… number of times the Addis Abeba-Adama Expressway has been used by vehicles, according to the Ethiopian Toll Roads Enterprise.
Month: March 2019
4,200,000
“There are no differences.”
Yilekal Getnet told the state weekly Addis Zemen, when asked what the difference is between the Ethiopian National Movement, which he currently chairs, and the Blue Party, of which he was formerly president. The new party has a stricter code of conduct and organisational structure to avoid fragmentation, but no ideological differences to Blue Party, according to Yilekal. There are over 100 parties in Ethiopia, despite calls by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) to merge.
STREET ART
A local artist in Gofa Gabriel has put paint to wall to portray famous world and local personalities. His work ranges from a portrait of Marxist revolutionary Che Guevera and musicians Bob Marley and Micheal Jackson to comedian Charlie Chaplin and Ethiopian emperors and heads of government.
CARRY ON
Merkato, one of the biggest marketplaces in Africa, has a lot of different things to showcase to residents of Addis Abeba that visit it for their shopping. This also means goods have to be transported from place to place. One way of doing this quickly is to have porters carry as many goods as possible at once, like this individual. He is carrying a stack of barrels in the part of Merkato known as Berbere Tera, or pepper market.
STUDY PRESENTATION
Alisa Kaps, from the Berlin Institute of Population & Development, gives a presentation, “From Land of Famine to Land of Hope: Will Ethiopia Become a Model for an African Uprising?” The report was carried out by a team from the Berlin Institute, which was supported by the Austrian Development Cooperation. Yetnebersh Nigussie (second from right), lawyer and activist, was also in attendance.
Authority Born to Regulate Fuel Distribution
Ethiopia is going to get a new government organ to oversee the supply and distribution of fuel products in the country.
The Council of Ministers approved a proclamation for the formation of the Petroleum & Petroleum Products Supply & Distribution Regulatory Authority.
Drafted by the Ministry of Trade & Industry, the bill was tabled to the Council of Ministers yesterday March 30, 2019.
After deliberating on the bill, the Council approved the draft proclamation and sent it to parliament for legislation.
The new authority will be responsible for making sure the fuel that is imported is up to standard, that it will not cause damage to humans or property and that it is appropriately traded on the local market. More specifically, the Authority will regulate the purification, supply, storage, transportation, distribution, retail and other related businesses in the fuel sector.
Petroleum is one of the major products that consume a considerable amount of foreign currency. In the last fiscal year, the country imported 5.2 billion litres of fuel for three billion dollars. In the same period, the state earned a total of 2.84 billion dollars from the export of commodities.
City Pledges to Create More Jobs
The Addis Abeba City Administration created job opportunities for 66,229 people in the last eight months, which amounted to 63pc of its plan.
The City Administration also plans to implement the two billion Birr revolving fund for job creation by building 100 gas stations and 2,000 commercial units.
Currently, the administration has completed the precondition for selecting the youth. Since July 2018, 116,025 registered unemployed people have been recorded, 24,000 of which are university graduates.
The City Administration also plans to use 300 old buses owned by Anbessa City Bus Service Enterprise as mobile fast food outlets.
The City Administration will work aggressively in the coming four months with regard to job creation, according to Deputy Mayor Takele Uma.
“We will also work to minimise the bureaucratic process to get a business license,” Takele said. In the last eight months of the current fiscal year, the city administration has provided 271 million Br in loans to the youth.
Crop Exports Continue Underperforming
Ethiopia exported 612.2 million dollars worth of crops in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, 167.2 million dollars short of the plan.
The revenue was generated by exporting 484,000tn of crops, 69.4pc of the goal.
Oilseeds contributed 37.42pc, while khat and cereal crops stood at 33.8pc and 28.1pc, respectively, with sesame taking up the lion’s share of the total oilseed export at 86.33pc by volume.
Compared to last year’s performance of the same period, this is a 16.5pc decrease in volume and a 6.3pc decrease in revenue.
Korea Pledges $10m for Water, Sanitation
Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has donated 10 million dollars to the second phase of One Wash National Programme.
The agreement was signed by Negash Wagesho (PhD), state minister of Water, Irrigation & Energy, and Ho Kim, director of the Agency, on March 29, 2019.
Out of the total amount, seven million dollars will go toward improving access to potable water, while the rest will go toward increasing coverage of sanitation facilities in rural areas.
KOICA has been involved in different projects in Ethiopia including healthcare, agriculture and forestry, education, public administration and technology since 1991.
Toothpaste Factory Perches in Dukem
Unilever inaugurated its fourth factory in Ethiopia on March 28, 2019, at the eastern industrial zone in Dukem to manufacture Signal brand toothpaste.
Lifebuoy soap, Sunlight detergent and Knorr Bouillon cubes are branded products manufactured by Unilever’s factories. The factory is the first of its kind in Ethiopia and only the third in Africa.
“The toothpaste factory is a nine-month project, and the machines came from Sweden and China,” said Tim Kleinebenne, managing director of Unilever Ethiopia.
Unilever has 13 million euros worth of investments in Ethiopia and employees 1,500 direct and indirect employees with only ten of them as non-nationals.
Alongside Tim Kleinebenne, the inauguration ceremony was attended by Lia Tadesse (MD), state minister of Health; Hana Arayasillase, deputy commissioner of the Ethiopian Investment Commission; Bruno Witvoet, Unilever Africa president; and Gizachew Mijena, deputy mayor of Dukem’s administration.
Danish Gov’t Extends Hand for Gender Equality, Democracy
The Danish Government has signed a cooperation agreement with UNDP and UN Women to provide 4.5 million dollars for the two agencies in support of their work in Ethiopian governance and gender equality.
From the total, three million dollars will go to UN Women to build on its ongoing support and to expand a program for preventing and responding to violence against women and a program to increase the participation of women in leadership.
The rest of the funding will go towards Supporting Elections for Ethiopia’s Democracy Strengthening (SEEDS) project. UNDP will be coordinating this multi-agency project that seeks to assist Ethiopia with holding a credible and transparent election.
New Brewery Joins Market
Kangaroo Plast Plc, in partnership with Mauritius-based United Africa Breweries, has launched a new brewery with a capacity of 1.6 million hectolitres a year.
The plant has an investment of 88 million dollars and will be operational in a month.
“Our family had to work hard to make this dream a reality,” said Ephrem Yirga, chairman of the board of Kangaroo Plast. “The economic growth in the country and the good investment climate has enabled us to be successful.”
Kangaroo Industrial Group is a family-run business founded by Yirga Haile and involved in real estate, manufacturing, agriculture and commerce.
Loading your updates...