Millions of dollars invested in new projects

The Ethiopian Investment Authority (EIA) said more than 1.2 billion birr (about US $138 million) had been invested in Addis Ababa in the first quarter of the Ethiopian calendar year, the pro-government Walta Information Centre reported on Wednesday. The investment licences had been issued to foreign and local businessmen undertaking projects in the health, education, real estate, construction, and industrial expansion sectors. Once completed, these projects were expected to create 6,000 jobs. Walta quoted the EIA as saying that the sum invested this year exceeded that of last year by 601.7 billion birr (about $69 million). In another development, Walta reported that the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC) was undertaking a 60-million birr (about $7 million) expansion of mobile telephone services. The ETC deputy general manager for public relations, Abdurahman Ahmad, reportedly said the expansion was aimed at easing the congestion of mobile telephone lines. On completion of the project, the number of mobile telephone lines would rise from the current 36,000 to 60,000. The project would also solve the low-level reception of mobile telephones in the western, southwestern and northern outskirts of the capita, Addis Ababa, Walta said.