, held at the Sheraton Addis, honored 400 of the best taxpayers, 40 of whom received platinum badges. At the ceremony, President Sahilework Zewdie urged the “business community to play its role by paying taxes”.
In the event, Huawei Ethiopia recognized the platinum level loyal tax payer award. The company has been praised by the government for being a gold-level tax payer in the years 2020 and 2021 consecutively.
The President also expressed her hope that the recognition of those enterprises mentioned above would encourage winning businesses to keep paying their taxes on time and that others would follow suit.
Chen Mingliang, CEO of Huawei Ethiopia, said: “We feel honored to be awarded and praised by the President and the Ethiopian Government. Huawei will keep making more contributions to the Ethiopian ICT business by using cutting-edge technical solutions and abiding by local laws. It will also strive to get more accolades”
Since its first business exploration in 1999, the company has gained a reputation in the Ethiopian market for reliable products and solutions, high-quality service delivery, and standardized business management.
Huawei is a leading global provider of information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure and smart devices, and it was founded in 1987. In 2008, Huawei Group established Huawei Technologies Ethiopia PLC, a local subsidiary that serves Ethiopian clients in various industrial sectors, including telecom, finance, education, electricity, and so on.
Currently, it serves millions of Ethiopians with its telecom carriers and enterprise business solutions. The company is also striving to cultivate the ICT talent ecosystem, where the future generation of the industry will be equipped with up-to-date knowledge and skills.
EIH invests big in Djibouti’s new mega oil terminal
The recently formed sovereign wealth fund (SWF), Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), crosses the border to hold stake in a lucrative mega logistics facility in Djibouti.
As indicated by the information that Capital obtained, the first overseas investment venture for the SWF will come through a secured 30 percent stake in an ultra-modern oil port facility, which can comfortably accommodate the latest generation vessels.
The investment holding is said to take the share through the Ethiopian Petroleum Supply Enterprise (EPSE), which is one of the 27 mammoth public enterprises controlled by the SWF.
It is recalled that in May this year, Mamo Mihretu, CEO of the sovereign wealth fund, Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), and Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of Djibouti Ports and Free Zones Authority (DPFZA) – that owns Great Horn Investment Holding, (Djibouti’s SWF formed recently), signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore opportunities on the area of oil storage facility.
The MoU signage comes at the back of years of extensive discussions centered on the joint development of an oil terminal, since the current facility, Horizon Djibouti Terminal (HDT), is falling behind with regards to accommodating the growing petroleum demand needs of Ethiopia.
For instance, late 2017, the two countries Transport Ministers engaged in comprehensive discussions on the construction of a new oil terminal to meet the growing demand of Ethiopia.
It’s now clear that the Ethiopian SWF is going to take a stake in Damerjog Liquid Bulk Port (DLBP), which is part of the USD 4 billion project of Djibouti Damerjog Industrial Park (DDIP).
As Omar Hadi informs Capital, a new company will be formed including Djiboutian and Ethiopian sides who will take ownership of the DLBP, “EIH through the enterprise will take 30 percent in equity partnership.”
Mamo on his end said that EIH is an Ethiopian government strategic investment arm, stating, “it is creating value and investment opportunities within Ethiopia and beyond.”
He elaborated that the investment holding has primary focus areas to which the logistics sector is among the priority list, “It is vital to boost regional integration with neighboring countries including Djibouti.”
“We also have an objective of insuring Ethiopia’s energy sector. Cognizant of this, we are exploring the potential of co-investing in the oil terminal in Djibouti,” the CEO told Capital adding, “we are in advanced conversations with the Djibouti Port Authority.”
However, he declined to give further details since there are pending issues.
The DLBP project which is officially being constructed by SOMAGEC, a Moroccan firm specializing in the construction of port infrastructure, will consume USD 350 million by the time of its inauguration in June 2023.
Regarding the project, Omar Hadi said that the new facility will be able to accommodate Ethiopia’s demand for the coming years as its new facility is colossal in comparison to the HDT which was established in 2003, commencing operations in 2005.
“The concepts are not even similar as the oldest oil terminal is operating in a single jetty and one terminal, whilst the new one will have different terminals, while using one jetty. Regarding capacity, the new one will have 13 million tons,” the Chairman explained.
To place this into perspective, HDT’s facility has a capacity of 4.5 million tons per annum.
The DLBP structure consists of an offshore jetty that is connected to onshore storage facilities. This will serve multiple end users, enabling them to load and unload a wide variety of products to and from inland storage facilities. The jetty is located around 3km from land, with a causeway that provides access for vehicles and pipeline services. It is designed for the berthing of two ships – one capable of accommodating vessels of up to 100,000 DWT and the second for vessels up to 30,000 DWT.
The Damerjog oil port is one of the phases of the Damerjog Djibouti Industrial Park mega project, a program intended to ensure Djibouti’s industrial development.
DDIP will be Djibouti’s first heavy industrial and petrochemical base, and East Africa’s only industrial complex with a road-port-air-railway network. The new liquid bulk port will enable Djibouti to become a leading oil product trading hub for East Africa’s petrochemical sector.
The entire DDIP project, scheduled to be built in different phases in ten years time, also includes a multipurpose port, a liquefied natural gas terminal, a livestock terminal, dry docks and a ship repair area, a power plant and a factory that will produce construction materials. The development of the complex will help Djibouti to better meet the region’s hydrocarbon needs-especially for landlocked Ethiopia.
The oil port project is financed by different foreign sources.
EIH holds 27 huge public enterprises with an estimated asset holding of over two trillion birr within its portfolio. The 27 assets that are classified in eight sub-sectors play a significant role on the Ethiopian economy.
The aim of the formation of EIH was to maximize the value of state owned assets through professional management leveraging international best practice.
In the 2020/21 budget year, the enterprises generated revenue of 350 billion birr, which is projected to grow by 46 percent to reach 540 billion birr for the 2021/22 budget year that ended in July 2022. Moreover, in terms of profitability and resilience they have contributed 10 percent to the GDP.
During the 2020/21 budget year, Ethiopia imported about 3.7 billion metric tons of petroleum products, while the demand has at least grown by 10 percent every year.
