Ethiopian Airlines places repeat order for 10 A350-900 Aircraft

Ethiopian Airlines places repeat order for 10 A350-900 Aircraft

Accra, June 27, GNA - Ethiopian Airlines, the largest airline group in Africa, has placed an order for 10 additional Airbus A350-900 aircraft, enabling further development to its fast expanding long-haul route network.

Last June, Ethiopian Airlines became the first African carrier to operate the A350 when it took delivery of the first of 12 aircraft in order.

A statement issued in Accra by Mrs. Hanna Atnafu, Manager, Corporate Communications, Ethiopian Airlines said the carrier now operated a fleet of four A350s, two of which were on lease.

“Today's order tops-up the Addis Ababa-based carrier's fleet, enabling it to pursue its growth strategy and objectives over the coming years,” it added.

The statement said Ethiopian Airlines' A350-900s were configured in a two class layout seating 30 passengers in Business Class and 313 in Economy Class.

It said the spacious, quiet interior and mood lighting in the cabin contribute to superior levels of passenger comfort and well-being.

Mr Tewolde GebreMariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, explained that "Operating the youngest fleet in the industry with modern and comfortable customer features in cabin is one of the four pillars in our 15 years strategic road map, vision 2025, and this order placement for additional A-350s is one component of this strategy”.

He said the performance, operational and cost efficiencies the airline had achieved with their initial A350-900s have resulted in these additional ten aircraft order placement and thereby suffice our ever-expanding global network.

“We will deploy the additional aircraft on our long haul routes connecting Addis Ababa with destinations in Africa, Europe, the Middle East and Asia," he said.

"Ethiopian Airlines' repeat order is a resounding endorsement of the A350, its suitability, flexibility and unmatched economics.  We are delighted that the innovative aircraft -the A350- is closely associated with the world's fastest growing and profitable carriers," said Mr John Leahy, Airbus Chief Operating Officer Customers.

The A350 features the latest aerodynamic design and materials, including its carbon-fibre fuselage and wings. It is powered by new fuel-efficient Rolls-Royce Trent XWB engines.  Together, these advanced technological features translate into unrivalled levels of operational efficiency, with a 25 per cent reduction in fuel burn and emissions in addition to significantly lower maintenance costs.

Ethiopian operates the youngest and most modern fleet with an average fleet age of less than five years. Read more here

Eritrea: The African North Korea's border spats with Djibouti and Ethiopia

Eritrea is not a typically newsy African country – at least gauging by how much comes from other countries, the Horn of Africa nation is very low on news and more so, compared to its closest neighbours in the region – Somalia, Ethiopia, Djibouti and Sudan.

The phenomenon has been put down to the kind of governance structure the country operates. With little space for civil society and even democratic structures, it is seen as a closed nation that is barely heard especially – more often than not – when border tensions arise.

The country which is nestled in the Red Sea enclave is described as a ‘secretive’ nation with watchers often drawing parallels between it and North Korea with special emphasis on their respective leaders. North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un and Isaias Afwerki.

Despite their low news mode, recent events in the Gulf region have thrust them into the spotlight for the very reason they are often heard – border tensions. Sudan remains the only neighbour Asmara is not having issues with on that front.

The persistent Ethiopia – Eritrea border tensions

The Ethiopian tension is well documented with the two countries yet to fully implement a demarcation agreement brokered by President Abdul Aziz Bouteflika in 2000 under the Algiers Agreement initiative.

Earlier this year, the European Union (EU) said on the seventeenth anniversary of the agreement that, the persistence of the tensions was a risk for the Horn of Africa region and called for Addis and Asmara to work to ensure its full implementation.

Before that, the African Union (AU) which is headquartered in Ethiopia had expressed concerns over the tensions in 2016. But the Eritrean leader has recently blamed the United States – an ally of Ethiopia – as being responsible for the tensions due to meddling.

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Timeline of the tensions – Algiers agreement, UNSC sanctions, diplomatic tirades

• 1993: Eritrea gained independence from Ethiopia after a war that lasted three decades.
• 1998 – 2000: Forces of both countries engaged in a deadly war
• 2000, December 12: The Algiers agreement was signed. Late Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and President Afwerki the signatories. The AU, EU, United Nations and U.S. signed as witnesses.
• 2002, April 13: The Eritrea – Ethiopia Boundary Commission (EEBC) said it was ready to oversee the demarcation process.
• 2009: A U.S.-led motion led to imposition of Council arms sanctions on Eritrea with the reason that they supported Somalia’s insurgent group, al-Shabaab.
• 2015 – 2016: Ethiopia accuses Eritrea of supporting anti-peace elements in the wake of spreading anti-government protests. Asmara rubbishes the claims.
• 2016 June: AU expresses worry after two countries engage in renewed hostilities.

Eritrea – Djibouti tensions sparked by Gulf crisis

When Qatar was diplomatically ‘blacked out’ by its Gulf neighbours – the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), little did anyone think it was going to play out the way it has in the Horn of Africa region.

The Gulf crisis as it has come to be known sparked another diplomatic and security rift between Eritrea and Djibouti. At a time when Ethiopia and Somalia chose to stay on the fence in the crisis, Eritrea and Djibouti opted to side with GCC – Saudi Arabia and its allies.

Then Qatar also decided to pull out its troops from a disputed region which has been at the heart of hostilities between Asmara and Djibouti. A brief timeline of the almost 10-year-old spat is as follows:

Read more here

Russia values cooperation with Ethiopia in various fields — Lavrov

MOSCOW, June 26. /TASS/. Moscow is interested in boosting cooperation with Addis Ababa in various fields, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said opening talks with his Ethiopian counterpart Workneh Gebeyehu on Monday.

"We very much value our friendly relations which have more than a century-long history," the Russian top diplomat noted. "We are willing to boost our cooperation in all fields," he added.

Lavrov commended Ethiopia’s "responsible and balanced position in global affairs." "Ethiopia’s independent foreign policy has been ensuring your country’s growing international credibility, as a result, Ethiopia has been elected a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for this and next year," the Russian top diplomat said addressing this Ethiopian counterpart.

"High-level contacts have been continuing and even growing recently," Lavrov added. "I have good memories of visiting Addis Ababa in September 2014. Last year, an Ethiopian delegation headed by Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Mekonnen visited Russia, besides, we also received your predecessor last year," the Russian foreign minister said.

"This means that our dialogue has become a tradition, it covers bilateral issues, as well as global and regional ones," Lavrov pointed out. "I expect that today we will continue discussing these issues in order to achieve specific results in the interests of our countries," he said.

More:
http://tass.com/politics/953299

ISRAELI-ETHIOPIAN GROUNDED GROOVE

Ground Heights has that rare fusion of sound and energy that leaves a wake of joy on the dance floor wherever they go. The seven-member band consists of lead singer Hewan Meshesha, guitarist Yotam Cohen, saxophonist Lior Grayevsky, percussionist Shalev Ne’eman, bassist Roee Cohen, keyboardist Omer Kenan and drummer Micha Korkus. Hewan, an Ethiopian Israeli, incorporates her heritage into the sound, with robustly soulful results. Ground Heights will play with the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra on June 29 at Heichel Hatarbut in Tel Aviv. They are also preparing to release their debut album in August, with more shows in the works. Hewan sat down with The Jerusalem Post to discuss singing in the army, having your parents help write lyrics, and the balance of keeping feet on the ground with eyes to the heights.

Did you always know that you wanted to be a singer? 

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Growing up, music was always a part of my life. Knowing that I wanted to do something about it and actually become a musician didn’t come until later when I was serving in the army. I met this amazing person, who became one of my dearest friends. I was 19 or 20 and we were in the middle of a night shift. She encouraged me to sing, after I said no so many times.

Then when I finally did it, she told me that this is what I needed to do. It made me realize that singing was what I wanted to do. When I was growing up, I never knew that I wanted to become a singer.

Were you born in Israel? 

Yes I was raised in Kiryat Yam near Haifa. It’s a small town, really cozy, simple people.

How did you go from singing for your friend to forming Ground Heights? After I finished the army, I ended up performing at an event. Someone came up to me and encouraged me to go and study music because he said I really had something. I hesitated, but decided to do it. I looked into [The] Rimon [School of Music] and decided that it was the time to check it out and see if this is really what I want to do. I went to an audition for Rimon, which went terribly... but they invited me to do the audition again. Everything evolved since then.

Did you meet your bandmates at Rimon?

I met Shalev [Ne’eman] there and we were in an Afro-Pop ensemble.

Later, we became Ground Heights.

Now we are seven musicians all together. We have percussion, drums, bass, electric guitar, bass, saxophone, keyboard and myself.

I can’t say that we always knew we wanted it to be seven and that these are the exact instruments we wanted to have, but it just evolved this way.

How did you choose the name Ground Heights?

The story of it is amazing. Shalev suggested a lot of names and Ground Heights was one of them.

It was such a natural fit because it refers to how we as a band are so many different people from different ethnic and musical backgrounds.

We came together to do this one important and holy thing.

It also refers to our inspiration, which is the ground where we came from and where we began.

The heights are where do we want to go; where do we see ourselves? Our goal is to be fulfilled. I think you can hear it in the music. We have so many styles combined together to create this one, pure thing. We hope that the audience feels that way too.

Yeah, I was feeling that way when trying to describe your sound because it is somewhat indescribable.

Exactly, we have reggae, soul, rock, progressive, dub, Ethiopian and African roots, all combined together in hopefully a good way.

Did you always know that you wanted to incorporate Ethiopian sounds into your music? 

Actually I did. The moment that I realized that this is what I wanted to do, I knew that even if I tried to avoid it, I would never succeed.

This is who I am. I carry a long tradition and I couldn’t do it without this heritage and my ancestors who did so much so that I would finally be here. I have the history of the Ethiopian Jews in me and I couldn’t avoid it. I didn’t want to; it’s a part of me. I always knew that it would be in my music.

I love your Ethiopian songs because they allow me as a listener to connect in a way that transcends words.

That’s amazing. To me, when someone who was in the audience says that they didn’t understand the words, but they could feel the connection, this is the best compliment that we could ever ask for because the bottom line is that what flows from us to the audience is the language of music. That’s a language that everyone understands.

The most important thing to us as a band is our cohesiveness.

The first time that I brought an Ethiopian song to the band, it was by Mahmoud Ahmed, one of Ethiopia’s greatest artists. The band listened and enjoyed it. I wasn’t sure, but then I saw how they connected and it felt so good. Music speaks to people. Music is music. I knew that if my band could connect to it, then everyone would.

How do your parents feel about you being a musician? 

They are happy, I have to say.

They are something; they never pushed me. I’m really lucky. They accept what I do and are proud of me. They actually helped us write lyrics to one of our songs. The title in English is “The Circle of Life.” We had the music already, Shalev wrote a chorus, but we got stuck. First it was in Hebrew and then English. Something wasn’t working. So our producer suggested that we try it in Amharic. We wanted the song to be about life. I came with it to my uncle, dad and mom, and they wrote wonderful lyrics.

What kind of reaction have you gotten from the Ethiopian community?

I was really nervous at first about that because I didn’t know how Ethiopian people would react, but they love it. They groove to it and really enjoy it. It’s a great feeling for me. If they didn’t like it, they wouldn’t dance to it, but they do.

We passed that test! Where are you guys in the process of releasing your debut album? We finished the recording and it’s supposed to be out this summer.

It’s in the mastering process now. Then we have all the PR stuff to do. Sometime in the summer, we want to have a big performance to celebrate the birth of this wonderful album, which contains each and every one of the seven people in it who made it what it is. Read more here

Indian Tech Company Set To Green Ethiopia’s Industries

Ethiopian government has decided to continue working with Arvind Limited, one of India’s leading companies, as its partner in its drive for Green Industrialisation.

Arvind Envisol has already set up a Zero Liquid Discharge water treatment plant at Hawassa Industrial Park. This plant has a capacity of treating 11 million litres of waste water per day. It is one of the largest such plants in Africa and also has among the lowest cost of operations.

Ethiopia is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. GoE has embarked on an ambitious Industrialisation drives that will further boost the country’s Gross Domestic Product and generate employment.

Towards this end, the Ethiopian Investment Council (EIC) and Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) – Government of Ethiopia initiatives – are developing ten mega industrial parks in different regions of the country. These industrial parks will see investments by global and Ethiopian companies in industries like Textiles and Apparels, Industrial Machinery, Pharmaceuticals, Footwear, and Food and Beverages.

To reduce/eliminate any possible negative impacts on environmental and social sustainability as result of this Industrialization drives, Government of Ethiopia has decided to use cleanest water/effluent treatment technology – The Zero Liquid Discharge technology (ZLD) – in these mega Industrial Parks. ZLD ensures that the Industrial Parks use the minimum amount of ground water and has a ZERO liquid discharge outside the park.

Arvind Envisol is a subsidiary of Arvind Limited, one of India’s leading companies with a presence in textiles, apparels, heavy engineering, water management, e-commerce and telecom. The company provides end-to-end solutions for water treatment, industrial waste water treatment and sewage treatment.

The Government of Ethiopia has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Arvind Envisol to provide the technology and implementation of the Zero Liquid Discharge technology for Industrial Parks. Envisol has also agreed to partner the Government to provide other water treatment technologies using the latest and most effective technologies for industries and factories outside the industrial parks as well.

Punit Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind Ltd

The Government of Ethiopia and Arvind have also agreed to partner in taking this journey forward by commissioning a Study on Environmental Sustainability in the Textile and Garmenting Sector in Ethiopia. This study will establish the baseline on various sustainability studies and outline the future environmental impacts of the rapid industrialization drive of Ethiopia.

The study will be jointly partaken by the Government of Ethiopia, Arvind, GIZ, DFID and Enterprise partners – a unique combination of the institutions that will impart comprehensiveness to the effort. Another key MoU is the agreement to work with Ethiopian Universities to incorporate a module/curriculum on Environmental Sustainability in the wake of Industrial Development.

“Green Industrialization is the cornerstone of our strategy for rapid economic development. Ethiopia has enjoyed among the fastest GDP growth rates in the last decade,” said Dr. Arkebe Oqubay, the Special Advisor to the Prime Minister, speaking at a function to mark the formal launch of the Environmental Sustainability study and signing of the MoUs with the Universities.

“We believe that if this economic progress is to continue, we need to ensure that the environmental impact of this Industrialisation is reduced or minimised. I am happy that Arvind Envisol, one of the world’s most innovative water management companies, is partnering with us not only to set up ZLD plants in our mega industrial parks but also working with Ethiopian Universities to develop curriculum on environmental sustainability and technology transfer,” he said.

Punit Lalbhai, Executive Director, Arvind Ltd on his part noted said: “The world has seen examples of several nations that, in a bid to boost economic growth, have ended up causing enormous environmental damage, eventually creating problems for their own people.”

“The Green Industrialisation platform that Ethiopia is seeking to build, I believe, is a sustainable industrial development strategy for the whole of Africa to emulate. We are happy to partner with Government of Ethiopia in this landmark initiative and hope that these joint efforts will go a long way towards bringing greater prosperity to the people of this great nation, while preserving the environment at the same time.” Read more here