Employees of the Sugar Corporation extended 42.6 million birr as part of buttressing the Ethiopian National Defense Forces.
The amount equals their one month salary.
According to ENA, Chief Executive Officer of the corporation, Weyo Roba handed over the amount to the National Defense Resource Mobilization Committee chair Brigadier General, Asres Ayalew.
Asres expressed his gratitude to the constant contribution of institutions and individuals for strengthening the national army, remembering the fact that national sovereignty and territorial integrity of one’s nation is above all anything else. (FBC)
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Safaricom Eager to support National Digital Transformation
Safaricom Ethiopia expressed readiness to support Ethiopia’s national digital transformation and job creation for the youth, two of the pillars of the country’s economic reform.
Speaking at the Innovation Africa Digital Summit here in Addis, Safaricom Ethiopia Managing Director, Anwar Soussa said that his company wants to contribute a share to the national digital transformation.
Similarly, the company’ Foreign Relations head, Mathew Harvey said that Safaricom works in helping make the digital transformation in Ethiopia become inclusive.
Media reports show that Safaricom is set to invest USD 8.5 billion in Ethiopia including on the telecom infrastructure. (FBC)
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GERD will reduce floods, sedimentation in downstream Countries: Water Research Center Head
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) will regulate the water flow of the Nile River and reduce flooding risks and sedimentation in downstream countries, Arba Minch University Water Resource Research Center Director, Samuel Degalo said.
Samuel told the ENA that the dam will benefit downstream countries, especially Sudan, by regulating the water flow and sediments.
“The dam will regulate the water flow, reduce flooding risks and sediments. Especially for Sudan, it will give incredible benefits by protecting the reservoirs of their dams from sediments,” he added.
The director of the research center called on researchers to inform the relevant stakeholders on the technical issues of the dam and the win-win approach to benefit from the dam.
“The fact is that the Sudanese experts know the benefits of the dam very well. The Egyptians, however, want to maintain the average 55.5 billion cubic meter water share. And the Sudanese follow them sheepishly. The previous stand of Sudan was, in fact, right as it benefits the country.” (ENA)
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Africa Digital Summit Underway in Addis Ababa
The annual Innovation Africa Digital Summit that focuses on accelerating national ICT agendas, supporting African countries as they look to improve ICT maturity rankings, and laying foundations for achieving Sustainable Development Goals is underway here in Addis Ababa.
Opening the two-day summit, Innovation and Technology Minister, Belete Mola said Ethiopia is working to transform its economy using digitization as a key instrument.
“The Home Grown Economic Reform agenda acknowledges the importance of transforming Ethiopia’s economy to a digital one,” he said.
According to him, Ethiopia has the demographic and human power advantage highly needed for digital business and transformation. Some 300,000 students graduate and join the job market every year.
Extensia CEO, Tariq Malik said on his part the summit supports Ethiopia’s economic reform agenda.
“We are excited to be here again in support of the Government of Ethiopia in the evolution of telecommunication liberalization and privatization agenda and the summit will support the efforts of the government,” he stated.
Some 250 people from 47 countries, 25 from Africa, and 171 individual companies are attending the summit in Ethiopia, it was learnt.
The Extensia Company provides essential support services to policymakers, regulators, service providers, major end users, and solution providers across the African Telecom and ICT Ecosystem. (ENA)
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AfDB projects swift recovery in East Africa
East Africa’s economy is projected to grow at an average of 4.1 percent in 2021 from 0.4 percent recorded in 2020, supported by the global economic recovery.
AfDB lead economist, Marcellin Ndong Ntah said commodity exporters (like Tanzania) have been slightly more resilient due to rising prices of commodities, particularly gold.
Kenya’s economic growth is projected to grow by 6.3 percent, from -0.1 percent recession last year, beating all of its peers in the bloc.
“Countries that are more diversified (like Kenya) have experienced fewer adverse impacts,” said Dr Ntah.
Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi’s economies are forecast to grow at 5.1 percent, 4.0 percent and 2.0 percent, respectively.
Speaking during the launch of the report held in Nairobi, Kenya, AfDB director general for the East Africa Region, Nnenna Nwabufo attributed the positive economic outlook to several East African countries’ measures to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic.
“These policy measures have helped most of the region’s countries avoid sliding into recessions,” said Nwabufo. They, she added, have also helped reduce the number of vulnerable populations falling into poverty.
Meanwhile, according to the report, Covid-related shocks have increased poverty in the region, with the share of people living in extreme poverty rising to 35 percent in 2021, or 134.3 million human beings.
The pandemic caused 12.3 million people in the region—3.4 percent of the 2019 population—to fall into extreme poverty. (The Citizen)
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Just 5 African nations to hit COVID vax goal: World Health Organization
Just five African countries, less than 10 percent of the continent’s 54 nations, are projected to hit the year-end target of fully vaccinating 40 percent of their population, the World Health Organization (WHO) said.
Seychelles, Mauritius and Morocco have already met the goal that was set in May by the World Health Assembly, the world’s highest health policy-setting body. The office added that Tunisia and Cape Verde will also hit the target.
Limited access to crucial commodities such as syringes may slow the rollout of Covid-19 vaccines in Africa, warned the WHO, noting that some countries, such as Kenya, Rwanda and South Africa, have experienced delays in receiving syringes.
“The looming threat of a vaccine commodities crisis hangs over the continent. Early next year Covid-19 vaccines will start pouring into Africa, but a scarcity of syringes could paralyze progress,” said Matshidiso Moeti, the WHO Regional Director for Africa.
The COVAX Facility is working to address this threat by securing deals with syringe manufacturers, and through better planning to avoid deliveries outpacing the supply of syringes, Moeti said.
At the current pace, Africa still faces a 275 million shortfall of Covid-19 vaccines against the year-end target.
With nearly 8.5 million Covid-19 cases and more than 217,000 deaths recorded in Africa, 10 countries are still witnessing resurgence, including Gabon, Congo-Brazzaville, Cameroon and Egypt with an upward trend or high plateau, according to the WHO. (Business Standard)
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World Bank funded Horn of Africa Gateway Development Project to start in January 2022
The Kenya National Highways Authority (KeNHA) will be the facilitating partner and will oversee the construction and completion of the project.
The project includes the tarmacking of the 748-km Isiolo-Wajir-Mandera road, which is set to start in January next year.
Addressing the residents during the stakeholders’ validation workshop held today at the Garissa government guesthouse, KeNHA’s Project Coordinator Paul Omondi said that the project will open up the economy in the northern Kenya counties.
“The completion of this project will lead to easy ICT access for the citizens, fast travel and movement of goods, and, improved cross border trading with Ethiopia, Sudan, and Somalia,” Eng Omondi said.
“We hope that the security challenges facing these counties will end. We will have mobile police patrols at every 30kms along the roads constructed,” he added
The governor called on the area residents to give support to the contractor and project officers who will be building the key road.
He also called on the local community to take care of the CSR projects that will be realized under it and urged the youth to take advantage of the training opportunity availed by the project to get skills in various vocational disciplines that the contractor will be using in the project. (KBC)
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New resilience framework for Horn of Africa launched
The United States Agency for International Development has launched a new framework to tackle poverty and hardship in the Horn of Africa.
The framework will serve as a common reference for resilience programing throughout the Horn of Africa with the sponsors’ main aim being ending extreme poverty and promoting resilient, democratic societies.
Horn of Africa region stakeholders have been using Regional Resilience Framework 2.0 to guide resilience investments from 2012 to 2016. However, the just-launched framework 3.0, which is evidence-based, will offer new guidelines to tackle the situation.
“Informed by evidence and learning over the last four years and as a demand-driven product, the Regional Resilience Framework 3.0 will serve as a common reference for resilience programming throughout the region,” reads part of a statement on USAID’s website.
The new framework is geared towards informing program design to ensure they are risk-informed and shock responsive.
It was launched during a two-day USAID-funded Horn of Africa Resilience Network virtual learning event organized by the Resilience Learning Activity.
Stakeholders at the forum discussed the various shocks and stresses affecting the Horn of Africa, progress made in addressing these challenges, the lessons learned and key opportunities that could be tapped to improve the level of interventions. (STAR)
