Ethiopian retrofitted its B767-300 fleet with flatbed seats and wifi IFE
GNA Reporter Accra, Aug. 17, GNA - Ethiopian Airlines Group, the largest airline in Africa, has fully refurbished its Boeing 767-300 ER fleet and availed for service on its India, Middle East and Africa destinations. The newly refurbished airplane is fitted with brand new full flat-bed seats in Cloud Nine, modern IFE with high resolution, 17 inches screen and in-seat power outlets (inflight entertainment), lighting and other modern cabin products. A statement issued in Accra by Mrs Hanna Atnafu, Manager Corporate Communications, Ethiopian Airlines said customers in the main cabin would also enjoy new seats, multiple channels of inflight audio and video entertainments accessible with their own mobile devices /tablets. “By December 2017, all our B767 fleet will be fitted with flat-bed seats in Cloud Nine with access to a range of video programming available for wireless streaming in all cabins,” he added. Availing the right fleet mix for the mission, Ethiopian Airlines has currently deployed 92 of the youngest (five years average fleet age) and most modern fleet, with future plans to receive nineteen A350-900s, four B787-900s and five Q400s.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 18:00 UTC
Ethiopia eyes 50 pct import needs via Port Sudan - Xinhua
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-18 00:16:04|Editor: yanVideo Player CloseADDIS ABABA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn who is in neighboring nation Sudan for a three-day official state visit has revealed his country's interest to use Port Sudan for 50 percent of Ethiopia's import needs. The premier also indicated that preparatory works are being done between the two countries toward that regard. Desalegn, who held discussion with Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on ways of strengthening ties between the two neighboring countries, indicated that Port Sudan is geographically convenient for Ethiopia's northern region. Djibouti presently handles about 95 percent of landlocked Ethiopia's export-import trade. Ethiopia and Sudan have also signed various cooperation agreements earlier this year with an aim to promote economic relations and strengthen overall ties among the two countries.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 17:35 UTC
Sudan says Ethiopian dam won't harm Egypt's full share of Nile water - Xinhua
Al-Bashir made the remarks at a joint press conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn at the conclusion of the latter's visit to the country. "For us in Sudan, the agreements governing the Nile water is the 1959 agreement which divided the Nile water between Sudan and Egypt, and we are fully committed that Egypt's share will not be affected by the establishment of the GERD," said al-Bashir at the press conference. The Ethiopian prime minister, for his part, denied the existence of any political differences between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt over the GERD. "The problem is now there is foot dragging from the implementation of the already signed agreement. We are pushing the leaders of South Sudan to implement the already signed agreement," the prime minister said.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 17:26 UTC
Deepening drought hits Ethiopia herders as millions go hungry
Severe acute malnutrition is a condition that kills up to half of sufferers under five years old. A strong aid response almost halved the number of Ethiopians needing food aid to 5.6 million since mid-2016. But the devastating drought was followed by poor spring rains this year in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Since the end of last year, about 2 million animals have died in Somali region, which is home to many herding communities, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "If we don't act now, hunger and malnutrition will only get worse among (herding) communities," he said.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 16:18 UTC
Deepening Drought Hits Ethiopia Herders as Millions Go Hungry
Livestock are dying in parts of Ethiopia that are overwhelmingly reliant on their milk as deepening drought pushes up the number of districts in need of life-saving aid by 19 percent, according to a report released on Thursday. A strong aid response almost halved the number of Ethiopians needing food aid to 5.6 million since mid-2016. But the devastating drought was followed by poor spring rains this year in the southern and eastern parts of the country. Since the end of last year, about 2 million animals have died in Somali region, which is home to many herding communities, according to the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). "If we don't act now, hunger and malnutrition will only get worse among [herding] communities," he said.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 16:18 UTC
Sudan's Bashir aims to ease Egypt concerns over Nile dam
Khartoum - Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir said on Thursday that the construction of Ethiopia's controversial Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River would not impact water supplies to Egypt as feared by Cairo. Egypt, which is almost totally reliant on the Nile for agriculture and drinking water, says it has "historic rights" to the Nile guaranteed by treaties from 1929 and 1959. The Blue and the White Nile rivers converge in Khartoum and from there run north into Egypt as the Nile. Bashir said Khartoum too had concerns initially about the safety of the dam, which when complete will be the largest in Africa. "If anything happens to the dam, it will be crisis for Sudan because of the huge amount of water the dam will be storing," said Bashir.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 15:45 UTC
Meet this Emirati doctor who’s dedicated to humanitarian work
Abu Dhabi: Working as a full-time doctor in Abu Dhabi does not prevent Aisha Al Memari from also dedicating her time to humanitarian work. “I joined the McGill Emergency Medicine Residency programme in 2005, where I was introduced to various emergency medicine sub-specialities, among them international emergency medicine which includes humanitarian services of various kinds, such as serving in disasters or helping developing emergency medicine in rural or underdeveloped areas,” she added. Al Memari would later go on to become the first Emirati female doctor to work in a conflict zone. Ethiopian experienceAl Memari’s current humanitarian work sees her volunteering with a Canadian NGO in Ethiopia. “Having said that, I recently decided to volunteer and dedicate part of my annual leave to humanitarian work,” she said.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 15:00 UTC
Sudan’s president aims to ease Egypt concerns over Nile dam
KHARTOUM: Sudan’s President Omar Bashir said on Thursday that the construction of Ethiopia’s controversial Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River would not impact water supplies to Egypt as feared by Cairo. Egypt, which is almost totally reliant on the Nile for agriculture and drinking water, says it has “historic rights” to the Nile guaranteed by treaties from 1929 and 1959. The Blue and the White Nile rivers converge in Khartoum and from there run north into Egypt as the Nile. KHARTOUM: Sudan’s President Omar Bashir said on Thursday that the construction of Ethiopia’s controversial Grand Renaissance Dam on the Nile River would not impact water supplies to Egypt as feared by Cairo. The Blue and the White Nile rivers converge in Khartoum and from there run north into Egypt as the Nile.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 14:26 UTC
PaxEx odds and ends: BA brings pain and Ethiopian 767 no longer plain - Runway Girl
The 777s receiving the densification work are based at London Gatwick, the airline’s leisure destination hub. “My advice to British Airways is to not take the passengers in short-haul economy for granted. In Cloud Nine class, Ethiopian has removed its extremely dated cradle recliner seats and installed fully-flat bed seats in a 2-2-2 configuration. The addition of ViaSat service at American further fragments the airline’s wifi offering, which includes Gogo ATG, ATG-4 and 2Ku, as well as Panasonic Ku, and now ViaSat Ka. Pricing for American’s ViaSat service has not yet been announced, but it is possible the airline might opt for a tiered plan similar to one Delta recently adopted for 2Ku.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 14:03 UTC
Ethiopia's southern regional state convicts 413 of corruption - Xinhua
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 21:24:23|Editor: Zhou XinVideo Player CloseADDIS ABABA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia's southern regional state has convicted 413 individuals over corruption charges during the Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY) 2016/17 which ended on July 8, an official said on Thursday. The 413 convicts were given prison sentences ranging from 3 months to 17 years based on the gravity of their corruption crimes, said Solomon Hailu, head of Southern regional state Communications Affairs office. The Southern regional state Communications Affairs Office also said 14.5 million U.S. dollars of illicit cash were recovered from the convicts during the 2016/17 period. Ethiopian government has identified corruption and rent seeking activities as among the reasons why Ethiopia was rocked by sweeping unrest in 2016. The Ethiopian government has since then promised to crack down on grand scale corruption which has afflicted one of the world's fastest growing economies.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 13:30 UTC
Sudanese and Ethiopian Ministers of Information Discuss Aspects of Joint Cooperation in Media
Khartoum — Minister of Information, Dr Ahmed Bilal discussed with his Ethiopian counterpart, Negeri Lencho, cooperation in media between Sudan and Ethiopia. Dr Bilal pointed out that the meeting indicated to importance of revival of the Joint Media Cooperation Agreement via exchange of knowledge, expertise, visits and training sessions, indicating that the deal covers cooperation between the official information institutions in the two countries , namely Sudan News Agency(SUNA) and the National Broadcasting and TV Corporation. From his part, the Ethiopian Minister commended the relations between Ethiopia and Sudan which, he added, would positively affect the two countries' media relations, stressing that Ethiopia would press ahead with implementation of the Joint Media Cooperation Agreement. Negrei hoped that his Country would benefit from Sudan experiences in enhancement of Arabic language skills on Ethiopian mass media.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 13:30 UTC
Ethiopia Sentences 370 Human Traffickers to 25 Years
Ethiopia Sentences 370 Human Traffickers to 25 YearsAugust 17, 2017 - A total of 370 human traffickers and facilitators were detained and brought to justice over the last Ethiopian fiscal year, the Ethiopian News Agency reports. Yebeltal Walelen, Office Coordinator at Office of the Secretariat for Anti-Human trafficking Taskforce told ENA that the individuals were sentenced up to 25 years of rigorous imprisonment. Apart from arresting traffickers, awareness creation programs on the dangers involved in illegal migration was also conducted throughout Ethiopia. Basazin Deribe, PR Officer at the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs said awareness creation training programs were provided for more than 19,000 community members on the perils of illegal migration and human trafficking. Over the past two years more than 860 human traffickers and brokers were sentenced to 25 years of imprisonment and fine of 150,000 Birr.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 12:44 UTC
New Zealand Seeks Strengthening Ties with Ethiopia
New Zealand Seeks Strengthening Ties with EthiopiaAugust 17, 2017 - New Zealand, the southwestern Pacific Ocean nation, express interests in further strengthen its relation with Ethiopia. The country’s foreign Minister Gerry Brownlee stated that relationship with Ethiopia has strengthened considerably since New Zealand established a diplomatic presence in Ethiopia in 2011. The foreign minister also announced that his country assigned a new ambassador to Ethiopia and the African Union. A growing number of New Zealand companies are interested in Ethiopia, including Fonterra that has established a joint venture in Ethiopia,” stated the foreign minister. “We will continue our successful development partnership with the African Union and Ethiopia, building on the recent New Zealand-African Union Geothermal Partnership and dairy development activities with Ethiopia,” Mr Brownlee says.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 12:44 UTC
Ethiopian Airlines Becomes Springboard for Ethiopian Tourism
Ethiopian Airlines Becomes Springboard for Ethiopian TourismAugust 17, 2017 - Following the opening of several international routes by Ethiopian airlines, tourist arrivals in Ethiopia in 2017 could reach 918,010, a 5.7 percent increase over 868,780 registered in 2016. According to a report released by British accounting watchdog PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), the international routes opened by the national Air carrier Ethiopian Airlines (ET) contribute to the projected growth of Ethiopia’s tourism sector. The project lying on 74,000 square meters is being constructed by China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC). PwC also cited the increase of international hotel brands and Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa and increased reputation for conference tourism for the projected growth. International hotel brands such as Sheraton, Marriott and Radisson have set shop in Ethiopia, while the construction of five other international hotel brands is ongoing.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 12:22 UTC
Ethiopia receives 3.4 bln USD in loans, grants in 12 months - Xinhua
Source: Xinhua| 2017-08-17 19:53:23|Editor: Zhou XinVideo Player CloseADDIS ABABA, Aug. 17 (Xinhua) -- Ethiopia has obtained 3.4 billion U.S. dollars in grants and loans from multilateral and bilateral partners during the 2016/17 Ethiopian Fiscal Year (EFY) that ended July 8. The foreign loans and grants covered 18 percent of the 12.7 billion U.S. dollars budget for the 2016/17 fiscal year. With its domestic financial ability on the rise, Ethiopia has increased its 2017/18 budget by 9.6 percent to 13.9 billion U.S. dollars. Ibsa, however, said with Ethiopia's exports revenue underachieving, earning the country 2.91 billion dollars during 2016/17, lower than the set target of 4.75 billion dollars, Ethiopia has had to make some adjustments. It has suspended obtaining commercial loans whose interest rate is higher and whose repayment period is shorter.
Source:Ethiopian News
August 17, 2017 12:00 UTC