2merkato

Ethiopia signed an US$800 million contract with ZTE, a Chinese multinational telecommunications equipment and systems company headquartered in Shenzhen, China. The agreement was signed on Sunday, August 18, 2013 to expand Ethiopia's mobile phone infrastructure and introduce a high-speed 4G broadband network in the capital Addis Ababa and a 3G service throughout the rest of the country.

The latest agreement with ZTE is part of a US$1.6 billion project divided between ZTE and Huawei Technologies Co Ltd,, another Chinese telecom equipment maker. Huawei signed the agreement last month.

Ethiopia’s executive organ concluded an aggregate of USD 176.87 Million loan and grant with the World Bank (WB) and the African Development Bank (ADB).

Ethiopia is playing a significant role in developing the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa according to Sindiso Ngwenya, General Secretary of the COMESA.

The role the country is playing includes its support of activities that forge economic integration in the COMESA region, said Ngwenya following the talks he held with Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn in Addis Ababa.     

Discussions with the Ethiopia premier included means of enhancing COMESA efforts to achieve integration in the region he said.
The COMESA Secretary General has extended an invitation for Hailemariam to take part in the COMESA meeting scheduled to held in Uganda in     November.

The Ethiopian Roads Authority (ERA) signed four road projects that span 290.5 kilometers and cost $244 million with four Chinese firms. The roads to be constructed are situated in central, northern, eastern and western parts of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia signed three credit financing agreements with the World Bank providing 400 million US dollars in loans. The loan is designated to finance the execution of the Electricity Network Reinforcement Project, Women Entrepreneurship Development Project, and Urban Water Supply and Sanitation.

The World Bank has been supporting a range of development programs as the country’s major development partner said Sufian Ahmed, Minister of Finance and Economic Development at the signing.

The agreements will support projects that provide comprehensive technical assistance and capacity building programs in Ethiopia according to Guang Z. Chen, Country Director of the World Bank in Ethiopia.