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The light rail transit project of Addis Ababa city faces delays due to the concurring eight kilometer long water pipeline relocation, which will not be completed until the coming rainy season.

According to the plan, before the construction of a railway line from CMC to Mexico Square, the main line of water supply to the city from Legedadi Dam has to be relocated. The relocation has been necessitated by the light railway construction, which follows the same line as the water pipeline.However the Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority (AAWSA) signed a deal with the Chinese contractor, CGCOC, in August 2012 to relocate the pipeline which provides water to over a million people in the city, within ten months, but the project is not expected to be completed until July 2013. Sources at the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC), the state owned enterprise which owns the project, told Capital that AAWSA has confirmed the project will be completed in April 2013. “It would not be so bad if the delay was for two months or so, but we have to wait until October for the rainy season to end” ERC sources complained.
According to sources, this was one of the major issues discussed at a meeting held this past week by the project steering committee chaired by Diriba Kuma, Minister of Transport and Kuma Demeksa, Mayor of Addis Ababa.

According to sources, the current obstacle has garnered a great deal of attention not only from relevant steering committee offices but also from the federal government, which is also evaluating the issue. According to sources, late Friday November 23, 2012 relevant officials discussed the issue at the Prime Minister’s office, but the source did not go into any further detail. The steering committee includes the Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo), Ethio Telecom, ERC and AAWSA.

According to sources who attended the steering committee meeting, ERC has expressed its apprehension about the delay of the water pipeline project until the rainy season.
According to our sources, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group (CREEC), is interested in finalising the project before the original deadline set on the contract agreement signed with ERC. The deal indicated that the project should be completed by mid-2014, but the company promised that it will complete it within two years if the project site can be cleared for the construction on time.
According to the deal, the project will cost the city about 400 million birr. .

Etsegenet Tesfaye, public relations head of AAWSA, told Capital that parts of the project are being undertaken on time. She said that the project will not be delayed or rescheduled for additional months. “They will accomplish the project as fast as possible,”  Etsegenetsaid.
Even though the public relations head said the project will be completed on time; officials at ERC who requested anonymity said that based on the current condition of the pipeline relocation project, the execution period of the railway project will be affected significantly.
CREEC was awarded the 37.375Kms Addis Ababa light rail transit project and commenced working mid 2012.

The railway stretches mainly from Defence Forces Hospital to Ayat Village, which is 17.26Km, with other tracks that will lead from Meskel Square to Kality (16.246Km) and the 3.875Km rail line from Lideta to Menilik Square.
The Addis Ababa light rail transit project also designed by CREEC is expected to be 60 percent financed by the Chinese government and 40 percent from the coffers of the Ethiopian government.

The 37.375Km Addis Ababa light rail transit project is estimated to cost over 400 million dollars and is scheduled to be completed in two and half years. The project is one of the projects expected to be finished during the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) period.
Currently, construction between Ayat and Civil Service College in eastern Addis Ababa is actively taking place. According to sources, the railway from Ayat to Megenagna will be partially open for service when it is completed. It is unknown exactly when it will be completed, but it is expected to start operation before the other light rail projects.
The Ethiopian Railway Corporation has also signed with CREEC to construct the first phase of the 317Km Addis Ababa - Me’eso railway line.
The second part of the 340Km Me’eso - Dire Dawa - Dawale electric railway project was awarded to another Chinese state owned enterprise, Civil Construction Corporation (CCECC).
The Ethiopian government plans to construct more than 2,000Km of rail lines during the five year Growth and Transformation Plan period.

The first automobile car assembly plant in Ethiopia, Holland Car Plc, announced to its employees last Tuesday via teleconference that the company had gone bankrupt. The company’s founder and general manager, Tadesse Tessema (Eng.), conducted the teleconference direct from Holland with his employees in Ethiopia.

The company was founded in 2005 with an eleven million birr initial capital after Tadesse decided to establish it in a joint venture with a Dutch company Trento BV, Engineering.

The company could not settle the 20 million birr loan which it borrowed from Zemen Bank, The Reporter learnt.
“In 2010 we were asked to come up with a solution for the shortage of public transportation in the country. Following that a task force comprising [the then] Addis Ababa Branch Office of the Federal Road Transport Authority, Anbessa City Bus Enterprise, Holland Car and a few experts from the Netherlands conducted a study and managed to come up with a possible solution. On July 2010, we presented the study at a meeting held at Sheraton Addis and the project idea wast accepted by the stakeholders. Afterwards, Holland Car started to build a factory that assembles buses and we displayed the first bus that was assembled at a cost of over 8.5 million birr. However, after we manufactured the bus, we were told that the stakeholders from the transport sector are not interested to work with us on public transportation and that’s how we incurred our biggest loss,” Tadesse explained to his employees.

He went on to say that foreign currency crunch, devaluation of the birr against the dollar, the rising inflation and other steep expenses including rent forced the company in to bankruptcy.   

According to sources, the company had deals with 600 customers to deliver assembled cars of different models. However, as the company could not carry on importing items and assemble orders from customers it had no option but to refund the money that was paid by some 480 customers. Though the company has managed to import parts for 120 cars, it has been slapped with a customs duty that is still outstanding  and is obliged to pay 85,000 birr apiece to the prospective owners due to the devaluation of the birr.

The company used to assemble cars under different brands namely Docc, Abay, Shebelle, Awash Executive, Abay Executive, Imay, Tekeze and Ahadu (trailer bus).
The company’s first assembly plant was built on a 20,000-sq.m plot near Modjo, 70 kms south east of Addis Ababa. The second plant was opened in late 2008 under the name Cassiopeia Assembly Factory in Tatek, a former military barrack located on the outskirts of the capital.

Holland Car was awarded the "JAC Motors Best Overseas Plant - 2009" award from its supply partner, JAC Motors. It was also awarded the prestigious SMME 2009 award in the most innovative category and was a recipient of the 2009 Africa SMME of the year Award which was held in Cape Town, South Africa in October, 2009.

Before establishing Holland Car Tadesse founded a company named Ethio-Holland which used to import used Lada cars from the Netherlands. Later he decided to assemble cars locally in Ethiopia and launched Holland Car.

In 2007, Holland Car assembled the Lifan 520 under the name Abayuntil it parted ways with the Chinese Lifan Group in 2009. In the same year the company concluded a new deal with another Chinese company, JAC Motors, to supply it with engines.
Currently, Holland Car has around 100 employees down from a high of 250.

The airline is also set to establish a new airline in Zambia, reports Kaleyesus  Bekele from Johannesburg

The Ethiopian Airlines is to buy a stake in the frail airline of Malawi.  The Government of Malawi recently asked companies to present expressions of interest for the partial acquisition of its failing airline. Subsequently, 11 airlines submitted these to the Malawi Privatization Authority. Ernest & Young has been undertaking a study on the privatisation of Air Malawi which ceased operation this week. After evaluating the expression of interest eight companies were selected to participate in the bid.

At the 44th General Assembly of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) held in Johannesburg from November 18-20 CEO of Air Malawi, Patrick E. Chilambe, told The Reporter that the bidding companies will submit their proposals to the Privatization Authority. The companies that presented expressions of interest yesterday had a meeting with officials of Ernest & Young and the Malawi Privatization Authority in Blantyre. Com Air of South Africa is the other airline that submitted an expression of interest.
The government of Malawi plans to establish a consortium by selling a 49 percent stake to a foreign airline and a local investor and keep 51 percent of the shares to Air Malawi.

Hired by the Malawian government, Ernest & Young advised the government to look for a partner and partially privatize the national flag carrier. Two of Air Malawi’s aircraft are in South Africa, retained due to fuel debt. An official close to the privatization process told The Reporter that Ethiopian is the best company among the eight companies that submitted an expression of interest.

Tewolde Gebremaraim, Ethiopian CEO, who was attending AFRAA’s 44 Annual General Assembly (AGA), told The Reporter that Ethiopian wants to help Air Malawi. “They are our African brothers and we want to share our experience,” Tewolde said. The CEO said that Ethiopian is planning to establish a new airline in Zambia. “We have been holding talks with the Zambian government and we hope to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the government soon,” he said.

Ethiopian partnership with ASKY Airline of Togo has been successful. The Lome-based airline, ASKY, which operates Bombardier Q400 aircraft currently serves 15 destinations in West Africa. Ethiopian owns a 25 percent stake in ASKY.

In a related news, Ernest & Young this week announced that by 2025 Ethiopian will be bigger than South African Airways (SAA). Zemedeneh Nigatu, managing partner of Ernest & Young East Africa, who made a presentation at AFRAA’s AGA held at the Sandton Convention Center in Johannesburg, said that by 2025 Ethiopian will be bigger than SAA. Zemedeneh said SAA will still then be bigger than Kenya Airways (KQ). He attributed Ethiopian Airlines success to management independence. Zemedeneh pointed out that African carriers should collaborate to survive the stiff competition coming from non-African carriers.      

The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology says it has been working to modernize the activities of government institutions.

The Ministry has already enabled 7 such institutions to deliver some 49 of their services in electronic ways.

The institutions are Ministries of Agriculture, Health, Foreign Affairs, Urban Development and Construction, Labor and Social Affairs, as well as Government Housing and Transport Agencies.

According to ERTA, the new service facilities were inaugurated on Thursday in the presence of senior government officials and invited guests.

Speaking on the occasion, Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael said customers can get the services from wherever there is internet access via the following website: www.e-service.gov.et.

After buying out Nova-Ethio Potash, and the departure of BHP Billiton, Allana Potash is betting hard on the region.

The departure of BHP Billiton from its potash concession in the Danakil Depression in northern Ethiopia has been followed by consolidation between two other explorers in the area in September.

With 45°C heat in the shade and close to the tense buffer zone between Ethiopia and Eritrea, the Danakil is an inhospitable place to work.

Nonetheless, the Ethiopian government is keen to welcome miners lured by its rich potash deposits.

A spokesperson for BHP Billiton  said its concession in Ethiopia was "not expected to meet the company's investment criteria" and that its departure in July meant the company was relinquishing its leases.
The Australian miner has been pulling back from expensive projects amid fears about the fall in commodity prices.

In early September, Toronto-listed Allana Potash, which also owns a concession in the Danakil, announced it was buying out its neighbour Nova-Ethio Potash.

Nova's lease has a large amount of water on it, important to the solution-mining process being used by Allana to extract the sylvinite resources that produce potash.

Joel Jackson, an analyst at BMO Capital Markets, says consolidation in the Danakil makes sense.

There are more than 80 potash projects in the world, says Jackson, and greenfield projects will be expensive to bring online.

"In Ethiopia, the geology is quite com- plex and the project sites are quite remote. There are some significant logistical challenges and financing hurdles," he explains.

Allana is completing a bankable feasibility study on its project, which has an indicated resource of 1.3bn tonnes of potash and could start producing by late 2014.

It plans to spend $800m on the project, including $130m on infrastructure and transportation.

"Our natural markets will be India, China and the Pacific Rim," says Richard Kelertas, Allana's senior vice president for corporate development.

Africa's demand for potash is also growing and it could become a significant buyer as production scales up in the next decade.

In September, Allana announced it had signed an MOU to the Djibouti Port and Free Zones authority to build a potash terminal at the Tadjourah port in Djibouti.

Ethiopia earned close to 700 million US dollars from various products exported in the first quarter of this Ethiopian budget year, according to the Ministry of Trade (MoT).

Ministry Deputy Public Relations Head, Abdurahman Seid, told WIC that the earned  699 million 78 thousand USD revenue was from Agricultural and Industrial products exported abroad.

He said the nation managed to attain 66 percent of its target in the first quarter mainly due to coffee price fluctuation and overcrowding at port.

According to Abdurahman, the revenue was generated from the export of coffee, oilseeds, pulses, spices, live animal, meat, cotton, flower, vegetable and fruit, leather and leather products, garments, among others.

Ethiopia earned over 752 million USD in the first quarter of last budget year, it was learnt.

Ethiopia earned over 39 million USD from conference tourism last Ethiopian budget year, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT).

Ministry International and Public Relations Directorate Director, Awoke Tenaw, told WIC the revenue was secured from the local, continental and international conferences the country hosted in the reported period.

Last year alone, some 49,685 participants attended the conferences conducted in the country with the majority held in Addis Ababa, the director said.

According to Awoke, conference participants stay in Ethiopia for 6 days and spend 121 USD per day on average for accommodation, shopping and other services. There are 426 tourist friendly hotels in the country, he added.

In order to improve the service quality in hotels, the Addis Ababa City Administration alone trained 3,000 hotel and tourism professionals last Ethiopian budget year, he said�
Efforts are underway to expand conference tourism to regional towns such as Adama, Bahirdar, Hawassa and Bishoftu so as to boost Ethiopia’s income from the sector.

Some 65 per cent of construction of Gibe III hydroelectric power plant has been finalized, project manager, Engineer Azeb Asnake said.

Engineer Azeb told a group of visiting journalists this week that the project launched with 32 billion Birr is well underway as per schedule. She said the project, which is one of big hydroelectric projects in the world, has capacity to generate 1,870MW.

Engineer Azeb said so far construction of tunnel, two dams and a bridge across the Omo River has been undertaken. The project will help build green economy through reducing the effect of carbon, she said.

Part of the budget for implementation of the project is allocated by the government while the balance is secured in loan from the government of China.

The project being undertaken in Wolaita and Dawro Zones of South Ethiopia Peoples' State is expected to be completed in June 2014. The project is believed to significantly contribute towards growth of power supply in the country.

Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, was given the African CEO of the Year on Tuesday on November 20, 2012 at a meeting of African CEOs in Geneva.

He was given the award for the stellar performance that Ethiopian Airlines had registered over the year.�

Ethiopian made an operating profit of 55 million US dollars and a net profit 40 million US dollars. It now has flights to 43 African countries and a growing international network including 28 flights a week to China.

Despite reduced demand overall in the airline industry due to the economic recession in Europe, Ethiopian managed to produce a 25 per cent increase in passenger numbers.
Its expansion is continuing in accordance with its 15 year development plan.  In a speech at the meeting, Tewolde attributed the success of the airline to good cost management, efficient aircraft utilization, good route network, good corporate governance and institutional independence.

In particular, he emphasized managerial autonomy as a key to success, noting that “the fallacy is that whatever government owns is a failure. It is not.”

In fact, he underlined that it was the full managerial autonomy of Ethiopian that had made it successful while the airline was still fully owned by the state.

LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. -- Eyasu Woldekirkos, 29, of Ethiopia was bed-ridden with a bad heart before life-saving surgery at Gwinnett Medical Center.

"He had a copy of an echocardiogram, which showed he had more severe heart disease than I've ever seen," said Atlanta-area cardiologist Dr. Michael Lipsitt.

Dr. Lipsitt met Eyasu during a medical mission trip to Ethiopia back in April.

Dr. Lipsitt was there to volunteer at a clinic run by the Atlanta-based nonprofit Jewish Healthcare International.

"He came to us and asked and JHI as an organization was able to help coordinate the transportation and logistics to get him over here for surgery," said Julie Kaminsky, Program Director at JHI.
On November 1, cardiothoracic surgeon Dr. David Langford performed a rare, complex triple valve replacement at Gwinnett Medical Center.

The damage to Eyasu's heart was even worse than Dr. Lipsitt imagined.

"It was obvious he was suffering from advanced heart disease involving multiple valves from rheumatic fever," he said.

Rheumatic fever has been nearly wiped away in the U.S., but not in Ethopia, where doctors told Eyasu he would not survive.

He talked to 11Alive's Jennifer Leslie through a translator, Muluken Messele, who traveled with him to the U.S.

"I was a dead person in Ethiopia," he said. "My hope of surviving is coming again to my heart. I'm very happy."

Eyasu is staying with Dr. Lipsitt and his wife Jeanne during his recovery. He's expected to return home to Ethiopia by the end of November.

"There's no words to express how you feel when something works and a dream kind of comes true," Dr. Lipsitt said.

He said he's thankful to JHI and U.S. Rep. Tom Price (R-Roswell), who helped secure travel documents for Eyasu.

Ethiopia assistant coach, Seyoum Kebede, has defended the decision to test new players at the Cecafa Challenge Cup, insisting it is still part of their Africa Cup of Nations preparations.

The East African nation are sending a squad which includes 14 uncapped players, of which three are based overseas.

Ethiopia's 21-man squad contains just one regular player from both the Nations Cup and World Cup campaigns.

"It's been 31 years since we last played at the Nations Cup and we have to start thinking about building the national team in a different way," Kebede explains.

Many were expecting the 1962 African champions to field their full-strength side as an opportunity to benefit from competitive games before heading to South Africa.
Instead the Ethiopians have opted to scour Europe for eligible players, whilst building a second string side as part of their preparations for the Cup of Nations.
Seyoum Kebede

Seyoum Kebede will take charge of Ethiopia for the Cecafa Cup.

"The players who've been part of the World Cup and Nations Cup campaigns need to recuperate," coach Kebede said.

"We don't want to take them immediately from the Cecafa and straight into the Nations Cup because maybe their performance might decline.

"We are also getting many contacts from Ethiopian-born players from different corners like Yusuf Salah from Sweden, who has arrived already and we would like to see him play at the Cecafa level.

"Together with the head coach we have presented this plan to the federation and suggest that this will help us for future campaigns."

The current head coach Sewnet Bishaw guided Ethiopia to the Cup of Nations in South Africa, but Kebede will be leading the coaching staff for the Cecafa Challenge Cup in Uganda.

"After a 31-year absence we are now part of history, and when you go to a competition like the Cup of Nations it is not to go and participate. We have to do something," Kebede added.

"Apart from the hosts, out of all the participants, Ethiopia will have the largest supporters in the (Cup of Nations) tournament because there is a huge community living there.

"We have to make them proud and that is why we are preparing to send a strong team to South Africa."

Kebede has said that even though his squad has no international experience they should not be underestimated.

"The team we are taking to Cecafa is also excellent and they have good experience at their clubs, so in Uganda they will get international exposure.

"They say we are in the group of death. South Sudan have players who are playing abroad and they are not different in standards to the other Sudan we know.

"Uganda have a good history in East Africa, and Kenya are also good, but I can assure you that our team is also not easy. We hope to be the surprise team of the tournament."

The Waliya Antelopes will open the Cecafa Challenge Cup on Saturday against neighbours South Sudan in the first match of Group A, which also includes Kenya and the host nation Uganda.

As part of Ethiopian government's plan to spur the country's industrialization, the Ministry of Industry (MoI) signed a deal worth over 636 million birr with 12 local private construction companies and a Chinese contractor, CGC Overseas Construction Companies Ltd.

, whereby the latter would undertake the civil work of the Bole-Lemi Industrial Zone.

According to the agreement, the private contractors will carry out the first phase of the construction which includes putting up infrastructure as well as warehouses that would accommodate various factories.

The ministry also said that the construction of the industry zone will attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).

In line with the nation's Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), the government is set to establish new factories in major towns including Dire Dawa, Kombolcha, Hawassa and others.
Textile, agro-processing, manufacturing, metallurgy and similar other strategic sectors have been accorded priority bu the GTP.

The overall cost of the industry zone project, which is estimated to be some 1.2 billion birr, will be financed by the Industry Development Fund and partially by Ministry of Finance and Economic Development (MoFED).

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation is to inaugurate on December I the Adama I Wind Farm project built at a cost of 117 million dollars on the outskirts of Adama town, 98 km east of Addis Ababa. The Adama I wind power project has an installed generation capacity of 51 MW. The wind farm has a total of 34 towers each with a generating capacity of 1.5 MW. 

The total cost of the project is 117 million dollars, of which 85 percent was covered by a loan secured from the Chinese EXIM Bank. The Ethiopian government financed the remaining 15 percent. A Chinese firm called Hydro China carried out the mechanical work while CGOC, another Chinese firm, undertook the civil work.

The wind farm started generation with a full swing last June. A 132 KV transmission line 4.5 km long has been built. Another transmission line - 33 KV and seven km long - that connects the Adama wind power project with the national grid was built. The construction of the substation has been also finalised.EEPCo has embarked on the Adama II Wind Farm Project .The second wind farm project is located between Adama and Modjo towns. According to EEPCo, the second Adama wind farm project will have 100 turbines and the construction will take 18 months. According to Miheret Debebe, EEPCo CEO, the project will be financed by EXIM Bank of China.

The Chinese firm Hydro China will undertake the construction of the wind farm with an installed generation capacity of 153 MW at a cost of 345 million dollars in partnership with another Chinese firm, CGCOC.

The second Adama wind farm project will have 102 units (turbines) each with a generation capacity of 1.5 MW. Officials of EEPCo said that they had identified a wind energy with a potential of generating 1200 MW of electric power around Adama, Eteya and Assela towns.

EEPCo has commissioned another wind power plant in Mekelle. The wind farm built on the outskirt of Mekelle, in a place called Ashegoda, has an installed generation capacity of 120 MW. Under the five - year Growth and Transformation Plan, Ethiopia plans to generate 890 MW from wind energy. Ethiopia has the potential to generate 60,000 MW from hydro, wind and geothermal energy sources. The country’s energy demand is growing at a rate of 34 percent.