European industrial giant Siemens to join Ethiopia

Siemens and the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to support the government’s objective of becoming a low middle-income country by 2025.
Abebe Abebayehu, who leads EIC, and Sabine Dall’Omo signed the Memorandum of Understanding.
They plan to work together by sharing technology and knowledge primarily in distributing power.
Ethiopia generates a significant amount of clean energy but because of distribution problems utilization remains low.
“The company is building a power transfer line to Kenya from here and we agree to work on transferring knowledge to Ethiopian youth,” said Abebe Abebayehu. “The agreement also covers health equipment manufacturing which helps support the government’s objective of becoming a low middle-income country by 2025.”
In Ethiopia there are high power generation initiatives but the main problem remains with the distribution. The affordable power supply from the government doesn’t support the economy much as distribution is poor. The company will also supply medical equipment.
In another deal, the Siemens AG President and CEO Joe Kaeser granted establishment of a SIMATIC S7 Tech Center here in Ethiopia. The agreement will enable the Training and Skills Center to train entrepreneurs in industrial automations, so people can create their own automated industries, said Getahun Mekuria, Minister of Innovation and Technology.
Ethiopia’s Growth and Transformation Plan serves as a catalyst towards realizing its national vision of accelerated and sustained economic growth in order to eradicate poverty and increase prosperity. “Siemens can make a significant contribution to Ethiopia’s development. We will apply our vast experience and proven technologies as well as training and education capabilities to help shape the future of Ethiopia and its people. One of the starting projects affirming our strong commitment in the region is the East Africa Interconnector,” said Joe Kaeser.
Siemens is currently helping to increase the reliability of energy supply through an interconnector being built between Kenya and Ethiopia. The roughly 1,000 kilometres-long transmission line will transmit environmentally friendly hydroelectricity from Ethiopia to Kenya. The project currently supports 200 direct jobs in Ethiopia alone and is one of the largest infrastructure projects in Africa.