The medieval Kedus (Holy or St.) Raguel and Kedus Elias Rock Hewn Bete Christian (Christian House or Church) remains under the radar in Addis Abeba, so much so that three front desk employees at the National Tour Operation office just off Meskel Square did not know about it, and half a dozen employees at the headquarters of the Tourism and Culture Commission debated about its existence for 10 minutes before concluding that the only rock hewn church in Addis Abeba was the mostly collapsed Washa Mikael Bete Christian.

Not only is the Kedus Raguel and Kedus Elias Bete Christian intact, it still has an ark of sorts that once held its tabots, replicas of the tablets of the 10 Commandments, which have been moved to the adjacent towering church, of the same name, built by Emperor Menilik II.

Emperor Menilik II’s church, was the first modern church built in Addis Abeba, and, as such, is a historical site in its own right. Having the same name as the rock hewn church, it helps to keep the latter’s existence hidden. If one asks about the Kedus Raguel and Kedus Elias Bete Christian near Entoto, they may only hear about the one built by Emperor Menilik II, and if they go there, they may not think to look for the rock hewn church, which is only a stone’s throw away.

Emperor Menilik II’s Kedus Raguel and Kedus Elias Bete Christian is much easier to find, as it dominates the ridge with its white arched architecture, similar to his Entoto Palace (except that it is octagonal) and stands at least 25 metres high.

MultiChoice Ethiopia and its parent company MultiChoice Africa celebrated the addition of 25 new channels, after the recent launch of a W7 Ku-Band Satellite. Now DStv subscribers in Ethiopia can get access to the 25 new channels in different packages at different prices.

The four introduced packages, also known as bouquets, which together could have 25 to 70 channels, are Access, Family, Compact, and Premium, and are available for 10, 20, 25, and 70 dollars a month, respectively. HILINA ALEMU, FORTUNE STAFF WRITER, had a brief discussion about the new features with Gelila Gebre-Michael, general manager of MultiChoice Ethiopia.

Four bidders have offered tenders for the acquisition of the 47-year old Ethiopia Hotel with a wide margin of nearly 40 million Br between the largest and smallest offers.

The hotel was one of 12 enterprises put up for sale by the Privatisation and Public Enterprises Supervising Agency (PPESA) including Erer Gota Farm, Nefas Silk Paint Factory, Addis Abeba Bottle & Glass SC, Addis Abeba Foam and Plastic Factory, Brick Products Processing SC, Agricultural Equipment and Technical Services SC, Kality Food SC, Dire Dawa Food Complex, Hammaressa Edible Oil SC and Commercial Printing Press.

Fifteen bid documents were sold for the hotel when PPESA announced the sale. But only four were found to have offered their tenders at the official opening day on February 15, 2010, at the enterprise’s office on Africa Avenue (Bole Road). Bazeto Industries and Trading Plc made the highest offer at 91 million Br. Asrat Gelete’s 52 million Br was the least. The other bidders were Belayneh Kinde and Haileyesus Teferi.

Addis Ababa, February 22, 2010 (Addis Ababa) - Prime Minister, Meles Zenawi said the Ethiopian government attaches due attention to the development of science and technology as part of on-going efforts geared toward extricating the country out of poverty.
Meles said the incumbent Ethiopian government re-established the then Science and Technology Commission of the country at a ministry level in a bid to boost the development of the sector in the years to come.

The premier made the statement here on Monday while receiving and holding talks with United Nations Education, Science, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Director General Irina Bokova at the Office of the Prime Minister.

Meles said the government strongly believes that science and technology plays key role in reducing poverty and bringing about rapid and sustainable economic development throughout the nation.

Meles reiterated to Bokova that Ethiopia has registered remarkable achievements in the expanding primary education service coverage across the nation over the last few years.

Mogadishu has urged Ethiopia to release several Somali nationals, who officials say have been in Ethiopian police custody after fleeing violence in the strife-torn country.

Somali authorities said Monday that two lawmakers and several military officials have been in Ethiopian police custody for two weeks.

They have told Press TV that the detainees were on a government mission near the border and were forced to enter Ethiopia after their convoy came under attack by armed Somali fighters.

Somalia's internationally-backed government, which assumed office in 2009 with the hopes of bringing some semblance of stability to the lawless Horn of Africa nation, has been under attack by Somali fighters from the start.

The Export and Import Bank of China (EXIM) has shown keen interest to finance a substantial portion of ESL’s (Ethiopian Shipping Lines S.C) loan demands for the procurement of nine new ships with an aggregate carrying capacity of 350,000 tonnes. EXIM could provide up to 80 per cent of ESL’s construction costs; about 240 million dollars. The deal reveals the Ethiopian government’s shift from its traditional creditors.

ESL has already signed a memorandum of understanding with a Chinese-based manufacturing company for the construction of seven container and bulk cargo vessels with a capacity of 28,000 tonnes each and two fuel carrying vessels with a capacity if 41,500 tonnes each.

However, the definitive agreement remains unsigned due to credit arrangement, Ambachew Abreha, managing director of ESL said, while discussing his company’s half fiscal year performance on Monday February 15, 2010.

Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) has been hired to manage the recently constructed Bumbuna Hydroelectric Project (BHP) in Sierra Leone by the west African country’s National Power Authority (NPA). The project was undertaken by Italian-based firm, Salini Costruttori.
A tender launched by NPA, in July 2009, to attract foreign power companies to operate and maintain installations in accordance with internationally recognised standards was won by EEPCo, which sees itself working abroad for the first time in its half-century-plus-experience in the management of hydroelectric power dams in Ethiopia.

EEPCo has already deployed 15 engineers to Sierra Leone to manage and maintain Bumbuna. The state run Ethiopian company had originally planned to send over 40 staff to the site, including drivers and managers. A decision by the management, however, saw a reduction of their expatriate staff. Meanwhile, Mehiret Dibebe, CEO of EEPCo, has confirmed that the corporation has already begun operations in Sierra Leone.

Birmingham, UK – The injured Kenenisa Bekele may not have made it to Birmingham for the Aviva Grand Prix this afternoon, but the National Indoor Arena still witnessed distance running of the highest order from some world class Ethiopians alongside two top notch field events and a pair of scintillating sprint hurdles races.

When Bekele pulled out of the men’s 3000m with a tight calf on Friday the organisers of the penultimate IAAF Indoor Permit meeting of 2010 simply substituted the women’s two miles as the meeting’s climax and up stepped another Ethiopian to live up to top billing.

Dibaba turns back Cheruiyot in fast two-miler

The target for Tirunesh Dibaba was Meseret Defar’s world best of 9:06.26. That proved beyond her reach but the Olympic champion produced a stunning second mile to get within six seconds of her compatriot’s historic mark.

Dibaba clocked 9:12.23, the second quickest of all time, followed closely by Vivien Cheruiyot in 9:12.35 and Sentayehu Ejigu another 0.33s behind. Dibaba’s time was the fastest ever seen in the UK, while in fourth Jessica Augusto ran 9:19.39, a European indoor best and a Portuguese record. Lidia Chojecka in fifth broke the Polish record with 9:31.68, as eight of the 10 finishers set personal bests.

CAIRO (Reuters) - Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital's food unit is in advanced talks to buy an Ethiopian food firm in its bid to boost self-sufficiency in raw materials, the unit's chief executive told Reuters.

Gozour's Mohamed El Rashidi did not name the Ethiopian company, but said talks could be concluded in four months.

"It is a perfect fit for us," he said late on Sunday, referring to the Ethiopan market. "There are 80.7 million people in Ethiopia, with a heavy consuming base and 60 percent of the country's GDP (gross domestic product) is from food."

The move would follow the acquisition in November of a majority stake in a Sudanese biscuit and sweet maker by Gozour, the consumer foods business of Citadel, which manages $8.3 billion in investments.

"This company (in Ethiopia) operates in a market that hosts one of our main raw materials," Rashidi said.

Ethiopia, Nigeria draw in same Africa Nations Cup group

The Waliyas, Ethiopia National football Team, were drawn in the same group as football powerhouse Nigeria for 2012 African Cup of Nations on Saturday. Guinea, another strong contender, and Madagascar complete Group 2.

Nigeria which is ranked the 15th best football team in the world by FIFA will certainly be a very tough opponent for Ethiopia which has not qualified for Africa Cup of Nations since 1982. FIFA ranks Ethiopia as 121 in the world and Guinea ranks 90.

The Confederation of African Football released the draw in the southern DR Congo mining city of Lubumbashi, where the annual African Super Cup match will be staged on Sunday between local club TP Mazembe and Stade Malien of Mali.

February 21, 2010 (ADDIS ABABA) - Court in Ethiopia tried two men under country’s new anti-terrorism law on accusation of a plot to carry out terrorist attacks against government officials.

The Federal court of Ethiopia passed 18 and 21 years prison terms to the defendants who admit their guilt.

The plotters were accused of preparing to assassinate top government officials, destroy public facilities and major infrastructures of the Country.

Earlier in January, Ethiopian security forces said that they have foiled Eritrea backed terrorist attack and arrested a number of people belonging to a terrorist group.

At a meeting in Cairo with representatives of Nile Basin countries on Sunday, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Allam announced that Egypt had agreed to build several small dams in Ethiopia with the aim of generating electricity.

The Minister was quick to point out that the dams--to be built within the framework of a cooperation initiative with Nile Basin countries--would not affect Egypt's and Sudan's historical water rights.

Allam also declared that Egypt was in the process of helping Uganda remove flotsam in the Victoria Falls region of the Nile that had served to obstruct navigation and transport on the river.

The minister added that irrigation ministers from all Nile Basin states would soon meet in the Sinai resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh for a third round of talks over water-sharing issues.

"We will announce an exact date for the meeting once we agree on it," he said, explaining that Egypt was also cooperating with Nile Basin countries in a number of non-water-related fields, including industry, agriculture, trade and tourism.