Arrival of 25 Fords in a country of 80 million is economic news and sign of progress????

just like ten cows make a shabia news in Eritrea. Unless these two countries resolve their problem and start working together for the advancement of their people.

Addis Ababa future hub of Africa

Lufthansa and its various affiliates (Brussels Airlines and Swiss) are stepping up the pressure on Air France-KLM by directly challenging the Franco-Dutch airline in its most profitable market. For the African continent has not only proved to be a safe haven for the airline industry during the current crisis, but has also become a big moneymaker for Air France-KLM. The Franco-Dutch carrier commands a 30 per cent share of the passenger market between Europe and Africa. The substantial profits it makes on these African routes have in part helped offset the losses in its American, Asian and European operations.

But the competition is heating up. Not only from US and Middle East airlines increasingly targeting the promising African air travel market, but mainly from its biggest continental European rival, Lufthansa. The German flag-carrier has been steadily expanding its presence in Africa. It is also expected to enlist soon into its Star Alliance group Ethiopian Airlines with the idea of turning Addis Ababa into a new African hub.
With African air travel expected to grow by about 3.7 per cent this year rising to 5 per cent next year and 5.5 per cent in 2012, the Franco-German dogfight over African skies is bound to intensify. And unlike the other skirmishes between the two countries that, among other things, risk undermining the euro and the eurozone economy, this particular competition is likely to have beneficial results for consumers. It is bound to help reduce the current inflated cost of air travel to Africa. After all, this is exactly what happened when Virgin decided to break the old British Airways and South African Airways duopoly on the exorbitantly expensive London to Cape Town and Johannesburg routes.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/a92b63bc-7...44feabdc0.html

Ethiopian Too Lofty for Local Designe Bidders

The “leading design” for the airline’s future headquarters is actually the “number two” design as Ethiopian chose not to name any of the designs “number one.”

Ethiopian Airlines is not satisfied with the designs that bidders summitted for the new headquarters it is planning to construct inside its existing compound and is contemplating whether or not to announce an international bid.

The second to fifth place of the design bid, were announced on Monday, April 11, 2010.However, no first place winning design was declared, according to Wogayehu Terefe, acting manager of Public Relations and Publications.

Ultimate Plan Plc, Sileshi Consult Plc, Mulugeta Asfaw Consult, and Gereta Consult took the positions from second place to fifth place, respectively. Berhanu Mussa Architecture & Engineering had also entered the bid but did not make the top five.

Ethiopia to lengthen fibre-optic line

Posted on Friday 11 June 2010 - 12:02
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AfricaNews editorProfile3510 messages

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ethiopia is working to extend the current 7,000 kms of fiber-optics line to 10,000 kms in the coming three months with the aim of expanding telephone and internet services. This is indicated by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Sofian Ahmed, while presenting five year performance report of the ministry to the country’s Parliament.
Access to telecom services of Ethiopia in five kilometres range has now reached 50 percent from 13 percent last year, according to Sufian.

He also noted that in the coming three months the total number of mobile phone users in the country will also increase to 6 million from 4 million.

It was at the end of 2010 that the government telecom monopoly, Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation has signed a contract agreement with SEACOM Telecom Company for the procurement of international fiber optic bandwidth connectivity.

According to this 634.5 million birr (47 million USD) deal, Ethiopia will be connected to the rest of the world through submarine fiber communication system via Djibouti and will get high-speed internet connection and better telecom services.

The deal makes Ethiopia the eighth country in Africa to be connected to the SEACOM system following South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda and Djibouti.

I don't know who or what this commercial is all about, but I just find it interesting. If anyone has any info. , please share.

Ethiopia to Build 170m Birr Hospital, Medical College
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


June 9, 2010 - The Ministry of Health and two contractors signed here on Wednesday an agreement to construct a General Hospital, and an institution for mentally ill persons and a medical college at a cost of 170 Million Birr, reports ENA.

The Ministry signed the agreement with Santa Maria and Asmelashina Lijochu Contractors.

According to the agreement, Santa Maria Contractor will undertake the construction of the four-storey general hospital, which will have an institution for mentally ill persons. Asmelashina Lijochu Contractor will carry out the construction work on medical college.

The medical college, named after the Millennium, will train students of medicine with doctorate degree. The college will have 600 dormitories.

http://www.ezega.com/News/NewsDetail...ds&NewsID=2374

It is with great pleasure that I welcome everyone to the 5th Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum. This year’s Forum will be historic for several reasons. For one, this is the fifth year anniversary of the Forum, which is a monumental achievement in itself. Second, for the first time in Ethiopian Diaspora history, the Forum will include a business exhibition involving indigenous Ethiopian businesses in an effort to strengthen the social, communal and business relationship between the Ethiopian Diaspora and the indigenous Ethiopian business community by creating an opportunity for business linkages and knowledge sharing. Finally, this is the first time the Forum will be opened to the general Ethiopian Diaspora business community with an expected attendance of the exhibition in the thousands.

It is my sincere hope that everyone will enjoy and benefit from this year’s diverse and interesting exhibition and Forum discussions as well as the business networking opportunities. I look forward to seeing everyone on July 10-11, 2010!!!
The 5th Annual Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum

EVENT PROGRAM

I. Registration

9:00 AM to 9:45 AM

II. Opening Remarks

Hon. Mimi Alemayehou, Executive Vice President, Overseas Private Investment Corporation (Invited)
10:00 AM to 10:15 AM

III. This Year’s Forum:

First Panel:

The African Diaspora Marketplace

10:15 AM to 11:30 AM

Second Panel:

Investing in Ethiopia 101

11:30 AM to 12:30 PM

IV. Opening of Business Exhibition:

(Hon. Adrian Fenty, Mayor of DC, Invited)

12:45 PM to 1:00 PM

V. Lunch:

Keynote Speaker: Hon. Adrian Fenty, Mayor of Washington DC (Invited)
Video Show: Investing in Ethiopia

1:00 PM to 2:00 PM

Third Panel:

The American Chamber in Ethiopia/CIPE/Addis Chamber

2:00 PM to 3:00 PM

Coffee Break:

3:00 PM to 3:15 PM

Fourth Panel:

Annual Ethiopian Business Roundtable Discussions

3:15 to 4:15 PM

VI. Cocktail -- 5:00 to 7:00 PM

IMF gives Ethiopia $59 mln under shocks facility programme
Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:40pm GMT

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund said on Friday it had allowed Ethiopia to access an equivalent of about $58.7 million under its Exogenous Shocks Facility, to help counter effects of the global economic downturn.
IMF said Ethiopia had been successful in implementing policies to curb inflation and rebuild external reserves as agreed under an ESF-supported programme.

"The approval will enable Ethiopia to draw ... about $58.7 million ... bringing total disbursements under the arrangement to ... about $166.2 million," IMF said in a statement.

IMF said it expected Ethiopia's economy to grow by 7 percent in 2009/10. It had earlier forecast an output of 7-7.5 percent this fiscal year (July-June), based on an assessment carried out in September.

"Overall, the negative impact of the global recession has not been as severe as expected. GDP growth is projected to ease to 7 percent in 2009/10," it said in its statement.

The government forecasts a growth of about 10 percent for 2010. The International Monetary Fund predicts growth of over 5 percent.

Ethiopia: First-ever Masters Degree in Healthcare admin conferred at Jimma University

Published 06/12/2010 - 5:01 p.m. GMT Jimma University campus

•The Master in Healthcare and Hospital Administration (MHA) program is a two-year executive-style training program that aims to develop capable and qualified chief executive officers who can provide leadership to hospitals and related healthcare organizations.

On Saturday, June 12th, the first and only hospital and health care administration masters degree program in Africa will celebrate the graduation of its first class at Jimma University in Ethiopia. The pioneering Masters in Hospital and Healthcare Administration (MHA) program is a partnership between the Global Health Leadership Institute (GHLI) at Yale University, Jimma University, the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI) and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health.

“The MHA program is an important step forward in improving the quality of health care for the Ethiopian people,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom, the Minster of Health in Ethiopia. “This groundbreaking program is a model for improving managerial and executive skills throughout our health system in general and hospital services in particular.”

Launched in 2008 at Jimma University, the MHA is an intensive two-year executive program that combines academic preparation, practical application in the hospital setting and continuous mentoring by Yale faculty and staff. Yale faculty members work closely with faculty at Jimma University to develop course curriculum and assist in classroom instruction, laying the groundwork for the long-term sustainability of the program.The goal of the MHA program is to produce a network of professional Chief Executive Officers committed to improving hospital quality in Ethiopia. With the graduation of the first class, nearly one-quarter of all Ethiopian hospitals will have a highly trained CEO. In addition, individual hospitals with CEOs in the program have already reported substantial improvements including reduced length of stay from 10 to 7 days and reduced post-surgical infection rates from 10% to 2%, highlighting greater efficiency and quality of care.

“Management is often overlooked when you are trying to improve access and the quality of care,” said Elizabeth Bradley, Ph.D., faculty director of GHLI and director of the Yale Global Health Initiative. “But it can be the key to unlocking the capacity of the health system to deliver high quality care and services.”

The MHA program at Jimma University is part of the larger Ethiopian Hospital Management Initiative (EHMI), which was launched in 2006 as a partnership between Yale, CHAI and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health. The goal of EHMI is to build management and leadership capacity in the health sector and establish health management as a profession in Ethiopia. Building on the success of the program at Jimma University, the MHA program will expand to include Addis Ababa University this fall through the support of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Global Health Leadership Institute at Yale University was launched in 2009 to develop the next generation of global health leaders at Yale and around the world through innovative educational and research programs. For more information on the GHLI and the Ethiopia program, go to http://www.yale.edu/ghli.

HIGH TOWER AT GOTERA EXCHANGE

A tower approximately 57 metres high is going to be erected at the Gotera Interchange, by the Addis Abeba City Roads Authority (AACRA). The tower will give people a birds’ eye view of the interchange and will be used as a downtown recreational centere.

The Gotera Interchange, officially called the Nations, Nationalities Square was officially inaugurated on May 31, 2009.The estimated cost of the tower is 15 million Br. It is expected to have a recreational centre which the public can use and a tower which will give people the ability to see the design of the interchange which took 22 months to construct.


“The construction of the tower might start by the end of this year,” Fekade Haile (Eng.), general manager of AACRA, told Fortune.

However, officials at the Authority have not yet made up their mind between two possible designs for the tower. One design is being presented from the Shanghai Construction Group of China, a Chinese construction firm that did the construction of the interchange. Another design is being created by the authority’s architects.

The tower will have elevator service, the General Manager said, to be used to go to the top and look down on the design of the interchange with overpasses on an area that formerly consisted of the shambolic road that won it the name “Confusion Square”.

The interchange’s structure was constructed with a cost of 170 million Br covered by the Chinese government except for 35 million Br which the City Government spent on the compensation and resettling the people who used to live around the area. The cost for the design and research for the interchange accounts to 11.5 million Br. The 8.1kms long road with two over passes was inaugurated last Sunday in the presence of Kuma Demeksa, mayor of the city, and Degefe Bula, speaker of the House of Federation, after it has already been opened for traffic on May 1, 2009.

The Gotera tower will become Addis Abeba’s first and will stand in the middle of one its busiest roads. The tallest tower in the world is the 553 metres tall CN tower in Toronto, Canada. It is made of concrete and was built in 1976; followed by Ostankino and Oriental Pearl, which are 540 metres and 467 metres tall in that order . These towers, found in Moscow, Russia and Shanghai, China are both made from concrete and were built in 1967 and 1995.