Low-cost housing in Addis centre

Addis Ababa city council has announced plans to demolish part of the city centre and build low-cost condominium housing in its place. The English-language business weekly Capital Ethiopia reports that the areas earmarked for demolition include parts of Arada sub-city,...

African Union elects Bingu wa Mutharika as new president

The African Union has decided not to confirm the Libyan leader, Colonel Muammar Gaddafi, as its president for a second year. The position has gone to the president of Malawi, Bingu wa Mutharika, an economist who first took up office...

African Union considers Haiti resettlement

African leaders considered a proposal by Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade to resettle Haitians made homeless by the earthquake on 12 January during the three-day African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa from 31 January-2 February. The proposal drew inspiration from...

Addis Ababa to get solar street lighting

Ten street lights near Meskel Square are to be powered by solar panels in a pilot scheme that could pave the way for the use of solar powered street lighting across Addis Ababa. The project is the work of JB...

Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes off Lebanon

An Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 82 passengers and eight crew members crashed in the sea off Lebanon on 25 January just a few minutes after leaving Beirut for Addis Ababa. So far over 20 bodies have been recovered but there...

Ethiopia Hotels Enterprise up for sale

The Ethiopian government has put up for privatisation the state owned Ethiopia Hotels Enterprise (EHE), which controls hotels and restaurants in prime central Addis Ababa locations. The Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) announced the sale of EHE, according...

Timeshare resort opens on Lake Langano.

Lake Langano 200 km south of Addis Ababa is the site of a new timeshare resort, the first of its kind in Ethiopia. The complex has been developed by the Africa Vacation Club Ethiopia at a cost of 35 million birr....

Egypt to lease Ethiopia farmland

The Ethiopian government has agreed to lease 20,000 hectares of land in the northern Afar region to Egypt for commercial farming purposes, the English-language business weekly newspaper Capital Ethiopia reports. The agreement comes on the heels of similar deals with...

New traffic regulations in Addis Ababa

The city council has introduced tough new road rules in a bid to improve road safety in the city, the English-language business weekly Capital Ethiopia reports. The use of seatbelts is now obligatory and driving while using a mobile phone...

Women’s bank for Ethiopia

Enat, meaning “mother” in Amharic, is the name of the first bank specifically targeting women in Ethiopia. The operation is the brainchild of Meaza Ashenafi, the founder and former director of the Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association, who has championed women’s rights...