Benishangul Gumuz appoints Ashadli as Chief Administrator

Benishangul Gumuz Regional State Council has appointed Ashadli Hassen as Chief Administrator of the state a month after its former president passed away suddenly.

Spokesperson of the council, Fekadu Tadesse said the appointment of Ashadli Hassen as Chief Administrator of the state was made by the emergency session of the governing Benishangul Gumuz Peoples Democratic Party (BGPDP).

Deputy Chief Administrator of the regional state and BGPDP Chairman, Ambassador Mesgana Admasu told the session that the candidate meets the educational and political qualifications as well as work experience to fill the post.

The candidate was unanimously elected by the council.

Ashadli Hassen is the sixth Chief Administrator of Benishangul Gumuz State and replaces the late Ahmed Naser who died at the age of 51.

The late Ahmed earned his first degree from Haromaya University in agricultural engineering and his second degree from the Chinese Hohai University in water engineering.

He also served as State Minister of Agriculture and as head in various offices.

World Bank commits USD 829 mln for dev't projects

Ethiopia and the World Bank Group on Thursday signed financial agreement amounting to 829 million USD to finance five projects.

Finance and Economic Cooperation Minister, Abdulaziz Ahmed, said that the WB is the biggest development partner working with the government in various development projects.

He said that the Bank, together with other development partners, has remained engaged in supporting Ethiopia's effort to expand access and reach of social and economic services throughout the nation.

“The five financing agreements are further testimony to the Bank's commitment to continue engaged in the creation of centers of excellence, which will support the infrastructural development and service provision agenda of the country, '' Abdulaziz said.

WB Country Director, Carolyn Turk, also said “the agreement brings the number of new Bank financed projects for the for this year to ten and subject to the Board approval of the USD 100 million additional financing within weeks which will bring the total new commitments to USD 1.8 billion and the value of the active portfolio to over 8 billion USD.” (The Ethiopian Herald)

FM confident about Jamaica, Caribbean countries support to Ethiopia’s bid for UNSC

Foreign Minister Tedros Adhanom (PhD) has expressed confidence in the support of Jamaica and Caribbean countries to Ethiopia's bid for a non-permanent seat in the United Nations Security Council, according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

While discussing the value imperative for Ethiopia's bid for the UN Security Council seat, the minister highlighted the country's track record of continued contributions to the maintenance of international peace and security.

ENA quoted the Minister as saying "Ethiopia is the leading troop contributor to the UN Peacekeeping operations, having deployed over 80,000 military and police personnel in more than 10 UN peacekeeping missions worldwide. Indeed, we in Ethiopia do not see the peace and stability of our neighbors and countries beyond as different from our own."

Recently, Ethiopia has moved to strengthen its diplomatic presence in Jamaica with the appointment of an ambassador to Jamaica and the appointment of the first Ethiopian Honorary Consul to Jamaica, it was indicated. (Ethiopian News Agency)

Bahir Dar to host second Ethiopian Diaspora Day

The second Ethiopian Diaspora Day will be celebrated from August 1-2 2016, in Bahir Dar town, Amhara Regional State, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Regassa Kefale, State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, said the event serves as an opportunity to acquaint Ethiopian Diaspora with the current reality in their country of origin and boost their engagement in investment.

Panel discussions on customs duty, investment, Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and on other issues are parts of the celebration, he said.

The first Diaspora Day celebration played a significant role in boosting investment by filling the information gaps of the Diaspora community on the reality of their home country.

The Diaspora investment participation, which was 1,100 last year,  increased to 2, 870 during the past 10 months alone. They also purchased renaissance dam bond worth 4.5 million US dollars in the reported period.

Some 3, 500 Ethiopian Diaspora have so far confirmed their participation. (Fana Broadcasting Corporate)

By Yonas Abiye

In another shocking report to House of People’s Representatives (HPR), the Institution of the Ombudsman has once again exposed widespread maladministration practices in government institutions overseeing the distribution of subsidized food items, housing and construction, land management and compensation which has become causes for discontentment in the Addis Ababa and other regions of Ethiopia.

Presenting the institution’s ten month performance report to the House on Tuesday, Chief Ombudswoman, Fozia Amin, said that her institution has investigated thousands of appeals of maladministration over the last ten months and settled up to 82 percent of the files.

However, she indicated that in the process, her office has investigated some serious maladministration cases which are creating major discontents among the public. Among the findings, according to the Ombudswoman, the most shocking is the case involving the distribution of basic food items and consumer goods which are heavily subsidized by the government.

The institution’s investigation revealed that some of the public institutions are not properly distributing these heavily subsidized consumer goods to the public. According to Fozia, serious problems were found in the consumer goods distributing agencies of five regional states namely Addis Ababa, Southern, Amhara, Oromia and Gambella regional states.

Unfair distributions, lower volume of supply than the demand, illegal selling of subsidized goods to retailers and wholesalers which in turn serves as a gateway for rent-seeking, lack of transparency due to lack of respective residents participation during goods supply and distributions are some of the major challenges identified by the institution’s investigation team, Fozia told MPs. She said that the wide range of abuse in the five regions has been observed in the subsidized consumer goods distribution channels.

She further highlighted that landholders—particularly farmers in Finfine Special Zone of the Oromia Regional State—have suffered from epic maladministration in connection with compensation. Fozia also indicated that farmers in the special zone were not being given proper alternative plots or fair amount of compensation when they were asked to relocate for development.

“The major problems identified in the area (the special zone) include delaying of payment of compensation for residence who are evicted for development, problems in accessing alternative plots for farmers leaving their original location for development, lack of proper administrative redressing and attending to their grievances regarding compensation and related matters, lack of proper awareness creation among the community regarding the benefits of  development, the inadequacy of the amount of compensation tariff that is stipulated by the proclamation, exposure of farmers to brokers and rent-seekers are the reasons that eventually led them to be landless,” Fozia told MPs. She also added that there is a case to be made to reconsider the legal framework.

She also exposed huge maladministration issues in the Amhara, Gambella, and Benishangul Gumuz regions particularly in relation to schooling system. She said that schools in the mentioned regions suffer from severe education material shortage, lack of adequate classroom for students leading to cramming up to 138 students in a single classroom, charging excessive school fees in private schools and other problems.

Despite allotment of special funds for disabled students, some schools try to tell students about shortage of funds to deliver education material such as brail and related education tools, the report revealed.

Compensation issues in other parts of Oromia—particularly in the areas designated for sugar development in Arjo Dedesa area—is another issue that has been identified by the institution. Fozia told MPs that proper compensation claims of farmers displaced by sugarcane plantation in the Arjo Dedesa site have not be entertained properly.

After hearing the report, the House on its part urged the institution to strictly follow the measures taken against maladministration in the areas of housing and construction, land management and compensation in the capital city and other parts of the country.

Gebrezgabiher Araya, Chairperson of the Legal and Justice Administration Affairs Standing Committee, said that the institution needs to intensify its efforts towards taking measures against maladministration (the institution’s mandate starts and ends with naming and shaming the agencies found in fault), lack of information accessibility and related cases.

According to the Chairperson, the institution should work hard to ensure the rights and benefits of women, children and people with disabilities thereby alleviating good governance problems.

By Yonas Abiye

Hawassa University (HU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) on Wednesday inked a Memorandum of Understanding to establish a framework of cooperation between the two institutions.

The new deal makes Hawassa University the second academic institution in the continent, next to Johannesburg University, to secure this prestigious deal with the UNECA

Carlos Lopes (PhD), Executive Secretary of the UNECA and Yosef Mamo (Prof.), President of Hawassa University, signed the agreement.

The two institutions will be cooperating in the areas of academic and research activities.

“UNECA is looking forward to deepening its relationship with Hawassa University to support the promotion of Africa's development agenda,” Lopes said. “We are expanding our collaboration with African universities, and are therefore looking forward to a very strong collaboration with Hawassa University.”

The MoU will extend interdisciplinary research and promote regional and continental engagement to support Africa’s transformation agenda spearheaded by UNECA in industrialization and HU in knowledge.

The joint academic and research activities will help bridge the research-policy gap, both to better inform academic research on pressing policy issues and to bring academic research more to the attention of policy-makers and governments.

Yosef expressed optimism about the outcome of the collaboration.

“We are very honored to be associated with this prestigious institution, UNECA, which has done a lot in Africa and is a beacon of social and economic development on the continent,” Yosef said.  “We hope this collaboration will be a success story.”

The university will receive expertise and assistances from UNECA, senior diplomats will participate in the University for its Policy Study, Social science, International Relations, Pan-Africanism and other areas of field of studies, Yosef told The Reporter.

The university has also been visited by the Chairwoman of the African Union Commission, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (PhD) recently.

During her visit, Zuma awarded ten top female students from different departments of HU, three pioneer female instructors and two middle level leaders. Meanwhile, the university—in honor of the Chairwoman’s visit—gave ten postgraduate scholarships for the AU which will be granted for ten African universities. On the same event, the largest conference facility of the university formerly named as the Graduation Hall has been renamed African Union Hall and was inaugurated by the Commissioner.

Bill challenged over weight of financial punishment levied on officials

By Yonas Abiye

Amendment to the Financial Administration Proclamation has proposed to empower the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation (MoFEC) to closely monitor the Internal Audit Departments of all federal government agencies by shifting their administrative accountability from their respective agencies to MoFEC.

The draft amendment also proposed an imposition of financial punishment on top government officials who fail or refuse to comply with financial reporting requirements of the Ministry or take corrective action based on the findings of the internal or external audit bodies.

According to Deputy Government Whip Amanuel Abrha, the amendment aims at filling some gaps which were exhibited in the public financial management. The draft amendment details the rationale of shifting the accountability of the internal audit departments in various government institutions citing their limited role in preventing wastage of government resources so far.

The draft argues that most of the internal audit institutions are largely under-staffed, underfunded and they receive little to no administrative support from their parent institutions. Furthermore, the Ministry has observed that most of the professionals in the internal audit departments work under questionable independence from the institutions.

Amendment came ahead of a nationwide outcry on severe maladministration and embezzlement of state resources in various government agencies. Hence, the Ministry, which is the sole custodian of the government coffers, has decided to strengthen the internal audit bodies and improve financial and functional over oversight over the budget institutions.

“Global experience informs us that to ensure full independence of the internal audit bodies, they should be administratively accountable to the finance ministry while retaining their functional responsibilities to the parent institutions,” the explanation attached to amendment said.

The draft document also proposes that MoFEC, on its part, should setup an independent audit committee either for each public body separately or for a group of public bodies, as the context requires, which supports the functions of the internal audit professionals or departments. Furthermore, the amended proclamation proposes that the Ministry has to ensure internal audit works be carried out independently, efficiently, effectively and economically.

It is to be remembered that, the many reports of the Auditor General to the House of People’s Representatives pointed out that the internal audit apparatus in government institutions are largely weak and incapable of doing proper oversight.

Similarly, the draft amendment also grants additional responsibilities to MoFEC including deciding on the organization of financial administration departments within public bodies, in consultation with the concerned body and the Ministry of Public Service and Human Resource Development.

Meanwhile, another significant provision in the amended proclamation is the stipulation of hefty financial fine on government officials.  According to the draft amendment, public officials who failed or refused to submit or ensure the submission of plans or financial reports to the Ministry or an external auditor who has failed take corrective measures based on the audit findings of internal or external audit or to ensure that such measures are taken should be liable to financial fine.

The administrative fine ranges from 5,000 to 10,000 birr on the basis of each breach of the duties, while recommendation of immediate dismissal will be will be written to the Office of the Prime Minister for three time offenders.

However, the provision that stipulate the amount of financial punishment against public office management was met with challenges from MPs who questioned the amount of money to be imposed which they said is too little compared to the growing amount of financial fraud and resource embezzlement.

On the other hand, the draft also deals with incorporating the program based budget system which has been in a trail period during the past four years. The amendment then says that it is time to make the out shift from the old expenditure-based system to program-based budget formulation system.

By Birhanu Fikade

The new income tax law, which is making headways to reform the tax regime, is being hailed by a tax expert as the draft law offers modest adjustments and provisions that include insertions of income categories to the tax basket.

Wollela A. Yesegat (PhD), assistant professor at the Faculty of Business and Economics, Addis Ababa University (AAU) told The Reporter that the draft law, which is expected to be enacted soon, has brought more provisions that range from broadening tax bases to the extent of easing some contentious requirements the existing tax regime imposes on taxpayers.

According to Wollela, one extra income tax category, which was previously ignored, was management fees. “It was not part of the existing income tax distribution previously. Management fee mostly is related to foreign companies. A company residing in Ethiopia might pay some amount of money to a non-resident company in another country in the name of management fees. This was not a recognized income until the new reform”, Wollela said.

Wollela explained that the management fees mostly come in relation with multinational companies. When the expatriates come and help residents in Ethiopia on managerial basis tax will be imposed as management fees. Hence, the resident company here is required to withhold the payable amount for taxation. In addition to that, Wollela said that there is a residual income tax section introduced in the upcoming income tax law.

According to the academic, in the existing system, this income does not fall in either of the schedules which are labeled as high, medium or low taxpayers. Based on these schedules, the existing income tax law has no mechanism to tax those managerial contracts. “But now, in the new law, there is a residual income section that helps the government tax those incomes,” Wollela said.

The proposed income tax law also has a mechanism to address the most contentious component of the existing law. The dispute resolution mechanism, according to Wollela, is undoubtedly expected to resolve the cumbersome and painstaking procedures of appeal for majority of taxpayers.

The system, for so long, has been mainstreamed via the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) where a pool of individuals from various departments join to form an internal committee (administrative review committee) within ERCA. Hence, if the dispute remains unsettled at this stage, the taxpayer is expected to approach the tax appeal commission. And that again fails to address tax complaints so courts are the last resorts. “Usually decisions made by members of the review committee are contentious and end up being unaccepted by taxpayers. Unsatisfied tax payers will proceed to the next level which requires them to pay 50 percent (of the assessed tax, and late payment interest and penalty) in advance. Therefore, to address these problems in resolving tax disputes, the proposed laws have made some notable changes”, Wollela argues. Against the 10 days the existing law offers to establish a case and file an objection with the administrative review committee, the new law provides 21 solid days and additional 10 days for some unforeseen occurrences the tax payers might have faced.

That said, however, Wollela is skeptical of the draft income tax law in areas of dividend and retained earning aspects. “To my knowledge, dividend tax is imposed only on distributions. If the government wishes to punish companies that decide to use their accumulated earnings as an internal source of finance (without distributing them to shareholders), then the tax should be named as retained earnings tax, not dividend tax,” Wollela said.

She said that she finds it hard to believe that companies have the luxury of retaining earnings for the purpose of avoiding dividend taxes. “How many companies are having a relaxed means of finance? How many of them have easy access to other means of finance (like bank loans)? In what type of environment should the government punish companies that decide to retain earnings (without making distribution to shareholders) and use them as internal sources of finance?” Wollela asked.

There are other areas where Wollela wished the draft law should have focused on. She said that the existing three years of loss carry forward provision should have been extended to five years as businesses find it difficult to sustain and regain shortly.

The expectations were high among the public where the proposed income tax will bring rates considerably down and have a significant impact on cost of living.

Ethiopia to forge military cooperation with Turkey

By Yonas Abiye

The Federal Attorney General, formerly the Ministry of Justice, has presented a bill that amends an extradition agreement between Ethiopia and its neighbor Sudan, which was signed back in 1972, before the Houses of People’s Representatives (HPR) on Tuesday.

The two countries signed the new treaty four years ago in May 2012 to enhance their cooperation in fighting crime and criminal activities in the region.

Presenting the draft document before the House, Deputy Government Whip, Amanuel Abrha said that the latest treaty is intended to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries by renewing the same agreement they had signed in 1972 under the auspices of preventing and suppressing organized crimes in the region. He indicated that it is necessary to ensure peace and stability as well as fighting against cooperation against terrorism among the two nations.

The treaty lists the major extraditable offenses and the procedure each party should follow to fulfill the extradition requirement and extradite criminals.

According to the agreement, a country can request an extradition of a criminal if and when at the time of the request the crimes committed are punishable under the laws of the two countries and provided that the minimum penalty for the offense is at least one year of simple imprisonment.

Similarly, the treaty also lists out 15 conditions that proclaim grounds for refusal to extradition. Among them is when the suspects are wanted in connection with political matters, race or issues in relation to person’s religion.  

Apart from the extradition treaty, the house has also reviewed another bill that provides for trade, economic and technical cooperation between Ethiopia and Sudan.

 In a related development, the houses also received another bill that stipulates cooperation in the military fields between Ethiopia and Turkey. The framework agreement that is referred to as Cooperation Agreement in the Military Field was singed a decade ago in Ankara, Turkey between Samora Yonus (Gen.), Chief of the General Staff of the Ethiopian Armed Forces, and Hilmi Ozkok (Gen.), Commander of the Turkish Armed Forces. 

According to the cooperation agreement, the two nations seek to cooperate in the areas of military training and education, defense industry, air force, ground force, logistics, military history, archives, publications and museology among others.

It has been noted that the principle of the cooperation include taking into consideration their common interest, mutual benefits and their respective requirements. They have also agreed to exchange visits by personnel at every level as deemed necessary so as to strengthen their cooperation. Similarly, their principle also includes that they should conclude supplementary instruments to further determine the detail of the cooperation in the field.

To take delivery of Africa’s first Airbus A350 XWB

By Kaleyesus Bekele

Ethiopian Airlines is in the process of ordering 10-15 regional jets that it will deploy on short haul routes, it was learnt.

Ethiopian Airlines operates Bombardier Q400 turboprop aircraft and Boeing B737s on domestic and short haul routes. The national flag carrier has 17 Q400s and 20 B737s. The airline placed order for 20 B737 MAX.

On the sidelines of the 72nd International Air Transport Association (IATA) Annual General Meeting Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, told The Reporter that his airline needs regional jets with 100 seats. “If you see our fleet we have the Q400s with 78 seats and we have ordered for B737 MAX with 160 seats. The gap between the two is wide. So we need an aircraft with about 100 seats that can fill the gap,” Tewolde told The Reporter.

According to Tewolde, his management is considering a number of narrow body aircraft including Bombardier CSeries SC100, Embraer 190, 195 and Mitsubishi Regional Jet. A team has been established and is currently evaluating these aircraft. “We will evaluate the performance of each aircraft thoroughly,” Tewolde said. According to the CEO, Ethiopian will order 10-15 the regional jets.

The hub of Ethiopian Airlines, Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, is situated on 2,400 meters altitude above sea level. The altitude tests the performance of engines. “The high altitude reduces the payload of the aircraft and we seriously consider the engine performance,” Tewolde said.

Tewolde flew Bombardier Cseries SC100 jet on June 3 from Dublin, Ireland where he attended the IATA AGM to Zurich, Switzerland to participate at the Star Alliance Group Chief Executive Board meeting. The flight took one hour and 50 minutes. The twin engine Canadian jet took off from Dublin Airport with short run up.

“I am very impressed by the performance of the aircraft (SC100). I am very surprised by the swift take off,” Tewolde told The Reporter after landing in Zurich. The single aisle aircraft has a wide cabin. “The cabin is spacious. It has a wide luggage compartment. The lavatory has a high ceiling. It is a very good airplane,” Tewolde said. However, he said, the Series will compete with Embraer and Mitsubishi jets.

In a speech delivered in the Bombardier SC100 aircraft demonstration flight Vice President and General Manager CSeries at Bombardier Aerospace, Rob Dewar, said that the aircraft has a range of 3,300 nautical miles (6,000km). Dewar said the aircraft burns 35 percent less fuel than an Airbus or Boeing twin engine jet.

Tewolde said that the SC100 jet could fly 4-5 hours with 100 passengers to Lagos, Accra, Lome or Lusaka. “This is very helpful to our short haul routes with less passenger traffic.”

In a related news, Ethiopian is going to take delivery of Africa’s first Airbus A350-900 aircraft on June 28. Senior executives of Airbus led by John Leahy, Airbus COO Customers, will hand over the new jetliner to the management of Ethiopian led by the CEO at the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse Blagnac Airport.

The A350 XWB will be the first airbus aircraft in Ethiopian fleet and the first of its kind in Africa. In a statement sent to The Reporter yesterday Ethiopian announced that it has named the new Airbus aircraft “The Semien Mountains”. Ethiopian will be the first carrier in Africa to operate the A350 XWB jetliner.

Ethiopian said all seats are fitted with the latest high-definition touchscreen personal monitors and a higher selection of movies, TV series and audio channels. “Inflight Wi-Fi connection will be made available on the aircraft in the future. Passengers with smart devices can connect to the world while others can use the smart individual touch screens on their seats when the internet service goes operational.”

Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, said, “We are very pleased that Ethiopian has taken the leadership role in Africa and has become among the few leading airlines in the world to invest in this latest technology and efficient flying machine. Operating the youngest fleet in the industry with modern and comfortable customer features in cabin is one of the four pillars of our vision 2025 15 years strategic road map and the introduction of the A-350 is one component of this strategy. We have also made sure that our aircraft is designed and configured to surpass the expectations of our customers. Africa’s first A350 will provide new features such as wider seats in both Business and Economy classes the lowest twin engine noise level, advanced air conditioning technology and full LED mood lighting to enhance the comfort while reducing fatigue after a long flight.”

“The Airbus 350 XWB will enable us to further expand our service quality especially on our long-haul flights and strengthen our connectivity and herald with the least carbon emission to our planet ‘The New Spirit of Africa’ to the world.” Tewolde said.

Ethiopian has ordered 14 Airbus A350 aircraft and will continue receiving the remaining 13 soon constantly raising number of Airbus aircraft in the fleet.  

Ethiopian believes that the A350 XWB’s innovative technology improves performance in operation. “Its revolutionary airframe and simplified systems have optimized fuel burn, maintenance costs and reliability, and its engines have the lowest carbon dioxide CO2 emissions of any in the wide body category.”

Currently, Ethiopian operates 76 aircraft including 13 B787-8 Dreamliners. It has 43 aircraft on its order book including 14 A350 XWB and 8 B787 Dreamliners.

Ethiopian and Eritrea have been in a stalemate over the last sixteen years ever since the end in 2000 of the two-year bloody war they fought. This state of “neither war nor peace” apparently has had a devastating effect on the peoples of both nations and unpleasant ramifications for nearby states. The armies of the two sides have engaged in several skirmishes during the long standoff.

The latest clash saw the countries exchange heavy fire at their disputed last Sunday. As usual apart from pointing figures at each other no casualty figures or the estimated value of property damage was disclosed by either side. History has shown that an impasse is not in the interest of both countries. This is why we believe they have no option but to draw lessons from the past and commit themselves to seeking a lasting peace accord.

Last month Eritrea celebrated its twenty-fifth year independence anniversary. The fanfare with which the celebrations were held belie the dire state the country is in. The widespread and systematic crimes against humanity that the increasingly tyrannical Asmara regime has committed over the past 25 years have forced its citizens to flee in droves to Europe and other parts of the world. The number of Eritreans undertaking a perilous journey across the Mediterranean in search of a better life is on par with that of the citizens of war-torn countries like Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan. Many in the international community refer to the Eritrean government as the North Korea of Africa on account of the egregious human rights violations and brutal repression it has perpetrated and willfully continues to do so.

The UN Security Council has repeatedly imposed sanctions and embargos on Eritrea citing the numerous infractions of its government. And last week a new report by the UN Commission of Inquiry on Human Rights in Eritrea, which accused the dictatorial Eritrean regime of committing crimes against humanity, called for the international community to take steps, including using the International Criminal Court, national courts and other available mechanisms to ensure there is accountability for the atrocities being committed in Eritrea. This is the strongest of the slew of criticisms that the UN has delivered against Eritrea. Nonetheless the Eritrean population continues to be subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment at the hand of their own government.

The belligerence of the Asmara regime is not directed at its citizens alone, though. It is bent on destabilizing Horn of Africa countries. Numerous reports commissioned by different entities have affirmed that it is mired up to its eyeball in illegally funding and arming the Somalia-based jihadist al-Shabaab, al-Qaeda-linked Islamic insurgent battling the internationally recognized government in Somalia. It also backs groups which have gripes with other countries of the region against whom it had a falling out. Though it has been cast out as a pariah state as a result of these breaches of international norms, it is unwilling to desist from undermining the region’s stability.

On the contrary, Ethiopia is relatively more peaceful and stable than Eritrea. And it has been registering one of the fastest economic growth over the past decade globally, a fact attested by the likes of the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Needless to say this does not imply that the nation is a bed of roses; it still is afflicted by rampant corruption, miscarriage of justice and other forms of bad governance that have prevented its economy from growing at an even faster pace.    

Ethiopia was unable to achieve a sustainable economic growth prior to the last decade owing to a raft of internal and external factors. Chief among these is the 1998-2000 Ethio-Eritrea war which exacted a severe humanitarian and economic toll on the warring sides. We believe Eritrea should be able to enjoy the peace and stability Ethiopia is blessed with. This can be realized when the two countries sit down and negotiate a win-win settlement that not only heals wounds, but also lays the foundation for deeper ties.

The peoples of Ethiopia and Eritrea have centuries of brotherly relations. They lived as one people for eons until 1991 and share similar languages, religion and culture. Such a bond actually makes the reconciliation between the two nations a lot easier. If the impasse cannot be resolved at some point, there is no doubt the type of conflict that broke out last week is bound to recur and even escalate to a full-scale war that may well exacerbate the crisis besetting the region by creating a fertile ground for terrorism and reversing the hard-fought political and economic gains made over the years. As always the brunt of the conflict will be borne by the innocent and the vulnerable. War is a lose-lose proposition which never fails to wreak havoc on the sides involved. In cognizance of this fact, therefore, the governments of countries and regional states as well as the international community need to ramp up efforts to break the deadlock and bring about a lasting peace. This will go a long way towards ensuring the stabilization and prosperity of the entire Horn region.

By Yonas Abiye

The Information Network Security Agency (INSA) disclosed that over the past nine months the state-owned telecom company, Ethio Telecom, has lost over one billion birr to telecom fraud.

According to the nine-month performance report that was tabled before the House of People’s Representatives, telecom fraud is becoming the major obstacle in expanding access to telecom services in Ethiopia. Furthermore, the report said that telecom fraud is increasingly claiming huge amount of revenue and costing the nation’s telecom sector.

To that effect, INSA reported that it has been involved with massive nationwide operations to foil organized telecom fraud during the past nine months. As part of the operation, INSA announced that it has dismantled organized telecom fraudsters’ networks around the nation including those found in Addis Ababa, Jigjiga, Harar and Dire Dawa.

In total, the agency has seized more than 400 telecom systems and equipments, each having the capacity of supporting multiple mobile SIM cards ranging from eight up to 720. All in all, the illicit telecom operations cost the nation over one billion, according to INSA’s estimates.

The report also indicated that 46 people have been arrested and have been brought before court in connection with alleged fraudulent activities.

The agency said technological sophistication, stakeholders’ lack of awareness and lack of control in the sales of SIM, voucher and EVDO cards are major factor which has exacerbated the problem.

Apart from running major anti-telecom fraud operation across the country, INSA is also intensifying the fight on the legal from. In this regard, the report indicated that agency is in the process of preparing regulation to facilitate the implementation of the telecom fraud proclamation ratified some three years ago.   

Meanwhile, the agency was able to foil more than 165 major cyber-attacks, which could have caused major damages to the country, during the report period.

Teklebirhan Woldearegay (Maj. Gen.), Director General of  INSA, indicated that through its controlling center known as Ethio-Sert, which was established to fend-off cyber and related attacks, it has successfully foiled over 165 major cyber attacks in past nine months that were targeting various institutions.

The agency also offering its support for the preparation of a cadastral map for six cities located in four regional states, the director said.

However, Teklebirhan also discussed the severe shortage of trained manpower that the agency is facing. He also told MPs that the agency is unable to get adequate trained manpower from the local labor market due to the local universities failure to produce the required professionals in the sector.

By Yemane Nagish

After the latest conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea subsided, the current situation in border towns including Tsorona, Zalambessa and Bure remain tense with heavy military presence from both sides, sources confirmed to The Reporter.

According to eyewitnesses, heavy artillery including tanks and armored vehicles were spotted. There was also massive troop movement.

It was on Sunday that reports hit social media of fighting between Ethiopian and Eritrean troops on the heavily-militarized border area. It was reported that the forces exchanged heavy artillery fire.

According residents of the border towns, the latest battle was one of the “worst clashes since the end of the 1998–2000 border war.”

Both Addis Ababa and Asmara blamed one other for initiating the latest clash.

Eventually, following reports from residents living on the Ethiopian side of the border of hearing heavy gunfire, Eritrea accused Ethiopia of infringing its territory over the weekend. “The TPLF regime has... unleashed an attack against Eritrea on the Tsorona Central Front,” Eritrea’s Information Ministry said in a statement released overnight Sunday. Besides the claim from the Eritrean government in the capital Asmara, however, there is very little confirmed detail of what happened.

Speaking to reporters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday, Getachew Reda, Head of Government Communications Affairs Office with a ministerial portfolio, said fighting stopped Monday around noon and that Ethiopian forces withdrew from the site of the clash “once our objective was achieved.”

Getachew said Ethiopia “chose to avoid a full-scale war” with Eritrea, but the Ethiopian government warned it would respond if Eritrea attacked again.

On Thursday Asmara said, “More than 200 TPLF (Ethiopian) troops have been killed and more than 300 wounded.” The Ministry of Information said that it is a “conservative estimate”.

However, Ethiopia immediately downplayed Asmara’s claim saying the number of causalities Eritrea alleged to have entailed were only a desperate and cooked-up figures aimed to cover the very heavy loss the Eritrean Army suffered.

“This is nothing but a belated effort by a shell-shocked regime to boost the flailing morale of its few remaining supporters,” Getachew said.

“We are not going to be sucked in to a game of numbers because we have achieved our objectives” Getachew said adding, “We have no time or interest for morbid excitement.”

Yet, sources told The Reporter that a high-ranking Eritrean military officer has been taken captive.

Analysts contacted by The Reporter said that that there will not be an all-out war but added that it is never completely off the table. Skirmishes between the two forces on the border are not infrequent, although analysts suggest that the latest incident is more serious than usual.

The latest skirmish was condemned by the international community including the United Nations, the African Union and the United States.

The US Department of State expressed concern over the military action, calling on both sides to exercise restraint.

"We also urge both Ethiopia and Eritrea to cooperate in promoting stability and sustainable peace in the region," US Department of State spokesman John Kirby said in a statement Tuesday.

 Similarly, United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for maximum restraint.

The Secretary-General discussed the issue in a meeting in Brussels with the Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn, while the Deputy Secretary-General called the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Eritrea.

“They urged both Governments to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from any act or statement that could exacerbate the situation,” said the statement released by the spokesperson, which added that they also called on both Governments to resolve their differences through peaceful means, including by ensuring the full implementation of the peace agreement they signed in 2000.

The border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia killed an estimated 70,000 people. Since then, the two countries have fought periodic battles on their boundary, the most recent before this week coming in 2012.

The Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) pocketed some two million birr from an auction which was held to sell 11kgs of confiscated animal gallstones to which the government had no clue as to the of value before, it was learnt.

It is to be recalled that a decisive tip-off led ERCA to seize the gallstones destined to China. ERCA announced an auction early this month to sell the gallstones. However, the first bid was turned down due to underpricing. This time around, on Monday, the second round result came up with a winner who has provided two million birr for a total of 11kgs. Henock Teshome, the winner of the auction, is one of two individuals in the whole country who is in the business of exporting gallstones legally. According to sources, it is Henock who has been struggling to legalize the export of gallstones in recent years. Winning the bid, Henock is expected to receive 11kgs of gallstones, which will be exported to China.

Until the latest round of measures which ERCA took to stop the illegal export of animal gallstones from Ethiopia, the smuggling business remained largely in the shadows for many years. In fact, the government had no clue as to what the items are worth and where the potential markets are located.

One gram of gallstone is worth up to USD 13 to 15 at current market prices, sources claimed. Previously, the price was as high as USD 25 per gram. Sources claim that around 11kgs of gallstones have been recovered from contrabandists exporting the stones from Ethiopia so far.

Gebrehiwot Gebreselassie, acting general manager of Bole Customs Branch Office of ERCA, previously confirmed to The Reporter that there are only two legally licensed exporters of animal gallstones from Ethiopia that ERCA knows about.

It has been reported that individuals suspected of contraband including one Chinese national, who have been caught red-handed smuggling out gallstones through DHL and other means, are currently under the custody awaiting appearance before court early next month.

China is well known for exploiting animal gallstones for the production of traditional medicines and crafting other expensive artifacts. According to some reports, gallstones are claimed to be sources of antipyretics and antidotes in some cultures including China.

Gallstones of superior quality are extracted from old dairy cows, called Niuhuangs (yellow thing of cattle in Chinese). As much as in the manner of diamond mines, abattoirs in China carefully inspect their staff for potential gallstones theft.

It is a common trend to transact gallstones in the international market for various reasons. Alibaba Group, Chinese e-commerce company that provides consumer-to-consumer, business-to-consumer and business-to-business sales services via web portals, and other companies vibrantly market gallstones as essential animal byproducts.

The Ethiopian government and the European Union (EU) have signed a strategic engagement agreement that will enable the two sides to elevate the partnership on strategic bilateral issues to a more strategic level.

The head of the Delegation of the EU to Ethiopia, Ambassador Chantal Hebert, told The Reporter during the European Media Day held for the third time at Desalegn Hotel on Wednesday this week that Prime Minster Hailemariam Dessalegn and European Commission President Jean Claude Junker had signed the strategic engagement agreement.

The joint declaration on the EU-Ethiopia strategic engagement, signed on June 14, will become a comprehensive process of dialogue and cooperation in different areas and on different levels based on common interest, the ambassador said.

The strategic engagement involves annual high-level meeting at the level of foreign ministers to assess the fulfillment of the goals of the strategic engagement.

According to the ambassador, the strategic engagement agreement focuses on six different sectoral dialogues, including regional peace and security; countering terrorism and violent radicalization; migration; social and economic development, investment and trade; governance and human rights; climate change and environmental cooperation.

“The big difference that the new strategic engagement agreement brings is that there will be more concrete and efficient contacts with some additional priority areas such as migration and countering terrorism and violent radicalization,” the ambassador told The Reporter.

Concerning the objective of the strategic engagement agreement the ambassador said: “The objective is to be more efficient and to elevate the political dialogue to a higher level, because, currently, migration and the fight against terrorism and violent radicalization are the very sensitive issues. It is not our classical areas for cooperation but we have to adapt ourselves and we have also to change our implementation of modalities and relationship.”

Ethiopia and the EU have agreed on the need for a regular dialogue during the visit of the High Representative/Vice President Federica Mogherini to Ethiopia last year.

Following the visit, in a joint declaration issued on October 20, 2015, Mogherini and Tedros Adhanom (PhD), Foreign Minister of Ethiopia, stated that the two sides agreed to start a regular dialogue at the foreign minister level, steering political dialogues that will include new areas of common interest and more regular meetings at the ministerial level.

Ethiopia and the EU look back on 40 years of bilateral relations in development cooperation, trade and economic development, consolidation of democratic institutions, regional peace and security.

In an attempt to address the ever increasing demands for real estate properties in the country, a local firm has been setup to approach diaspora markets by organizing an expo in the United States.

The recently booming marketing and communications firm, 251 Communications, which was set up by Addis Alemayehu—a returnee entrepreneur—is organizing an expo to showcase the real estate business to the diaspora community. Addis told The Reporter that the real estate expo is set to be held for two days from September 17 to 18, 2016 in Washington DC where 22 developers and five local banks will be taking part in the event.

The expo is expected to attract some five thousand visitors who live in and around Washington DC, Addis said. According to Addis, the real estate developers have been selected carefully on grounds of their actual performances and deliveries.

A new exhibition dubbed “ET Real Estate Expo” will be held annually across countries where a sizable Ethiopian diaspora community resides.  Following the Washington DC expo, 251 Communications is looking at countries like Canada, the UK and Israel. A group of bankers and property developers are set to travel to Washington DC to showcase the potential market and fill the supply side gap in the sector.

Launching a trade expo specializing in real estate is a challenging task as a good number of home buyers have lost considerable amount of money by firms which fail to deliver. Still, the growing demand for owing properties and the difficulties that exist in buying homes from abroad necessitated a kind of new arrangement to fill the supply side constraints, Addis argued. “Whether we like it or not we need real estate companies and developers.  Living abroad and at the same time building a home here is very difficult. Therefore, we have come up with the idea to address the gap”.

Moreover, the coming of Chinese and European real estate developers makes the sector more proactive to deliver on time with vendor-based resources, Addis said. According to Addis, a handful of banks are also set to join the upcoming expo and that makes it more prudent preventing previous outcries from happening in the future. The banks are expected to act as co-owners of the properties until the credits facilitated to homebuyers are fully paid.

Currently, Zemen, Abay, Buna, Awash and Dashen banks have been joined by Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) to participate in the expo as these financial institutions are providing diaspora mortgage and credit facility windows.

251 Communications is well rooted in organizing major events for global companies. Addis together with his colleagues also is famed for establishing the popular Kana TV which mainstreams entertainment programs, mostly broadcasting dubbed films in the country.

-Sodo area to receive 3G network soon

The Chinese telecom provider, Huawei Technologies Co., which is currently locked in a global market battle with Ericsson, is taking over portions of projects bequeathed to the Swedish telecom giant that was contracted after the state-run telecom provider; Ethio Telecom snatched shares of ZTE Corp. nearly two years ago.

Back in 2013, Ethio Telecom awarded both Huawei and ZTE a USD 1.6 billion telecom network expansion project. However, the Swedish telecom group had made the contract agreement with Ethio Telecom late in 2014 to expand telecom infrastructure, taking a slice of the USD 800 million contract from the Chinese firm, ZTE.

It is to be recalled that Ethio Telecom re-awarded colossal telecom expansion project to another competing Chinese firm; Huawei Technologies which currently has taken over one of the four circles previously given to Ericsson. Huawei, in addition to Addis Ababa, carried out six circles of the expansion program in the country including, north, north-east, north-west, east, and afar area projects. However, in addition to the six circles, according to the statement The Reporter received from Huawei, the telecom giant is now finalizing a 3G network project at the Sodo area which previously was under the auspicious of Ericsson designated as SSWR circle.

On the global sphere, the ever expanding Huawei was making headlines in the likes of The Wall Street Journal. Back in May, newspaper a story headlined “Huawei sues Samsung alleging patent infringement”. The infringement Samsung is alleged for, according to The Wall Street Journal relates with 11 patents of smartphones and cellular networks Huawei says help ensure uninterrupted phone services on 4G LTE networks. In June, the same paper ran a story that says “Huawei aims to overtake Samsung and Apple in smartphones”. Reports also suggest that Huawei has been outspending the likes of Apple in areas of research and development where the multinational is spending some nine billion dollars annually.

Back home, earmarking the largest slices of telecom networking project, Huawei is now set to contend other competitors and embark on a new expansion project that Ethio Telecom is expected to launch soon.

An emerging local hospitality consulting firm, Calibra Hospitality Consultancy and Business has established an alliance with Aleph Hospitality, a newly-founded Dubai-based firm, to run hotels across East Africa.

Calibra Hospitality Consultancy and Business has been instrumental in the consulting brand hotels join the hospitality industry of the country. The firm was behind ten major global brands that came in to link up with local property owners and set up star-rated hotels in Ethiopia. Nurturing the local hospitality business, Calibra Hospitality has now joined forces with the United Arab Emirates aiming at dominating hotel business in East Africa. 

Neway Berhanu, managing director of Calibra Hospitality, told The Reporter that both Aleph Hospitality and Calibra have partnered to serve as third-party management and consultancy firm. They will focus on serving hotels that are not high-end brand operators. 

Established back in March, Aleph Consultancy is founded and managed by Bani Haddad, a veteran hotelier who was in Addis two years ago to seal the Ramada Addis deal. By the time, Haddad was responsible for Wyndham Hotel Group in the Middle East and Africa, holding a vice president position.

The new company, according to information posted on Aleph Hospitality website, specializes in the operation of internationally recognized hotel brands across the Middle East and Africa. Headquartered in Dubai, with satellite office in Addis Ababa, the company will be offering regional hotel owners unrivalled access to the international expertise and local know-how required to maximize the success of assets.

That said the first hotel management deal Alpeh Hospitality is set to manage here is expected to be Best Western Addis, Neway noted. According to Neway, Calibra, in addition to extending consultancy and management services together with Aleph Hospitality in the East African region, is now planning to expand and set up hospitality training academy to elevate the shortages of professional hoteliers in the country.

Currently, Ethiopia is ranked as one of the top ten countries in Africa developing star-rated hotels. With the untapped huge potential that can enable the country generate billions of dollars out of conference tourism and travel, operators and the government hope that the hospitality business can serve the purpose.

The Ministry of Defense (MoD) told the House of Peoples’

Representatives (HPR) on Tuesday that the number of Ethiopian peacekeeping troops in Abyie region— an area where Sudan and South Sudan have traded deadly clashs— is to increase.

The Ethiopian peacekeeping mission, which has been deployed in disputed region, may extend its mandate beyond what was originally scheduled due to the expansion of the mission on the ground.

Presenting the Ministry's performance report, the minister of Defense, Siraj Fegessa, told the House that Ethiopian troops deployed in African Union and United Nations peacekeeping missions are carrying out their missions in a capable manner.

Siraj said that in Abyie—where over 4,200 peacekeeping troops were deployed since 2013—the required political measures have not been achieved but the Ethiopian peacekeeping mission is stabilizing the area.  He indicated that the army shows commitment in ensuring stability and harmony among locals.

 “Our troops may be required to expand their mission further due to the little progress from their side and the number of troops could exceed more than 5,000,” Siraj told MPs.

While presenting his report concerning the recent clash between African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) troops and Al Shabaab, the minister did not give details regarding causalities but said that after incurring recurrent damages, the militant group has resorted to carrying out suicide bomb attacks.

According to the minister, Ethiopia's peacekeeping troops are carrying out their mission in Somalia covering 62 percent of the country's total size which he said should have been overseen by some 12,000 troops.

Regarding the recent deadly attacks launched by the Murle tribe of South Sudan, Siraj told MPs that the peaceful and composed approach the government took has resulted in a successful outcome.

He  said the national defense force has so far managed to rescue 91 of the children, who were abducted, and efforts are under way to bring home the remaining 12 children and the cattle taken by the gunmen.

 “So far, we have been able to bring home 91of kidnapped children safely. The government is closely working with the South Sudanese government to bring back the remaining kidnapped children and the looted animals, and identify the culprits and also bring them to justice,” Siraj told the House, adding that incidents of this caliber are common occurrences at borders with neighboring countries where there are pastoral communities.

Highlighting the recent border conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Siraj explained that Ethiopian troops took proportional retaliatory response against Asmara. Though he did not give detail, he told the House that the retaliatory response was taken following the Eritrean government’s continued provocations.

However, he indicated that this will also continue in order to safeguard the country's peace and development.

After his report, Foreign, Defense and Security Affairs Standing Committees commended the army for its peacekeeping mission and effort made to bring back the kidnapped children. But the committee also urged the Ministry to exert effort to bring the remaining kidnapped children back home as soon as possible.

According to Siraj, Ethiopia has deployed more than 12,500 troops in areas affected by conflict and the troops have earned huge appreciation from the international community.

In its five decades of peacekeeping mission, Ethiopia has deployed a total of more than 49,000 troops in seven peacekeeping operations.

The policy decision of the Government of Ethiopia to effect a structural change in the economy whereby it un overgoes a transition from being agriculture-led to industry-led is now taking shape after fifteen years of ups and downs. In this regard Ethiopia has managed to attract foreign direct investment with major international players in the textile, leather, cement, pharmaceutical and other sectors establishing their presence in various parts of the country and generating much-needed hard currency. The companies which have invested billions of dollars come mainly from India, Turkey, India and the U.K.  

In the first 5-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I) of the government, which ran from 2010-2015, the manufacturing sub-sector of the industrial sector registered a 20 percent growth. The government has targeted a 25 percent growth for the sector in GTP II (2016-2020). This said, the contribution of the manufacturing sector as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is still hovering around the 5 percent mark. This figure in no uncertain term demonstrates that there is still far to go before the sector takes the lead in the structural transformation it has been projected to take. On the contrary, the service sector has leapfrogged over the agriculture sector and now accounts for the lion’s share of GDP without a meaningful government support.

Several factors are to blame for the lackluster performance of the industrial sector. Chief among these is the inability of the government to duly implement on the ground the enticing policy and legal frameworks it has put on paper. The critical shortcomings identified by stakeholders as constraining manufacturing in Ethiopia include inadequate power supply and other infrastructures, poor logistics and customs services and the dearth of a disciplined workforce.  Though the government had pledged that it is committed to eliminating the challenges standing in the way of the sector, the prevalence of red tape, corruption and other forms of maladministration have prevented it from providing efficiently the services investors expect from it.

With a view to tackle the afore-mentioned drawbacks in an integrated manner and render the sector globally competitive, the government is pursuing the development of industrial parks as a key strategy. Two sprawling industrial parks have been developed in the past few years while several more are in the pipeline. The Bole Lemi and Eastern Industry Zone parks are soon to be joined by the Hawassa Industry Park with the Bole Lemi Two, Adama, Dire Dawa, Kombolcha, Bahir Dar and Mekelle industrial parks slated to commence operation down the line.

The government isfinancing the erection of the parks through the USD one billion it borrowed from the international market via the sale of sovereign bond as well as concessional loans obtained from donors. The parks have to commence operation within the shortest possible time and begin generating income so that the country does not default on the debt it incurred for their construction. Already major apparel companies like Phillips-Van Heusen and Vanity Fair have set up shop in the soon-to-be-opened Hawassa Industrial Park. The government is eyeing USD one billion and USD 500 million in annual export revenue from the textile and leather and leather products sectors, respectivelyby the end of GTP II.

It is quite disappointing to say the least then that the industry parks which have commenced operation are beset with a host of construction-related problems that not only cast a shadow over the manufacturing sector but also dishearten the overseas companies operating in the parks. The flaws in the delivery of water and other services identified in a report members of parliament submitted to Parliament following a recent visit to the Bole Lemi Industrial Park are good examples.

Moreover, the companies are paying dear as a result of faulty construction works. The report indicated that a Chinese company was asked to pay close to one million birr (around USD 43,000) for water that was wasted due to shoddy plumbing work. What is more dismaying, though, is the fact that the water utility company charged such an exorbitant fee without any qualms.The report further revealed that the local contractors at fault had rectified the problem, albeit after the company’s production was disrupted severely.

Meanwhile, pioneering textile companies like Ayka Addis are saying that they are finding it difficult to remain competitive on the international market. To make matters worse, they and similar other businesses are reported to be perennially in the red and on the verge of going bankrupt, forcing banks to foreclose their assets.

It is to be recalled that the development of the industrial parks had sparked a controversy with local contractors complaining that they were excluded from the construction of the parks. The government defended its decision saying local contractors lacked the necessary capacity to take on the kind of complexity the parks’ development represents. All this reaffirms that the manufacturing sector in Ethiopia is confronted with grave challenges putting a question mark over the government’s lofty goal of making Ethiopia Africa’s manufacturing hub.

It should be underscored here that if the problems afflicting the manufacturing sector are not dealt with posthaste, it is entirely plausible that the foreign investors operating in the country may well pack up and leave while deterring new investment in the nascent sector. Ethiopia can ill afford the dire consequences that would ensue if this scenario were to come to pass. Therefore, it is imperative to ramp up government support for the manufacturing sector.

• To open office next week

Nearly after a decade of departure, the Finnish multinational communications and information technology company, Nokia, has returned to Ethiopia to join the ever growing telecom network business currently dominated by three major players.

Launching its renewed presence here officials of Nokia have pledged that they have come to Ethiopia with a changed and a more grown up Nokia Company than ten years ago. Daniel Jaeger, head of market unit for Central, East and West Africa told The Reporter that Nokia is in town to work with the network infrastructures. 

Jaeger has confirmed that Nokia has already started to engage the government by submitting Expression of Interest (EOI) on the latest network expansion project Ethio Telecom is set to launch. Recently, the telecom operator has put a public notice inviting potential bidders to take part in a partial turnkey approach on the basis of vendor financing scheme.

Mesfine Belachew (PhD), director of e-government directorate at the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MoCIT) told The Reporter that though he is unaware of the intended expansion project, he said that it is inevitable that expanding the existing network infrastructure is critical. When asked whether the government has invited Nokia to rejoin the Ethiopian market, he denied that by says that it is the market that brought back the likes of Nokia. Jaeger shares the same comment that it is the Ethiopian growing market and potential for telecom business that resonated Nokia to come.

Opening its office around Ethio-China friendship roundabout, Nokia contemplates to invest in fixed infrastructure, mobile networking and connectivity projects across the country and providing ICT hardware and software products are some of the areas where the Finnish multinational is absorbed to work in the country.   

Since the sale of its handset business to Microsoft, Nokia began to focus more extensively on its telecommunications infrastructure business, marked by the divestiture of its Here Maps division, its foray in virtual reality, and the acquisitions of French telecommunications company Alcatel-Lucent and digital health maker Withings in 2016.

Now, Nokia appears geared up to compete with other global giant telecom network developers.

Headquartered in Espoo, Uusimaa, in the greater Helsinki metropolitan area, Nokia employs over 60,000 people across 120 countries. Nokia is a public limited-liability company listed on the Helsinki Stock Exchange and New York Stock Exchange. It is the world's 274th-largest company measured by 2013 revenues according to the Fortune Global 500. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index.

Two police officers and one woreda official were killed on Wednesday in Addis Ababa in an area commonly referred to as Kersa Kuntoma in the Nifas Silk Lafto Sub City located in western part of the capital.

The two police officers, Michael Shiferaw (Insp.) and Tesfaye Bahiru (Dep. Insp.), and the woreda administrator, Tarik Fikre, were killed after confrontations due to illegal settlement turned deadly.

The confrontations occurred after the woreda administrator summoned local residents for a meeting to discuss the issue of illegal settlement. At the meeting a mob—armed with blades sticks and rocks—that was refusing to be forcibly evicted from their houses awaited the administrator and the two police officers and eventually attacked them, which ultimately led to the death of the three.

According to eyewitnesses, police then arrived at the scene and arrested some 200 residents suspected of being perpetrators of the crime.

Sources also told The Reporter that some 40 police officers who were injured during the clashes were admitted to Police Hospital where they are currently receiving treatment 

Pictures circulating on social media after the incident showed hundreds of local residents, mostly women and children, queuing at the Addis Ababa Women and Children Affairs bureau, some visibly shocked as they learned their houses were being demolished by local authorities in their absence.

A similar incident on May 18 in an area known as Woreda 12 in Bole Sub City resulted in a harsh confrontation between city officials and local residents. Although early reports claimed about several deaths no confirmation was obtained.

The European giant aircraft manufacturer Airbus, has managed to break Boeing’s monopoly in Ethiopia by delivering Africa’s first A350 extra widebody jetliner to Ethiopian Airlines on June 28, 2016.

For the past sixty years Boeing has dominated the Ethiopian Airlines fleet. Ethiopian joined the jet age in the early 1960s by acquiring its first Boeing aircraft, B720. In 1984 Ethiopian was the first African carrier to acquire the B767 aircraft. Once again Ethiopian made history in 2012 by introducing the B787 Dreamliner aircraft. Ethiopia was the second country in the world only next to Japan to aquire and operate the Dreamliner aircraft. The national flag carrier has operated Boeing fleet of B720,B727, B707, B737, B757, B767, B777 and B787. Today Ethiopian operates 14 B787 and it has six more on its order book.

Airbus has been trying hard to convince the management of Ethiopian to try Airbus aircraft. After many years of dialogue in 2009, the Airbus marketing team succeeded in breaking Boeing’s monopoly by securing orders from Ethiopian Airlines. At the Dubai Airshow 2009 Ethiopian signed an agreement for the purchase of 12 Airbus A350-900 aircraft, a state-of-the-art ultra- modern jetliner with a total value of 2.9 billion dollars to be delivered between 2017-2018. It also leased two more A350s from the then IFLC now renamed AerCap for twelve years to be delivered in 2016.

The first of the two leased A350s was delivered to Ethiopian on June 28 in a colorful ceremony held at the Airbus Delivery Center in Toulouse, France Blagnac Airport. The Aibus team led by Tom Williams, chief operating officer, handed over the twine engine widebody aircraft to the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation Group CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam. The second leased A350 will be delivered to Ethiopian in August 2016.

The 12 purchased A350s will start arriving in Addis Ababa in January 2017. Ethiopian A350 is powered by two huge and powerful Rolls Royce Trent Engines. The aircraft has 343 seats, 30 in the business class. The aircraft has a wide cabin and comfortable seats with nine abreast seat configuration. The aircraft is the most fuel efficient, burning 25 percent less fuel than previous generation aircraft emitting less carbon to the environment.

Tewolde said that the A350 is a very good plane. “It is a fuel efficient and an environment friendly aircraft,” he told a press conference in Toulouse. The CEO said that there is the probability that Ethiopian could order for more Airbus aircraft. “We could order for more A350-900s.” Ethiopian is eyeing the A350-1000, an extended version of A350 which Airbus is currently developing. The first flight of A350-1000 is slated for the end of this year.

 According to Tewolde, Ethiopian first A350-900 named “Semien Mountains” will be deployed on short routes to Dubai and Lagos. “When we get the second one in August we will deploy both aircraft  on the London route. When we receive more we will assign them on the US and China routes.” 

Capt. Yohannes Hailemariam, vice president flight operation, told The Reporter that the A350 was a very modern aircraft fitted with latest aircraft technologies that make the duties of pilots much easier. “It is the most fuel efficient and technologically advanced aircraft,” Yohannes said.

According to Yohannes, the wide cabin and the air system make the flight enjoyable. “The acquisition of this modern aircraft will make Ethiopian offer efficient and comfortable service to customers. It will enable us to be a preferred airline.”  Yohannes said, as a pan-African Airline, Ethiopian will first fly the A350 in Africa.

Tewolde said that Ethiopian A350-900 is the first for Africa and the first Airbus aircraft for Ethiopian adding that it will take the African aviation industry to the next level in terms of actual benefit. “The A350 has a very good performance at high attitude and hot temperature airports. “We have a unique airport in Addis Ababa at 2400 meters above sea level. It is a challenge for engines, it is a challenge for airplanes and the A350 is ready to take that challenge.”

Tewolde said that the A350 will bring a tremendous opportunity for customers, fuel efficiency and cost of operation saving for the airline and less carbon emission for the environment. “I think it is a win-win situation for all stakeholders and we are also equally excited to start a long relationship with the Airbus,” said. 

Tom Williams said that Airbus is delighted to deliver the first Airbus aircraft to Ethiopian Airlines. “Ethiopian is one the new brand leaders in Africa not only in terms of airline passenger but also in associated fields like maintenance and repair, pilot training in many other aspects of the business. It is really a brand leader,” Williams told the conference.

“Airbus sees a huge market opportunity in Africa. The growth potential in the coming years is enormous and we want to increase our foot-print in Africa. I am very excited to see the A350 flying to new different destinations. We are excited to see the A350 foot- print expanding in another new continent,” he said.

Tewolde was asked why his airline which has been operating only Boeing fleet decided now to switch to Airbus. “When you evaluate a fleet you first define the mission and then you define the right airplane for the mission. In this category we are looking for an airplane next generation airplane with 21st aviation technology which can fly the furthest possible point from Addis. We considered range and the optimal capacity for our demand. So in that analysis the A350 came right for the mission we defined,” Tewolde said.

There is also another factor in the equation. Tewolde explained that fleet commonalty is important in the industry. “We had a concern not to diversify beyond the limit. But since we have been growing in the last ten years and the fleet is about 80 it is the right time for us to diversify because each fleet on its own will have enough economies of scale to justify the additional cost of training of pilots and technicians. So it is the right time for us to diversify.”

Executives of Rolls Royce say the performance of the A350 Rolls-Royce Trent engines in Addis Ababa would be commendable. Kevin Evans, vice president customers, told The Reporter that the engine is designed for the altitude and temperature of the airport. The aircraft was designed to match the engine. So we are very confident in the product. They are going to be fine in Addis Ababa. The engine has been in service in the Middle East, in a very harsh environment and has been flying to different airports and it has preformed very well. It has exceptional reliability so far so we are really pleased with the engine and it will do well with Ethiopian,” Evans said.

Ethiopian new A350XWB dubbed Semien Mountains departed Toulouse on a ferry flight to Addis Ababa carrying Ethiopian delegation, executives of Airbus, AerCap, Rolls Royce and journalists invited by Ethiopian and Airbus to the delivery ceremony from Africa and Europe. After cruising at an altitude of 41000 feet at an average speed of 800 km for six hours, Semien Mountains landed in Addis Ababa Bole International Airport on June29 at 10AM.

Speaking to The Reporter aboard the ferry flight ETH9201 Tewolde said that the aircraft performed extremely well beyond his expectation. “The cabin is very spacious and comfortable. The aircraft is very quite. Airbus has delivered all that it had promised to us.”  

Ethiopian has trained its pilots and technicians for its A350 fleet. So far, only for the two A350s, it has trained 16 captains and first officers for two months in Toulouse.

Captain Dawit Araya, who commanded the ferry flight made history by becoming the first African pilot to fly the A350 to Africa. Four instructor pilots from Airbus were also on board that would guide Ethiopian pilots for the coming one month. Airbus has opened a field office in Addis Ababa staffed by pilots, technicians and engineers that work on the customer service.

Captain Dawit, 36 and a father of two, told The Reporter that the flight was smooth and exciting. “It is the most advanced airplane. It excels all the aircraft in service. The cockpit is very advanced and pilot friendly,” Dawit said. “It is also very comfortable for passengers. It is the quietest airplane. It reduces fatigue on long haul routes because of the sophisticated cabin air conditioning system. The airplane is very fast. Since it is fuel efficient it enables the airline to minimize cost.”      

A graduate of the Ethiopian Aviation Academy, Dawit, has been flying different airplanes for the past 13 years. He has flown Q400, B737-200, B737-700NG, B757,and B767 aircraft as first officer and captain.

“It was a super flight,” says Fouad Attar, managing director Airbus Middle East. “It is quite. We were flying at 41000 feet but we felt like we were on 6000 feet. The aircraft has a very nice configuration. Ethiopian crew made us feel at home. Ethiopian management team are very professionals,” Attar said. He told The Reporter that Airbus will continue working with the management of Ethiopian in the development of the fleet. “We will work with them trying to offer the best product, the most efficient airplanes. Of course the A350 is the future of Ethiopian,” Attar said.

Tewolde said that European Ambassadors are very happy with the delivery of the first Airbus aircraft. “Ambassadors of France, Germany and the UK have been asking us for years when we are going to start buying Airbus aircraft and today their answers are answered.”

Africa’s first A350XWB was warmly welcomed at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport. Ethiopian President Dr. Mulatu Teshome, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu, the minister of transport other senior government officials and ambassadors welcomed Ethiopian team who brought the aircraft and executives of Airbus, AerCap and Rolls Royce.

The Semien Mountains conducted a demonstration flight carrying senior government officials, Ethiopian Sheba Miles members, travel agents, and members of the media to Axum, the Semien Mountains and the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.