Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn held a press conference with local and foreign journalists on Monday (February 10) answering questions on domestic economic issues, international relations and regional peace.

The Prime Minister noted that Ethiopia had witnessed robust economic development over the last decade, producing double digit growth. Commenting on the projections of World Bank, IMF and other international financial institutions on Ethiopia’s economy growth, he said that there was always a difference between their projections and the reality on the ground. However, he stressed that they did agree that the actual performance of the economy had been one of substantial growth, of over 10%. He said the economy was expected to continue to grow at the same level this year, an average of 10 or 11%.  This growth, he said, could be maintained because of the rapid and unprecedented growth in the agriculture sector in which the returns from oil seeds, grain and irrigation were included. He also indicated that the current rapid growth and investment inflow to the industry sector would help the country‘s economic transformation continue to accelerate. In addition, he added, the expansion of the service sector would make an enormous contribution to translate this year’s economic plan into reality and help reduce the number of people suffering from poverty. The Prime Minister said that with the growth in the agriculture, service and industry sectors he was confident the country would continue to be able to achieve high rates of growth and have a major impact in reducing poverty.

Speaking on the issue of energy, the Prime Minister clarified that power generation was open to the private sector but, he said, the government alone would be involved in the process of transmission and distribution. He said investors were welcome to engage in power generation, noting that Ethiopia has enormous potential for renewable energy production. The Prime Minister emphasized that Ethiopia had shown its consideration and determination to work for the mutual benefit of the lower riparian countries within the mindset of the 21st century in its consultations with Egypt and Sudan over the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). He said Ethiopia had repeatedly demonstrated its firm belief on the need to promote mutual benefit among Nile riparian countries and eradicate poverty from the region. He pointed out that the International Panel of Experts had conducted studies on the impacts of the GERD on lower riparian countries at Ethiopia’s own instigation. Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan had now held three rounds of discussions on implementing the recommendations of the IPoE and Sudan and Ethiopia were agreed that Egypt’s request to set up a new International Panel of Experts was unnecessary. (See following story).  He added that although the meetings had failed to meet their objectives, he believed that the discussions would resume since dialogue and discussions were a necessity for an acceptable solution. “I do not have any doubts that talks will resume because this is the only way to resolve the differences and to have a win-win solution to this issue.” He stressed that the Ethiopian government’s stand over the Dam remained the same and that the construction of the GERD would continue as planned. Responding to the suggestion that Egypt might try to take the issue to International Criminal Court or to other international bodies, the Prime Minister pointed out that there was no international court that arbitrates water issues and such a move would have no result.  As for Egypt taking the case to the United Nations, he stated that this would be a political issue, and if such a political dispute surfaced, then Ethiopia would come up with a political response.

In response to questions over claims that Ethiopia had signed a new border agreement with Sudan, he said that the Government of Ethiopia had not signed any new border agreement with Sudan. Agreements had been signed, he said, between the Governments of Ethiopia and Sudan during the reign of Emperor Minelik and had been reviewed later by Emperor Haile Selassie. The Derg Regime had sent a team of researchers to the area and had declared those agreements in force. Consequently, the EPRDF regime had also accepted and endorsed them. There was no land that was been given to or taken from Sudan, he said. The Prime Minister explained that the recent Ethiopia-Sudan High Level Joint Commission summit in Khartoum had focused mainly on assessing and strengthening bilateral cooperation and partnership between the two countries and on political issues. He said this was an issue that was raised every five years when it was one of those questions brought up when elections were approaching.

In answer to questions about Ethiopia’s relations with Eritrea, the Prime Minister emphasized that Ethiopia wished for peace to prevail in the region. He recalled that Ethiopia had out a five point peace plan in 2004 designed to normalize the relationship between the two countries. Eritrea, however, had consistently refused to consider this or to participate in any dialogue despite repeated requests. In addition, the Eritrean regime had continued to play a destabilizing role in the region. With reference to Ethiopian forces joining AMISOM, he pointed out that following the request of the Federal Government of Somalia and the help eliminate Al-Shabaab from Somalia and support the Somali government.  He added that the bilateral defense agreement signed with the Somali Federal Government recently would create the opportunity for Ethiopia to train Somali national forces and provide them with logistic support.

In fact, the Memorandum of Understanding on Defense Cooperation signed at the beginning of the month by the Defense Minister of Somalia, Mohamed Sheikh Hassan, and the Defense Minister of Ethiopia, Siraj Fegessa, is intended to enhance and deepen bilateral military training cooperation, allow for exchanges of security intelligence and work jointly for peace and security. The MoU will allow for Ethiopia to provide basic military training for new recruits and existing soldiers, including officers and others. It also allows for joint operations against Al-Shabaab and any other armed groups that threaten peace and security and for peace support operations in either country. It reaffirms the principles of mutual respect for sovereign equality, territorial integrity, interdependence and political independence, and also underlines the intent to promote bilateral relations and strengthen friendship between Ethiopia and Somalia. Among the areas of cooperation it also notes working together to support IGAD and the East African Standby Force, as well as detailing other possible areas of cooperation in technical assistance, exchanges of visits and of information.

 

Financial Times, February 16, 2014 6:53 pm

By Katrina Manson in Addis Ababa

In a region where religious differences often lead to political tension and the threat of violence, there is one area where they help: electricity exports.

Ethiopia, with its predominantly Orthodox Christian tradition, consumes less power during its weekends, leaving a surplus for export to Muslim neighbours Djibouti and Sudan, where Sunday is a working day. The two countries also require more energy at night to mitigate searing heat, while temperate highland Ethiopia needs more during the day.

“When they have heavy load we have a light load so it works out well,” says Miheret Debebe, former head of Ethiopia’s state power company who is now energy adviser to the prime minister.

This flexibility is one part of an ambitious 25-year master plan to transform the country into one of the top, and cheapest, power suppliers in Africa.

The prize: potentially $1bn a year in revenues from renewable power for Ethiopia and cheap supplies for a region short of electricity to power much-needed industrial production. The downside: some of the prohibitively expensive projects are also controversial, including a giant dam on the Blue Nile.

As part of a $22bn African Union backed project to develop a pan-continental electricity highway by 2020, Ethiopia plans to increase its power exports to Djibouti, Kenya and Sudan, and establish grid links to South Sudan, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and even to Yemen across the Red Sea.

Donald Kaberuka, president of the African Development Bank (AfDB), says it is the first time an African government has looked “at energy as an export sector the way you export gold, and it’s going to be a huge advantage for them”.

The electricity master plan, due to be released this year, aims to boost power exports from 223MW a year now to at least 5,000MW, according to people familiar with the discussions. In Europe, 1,000MW is enough to power nearly 1m homes.

“Energy is a very strategic sector for us – Ethiopia is going to be the renewable energy hub of the region,” Mr Miheret says in an interview in Addis Ababa.

The AfDB and the World Bank are providing financing to help electricity exports from Ethiopia, including $1.5bn for a newly opened grid link to Kenya with the capacity to transport up to 2,000MW of power.

Kenya has signed a memorandum of understanding to buy about 400MW per year and Ethiopia is in talks with Tanzania for a similar deal. It is also in talks with Yemen to export 100MW, via Djibouti and a submarine cable, and discussing a link with South Sudan.

Despite frequent blackouts at home, Ethiopia’s potential power production capacity from hydro as well as geothermal, wind and solar energy may be more than 60,000MW, according to official estimates.

That is equal to roughly half the total current installed capacity in Africa of 147,000MW and would make it one of the continent’s top potential electricity producers, alongside South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Mr Miheret hopes Ethiopia’s master plan will provide “project bankable studies” that will attract private sector investment to turn potential into reality.

US-Icelandic company Reykjavik Geothermal has signed a $4bn deal to build a 1,000MW geothermal plant, the continent’s largest, by the beginning of the next decade. A 120MW wind farm, again the continent’s biggest, started turning late last year thanks to a $290m French investment.

Financing, timelines and politics will determine whether the grand plan to transform Ethiopia into an electricity exporter is realised, however. A World Bank study published last year shows project time over-run typically exceeds targets by 130 per cent, twice as much as in Zambia and more than famous laggard Tanzania.

Energy is part of its regional strategic plan. So [Ethiopia] becomes an energy superpower and along the way it also gains political clout

Within three years, Ethiopian officials say, power generation capacity will reach 11,000MW, up roughly fivefold from 2,300MW today, if two large, and controversial, hydropower projects keep to schedule.

Most of the new production capacity is expected to come from the $4.8bn Grand Renaissance Dam, a 6,000MW hydropower project.

The first phase of the project, which could be completed in 2017, will generate about 700MW by the end of this year. Officials say the project is on course, with more than 30 per cent completed. The dam is so controversial it has elicited threats of violence from Egyptian officials who fear its reduce the Nile’s flows downstream. The third phase of another dam, known as Gilgel Gibe, will deliver 1,870MW next year.

If it all comes off, Ethiopia may also be the beneficiary of another sort of power. “Energy is part of its regional strategic plan,” says a senior regional official. “So [Ethiopia] becomes an energy superpower and along the way it also gains political clout” in Africa.

Source:http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/14d2026a-902d-11e3-a776-00144feab7de.html#axzz2tWqUBkx0

The Economist : If Africa’s economies are to take off, Africans will have to start making a lot more things. They may well do so.

Feb 8th 2014 | ADDIS ABABA |

LESS than an hour’s drive outside Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, a farmer walks along a narrow path on a green valley floor after milking his cows. Muhammad Gettu is carrying two ten-litre cans to a local market, where he will sell them for less than half of what they would fetch at a dairy in the city. Sadly, he has no transport. A bicycle sturdy enough to survive unpaved tracks would be enough to double his revenues. At the moment none is easily available. But that may be about to change.

An affiliate of SRAM, the world’s second-largest cycle-components maker, based in Chicago, is aiming to invest in Ethiopia. Its Buffalo Bicycles look ungainly but have puncture-resistant tires, a heavy frame and a rear rack that can hold 100kg. They are designed and assembled in Africa, and a growing number of components are made there from scratch, creating more than 100 manufacturing jobs. About 150,000 Buffalo bikes are circulating on the continent, fighting puncture-prone competition from Asia.

F.K. Day, a SRAM founder, says he set up his first African workshop in South Africa and is looking at Addis Ababa and Mombasa in Kenya as possible next sites. Landlocked Ethiopia has only partially shed its Marxist heritage yet is attracting industrial companies. Huajian, a Chinese shoemaker (pictured above), has built an export factory not far from Mr Gettu’s farm.

Those who cast doubt on Africa’s rise often point to the continent’s lack of manufacturing. Few countries, they argue, have escaped poverty without putting a lot of workers through factory gates. Rick Rowden, a sceptical development pundit, says, “Apart from a few tax havens, there is no country that has attained a high standard of living on the basis of services alone.”

Yet a quiet boom in manufacturing in Africa is already taking place. Farming and services are still dominant, backed by the export of commodities, but new industries are emerging in a lot of African countries.

Thandika Mkandawire, a Malawi-born expert, and Dani Rodrik, a Princeton economist, argue that growth is bound to fizzle because of a dearth of factories. But they may be too pessimistic. Manufacturing’s share of GDP in sub-Saharan Africa has held steady at 10-14% in recent years. Industrial output in what is now the world’s fastest-growing continent is expanding as quickly as the rest of the economy. The evidence, big and small, is everywhere.

H&M, a multinational Swedish retail-clothing firm, and Primark, an Ireland-based one, source a lot of material from Ethiopia. General Electric, an American conglomerate, is building a $250m plant in Nigeria to make electrical gear. Madecasse, a New York-based chocolatier, is looking for new hires to add to its 650 workers in Madagascar already turning raw cocoa into expensively wrapped milky and nutty bars. Mobius Motors, a Kenyan firm started a few years ago by Joel Jackson, a Briton, is building a cheap, durable car for rough roads.

Domestically owned manufacturing is growing, too. Seemhale Telecoms of South Africa is planning to make cheap mobile phones for the African market. Angola says it is to build its own arms industry, with help from Brazil. African craftsmen are making inroads in fashion. Ali Lamu makes handbags from recycled dhow sails on the Kenyan coast and sells them on Western websites.

Many of these businesses are beneficiaries of growth outside the manufacturing sector. The spread of big retail shops encourages light industry. In Zambia a surprising number of goods in South African-owned supermarkets are made locally; it is often too expensive to transport bulky stuff across borders.

A construction boom is fostering access to high-voltage power. The spread of mobile telephony, including mobile banking, helps small suppliers struggling with overheads. IBM, an American computer giant with an eye on Africa, goes so far as to say that “software is the manufacturing of the future”. Consumers will still want to buy hardware, but growing local demand is creating a market for African app and software developers.

Make them learn

Underpinning all this is a big improvement in education. Charles Robertson, the chief economist of Renaissance Capital, a financial firm founded in Russia, has argued that for the first time in its history Africa now has the human capital to take part in a new industrial revolution. In the 1970s Western garment-makers built factories in places like Mexico and Turkey, where a quarter of children went to secondary school. Africa, then at 9%, has caught up.

Another spur for African manufacturing is investment by Chinese workers who stay behind after completing their contracts for work in mining and infrastructure projects. Many thousands of them have set up workshops to fill the gaps in local markets. The African Growth and Opportunity Act, signed by America’s Congress in 2000, has also boosted trade in African-made goods.

The World Bank has been suggesting for several years that Asian manufacturing jobs could migrate to Africa. Obiageli Ezekwesili, a vice-president of the bank, says that more than 80m jobs may leave China owing to wage pressures, not all to neighbouring countries with low costs; if African labour productivity continues to rise, many could go to Africa, especially if corruption and red tape, still major scourges of the continent, are curbed. In contrast to China, business in parts of Africa is becoming cheaper as infrastructure improves and trade barriers are lifted. The average cost of manufacturing in Uganda, for instance, has been falling.

Can cheetahs beat tigers?

This could mark a sea change. The rise of Asian manufacturers in the 1990s hit African firms hard; many were wiped out. Northern Nigeria, which once had a thriving garments industry, was unable to compete with low-cost imports. South Africa has similar problems; its manufacturing failed to grow last year despite the continental boom.

This is partly the fault of governments. Buoyed by commodity income, they have neglected industry’s needs, especially for roads and electricity. But that, too, may at last be changing. Wolfgang Fengler, a World Bank economist, says, “Africa is now in a good position to industrialise with the right mix of ingredients.” This includes favourable demography, urbanisation, an emerging middle class and strong services. “For this to happen,” he adds, “the continent will need to scale up its infrastructure investments and improve the business climate, and many [African] countries have started to tackle these challenges in recent years.”

Kenya is not about to become the next South Korea. African countries are likely to follow a more diverse path, benefiting from the growth of countless small and medium-sized businesses, as well as some big ones. For the next decade or so, services will still generate more jobs and wealth in Africa than manufacturing, which is fine. India has boomed for more than two decades on the back of services, while steadily building a manufacturing sector from a very low base. Do not bet against Africa doing the same.

Source: http://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21595949-if-africas-economies-are-take-africans-will-have-start-making-lot

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,Feb 13th, 2014- It has been said and it is still being said that Ethiopia is a country of unique characteristics of her own. Her uniqueness is of course related to the peculiar culture, tradition, language and both tangible and intangible heritages which belong to the world as well. Though it is a cradle of human kind and land of remarkable natural and cultural heritage, the country has not benefited from these resources.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MoCT) has been taking a wide range of actions to raise the number of domestic and foreign tourist flow to the country. The flow ofdomestic tourism, despite its improvement over time, needs to be given due attention. In general, the Ministry is convinced that developing the tourism sector is a direct indication of supporting the development of the nation.

It is then with this understanding that the government of Ethiopia and the EU have reached agreement to work together towards unleashing tourism potential of the country. Thus, the European Union and MoCT Monday launched a joint project known as ‘Promoting Heritage and Culture for Ethiopia’s Development‘.

The Union granted 10 million Euros (260 million birr) to the MoCT to help promote the country’s heritage under five classified projects that include capacity building activities, palaeontological heritages, state cultural development project, training institutions in the music sector and grant scheme for cultural industries.

The financial agreement between the two parties was signed in July 2013 to execute the project over the coming five years.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Minister of Culture and Tourism Amin Abdulkadir said: “Culture has come to the forefront in the global discourse and gained unanimity as the fourth pillar of sustainable development.” Amin also said that the government has paid due attention to foster cultural development.

Citing the gifts of Ethiopia to the world as far as promoting mutual understanding and preserving universal values, Amin said that the country has nine world heritages, 12 manuscripts as world human memory, one intangible cultural heritage, and two biosphere reserves. Adding,he said, documents have been submitted to enable the inclusion of remaining heritages in UNESCO’s list.

EU Delegation Head to Ethiopia Ambassador Chantal Hebberecht also said that the EU is indeed privileged to work in partnership with the government of Ethiopia in the effort to conserve and promote the country’s unique culture and remarkable cultural heritages.

The Ambassador also said: “Along with the vision of economic transformation there is a parallel vision of creating culturally promoted Ethiopia. These two visions are not separate; they are inextricably linked.”

The project is aimed at achieving the goals set in the National Cultural Policy adopted by the Ministry to realize the long-term contribution of heritage and culture to the socio-economic development of the country by preserving and developing heritages sites and through improving their management.

Source: Ethiopian Herald

Ethiopia has been named as the top country to visit in 2014 by U.K. based travel guide publisher, Rough Guides. The publication cited Ethiopia’s rich cultural attractions and its UNESCO World heritage sites as reason to make Ethiopia a top destination for 2014. Other countries in the list include Madagascar, Brazil and Rwanda.

Rough Guides’ top 10 countries to visit in 2014 are:

1. Ethiopia 2. Madagaskar 3. Brazil 4. Turkey 5. Georgia 6. Rwanda 7. Japan 8. Bulgaria 9. Macedonia 10. The Philippines

This culturally rich East African nation has always been an enticing destination, and though it remains poor, independent travel around the country is becoming easier thanks to a boom in small hotels and restaurants. Take your pick of spell-binding attractions: untouched national parks, the ancient cities of Axum, Harar and Lalibela, the world’s first coffee plantations, the largest cave in Africa at Sof Omar and the continent’s largest concentration of UNESCO sites.

Source:http://www.roughguides.com/best-places/2014/top-10-countries/

22 January 2014,The New York Times has listed Addis Ababa as one of the 52 places that should be visited in 2014.The travel section of one of the biggest daily newspapers in the US labelled Addis Ababa as an ambitious art scene that is heading toward the international stage.

“Building on a strong historical legacy (Addis boasts one of East Africa’s oldest art schools) are a host of events scheduled for 2014: a photography festival, two film festivals and a jazz and world music festival. Thanks to the city’s diverse art institutions and galleries, including the artist-in-residence village Zoma Contemporary Art Center and the Asni Gallery (really more an art collective than a gallery), there is an art opening at least once a week. Even the local Sheraton puts on “Art of Ethiopia,” an annual show of new talent. But it’s the National Museum that, in May and June, will host this year’s blockbuster exhibit, “Ras Tafari: The Majesty and the Movement,” devoted to Emperor Haile-Selassie I and Rastafarianism,” The New York Times stated.

Apart from Addis, other African countries and specific cities and locations like Cape Town, South Africa, Laikipia Plateau, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania are also picked by the newspaper.

Source:http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/01/10/travel/2014-places-to-go.html