The World Bank has sanctioned a $375 million International Development Association credit to support Ethiopia’s goal of achieving universal electricity access by 2025.

In November 2017, Ethiopia, with support from the World Bank, launched its National Electrification Programme (NEP) to strategically shift from infrastructure development to the delivery of adequate, reliable and affordable electricity services.

The NEP is a sustainable, transparent, and locally grounded electrification roadmap – driven by a customer-centric approach. The programme has the potential to leverage additional multi-donor financing and involvement in the sector.

The Ethiopia Electrification Programme approved last week will directly support the NEP, which requires an estimated investment of $1.5 billion over the first five years, and will provide one million last-mile household connections.

“Through this programme, we hope to facilitate the provision of electricity services to all Ethiopians nationwide by 2025.  This means that children will be able to study at night, health facilities will be able to provide life-saving services and businesses will be able to operate optimally,” said Carolyn Turk, World Bank country director for Ethiopia.

National electrification programme

Specifically, the programme supports the three pillars of the NEP: grid electrification, off-grid services, and sector capacity and institutional reform. This holistic approach is intended to optimise electrification efforts to maximise the development impact of electricity services, irrespective of where someone happens to live.

“While the immediate focus will be on financing new connections, the programme will also help Ethiopia strengthen its energy institutions and the overall sector so that the benefits of expanded electricity services can continue for years to come,” said Riccardo Puliti, senior director for energy and extractives at the World Bank.

The programme will be implemented by the Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Electricity as well as the Ethiopia Electric Utility and disbursement of funds are linked to the achievement of tangible and specific results.

Waste management – the collection, management and disposal of solid waste – is one of the biggest challenges facing many African countries.

For the last fifty years, the Koshe dump site has been the only landfill in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia.

Landslide in 2017 prompts government to take action

In 2017, a landslide on the dump site killed more than a hundred people, prompting the government to take action. Now Koshe is being turned into a waste-to-energy plant transforming the site and revolutionising the city’s approach to waste management. The plant will incinerate 1 400 tons of waste per day – about 80 percent of the city’s rubbish. The electricity that is generated will supply Addis Ababa with 30 percent of its household electricity needs while meeting European standards on air emissions.

The facility, which is the result of a partnership between the Government of Ethiopia and a consortium of international companies, is the first of its kind in Africa. Zerubabel Getachew, Ethiopia’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said the Reppie Waste-to-Energy project is just one component of Ethiopia’s broader strategy to address pollution and embrace renewable energy across all sectors of the economy.

“We hope that Reppie will serve as a model for other countries in the region, and around the world.”

In waste-to-energy incineration plants, rubbish is burned in a combustion chamber. The resulting heat is used to boil water until it turns to steam, which drives a turbine generator that produces electricity.

In cities where land is in short supply, “waste-to-energy” incineration saves precious space, generates electricity, prevents the release of toxic chemicals into groundwater, and reduces the release of methane – a potent greenhouse gas generated in landfills – into the atmosphere.

Waste incineration is popular in Europe

Waste incineration is popular in Europe, where nearly one-quarter of all municipal solid waste is incinerated. France has 126 waste-to-energy plants, while Germany has 121 and Italy 40.

The project is the result of a partnership between the Government of Ethiopia and a consortium of international companies: Cambridge Industries Limited (Singapore), China National Electric Engineering and Ramboll, a Danish engineering firm. The consortium was established to design, construct and in some cases own waste-to-energy facilities customised for Sub-Saharan Africa. Reppie is the first of what the consortium hopes will be a series of such facilities in major cities across the region.

https://risingsunchatsworth.co.za/108256/enviro-monday-ethiopia-leads-africas-first-waste-energy-plant/

The Walloon Agency for Investments & Export (AWEX) will lead a mission to Ethiopia & Djibouti on the week of the 21^st of May 2018.  The mission is led by the AWEX and is opened to companies from other parts of Belgium. A fact-finding mission is when a group of business people travel from Belgium to another country in order to get more information about the country & its business environment.

During the fact-finding mission the Belgian company will be able to:

• Travel in an organised framework,
• meet local business people,
• meet Chambers of Commerce,
• meet local authorities and hear about their priorities
• learn about the business environment
• meet the Belgians working in the country,
• get information on specific segment
• visit industrial parks & production facilities
• learn some aspects of the local culture
• liaise with the Embassy,
• meet other Belgians in the mission interested in the country (synergy effect)
• get financial support for their prospection (the trade agencies reimburse a part of the travel expenses & hotel expenses)

 

ECONOMIC OVERVIEW – ETHIOPIA and DJIBOUTI

ETHIOPIA

Ethiopia has a GDP of $72.374 billion as of 2016 and a population of 102,403,196 according to World Bank’s economic outlook. The GDP growth can be attributed to the construction (2.1%), manufacturing (0.9%) and services, trade and hotels sector (2.2%) as seen below.

*Ethiopia economic update 2016 World Bank

Total investment contributed 5.9 percentage points to GDP growth in 2015/16, while private consumption growth contribution was 1.5 percentage points. The contribution of public consumption increased significantly in 2016/17.

Ethiopia, according to a World Bank estimate that puts the East African country’s 2017 growth at 8.5% and projects 8.2% growth in 2018, ranking second only to Ghana (8.3%).

Ethiopia is the 2nd most populous country in Africa and the 12th most populous on earth.

• The rapid growth isn’t new. Ethiopia’s economy grew by an average of 10.5%/yr. between 2005 and 2015.
• Ethiopia’s economy is concentrated in the services and agriculture sectors. The World Bank estimates that of the 10.8% average annual growth recorded by Ethiopia between 2004 and 2014, half came from services, like hospitality and transportation, which was mostly a result of country’s urbanization. Agriculture, meanwhile, accounted for 3.6% of the growth during the period. Improved agriculture production was mostly a result of the adaptation of improved seeds and chemical fertilizer. Manufacturing, though a small portion of the economy, is burgeoning, growing at more than 10% per year. A recent study by the Center for Global Development, a US think tank, concluded that Ethiopia was the most likely country in Africa to become the “New China”.
• China built Addis Ababa’s airport, the ring road around the city, a major highway, the Headquarters of the African Union, the light rail project, the new rail & invested in energy (alleged financing of the 1.8 Billion Power Turbines of the GERD dam)
• In its latest global forecast, the IMF projected that Ethiopian GDP per capita would expand at an annual pace of 6.2% through 2022
• By 2050, the UN expects the country to grow to 190 million people, from 100 million today, making it among the fastest-growing large countries in terms of population.
• As of 2000, 56% of Ethiopians lived on less than $1.25 per day. That percentage dropped to 31% by 2011 (the latest year Ethiopia’s poverty level was assessed by the World Bank)
• Ten years ago, mobile phones were virtually non-existent in Ethiopia despite being fairly common in some parts of Africa. Now there are 50 cell phones for every 100 Ethiopians — low compared to more developed countries but high when you consider only 24% of the country had access to electricity as of 2013.

DJIBOUTI

Has a GDP of US $1.727 billion and a population of 942,333. Thanks to the construction, transit trade and transhipment with Ethiopia, the improved Port-related capital-intensive activities and transport infrastructure (account for more than 80 % of Djibouti’s port activities) between Ethiopia and Djibouti, have also partly contributed to the GDP according to World Bank’s economic outlook. This has led to an attraction of large public and foreign investments into the country.

Djibouti is mostly barren with very little development in agriculture and the industrial sector, and the country’s growth is expected to be at risk due to delays in the construction and the lack of efficiency in the management of the new infrastructures, security developments in neighbouring countries, or in the Red Sea, and domestic social and political instability. Inflation is imminent with the expected demand of housing and services sectors.

 

On 26 February, Ethiopia reaffirmed its open-door policy for refugees that are flocking into the country, mainly from its unsettled neighbouring countries.

The Ethiopian refugee agency (ARRA) said that even though the country presently shelters more than 900,000 refugees, it will maintain its open-door policy towards refugees and “continue to receive new arrivals from several of its neighbours, notably from South Sudan, Somalia, Eritrea, Sudan and Yemen.”

Ethiopia, which is home to the second largest refugee population in Africa next to Uganda, further affirmed its commitment to improving refugee lives through the Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) and the Nine Significant Pledges it has made in September 2016.

“As a country proud for its long-standing history of hosting refugees and home to the second largest refugee population in Africa, our commitment to improving refugee lives will continue unabated in light of the CRRF and the Nine Significant Pledges we made in September 2016,” Zeynu Jemal, Deputy Director of Ethiopian Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA), told journalists.

Jemal also revealed Ethiopia’s plan to formulate a strategic plan that envisaged to help refugees both through support packages and prevention of challenges towards bringing lasting solutions.

“We are now in the process of formulating a Ten-Year Strategic Plan to comprehensively respond to the multifaceted needs of refugees that is creating strong linkages between humanitarian assistance, development and of course peace-building,” Jemal said.

The Ethiopian government, through ARRA and other governmental institutions, is currently implementing a program of protection and hospitality of refugees in several refugee camps across the country.

The protection program guarantees, among other things, education for children and youth, health services and the distribution of basic needs, food and security.

Filippo Grandi, United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in his recent visit to Ethiopia’s Gameblla regional state, which is housing most of the South Sudanese refugees, had praised efforts made by the Ethiopian government in handling the regional refugee crisis.

“Ethiopia is a very good model of how a country with limited resources and a great challenge of its own keeps its doors open, its arms open to people from neighbouring countries that are in trouble and seek protection here,” Grandi said during his visit.

Discover our interview with Anna Dersie, a travel photographer who fell in love with Ethiopia.

With her husband Teshu, she created Ethiopia Traditions Travel Tours to build a bridge between Ethiopia and Belgium and offer tourists an authentic travel experience.

Anna and Teshu want to offer a true in-depth insight of Ethiopia and transform their travel into a lifetime experience. In addition, they are dedicated to develop a responsible and community-based tourism to benefit local communities and enhance visitors’ experience through exchange with local people.

In the video, she discusses the benefits and challenges of tourism in Ethiopia as well as her experience working in the country.

Save the Date – Workshop Ethiopie – la Terre des Origines

Voir dans votre navigateur

H.E. Meaza G/Medhin, State Minister of Tourism,
H.E. Teshome Toga Chanka, Ambassador of Ethiopia in Brussels, 
Mr. Yohannes Tilahun, CEO of The Ethiopian Tourism Organisation and
Mr. Bisrat Tedla, Area Manager Ethiopian Airlines in Belgium

vous invitent le 13 mars
pour un trade & press workshop 
pour découvrir l’Ethiopie,
la Terres des origines.

Saviez-vous que l’Ethiopie …

• est le pays où tout a commencé … Vous avez déjà entendu paler de Lucy?
• a une ère personnelle et propre écriture?
• n’a jamais été colonisé?
• est le berceau de notre café?
• the place to be is for trail runs?

L’Ethiopie est un melting-pot fascinant de la culture unique, de la nature et des animaux indigènes. Pour ces raisons et bien d’autres, l’Éthiopie est La Terre des Origines qui vaut l’effort d’être (re)découvert.
 
En collaboration avec l’ambassade d’Éthiopie à Bruxelles, l’office du tourisme éthiopien, l’Ethiopian Tour Operator Association, Ethiopian Airlines, la plate-forme africaine de l’Université de Gand et certains des principaux touropérateurs belges, nous organisons une soirée d’information fascinante:

• le mardi 13 mars de 19h à 21h30
• dans le foyer de l’Auditorium Oehoe (Bloc E),
  Faculté des Sciences de la bio-ingénierie de l’Université de Gand
  Coupure Links 653, 9000 Gand

Voir sur Google-Maps »

Vous verrez que c’est facilement accessible:

• en voiture (près de la jonction E17 et E40 – parking gratuit sur le campus)
• en transports en commun (10 min. en tram de la gare de Gand Saint-Pièrre)

Gardez cette soirée libre
 ou inscrivez-vous tout de suite >>  

Merci à notre partneaires:

 

Bien cordialement,

Axel De Corte

+32 (0)476 89 53 26 
axel@koombanabay.eu
www.koombanabay.eu

Authorities in Ethiopia’s Somali region have released about 1,500 people from prison. They include people arrested under Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism law and other criminals.

Up to 6,000 prisoners across Ethiopia have now been released within the last month. Last week, the government freed several prominent critics and opposition leaders, including journalist and blogger Eskinder Nega