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Month: September 2019

RHAPSODY OF COLOURS & FLAMES

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Thousands of people congregated in Mesqel Square in Addis Abeba on Friday, September 27, 2019, to celebrate the annual religious festival, Mesqel, which the square is named after. It is a yearly celebration of the faithful in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. According to the church’s tradition, it is a celebration of the finding of the cross upon which Jesus was crucified. It is believed that the mother of Constantine, Saint Helena, saw a vision instructing her to find the lost cross. She had the people of Jerusalem burn a huge bonfire, and the direction of the smoke pointed to where the cross was found, according to legend. It is to commemorate this act of Helena that the bonfire, Demera, is lit in the middle of the square each year. It is a colourful and joyous celebration with thousands of priests and choirs from all the churches in the city and its surrounding area turning out adorned in their beautiful robes, displaying crosses and ceremonial umbrellas, singing and dancing to the beats of drums and cymbals. The square was a rhapsody of colours and songs filled with ecstatic crowds.

Among tight security, the people started streaming toward Mesqel Square early in the morning. Most main roads surrounding the square were closed to traffic from around 8:00am. Except for a stray bull that ran into the square, goring a few people and frightening the large crowd, the celebrations concluded without incident.

More worrying to Abiy may come from his own backyard

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Abiy Ahmed (PhD), prime minister of Ethiopia elected under the EPRDF’s platform, is doing everything he can to undo the very vehicle that propelled him to political power. He has been busy rewriting a new programme hoping to replace the Leninist mantra of Revolutionary Democracy the EPRDF followed since its formation 30 years ago.

For an administration under criticism for lacking an unambiguous road map and coherent centre to govern, Abiy is trying to make advances in introducing his political and economic policy thoughts. Suffice the new economic reform package his advisors baptised as “homegrown.” Lauded by members of the international community as “ambitious but doable”, the blueprint to jumpstart the economy from its slumber has met not as much intellectual challenge from the domestic constituency as it was originally feared, says gossip.

Abiy is now in full gear pushing for the introduction of his political thoughts he loves to call “Me`demer,” an Amharic word translated as “positive-sum.” Gossip recalls that Abiy’s fascination with the concept the word represents is not new. He has been on the record while contemplating the idea of synergy in social constructs a couple of years before his ascent to political power a year and a half ago.

His holding state power and everything that comes with it – if not leverages and resources – has brought an imminent significance to what goes on in his mind. Abiy believes Me`demer is neither an ideology nor a philosophy but something in between – a “thought”, perhaps.

Nonetheless, such is a thought that needs to evolve in its theoretical and conceptual underpinning, before it is marketed to the broader public, claims gossip. Abiy does not seem to be in short supply of intellectuals near and afar to help him give flesh to the bones of Me`demer, gossip observed. Workshops, seminars and orientations are underway aiming to instill the concept – cooperation where there is competition – in its political, economic, diplomatic and security applications, according to gossip.

A couple of weeks ago, senior ministers from his cabinet gathered in the town of Adama (Nazareth) to go through the indoctrination process. A series of retreats at the Kuriftu Lodge, in Bishoftu (Debrezeit), began two weeks ago, according to gossip. Select groups of people believed to influence society get invited to these sessions where the Prime Minister gives the closing sermon, gossip says.

A book authored by the Prime Minister on the subject has been published and close to a million copies will soon be distributed, gossip claims.

All this could be an attempt to fill the ideological vacuum created by the rejection by some in the ruling coalition of the Revolutionary Democracy mantra, says gossip. The effort to merge the EPRDF into a national party may incorporate the rewriting of the programme to embrace the thoughts of Me`demer. But it appears that such political manoeuvering hardly passes without a challenge from within, according to gossip.

The senior partner in the Front, the TPLF, has already made its position clear. It communicated to the Chairman its resolve not to join the party that will merge, in no uncertain terms, gossip says. It is highly unlikely its leaders will accept an outcome of a merger as legitimate if it fails to follow procedures where each party’s political bureau, central committee and congress first endorses the decision to merge, gossip claims. In the event Abiy pushes it in the absence of meeting these procedures, they may consider it as a formation of a different and new party with hardly any claim to the legacy of the EPRDF, says gossip.

More worrying to Abiy may come from his own backyard, claims gossip. His deputy in the ODP, and once staunch political ally, Lemma Megerssa is vocal in opposing the direction Abiy is taking, gossip claims. He was in Adama a couple of weeks ago, defending his position against the merger before members of ODP’s senior cadres, gossip reveals. Time will show the degree of support Lemma can have in the leadership and rank and file of the ODP, says gossip.

However, the EPRDF has called members of its Executive Committee to a meeting in the first week of October. If held as planned, gossip foresees, it will be one of the turning points in the ongoing political logjam.

Bureau Launches Project to Urbanise Towns

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Oromia Regional State has launched a project to upgrade infrastructure facilities of major towns with a total budget of 1.2 billion Br.

Implemented by the Oromia Urban Development & Housing Bureau, the Urban Infrastructure & Institutional Development Programme will be implemented in 38 towns. The World Bank will finance 40pc of the total cost of the project, while the rest is covered by the regional government and the administrations of the towns.

Installation of a 698Km electric line, construction of a 796Km gravel road, 483 public toilets, 200Km of cobblestone roads, sheds for small and micro-enterprises and 679Km of ditch work are the major features of the project.

The programme aims at strengthening the capacity of urban institutions to implement the recommendations of studies on urban development issues. Its basic aim is also to improve institutional performance of the local governments to effectively deliver their broader objectives, according to a document of the programme, which directly supports the government and forms a core part of the existing intergovernmental fiscal architecture.

The level of population and the towns having councils are the criteria by which the towns are selected for the implementation of the project, according to Tesfaye Temesgen, communications team leader at the Housing Bureau.

Expected to be fully completed in five years, the Regional State provides the budget on a yearly basis. The projects, which are divided by lots, are implemented by small and micro-enterprises and the maximum cost to develop a lot is 10 million Br.

“The project aims to motivate trade, create cities that are suitable for investment and living, enhance citizen participation and engagement in local government planning and budgeting, and improve infrastructure and service delivery,” said Tesfaye.

The administrations of each town are responsible for floating tenders to hire companies for the implementation of the programme. Last year the programme created job opportunities for 25,292 people in the Regional State.

The first round of the project was executed 12 years ago in Adama, Bishoftu, Shashmene and Jimma. In 2012, the second round was implemented in Nekempt, Asella, Sebeta, Burayu, Ambo, Bale Robe and Battu, increasing the number of towns to 11 and benefiting 1.5 million people.

Oromia Urban Development & Housing Bureau, which has 155 employees, began the construction of homes 13 years ago in 16 towns of the region and built 21,000 condominium houses, which have benefited 88,000 people.

Urbanization Review shows that in Ethiopia the urbanisation rate increases at about 5.4pc a year.

Aziza Abdulfetah, lecturer and chairperson of landscape architecture at the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, appreciates the project.

These kinds of programmes help to enhance the towns and the lives of people in them, according to her, but she adds that they have to consider a long-term plan during the implementation.

“Unplanned urbanisation increases challenges on cities by limiting them to provide basic infrastructure and turning them into unattractive places,” she said, “but the implementation of the project will help save time and money and improve the quality of life.”

Ministry Takes First Step to Privatise Telecom

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The government took the first step of the partial privatization process of Ethio telecom last week by announcing its search for a company that will consult on the transaction procedures.

To hire a company for the project, the Ministry of Finance has requested expressions of interest from interested bidders who will oversee the process and shepherd it from pre-preparation to final endorsement.

The advisory, which is expected to last for an estimated period of 14 months, will consult on the feasible mode of privatisation, suggest basic terms and conditions of the partial privatisation process, financial and accounting preparation for the pre-privatisation phase and recommend the percentage of capital to be put on sale.

In addition, the consultant will undertake legal due diligence, identify bidder selection criteria, support the bid preparation, as well as assist in partner selection and negotiation.

For the bid evaluation process to select the advisory firm, a five-member committee was formed. The members are composed from the Ministry of Finance, Ethio telecom and the Public Enterprises Holding & Administration Agency, and it will be chaired by Beyene Gebremesqel, director-general of the Agency.

The winning advisory firm that is expected to begin work starting from November 1, 2019, will base its recommendations on the asset evaluation of Ethio telecom, which is currently being conducted by KPMG East Africa.

KPMG East African, based in the Kenya, was hired last August by the state telecom giant for one million dollars and is expected to finalise the asset valuation by the end of October 2019.

The Ministry is also drafting an expression of interest document for an advisor that will oversee the process of letting two international operators join the sector to operate with Ethio telecom.

The two new operators are expected to join the Ethiopian market by the fourth quarter of the new fiscal year and will begin operating simultaneously with the new partially privatised Ethio telecom, according to Eyob Tekalign (PhD), state minister for Finance.

“The privatisation process is neither fast nor slow and is following the intended schedule,” said Eyob.

Ahead of opening the sector for foreign investors, the government is working on strengthening the institutional and human capacities of Ethio telecom and other regulatory bodies, according to Eyob.

Before the parliament went for recess, the lawmakers legislated a bill that formed an independent telecom regulatory body, the Ethiopian Communications Authority.

The Authority, which will be mandated with administering, monitoring and enforcing the telecommunications regulations and issuing telecom licenses, received Balcha Reba, former director of the Communication & Information Technology Standardization & Regulation Directorate under the Ministry of Innovation & Technology, as director-general.

Since June 2018, when the Executive Committee of the ruling EPRDF coalition decided to partially and fully privatise giant state-owned enterprises, the Ministry of Finance has been working on the process.

Ethiopian Airlines, Ethio telecom, Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise, Ethiopian Electric Power and 13 sugar factories are among the companies to be privatised with the new reform process. Railways, industrial parks, hotels, energy and manufacturing plants are also on the list.

The Ministry gave priority for the privatisation process of sugar factories and is currently evaluating the expression of interest from 10 companies that showed interest in buying the companies.

Except for the privatisation of Ethiopian Airlines, the Ministry has progressed in the task, which has kept its hands full, according to Eyob.

Yihenew Wondie (PhD), a lecturer at Addis Abeba University and an expert in the communications sector, says that overseas advisory firms could secure the project.

“Due to the previous expertise requirement of the role,” said Yihenew, “we’ll mainly see foreign companies vying for the project.”

But Yihenew says that the international companies would also be challenged with the task.

“Most of the work these companies have done is in mature economies and within different settings,” said Yihenew. “The case of Ethiopia and Ethio telecom will bring them new challenges.”

 

Enterprise To Implement New Records System

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The Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise is set to hire an American consultant company, Oracle, to modernise its management system.

The new system, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), will integrate all of the Enterprise’s corporate information into one central database.

The software will be used for controlling the shipment of import and export commodities and is expected to be implemented in the coming weeks after the two ink the agreement.

ERP will also integrate the enterprise with local and foreign import-export companies, suppliers and logistics service providers.

The current multi-modal and uni-modal system used by the Enterprise has technological limitations, according to Roba Megersa, CEO of the Enterprise.

“The weakness of service delivery of the enterprise arises from the poor implementation of ICT technology,” said Roba.

The ERP system will integrate the Enterprise’s supply chain planning, purchasing, scheduling, and quality control together with financial accounts as well as call center support, sales and marketing.

ERP, a concept first developed in the 1960s, is a software that attempts to integrate all departments and functions across a company into a single computer system that can serve all those departments’ particular needs.

ERP developers, like Oracle, customise and tailor the software to the client’s needs.

Oracle, founded in 2009, provides professional training courses like project management, IT and personal development.

The ERP system developed by Oracle is used by two local institutions, Ethiopian Airlines and Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE).

The Enterprise, established in 2014, has a reputation for operations that are considered weak and expensive, according to the World Bank’s latest logistics performance index that ranks Ethiopia 117 out of 190-plus countries for the efficiency of its logistics operations.

The Enterprise, which operates 11 vessels of which nine are dry cargo ships with a carrying capacity of 400,000tn, procured 215 new heavy trucks four years ago from Renault Trucks. It also has two oil transporting vessels, each capable of carrying 42,000tn of oil.

The Enterprise that made a net profit of 1.7 billion Br in the last fiscal year also managed to save 55 million dollars in the period by decreasing the demurrage days from eight to six days. Demurrage is a charge payable to the owner of a chartered ship on failure to load or discharge the ship within the time agreed.

On the other hand, foreign exchange shortages, delay in the construction of the 120Km road project in Djibouti, congestion at dry ports, administrative and logistics problems were some of the challenges faced by the Enterprise, according to Roba.

Currently, the Enterprise is in the process of procuring 150 heavy trucks and 12 car carriers with an investment of one billion Br to transport freight through the Ethio-Djibouti corridor.

The trucks are used to transport import and export items to and from the seven operational dry ports in the country and the Djibouti port handling 24,000 containers at a time, on the route where 90pc of the country’s trade is carried out.

Local Electric Motor Assembler to Begin Production

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A local electric vehicle assembler, Tom Renewable Electric Bike Assembly & Sales, will begin production next month of its first mass-produced vehicles.

The plant was opened on the premises of the Addis Abeba City Administration’s Technical & Vocational Training Bureau, Nifas Silk Poly Technic College, and Tom Renewable plans to eventually assemble around 40 types of electric motor vehicles there.

The electric vehicles can go up to 40Km/h and are charged using standard 220v electric outlets. The vehicles take between four and six hours to get fully charged and can travel up to 60Km on one charge.

The company imports spare parts from China and sells electric bikes for around 35,000 Br, while a three-wheel electric motor vehicle has a price tag of approximately 65,000 Br.

Tom also sells a range of other electric engines such as motorcycles for the disabled, load carriers, trolley box carts, and construction and farming motor vehicles starting from 1,250 Br.

The company entered into a public-private-partnership agreement with the Nifas Silk Poly Technic College on June 19, 2019, that allowed it to open its production plant in one of the buildings located inside the College.

According to the agreement, Tom will provide training to students in their last year of education. The company will also hire at least 50pc of the graduates of the auto mechanic department every year. The department currently has around 1,200 students.

In addition, from every electric motorcycle sold, the college gets 200 Br to cover utility costs, while the undergraduate students will be working at the plant for free.

“Our major goal is not earning money,” said Meles Yigzaw, dean of Nifas Silk Poly Technic College. “The greatest benefit we can get from this project is providing practical learning to our students while securing jobs for them when they graduate.”

“In addition to being employees, we can see our students opening shops that sell the vehicles and establishing maintenance workshops,” added Meles.

The contract that was signed between the two also does not have a time-lapse and “will keep being in force as long as the operations of the company are in line with the vision of the college,” reads the contract.

In its first year of production, the company plans to sell between 15,000 to 20,000 of its products. Though the company expects penetrating the market will be challenging, they still believe they will be able to triple production in three years.

The company sent three of its engineers to China where they received a three-month-long training about the production and assembling of the vehicles. The trainees have in turn trained 20 employees of the company in Ethiopia and will also be instructors at the College.

“Though Tom was first opened around five years ago, it had been facing challenges in launching its product,” said Tomas Gebremesql, owner of the company.

“From problems at customs on how to tax the spare parts to delays at the Federal Transport Authority to getting licences, it all held up our plans,” added Tomas.

Tomas, who also owns Tom Advanced Renal Care, a company that gives dialysis services, is a health professional who has returned back home after living abroad for several years. The idea for the electric car was first conceived when he was travelling to China to import raw materials for his dialysis service.

The company first opened its assembly plant in Gerji, Bole District, where it assembled the first prototypes. A few months ago, the company was able to land an agreement with the College after having talks with a few of the colleges in the city.

Nifas Silk first opened its doors in 1964 as an elementary school. It then went through various transformations until it received its current status as a polytechnic college in 2010.  It teaches level one up to level four courses in 11 departments and has around 5,400 students.

“We are currently in negotiations with other companies so that they will open their factories inside the college,” said Meles.

There are around 970,000 vehicles in the country with 60pc of them concentrated in the capital.

Ethiopia spends around three billion dollars annually to import fuel, and that budget has been growing at a rate of 10pc per year. The same rate of growth as the number of vehicles in the country.

Experts in the area commend the operations of the company as well as its partnership with a college.

“From the reduction of the fuel consumption to the contribution to the green economy such efforts should be followed by other companies, while the state should provide tax incentives,” said Eshete Berahnu, an associate professor at Addis Abeba Institute of Technology’s School of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering.

The company should work on scaling up its production to an industrial level,  Eshete added.

Nation Prepares Tourism Strategies

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Ethiopian Tourism in collaboration with the International Financial Corporation (IFC) is preparing both a meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) and a stopover tourism strategy to increase Ethiopia’s tourism competitiveness.

The strategies, part of one million dollars of technical support and capacity building cooperation between the two, have been under preparation for the last six months.

The MICE and stopover tourism strategies are 10-year and four-year strategies, respectively, and are expected to be operational in the middle of the current fiscal year.

“Most transit travelers spend up to 20 hours at Bole International Airport, and the stopover strategy will allow them to visit some places and spend time and money,” said Sileshi Girma, CEO of Tourism Ethiopia.

The world’s first stopover tourism strategy was launched in the 1950s, and nations began investing heavily in this strategy in 2010 amid the financial crisis.

“Even though the country is a conference destination, we can’t get large benefits from visitors because of the absence of strategies, infrastructure and cooperative work between stakeholders,” said Kumneger Teketel, managing director of Ozzie Business & Hospitality Group and Addis Abeba Convention bureau director.

Since Addis Abeba’s Bole International Airport has become the largest air transit hub in Africa through an expansion and upgrade, liberalisation of Ethiopia’s visa policy, expansion of the domestic flight network and increased accommodation capacity are the recent developments that have led to the development of a stopover tourism strategy.

Expensive domestic flights, limited hotel capacity in key destinations, poor customer service and concerns over hygiene issues are challenges to Ethiopian stopover tourism that were mentioned during the discussion.

From July 2018 to June 2019, Ethiopian Holidays, the tour operator wing of Ethiopian Airlines, had 4,150 stopover package clients.

In 2018 Ethiopia took a three percent share of the African conference market and generated 12.5 million dollars.

The hotel industry is expanding at a fast pace in the city, which is a seat for the African Union and the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Africa and 100 diplomatic missions.

One expert in the tourism sector appreciates the two strategies.

“The main problem in the Ethiopian tourism sector is the absence of promotional activities on international media,” said Yonas Moges, managing partner of Calibra Hospitality Consultancy & Business.

“The Addis Abeba Tourism Bureau and Tourism Ethiopia should also work with the AU and ECA convention centres to achieve what is expected from the sector,” Yonas added.

Kenya-Ethiopia Electricity Interconnection Reaches Testing Stage

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The Ethiopian part of the 1.26-billion-dollar Eastern Electricity Highway Project that connects Ethiopia with Kenya is set to be completed next month.

Built by China Electric Power Equipment and Technology (CET), the project connects the Kenyan and Ethiopian power grids.

The high voltage electric line, which is a result of the joint venture of the two countries, has a capacity of carrying up to 2,000 megawatts and covers 1,055Km, while 433Km of the total electric highway lies within Ethiopian borders.

The construction of the power transmission line has already been completed in August 2019, and the highway is only awaiting finalisation of the construction of a substation, according to Moges Mekonnen, communication director of Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).

After the construction of the substation is completed, the testing will be implemented within five months, and the highway will be ready for power transmission by April 2020.

Wolayta Sodo is the starting point for the 500kV line, and the overhead transmission lines are supported by approximately 38m-high and 15m-wide steel towers and sit on 4m-deep reinforced concrete foundations. The width of the line corridor ranges between 50m and 60m.

From the overall investment in the project, the World Bank provided a loan of 684 million dollars, while the African Development Bank and the French Development Agency are providing 338 million dollars and 118 million dollars, respectively.

The government of Ethiopia and the government of Kenya funded 32 million dollars and 88 million dollars, respectively.

The construction of the remaining part of the highway in Kenya is being carried out by the German company Siemens Transmission & Distribution. The work has begun from the Suswa substation in western Kenya.

Upon its completion, the project is expected to generate investment opportunities in electricity infrastructure and also gives rise to the development of other related industries.

Ethiopia currently generates 4,300MW of power, of which 90pc is produced from hydropower, while eight percent is generated from wind, and two percent is generated from thermal sources.

Ethiopia is endowed with a huge hydro generation potential, which is estimated at approximately 45,000 MW.

A hydropower expert appreciated the construction of the transmission line between the two countries.

“Construction of the transmission line is important, not only to sell but also to buy electric power when we face a shortage of supply,” Tigabu Atalo, an energy practitioner, told Fortune.

According to the expert, this is helpful for regional integration and interconnecting African countries through power.

“We must be well advised on the power purchase agreement schedule for the delivery of electricity, penalties for under-delivery and on tariff allocation.

Currently, the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) being built on the Abay River in Benshangul Gumuz Regional State has reached 68.3pc completion.

Resort Builds Amusement Park

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Atlas Resort, located in Gelan town in Oromia Regional State, added a new amusement park to its premises at a cost of 25 million Br.

The park, which will be inaugurated by the end of November, installed 20 pieces of playground equipment such as a children’s train ride, carousels, flying chairs, a roller coaster, a rotary and thrill rides.

Lying on 50,000Sqm of land, Atlas imported the gaming equipment for both adults and children from China with the aim of attracting families.

“The park gives an opportunity for children to play outdoors while providing many entertainments and social benefits,” said Hailemariam Worku, the resort’s owner. “Such kinds of parks are not easily available in the country despite having high demand.”

Atlas was first opened in 2003 and also features a hotel, a swimming pool, meeting rooms, a bar, banks and a parking place that can accommodate 200 cars.

Beston Amusement Equipment Factory, the company that supplied the equipment, also installed the gaming machinery and will also provide after-sales technical service, spare parts and a warranty of eight years for the equipment.

A Swedish company, Abacon International AB did the civil work.

Beston mainly produces different types of amusement rides. It was established in 2008 by eight service networks including more than 60 after-sales service engineers for the overseas market.

“The resort planned to build the amusement park 15 years ago, but the government did not extend its cooperation, stating that the equipment were luxury items,” said Hailemariam. “Finally, the government gave its approval to import the equipment for the playground in November 2018.”

The resort, with an estimated capital of 60 million Br, is owned by Atlas International Hotel located on Bole Road. The Hotel was established in 1987 and has 80 employees and 60 rooms.

Nationwide, there are 600 hotels across Ethiopia, but most of them are located in Addis Abeba, Hawasssa, Bahir Dar, Adama and Meqelle.

Experts believe that the resort is eyeing a new market.

Because the park was constructed to be enjoyed by the whole family rather than only by children, this might give it an edge, according to Yohannes Paulos, a consultant who has 45 years of experience in international hotels.

However, he notes that the visitors of the park will only be nationals.

“Foreign tourists are not attracted by such amusement parks,” said Yohannes. “The park might fail in bringing forex into the country.”

Last month Kuriftu Resort & Spa inaugurated the nation’s first-ever water amusement park built in Bishoftu with a capacity of accommodating 5,000 visitors a day.

City to Build Fuel Stations, Hire Street Vendors

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The Addis Abeba City Administration’s Trade & Industry Bureau is set to build 16 fuel stations in the capital in partnership with multiple oil retail companies for an estimated cost of 208 million Br.

The fuel stations, which are part of the City Administration’s job creation scheme and formalization of trade, will employ street vendors.

The job creation scheme crafted by the City Administration will see the granting of land where the fuel stations will be built for free to 16 different oil companies including NOC, ODDA, Gomeju, Oil Libya and Yetebaberut Beherawi Petroleum.

The stations will be built and managed by the oil companies and the profit goes to them, while they will hire employees provided by the City Administration.

The 16 fuel stations will provide different services such as car washes, cafeterias and garages and will hire between 20 and 30 street vendors at each fuel station, a workforce that will be supplied by the Addis Abeba Urban Food Security & Job Creation Agency.

The Bureau made a request to the Addis Abeba City Administration’s Land Development & Management Bureau asking for land as early as July 2019 and secure the land within three months, according to Dagnachewu Lole, director of informal trade formalisation at the Bureau.

“We were contacted and invited by the City Administration to hold discussions about the scheme in July 2019,” said Eshetu Zeleke, CEO for ODDA Integrated Transport S.C.

“We then submitted their proposal for the project that involved details about the fuel station to be built as well as the salaries they are willing to pay,” Eshetu said, who is one of the oil company owners that participated in the job creation for street vendors.

The new formalisation scheme comes after a recommendation from Deputy Mayor Takele Uma and is part of the City Administration’s goals set in the current fiscal year.

Since a directive was enacted by the city two years ago that offered individuals operating in the informal sector a path toward formalisation, the Bureau has allowed street vendors to trade in designated areas.

In addition to building fuel stations, the city is also planning to build 148 small shops. To be implemented in all districts of the city, the small shops will cover an area between 30Sqm to 100Sqm of land.

The Bureau will use a raffle system that rotates periodically to grant the 148 stalls to the traders.

To date, 56,000 people have registered, out of whom 19,600 have been issued identification cards, and registration will continue until the coming month to give vendors a chance to have their businesses legally registered, according to Dagnachewu.

Street vendors have to present identification cards from a kebeleupon registration after which they will be issued a taxpayer identification number (TIN) and a badge to wear at all times while working in the marketplaces.

“The initiative is beneficial for the government, traders and the city’s residents,” said Dagnachewu. “The government will benefit from the taxes paid by the traders, the traders will have a stable venue where they can sell their goods and customers will shop without frustration.”

There are currently close to 80,000 informal traders in Addis Abeba.

However, experts in the area have doubts about the success rate of the scheme.

“The City Administration builds different structures every year to create formal jobs for the public,” said Worku Mekonene (PhD), associate professor of business administration at Addis Abeba University’s College of Business & Economics.

“But because of various problems such as inadequate planning, problems in design and the low standard of the construction, they never meet the target,” added Worku.

Eshetu agrees with the expert and points to the difficulty of the new project.

“The scheme is very complicated, and there is a clear lack of detail and transparency in regard to the outlining of responsibilities,” Eshetu told Fortune.

A few months ago another scheme tried to use free space in the city to formalise the vendors. A high number of street vendors and unemployed youth built tents and makeshift sheds across the city.

But after a public outcry over the tents and sheds ruining the image of the city, the City Administration made the decision to demolish the structures and took no responsibility for their occurrence.

Oromia Gov Nears Completion of Long-Delayed Office Complex

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Oromia Regional State’s housing bureau announced the impending completion of buildings designated for 15 public offices in Sarbet, a lengthy project that consumed 220 million Br.

Under construction for the past five years, the three buildings have seven storeys each and are planned to be fully completed next month. The government agencies and institutions are expected to move into the buildings once finished.

The Oromia Agriculture & Environmental Protection Bureau, the Oromia Trade & Market Development Bureau, the Oromia Roads Authority and Oromia Science & Technology are among the institutions which will move into the new buildings. These offices have been residing in rental buildings in the meantime.

Resting on 600Sqm of land, each building is equipped with elevators, generators and conference halls, which can accommodate 200 people. The Oromia Urban Development & Housing Bureau started the construction of the buildings in 2015, and the project was delayed for one year.

The initial delay was due to boundary demarcation that was not completed on time and a shortage of foreign currency, according to Tesfaye Temesgen, communications team leader at the Housing Bureau, which has 155 employees and began the construction of houses 13 years ago in 16 towns of the regional state.

The Bureau has built 21,000 condominium houses so far and transferred the housing units to 88,000 people.

Divided into three lots, the construction of the offices is taking place in front of other Oromia Regional State buildings, located around Sarbet. Three companies undertook the construction under the supervision of Oromia Water Works Design & Supervision Enterprise, the regional state’s developmental institution that was established in 2006, and works in consultancy services for engineering projects.

Oromia Construction Works Enterprise; Gutema Firisa Construction, a company that was established in 2007 and has completed over 12 projects; and Bereket Endeshaw General Contractor, which was founded in 2008 and operates with 200 employees, are the project’s contractors.

The Bureau is aimed at solving the shortage of working space, minimising rental expenses and facilitating the better provision of services, according to Tesfaye.

“During the construction, constant price increases of construction materials was another challenge,” said Reta Belay, manager of the project, which created job opportunities for a total of 300 peoples.

Zewdie Shibire (PhD), a lecturer in the management department of Addis Abeba University’s School of Business & Economics, appreciates the construction of the buildings for having an impact on service efficiency.

Clustering the offices into one place will help the offices give effective and timely services and the customers can get many services in one place, according to Zewdie.

He argued that it will save an enormous amount of money that would be spent by the regional government in paying rent for these offices.

Every year the Oromia Regional State spends 60 million Br from the regional budget on office rent.

“Other government institutions should take a lesson from this,” said Zewdie.

Electric Utility Deploys Its Own Digital Radio System

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Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) set up a radio communication system, Astor, at Entoto, built by Motorola Solutions at a cost of 1.8 million dollars.

The system, which is effective in Addis Abeba and its surroundings, is expected to assist in improving the safety of grid operations and maintenance.

The communication system is equipped with digital radios: 300 hand radios, including 200 types of equipment that will be customised to be used on cars and others that will be fixed on call centres and random maintenance centres.

The site, which is located at the highest point in Addis Abeba, is also powered by a hybrid-electric and solar-powered system and includes a backup energy solution to ensure communication at all times.

The Motorola system will replace the current analogue system that has been out of service since 2014 because of a lack of spare parts. The company has been using cell phones for communication purposes since then.

“Using a cell phone for communication has many challenges, since it is a one-to-one communication system,” said Chumala Samuel, automation technology and energy manager of Addis Abeba. “However, the new system quickly connects with others through compliant interoperability.”

The radio communication system uses eight radio channels simultaneously programmed in six different groups.

The Israel subsidiary of the US-based global electronics and telecommunication corporation, Motorola Solutions, signed an agreement with EEU after winning the tender for the radio communication project in July 2017. The project is being implemented in two chapters.

The first chapter, inaugurated last week, covers Addis Abeba and its surroundings, while the second chapter will be covering another 13 selected places outside of the capital.

The full implementation of the system is in its second phase, which is set to cost EEU 4.2 million dollars and will begin in the current fiscal year.

“As a grid operator, two of our major concerns are the safety of our employees and the level of service we provide to our customers in order to achieve a reliable communications system to support our teams’ mission-critical needs,” said Shiferaw Telila, CEO and automation chief of the EEU.

The Utility believes the new system will facilitate its services to its customers and speed up the time used to require maintenance and reduce the danger that may be caused because of the information gap.

“Our approach to safety led us to choose a system deployed by top mission-critical users globally,” Shiferaw added.

Motorola, a data communications and telecommunications equipment provider, also built a public safety radio communication system for the Federal Police Commission. It allows for the integrated communication of the police, fire rescue, ambulances and other rescue workers.

“We are proud to partner with Ethiopia’s national electrical utility company, helping them in their mission to provide better service to their customers while maintaining the safety of their employees,” said Yuval Hanan, East Africa regional manager for Motorola Solutions.

Experts in the area understand the reason why the Utility wanted to move away from its analogue system.

“The analogue system had a high energy consumption and a weak software management system,” said Yihenew Wondie (PhD), a lecturer at Addis Abeba Institution of Technology’s School of Electrical and Computer Engineering.

However, the expert has concerns on why the EEU deployed a system developed by an international company.

“Ethio telecom has an already established and mature network-compatible platform for the digital radio system,” the expert added.

In Ethiopia, the demand for electricity increases by 13pc each year, and the electricity coverage of the nation has reached 58pc.

The country currently generates 4,300MW of power, of which 90pc is produced from hydropower, while eight percent is generated from wind and two percent from thermal sources.

Ethiopia has a potential of generating over 1.4 million megawatts from hydroelectric, solar, geothermal and wind sources, according to internal studies.

Currently, 58,000 households are waiting to get electric service in the country.