Eastern Africa Power Pool project to kick-start on April (Walta)

Addis Ababa , October 27, 2007 (WIC) - Residents of Moyale are set to benefit from electricity supply from Ethiopia, following an interconnectivity agreement between the two countries, Business Daily reported.

The linkage is the first phase of the Eastern Africa Power Pool project, which aims  at interconnecting more than seven countries in this region. The project will be implemented from April next year.

Executive Secretary of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP), Callixte Kambanda, said the connection would go on even as several studies leading to the project's master plan continue to be carried out.

Ethiopia has finished its feasibility study and will ''soon'' be rolling out distribution into Kenya through Moyale. Extension from there, however, is subject to Kenya completing a feasibility study that has been delayed since May, it said.

The regional project aims at connecting Kenya to Ethiopia, Uganda to Rwanda, Ethiopia to Sudan, Sudan to Egypt, and Kenya to Tanzania. Other participating countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Burundi and Somalia, it was pointed out.

One of the major challenges facing the regional power project is lack of funding to facilitate the ongoing studies and the infrastructure roll-out, according to the Executive Secretary.

''Because not all members can afford the financial resources required, we shall approach the private sector to come in as partners,'' said Kambanda.

The project aims at guaranteeing access to electricity among participating countries, especially when supply constraints like drought lead to power rationing in the face of growing demand.  

Kenya will be connecting its one millionth customer later this year and plans to connect another one million people in the next five years.

Tanzania plans to connect an additional six million people by 2013.It hopes to get at least 75,000 new users on the national grid annually to increase electricity consumption to 1,100 megawatts over the next two years.

Source: Walta Information Center

Moyale to access power in regional plan

October 26, 2007: Residents of Moyale are set to benefit from electricity supply from Ethiopia, following an interconnectivity agreement between the two countries .
 
The linkage is the first phase of the Eastern Africa Power Pool project, which aims  at interconnecting more than seven countries in this region.
The project will be implemented from April next year.

Callixte Kambanda, the executive secretary of the Eastern Africa Power Pool (EAPP)  said the connection would go on even as several studies leading to the project's master plan continue to be carried out.

Ethiopia has finished its feasibility study and will "soon" be rolling out distribution into Kenya through Moyale. Extension from there, however, is subject to Kenya completing a feasibility study that has been delayed since May.

The regional project aims to connect Kenya to Ethiopia, Uganda to Rwanda, Ethiopia to Sudan, Sudan to Egypt, and Kenya to Tanzania. Other participating countries include Democratic Republic of Congo, Djibouti, Burundi and Somalia.

One of the major challenges facing the regional power project is lack of funding to facilitate the ongoing studies and the infrastructure roll-out.

"Because not all members can afford the financial resources required, we shall approach the private sector to come in as partners," said Mr Kambandaa.

The project aims at guaranteeing access to electricity among participating countries, especially when supply constraints like drought lead to power rationing in the face of growing demand.  

Kenya will be connecting its one millionth customer later this year and plans to connect another one million people in the next five years.

Ethiopia has similarly set a target to connect 21 per cent of its population by the year 2050. Tanzania plans to connect an additional six million people by 2013.

It hopes to get at least 75,000 new users on the national grid annually to increase electricity consumption to 1,100 megawatts over the next two years.

Another challenge facing the power pool is the search for alternative sources of electricity, to reduce high dependency on hydro-generated electricity which is affected by the changing weather conditions.

According to the project secretariat, geothermal power will be a key focus.
Source: Business Daily

UN council demands Darfur parties attend talks (Reuters)

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council demanded on Wednesday that Sudan's government and Darfur rebels attend peace talks starting over the weekend and threatened action against anyone impeding the negotiations.

The council statement, which said an urgent cease-fire was the talks' first priority, came after a U.N. envoy appealed to the reluctant and disunited rebel groups to show up, saying they could still consult each other as negotiations proceed.

 One of several obstacles to the talks between the Khartoum government and rebels from Darfur in western Sudan has been the rebels' inability to agree a common platform. The parties are set to meet on Saturday in the Libyan coastal town of Sirte.

Rebel leaders said on Tuesday a prominent Darfur faction chief and five smaller groups would not attend because African Union and U.N. mediators had not heeded requests for a delay to let them form a united position and agree upon a delegation.

The council called on "all parties to attend and to engage fully and constructively in the talks and, as a first step, to urgently agree and implement a cessation of hostilities to be overseen by the United Nations and African Union."

"The Council underlines its willingness to take action against any party that seeks to undermine the peace process, including by failing to respect such a cessation of hostilities or by impeding the talks, peacekeeping or humanitarian aid," the official policy statement added.

The action was not spelled out and diplomats said failure to attend the talks would not qualify for it. The statement "doesn't mean that simply non-appearance equates to impeding the peace process," said British Ambassador John Sawers.

Earlier, U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson, who will mediate in the talks along with AU envoy Salim Salim, said the "moment of truth" had arrived in the 4 1/2-year-old Darfur conflict and it was essential to get the talks going before momentum was lost.

Talking to journalists at the United Nations by video link from the Eritrean capital Asmara, he conceded that expectations might have to be lowered on the open-ended talks U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon originally billed as "final."

Eliasson said invitations had only been sent out a week ago and he did not know which among more than a dozen rebel groups would come. "It's a moving target right now. ... I don't have the final list yet," he said.

HEAT ON REBELS

International experts estimate 200,000 people have died and 2.5 million have been driven from their homes in the Darfur conflict, which began with a revolt against the Sudanese government, but Khartoum puts the death toll at 9,000.

Trying to win over undecided groups, Eliasson said: "I want to very clearly make the point that the consultations that they are carrying on now ... will of course also continue in Sirte.

"The real negotiations will start only after we have the full preparations of the parties," he said.

Sudan's government has pledged to attend the talks and its U.N. ambassador welcomed the Council statement as turning the heat on rebels after previous statements faulting Khartoum.

"It's good that they criticize now and that they point their fingers towards the rebels," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem told journalists.

Eliasson said he now had "very little hope if any" that Sudan Liberation Movement founder Abdel Wahed Mohamed el-Nur, who has a wide following in Darfur refugee camps, would come. El-Nur has demanded a string of concessions from Khartoum.

Eliasson also noted that Khalil Ibrahim, leader of the main branch of the Justice and Equality Movement, had asked for a month's delay. But he said he had assurances that Ibrahim would send high-level representatives to Sirte.

The Security Council statement also called on U.N. member states to urgently provide aviation and ground transport units still needed for a 26,000-strong U.N.-AU peace-keeping force that will assume its duties next year in Darfur.

U.N. officials are worried that a lack of such specialized units, especially helicopters, could delay the deployment.

Source: Reuters

The Genesis Of Eritrea's Slavery Project

On October 23, 1995, exactly 12 years ago, the National Service programme took effect in Eritrea. Over the years, as the pre-war, war and post-war environment came to define Eritrea, clauses in the proclamation that were applicable for exceptional situations such as states of emergency became the norm, resulting in a nation where practically all citizens over the age of 18--anywhere between 400,000-800,000 people--are in a constant state of mobilization for the last 12 years. There are Eritreans who were 18 in 1995, who had every reason to expect to resume their lives in 1997, but who have been in the frontlines for the last 12 years. This, then, is the genesis of Eritrea's enslavement project, the so-called "Warsay-Yeka'alo Initiative."

Under the proclamation, all Eritreans between the age of 18 and 50 are required to participate in the National Service. This is because the National Service program is defined as "active national service and reserve military service." Those recruited for active national service (18-40 year olds) are supposed to avail themselves for 18 months: a six-month military training followed by 12 months of service in national security or national development programmes overseen by the military. The Reserve is for the 40+ Eritreans.

Only four classes of Eritreans are exempted from National Service: (1) Those who already gave national service prior to the promulgation of the law and (2) "fighters and armed peasants who "have proved to have spent all their time in the liberation struggle"; 3) those who, for health reasons, are unable to participate in the national service (but are still required to participate in 18 months of public service.) and (4) those participating in an approved educational programme. Non-exempt individuals may travel out of the country if they post a "60,000 Birr" bond.

The Creeping Enslavement

There are several factors that contributed to the establishment of a campaign-without-end in Eritrea.

1. Absence of Democracy: Like all laws in Eritrea, the National Service was presented as a proclamation. It was not debated by the people, nor the people's representatives, nor was it voted on. It was simply proclaimed as law. Thus, there simply is no mechanism for the people to register their approval or disapproval of the law or whether its harm outweighs its benefits. Not coincidentally, the loudest exponents of the National Service are those who have made sure that they, and their loved ones, are out of its harm way.

2. Bait and Switch: National Service was presented as a noble duty on all citizens and only requiring 18 months of sacrifice. But the proclamation has an escape clause: 18 months of service unless Eritrea is facing mobilization or a state of emergency. And the nation, mostly due to the rash decision of its self-declared leaders, has been in an undeclared state of emergency for more than half of its existence now. Consequently, most of the National Service members have been pressed into service now for 5, 8 and 10 years.

3. Vague Goals: Many Eritreans state that the youth would have been demobilized if the Eritrea-Ethiopia border were to be demarcated. But this assumes that the purpose of the National Service program is purely of a military nature. Depending on the priorities of the regime, this is subject to change. The National Service is a military program (national security), as well as an economic program (national development) and a social program (integration of the society.) A government without any constraints to its power can invoke any reason at all to press the youth into indefinite military service, if it is in its interest to do so.

4. Corruption: The Proclamation speaks of non-existing institutions like the "ministry of local government" and "board" that is supposed to have oversight over the proclamation. But ever since the arrest of Mahmoud Sheriffo, the ministry of local government has been dissolved and its functions divided up among the military command zones and their "desks." The board was supposed to review applications for exemptions from applicants claiming exemption from the service. This is now done by the generals who require huge fees and bribes to bestow the "unfit" certificate on the children of parents with means.

Conclusions

The Eritrean government, which is made up of the leaders of a guerrilla movement whose fighters had no breaks, nor vacations, and knew nothing but work, wants to apply its culture to a younger generation—under the guise of passing over a proud legacy of determination, resolve, and hard work. But there is no professional army in the world that requires of its active-duty members to serve without pay, rotation or breaks. The consequences of trying to apply guerrilla culture to a professional army have been devastating: Eritreans are flowing out of the country by the hundreds and those who remain are embittered by their experience of being the slaves of corrupt and abusive generals. At the root is: the National Service Proclamation.

Source: awate.com

Sub-Saharan Africa growing faster than the world economy, says top UN dev't official (Walta)

Addis Ababa, October 18, 2007 (WIC) - Addis Ababa, October 18 (WIC) - The head of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) reported that for the first time in years countries in sub-Saharan Africa are actually growing faster than the global economy, according to UN News Center.

''When one looks at the numbers, one can actually feel somewhat encouraged in terms of overall economic progress," UNDP Administrator Kemal Dervis said at a press briefing in New York, having just returned from a two-week trip to Eastern and Southern Africa.

He noted that average GDP growth in 2000-2003 was 3.7 percent in sub-Saharan Africa, and 5.6 per cent in 2004-2006, which is '' perhaps the most rapid growth overall in sub-Saharan Africa that we've seen in decades.''

Although the final numbers for this year are not yet ready, growth in the region will probably be around 6 percent – more than 1 percent higher than the global average. ''For the first time in a very long time sub-Saharan Africa is actually growing faster than the world economy,'' he said. '' I think that is quite significant.''

He also noted that over the last six years, oil-exporting countries have grown at about one and a half percentage points faster than oil-importing countries. This means that some of the oil-importing countries are growing quite fast, despite the heavy burden placed on them by high oil prices.

Another significant trend is the fact that during the same time frame, the ratio of investment to GDP has grown from 15 to 20 percent. While that is ''very significant '' in a region that has ''huge'' investment needs, Dervis said it is not sufficient as Africa should probably invest some 25 to 28 per cent of its GDP. '' But still, moving from 15 to 20 is quite considerable,'' he added.

Responding to concerns that sub-Saharan Africa is currently off track for meeting any of the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) – the ambitious targets the world has set itself for slashing poverty, hunger, disease and illiteracy by 2015 – Dervis admitted that it will be difficult for most African countries to meet all the Goals by the target date.

However, he stressed that progress has accelerated towards the MDGs, including in relation to primary school enrolment and access to clean water. '' Some countries are making quite rapid progress and that progress is now accelerating,'' he noted.

Dervis praised the leadership in many African government ministries, which he said is characterized by a '' new 'can do,' results-oriented and pragmatic attitude.'' At the same time, he stressed the need to build local and national capacities.

One area in which capacity building is vital is foreign investment, which plays a critical role in Africa in such areas as infrastructure, mining and oil. He stressed that the capacity to negotiate contracts with foreign investors that are truly beneficial to the country and that share the benefits between the foreign investors and the local economy deserves greater attention.

'' In some countries, a good contract can make the difference between a project that will just be an enclave paying very little taxes, bringing very little benefits to the local economy [and] a project that is truly benefiting the local economy,'' he stated.

''Sometimes two or three well-negotiated contracts are financially equivalent to maybe the whole of the foreign aid that goes into an African country.''

Source: Walta Information Center

US company to invest USD 50mln in coffee farm, roasting facility (Ethiopian Reporter)

B&D Food Corporation, an American-based company, is set to invest USD 50 million in coffee farm and erection of a roasting facility in Ethiopia under its recently established subsidiary, BDFC Ethiopia Industry PLC.

The company has already secured 5,000 hectares of coffee farm in Jimma, Oromia region, on which it will be producing "high quality" Ethiopian coffee, company representative  Benjamin Petel told The Reporter in a statement on Sunday. BDFC Ethiopia will also erect a coffee roasting facility around the coffee farm site, which had last week been handed over to it by the Oromia Investment Commission. Presently, the company is finalizing preparation to embark upon the project.

"BDFC Ethiopia intends to begin planting in the coming months and, in parallel, is working on building a processing factory on the plantation grounds," Petel said. "B&D hopes to process the high quality Ethiopian beans in order to produce both roasted and instant coffee blends that are intended to be sold worldwide."

The company will invest over USD 50 million in both the acquisition and plantation of the farm and erection of the roasting facility, Oromia Investment Commission Commissioner Alemu Sime told The Reporter. The company also plans to build resorts in the farm area, according to the commissioner. "Although the company's representatives initially came to Ethiopia only to erect a roasting facility, they had, after visiting the site, also proposed to build recreation centers and launch a coffee plantation farm."

B&D is currently examining several offers of companies bidding to assemble the roasting factory, according to Petel. "B&D's current capabilities and expertise are both in the roasted and instant coffee fields. The company wishes to continue this line, by using the high quality Ethiopia coffee beans and therefore requires a state-of-the-art factory capable of producing the full range of coffees, like the one the company currently owns in Brazil," Petel said.

Three years from plantation on the farm, the company's projected export of roasted and instant coffee is 12,500 tonnes (on an annual basis), according to Petel. The vast majority of B&D Ethiopia's produce is intended to be processed and sold as instant and roasted coffee.

"B&D Ethiopia will hopefully create job opportunities for several hundred people. It is currently examining these figures and hopes to determine its employee capacity soon." Petel said.

B&D Ethiopia is destined to become a major exporter of roasted and instant coffee beans in Ethiopia, as there are barely companies engaged in that line of business, albeit the country being the birth place of coffee.

B&D Food Corp.'s management has 30 years of experience in the coffee business. Based in the US, the company operates in the food and beverage industry, specifically in coffee and related products. It has a coffee production facility in Brazil. 

By Hayal Alemayehu

 

Source: Ethiopian Reporter

Somalia to send delegation to Beijing Olympics (china.org.cn)

Somalia, though not totally free from the plague of civil conflicts, will send a delegation to Beijing for the 2008 Olympic Games.

 

Duran Farah, head of international relations of Somalia National Olympic Committee (NOC), told Xinhua News Agency on Thursday in an exclusive interview that the Somalia NOC has maintained taking the responsibility to organize a delegation to take part in the Olympic Games over the past years, despite many difficulties.

 

The Horn of Africa country has been without authorities since 1991.

 

The Beijing Olympic Games will not be an exception and Somalia will send a delegation which is not large, said Farah.

 

The official noted that the Somali delegates will not only come from those living within Somalia but include some people residing abroad to escape domestic strife to present opportunities for both the groups.

 

For the preparation work done by the Chinese side, Farah revealed that some Somali official has been to Beijing to see the situation. "There are lots of hot preparation going on at the moment (in China), and we are confident about the Beijing Olympic Games and eager to be there."

 

In addition, Farah said China has played a role in promoting the sports development in Somalia. The largest stadium in East Africa thirty years ago was built by Chinese in the Somali capital of Mogadishu.

 

Farah was in the Kenyan capital of Nairobi to participate in the Olympic Solidarity Forum preparing a delegation for participation in the Olympic Games, which was organized and funded by the International Olympic Committee.

 

The two-day forum started on Thursday during which the Chinese side will report their preparation work for the Beijing Olympic Games.

 

(Xinhua News Agency October 12, 2007)

Restraint urged after Sudan split (BBC)

The US has called on the ruling parties of north and south Sudan to exercise restraint after the ex southern rebels withdrew from the unity government.

Diplomats fear the move could jeopardise the 2005 deal that ended the 21-year north-south civil war. [Read more..]

Mafia accused over nuclear waste

A Mafia clan linked to six blood feud murders is being investigated for the alleging trafficking of nuclear waste and plutonium production, reports claim.

Two members of the 'Ndrangheta mafia, a Calabrian clan, are accused of shipping radioactive waste to Somalia, along with eight former employees of state energy research agency Enea, the Guardian reports.

Francesco Basentini, a magistrate from the southern town of Potenza, is investigating claims that the mob men were paid off by the Enea staff, taking shipments of waste from the agency's centre in Rotondella, Basilicata, in the 1980s and 1990s.

The allegations were made by a 'Ndrangheta turncoat, who claims an Enea manager paid the two clan members to dispose of some 600 drums of nuclear waste, with 500 shipped to Somalia and 100 buried in Basilicata (the 'Ndrangheta being unwilling to bury the waste in Calabria due to "love of their home region").

An anonymous Enea manager denied the turncoat's allegations, saying: "Enea has always worked within the rules and under strict national and international supervision."

The 'Ndrangheta clan are accused of exploiting links with Colombia to become Europe's biggest cocaine importer, while the August shooting of six Italians in Germany has been linked to a blood feud with a rival clan from San Luca, Calabria.

Nicola Gratteri, the magistrate investigating the murders, argued that nuclear waste disposal and even the production of plutonium would not be an unlikely activity for the 'Ndrangheta, the Guardian quoted him as saying.

"The 'Ndrangheta has no morals and, if there is money in an activity, it will have no problem getting involved, even nuclear waste," he said.

However, he complained the European police forces had a lax attitude to clans like the 'Ndrangheta or the Sicilian Cosa Nostra.

"The mafias were the first to take advantage of Europe's disappearing frontiers," he said, "but when I go to Germany I see they have not introduced the crime of mafia association and do not allow wire taps in public places.

"I'm tired of round tables and conventions; what we need is more courage," he added.

 

Source: inthenews.co.uk

Somali car bomb kills Ethiopians (BBC)

Two Ethiopian soldiers have been killed by a car bomb in the Somali town of Baidoa on Wednesday evening.

The bomber's target was an Ethiopian military post close to the hotel where the prime minister, Ali Mohamed Ghedi, was staying.

After the attack, Mogadishu-based Simba Radio aired an Islamist insurgent commander's claim of responsibility for the attempted assassination.

Somali forces have raided the radio and arrested its chief Abdullahi Ali Farak.

A reporter at the station said a journalist was also arrested in the raid, and the radio ordered to shut down.

A reporter at the scene says the area has been sealed off since the blast, but eyewitnesses say a suicide bomber driving a car also died.

"The explosion was so deafening and strong it rocked our entire hotel compound," an aide of the prime minister, Mohamed Abdi Haji, told AP news agency.

Mr Ghedi is in Baidoa for what correspondents expect to be a showdown between him and the president, Abdullahi Yusuf, later this week.

Source: BBC

US policy on horn of Africa aimed at dismantling Al Qaeda network, says Frazer

Addis Ababa : United States policy towards the Horn of Africa is aimed at dismantling the Al Qaeda terrorist network and ensuring stability, good governance, democracy and sustainable development, US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi E. Frazer says.

Frazer told the Foreign Affairs Committee of the US Senate last week that the policy the US government was pursuing in the Horn was not beyond ensuring peace and helping advance development in Ethiopia and neighbouring countries.

She said that the over 100-year Ethiopia-US relationship was based on mutual understanding and friendship while the activities being carried out jointly by the US and Ethiopia as well as civil society had won appreciation.

The pardons granted by the Ethiopian government to the leaderships of the CUD based on their request and in accordance with the law of the country had opened a door for political tolerance, she said.

Frzaer said the improvement of the code of ethics governing the members of the House of Peoples Representatives was a good measure taken to give attention to opposition parties.
She called on opposition party leaders to get ready for negotiation and contribute their share in building democracy in the country.

Frazer said when she visited Gode in September this year, she had observed the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) was becoming provocative. She said the killing of nine innocent Chinese and 77 Ethiopians was a manifestation of its provocative act in the region.
She urged the Ethiopian government and international community to exert efforts aimed at minimizing the danger posed by ONLF.

She also expressed the US government's commitment to provide emergency support and other aids to the people in the regtion.

Frazer said the Eritrean government was fuelling the situation in Ogaden by providing support to the ONLF and other extremists in Somalia.

The deployment of Ugandan troops as part of an African Union (AU) peacekeeping force in Somalia and the recent national reconciliation conference held in Somalia were glimmers of hope for ensuring peace in that country, Frazer added. She said the US would extend the necessary support to re-build war-devastated Somalia.

Frazer expressed eashington's concern over the human rights violations in Eritrea, where no election had been held since the country's independence 14 years ago.

She said Eritrea, which has no constitution at all, is a country where there are thousands of prisoners of conscience languishing in prison.

Source: Indian Muslim News and Information

Clashes between allies in Darfur (BBC)

Fighting has erupted in the Darfuri town of Muhajiriya, controlled by the one rebel faction to sign a peace deal with the government in May last year.

The Sudan Liberation Army faction run by Minni Minnawi came under attack from government troops.

The SLA say dozens have died, and others are being treated for wounds by the African Union peacekeeping force.

Amnesty International says Sudan's Armed Forces are gathering in large numbers in at least six Darfuri towns. [Read more..]

Somali Prime Minister, Hawiye clan leaders reach truce (Walta)

Addis Ababa, October 09, 2007 (WIC) - Somalia's Prime Minister has reached a truce with Mogadishu's dominant clan, some of whose fighters had supported Islamist-led insurgents in battles with government troops and Ethiopian forces earlier this year, Reuters reported.

Hawiye clan elders met Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Gedi on Monday in the capital.
Speaking after the talks, Gedi said the clan leaders would now work with his administration to take on the insurgents.

"We agreed a truce and we agreed that we do something about their complaints...
We agreed we work together against anyone carrying out violence," Gedi told reporters late on Monday.
Responding to accusations that government troops have been heavy-handed in their hunt for rebels, Gedi called on his army officers to control their men, whom he said should perform their duties with respect and discipline.

Mogadishu has been relatively calm in recent days and the outcome of Gedi's meeting with the clan leaders was eagerly anticipated by many war-weary residents, according to the news agency.

Hawiye spokesman Ahmed Diriye told Reuters the government and insurgents both had a responsibility to end the clashes.

"If the truce gets enforced, I do hope that all people who have political agendas on their mind, opposing the government, will compromise with it," he said.
Mogadishu Mayor Mohamed Dheere praised the new accord.

Source: Walta Information Center