Shashemene-Wondogenet-Gemeto Road Upgrading

The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) said that it has begun upgrading Shashemen-Wondogenet-Gemeto road at a cost of over 168 million Br. Samson Wondimu, public relations head of the Authority, said that the 38Km gravel road would be upgraded to an asphalt road within 18 months. The construction of the road would help farmers to easily supply their produce to market, as well as ensuring the comfort of tourists that flock to Wondogenet.

Oromia, General Hospital, Medical College Construction Complete

An investor in Oromia Regional State launched the construction of a general hospital and medical college at a cost of 235 million Br in Adama (Nazareth) town. Kebir Hussein, owner of the hospital, said 98pc of the construction of the hospital, which has 257 beds and modern medical equipment, has been completed. The hospital would provide medical services to patients who used to go abroad seeking medical treatment. The hospital is also expected to provide services to patients from Kenya and Djibouti.

Transfer of Condos to Consumers

The Addis Abeba Housing Development Project said it would transfer 33,000 condominium houses to consumers at the end of this budget year. Tsedale Mammo, head of the project, said that construction of the houses was launched in 1999 E.C. with over a billion Birr budget. The project is to launch the construction of 38,000 condominium houses at a cost of 2.2 billion Br this fiscal year.

Institution Distributes Over 87 Million Br in Loans

The Amhara Credit and Saving Institution said it has distributed over 87.6 million Br in loans over the past five months. Melese Damte, head of the North Gondar Zone Branch, said the loans were distributed to 32,000 beneficiaries in rural and urban areas of the zone. The loans, provided during the reported year, surpassed that of the same period last year by over 26.6 million Br. The office has planned to disburse over 256.4 million Br loans to over 114,000 people in the current year.

Tekeze to Generate Electricity Next July

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation said that the first power generation unit of Tekeze hydropower project would begin generation of 75mw next July. Sendeku Araya, public relations head of the Corporation, said all the regional states would get access to electricity from this project. The remaining three units, which have a capacity to generate 75mw each, are expected to go operational in November 2008. The project would generate a total of 300mw electrical power when it is fully  operational in 2009. The Tekeze Dam has a capacity to hold 9.3 billion cubic metres of water.

Ethiopia WTO Hold Negotiations

Ethiopia and the World Trade organization (WTO) held negotiations on Friday, for the first time, toward enabling the former to become a WTO member state, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said. A team of experts from the WTO and a high level delegation led by Girma Birru, minister of Trade and Industry, held the first meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.  Girma briefed the experts about Ethiopia’s economic reform undertaken over the past few years and the results achieved so far. Participants of the meeting, representing 18 member states, expressed support for Ethiopia’s economic reforms geared toward joining the WTO. The Ethiopian delegation included Neway Gebreab, economic advisor to the Prime Minister, Ahmed Tusa, state minister of Trade and Industry and Fesseha Yimer (Ambassador), Ethiopia’s permanent envoy to Geneva.

Postal Agency Collects Over 28 Million Br Revenue

Remarkable achievements have been registered since the implementation of Business Process Reengineering (BPR) over the past nine months, Ethiopian Postal Service Agency said. Ziyin Gedlu, acting officer of Communications and Documentation said the Agency has now become profitable by providing efficient services to clients. The realization of the BPR has helped deliver better services to the overall activities as well as to Emergency Message Service (EMS) and financial business services.