The city administration of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia announced plans to build 90,000 condominium houses over the next three years as part of its plans for development.

The project is expected to benefit an estimated 450,000 residents of Addis Ababa according to Kassa Wolde-Senbet, Head of the Communication Affairs Office with the City administration. The housing development project has been able to build more than 97,000 condominium houses at more than 100 locations with 71,000 condos transferred to homeowners up to last Ethiopian year noted Kassa.

According to data from the Central Statistics Agency, which shows five family members living in one condo on average, an estimated 355,000 residents have benefited from the housing development project so far he explained.

It is expected that the construction of 20,330 residential and 2,192 commercial properties will completed and the properties will be transferred by the end of this year in Bole Ayat II, Lideta, Jomo II and Sumit sites Kassa said.

The completion of these projects will benefit an estimated 90,690 people he added.

There are more than 340,000 people registered for condominium housing in 2005 still waiting with just 71,000 having received homes according to Kassa.

Condos have been transferred as per lots drawn from the waiting list and to people who are displaced by the redevelopment programs inside the city he explained.

In addition to the condominium housing development projects there are also plans, expected to become effective next Ethiopian year, to facilitate 60% mortgage loans to people who save 40% of the cost of building a home over three years said Kassa.

source:2merkato

The administration is preparing to celebrate the 125th founding anniversary of the City.

The Addis Ababa City Administration Mayor expressed his administration readiness to bring about radical change in the city in the economic and political sectors.

In his report presented here on Friday to the Second Regular Session of the City Council, the Mayor, Kuma Demeksa said the administration is committed more than ever before to bring about tangible change in the stated sectors by fighting rent-seeking tendency.

He said massive efforts were launched towards economic and social development endeavors over the last six months.

Kuma said the city administration has also worked hard in the area of capacity building during the reported period.

Furthermore, efforts have also been made to make use of best practices and expand the horizons of change in all rounds.

The Mayor said creating job opportunity for unemployed persons in the city was the number one priority of the city administration in the first half budget year.

Accordingly, he said, through the provision of 199 million Birr loan, more than 33,000 people have got access to job during the stated period.

Moreover, the city administration has provided training to 628 street children in the making of cobble stone.

According to Kuma, the city administration has also finalized preparation to engage more than 2,000 street children in various businesses by providing relevant training.

He also mentioned that the city administration has also rated the standards of 9,000 small-scale and micro enterprises during the period in reference.

Referring to issues related to land utilization, Kuma said efforts have been made to tackle anti-development sentiments of certain quarters.

He also spoke of the growth in the coverage of water, electricity and road communication in city during the past six months, among others.

The session is expected to approve reports of two standing committees of the Council on the six-month performance, five bills and one regulation in its two-day deliberation.

The session is also expected to nominate Deputy Speaker of the City Council and members of standing committees of the council.(ENA)

Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were arrested in Ethiopia during fighting between government troops and rebels from the secessionist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

Tense negotiations are under way for the release of two Swedish journalists jailed by Ethiopia for terrorism in September.

A delegation from the European Union, of which Sweden is a member, is said to have already met Ethiopian prime minister Meles Zenawi.

EU and Swedish officials are this week expected to outline options to further press the Horn of Africa country to release the journalists, including a review of aid obligations.

“In the last couple of days, we have been discussing with Ethiopian officials and we hope to secure the release of the two reporters,” said a high-ranking EU official who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the issue. “Aid suspension is the last option.”

Ethiopia was granted 644 million euros ($838 million) in developmental and humanitarian aid for the period 2008 to 2013.

The country is one of the leading recipients of western aid, with the top donor, the US, giving out an estimated $1 billion annually.

Addis Ababa has, however, been more recently inclined to the East, with China and India having so far provided about $650 million in credit and investment.

Sweden is applying massive diplomatic pressure after the two reporters were in December sentenced to 11 years in prison.

Martin Schibbye and Johan Persson were arrested in Ethiopia during fighting between government troops and rebels from the secessionist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF).

Ethiopia accused them of being in the country illegally and assisting the ONLF rebels.

Castel's vineyard in southern Ethiopia, which plans to produce 750,000 bottles of wine, mostly for export. Wine is just one of many premium exports - including flowers, vegetables, leather goods, and coffee - bolstering Ethiopia's economy, one of the fastest growing in Africa. Ethiopia is looking to diversify its economy by exporting premium products in addition to raw goods. Jenny Vaughan

About three hours south of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, lays a sprawling, 120,000-hectare field planted with hundreds of thousands of grape vines in tightly packed rows. Workers in blue coveralls cultivate the vines, looking for pesky diseases, while men stand atop ladders with slingshots in tow to fend off hungry birds.

It’s a scene more commonly associated with France’s Bordeaux region or America’s Napa Valley than Ethiopia, which typically conjures notions of famine, poverty, and repression.

The vineyard is owned by French beverage company Castel, which plans to export half of its 750,000-thousand bottle production this year, making it Ethiopia’s first major wine exporter.

Wine is the newest in a series of premium exports bolstering Ethiopia’s economy, one of the fastest-growing in Africa, according to the African Economic Outlook Report. From leather and textiles to coffee, the diversification of Ethiopia’s economy is boosting development and transforming the country into an economic powerhouse.

“This is one of the first times that we’ve actually started adding value to our natural resources,” says Addis Alemayehou, former director of a USAID-funded project to boost value-added exports. “We’re a pioneer in regards with what we’ve been able to do.”

Evidence of booming industry is hard to ignore: textile and leather manufacturing factories are popping up across the country, the roads leading out of the capital are lined with large-scale plantations growing roses or strawberries for export, and advertisements for trade shows are more ubiquitous than ever before. And the numbers don’t lie: According to the Ministry of Industry, exports of leather and textiles, increasingly processed, have increased by 50 percent in the last decade.

In 2010, Ethiopia boasted an 11.4 percent overall growth rate (a number disputed by the International Monetary Fund, which estimates growth to be closer to 7.5 percent). The boost is part of an ambitious government-led strategy to achieve middle-income status by 2015.

Bolstering the export economy is a major part of the target, specifically increasing value-added exports to Ethiopia’s main markets – the Middle East, America, and Europe – that attract foreign currency, create jobs and encourage investment in public infrastructure, according to State Minister for Industry, Tadesse Haile.

“It’s a chain effect,” he says. “Value addition will give you capital and capital will give you growth.”

To attract investment for the production of premium commodities, the government offers a bevy of incentives, including five-year tax holidays, duty-free privileges, and a “70/30” scheme, where the government agrees to loan 70 percent of startup costs for companies looking to invest in the export sector.

“I don’t think there’s any government giving the kind of incentives that this government is giving in regards to encouraging firms, be it foreign or local, to get into the export sector,” says Addis.

These lures, along with a massive cheap labor pool (Ethiopia is Africa’s second-largest country with a population of 82 million, according to the World Bank) have boosted investment and caused exports to soar by 25 percent each year since 2002, says Mr. Tadesse.

“In the last 10 years, overall exports have been steadily growing,” says Tadesse. “It’s one of the bright futures for this country.”

source: csmonitor

Mr Tewolde Gebremariam, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines was awarded the Gold Award for African Airline of the Year 2011/2012 from the African Aviation News portal. Ethiopian Airlines earned this distinguished honor by receiving the highest number of votes from readers, industry officials, and followers of African Aviation. More than 20,000 total votes were registered in this year’s poll, both online and in various industry meetings and airline congress events. “We at Ethiopian Airlines are delighted and honored to receive such recognition for the work we do,” said Kagnew Asfaw, Ethiopian Airlines’ Director for the Americas. “Our non-stop Boeing 777LR from Washington Dulles has allowed us to offer improved service to all of Africa, and our recent membership in the Star Alliance will allow us to continue service innovation in the field.”

In the past 65 years, Ethiopian Airlines has become one of Africa’s most reputable airlines, and is unparalleled in the continent for its successful operations in industry service with maximum efficiency. The airline is at the forefront of modern technology, maintaining state-of-the-art fleets and providing excellent services to the pan-African network, as well as to 62 international destinations. In addition, Ethiopian Airlines continues to operate with the conscientious priority of making their Ethiopian Aviation Academy the best flying school in Africa.

Receiving the Gold Award from the African Aviation News portal is a welcome addition to the multitude of distinguished recognitions already bestowed upon the airline by various organizations throughout the industry, the latest of which was the “Airline of the Year Award” presented at the 43rd African Airlines Associations (AFRAA) Annual General Assembly in November 2011.

About Ethiopian Airlines

Ethiopian Airlines, one of the largest and fastest growing airlines in Africa, made its maiden flight to Cairo in 1946. With the recent addition of flight services to Pointe Noire, Ethiopian provides dependable services to 38 cities in Africa and a total of 62 international destinations spanning throughout four continents. Ethiopian won the NEPAD Transport Infrastructure Excellence Awards 2009 on November 25, 2009 and “Airline of the Year” award from the African Airlines Association (AFRAA) on November 24, 2009, bringing the total Awards honored since January 2009 to five. In August 2008, Ethiopian won “the 2008 Corporate Achievement Award” of Aviation & Allied Business for setting the pace towards the development and growth of the African aviation industry. Ethiopian is also the first African carrier to win the 2008 Brussels Airport Company Award in recognition of its distinguished long haul operations witnessed through the introduction of new routes, new products, and close cooperation with Brussels Airport in marketing activities.

Archaeologist Louise Schofield stands in front of the mine, believed to have belonged to the Queen of Sheba, in northern Ethiopia. Photograph: The Tigray Trust

A British excavation has struck archaeological gold with a discovery that may solve the mystery of where the Queen of Sheba of biblical legend derived her fabled treasures.

Almost 3,000 years ago, the ruler of Sheba, which spanned modern-day Ethiopia and Yemen, arrived in Jerusalem with vast quantities of gold to give to King Solomon. Now an enormous ancient goldmine, together with the ruins of a temple and the site of a battlefield, have been discovered in her former territory.

Louise Schofield, an archaeologist and former British Museum curator, who headed the excavation on the high Gheralta plateau in northern Ethiopia, said: “One of the things I’ve always loved about archaeology is the way it can tie up with legends and myths. The fact that we might have the Queen of Sheba’s mines is extraordinary.”

An initial clue lay in a 20ft stone stele (or slab) carved with a sun and crescent moon, the “calling card of the land of Sheba”, Schofield said. “I crawled beneath the stone – wary of a 9ft cobra I was warned lives here – and came face to face with an inscription in Sabaean, the language that the Queen of Sheba would have spoken.”

On a mound nearby she found parts of columns and finely carved stone channels from a buried temple that appears to be dedicated to the moon god, the main deity of Sheba, an 8th century BC civilisation that lasted 1,000 years. It revealed a victory in a battle nearby, where Schofield excavated ancient bones.

Although local people still pan for gold in the river, they were unaware of the ancient mine. Its shaft is buried some 4ft down, in a hill above which vultures swoop. An ancient human skull is embedded in the entrance shaft, which bears Sabaean chiselling.

Sheba was a powerful incense-trading kingdom that prospered through trade with Jerusalem and the Roman empire. The queen is immortalised in Qur’an and the Bible, which describes her visit to Solomon “with a very great retinue, with camels bearing spices, and very much gold and precious stones … Then she gave the king 120 talents of gold, and a very great quantity of spices.”

Although little is known about her, the queen’s image inspired medieval Christian mystical works in which she embodied divine wisdom, as well as Turkish and Persian paintings, Handel’s oratorio Solomon, and Hollywood films. Her story is still told across Africa and Arabia, and the Ethiopian tales are immortalised in the holy book the Kebra Nagast.

Hers is said to be one of the world’s oldest love stories. The Bible says she visited Solomon to test his wisdom by asking him several riddles. Legend has it that he wooed her, and that descendants of their child, Menelik – son of the wise – became the kings of Abyssinia.

Schofield will begin a full excavation Schofield said that as she stood on the ancient site, in a rocky landscape of cacti and acacia trees, it was easy to imagine the queen arriving on a camel, overseeing slaves and elephants dragging rocks from the mine.

once she has the funds and hopes to establish the precise size of the mine, whose entrance is blocked by boulders.

Tests by a gold prospector who alerted her to the mine show that it is extensive, with a proper shaft and tunnel big enough to walk along.

Schofield was instrumental in setting up the multinational rescue excavations at the Roman city of Zeugma on the Euphrates before it was flooded for the Birecik dam. Her latest discovery was made during her environmental development work in Ethiopia, an irrigation, farming and eco-tourism project on behalf of the Tigray Trust, a charity she founded to develop a sustainable lifestyle for 10,000 inhabitants around Maikado, where people eke out a living from subsistence farming.

Sean Kingsley, archaeologist and author of God’s Gold, said: “Where Sheba dug her golden riches is one of the great stories of the Old Testament. Timna in the Negev desert is falsely known as ‘King Solomon’s Mines’, but anything shinier has eluded us.

“The idea that the ruins of Sheba’s empire will once more bring life to the villages around Maikado is truly poetic and appropriate. Making the past relevant to the present is exactly what archaeologists should be doing.”

source: theguardian

Addis Ababa, February 10 (WIC) – Financial resources required to construct the national railway network set under the Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP) is not much of a concern, says director of Ethiopian Railways Corporation (ERC).

By the end of the GTP period, Ethiopia plans to construct a 2,395km national railway network. Under the GTP, the government anticipates to complete 1,807km of the project by 2014/15.

In an exclusive interview with WIC, Dr Getachew Betru, director of ERC, squashed fears of financial constraints to achieve the multi-billion dollar projects.

“At this moment, finance is not much of a concern,” Dr Getachew told WIC.

The government aims to complete the 656km Addis Ababa – Dire Dawa – Dewale (Djibouti) route, the 556km Awash – Weldiya – Mekelle route, the 256km Wediya – Semera – Galafi (Djibouti) and the 339km Addis Ababa – Ejaji – Bedelle route.

According to the director, ERC has paid the advance payment of its lucrative project of the Addis Ababa – Djibouti railway, which is expected to generate 1.3 billion dollars annual revenue when completed.

“Any contractor or policy bank aware of this lucrative project would have no problem [to extend loans],” Dr Getachew said.

This project, expected to be completed in three and a half years, will consume 1.2 billion dollars. About 40 percent of the project cost will be financed from the coffers of the federal government while the remaining 60 percent will be financed through loans from China.

The Chinese state owned enterprise, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation is contracted to construct the 340km-long Me’eso-Dire Dawa-Dewale project, while another Chinese firm, China Railway Eryuan Engineering Group, will construct the remaining 316km long railway from Addis Ababa to Me’eso.

The director said other projects planned under the GTP are also progressing well.

“We have secured some 600 million dollars in bilateral relations from Indian for the Mekelle-Awash project so we have no problems there,” he said. “And as we progress, all issues will be resolved.”

This project is also expected to be completed in three and a half years.

ERC recently launched the construction of a 34.25km Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (LRT). The LRT, expected to be completed in 30 months, is another project planned to be completed within the GTP period.

"Ethiopia at the beginning of the '90s used to be one of the worst countries in terms of participation rate. Now participation rate in primary education is 86 percent - grades one to eight.”

Ethiopia is among the few on track to achieve the goal of universal primary education by 2015, according to VOA.

“I can say we made [an] education revolution in the history of this country,” Education Ministry Spokesman Petros Woldegiorgis told VOA.

Ethiopia, which had fewer than 2,000 primary schools 15 years ago now has 28,000, and is on the verge of providing access to education for all of its 20 million school age children, he said.

“We gave great priority for education,” he said. “Why we are doing this as we know the value of education. Therefore, the huge investment was made for the education sector by this government.”

Development aid experts say Ethiopia has devoted as much as one quarter of all public expenditures to schools during the past few years. This commitment is prompting international donors to pump in an estimated $150 million a year to support the effort.

The World Bank’s senior education specialist in Ethiopia, Rajendra Joshi, says the investment is beginning to pay off.

“If we look at the progress toward achieving universal primary education from 2003 to 2009-10, it increased by 40 percentage points, which is huge,” said Joshi.

“Ethiopia at the beginning of the ’90s used to be one of the worst countries in terms of participation rate. Now participation rate in primary education is 86 percent – grades one to eight.”

In its quest to meet the goal of education for all, Ethiopia has also established mobile classrooms to travel with nomadic herders who roam the countryside in search of grazing land for their animals.

Education Ministry Spokesman Petros Woldegiorgis says being poor should not be a nation’s excuse for failing to make education accessible to all of its citizens.

"These two journalists violated Ethiopia's laws. No journalist can escape charges if rules are broken," Meles said.

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on Wednesday Ethiopia could pardon politicians and journalists arrested under a 2009 anti-terrorism law, but dismissed opposition criticism he was using the law to clamp down on dissent.

Rights groups say the government has used the law to crack down on its opponents, saying 150 opposition politicians and supporters have been detained under its provisions in the past three years.

Zenawi rejected the complaints, telling parliament: “All trials are transparent, all suspects are allowed access to lawyers and some have even been freed when no evidence was found to justify their arrests.”

“But we would also consider granting clemency if culprits admit guilt and to making mistakes,” he said in response to questions from lawmakers.

Ethiopia passed the bill after bombings in a number of towns and subsequently branded as terrorist organisations the secessionist Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), the exiled Ginbot 7 movement, al Qaeda and Somalia’s al Shabaab militants.

Meles dismissed rights groups’ complaints that the scope of the anti-terrorism law was too broad, saying it was copied “word-for-word” from those of Western countries.

“We haven’t changed a word, a comma even, as those laws emanate from countries with vast democratic experience,” he said.

JOURNALISTS CANNOT ESCAPE THE LAW

Ten journalists are among those charged under the anti-terrorism law, including two Swedes sentenced in December to 11 years in prison for aiding the outlawed ONLF and entering the country illegally.

Reporter Martin Schibbye and photographer Johan Persson say they were in Ethiopia’s Ogaden province to investigate the activities of an oil company that bought licences in Ethiopia in 2009 from Sweden’s Lundin Petroleum.

Meles compared the case to that of Britain’s phone-hacking scandal, which led to the arrest of several journalists and prompted Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. to close its best-selling Sunday tabloid, News of the World.

“These two journalists violated Ethiopia’s laws. No journalist can escape charges if rules are broken,” Meles said.

“Phone-tapping is criminal enough to have journalists stand trial, let alone aiding a terrorist group and entering a country illegally,” he said.

Rights groups have called for their release and Sweden, the European Union and United States have expressed concern. The two Swedes are seeking clemency rather than lodging an appeal, in the hope of securing a quicker release.

During the last four days, some of the Ethiopia’s finest and most talented jazz musicians and selected bands from abroad have been playing in the “Acacia Jazz Festival & World Music”. It is one of the first “Outdoor Jazz” festivals to be held in Addis Ababa and it is designed to entertain not only jazz lovers but also their families.

The music of Ethiopia is diverse, with very different Ethiopia’s ethnic groups having unique sounds. Ethiojazz is one of the most famous. Born from the mix between jazz and traditional Amharic Rhythm (five-notes scale involving complex circular rhythm patterns).

Gyrum Mezmur, is a musician and one of the organizers of the festival. He explains: “This is the third edition of the Festival. You can listen to various styles of global music, where Ethiopian and international musicians foster cultural exchange”.

Among all the bands we can emphasize some like:

Addis Acoustic Project, Ethiopian band which unfolds Ethiopian music from the past in a contemporary way with influences of traditional East-African, jazz and latin.

Munit&Jorg, who blends of Ethiopian Acoustic Soul Music with voice and guitar.

Ethiocolor is an Ethiopian cultural group with interactive dance & vocals where his leader, Melaku, is the most famous dancer of Eskesta, an impressive traditional shoulder dance from Ethiopia.

Other bands from abroad participated, like Dead Capo from Spain, Dainus Pulauskas Group from Lithuania, Yuri Honing Acoustic Quartet from Netherlands or Teodross Avery Group from USA.

Finally, the days of the festival were completed with the performance of two of the most famous Ethiopian vocalist of the Ethiopian musical history. Mahmoud Ahmed, the living legend who won of the BBC’s World Music Awards 2007, and Alemayehu Eshete.

source: rnw