Browsing: Ethiopian Airlines

Flight Capacity in 2024

Kenya opens skies targetting millions of international tourists

Countries
  • The open Skies Policy in civil aviation aims to ease international airlines’ access to national airports to increase the flow of tourists and develop their potential as regional air hubs.
  • Kenya is seen to warm up to more international carriers, with the latest being flyDubai, which is now flying directly to the Moi International Airport, Mombasa, after launching last week.
  • Apart from attracting foreign carriers mainly from Europe and the Middle East, airlines from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, and other EAC states will operate across borders without restrictions.

The Open Skies Policy in Kenya

Kenya is slowly heeding calls by the private sector to open its skies to more international airlines seeking to fly directly to the country’s Coast, a leading beach destination preferred mainly by Europeans.

This comes as the government also banks on the recently unveiled “visa-free” to open the country to more visitors, aiming to grow the …

US-Ethiopia Relations: The deep root of for better or worse  

Industry and Trade
  • Ethiopia is one of the largest countries in Africa
  • The US has a long diplomatic relation with Ethiopia dating 1903
  • Ethiopia is building a hydroelectric dam that will generate 5,000 megawatts of electricity

Ethiopia economy is one of Africa’s fastest-growing economies with a GDP projected to trend around US$ 112 billion, representing at least 0.10 per cent of the world economy.   Thus, US-Ethiopia relations have presented rather effective diplomatic potential for one of the populous nation in the region.   

The East African nation has made noteworthy and tremendous economic improvements which have seen the nation’s GDP per capita rise from US$162 in 2005 to US$790 in 2018, an average annual growth rate of more than 14 per cent, according to information from the US Department of State.  

Ethiopia with its rich history has recorded substantial economic strides over the past decade, and the United States of America (USA) is one

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Ethiopia: Tewolde Gebremariam, The man behind the success of Ethiopian Airlines

Business
  • Since he became the CEO in 2011 to his retirement in 2022, yearly turnover grew from US$1 billion to US$4.5 billion
  • Ethiopian Airlines’ fleet increased from 33 to 131 planes, and passengers grew from 3 million to 12 million passengers a year
  • Tewolde explained that his decision to resign came after advice from his doctors to concentrate on his health

Last week, Mr Ato Tewolde Gebremariam, The Chief Executive of Ethiopian Airlines, retired for undisclosed health reasons. The Airlines will remember the honourable man for the revolution he brought from the day he got the main man job. Since he became the CEO in 2011 to his retirement in 2022, yearly turnover grew from US$1 billion to US$4.5 billion. The fleet increased from 33 to 131 planes, and passengers grew from 3 million to 12 million passengers a year.

He started working for the Ethiopian in 1985 as a transportation …

Airlines in Africa: The battle for skies

Opinion

The business model for airlines has been fundamentally flawed for decades but the last 20 years or so have been particularly challenging.

Growing competitiveness, a roller coaster of fuel prices, labor unions, and especially the phenomenon of low-cost carriers have made it all the more difficult to reach positive earnings pretty much in every route.

With a number of countries sporting continental distances, Africa has been an exciting promise for air carriers, but not without its challenges. Poor infrastructure and the high cost of maintenance and logistics have plagued the development of an effective air grid in the continent. Nevertheless, a great opportunity remains.

At the beginning of the last decade, South African Airways was a dominant force, carrying some 9 million passengers yearly while Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines combined were just shy of 6 million yearly passengers. However, poor management choices combined with borderline irresponsible behavior from …

Coveting larger markets: Ethiopia’s bid to join WTO

Ethiopia

Ethiopia wants to join the World Trade Organization (WTO), the historically technocrat country now wants to open its doors and become a market economy.

This means privatizing its industries, a move that the country was previously reluctant to take. However, over the last eight years, Ethiopia has been making major economic reforms and the world has begun to notice.

Under the new liberalization policy, Ethiopia will now privatize some key sectors like its telecom industry and its national pride, the airlines led by Air Ethiopia as well as its banking and logistics sectors.

The world has taken notice and to urge and nudge the country on, the international community has allowed it to resume negotiations with the WTO.

A bid 8 yrs in making

Ethiopia started to make moves towards joining the WTO some 8 years ago when it first filed its application and a Working Party was formed in …

Tanzania tourism sector reviving post covid-19

Business

Tanzania became the first East African nation to reopen its schools, businesses and ports of entry, charting a new path in the management of the Corona Virus.

As of May 18, Tanzania reopened its airspace for international arrivals and the World is responding.

Only three days after it announced its reopening its airspace, local media reported that a chartered airplane landed at the Kilimanjaro International Airport on May 21. The plane had on board four Greek nationals.

Previously, the tourists would have had to go into a 14-day mandatory quarantine but not anymore. Now anyone entering the country only needs to go through a simple temperature check upon arrival. Other measures include having all arriving flights present an Advance Passenger Information System (APIS) so as to allow the Tanzania’s Immigration Department and Airport Authorities to identify high-risk passengers.

All non-APIS compliant flights will now be required to notify their passengers …

Ethiopia’s 1st Stock Exchange underway

Investing

For the year 2020, Ethiopia is gearing up to open its first Stock Exchange market in over 45 years. With it, Africa will add one more stock exchange floor under its belt bringing the total number of working bourse on the continent to 30.

Almost half a century ago, back in the 70s, there was vibrant share trading at the National Bank of Ethiopia. That was in fact, one of the first, if not the very first, trading floor on the continent. Well, at least one that was not under colonial rule that is.

Now, some 45 years later after the Derg took down what would have inevitably been Africa’s main stock trading floor, Ethiopia is well on its way to re-establishing the trading floor.

Ethiopia becomes the 30th of Africa’s 51 countries to establish a stock trading institute under the auspices of the government. For one of the…

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Somalia, World Bank Burying the Hatchet

Countries

After three decades of austerity measures on Somalia, the otherwise economically embattled East African nation is now, 30 years later, in good standing with the World Bank.

Well, before we start tipping our hats, let’s put ‘good standing’ in perspective, Somalia is now in good enough standing to receive grants but it is yet to get to economic stability that would warrant it WB loans.

To put it in the words of the World Bank, the international lender is now ready to ‘normalize relations’ with Somalia. The bank credited turning the new leaf with Somalia on its reasonably strong record of fiscal and political reforms over the last few years.

As World Bank’s Country Manager for Somalia, Mr. Hugh Riddell was quoted mid this month, good relations means that “…going forward, Somalia will be able to access grants to finance poverty reduction.”

In his media brief, the WB country executive…

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Ethiopia’s Coop Bank reports profits up 26pc

Banking

Based in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa, Coop Bank is growing by leaps and bounds, with profits up 29 percent in the 2018/19 financial year closing the year with USD 20.4 million under lock and key.

More than profit, the Bank also enjoyed huge growth if it’s total assets which shot up by 40 percent, a sector high for Ethiopia’s banking industry. Likewise, its loans and advances also went up an impressive 56 percent representing more than double its performance in the previous year.

The bank has credited the asset growth to deposit mobilisation which pushed up loans and advances. The bank had yet an impressive growth this time in deposits which increased 40 percent.

Coop Bank mustered its investment in NBE bonds which it increased to more than double (53%) of what it had in the previous financial year. Further still, this immense investment represents 20 percent of its …

Coronavirus Africa update: Zanzibar permits tourism, under strict conditions

Countries

As the rest of the country shuts down all entry ports, heavily reliant on tourism, the spice Isles of Zanzibar are allowing charter flights to land but with strict conditions.

Isles authorities have permitted charter flights bringing tourists to the island to land but on condition that all persons on board enter a 14 days quarantine stay, at their own expense.

This surprising turn of events happens in the backdrop of ongoing global threat of the spread of coronavirus. Even leading sports leagues have been cancelled and regional high profile meetings are been held on conference calls.

Across Africa, the tourism industry has come to an almost complete shutdown. It is time immemorial since a disease stopped people from touring and going for holidays, at least not since the deadly World War I and II power viruses.

With most all African countries eventually succumbing to the threat and finally closing …