Thursday, May 2, 2013

Ethiopia, Eritrea look to put past behind

Posted date: May 01, 2013 
ADDIS ABABA: Ethiopian government officials this week reaffirmed their commitment to have peace discussions with longtime foe and neighbor Eritrea with the aim of ending decades of tension along the border that has seen war and strife.
During his meeting with the United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon in New York, the Ethiopian Minister of foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom accused the Eritrean government of refusing to engage in peace talks.
Adhanom said his country is ready to sit down for direct negotiations with Eritrea without any preconditions regarding to level, time or venue.
But the Ethiopian top diplomat stressed “the belligerent party opposed to these talks has always been the Eritrean side”.
According to the ministry of foreign Affairs, Tedros expressed solidarity with the people of Eritrea whom he said are continuously suffering due the regime’s “brutality and obstinacy to peace”.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war in 1998-2000 that has killed an estimated 70,000 people.
The two East African adversaries remain at loggerheads since the disputed key town of Badme had been awarded to Eritrea by an international border commission.
Government officials here in the Ethiopia capital told Bikyanews.com that they are “confident” that the situation will finally be resolved.
One foreign ministry spokesperson, who was not authorized to speak with the media, said that they hoped “the ongoing discussions between government officials would lead to a finality of the situation and help to build and mend the broken ties between the two countries.”
It is still unclear where the people fall in the ongoing negotiations, with many telling Bikyanews.com that they believe the time is now to end the tension along the border and start to build new economic relations.http://bikyanews.com/87898/ethiopia-eritrea-look-to-put-past-behind/

Ethiopia: State Minister Meets With UK Foreign Office Director General for Political

State Minister, Ambassador Berhane today (May 1) met and held discussions with UK Foreign Office Director General for Political, Simon Gass. The discussions covered pressing issues including recent developments in Somalia, the Sudans and preparations for the upcoming London Conference on Somalia.
On Somalia, Ambassador Berhane underlined that although significant and encouraging progress had been made, the international community had to push on in an effort to consolidate these hard-fought gains. Ambassador Gass emphasized the importance of making sure the world's focus remained on Somalia during these crucial moments and highlighted the London Conference as a golden opportunity to re-focus the agenda and garner greater support for Somalia.
Ambassador Gass also notified the State Minister of the UK's decision to extend an invitation to President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya so as to facilitate his attendance at the London Conference. Ambassador Gass thanked Ethiopia for their encouragement in inviting the newly elected President of Kenya, with the country being an important player in Somalia's current situation.
On the Sudans, Ambassadors Berhane and Gass discussed how best to continue to support the peace process, namely the implementation of the agreements signed last September in Addis. Ambassador Gass expressed his thanks to Ethiopia for all that the country had done in support of the mediation between the two countries. The meeting concluded with a discussion on the bilateral relations between the two countries, namely the impressive success of DFiD funded development programmes in the country.http://allafrica.com/stories/201305020019.html

Ethiopia Courts BRICS for Rail Projects to Spur Economic Growth

By William Davison

Ethiopia is negotiating with Brazil, Russia and India to finance and build rail links after agreeing terms last year with Chinese and Turkish companies for other routes, the head of the state rail company said.
Russia’s government may fund a 587-kilometer (365-mile) southern line that will eventually connect with a proposed port at Lamu on Kenya’s northeastern coast, Ethiopian Railways Corp. General Manager Getachew Betru said in an April 26 interview. Brazilian companies could build a 439-kilometer section of a route to oil-rich South Sudan and India is considering export financing for a line to a port in Djibouti, he said.
“They want to come and invest in Ethiopia and get their return,” Getachew said in the capital, Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous nation, is building 4,744 kilometers of electrified railway lines at a cost of 110.8 billion birr ($5.9 billion) as it seeks to reduce road-transport costs constraining the continent’s fastest growing non-oil producing economy over the past decade. Growth may slow to 6.5 percent this year and next, compared with average growth of 8.7 percent over the past five years, according to International Monetary Fund data.
Ethiopian Railways plans to lay more than 2,000 kilometers of standard-gauge track during a five-year national growth plan that runs until mid-2015. China Civil Engineering Construction Corp. and China Railway Group Ltd. (390) are working on sections costing more than $1 billion each along Ethiopia’s main 656- kilometer trade route from Addis Ababa to Djibouti.

Manufacturing Zone

Huajian Group, a Chinese shoemaker, said last year it plans to invest $2 billion over a decade building a new manufacturing zone on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The China-Africa Development Fund has invested in Ethiopia Hansom International Glass factory and China-Africa Overseas Leather Products, a $27- million tannery, near the capital.
“Ethiopia is land-locked and Chinese factories near Addis say that transport from Djibouti is one of their biggest headaches,” said Deborah Brautigam, director of the international development program at Johns Hopkins University’s School of Advanced International Studies in Baltimore, Maryland.
Freight costs can be as much as three times cheaper by rail than road along the Djibouti route, Getachew said. The link may carry goods worth $1.3 billion a year and “break even” after 5 years of operation, he said.
China Communications Construction Co. (1800) and China Railway 18th Bureau Group International Co. are working on other connections in the northeast of the country that has deposits of the fertilizer potash, he said.

Middle Income

Ethiopia operates a state-led economy and is prioritizing investment in infrastructure as it seeks to transform one of the world’s least developed countries into a middle-income nation by 2025. The decision to use electric trains is because Ethiopia, which has the continent’s second-biggest hydropower potential, generates cheap electricity and spends all of its estimated $3 billion annual export earnings on importing fuel, Getachew said.
“If we are investing in renewable energy it’s possible to use this for other bottlenecks in development like the transport sector,” he said.
Brazil, China, Russia and India are part of the emerging BRICS group of nations, which have combined foreign-currency reserves of $4.4 trillion. Ethiopia has been able to attract investment from those countries because of the “political will” of former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi and his successor, Hailemariam Desalegn, according to Getachew.

Meles’s Vision

“The BRICS see in Ethiopia a government that continues to move forward with a vision for its development, despite the death of Meles, widely regarded as the chief architect of this vision,” Brautigam said in an April 29 e-mailed response to questions. Meles died in August after 21 years in power.
Last year, Yapi Merkezi Insaat VE Sanayi AS, the Turkish construction company, signed a $1.7 billion deal to build a railway from the town of Awash, which is on the Djibouti route, to Hara Gebeya. A $600-million steel mill at Kombolcha town being built by Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi’s company lies along the route.
Ethiopia will borrow from Turk Eximbank for the project that will take 42 months, said Yapi’s General Manager Murat Hasim Koksal. Under export-import bank terms, contractors have to come from the creditor nation and a large proportion of material has to be sourced there.
Foreign investors are granted contracts on condition that 60 percent of the funding is provided by their countries “policy banks” in foreign exchange, Getachew said. Under Chinese and Indian export-import bank terms, contractors have to come from the creditor nation and at least half of the project’s inputs should be sourced there, according to their websites.
Major obstacles have been obtaining land concessions for tracks, designing routes through mountainous terrain, and the lack of qualified local professionals, Getachew said.
To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa at wdavison3@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Antony Sguazzin at asguazzin@bloomberg.net http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-05-01/ethiopia-courts-brics-for-rail-projects-to-spur-economic-growth

Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Ethiopia to introduce death penalty for gays soon, say religious groups

Evangelical groups are spreading anti-gay hate in Ethiopia causing a climate of moral panic and forcing the LGBT community to flee the country

Ethiopia affirms readiness for dialogue with Eritrea

By Tesfa-Alem Tekle
April 30 2013 (ADDIS ABABA) - The Ethiopian government on Monday has reiterated its readiness to hold peace talks with Eritrea to resolve their decades-long border dispute.
JPEG - 33 kb
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon (right) meets with Ethiopian foreign minister Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at UN headquarters in New York April 25, 2013 (UN Photo)
During his meeting with the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York, the Ethiopian Minister of foreign Affairs Tedros Adhanom accused the Eritrean government of refusing to engage in peace talks.
Adhanom said his country is ready to sit down for direct negotiations with Eritrea without any preconditions regarding to level, time or venue.
But the Ethiopian top diplomat stressed “the belligerent party opposed to these talks has always been the Eritrean side”.
According to the ministry of foreign Affairs, Tedros expressed solidarity with the people of Eritrea whom he said are continuously suffering due the regime’s “brutality and obstinacy to peace”.
Ethiopia and Eritrea fought a border war in 1998-2000 that has killed an estimated 70,000 people.
The two East African adversaries remain at loggerheads since the disputed key town of Badme had been awarded to Eritrea by an international border commission.
Ethiopia’s current leader Hailemariam Desalegn, who assumed power shortly after longtime ruler Meles Zenawi died in August said last year that he was willing to hold face-to-face talks with Eritrean president Isaias Afwerki, even if he had to travel to the Asmara.
However, the Eritrean government has yet to respond to the offer.
Asmara has in the past said that Ethiopia should first withdraw its troops from the flashpoint border town of Badme before resuming to peace talks.

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Will Egypt Escape the 19th Century Mindset and Meet Ethiopia Halfway?


By Bayelegn Yergu
“The Egyptians have yet to make up their minds as to whether they want to live in the 21st or the 19th century.” (Meles Zenawi – Nov. 2010)
Everyone who followed the Nile river politics knows that Egypt’s Nile policy during the former President Hosini Mubarak was primarily based on military chauvinism and proxy war by assisting anti-peace elements.
The boastful claims of some Egyptian officials in the past that they will consider any use of Nile water as an act of war were obviously a psychological war if not a day dream. On the other-hand, the proxy war tactic appears to have worked for them in the past when Ethiopia’s government was weaker and politically divided. But there is an expiry date to such tactics.
Meles indicated that the two methods are unsustainable in an interview with Reuters on November 2010. Meles said:
“I am not worried that the Egyptians will suddenly invade Ethiopia. Nobody who has tried that has lived to tell the story. I don’t think the Egyptians will be any different and I think they know that.”
“If we address the issues around which the rebel groups are mobilised then we can neutralise them and therefore make it impossible for the Egyptians to fish in troubled waters because there won’t be any.”
Ethiopia’s aim, however, is not to deny Egypt the use of the Nile rivers, Meles quickly added. In fact, he hoped Egypt will take note of current reality and will be convinced that “as direct conflict will not work, and as the indirect approach is not as effective as it used to be, the only sane option [is] civil dialogue.”
When Meles urged the need for “civil dialogue”, he was not saying it for media consumption. Ethiopia’s commitment for “civil dialogue” is evidenced in the 10 years long consultations of Nile basin countries.
Ethiopian water officials and experts indefatigably took part in all studies, discussions and other necessary bilateral and multilateral talks with all Nile basin countries in a process that eventually delivered the Nile basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA).
However, when the time came to wrap-up the discussions with a legally binding agreement – the CFA, which would also serve as a ground future cooperation, the Egyptians were found to be unwilling making up all kinds of excuses.
Therefore, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania went on to sign the the Cooperative Framework Agreement on May 2010 and gave other countries one year to do the same. Kenya and Burundi followed in the subsequent months.
The question at the time among Ethiopians and other Nile basin countries is summed up in Meles’ remark to Reuters:
“The Egyptians have yet to make up their minds as to whether they want to live in the 21st or the 19th century.”
The Hosini Mubarak era Nile policy of Egypt was stuck on the 19th century.
That is true not only by its preoccupation to handle relations through proxy-war. But also by its insistence on colonial era treaties and its wish to have exclusive rights on the Nile waters, denying about 200 million people living upstream their right to share this gift of nature.
Making Egypt the sole beneficiary of the Nile waters might have sounded a workable arrangement in the 19th century for the British colonials who were ruling most of the Nile basin countries.
The colonials had no concern about fairness. All they worried about was maintaining and expanding their cotton farms in Egypt, which they hoped to control through puppet governments indefinitely. (Of course, they did so until Pres. Gemal Nasir took power by coup in the 1950s).
The British colonialists did not care that they are sowing seeds of conflict in the Nile basin. May be they thought all the Nile basin countries will remain under their colony or perhaps they thought the upper-riparian countries have plenty water and fertile soil to need Nile waters.
But that logic doesn’t work anymore for several reasons. Even the westerners, including the British, have been advising for a cooperative use of the Nile waters. They funded the establishment and works of the regional forum “Nile Basin Initiative” which facilitated the preparation of the Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA).
To the contrary, when both western and Nile basin countries applauded for the CFA ; Egypt’s Nile policy was stuck in the outdated approach of the 19th century, citing colonial-era treaties that have little or no relevance to present day realities.
Sadly, those treaties are nothing but sugar-coating of the 19th century mind-set that prevailed during Mubarak era and still present among some Egyptian officials. A brief look into the colonial-era treaties would be useful to appreciate the outdated mindset and the need for a new arrangement.
Egypt claims a legal right on the Nile waters based on the 1929 and 1955 agreements.
The 1929 agreement, which is of uncertain legal status, was made in the form of Exchange of Notes between the UK ambassador in Cairo and Egypt’s Prime Minister from 1925-1929. It is referred to as ‘Exchange of Notes Regarding the Use of Waters of the Nile for Irrigation Purposes, May 7, 1929, Egypt-Uk’, and it gives almost exclusive rights to Egypt.
Sudan contested the 1929 agreement when it attained its independence from UK, but later, in the 1955, signed an accord with Egypt that allocates 55.5 billion cubic meters of the Nile to Egypt and 18.5 billion to Sudan. Notice that the average annual discharge of the Nile river, measured at Aswan dam, Cairo, is 84 billion cubic meter.
The other former colonies colonies of U.K. – Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda declared the 1929 Nile Agreement non-binding following their independence from UK.
The rest upstream countries can not be linked to the 1929 agreement, as they were not part of British colony at the time of the agreement. Burundi, Rwanda and Congo were under Belgium mandate, while Ethiopia has never been colonized.
Egypt also raises the 1902 Treaty between Ethiopia and UK, on behalf of Sudan, signed by UK’s envoy, John Harrington, and Emperor Menelik in Addis Ababa on May 15/1902. Though the Treaty was on Ethio-Sudan border, its mentions the use of Nile River. Article III of the Treaty appears to preclude any use of the river in its english version, while the corresponding phrase in the Amharic language version refers to works that halt the flow of the water. The validity of the Treaty is also uder question since the Treaty has never been ratified by the British parliament and the Ethiopian Royal Court. Moreover, Emperor Haileselasie repudiated the Treaty altogether in 1942 on account of British recognition of Fascist Italy’s invasion of Ethiopia.
The Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement(CFA), On the other hand, is an outcome of inclusive, rational and professional consultations.
The Nile basin courtiers, except Eritrea and South Sudan, founded the Nile Basin Commission, later Nile Basin Initiative (NBI), in 1999, with funds from World Bank, aiming ‘to establish a diplomatic protocol for evaluating the fair use of the river for agricultural and energy projects’.
The Commission paved the way for the drafting the ‘Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement(CFA)’ for the equitable sharing of the Nile waters.
As one water expert eloquently elucidated: “Anchored in a Shared Vision ‘to achieve sustainable socio-economic development through the equitable utilization of, and benefits from, the common Nile Basin water resources’, the NBI has provided a convenient forum for the negotiation of a Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA) to set up a permanent, inclusive legal and institutional framework. Negotiation of the CFA has, however, faced a serious impasse as a result of the introduction of the concept of ‘water security’. The introduction of this non-legal, indeterminate, and potentially disruptive concept is, indeed, a regrettable detour to a virtual blind-alley. The justifications for this fateful decision are totally unfounded and specious. The decision rather makes sense as an unwarranted move pushing into further obscurity the already intractable Nile waters question, at best, and a logical cul-de-sac in the decade-long negotiations which have arguably fallen prey to the hegemonic compliance-producing mechanism of ‘securitization’ sneaked in under the veil of ‘water security’, at worst. Resolution of the Nile waters question should thus first be extricated from the morass of ‘water security’ and then be sought nowhere but within the framework of international water law.”
Despite the resistance from Egypt (and the confused Sudan), the CFA was signed by six countries from May 2010 upto February 2011 (Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, Kenya and Burundi). Though Congo didn’t sign yet, it has  expressed its willingness.
Though the CFA gives one year time – until may 2011 – for Nile basin countries to sign, 6 of the 9 countries had signed the CFA by May 2011 (which is the minimum number of signatories needed for the ratification process can start).
However, there was no indication that Egypt and Sudan would sign by the time-frame. Even if they sign, the CFA doesn’t give a water quota rather provides an arrangement for cooperative utilization of the river. Therefore, both the process of persuading them to sign and working-together after the signing will be a time-taking process as long as a 19th Century mind-set persists.
As Meles noted in early 2011 at a Hydro-Power Conference:
“Irrational is the position taken by some politicians in Egypt to oppose virtually every project in the Nile in upper riparian countries including hydropower projects that have no consumptive use of water and have beneficial impacts on all.”
Yet, Ethiopia’s economic transformation shan’t be hostage of an out-dated mind-set. And, Ethiopia has no legal obligation to sit and wait indefinitely praying that Egypt develops a rational policy and approach for cooperation on the use of Nile waters.
Therefore, Ethiopia decided to embark on one of the major components of its Growth and Transformation Plan. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam project.
It was known that Egypt was resisting to sign the CFA and previously impeded Ethiopia from getting external funds for previous two dams (Tekeze dam & Tana Beles dam). On the other-hand, Ethiopia has became politically stable and regionally powerful to prevent external destabilization efforts and has became economically stronger to build dams without anyone’s help and.
However, Ethiopia didn’t abandon its commitment to cooperation and principles of good neighborhood. The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance dam project was planned with such constructive and rational spirit of brotherhood.
Even when the Renaissance dam was launched on April 2, 2011, a historic day for Ethiopia, Meles’s took time to urge old-fashioned Egyptian politicians to adopt a 21st century rational mind-set. He explained:
“The benefits that will accrue from the Dam will by no means be restricted to Ethiopia. They will clearly extend to all neighboring states, and particularly to the downstream Nile basin countries, to Sudan and Egypt.
The Dam will greatly reduce the problems of silt and sediment that consistently affect dams in Egypt and Sudan. This has been a particularly acute problem at Sudan’s Fosseiries dam which has been experienced reduction in output.
When the Renaissance Dam becomes operational, communities all along the riverbanks and surrounding areas, particularly in Sudan, will be permanently relieved from centuries of flooding. These countries will have the opportunity to obtain increased power supplies at competitive prices.
The Renaissance Dam will increase the amount of water resources available, reducing the wastage from evaporation which has been a serious problem in these countries. It will in fact ensure a steady year-round flow of the Nile. This, in turn, should have the potential to amicably resolve the differences which currently exist among riparian states over the issue of equitable utilization of the resource of the Nile water.”
If Egypt could escape from 19th century mind-set and adopt a modern Nile, it will not only tolerate the dam but would have also wished to contribute for its construction. After explaining the Renaissance dam’s benefit for Egypt and Sudan, Meles noted:
“on this calculation, Sudan might offer to cover 30 per cent and Egypt 20 per cent of the costs of the entire project. Unfortunately, the necessary climate for engagement, based on equitable and constructive self-interest, does not exist at the moment. Indeed, the current disposition is to make attempts to undercut Ethiopia’s efforts to secure funding to cover the cost of the project. We have, in fact, been forced to rely on our own savings alone to cover the expense.”
Shortly after Ethiopia started the Renaissance dam, Egyptian became interested in discussion. They sent a public diplomacy group full of young people, political parties and religious representatives to ask Ethiopia give  discussion a chance. They claimed the 19th century style Nile policy is gone with Pres. Hosini Mubarak. But they need time to elect a new government that has the authority to solve issues by discussion with Ethiopia.
Ethiopia had urged Egypt for constructive dialogue so many times in the past. But, still, Ethiopia believes dialogue and cooperation is the only way for peaceful neighborhood relations. Not only for peace and development, but also for optimal use of cross-border natural resources.
Therefore, Ethiopia gave Egypt time to elect a new government and sign the CFA. Moreover, Ethiopia invited Egypt and Sudan to form a joint experts panel that will assess the impact of the dam.
Egypt did not sign the CFA yet, but it is still taking part in the experts panel which is studying the dam’s potential impact. And, relations between the two countries seem much better than it used to be. Recent news reports are about the International Panel on the Renaissance dam’s meetings, about Egypt’s invitation for Foreign Minister Tewodros, about visit by Egypt diplomacy institute to Addis, about Egyptian investors, and similar healthy matters.
However, now and then, we see signs that the 19th century mind-set.
Last September, when Meles Zenawi died, it seemed some “old styled” officials in Cairo thought that the new Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegne, his colleagues and the rest of the country will not be as  committed as Meles to continue building the dam.
Therefore they started sending alarm signals here and there.
Several unhelpful remarks were read from officials and experts, speaking anonymously and publicly, to Egyptian newspapers and others. It began in August when Meles was in Hospital.
Bikyanews reported at the time citing an unnamed Egyptian ministry of water and irrigation official that with the combination of Egypt’s new President Morsi and the potential of seeing a new leader in Ethiopia, they hoped the tension over Nile River water could be resolved. “I believe that there would be more maneuvering with a new leadership in Ethiopia because there would be the ability to communicate and not be seen as antagonistic”.
Then came the surprising remark on November, (reported on the LosAngels Times), that an adviser to the president [Morsi] quoted in Al Ahram Weekly said this of Morsi: “The man was shocked when he received a review about the state of ties we have with Nile basin countries. The previous regime should be tried for overlooking such a strategic interest.”
The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote a letter demanding clarification on the matter and its implication on the the two countries’ relation.
The Egyptian Foreign Minister immediately affirmed that there is no change in policy, the remarks on media do not represent the government’s position and that it will effort to mitigate media reporting that are unhelpful to state level cooperation and people-to-people relations.
The Egyptians seemed to have kept their words until recently.
Latest news stories and analyses suggest, however, some Egyptians are still stuck in the out-dated Mubarak-style way of doing things.
A senior official was recently heard saying that Egypt should use divide and rule by negotiating with Sudan and Ethiopia in one side and the rest of Nile basin countries on the other side. This is a failed approach that Mubarak tried to use so many times.
It was also reported that Egypt’s President Mohamed Morsi had discussion with officials from the problem-child of east Africa, Eritrea, on 15/4/2013. The government of a post-revolution Egypt would be expected to advise Eritrea’s officials to adopt constitutional democracy, to use peace-dialogue for solving their problems with Ethiopia and Djibouti and to stop meddling in Somalia’s internal affairs.
Sadly, that was not the case. The press release after President Morsi met Eritrean Presidential Advisor Yemane Gebreab and Foreign Minister Osman Saleh was about “coordinating stances toward on international issues”, though Eritrea is an outcast in the international community. It also indicated about “keenness on promoting trade with Eritrea“, as if Eritrea has a functioning economy.
The surprising part of the press release says that:
“The meeting tackled the file of Nile water along with discussing regional and international issues of mutual concern…..Morsi praised the Eritrean stance that supports the Egyptian historic rights in Nile water.”
This is what Mubarak used to do. And, it didn't stop Ethiopia from building Tana Beles dam and Tekeze dam.
On the other hand, If she is willing to engage based on equitable and constructive self-interest, Egypt has no reason to seek the support of any-other country. Ethiopia will be besides her with committed sprit of brotherhood.
This week I read from some media that an Egyptian official commented to the state-owned Al Ahram daily saying:
“Certain measures have to be followed to make sure that Ethiopia gets the water necessary for storage in the dam in line with Egypt’s consent and needs,”.
This is a disappointing remark. But I think we should not rush to conclusion. Egypt is still in the course of change. There is plenty chance it might manage to escape from Mubarak-era rhetoric that we have been seeing lately.
In the mean time, Ethiopia’s olive branch should remain extended for a constructive cooperation in all areas of Nile basin issues. Of course, that is without stopping the Renaisance dam even for a single minute.
The question now is: Will Egypt ever be able Nile to escape the 19th Century mind-set and meet Ethiopia half-way? http://www.meleszenawi.com/will-egypt-escape-the-19th-century-mindset-and-meet-ethiopia-halfway/

When will United, others resume Dreamliner flights?


Ethiopian Airlines on Saturday became the first airline to fly paying passengers on the Boeing 787 Dreamliner since the aircraft was grounded by safety regulators in January.
Ethiopian's flight follows a Federal Aviation Administration order from this past Thursday (April 25) that permitted airlines to fly the Dreamliner again as soon as they replace its problematic lithium-ion batteries with an updated battery system. Japan followed suit with a similar move a day later. Most regulators elsewhere followed the lead of their U.S. and Japanese counterparts.
Now industry observers will turn their watch to the other seven airlines that have the 787 in their fleets. http://www.usatoday.com/story/todayinthesky/2013/04/29/when-will-united-others-will-resume-dreamliner-flights/2121841/