The port of Massawa is ready to serve Ethiopia’s import and export commodities, the Port Administration said.

According to Head of Massawa Port Administration Layne Asfahaley, the port has gone through major renovation process to enable it to provide service for Ethiopia.

A delegation of Ethiopian business community has paid a visit on Friday to the Port of Massawa to assess the situation of the port that has been abandoned by Ethiopia for more than two decades.

Founded in the 19th century and initially developed by the Italian and British colonial powers, the Port of Massawa is the primary port for import-export of goods for Eritrean market.

The port was also a major gate for Ethiopia’s import-export trade until the border war that broke out between the two countries in 1998.

Since then, Ethiopia has been primarily using the port of Djibouti to access the international market. 95 per cent of Ethiopia’s imports and exports transit through the port of Djibouti.

However, the recent rapprochement between the two countries has led the way for the re-establishment of ties including port services, transportation, among others.

The port is equipped with the necessary facilities and skilled labour and is ready to restart its service for Ethiopia’s import-export commodities shortly, the Head said.

“The Port Administration outfitted and refurbished the port facilities to the very interest of Ethiopia’s import-export commodities, and we are considering further expansion of the port following the vast demand …we are ready to serve Ethiopia.”

Former President of the Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (ECCSA), Solomon Afewerk said there is a huge opportunity that can make both countries economically inter-reliant.

“The use of the Port of Massawa can pave the way for further cooperation and mutual benefit of the two neighbouring countries, but subsequent to the demand from Ethiopia, there should be expansion and development of the port to accommodate the vast flow of import-export freights,” he said.

Habtom Gebreamlak, an industrialist and importer-exporter, said that he is ready to use the Ports of Assab and Massawa for his factory in Kombolchan, northern Ethiopia.

“If it is equipped with the necessary logistics and facilities, the Port of Massawa is the nearest port for northern Ethiopia, so it has paramount importance regarding cost and time,” he said.

Another Ethiopian businessman, Yonnas Mekonin told ENA that the Port of Massawa, which is near to Tigrai and Amhara regions, would reduce the long journey to port.

“However, the port needs huge investment and refurbishment. If so it can provide extensive port services for the northern part of Ethiopia, which in turn relieve the congestion in the port of Djibouti,” he said.

The ports of  Massawa and Assab are a potential alternative for Ethiopia due to its nearness to the northern parts of the country.

Ethiopia’s political and economic reforms have raised confidence in the ‘hard currency’ market, helping to close a once yawning gap between the official and black market exchange rates for its birr currency.

As cash – in some cases briefcases full of dollars – pours into banks, local businesses say they are finally feeling relief from a foreign exchange crunch that had seen some segments of the economy grind to a halt.

Businesses and analysts in the capital Addis Ababa noted on Friday 20 July that the birr was trading on the parallel market around 28 to the dollar, close to parity with the official rate and 25 per cent firmer than three months ago.

“All of a sudden this is happening,” said one real estate agent whose business had come to a standstill over the past year because the construction sector could not access dollars to import building materials.

“I’m not sure of the source of the foreign exchange, but psychologically the scarcity mentality has changed overnight,” the woman, who asked not to be named, said.

In a televised address earlier this week, 41-year-old reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed called upon those hoarding hard currency to deposit it in banks.

The call, which has come to be known locally as a “hard currency amnesty”, came with a warning: those who refused would be tracked down.

The government also opened a diaspora fund bank account and is asking Ethiopians abroad to contribute. And the United Arab Emirates last month agreed to deposit $1 billion in Ethiopia’s central bank.

Though it’s among Africa’s fastest-growing economies, Ethiopia’s export sector – mainly garment manufacturing and agricultural produce – has struggled to take off, and the economy is not generating enough dollars to pay for imports.

A decade-long infrastructure push aimed at industrialising the overwhelmingly agrarian nation to create jobs has as a side-effect exacerbated the dollar shortage.

Since earlier this year, essential items including insulin, blood pressure medication and infant formula have become scarce. The dollar shortage has also dissuaded international firms from investing out of fear they will struggle to repatriate profits.

That could now change.

On 19 July, Abiy’s newly appointed central bank governor, Yinager Dessie, pledged to meet the business community regularly and pledged that their main concerns – scant access to credit and foreign exchange – were government priorities.

Businesses in the capital said their letters of credit, which banks had declined to honour for months, were finally being approved.

Source; Reuters

AFRICA’S LEADING airline group, Ethiopian Airlines has secured top prize at the 2018 World Airline Awards being named the ‘Best Airline in Africa’ for the second time.

The award for ‘Best Airline in Africa’ was presented to Ethiopian Airlines at an award ceremony held at London’s iconic Langham Hotel yesterday (Jul 17) in recognition of its continued rapid growth, increased profitability and its outstanding contribution to aviation development in Africa.

Group CEO Ethiopian Airlines, Mr Tewolde GebreMariam said: “We are thrilled to win the ‘African Airline of the Year Award for the second time. It is a testimony to the continued hard work of our committed team and the successful implementation of our airlines fast, profitable and sustainable growth plan, Vision 2025. We are highly honoured to receive this recognition from SKYTRAX.”

Ethiopian Airlines currently serves 55 African cities, the most extensive network in the continent, connecting them with each other and to more than 110 international destinations in Europe, the Middle East, Asia and the Americas using state of the art aircraft offering superior on-board aircraft such as the B787s and A350s.

Commenting on the Awards, Edward Plaisted, CEO of Skytrax said: “Passengers have voted Ethiopian Airlines Africa’s premier carrier for a second successive year, and this is a simply fabulous achievement for the airline management and frontline staff.”

Ethiopia is open to selling off a host of state-owned firms, partially or entirely, as part of major economic reforms designed to “unleash the potential of the private sector”, its information minister said on 18 July.

Ahmed Shide said the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, which has announced a slew of shake-ups since coming into office in April, would retain majority holdings in the state-run airline, logistics, telecoms and energy companies.

Everything else, from hotels and sugar farming to cement production, could be up for sale, with the exception of the tightly controlled financial services sector, whose fate was yet to be decided, he said.

“The main objective of this is to encourage private sector development in the country,” Ahmed said, making clear that the nation was turning the page on decades of reliance on the state to drive economic growth.

“The role of the private sector is very fundamental. We did a lot of state development projects. Now we need to unleash the potential of the private sector,” he said.

Ahmed did not give a time-frame for the privatisations but said the government was tendering for advice from global business consultancies including McKinsey and PwC.

“The detailed planning is not complete but precautions will be made not to have mistakes,” he said. “So we will do it with caution,” he said.

Having come to power less than four months ago, Abiy has turned the nation on its head with his bold plans to reshape politics and the economy.

Although it has been one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies, Ethiopia’s export sector, mainly garment manufacturing and farming, has struggled to take off. The economy is thus not generating enough dollars to pay for imports.

Kenya’s Safaricom is poised to roll out its popular M-Pesa mobile money service, sources say, raising hopes the technology that has changed the face of Kenya’s economy since 2007 will do the same in Ethiopia.

“It’s really going to alleviate their liquidity constraints,” said Jacques Nel of Cape Town-based consultancy NKC African Economics. “People will be able to start using this electronic currency and won’t have to waste time looking for birr or foreign currency,” Nel said.

 

Ethiopia will also reopen its embassy in neighbouring Eritrea at a yet to be announced date, the country’s Minister for Government Communications Affairs, Ahmed Shide, said in a tweet.

The Minister cited an official of the foreign affairs ministry as stating that aside from the reopening of the embassy in Asmara, Ethiopia was also working to fully implement the terms of a recently signed peace deal between the two nations.

Eritrea opened its embassy in Addis Ababa on Monday 16 July after the facility was closed down two decades ago when the two countries engaged in a border war that killed thousands.

The reopening was witnessed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki – it was part of Afwerki’s engagement on the last day of his historic visit / his return to Addis Ababa after two decades.

Abiy made a historic visit to Asmara with the two leaders signing the five-point agreement chiefly among them, ending the state of war that existed between them.

Afwerki’s trip was to reciprocate the gesture of Abiy to Asmara. Both leaders were very well received on their respective trips.

Already, Ethiopia’s national carrier is to start daily flights to Asmara. The airline is also set to take a 20% stake in Eritrean Airlines according to reports.

The first commercial flight to Eritrea in two decades departed this morning from Addis Ababa, barely a week after the two nations ended their conflict following a whirlwind peace process.

Ethiopian Airlines said that flight ET0312 to Asmara had departed Bole International Airport, after a ceremony inaugurating the historic flight.

“This day marks a unique event in the history of Ethiopia and Eritrea,” the airline’s chief executive Tewolde GebreMariam said at the ceremony.

Overwhelming demand saw the African aviation giant operate two flights within 15 minutes of each other.

“The fact that we are taking two flights at a time shows the eagerness of the people,” said GebreMariam.

Champagne was served to passengers in all classes, who were also given roses shortly before take-off.

Once a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea seceded in 1993 after a long independence struggle. A row over the demarcation of the shared border triggered a brutal 1998-2000 conflict which left 80,000 people dead before evolving into a bitter cold war.

In a surprise move, Ethiopia’s new reformist Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed paid a historic visit to Eritrea, during which he and President Isaias Afwerki declared an official end to the war. Afwerki reciprocated with a state visit to Ethiopia just days later.

Eritrea reopened its embassy in Ethiopia today in further evidence of a rapid thaw between two countries that a week ago ended two decades of military stalemate over a border war in which tens of thousands died.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrea’s President Isaias Afwerki re-opened the embassy in the capital Addis Ababa in a brief ceremony. One week ago the leaders declared their “state of war” over and President Isaias spent the weekend in Ethiopia.

The rapprochement could help Ethiopia, a landlocked country of 100 million people with the largest economy in East Africa, by making access to Eritrea’s ports possible. Better ties could help Eritrea overcome decades of relative isolation.

The leaders jointly raised the Eritrean flag inside a newly refurbished embassy as a military band played Eritrea’s anthem. They then toured the building and looked at its furniture and two rusting cars that belonged to Eritrea’s last ambassador.

In a tweet Eritrea’s information minister, Yemane Meskel described the reopening of the embassy as “yet another milestone in the robust and special ties of peace and friendship both countries are cultivating with earnestness in these momentous times.”

Isaias left Addis Ababa to return home soon after re-opening the embassy.