Upgrading Airports for Investment

By Wudineh Zenebe - Fortune staff writer

06 September 2006

The Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority has planned to equip the Bahr Dar, Mekelle and Dire Dawa airports with all the facilities of an international airport, including light systems for the runways and other traffic control systems and efficient manpower to run a 24 hours service. These changes are to be made in the current fiscal year. The Authority has reserved a budget of 250 million Br for the airports and other 20 projects it envisaged to do this year.

The Siemens company supplied and installed various communications, navigation and facilitation equipments. It is not the first time Siemens has been awarded such projects. It also undertook one of the three packages of the 1.3 billion Br expansion project of the Bole International Airport. Siemens installed the runway and apron lights of the Bole airport.

Siemens procured the lighting system from its Belgian subsidiary, ADB. ADB is central to the Siemens Airfield Solutions group and operates internationally with 200 employees. The company, founded in 1920 as a family business until its acquisition by the Siemens Group in 1987, has an annual turnover of 40 Million Euro. The company operates in 195 countries and has worked is some of the biggest airports in the world such as Berlin-Tegel Airport, Macao International Airport, Airport Rinas-Tirana, Oslo Airport Gardermoen, Shanghai Pudong Airport, Frankfurt Airport and Dubai International Airport.

“The work to upgrade these airports is being done because the area is growing in terms of business and investment” Tassew Tekle, Public Relations head of the Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority told Fortune.

Accordingly, the two consulting firms hired by the Amhara Regional state; DSA and Shawel consulting firms prepared the Amhara regions’ investment alternatives, project ideas, profile and preparation of 20 different feasibility studies.

One of the studies done by these firms was for the floriculture industry and all studies have been submitted to the regional investment Agency.

According to the expert who is part of the study team, “the area which they identified around Debre Markos will make an ideal place for flower farming in terms of quality of soil, water and the elevation which makes it a very attractive place for flower farming.”

The final draft for the studies is handled by the Agency.

“They will start to invite investors who are interested in the floriculture industry as soon as the regional state’s council approves the study in the coming two months”, said Ato Habtamu Tsegaye, General Manager of the Agency.

The Mekelle airport has all the facilities needed but still does not have scheduled international flights.

“With the floriculture investment potential so high in a 200sqm radius it will only be a matter of time before the airport welcomes international flights,” according to a senior official of the Region.

The other major focus is on the Dire Dawa airport as the city is the country’s eastern business hub, with a huge potential for the exportation of fruits, khat, livestock and a burgeoning tourism industry.