AfDB, World Bank to provide $1bln for Ethio-Kenya power lines
“The financing for the project breaks down as follows: African Development Bank, US $338 million; World Bank US $684 million; Government of Ethiopia, US $32 million; Government of Kenya, US $88 million; and the expected financing from the French Development Agency, US $118 million.” ********** The African Development Bank today launched the 1,068-kilometre high-voltage electricity … Read more
Why Ethiopia turns a deaf ear to environmentalists’ outcry
(Daniel Berhane) Last month, I had an informative chat with a State Minister in the energy sector in Bahir dar. As we were few kilometers away from the source of Nile, with foreign journalists nearby, he was wary of what I might inquire about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam – one of the greatest politico-economic … Read more
Gibe III dam | Group warns of ‘catastrophe’ in Omo Valley
SURVIVAL INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE April 15, 2013 * Aid agencies turn blind eye to ‘catastrophe’ in Ethiopia * Three new reports predict disaster in Lower Omo Valley Three independent reports have warned that the controversial Gibe III dam, and land grabs for plantations, risk imminent ‘catastrophe’ in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley. Half a million tribal people in Ethiopia and Kenya stand to be overwhelmed by … Read more
Vilifying Ethiopia’s Villagization program: More unsubstantiated claims
Ethiopia’s villagization program has become a favorite subject for politically motivated critiques by advocacy organizations and human rights groups who appear to have the aim of trying to stop all development and humanitarian aid to Ethiopia. Over the years some of these have made it their business to criticize almost all and every development activity … Read more
Briefing | Ethiopia’s sugar projects progressing steadily
One of the main foci of the Growth and Transformation Plan is development of sugar production. The government intends that Ethiopia should be self-sufficient in sugar by the end of 2013 and increase production almost eightfold to 2.3 million tonnes by mid-2015, leaving a surplus for export of 1.25 million tonnes, making the country one … Read more
Gibe III & Omo | Anti-dam group short on fact, long on fiction again
The Gilgel Gibe III Dam is once again under fire from environmentalists who had previously raised concerns over dangers they claim are associated with the dam, including allegations that more than half a million people’s livelihoods along the Lower Omo Valley in Ethiopia or around Lake Turkana in Kenya could be threatened by the construction … Read more
Gibe III dam | Ethiopia Water Grabs: Creating ‘East Africa’s Aral Sea’?
(By Lori Pottinger) The destruction of the Aral Sea in Central Asia has been called the world’s worst environmental disaster. It’s not something we should be repeating, especially in a time of growing uncertainty about water resources on our warming planet. So will the world stand by (and even underwrite the perpetrators) as Ethiopia builds … Read more
China to loan $500 mil for Sugar projects in Omo and Afar
Ethiopia Sugar Corporation has said it has signed agreements with the state-owned China Development Bank for US$500 million in loans to build two refineries. This is part of its plans to boost output almost tenfold by 2025. The Ministry of Finance and Economy, together with Corporation, signed Memoranda of Understanding to finance the building of … Read more
Ethiopia-Kenya power line gets $348 mil., slated for next year
(By Sheree Hanna) The African Development Fund is backing a huge project to build a new power line between two African countries lighting up an additional 870,000 households. An ambitious electricity scheme to connect Kenya and Ethiopia has won backing from the African Development Fund to tune of $348 million. The project will involve the … Read more
Gibe III dam | Chinese investment welcome but more controls are needed
In southern Ethiopia, a giant wall of concrete is rising between the sides of a steep gorge. When complete, the Gibe III dam on the Omo river will be the highest in Africa. It will also be one of the most controversial. Depending on which side of the debate you stand, it offers proof of … Read more
