Aid Organizations Execute Projects worth 190m Br

Fifty international and local humanitarian organizations have been executing 90 development projects with a 190 million Br outlay in West Shoa Zone, Oromia State, zonal Finance and Economic Development Bureau disclosed. Oljira Bayisa, office manager, said that the organizations have been engaged in education, health, agricultural, environmental conservations, and safe-water provision sectors, among others. The construction of potable water, health, agriculture and environmental conservation projects has been finalized, and over 100,000 people have already become beneficiaries of the projects, according to the office manager.

Floriculture Project to Create 400 Jobs

With more than 120 million Br investment capital, Ethio-Group Share Company has finalized preparations for launching a Vanyard project in Tigray State, the company announced. Tesegaye Abebe, member of the company and Floriculture Growers Association (FGA) president sated that investors are presently attracted to increasingly engaging in grape growing, which has mainly been done by the state until recently. Furthermore, he accentuated that the Vanyard project will create 400 job opportunities when it becomes fully operational. The company has plans to establish horticulture development on 70,000hct of land in the next 5 years, declared Tsegaye.

Sweden Responds to Ethiopia’s Relief Appeal 

In response to the 2008 humanitarian assistance appeal by the Ethiopian government, the Swedish government provided about 11.2 million dollars (68.5 million Swedish Kronor), according to a press release the latter’s embassy in Addis Abeba sent to Fortune.

The aid is to be distributed among four areas of relief and development programmes by governmental, non-governmental and international institutions.  Accordingly, 6.6million dollars has been allocated for the ongoing Productive Safety Net Program (PSNP) by the government; 2.4 million dollars for Humanitarian Response Fund (HRF) through the UN Office for Coordination of Humanitarians Affairs (UN-OCHA); and 1.6 million dollars goes to UNICEF’s operations on immediate needs for the drought affected population through the provision of non-food items, emergency health care and water, as well as sanitation intervention, the press release reads. The remaining 0.6 million dollars is for different NGO’s working in partnership with Ethiopian counterparts to address emergency food requirements of the drought affected people in Southern and Oromia regional states.

Glass Factory with 280m Capital Almost Complete

Hanson International Glass Factory (HIGF) is constructing a glass factory with a more than 280 million Br investment capital, the company revealed. Mr. D Fen Shan, General Manager, said that the company is carrying out activities to supply materials to meet the growing needs of the construction (investment) sector. The company, in partnership with CGC Overseas Construction and China-Africa Development Fund (CADF), started construction with a 280.5 million Br capital. It has already entered the trial production phase after finalizing 95pc of the construction process.

FAO secures Half a Million Euros for Programmes

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has secured 500,000 Euros from the General Directorate for Development Cooperation of the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. This money will go towards supporting the implementation of the “Strengthening Pastoralist and Agro-Pastoralist’s Livelihoods in Lowlands of Ethiopia” Project. The Italian Embassy released a statement indicating that the initiative primarily aims at fostering coordination among pertinent stakeholders and institutions in order to minimize the loopholes in the ongoing humanitarian programmes, and to further promote better utilization of available resources to fulfill people’s basic needs. The statement accentuated that the project intends to promote planning systems in the water resources in pastoral sectors, initiating veterinary assistance network in areas of Gambella and Oromia states, along with capacity building for the local agricultural sector, as well as the drafting and execution of emergency projects.