Continental Free Trade Area to Go Active in July

May 4 , 2019


The African Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to create a single continental market for goods and services, will officially enter into force in July. It is expected to start during the next Extra-Ordinary Heads of State and Government summit slated for July 7, 2019 in Niamey, Niger. Ethiopia is one of the signatories of the agreement with South Africa and Egypt; while Nigeria, which has Africa’s biggest economy, has not ratified the convention yet. The Agreement is expected to create a market for over one billion people with a GDP of approximately 2.6 trillion dollars. The African ministers of Trade are also scheduled to meet in Kampala, Uganda in the first week of June to review work on the supporting instruments ahead of the summit.


Radar

Yirgalem Hospital Inaugurates New Oxygen Production Plant

A new oxygen production plant has been inaugurated at Yirgalem Hospital Medical College in Sidama Regional State. The launch was attended by the regional state's chief administrator Desta Ledamo and Health Minister Mekdes Daba (PhD). Desta noted that a new kidney dialysis centre will soon be opened as well. Mekdes stated that the Ministry is working to increase the number of oxygen production facilities from the current 10 to 34 nationwide. The Yirgalem plant cost 86 million Br to build and h...


Radar

Corridor Develops with Parking, Recklessness Concerns, Research Finds

Research involving 400 respondents across four first-round corridor development routes revealed major challenges to the initiative. The study, conducted by Shaka Analytics and ETC Institute in collaboration with the Addis Abeba City Transport Bureau, examined the impact of the program on transportation patterns, transit accessibility, and parking availability. The routes—Arat Kilo to Bole Deldey, Embassy of England to Arat Kilo, Mexico roundabout to Wello Sefer, and Piassa to Arat Kilo—we...


Radar

Digitalisation Spreads to the Court System

Ethio telecom and the Amhara Regional State Supreme Court have agreed to implement a Smart Court project in Bahir Dar to modernize court operations using digital technology. This agreement includes building a modern network infrastructure, implementing cloud services, creating a modular data centre, establishing a network operations control centre, and connecting the region's courts with a secure digital network. The project is designed to facilitate secure digital information exchange betwee...