Ethiopian Reporter - Amharic Version

4|
Government
starts
agricultural
agency to double
crop production
Ethiopia started an agricultural agency that plans
to help double production in the economy’s
biggest industry over the next five years, Wonderad
Mandefro, state minister of agriculture said.
The Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency,
or EATA, is modeled on economic development
organizations in South Korea and Taiwan and
will be overseen by a council chaired by Prime
Minister Meles Zenawi, Wonderad said in an
interview on Thursday.
“In the past five years, the country has made
significant progress in sustaining agricultural
production,” Wonderad said. “Compared to the
potential, it’s still the tip of the iceberg.”
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, is
the continent’s biggest coffee grower. A five-year
government plan to wean the Horn of Africa country
off foreign aid aims to boost agricultural production
by 14.9 percent annually. The industry accounts
for 45 percent of economic output and employs
about 80 percent of the population, according to
Wonderad.
The agency was created after the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation was asked by Meles in 2008
to assess an Ethiopian program that provides
support and equipment for farmers using so-called
extension workers, Wonderad said.
In partnership with international donors and
agricultural-research organizations, the foundation
was subsequently asked to assess other aspects of
the industry, including irrigation, soil fertility and
marketing. These will now be key areas of focus for
EATA.
The Seattle-based non-profit organization is
providing technical expertise to EATA and may
support the agency financially, Roy Steiner, deputy
director of its agricultural development program
said.
Press freedom
day to be
commemorated
By a sTaff reporTer
ConT`d on page 25
The Horn of Africa Press Institute (HAPI),
Ethiopian National Journalists Union (ENJU), the
Ethiopian Environmental Journalists Association
(EEJA) in collaboration with UNESCO and the
Office of Government’s Communication Affairs,
has organized a full-day workshop to commemorate
World Press Freedom Day, on Tuesday, May 3, at
the Hilton Hotel.
This year’s event which is organized under the
theme: “21st Century Media: New Frontiers, New
Barriers”, is expected to be attended by various
local and international media organizations, invited
guests and other stakeholders.
Issues to be raised on this year’s World Press
Freedom Day are expected to focus on the
fundamental principles of press freedom which
includes evaluating press freedom around the world,
defending the media from attacks on independence
and to pay tribute to journalists, who have lost their
lives exercising their profession.
Last year World Press Freedom Day was
commemorated under the theme, Freedom of
Information: The Right to Know.
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The Reporter | Saturday |April 30, 2011
allana Potash discovers new deposits
By a sTaff reporTer
Canada’s Allana Potash Corp said it discovered
potash in Kainitite and Sylvinite zones which are
previously unexplored area sin Ethiopia, which the
potash explorer expects to add to existing resources
at the property.
The company said it intersected two strong zones
of potash mineralization at relatively shallow depths
at its drill hole DK-11-16, and it plans to evaluate
the possibility of open pit mining in its upcoming
feasibility study.
Allana’s CEO Farhad Abasov issued a statement on
the company’s website, claiming identification of
new potash mineralization, which would be added
to the existing potash resources at the property.
The company says that the thick potash horizon
discovered in the southwestern part of the property
By hayal alemayehu
Aviation Economics Professor Nawal Tanaja said that
Ethiopian Airlines could easily provide flights to three
destinations in the United States [than a single destination it
is currently serving] while advising the airline to secure more
planes of different types to serve and take advantage of the
growing aviation market in the Africa region.
“The economic center of gravity is shifting from west to east
and from north to south,” the professor said, indicating that
the aviation market is increasing in Africa, Latin America
and Asia. According him, the market in these regions is set
to significantly increase in the coming 40 years where Africa’s
share will significantly rise [bringing in opportunities to
carries in the region].
The professor described Ethiopian’s current state of
development as “organic growth” and mentioned that
the airline is [currently] on the right track. He, however,
mentioned that the airline had its own challenges.
“It is one thing to formulate the 2025 vision,” the professor
said, speaking about the 15-year strategy Ethiopian formulated
for the coming 15 years which the airline is seven to eight
months into it. “It is [completely] another thing to execute it
flawlessly.”
“Ethiopian may place order for more planes,” said the expert
who has been more than 40 years in the aviation industry.
“But it should also have the crews and the human resource
and all that the growth demands.” Ethiopian has persistently
been challenged by brain-drain, with its skilled cockpit crews
migrating to the Gulf carriers which are slowly but surely
crowding the skies and now coming up in different form as
low cost carries (LCCs). To mitigate this challenge Ethiopian
is set to launch a program whereby it will graduate much more
pilots at a time than it currently does, with a plan to export
some of graduates.
Responding on the matter, public relations and publications
manager at Ethiopian, Wogayehu Terefe, told The Reporter
that the airlines has plans to expand its routes in the US and is
working on identifying the destination points.
According to the professor who has published eight books
on the aviation industry, human resource including cockpit
crews and the IT system, infrastructure comprising airport
and immigration facilities and services, inconsistent African
countries regulatory policies and competition from low cost
carriers are posing challenges to Ethiopian.
While low cost carriers are becoming a major challenge to the
major carriers across the globe offering cheaper prices, Gulfbased
low cost carriers are now serving 14 destinations in
Africa in a short period of time, according to the professor.
Air Asia X, the cheapest airline in the world, is offering about
one-third of the price the major carriers provide, including for
non-stop long-haul services.
Fly Dubai, subsidiary of Emirates, launched its maiden flight
has the potential to become a significant deposit
and the company will aggressively work to trace the
extent of potash mineralization.
The company has operations in Ethiopia as well
as Argentina. The company says it is contemplates
evaluating the possibility of open pit mining in the
future feasibility study.
The highlight of the results is drill hole DK-11-16,
which intersected two strong zones of significant
potash mineralization, 29.80 percent KCl over 4.00
metres. Hole 16 was dug about 1,000 meters from
Hole 8. Drilled vertically, the hole in the southwest
of Hole 8 intersected the Kainitite and Sylvinite
Zones of the Afar Regional State which is part of
the basin that had remained unexplored so far. At
a depth of 125.20 meters, the Sylvinite Zone graded
24.79 percent KCI over 6.50 meters. Further down
168.20 meters, the robust Kainitite Zone intersected
20.29 percent KCI over 5.00 meters.
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The drill findings from Hole 16 are akin to the
results of holes 6, 8, and 11, for which a 5-km-long
and 5-km-wide area has been delineated for potash
mineralization. Hole 16 intersected high-grade
potash 125.20 meters deep, similar to Hole 8.
Allana continues exploration drilling at Holes
DK-11-20 and DK-11-21 in the eastern part of the
property to discover potash mineralization in this
unexplored region. Samples from Holes 11, 12, 14,
15, 17, 18, and 19 are being tested in the company’s
Saskatoon laboratory. Canada’s Allana Potash Corp
said it discovered potash in a previously unexplored
area in Ethiopia, which the potash explorer expects
to add to existing resources at the property.
The company said it intersected two strong zones
of potash mineralization at relatively shallow depths
at its drill hole DK-11-16, and it plans to evaluate
the possibility of open pit mining in its upcoming
feasibility study.
Ethiopian advisEd to fly to morE
dEstinations in Us
to Addis only last Saturday, thereby tightening
the competition for one of Africa’s leading
carrier Ethiopian and becoming the first LCC
to operate to and from Ethiopia.
The professor, who had been advising over
half a dozen of airlines, made the remarks
while addressing stakeholders here on the
outlook of the global aviation industry and
its implication to Africa and Ethiopia upon
the invitation of Ethiopian CEO Tewolde
Gebremariam.
The expert noted that there are now two major
trends in the global aviation industry: the
NOTICE: Bambis will be closed on 5 th May 2011 for Ethiopian Patriots Day
Information: 011 - 5521105 or 5505584
change in customers’ behavior and the rise of
powerful competitors.
Yet in the center of the global aviation
industry, a major shift of the market is in the
making.
The economic center of gravity is shifting from
west to the east and from north to the east.
With the African share of the global aviation
industry projected to rise significantly,
opportunities are presenting themselves for
one of Africa’s leading carriers along with
posing challenges, according to the professor.