By Tesfa-alem Teklem | Sudan Tribune

MEKELLE — A Dubai-based Sudanese communication company, MURD, installed an FM radio station in Ethiopia’s northern region of Tigray.

MURD carried out the project after it won an international tender announced by the government of Ethiopia.

According to Yikum Haile, General Manager of the radio station, a total of 6 million birr has spent to build station.

The General Manager believes that the newly established radio station will have a major value in bringing positive changes in different aspects.

“The radio station will play a great role in promoting the socio-economic and political part of the people in the Region” Yikum said adding “the transmission will cover Mekelle town and its environs within 100 kilometers radius”.

Sudanese electronic engineer and director of the project Mohamed Al-Mubarek told Sudan Tribune that the company, Murd, has similar contract deal to execute in Ethiopia

“We have a contract deal with the Addis administration to set up an educational FM Radio station in the capital, Addis Ababa” Mohamed said

He appreciated the Regional government’s close cooperation to successfully accomplish the project.

Mekelle Radio station which was inaugurated last week is expected to play significant Role by serving as a bridge between government and the people.

Established since 1996, MURD erected several radio stations in northern, southern and western part of the country. Currently it is working on AM station in Gedaref, eastern Sudan. The firm is also working on three radio transmission stations in the United Arab Emirates.

By Ayda Million

U.S.-based BirrituExpress.com claims to provide a secure, quick, cost-effective and easy way to remit money abroad.

“Sending money to Ethiopia does not have to be difficult or expensive. Your family, friends or business associates cannot wait weeks to receive funds, and cannot afford the expensive fees, complications and insecurities typical of traditional money remittance services. They can count on BirrituExpress.com, built by Ethiopians for the Global Ethiopian Community,” says General Manager Getachew Jirane.

This is my first in a series of articles introducing pioneering Ethiopian owned businesses. The following is a brief description of the company as stated on its web site:

BirrituExpress.com is the service that brings much needed value to money remittance to Ethiopia currently dominated by expensive and inconvenient companies. Much value is lost to the Ethiopian Community by hidden fees and exchange rate spreads that add cost to the sender, the recipient and the economy of Ethiopia. We aim to recover that lost value to the benefit of our customers and our beloved country, and serve our clients with an economical yet rich service. Over $370 million is remitted to the country annually, and BirrtuExpress brings transparency and low cost to funds sent through our system.

Convenient and Easy – our innovative site allows you to send money to Ethiopia from the comfort of your home or workplace or from any computer with an Internet connection. There are no long lines and no need to interrupt your busy day to travel to a merchant, agent or bank to send money. Simply log on to www.birrituexpress.com, register as a user, enter your recipients contact address and the amount you wish to send, and send the money. It’s that easy!

Fast and Flexible – You can charge the amount you would like to send to your credit card or debit card or deduct the money directly from your bank account. You can also use our exchange rate calculator to determine the amount your recipient will be receiving in birr. Your remittance will be processed instantly over the Internet and the money disbursed to your recipient thru cash pick-up at our affiliates The Cooperative Bank of Oromia/Ethiopian Postal Service or direct deposit to the beneficiaries account thru our affiliate bank within 48 to 72 hours. The recipient does not need to have a bank account or computer access. You can verify the status of your money transfer at any time by logging into our website. We will immediately send you confirmation regarding each step of your transaction until completion via email.

Secure and Regulatory Compliant – In addition, we have taken the anxiety out of international money transfers by incorporating industry-leading security features as the Strong 128 bit SSL encryption into the process while funds are handled by an FDIC-insured bank in the US and disbursed by the most accessible and trusted financial institutions in Ethiopia. Furthermore, all money transfers are completely regulatory compliant. This means, unlike many traditional remittance service providers, BirrituExpress.com remittances are processed in adherence with United States regulatory compliance requirements (U.S. Patriot Act, Anti-Money Laundering, Bank Secrecy Act, OFAC, NACHA, CHAPS and BACS processing policies), as well as the Laws of Ethiopia and Regulations of the National Bank of Ethiopia.

Low Cost – Typical transactions cost much less than western and traditional competitors operating in Ethiopia. You receive the most favorable exchange rate making the most out of every dollar for our esteemed customers.

(Ayda Million is the editor of Ethiopedia.com, an online encylopedia of Ethiopia)

Ethiopian Airlines has been making waves in the greater Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. The African airline, which offers several weekly from Washington D.C.’s Dulles International Airport to {www:Ethiopia}, was the official carrier at the Adventures in Travel Expo in Washington D.C. on February 21 and 22. The airline completed several events, including a special reception for dignitaries from the embassies of Angola, Botswana, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa, Senegal, Tanzania and Uganda.

The recession does not appear to have a huge impact on the airline. Gobena Mikael, director of North and South America for Ethiopian Airlines, said in a statement that the airlines is marking record revenues and profits; its year to date July-December 2008 revenue from the U.S. increased by 13 percent over that of the same period last year. In the short-term, the airline will continue operating four flights per week up to the summer, after which they will increase to five flights per week for the period June through August.

Interest in Ethiopia
The Lucy fossil exhibit, which has been in Houston, Seattle and is now moving to New York, has sparked interest in the African destination’s history, culture and religious significance.

NBA player Manute Bol serves as Ethiopian Airlines’ brand ambassador and in his position will appear at trade shows and special events, radio and TV interviews, and a launch of a co-branded Ethiopian Airlines Journeys itinerary.

Promotions
All of the U.S. promotions have been designed to support the Washington Dulles-Addis Ababa flights.  Ethiopian Airlines Journeys is now the tour operator of Ethiopian Airlines and promotes travel packages to Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania.  Their new website, www.seeyouinethiopia.com features city guides, historical attractions and hotel databases to help visitors learn more about the destination.

Source: Travel Agent Central

ETHIOPIA (Garowe Online) – Several of civilian and commercial vehicles are stuck along the Somali-Ethiopian border following deadly battles between {www:Woyanne} regime troops and {www:ONLF} fighters in the Ogaden region of Ethiopia, Radio Garowe reports.

The fighting in Mustahil district, in eastern Ethiopia’s Somali-inhabited region, killed at least 25 people and wounded scores last week.

In response, the Woyanne army deployed hundreds of troops backed by military trucks to the area along the border near Somalia’s Hiran region, local sources reported.

Commercial truck drivers who spoke on the condition of anonymity confirmed that the movement of civilian and commercial vehicles has come to a standstill, as Woyanne soldiers prepare to engage ONLF fighters.

Woyanne troops also cut off an important road that links Mustahil district to Fer Fer district, which serves as a major Woyanne army base and a crucial point for civilian and commercial traffic traveling between Ethiopia and Somalia.

The Woyanne regime has not commented on the ongoing military operations.

Woyanne troops have been accused of committing war crimes against ethnic Somalis in the vast Ogaden region.

The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) reports that the brutal {www:Woyanne} regime in {www:Ethiopia} has arrested 80 Oromo students who are attending Bahir Dar university.

The Woyanne gunmen took the action following a protest by Oromo students against ethnic slurs by supporters of the regime.

A report by OLF said that the Woyanne regime’s Federal Police are currently hunting down more Oromo students in Bahir Dar, the capital city of the Amhara killil (region).

It has to be noted that almost all of the Oromo students who are now assigned to the Amhara regional state for university education were educated in Afan Oromo and English alone, and hence do not speak Amharic at all, and even those who can barely speak Amharic can easily be identified and are seen as aliens in the Bahir Dar town and in the entire Amhara regional state, according to the OLF News. Consequently, the students have nowhere to escape and are being brutalized by the regime’s security forces.

(BBC) – The {www:Ogaden National Liberation Front} (ONLF) said it had seized the town of Mustahil and was also fighting for the towns of Wardheer and Khalavo in eastern {www:Ethiopia}.

It said at least 80 Ethiopian {www:Woyanne} regime soldiers had been killed.

An Ethiopian A Woyanne government spokesman told the BBC the reports were absolutely false and the ONLF was on the run.

On Saturday, the Ogaden rebels said they had killed more than 20 Ethiopian Woyanne troops in recent fighting, a report also denied by the Woyanne authorities in Addis Ababa.