TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ethiopia

  • Huawei to make more contribution in 2020 to ICT capacity building in Ethiopia

    China’s tech giant Huawei plans to enhance its contribution to capacity building for Ethiopians in the information and communication technologies (ICT) sector this year, targeting increased number of beneficiaries.

    Huawei’s Ethiopia Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Zhou Tianbing, told Xinhua on Monday that Huawei would continue its activities helping the East African country improve education development with most advanced technologies, with committed efforts to bridge the digital divide for Ethiopians.

    Huawei has launched and been implementing different initiatives to improve the ICT capacity of young people in Ethiopia, in particular, and Africa in general.

    “With a view of building ICT capacity and further improve ICT development, Huawei has launched three major initiatives dubbed Seeds for the Future, ICT competition, and ICT Talent Ecosystem, and these projects have benefited tens of thousands of students at the levels of elementary, secondary and higher education,” Zhou said.

    Recalling that Huawei commenced its Seeds for Future project in Ethiopia in 2016, whereby 10 most talented students are sent to China every year for short-term training, the CEO said that Huawei, in cooperation with the Ethiopian Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MoSHE), would continue to select 10 students from top universities across the country.

    Since 2018, Huawei has been undertaking its project of ICT Competition, in which 2,357 students from 22 universities of Ethiopia participated in the year 2019, with increased number of participants, which was a little more than 500 in 2018.

    And one teacher and three students have been qualified for the final competition to be held in China.

    In 2020, Huawei plans to engage more than 3,000 students from 28 universities to show their talents in the ICT competition.

    On the ICT Talent Ecosystem of Ethiopia, Huawei signed an agreement with MoSHE in January 2017 for joint construction of ICT Academies in 37 public higher education institutions.

    The two sides also signed agreement in January 2019 to jointly construct ICT Academies in technical and vocational education and training (TVET), the first time in Ethiopia to extend Huawei Academy to TVET.

    Huawei has launched courses in more than 20 universities and TVETs, and has trained more than 1,500 ICT students.

    With the initiative of ICT Academy, Huawei has a plan to open courses this year in nine more universities and three more TVETs in Ethiopia.

    Reiterating that Huawei Ethiopia attaches great importance to helping the country improve education development with more advanced ICT, Zhou said his company would further strengthen its support in the year 2020.

    In 2015, Huawei worked with 65 schools in Ethiopia for the implementation of SchoolNet by deploying 5,200 cloud desktops in the schools.

    In 2017, Huawei SchoolNet Education Cloud deployed 25,000 cloud desktops for a total of 310 schools in 9 regions and 2 cities of the country.

    By now, Huawei’s Education Cloud Solution has covered 365 secondary schools, and 10 universities, with more than 30,000 cloud desktops, which have benefited more than 27,000 teachers and students, according to the CEO.

    Huawei has also worked together with more than 10 top universities in Ethiopia, where it has constructed the most advanced data centres, fixed and wireless school networks and Education Cloud for them.

    He said that so far, more than 300,000 college students had become beneficiaries of digital research and development, digital education and distant education empowered by Huawei.

  • Nigeria, Ethiopia sign visa waiver agreement

    Nigeria, Ethiopia sign visa waiver agreement

    Nigeria and Ethiopia have signed a visa waiver agreement for diplomatic and official passport holders, and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Cooperation in the field of Defence.

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed witnessed the signing of the agreement Tuesday in Addis Ababa by their Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama and Gedu Andargachew, respectively, during the State Visit of the Nigerian leader.

    Earlier, while meeting with the Ethiopian Prime Minister, President Buhari had discussed how to explore new areas of collaboration to further enhance and expand Nigeria-Ethiopia bilateral cooperation for the mutual benefits of the two countries.

    The visa waiver agreement is expected to ease travels by officials and contribute to further strengthening of bilateral relations.

    The Memorandum of Understanding on Defence Cooperation is important to both countries in the coordination of efforts in the fight against terrorism and securing peace and stability in their respective sub-regions, as well as on the continent of Africa.

    The MoU will also enhance bilateral military cooperation in the areas of training and education, technical assistance, exchange of visits and defence technology transfer.

    It also entails cooperation in peace support operation issues within the framework of the respective laws of the Parties and on a reciprocal basis.

    Both sides agreed to swiftly conclude negotiations on the revised Bilateral Air Services Agreement and the MoU on cultural cooperation.

    The consummation of these two agreements will provide veritable platforms for deepening existing air transport services, tourism and cultural exchanges between the two countries.

    President Buhari expressed gratitude to the Government and People of the Federal Republic of Ethiopia for the warm and generous hospitality extended to him and his delegation during the visit.

    He further extended an invitation to Prime Minister Ahmed to pay a reciprocal State Visit to Nigeria on mutually convenient dates.

  • Ethiopia launches first satellite into space

    Ethiopia launched its first satellite into space on Friday, as more sub-Saharan African nations strive to develop space programmes to advance their development goals and encourage scientific innovation.

    Before dawn on Friday, senior officials and citizens gathered at the Entoto Observatory and Research Centre, just north of the capital Addis Ababa, to watch a live broadcast of the satellite’s launch from a space station in China.

    “This will be a foundation for our historic journey to prosperity,’’ Deputy Prime Minister, Demeke Mekonnen, said in a speech at the launch event broadcast on state television.

    The satellite was designed by Chinese and Ethiopian engineers and the Chinese government paid about $6 million of the more than $7 million manufacturing costs, Solomon Belay, Director-General of the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute, told Reuters.

    “Space is food, space is job creation, a tool for technology…sovereignty, to reduce poverty, everything for Ethiopian to achieve universal and sustainable development,’’ he said.

    The satellite will be used for weather forecast and crop monitoring, officials said.

    The African Union adopted a policy on African space development in 2017 and declared that space science and technology could advance economic progress and natural resource management on the continent.

  • Foiled coup: Ethiopia arrests 250 in massive crackdown

    Foiled coup: Ethiopia arrests 250 in massive crackdown

    Nearly 250 people have been arrested in Ethiopia’s capital and the main city in its Amhara region since a coup attempt was foiled, state TV reported on Thursday.

    Ethiopia has been on edge since twin attacks at the weekend in Addis Ababa and the city of Bahir Dar killed the army chief of staff, the region’s president and three other senior officials.

    The violence, which the government says was part of a plot by a rogue general and his militia to take over Amhara, exposed how ethnic tensions are threatening the reform agenda of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

    The state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation did not give any more details on who was arrested or when. But a party based in the northern region – the National Movement of Amhara (NAMA)- earlier said 56 of its members had been detained in Addis Ababa on Wednesday.

    Ethiopia’s 42-year-old prime minister has won praise abroad for opening up one of the continent’s most closed nations, but analysts say the rapid changes have fuelled uncertainty and insecurity.

    As a result, ethnocentric parties like NAMA are gaining increasing support and their rhetoric is stoking serious inter-ethnic violence, global think-tank Crisis Group said this week in a briefing note.

    Since its founding last year, NAMA has emerged as a rival to the Amhara party in the ruling coalition, which has held power in Ethiopia since 1991. NAMA has condemned the weekend violence and denies any link to it.

    Party spokesman Christian Tadele told Reuters he had also received reports of arrests of Amhara people in four towns in Oromiya region. These, and the arrests of the party members, “were perpetrated against the Amharas because of their identity,” he said. He did not elaborate.

    Also on Thursday, prominent journalist Eskinder Nega said that five fellow activists in a pressure group opposed to what it saw as the domination of the Oromo ethnic group in the capital had been arrested.

    A judge on Wednesday granted police 28 days to investigate those detained in connection with the alleged coup plot, Eskinder told Reuters.

    “This is a return to the past, this is exactly what the government was doing before the reforms began a year ago,” said Eskinder. “In that past era, the anti-terror law was used to clamp down against peaceful opposition and the same thing is happening.”

  • ECOWAS Chairman condemns failed Coup attempt in Ethiopia

    The Chairman of Economic Commission of West African States (ECOWAS), President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria, on Thursday condemned the coup attempt in Ethiopia.

    The Chairman, in a statement in Abuja, expressed sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims of the coup attempt as well as the people and government of Ethiopia.

    Buhari said the commission was committed to the ideals of the African Union on Democracy, Elections and Good Governance adopted at the 8th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia in 2007.

    He said: “In my capacity as the Chairman of ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government and on behalf of our Regional Organisation, we strongly condemn the coup attempt in the Amhara Region and the tragic events in the capital of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, on Saturday 22 June, 2019.

    “We express our deep sympathy and condolences to the families of the victims of the coup attempt and to the people and Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia.

    “We reaffirm the imperative for the adherence to relevant African Union Instruments, principally the Constitutive Act of the African Union and the Lomé Declaration on the Unconstitutional Change of Government.’’

    Buhari, therefore, called on parties involved to exercise maximum restraint and avoid any action that could undermine the peace, unity and stability of Ethiopia.

    “At this trying period, we also convey our full solidarity to the people and Government of Ethiopia.

    “We finally reiterate our respect for the sovereignty, unity, independence and territorial integrity of Ethiopia,’’ he said.

  • Ethiopia coup mastermind, General Tsige shot dead, others arrested

    Ethiopia coup mastermind, General Tsige shot dead, others arrested

    General Asamnew Tsige, accused of trying to seize control of Ethiopia’s northern Amhara region has been killed, a senior government official said, and a number of other plotters have been arrested.

    The government accused General Asamnew of masterminding gun attacks on Saturday night that killed five people including the national army’s chief of staff and Amhara’s state president.

    Asamnew was shot on Monday near Amhara’s capital Bahir Dar, the prime minister’s press secretary, Negussu Tilahun said.

    The reasons behind the attempted coup in the state remain unclear, although it may have been a reaction from Asamnew to a plan by state officials to rein him in after they were alarmed by reports of his ethnic rhetoric and recruitment of militias.

    Earlier reports said the man was on the run, along with some of his supporters, while some of the plotters have been arrested.

    “The main people behind the failed coup are still at large and the security forces are hunting them,” the prime minister’s press secretary, Negussu Tilahun, said.

    Army chief of staff Seare Mekonnen and a retired general were shot by Seare’s bodyguard at his residence in the national capital Addis Ababa, the prime minister’s office said.

    Amhara state president Ambachew Mekonnen and an adviser were killed in the region’s main city Bahir Dar, it added. Amhara’s attorney general was also shot, and died of his wounds on Monday, state media reported.

    Access to the internet appeared to be blocked across Ethiopia, users reported. The streets of Addis Ababa appeared calm on Monday.

    Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has pushed through sweeping changes since coming to power in April last year, making peace with Eritrea, reining in the security services, releasing political prisoners and lifting bans on some outlawed separatist groups.

    The reforms in Africa’s second-most populous country have won him widespread international praise.

    But the premier’s shake-up of the military and intelligence services has earned him powerful enemies at home, while his government is struggling to contain powerful figures in Ethiopia’s myriad ethnic groups fighting the federal government and each other for greater influence and resources.

    The shooting in Bahir Dar occurred when the state president – an ally of Abiy – was holding a meeting to decide how to stop Asamnew’s open recruitment of ethnic Amhara militias, one Addis-based official told Reuters.

    Asamnew had told the Amhara people to arm themselves and prepare for fighting against other groups, in a video spread on Facebook a week earlier.

    Asamnew himself was released from prison last year after receiving an amnesty for a similar coup attempt.

    William Davison, an Ethiopia analyst at global think-tank Crisis Group, said more information was needed on the attack on Seare.

    “It doesn’t appear to have been a concerted national coup attempt. It’s not obvious what the motivations were for anyone to assassinate the chief of staff, or whether he had any connections to the violence in Bahir Dar,” he said. “More detail is needed on that aspect.”

    Long-simmering ethnic tensions in Amhara and other areas has surged since Abiy’s reforms. At least 2.4 million people have fled fighting, according to the United Nations.

    Ethiopia observed a day of national mourning on Monday, parliament speaker Tagesse Chafo said on state television.

    Ethiopia is due to hold parliamentary elections next year, although the electoral board warned earlier this month that they were behind schedule and that instability could cause a problem for polling.

    Amhara is home to Ethiopia’s second largest ethnic group and gives its name to the state language, Amharic.

  • Ethiopia’s army chief Gen. Seare assassinated in ‘coup bid’

    Ethiopia’s army chief Gen. Seare assassinated in ‘coup bid’

    Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has confirmed the assassination of General Seare Mekonnen, chief of staff of the Ethiopian National Defence Forces, along with retired Major General Gezal Abera.

    In an update provided on the botched coup attempt in Amhara region on Saturday, Abiy said the military men were killed on Saturday night within Seare’s residence, by his bodyguard, who has been arrested.

    Earlier reports had indicated that Seare was wounded and not dead.

    Prime Minister Abiy also confirmed the killing of Dr. Ambachew Mekonnen, president of Amhara Regional Government and his advisor Ezez Wassie.

    “The regional attorney general Migbaru Kebede also sustined heavy injuries and is currently undergoing medical treatment”. Abiy said.

    The statement blamed the botched coup on Brigadier General Asaminew Tsige, head of the regional government’s Peace and Security Bureau, acting in collaboration with some other people, not identified.

    “Many of the individuals involved in the attacks have been arrested and there is an ongoing operation to arrest the remaining`”, Abiy said.

  • Ethiopia arrests 59 officials over corruption, economic sabotage

    Ethiopian Attorney-General, Berhanu Tsegaye, on Friday said 59 government officials were arrested on suspicion of corruption and economic sabotage in the latest sweeping crackdown by the administration.

    Tsegaye said those arrested in an operation on Thursday included the head and other staff of the government’s Public Procurement and Property Disposal Service, while others worked in what was previously the Finance, Economics and Cooperation ministry.

    “We found properties, such as title deeds of houses held by the suspects, which are beyond their income,” Tsegaye said.

    After taking office in 2018, Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, promised to clean up state-owned firms and the military, and canceled many contracts for its military-run industrial conglomerate of Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC).

    In November, Ethiopia arrested more than 60 officials, some from the intelligence services and some from METEC.

    In January, the former head of METEC was charged with corruption, making him the most senior official to be charged after the arrests.

    The latest arrests follow a three-month investigation, and included officials from the Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency and the Ethiopian Water Works Construction Enterprise, Tsegaye said.

  • Crash: Ethiopia, China suspend use of Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft

    Sequel to the ill-fated crash of Ethiopian Airlines on Sunday, China’s aviation regulator on Monday grounded nearly 100 Boeing Co 737 MAX 8 aircraft in its fleet.

    Recall that an Ethiopian Airlines 737 MAX 8 bound for Nairobi crashed minutes after take-off on Sunday, killing all 157 people on board.

    Following the crash, the Ethiopian Airlines promptly announced its decision to ground the rest of their carrier in its fleet of the jets.

    The two Nigerians aboard the ill-fated flight were Canada-based professor of Literary Arts, Carleton University, Pius Adesanmi, and a former UN and African Union (AU) Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan.

    The airlines confirmed that the crash was the second of the 737 MAX 8, the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrowbody jet that first entered service in 2017.

    470253

    In October, 2018 a 737 MAX 8 operated by Indonesian budget carrier, Lion Air, crashed 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta on a domestic flight, killing all 189 passengers and crew on board.

    The Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) said all Chinese airlines had to suspend their use of the 737 MAX 8 by 6 p.m. (1000 GMT) on Monday.

    The aircraft is the latest version of Boeing’s workhorse narrowbody that entered service in 2017.

    The CAAC said it would notify airlines as to when they could resume flying the jets after contacting Boeing and the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to ensure flight safety for passengers.

    “Given that two accidents both involved newly delivered Boeing 737-8 planes and happened during take-off phase, they have some degree of similarity,” the CAAC said.

    It added that the order was in line with its principle of zero-tolerance on safety hazards.

    The 737 MAX 8 is sometimes referred to as the 737-8.

    However, a Boeing spokesperson declined to comment.

    Chinese airlines have 96 of the 737 MAX 8 jets in service, the state company regulator said on Weibo, including Air China, China Eastern Airlines, China Southern Airlines and Hainan Airlines.

    Chinese aviation data firm, Variflight, said at least 29 international and domestic flights were canceled on Monday, with airlines having to swap the plane on 256 other flights earlier scheduled to use it.

    China Eastern’s Chairman, Liu Shaoyong, told financial publication Caixin on the sidelines of a parliament meeting in Beijing it would only consider resuming 737 MAX 8 flights once Boeing issued a safety commitment for the jets.

    Also, to prove there was no aircraft design link between the two crashes.

    The cause of the Indonesian crash is yet to be known, as investigations are still ongoing.

    A preliminary report in November, before the cockpit voice recorder was recovered, focused on airline maintenance and training and the response of a Boeing anti-stall system to a recently replaced sensor but did not give a reason for the crash.

    Ethiopian Airlines said it had grounded its 737 MAX 8 fleet until further notice as an “extra safety precaution” even though it did not know the cause of Sunday’s crash.

    The airline has a remaining fleet of four of the aircraft, according to flight tracking website FlightRadar24.

    Cayman Airways said it had grounded both of its new 737 MAX 8 jets until it got more information.

    But, no other airlines or regulators said they were grounding the aircraft.

    By the end of January, Boeing had delivered 350 of the 737 MAX family jets to customers, with another 4,661 on order.

     

  • 19 UN officials perished in Ethiopian airplane crash

    19 UN officials perished in Ethiopian airplane crash

    No fewer than 19 United Nations officials were aboard the Ethiopian airplane that crashed on Sunday, the UN Department of Safety and Security in Kenya, has said.

    The World Food Programme (WFP) lost six staff, the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) lost two, as did the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).

    The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in South Sudan, World Bank and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) each lost one staff member.

    Six staff from the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) were also tragically killed.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Amb. Abiodun Bashua, a retired Nigerian career ambassador, who was until his death, working on contract with the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa (UNECA), also died in the crash, alongside Canada-based Nigerian professor at Carleton University, Pius Adesanmi.

    As a mark of respect IOM said it would “fly its flag at half-mast at its offices on Monday, as will the UN and its agencies”.

    The Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed shortly after take off from the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing more than 150 people on board.

    The UN Secretary-General António Guterres said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives”, as reports emerged that UN staff were also among the dead.

    The Boeing airliner bound for the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, took off at 8:44 a.m. local time, losing contact with air traffic control at the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, just six minutes later, according to news reports.

    The plane was reportedly carrying passengers from more than 35 different countries.

    The cause of the disaster is not yet known, although weather conditions were reportedly good and the plane went down in a field near Bishoftu, around 35 miles southeast of the capital.

    The UN chief conveyed his “heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the victims’ families and loved ones, including those of United Nations staff members, as well as sincere condolences to the Government and people of Ethiopia”.

    The UN is in contact with the Ethiopian authorities and “working closely with them to establish the details of United Nations personnel who lost their lives in this tragedy” the Secretary-General stated.

    The disaster happened on the eve of the UN Environment Assembly when Heads of State, environment ministers and thousands of others will convene for five days in the Kenyan capital.

    Many senior UN officials took to Social Media to express their condolences and sadness.

    On Twitter, José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO,) sent his “heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families”, saying that one FAO staff member was among the victims.

    Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley tweeted that “the WFP family mourns today”, revealing that WFP staff were also among those on board the flight.

    “We will do all that is humanly possible to help the families at this painful time. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers”, he said.

    Houlin Zhao, ITU Secretary General tweeted his “sincere condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives in the plane crash”.

    Noting that two ITU staff were on the flight, he said: “Our colleagues in Addis are providing support to their families during this difficult time.”

    “All of us at UNICEF mourn the tragic loss of our UN colleagues and all those who died in the Ethiopian Airlines crash today.

    “May they rest in peace. Our thoughts are with their families and loved ones”, Henrietta Fore, Executive Director of the UN Children’s Fund, tweeted.

    On behalf of the UN Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), whose Headquarters are in Nairobi, Executive Director Maimunah Sharif tweeted her “deepest condolences and prayers to the Great Nation of Ethiopia and to the families of the passengers and crew members who lost their lives in this tragedy.

    “May they rest in eternal peace,” Sharif said.

    High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi issued a condolence statement saying: “UNHCR has suffered today a huge loss”.

    IOM Director-General António Vitorino issued a statement expressing his deep sadness over the 157 lives lost, “including a young IOM staff member Anne-Katrin Feigl”, who “was en route to a training course in Nairobi as part of her role as a Junior Professional Officer”.

    Catherine Northing, Chief of the IOM Mission in Sudan where Feigl worked, called her “an extremely valued colleague and popular staff member, committed and professional”, saying “her tragic passing has left a big hole and we will all miss her greatly”.