Ministerial Forum Cites Stymies of Construction Investment

May 20 , 2023


[ssba-buttons]

Hundreds of international and local exhibitors, 600 industry players and 19,0000 visitors gathered to attend the three-day Exhibition held at the Millennium Hall last week. A ministerial forum between Finance, Mines, Industry, Planning & Development, Urban & Infrastructure ministries and Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) was held on the first day to discuss investment opportunities in construction. Unskilled human power, flawed project management, and deficient business linkage were cited as the major hurdles to the construction by Chaltu Sani, minister of Urban Development & Infrastructure. Although construction accounts for 19pc GDP, showing 11pc growth in the past few years, it has been plagued with intricate challenges that have bottlenecked its growth. Ahmed  Shide, minister of Finance, disclosed their plan to expand Public Private Partnerships (PPP) by structuring transferability and sustainability guarantees through incentives for domestic and international investors. He said insurmountable public spending on infrastructure has greatly contributed to the galloping inflation despite 60-65pc of the government's budget going to construction. State Minister for Planning & Development, Sandokan Debebe, announced the 10-year infrastructure, irrigation, and energy development plan. According to Sandokan, 224,000km of road will be built by 2033, doubling the current reality. The Ministry has plans to quadruple the energy output to 20,000MW by expanding transmission lines. "There are a lot of investment opportunities," he said.


Radar

US Renews National Emergency, Sanctions on Ethiopia

The United States has extended the national emergency and sanctions on Ethiopia for another year under the African Growth & Opportunity Act (AGOA). Signed by President Donald J. Trump, the measure was first declared on September 17, 2021, through an executive order citing the conflict in northern region of the country as an "unusual and extraordinary" threat to U.S. national security and foreign policy. The extension, effective until September 17, 2026, keeps in place restrictions targeti...


Radar

Rockefeller Pitches Clean Cooking to Curb School Meal Emissions

A recent study has revealed the staggering environmental toll of school feeding programs. A single school serving 400 students can burn through the equivalent of 56 hectares of forest each year to fuel cooking. The Rockefeller Foundation flagged the health risks too, with most cooks, predominantly women, breathing smoke levels ten times higher than the World Health Organisation's safe limit. "If every school meal transitioned to clean cooking with electricity and solar, the emissions saved wo...


Radar

Sun-Powered Grid Brings Light to Qunbi District

A new 600KW solar mini-grid in East Hararge'sQunbi district has connected 2,200 households to electricity, marking a milestone in the recent rural electrification push. Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) laid seven kilometres of medium-voltage and 10 kilometres of low-voltage lines, installing four transformers to reach communities long cut off from power. Customers cover only meter and installation costs before accessing the service. The project is part of the national strategy to expand energ...