Local Professionals to Take Over Management of Railway

Nov 16 , 2019


[ssba-buttons]

The Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Railway (EDR) will start transferring captaincy to locals from the Chinese by the end of next year. Sixty-five young train drivers from Ethiopia and Djibouti will travel to China to undertake theoretical and technical training. Currently, a consortium of Chinese companies manages all the maintenance, rail captaincy and control operations of the 752Km-long railway that connects Addis Abeba to neighbouring Djibouti. Such transfer of knowledge and expertise will require from one year to a maximum of six years of theoretical and practical training depending on the nature of each task, according to Tilahun Sarka, director general of EDR. Thus far, a total of 600 local professionals have received training related to the normal functioning of the railway system. The railway is currently used to transport freight including perishable goods, vehicles, cereals and fertilizers from the Djibouti port to Addis Abeba.


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...