Ethiopian flagship telecom operator, ethio telecom has appointed Subex to protect it with Hypersense, a form of artificial intelligence (AI) that fights fraud by tracking the Digital Trust rating of each of its 50 million subscribers.

The telecom operator for Ethiopia has recently launched a pre-commercial 5G network and wants to sustain its market leadership by providing high-quality and inventive offerings, it says.

Subex’s artificially intelligent hypersenses tackles multiple devious devices such as SIM Boxes, Spoofs and SMS. They can spot fraudulent activity within roaming, subscriptions and handset usage. It can quickly size up mobile money and credit management risks and will provide revenue assurance and fraud management. It should also lower the telecoms running costs and shrink its carbon footprint, said Roddam. 

(Mobile Europe)

Ethiopia’s creditors recommit to debt relief

A group of creditor nations on Wednesday recommitted to granting cash-strapped Ethiopia debt relief in the face of glacial progress.

Ethiopia requested debt relief from its creditor governments in early 2021 under a new G20 framework for debt restructurings, but progress has been complicated by a 21-month civil war that began in the northern Tigray region.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the creditor committee said that members had discussed the latest macroeconomic developments at its most recent meeting on July 19.

“The creditor committee for Ethiopia will pursue its work to find an appropriate solution to external debt vulnerabilities of Ethiopia, in a timely, orderly and coordinated manner,” the committee said.

Ethiopia’s Finance Ministry said in a statement it appreciated the IMF’s engagement and that it had shared all the relevant data about its debt stock and its strategy for managing its debt over the long term in four meetings with the creditor committee.

“The Government of Ethiopia thanks the Creditor Committee for their commitment and looks forward to an expeditious conclusion of the debt treatment discussion,” it added.

(Reuters)

Ethiopia-Djibouti railway starts vehicle shipment

The Chinese-built Ethiopia-Djibouti railway on Thursday started vehicle shipment from ports in Djibouti to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital.

The first vehicle shipment arrived at the Indode Freight Station on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. A special ceremony was held at the station to mark the arrival of the first shipment.

Abdi Zenebe, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway Share Company (EDR), lauded the move, emphasizing that it will help realize the major aspirations of the railway in terms of facilitating Ethiopia’s transportation system.

The 752 km Ethiopia-Djibouti standard gauge railway, also known as the Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway, contracted by China Rail Engineering Corporation (CREC) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), is the first trans-boundary railway on the African continent.

As the Ethiopia-Djibouti electrified railway significantly improves the freight market, EDR said the railway is enriching its services toward realizing the two countries’ ambition of building an industrial and economic belt driving the economic and social development of the two countries.

(people’s daily online)

Ethiopian Airlines advances customer functionalities with CHAMP Technologies

Ethiopian Airlines, a CHAMP customer for 30 years, extended its partnership agreement with the cargo IT solutions provider for an additional five years.

Under the agreement, Ethiopian will continue to benefit from its use of the acclaimed Cargospot suite of applications to manage the airline’s day-to-day sales and commercial activities and to support its Addis Ababa hub handling operation. Addis Ababa cargo terminal is Africa’s largest and most advanced and automated cargo terminal.

In addition to the Cargospot suite, Ethiopian will continue to operate other CHAMP solutions to manage its business, including ULD Manager – to control the airline’s ULD assets, Weight & Balance – to ensure safe and efficient load planning of the airline’s large and growing fleet of freighter aircraft.

By extending the relationship with CHAMP, Ethiopian Airlines will benefit from a range of new services and IT opportunities, including CHAMP’s end-to-end air mail solution and Cargo spot Portal, to supplement Ethiopian’s excellent track-and-trace application.

(breaking travel news)

Horn in Brief

Somali forces end hotel attack by Islamic extremists with 21 dead, 117 hurt

Somali authorities yesterday ended an attack by Islamic extremists that left 21 people dead and over 110 wounded when gunmen stormed a hotel in the capital, Mogadishu.

It took Somali forces more than 30 hours to contain the fighters who had stormed the Hayat Hotel on Friday evening in an assault that started with loud explosions. The attack is the first major terror attack in Mogadishu since Somalia’s new leader, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, took over in May.

The siege ended around midnight, police commissioner Abdi Hassan Hijar told reporters. “During the attack, the security forces rescued many civilians trapped in the hotel, including women and children.”

Health Minister Ali Haji Adam reported 21 deaths and 117 people wounded, with at least 15 in critical condition. He noted that some victims may not have been brought to hospitals.

The Islamic extremist group al-Shabab, which has ties with al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest of its frequent attempts to strike places visited by government officials.

(NZME)

First US envoy to Sudan in 25 years arrives in Khartoum

The first US ambassador to Sudan in nearly a quarter a century has arrived in Khartoum to take up his post.

John Godfrey landed in the Sudanese capital on Wednesday, the local US embassy said in a statement, marking the end of more than two decades of under-representation of Washington DC in the eastern Africa nation.

In 1993, the US listed Sudan as an official sponsor of terrorism, accusing Khartoum of supporting al-Qaeda, whose founder Osama bin Laden lived on its soil from 1992 to 1996. In December 2019, Washington announced its intention to raise its diplomatic representation with Khartoum to the level of ambassador.

In May 2020, Sudan appointed Nureldin Satti as its first ambassador to the US in 23 years, with Washington removing Khartoum from the list of sponsors of terrorism in December the same year.

His deployment could imply Washington is not going back on its improved ties with Khartoum. He arrives at a time Sudan is facing a transition challenge, meant to ensure it resumes civilian leadership, and rectifies its crippled economy and one which needs to convince armed groups to down their weapons.

(The East African)  

Expensive fuel adds Sh6 billion to Kenya Airways loss

Expensive fuel propelled Kenya Airways’ losses in the first half of this year by nearly three times, exposing the risk side of the airline’s decision not to hedge jet fuel.

KQ said its pre-tax loss of Sh9.86 billion for the first half would have been a narrower Sh3.32 billion at last year’s fuel prices.

Stressing the fuel cost factor, Allan Kilavuka, KQ’s managing director said, “Our loss for the half year would have been Sh3.3 billion. That is comparable to probably our best year in 2018.”

In June alone, he added, KQ’s fuel prices had increased by 200 percent compared to a similar month last year. It is feared the trend will continue in the coming months.

Fuel constitutes 20 percent of the airline’s costs and KQ said it has not had any fuel hedge positions this year. The war in Ukraine, over the last six months, has caused a significant increase in fuel prices, having caught the carrier off-guard.

(Nation)

Uganda central bank raises lending rate again to 9%

Bank of Uganda has said it might be forced in the near term to further tighten the monetary stance if inflationary pressures continue.

This, Bank of Uganda Deputy Governor Michael Atingi-Ego, said is the only way through which they will reverse inflation to the five percent target.

“Going forward, [we] consider that the monetary policy will have to be tightened even further if inflationary pressures persist to ensure that inflation reverts to its medium-term target of five percent,” Atingi-Ego said in a statement at the weekend.

The Bank of Uganda at the weekend also noted that it had increased the Central Bank Rate to nine percent.

This is the third month the Bank of Uganda is increasing the Central Bank Rate as the economy continues to face a strong cost-push inflation pressures from the external environment, dry weather conditions and exchange rate depreciations amid weak domestic demand.

Headline inflation has been rising, which measure charges in the cost of living, increasing to 7.9 percent in July from 6.8 percent in June.

(Monitor)