The award was presented on April 17 during a gala dinner at the MGM National Harbor Hotel and Casino. The chamber said the recognition celebrates “visionary leadership, business excellence and community impact” across the Ethiopian diaspora, citing Solomon’s role in advancing aviation services and training in Ethiopia.

Founded in 2018 by Ethiopian-American business owners, the chamber is a nonprofit that promotes the interests of its members and fosters a networked business community.

“I am very excited to receive the award. I am stunned,” Solomon said, attributing the recognition to his team. “The credit goes to all the staff of Abyssinian Flight Service.”

Established in 1999, Abyssinian Flight Service provides charter aviation services and launched Ethiopia’s first private pilot training school in 2007. The company currently operates a fleet of 12 aircraft, including nine training planes, and has graduated 255 pilots from multiple countries. Some alumni now serve as captains on large commercial aircraft, including with Ethiopian Airlines.

The firm’s operations span tourism, humanitarian missions and mining logistics. It has also supported major infrastructure projects such as the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam and provides air ambulance services.

Solomon said the aviation and tourism sectors are gradually recovering from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, which significantly disrupted operations. “We could have been in a much better position had it not been for the painful impacts of the pandemic,” he said.

Despite these challenges, the company has continued to expand its footprint in Ethiopia’s general aviation sector, receiving multiple recognitions this year. It was recently acknowledged by Ethiopian Electric Power for its long-standing air support to the GERD project.

Abyssinian Flight Service has also been involved in emergency response efforts. It participated in search-and-rescue operations following the Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crash. In November 2025, during an outbreak of Marburg virus disease in southern Ethiopia, the company sponsored a relief flight to Jinka, transporting medical personnel and supplies for the Ethiopian Public Health Institute after transport links were suspended.

The company has also received recognition from government institutions, including a certificate of appreciation from the Ministry of Revenue for tax compliance.

Looking ahead, Solomon expressed optimism about the sector’s growth potential, citing rising demand from tourism, mining and large-scale infrastructure projects. “Ethiopia is a growing economy. There is significant untapped demand for charter aviation services,” he said.

“As a private operator, we have encountered various challenges. Nevertheless, we remain committed to our nation. By overcoming these obstacles, we continue to serve our customers and foster mutual growth,” he stated.

He also pointed to opportunities in aviation training, noting strong global demand for skilled professionals. “Ethiopia can train and supply hundreds of pilots and aircraft maintenance technicians annually,” Solomon said, adding that stronger government support and public-private partnerships are needed to fully realize the sector’s potential.

Kaleyesus Bekele is a prominent aviation journalist

With a humble beginning in the 1950s with a few instructors, the aviation training center expanded and grew steadily over the consecutive decades. When Ethiopian Airlines transformed into an aviation group and unveiled the ambitious Vision 2025 growth strategy, the airline made a whopping investment of more than USD 100 million in the aviation training center to elevate it into a full-fledged aviation academy.

The fast-growing national airline’s demand for aviation professionals increased drastically. To meet the growing requirement, the airline invested heavily in acquiring dozens of trainer aircraft, flight simulators, and cabin crew training mock aircraft. It also built facilities such as classrooms, dormitories, a dining hall, an auditorium, and a library. Five modern buildings, comprising various facilities, were built. The aviation academy became one of the eight profit centers of Aviation Group.

“Human resource development was one of the five pillars of our Vision 2025 growth strategy,” Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Mesfin Tasew said. “In ET, human resources have always been our priority agenda, even when we were a small airline,” Mesfin added.

To cope with the rapid growth of the airline and to meet its future development goals, the aviation academy must grow proportionally. Accordingly, the aviation academy was transformed into a full-fledged aviation university in 2023.

The Ethiopian Aviation University has a Pilot Training School, Aircraft Maintenance Technicians School, Cabin Crew Training School, Commercial and Ground Services Training School, Leadership and Career Development Training School, School of Aerospace Engineering, and School of Travel, Tourism, and Hospitality. It has an annual intake capacity of 4,000 students. The university offers short-term and recurrent training for Ethiopian staff and self-sponsored students.

According to Kassie Yimam, Vice President of Trainings and Acting President of the Ethiopian Aviation University, and approved by the Ethiopian Education Training Authority, the university offers a BSc degree in Aeronautical Engineering, a BSc degree in Aircraft Maintenance Engineering, a BSc degree in Aviation Management, a BA degree in Tourism and Hospitality Management, and an MBA in Aviation Management.

“Aircraft manufacturing and aircraft systems have moved toward modern technologies like computer digitization, the Internet of Things, AI, and machine learning. These new developments in aircraft technology require a higher level of knowledge and skills. Therefore, the Ethiopian Aviation Academy has transformed into an aviation university that offers undergraduate and postgraduate degree programs,” Kassie said. “We are nurturing young aviation professionals with the required knowledge, competency, and attitude,” he added.

Ethiopian Airlines has established an aerospace manufacturing plant that manufactures wire harnesses and insulation blankets and supplies the products to Boeing. The airline is in the process of expanding this small manufacturing plant into a full-fledged aerospace manufacturing industry.

“We plan to begin designing and manufacturing aircraft parts and components. That is why we have established the School of Aerospace Engineering,” Kassie said.

According to Kassie, the aviation university collaborates with OEMs, mainly with Boeing and Airbus, in human resource development.  “We have a very strong partnership with Boeing in the areas of human resource and infrastructure development. In collaboration with Boeing, we designed a master’s program in data science. We collaborate on data analytics and research. We also collaborate in developing infrastructure, facilities, and simulation,” he said.

Airbus is also assisting Ethiopian Airlines with human resource development programs. “We recently started collaborating with Airbus in capacity building, infrastructure, technology, and materials development.”

Kassie revealed that the secret behind the success of Ethiopian Airlines lies in its human resource strategy.

“We do not want to grow alone. We want to grow together with our African brothers and sisters. We always train students from other African countries. We are building all this infrastructure not only for Ethiopian but also for all other African airlines. Our partner airlines share the infrastructure with us. Building such expensive infrastructure in every African country could be a daunting task. Instead, we can share what we already have,” he said.

Currently, the Aviation University has 2,000 students, and 200 of them are from different African countries. Kassie said the university has signed partnership agreements with several African countries to train a large number of students. “Our doors are open to all African countries,” he concluded.

Kaleyesus Bekele is a seasoned expert in the aviation industry. He currently resides in the US.

Built on 50,000 sq.m of land, the factory uses scrap metals to produce reinforced bars and wire rods, which in turn are used to make nails. Founder and CEO of Tadash Steel Manufacturing Industry, Kibiryessefa Tekle, told The Reporter that considering the challenges in the local steel market and construction industry he decided to team up with his three friends to build a modern steel factory plant in Dukem, a town located in the outskirts of Addis Ababa. Construction commenced in 2016 and currently 98 percent of the work is completed.

Kibiryessefa said the machineries were purchased from Europe, Dubai and India and have been installed. The cranes were purchased from Austria, steel structure from Dubai and the foundries from a well-known Indian company. The steel plant that manufactures steel and wire rods has four foundries. The steel plant has the capacity to manufactures 600 tons of steel per day, one of the biggest in the current Ethiopian market. Kibiryessefa also said that during the construction phase, some 400 youth were employed by the project adding that 800 jobs will be created once the factory is up and running.

Kibiryessefa said the machineries installation work is completed. However, the Indian company that supplied the machineries is unable to commission the steel plant as its experts could not travel out of India due to the COVID-19 travel ban. “Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the experts could not leave India. Once Ethiopian Airlines resumes flights to India the experts would come and commission the plant,” he said. “We hope that the factory will start operation within three months.”

Kibiryessefa lauded the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) and Oromiya International Bank (OIB). CBE provided loans for the project while OIB provided foreign currency for the purchase of machineries.

The factory has also built a three-storey building on 1000 sq. m of land that serves as office and guest house. The steel factory needs 20 MW of energy. Tadash Steel Manufacturing Plc has spent 40 million birr to build 11 km power transmission lines that brings power from a substation near Bishoftu town.

Kibiryessefa, who spent more than 20 years in scrap metals trade, said that he decided to venture into the steel manufacturing plant after he witnessed all the challenges in the local steel and construction industries. “There is always shortage of steel in the local market. Steel is an expensive strategic commodity that is critical in the local construction industry. The country spends millions of dollars on steel import,” Kibiryessefa said.

According to him, he and his friends faced a number of challenges in building the steel manufacturing plant. “Securing bank loan is the biggest challenge. When you import steel the banks would provide you with loans. But, when you decide to build a steel factory the banks are reluctant to finance such an important industry. If I wanted to make money I would have imported and sell steel. But, I wanted to make this establishment that adds value and contribute to the development of the country and that gives me mental satisfaction,” he said.    

Kibiryessafa claims that foreign companies get preferential treatment adding that the system does not encourage local investors to venture into the manufacturing sector. Tadash Steel Manufacturing Plc is planning to build nail factory and an oxygen plant in the second phase. The company has already secured plot of land for the expansion project. Kibiryessefa said he and his colleagues are grateful for the support the Duken Town Administration extended to their company.

In 2019-2020 the country has imported 1.08 tons of steel valued at 55.2 billion birr.                             

Mekonnen Abera, director general of the Maritime Affairs Authority and board chairman of the Ethiopian Marine Transport and Logistics Services Enterprise, and Roba Megerssa, CEO of the enterprise, on Monday launched the project office that would oversee the procurement of the two ships. The enterprise said the project office has six members who have long years of experience. The project office will be responsible for the design of the ships and the selection of the shipyard that would build the new vessels.

The fleet that is operated by ESLSE has 11 ships with a total loading capacity of 400,000 tons of cargo. Two the ships are fuel tankers. Robe told The Reporter that the enterprise is preparing to float an international tender and invite companies with repeatable ship building experience to bid for the project. “The ships will be built in East Asia, most probably in China, Korea or Indonesia,” Roba said.

The ships will be built in the 2020-2021 budget year. Each ship will have 60,000 tons of bulk-cargo loading capacity. Roba declined to disclose the cost of the two ships saying that it would affect the bidding process.

The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise transported and handled 11 million tons of cargo in the 2019-2020 Budget Year, which ended on June. Out of the total, some 7 million tons was transported by ships. The enterprise that serves 330 ports leases ships with slot charter agreement from other carriers. The company transports 60 percent of the Ethiopia’s imports, every year. The enterprise generated about of 25.8 billion birr and earned a profit of 2.5 billion birr. The enterprise’s capital stands at 20 billion birr and plans to raise it to 80 billion birr.

Roba said his company registered a remarkable performance despite the adverse impacts of COVI-19 that hit the global marine transport industry. China where Ethiopia’s majority import originates was closed when the COVID-19 broke out last December. One third of Ethiopia’s containerised cargo comes from China.         

The Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Service Enterprise is a merger of four enterprises which were working independently in the sea transport sector. These were Ethiopian Shipping Lines Share Company, Ethiopian Maritime and Transit Service Enterprise, Dry Port Enterprise; and the former Comet Transport Share Company which was consolidated in to the new company, August, 2016.              

After series of negotiations and deliberations, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) has finally given the greenlight to the national telecom company, Ethio telecom to start mobile money services.

Ethio telecom has submitted its application to the NBE asking for license to launch a mobile banking service in the country, last year. The management of Ethio telecom has been in talks with the central bank for more than a year. After marathon negotiations the regulatory body of the financial sector has given a nod to Ethio telecom to launch mobile money.

Last April, NBE issued a directive dubbed the Licensing & Authorization of Payment Instrument Issuers, allows transactions to be performed through mobile phones after customers deposit a sum with an agent. According to the directive financial transactions using any mobile money service will use the banks as a trust account for the deposited funds.

At a consultative meeting Ethio Telecom held with IT and start-up companies on the on-going national telecom reform program, CEO of the company, Frehiwot Tamiru, disclosed that NBE has given permission to Ethio telecom to start mobile money service. Frehiwot said Ethio telecom will establish a wing—strategic business unit—that will work on the mobile money service. “The new business wing will be regulated by the NBE not by the Ethiopian Communication Authority (ECA),” Frehiwot said.

According to Frehiwot, foreign firms will not be allowed to engage in mobile money services, as of now. ECA is in the process of licensing two foreign telecom operators. The NBE directive allows only Ethiopian nationals and Ethiopian diaspora to engage in financial transaction services. The telecom firms that will soon join the local telecom market will not be able to engage in mobile money services.

The Ministry of Finance (MoF) is also in the process to partially privatise Ethio telecom. The ministry hired Deloitte Consulting as its transaction adviser to look for a strategic partner that would acquire 40 percent stake from Ethio telecom.   

Participants said that foreign firms are not allowed to engage in mobile money service but the international firm that would acquire Ethio telecom’s stake would indirectly engage in the mobile money business. “If mobile money service is reserved for only Ethiopian nationals how do you see the engagement of your future strategic partner?”

Frehiwot said the issue is being reviewed and a policy decision has not been made yet. Frehiwot told The Reporter that Ethio telecom would launch the mobile service as soon as possible. “I wish we could have started it two years ago,” she said.

A study conducted by Ethio telecom projects that the country can generate USD 13 billion from mobile money by 2025.

Meanwhile, Balcha Reba (Eng.) director general of the Ethiopian Communication Authority told The Reporter that the regulation of the mobile money service has to be reviewed properly. “Mobile money service involves two sectors—both the telecom and banking sector. Since it is a financial service it has to be regulated by the NBE. But, it also involves the telecom sector. Companies would provide the service using the telecom infrastructure; so ECA should also look at the telecom side. So ECA, NBE and Ethio telecom have to discuss the matter,” Balcha said.

With regards to the prohibition of foreign firms from venturing into mobile money service, Balch said the financial sector is closed to international firms for the time being. “But, there will be a financial reform program after three years and I hope that it will be addressed by then,” he said.  

Local IT and start-up companies acknowledged the reform program Ethio telecom has been undertaking in the past two years under the stewardship of Frehiwot. The participants appreciated the leadership for bringing a change in service delivery. “Ethio telecom is reborn. We are witnessing a new company on the rise,” a participant said.

Some of the participants complained about internet down time and delay in maintenance service and weak mobile signal.

The local IT companies who were delighted to be invited to the consultative meeting by Ethio telecom expressed commitment to collaborate with the national telecom companies. “We want to partner and work with you. We need to have more similar forums,” they said.

However, some participants expressed their fear that the two international telecom firms that will soon join the market will lure away customers and employees of Ethio telecom. “They are coming to share your market and make profit. By delivering better service with lower tariff rates they could lure away your customers,” they said. “We do not want to see Ethio telecom disbanded we rather want it to continue operating in the competitive environment,” they added. They also asked why Ethio telecom has never gone out of Ethiopia and operate in other countries.  

Frehiwot said that Ethio telecom has been preparing itself for competition in the past two years. She said the objective of the reform program is not to disband national telecom company which is 126 years old. “We have outlined a three year business strategy dubbed BRIDGE that would enable us to make Ethio telecom a competitive, preferred and profitable operator that would continue to thrive,” she said.

Frehiwot said that for the first time Ethio telecom is eyeing foreign markets. “We are working on a business strategy that would enable us to operate in foreign markets and we will make it public when we finalize the strategy,” she said.

Levi Girma, CEO and founder of BRAVOCOM, asked if the money that would be generated from the sale of Ethio telecom’s stake would be used to recapitalise Ethio telecom or if it goes to the state coffer. “Is it going to be a cash infusion or cash injection? If the money is used to expand Ethio telecom the company can be more competitive,” Levi said.

One of the most debatable issues in the telecom liberalization program is the infrastructure. The international telecom firms will have two options—to build their own telecom infrastructure or lease mobile towers and optical fiber lines. Telecom infrastructure companies (infracom) are vying to tap into Ethiopian market by building and leasing mobile towers to the new entrants. However, Ethio telecom does not want the infracoms to enter the local market.        

“So much has been said about the telecom infrastructure. But we would like to hear from Ethio telecom about its infrastructure,” Levi said.

According to Frehiwot, Ethio telecom has 7,213 mobile towers and 22,000 km long optical fiber cable line. “With some enhancements, we would be able to lease our telecom infrastructure to the two operators. They could join the market swiftly if they lease our infrastructure. If they want to build their own infrastructure it would be capital intensive and it take longer time to reach out to the market. But, if they use our infrastructure it will give them an advantage on the time to market factor,” she said.

Fikru Yefter, representative of ISON Tower, furiously protested the idea of barring foreign infrastructure companies. “When the government launched the national telecom reform program we were very optimistic but now it is protecting the market,” Fikru said. “Ethio telecom has a limited capacity. Most of the mobile towers are roof top towers which cannot serve other operators. These days, telecom firms have sold out their telecom infrastructure to telecom infrastructure companies and they focus on only their core business. If you liberalize it liberalize it fully,” he added.

Frehiwot said when the telecom market is liberalized there are certain rules and regulations attached to it. “There are guiding policies and directives. We are not opening up completely,” Frehiwot said.

According to Frehiwot, the Ethiopian government has invested heavily on telecom infrastructure in the past years and should recover the investment cost. “We have established a department that will deal with the infrastructure business. There was a debate on whether the service and infrastructure divisions should be separated legally or if they should operate as business units. And we decided to keep them as business units-separated structurally.”

According to Frehiwot, the government could earn USD 1.6-1.8 billion from the lease of telecom infrastructure. 

IT and start-up companies, privatization advisory council members and board members of Ethio telecom have participated in the consultative meeting. The meeting was organised up on the request of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD). The feed backs would be compiled and presented to the prime minister in the coming few days.                    

Ethio Telecom has 1027 partners that provide value added services and 249,000 SIM card and voucher card distributers. Ethio telecom has 45.8 million mobile voice subscribers, 24.3 million internet and data, 248,000 fixed broadband 984,000 fixed line subscribers. As part of its effort to eliminate entry barriers, the company annually spends up to USD four billion to avail affordable devices.

Frehiwot urged local IT companies and start-ups to partner with Ethio telecom and develop local content. “Mostly, our customers use the internet to interact on social media. I strongly encourage you to develop local value-adding services. Our headache is job creation,” she said.     

Tele density has reached 47 percent and coverage in terms of population 95 percent and geography 85.4 percent. The company earned 47.7 billion birr revenue in the 2019-2020 Budget Year. The company made a net profit of 28.1 billion birr. It generated 147.7 million dollars from international services. The foreign currency earning has been dwindling in the previous years due to telecom fraud. But, the company managed to revive the foreign currency earning by taking measures on telecom fraud and making tariff reductions.

Feteh Woldesenbet, President of the Ethiopian Hotels and Related Service Providers Employers’ Association, told The Reporter that the hotels are undertaking the required preparatory works to return to business with recommended health precautions.

According to Feteh, a health safety protocol prepared by Tourism Ethiopia and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism in collaboration with the Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association, the Ethiopian Tour Operators Association and Ethiopian Hotels and Related Service Providers Employers’ Association, has been endorsed and signed by stakeholders recently.

“Trainings on safety protocols are being organized. The trainings will be offered to hotels and tour operator employees, and they will be certified by the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. The hotels are returning to business by putting the required precautions in place,” Feteh said.

The restrictive measures taken by governments to curb the spread of COVID-19 globally brought the tourism sector to its knees. Hotels in Ethiopia had secured a subsidized bank loan to keep their employees on their pay rolls.

The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) disbursed 3.3 billion birr in loans through 18 commercial banks finance the ailing hotels with five percent interest. But as the five percent interest rate was payable to the NBE, the banks were not making money out of these transactions leading to a lack of interest from the banks to actively work on the initiative. According to Feteh, not all hotels have benefited from the scheme. 

“Unless they start working, these businesses which employ large number of people and generate foreign currency, their survival would be in jeopardy,” Feteh said. According to him, since the State of Emergency has come to an end and Ethiopia as a country is under preparation to restart tourism, it is a high time to fully open the hotels.  

Daniel Berhanu, general manager of the Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association, told The Reporter that as the government is relaxing restrictions, hotels in Addis Ababa are preparing to welcome guests. Daniel said travellers with negative PCR test results can now walk out of the airport and lodge in any hotel they prefer.

Considering the global impacts of the COVID-19 and the necessary health safety precautions, hotels are preparing to receive guests. Daniel said the Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association will organize trainings on health safety protocols for hotel employers and employees, and business entities have to be certified.

Currently, the Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association in collaboration with the Chefs Association is organizing trainings for Chefs.               

A study released by the Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association last May indicated that hotels in Addis Ababa have been losing about USD 35 million in a month, due to the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic. The association has 130 member hotels.

Sileshi Girma, Tourism Ethiopia Director General told The Reporter that the private sector is proactively working with his organization on the preparation work. “Hotels, tour operators and Chefs are closely working with us on health safety protocols,” he said adding, “Since tourists spend up to 12 hours in their hotels, we are working on the precautionary measures that should be implemented at reception, in guestrooms and the kitchens. We are not talking about not only wearing masks, face shields, using sanitizers and maintaining social distancing, but the end-to-end service should be free from body contact.”

According to Sileshi, the health safety protocol ensures all the services catered to tourists at hotels, transport and tourist sites are safe and protected from exposure to COVID-19 infections. Tourism Ethiopia last week held a demonstration on the implementation of the health safety protocol in Harrar Ras Hotel. Hotel owners, tour operators and chefs attended the demonstration.

Previously, Tourism Ethiopia had organized a workshop on the implementation of the protocol for all regional states tourism bureaus in Adama town.    

The Addis Ababa Hotel Owners Association, Ethiopian Tour Operators Association and the Ethiopian Chefs Association have been working with Tourism Ethiopia on the preparation of the health safety protocol.     

Kumneger Teketel, CEO and Lead Consultant of OZZIE Business and Hospitality Group Consultancy, welcomes the reopening of the hotels. “There should be an evaluation system with strict and regular follow-ups, especially at tourist destinations. Using this opportunity, we should be able to institutionalize safety and security control systems at destinations. All stakeholders in the tourism industry should work towards building the confidence of the tourists’ community and get commendable reviews and feedbacks from visitors,” Kumneger said.    

Gobena was one of the founding member and a senior partner of AFRI Aviation Plc, an aviation consultancy firm based in Addis Ababa.  

Gobena passed away on Monday September 21, 2020 at the age of 58 in Kigali where he was hospitalised for few days. The management and employees of RwandAir paid tributes to him before sending his body home on Tuesday.September 22, 2020. A large number of senior staff of Ethiopian Airlines, his family, relatives and friends received his body at Bole International Airport and laid him to rest on Wednesday September 23, 2020 at the Holy Trinity Cathedral Church.          

Born to his father Lej Mikael Imiru, a close relative of Emperor Hailesillassie and was the last prime minister of the imperial regime, and his mother Almaz Teklehawariat, Gobena Mikael attended the American Community School in Addis Ababa and graduated from the Addis Ababa University with a BSc degree in Mathematics. Gobena holds a diploma in Airline Marketing and Finance, an MSC degree in Information Science. Gobena has been serving with RwandAir in Kigali as General Manager Commercial/chief commercial officer.

Prior to joining RwandAir, Gobena served Ethiopian Airlines with distinction in various positions for 27 years. During his long service with Ethiopian Airlines, he held the positions of Manager Pricing, Manager Sales Development, Manager Marketing Automation and Project Manager Marketing Support Systems. Gobena was then promoted to the positions of Director of Marketing Information Systems, Area Manager of France based in Paris, Regional Director of Southern Europe based in Rome, Regional Director of North & South America based in Washington DC.

After completing his outstation assignments, Gobena returned to Ethiopia and was assigned to spear-head the massive change management program in Ethiopian Airlines as Sr. Director Change Management. Having completed this assignment, Gobena joined the Ethiopian Airlines executive management team as Senior Vice President of Global Sales and finally as the Chief Commercial Officer of the airline.

As a seasoned aviation expert, Gobena had represented Ethiopian Airlines on numerous forums and addressed several meetings and conferences.

His long time friend and colleague Girma Wake, former CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, remembers Gobena as a young hard working man at Ethiopian Airlines in the early 1980s. “He joined Ethiopian after he graduated from the Addis Ababa University. I knew him while he was working in the space control department. He was a dedicated hard working young man,” Girma said. “He does not get satisfied easily. He was detail oriented,” he added. 

Girma who was board chairman of RwandAir worked with Gobena in Kigali for three years. “He won the hearts and minds of our Rwandese brothers and sisters with a short period of time. He was disciplined and God fearing person. Above all what amazes me most is his willingness to share his knowledge of the airline business.” 

Gobena liked the people of Rwanda and the country. The Rwandese people showed their high regard and respect to him during the tribute ceremony held at the headquarters of RwandAir.   

“We lost such a good person who was also a plat of RwandAir and it will never be the same without him. We will all miss him immensely. He was a big brother more than a colleague,” Yvonne Manzi Makolo CEO of RwandAir stated.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde Gebremriam said Gobena’s sudden death was very shocking and sad. In a statement sent to The Reporter Tewolde said he knew Gobena for the last 34 years. “He was friendly, straight forward and direct person who speaks his mind at all times,” Tewolde said. “We missed him a lot. May God bless his soul and give the strength to his loved ones to manage the pain and grief of his death,” he added.

Over the years Gobena had established a strong network in the African airline industry and become a credible source of information for industry players and aviation journalists.   

Prof Wolfgang H. Thome, a renowned aviation and tourism writer, said Gobena was a reliable source of information. “This is a very sad day. He had become a good friend over the years and a reliable source on aviation news from across Africa. I express my deepest sympathy and sincere condolences to his family, friends and colleagues.”

Ethiopia’s Ambassador to France Henok Teferra Shawl said Gobena was a good person and a great professional. “It was an honor to serve with him at Ethiopian. My sincere condolences to his family, who are in our prayers and thoughts,” Henok said.

Gobena was in Addis Ababa last March to attend the Aviation Africa Conference which attracted more than 900 delegates at Ethiopian Skylight Hotel. He is survived by his son and wife.   

The inquiry on the B737-MAX plane crash in Indonesia and Ethiopia by the US congress has been going for a year and half. A total of 346 people perished in the accidents that led to the grounding of Boeing’s new plane globally.  

The report released by the House Transportation and Infrastructure subcommittee this week indicated five broad problems with the plane’s design, construction and certification. According to the report, Boeing’s race to compete with the European arch-rival Airbus and its new A320neo jetliner led the company to make production goals and cost-cutting a higher priority than safety. The report claims that Boeing made deadly assumptions about the software known as MCAS, which was blamed for sending the planes into nose dives. The report asserts that Boeing withheld critical information from the FAA, the regulatory organ of the US aviation industry. The report bluntly blames the FAA’s practice of delegating oversight authority to Boeing. It also accused the agency of siding with Boeing and dismissing its own experts.   

“The two crashes were the horrific culmination of engineering flaws, mismanagement and a severe lack of federal oversight,” the report said.

The report recommended that the safety issues must be addressed by both Boeing and the FAA in order to correct poor certification practices that have emerged, reassess key assumptions that affect safety and enhance transparency to enable more effective oversight.

Ethiopian Airlines didn’t comment on the US Congress report. Following the ET302 tragic plane crash in March 2019 the management has been defending its cockpit crew saying they followed every flight safety procedure to control the aircraft which performed un-commanded nose dive movements few minutes after takeoff from the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport enroute to Nairobi, Kenya.

Boeing concedes to the congressional report. America’s flagship company said it has learned hard lessons in the wake of the crashes as it has struggled to come up with fixes to the jet that will satisfy regulators.  “We have learned many hard lessons as a company from the accidents of Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, and from the mistakes we have made.  As this report recognizes, we have made fundamental changes to our company as a result, and continue to look for ways to improve. Change is always hard and requires daily commitment, but we as a company are dedicated to doing the work,” Boeing said in a statement issued this week.   

 “The passengers and crew on board Lion Air Flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, as well as their loved ones, continue to be in our thoughts and prayers,” the company said.   

An interim accident investigation report by Ethiopia’s Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau (AAIB) stated that Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 experienced repeated nose-down commands from the flight control system. The interim report said the two pilots followed the prescribed checklist in response to flight control problems. However, they were unable to regain control of the aircraft in response to aircraft nose-down commands.

AAIB is expected to release the final accident investigation report soon.

Africa’s largest airline, Ethiopian Airlines, has a commendable safety record audited by the FAA and the European Aviation safety Agency (EASA). The national carrier operates a young and modern fleet of 120 aircraft including Boeing B787, B777 and Airbus A350. It also runs Africa’s biggest aviation academy that trains pilots, aircraft maintenance technicians, flight attendants and marketing professionals.                  

Hired by the Hawassa Textile and Industrial Park S.C., SINOMA Engineering will undertake the construction of the garment industrial park. In the past, Sinoma has built the Dangote Cement factory and was involved the development of the Hawassa and Dire Dawa industrial parks.

President of the Sidama Regional State, Desta Ledamo, and Ambassador Mesganu Arega, State Minister of Trade and Industry, have laid a corner stone for the construction of the new private industrial park on September 6, 2020.     

Ahmed Abderuf, CEO of the Hawassa Textile and Industrial Park S.C., told a press conference that the new industrial park will have 14 shades each lying on 11,000 square meter of land. Ahmed said the industrial park will have all the required facilities convenient for garment manufacturers. The industrial park will have banks, telecommunication and customs offices. The total cost of the project is estimated at two billion birr. SINOMA has assured the clients that it would complete the construction in less than a year time.

Popular global garment companies are expected to lease shades and start manufacturing garments once the construction of the shades is completed. “Already internationally recognised garment companies such as GAP have approached us to secure shades,” Ahmed told local reporters.  

Ahmed said the Hawassa Industrial is fully occupied and the garment companies working in the industrial park are looking for additional shades for expansion. “As their businesses are growing they need to expand and they are looking for more shades. The fact that we are building the new industrial park very near to the Hawassa Industrial Park and there are 120,000 trained youth in the town it would be convenient for them to lease shades from us,” he said.  

Ethiopia has set out an ambitious plan to become a manufacturing hub in Africa by 2030. The government has been striving to transform the textile and garment industry. “Ethiopia is building a good will in the global garment industry like Bangladesh and Siri Lanka. In a few years’ time, the textile and garment export would be competing with coffee and oil seeds export,” Ahmed said.

Ninety percent of the products manufactured in the industrial park will be exported, according to Ahmed. The industrial park will create 30,000 job opportunities for the local community.

Three Ethiopian investors— Tamrat Damena, Alamin Mohammed and Ahmed Abderuf—established the Hawassa Textile and Industrial Park S.C. with a registered capital of 600 million birr and acquired the Hawassa Textile Factory three years ago. The investors paid 500 million birr to acquire the 30-year old textile factory built by the former government of Ethiopia in collaboration with the Italian government in 1989. 

The investors are importing and replacing the aging machineries. They have bought new machineries at a cost of 200 million birr. “We are building a new production line. Most of the machineries are installed. We have few more coming from Djibouti. We will complete the installation of the first production line and start production in three month time,” Ahmed said.

The Hawassa Textile Factory used to produce fabric threads, bedsheets and uniforms. But now the investors have decided to manufacture only fiber threads and supply it to local and foreign markets.    

The first production line will have a daily production capacity of seven tons of thread. The second line will also produce seven tons. When the ongoing expansion work is completed the factory can manufacture 14 tons of fabric threads daily. 

In his opening remark, Ambassador Mesganu Arega disclosed that the new industrial park will open more than 30,000 jobs and fetch 250 million dollars in export earnings. Mesganu said since the industrial park will create significant number of jobs for the local community and bring the much needed foreign currency to the country; and the federal government as well as the Sidama Regional State would provide all the required assistance to the project. “The expansion of the old Hawassa Textile Factory would enable the factory to produce fabric threads and supply them to the local garment factories and substitute the imported threads. They would also export the threads and bring foreign currency. This goes hand in hand with our government’s industrial policy that attempts to transform the manufacturing industry and boost the contribution to the national economy from the current 17 percent to 34 percent. Hence, the Ministry of Trade and Industry, Investment Commission and the regional state will closely monitor and provide all the required assistance to the project,” Mesganu said.

The guest of honour, Desta Ledamo expressed his delight with the launch of the industrial park. “We are grateful that you decided to invest two billion birr in our region and create 30,000 jobs for the youth at a time when our economy is affected by the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” Desta said.

“Investment needs peace and stability. If we need jobs and foreign currency we have to take care of this project and support the investors,” he told the gathering.

According to Desta, the Sidama Regional State has put in place the necessary structure that enables it to attract investment. “Peace has prevailed in our region. We need local and foreign investors to come and invest in our region which is endowed with natural resources,” the president said.

 The proximity to the capital Addis Ababa, and the availability of trained man power makes Hawassa a preferred investment destination. The express way that connects the city with Addis Ababa is near completion and an airport has been built.