Ethiopia’s tourist spots are seeing a surge in the pace of new visitors, according to tour operators and hoteliers. Visitor traffic at the country’s northern, southern and eastern major attractions show a massive up in number from the same time last year.

Monpays Tour, an Addis-Ababa based agency, confirmed that the business has been remarkable over the past five months since the Ethiopian New Year. “We have a busy and successful season,” general manager and owner of Monpays Tour, Yared Mulugeta, told Ethiopia Observer. Similarly, Tema Tour has also said “a very good year,” according to the owner Teddy Solomon. Other Francophone and Italiaphone companies, Desire Tours, Ava Tour, Ton Reve Ethiopia, Green Land Tours and Lake Tana have confirmed the increase in tourists. Arrivals and interest are significantly up in Simien Mountains National Park and Bale Mountain, according to the Debark-based Walia Guide Association and Dinsho-based Nyala Guides Association. Many tourists and companies are acknowledging the improvements of facilities and the provision of cook in the Dinsho Park, the Association said. Guides in Harar town confirmed the increase in tourists.

The increase in visitors has kept the hotel industry in Ethiopia chugging along. In Tigray region, Gherlata Lodge, Korkor Lodge, Agoro Lodge are experiencing high occupancy of around 80 percent. Hoteliers in different parts of Ethiopia also reported rising bookings for the touristic season, Kuriftu Resorts, Abay Minch Lodge in Bahir Dar and Buska Lodge in Turmi, a town in Omo Valley.

This growth was mainly driven by the continuous increase of arrivals from traditional European markets. France, Italy, German, the United Kingdom, Spain, and Israel are top sources of tourism, according to agencies. Nahome Admassu Bekele of Pleasure Ethiopia Tours and Travel said tourists from East European countries, such as Lithuania, also showed significant growth.

Though the massive flow of Japanese tourists seems to be subsiding, visitors from China are on the rise, agencies said. However, some of the Chinese tourists passing through contacts and friends through cheap tour packages in a way that adversely affect tourism revenue.

Conversely, in the Danakil Depression’s Erta Volcano site, the picture is less rosy. The volcano’s activity, known in the past for dramatic explosion and lava flow that transformed the area into one of the country’s hottest tourist destinations has subsided in the past few months, leaving hundreds of businesses without their premier attraction. Seifegebreil Shifferaw, manager of Sphere Tour and Travel, a company that works with the French Aventure Et Volcans, disclosed there had been a 50 percent decrease in bookings to the area.

The nearby Dallol Volcano that harbours impressive salt canyons remain intact and still attracts visitors. Two Mekele based companies, Ethio Travel and Tours and World Sun Ethiopia say they continue organizing two trips to Dallol, excluding Erta Ale.

At this stage, there is no official figure on the arrival of tourists, as the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism prepare such reports on June. Yet most of the companies say the tourism sector is recovering from two years when it was affected by security problem in the country and state of emergency.

Visitor number to Ethiopia is growing by 10% each year, drawn by the country’s spectacular scenery, ancient history, culture, religious sites, and indigenous communities, according to the Ethiopian Ministry of Culture and Tourism.

Ethiopia has reduced the rate of maternal mortality by more than 70%, according to a statement by the Ministry of Health of Ethiopia.

The health officials cited the 1990 World Health Organization (WHO) report where the mortality rate for mothers was 1,250 in every 100,000 but now stands at 353 in every 100,000. A drop of about 70%.

In a research published in the Lancet covering the period from 1990 to 2013, it was reported the most causes of maternal deaths are complication arising from unsafe abortions (15%), obstructed labor (6%), hypertensive disorders during pregnancy (10%), postpartum bleeding (15%) and postpartum infections (8%).

Despite the decline reported in Ethiopia, 50% of the deaths are still caused by hypertension during pregnancy, obstructed labor, hemorrhage, sepsis, and anemia. In neonatal mortality, the causes are genetic abnormalities, prematurity, asphyxia, and sepsis.

“In this perspective, the health ministry has been working with stakeholders towards an enhanced integrated effort and focusing on identified problems as well as increasing accessibility to quality health services across the country,” she said.

Since 2008, the country has witnessed substantial progress in the accessibility of Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care (EmONC) amenities per 500,000 people, which meets UN’s recommendations.

In 2008, Ethiopia had only 11% of these facilities countrywide. This number increased to 40% percent in 2016. However, despite the progress made, a considerable gap still exists to reach the recommended 100%, according to the health ministry.

While identifying the issues affecting maternal health, the government is determined to address the needs of women, especially pregnant women while making sure every pregnancy is successful. At the same time, every family planning is monitored by health practitioners.

Liya said her ministry was keen on increasing the number of extension workers, midwives, and other healthcare givers to help narrow the ratio between those delivering at the hospitals and those seeking alternative options.

The ministry of health has launched a month-long campaign that will run in all the country’s health facilities. The drive targets the provision of quality health care services to all Ethiopians across the country.

To make it successful, the ministry has distributed ambulances to different health centers. But the minister pointed out the public must change its attitude towards blood donation to help limit deaths caused by over bleeding during childbirth.

Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who is on a six days tour to Africa, met with Prime minister Abiy Ahmed and President Sahle-Work Zewde in Addis Ababa on 9 January. The president expressed Ethiopia’s interest in furthering relation with Ireland based on the principle of mutual benefit.

The Irish Primer said that Ireland supports political and economic reforms that Ethiopia is undertaking and is determined to their deepen trade and investment relations.

He also expressed his will to foster a stronger relationship with Africa. RTE, Irish news source, quoted him as saying:

“If we in Ireland and Europe do not get more involved in this region and invest in this region, we risk opening a space for other countries to enter, be it China or Saudi Arabia or Russia. We need to make sure we are here, and we are crowding in.”

Ireland is one of the west European countries active in development work in the country.

During his meeting with Abiy Ahmed, Prime minister Varadkar discussed Irish-Ethiopian links, which have been in place for 25 years.

Mr. Varadkar said that he had sought further support for Ireland’s bid for a place on the United Nations Security Council.

He also said that Mr. Ahmed had sought his view on Brexit, adding “Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was aware of it and regretted it was happening because Ethiopia and Africa want a strong Europe and a united Europe”.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s fundamental political and economic reforms could be a model to the East African region and beyond, said EU ambassador to Ethiopia.

In an interview, Ambassador Johan Borgstam said that the EU welcomes the commitment of the Ethiopian Government to multiparty democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and gender parity.

The appointment of SahleWork Zewde as the President and appointment of 50 percent women in the cabinet are also encouraging steps toward a higher degree of gender equality and inclusiveness, he said.

The EU encourages the Ethiopian Government to continue towards developing an inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders, including federal and regional authorities, political parties, CSOs, youth groups and media on sustainable solutions towards better governance, justice and accountability, election, job creation, and security challenges.

According to him, the EU stands ready to support Ethiopia in its continued work to ensure the respect for the fundamental rights of freedom of expression and access to information, the right to assembly, foster religious tolerance and safeguard gender mainstreaming.

The Union also backs activities towards promoting women and girls’ education and empowerment and moves to eliminate all forms of violence against them, including in efforts to make the upcoming election inclusive, credible and transparent.

The EU welcomed the announcement of reforms aiming at revitalizing the economy by improving the investment climate and strengthening the role of the private sector, the ambassador said.

It appreciates Ethiopia’s engagement in multilateral free trade mechanisms, reforming key state-owned enterprises and opening them to competition and foreign participation as well as putting the economy on a fiscally sustainable path, he added.

Noting that economic reforms should contribute to addressing the crucial need for job creation in a country where two-thirds of the population is under the age of 30, Borgstam said the EU would intensify its support in job creation, industrial and agro-industrial parks, export and trade promotion as well as private sector development.

The recently proposed Africa-Europe Alliance for Sustainable Investment and Jobs promotes a strengthened framework to support Ethiopia’s economic transformation, he said.

The EU and its Member States have been steadfast allies in supporting Ethiopia through various platforms, and they will step up coordination to back government’s endeavors.

Furthermore, EU and its Member States have been providing humanitarian assistance for millions of internally displaced people across the country thereby supplementing government’s efforts to deter the existing large-scale internal displacement from posing a risk to the reform process.

Ambassador Borgstam pointed out that EU supports the driving role Ethiopia has been playing in the regional Comprehensive Refugee Response Framework (CRRF) process as the second largest refugee-hosting country in Africa.

The Union commends Ethiopia for its constructive role in the Khartoum Process and the Valletta Summit on Migration and applauds the decision the government has made to grant visa-upon arrival to African citizens as a step towards further regional and continental integration.

Source: The Ethiopian Herald

Another border crossing between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been opened for travelers and businesspeople as reconciliation between the two Horn of Africa countries continues, all part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s attempts to build peace with his neighbors and broaden the political space at home.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isayas Afework officially opened Oumajir-Humera border along Gonder and Eritrea, in Western Ethiopia, as Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church followers celebrated Christmas, along with the rest of the Orthodox Christian World on Monday 7 January.

This development is a further sign that the two former enemies are working to bury the hatchet after 20 years of closed borders and tensions. An update issued by the office of the prime minister says, “the opening of the border [Oumajir-Humera] will further enable the people to people connection on both sides and facilitate cross-border trade in the long term.”

The Humera-Oum Hajer border on the western side of both countries was not the first border crossing to be reopened. In September, two land crossings were opened.

Since then, relations between the neighbors have continued to improve, with the normalization allowing the free movement of people and goods.

Ethiopia’s exports to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) have risen by 62 percent in just one year. If this trend continues, Ethiopia is poised to be the second or third largest exporter in East Africa under AGOA, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under AGOA, exports from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and Burundi, the eight countries which benefit from the act, rose by 17 percent during the period October 2017 to September 2018, compared to the same period in the previous year.

In total, the eight countries exported $1 billion worth of products to the United States between October 2017 and September 2018. Kenya, the largest exporter of the eight, accounted for $454 million while Ethiopia’s exports amounted to $137 million. 84.4 percent of AGOA exports are made of apparel.

To date, USAID Hub trade and investment support have contributed to $4.07 billion in AGOA exports from the region, with $491.5 million from USAID Hub-supported firms.

AGOA is a United States Trade Act, enacted on 18 May 2000, which significantly enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African countries. While it was initially intended for a period of eight years, subsequent renewals have ensured its existence until at least the year 2025.

The office of the Attorney General of Ethiopia announced on January 2 that it had pardoned 538 prisoners, both from Federal and regional prisons.

This amnesty was given on the occasion of Ethiopian Christmas, which will be celebrated on January 7 with the rest of the Orthodox Christian world.

Priority will go to mothers, elders and those whose health is not in good condition.

Zeleke Dalalo, Federal Amnesty Board Office secretary, told journalists during a press conference that the amnesty focused on those who need special attention.

“From the point of view of observing the rights of children, the Board gave special consideration to 26 mothers who were arrested with their children to make them beneficiaries of the amnesty,” he told journalists.

He also added that elderly prisoners whose names were forwarded by prison administration on the grounds that they have made the correctional service a bit difficult because of their age are included in the amnesty. Prisoners over sixty years of age are included in this category of Amnesty.

The Board decided that convicts who committed crimes like rape, homicide, severe corruption, and contraband trade would not be included in the amnesty. The consideration for this decision, according to Zeleke Dalalo, was public interest and correctional benefits of times to be served for individuals who committed the crimes mentioned above.

Since the Amnesty Law was promulgated last year, Ethiopia has given amnesty to 13,122 inmates. The Ethiopian government, following Abiy Ahmed’s appointment as the country’s Prime Minister in April 2018, has been implementing various decisions aimed at creating a nationwide reconciliation. They include the release of prisoners, the invitation for Ethiopian rebel groups for talks as well as the decision to normalize relations with its regional arch-rival Eritrea.

Ethiopia’s US$4 billion dam project on the River Nile will start initial operations in December 2020, according to the water and energy minister.

The planned 6,000-megawatt Grand Renaissance Dam is the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, but until this week progress had been unclear after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last August canceled a state-run conglomerate’s contract to build the turbines.

The government had signed an agreement with GE Hydro France, a unit of GE Renewables, to accelerate the completion of the dam, and water and energy minister Seleshi Bekele said on Thursday3 January that the project was on track to open in two years.

“750 megawatts is the planned initial production with two turbines,” Seleshi told parliament. The government expected the dam to be fully operational by the end of 2022, he said.

When PM Abiy canceled the contract of Ethiopian military conglomerate Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) in August, he said that not a single turbine was operational more than seven years after the government awarded the contract. Dozens of senior officials from METEC, including its head, have been arrested in a corruption crackdown launched by the reformist leader who took office last year.

METEC had only completed 23 percent of the work. There have been other construction delays.

“Purchased generators, turbines and other equipment are scattered in ports and other places, meaning more costs,” Seleshi said.

The project was announced in 2011 and only 65 per cent of work has been completed. “It is a project that was supposed to be completed within five years, but seven or eight years later not a single turbine is operational,” Ahmed said.

Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt have been holding regular talks regarding the project as Cairo fears it will impact access to its share of Nile waters.

GE Hydro France will be paid nearly €54 million (US$61 million) to manufacture, fix and test turbine generators.