A mass-producing block factory that is inching closer to operation is opined by experts to have a huge prospect in modernizing the construction sector business stemming from its low-cost production of construction materials
The factory which was established by Builders Up Construction Material Manufacturing Plc looks to have a capacity to produce 18 blocks per 20 seconds. The factory is also said to cut the drying time of the blocks to within the space of less than a day whilst that of the current market takes a week.
Ablante Wondwossen, General Manager of Builders up Construction Material Manufacturing explained that the company decided to conduct a huge investment in the sector so as to transform the construction industry and bridge the gap that is observed in the space.
“Currently, the country is going through massive construction with projects being seen on the rise. This presents huge opportunities for such facilities like ours, which help to support the construction boom,” he added.
The manager whilst underlining the need for swift response in modernizing the sector also recalled how a major portion of the country when it comes to residential houses is built of substandard material.
According to figures from the Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure, currently, there are over four million houses in the country, but 30 percent are sub-standard while 74 percent of the same require crucial renovation.
Officials of the company stated that the sophisticated and latest technology machines that are manufactured in Türkiye, have already arrived at the Djibouti Port.
The industry will be set up on a 10,000- square meters of space secured at Dukem in the eastern outskirts of Addis Ababa in the Oromia region.
The facility will have a production line, laboratory, curing room and logistics center at Dukem. In addition, the company has also secured a mining facility covering 63,000 square meters from the Oromia Mining and Energy Bureau at Aleltu, about 50 km northeast of Addis Ababa in the Oromia region.
At the mining facility, a crashing plant will be installed which will produce the required materials like mechanical sand (m sand) as input for standard block production.
“In a single shift alone, we shall produce over 27,000 blocks with dimensions 40mm x 200mm x 200mm. As per our initial plan, we will use two shifts,” Ablante explained.
He said that the daily production volume has a very huge gap compared with the current block production in the country that will allow providing the product at a competitive rate. He added that such kind of mass production also contributes to market stability and cuts artificial price hikes which is observed across the country.
The production facility has also planned to produce 2,500-meter square paver blocks per 8 hours or single shift with 60mm, 80mm and 100mm thickness as per the demand. For instance, the 100mm paver block built will be able to sustain a load of a heavy-duty truck while that of the 60mm products with international standards shall be built for walkways.
So far in Ethiopia, the traditional paver block thickness stands at not more than 40mm.
The company said that in the second phase of the plan the facility will commence the production and supply of standard pipe manhole, manhole base and concert manhole cover that are key for infrastructure development and help to create a visible difference to accelerate projects compared with the current practice.
Officials of the company told Capital that other production lines like other precast-producing hubs will be installed.
As per the plan the company targets to provide palletized door-to-door bulk product delivery with imported modern tracks that were purposely designed and manufactured for the same purpose.
“The delivery and bulk cement providing trucks have been procured from China,” officials explained. As per the current level, the company stands to create 150 jobs and requires about 100 tons of cement in two days for it to run production.
The factory is expected to commence production at the beginning of the coming budget year.
So far, the initial investment is estimated to tally to about 392 million birr, including 102 million birr for machinery procurement.
Last year the government had disclosed its plan to double the number of residential houses in the coming 10 years from the current about four million in all the type of houses.
Experts said that mass production will also allow the construction of affordable houses besides swift accomplishment.
As per the study conducted last budget year, there are one million residential houses demanded in the capital.
As per the projection, every year 471,000 houses are supposed to be constructed including that in rural areas. The number of newly constructed houses in the second five years would be 486,000 every year.
The construction will be carried out by all partners including individual residents, developers, or the government.
In the coming ten years, the Ministry of Urban Development and Infrastructure targets to see the construction of 4.4 million houses across the country which will double the current figure.
Ethiopia is the second-most populous and the fifth least urbanized country in Africa. At present, 21 percent of Ethiopia’s 112 million residents live in urban areas (23.5 million people), according to the national definition, this is significantly below the Sub-Saharan average of 40.4 percent. There are over 950 towns and cities in the country.
New factory shows promise of being “the building block” of construction
Hidden health impacts of industrial livestock production systems in Africa
Research findings released by World Animal Protection has laid bare the most damaging human health impacts linked to industrial livestock production systems, including emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), increased zoonotic pathogens and rising human illnesses from consumption of livestock derived foods containing food safety hazards in Africa.
The report, The Hidden Health Impacts of Industrial Livestock Systems, exposes how governments around the world are turning a blind eye to the public health toll of factory farming as well as the suffering of billions of farmed animals. The report builds on the concept of five pathways “through which food systems negatively affect our health” as outlined by the World Health Organization (WHO) in their 2021 report Food Systems Delivering Better Health.
It further shows how these negative health impacts will only get worse as the demand for meat continues to grow. For instance, by 2030, meat consumption is projected to grow by 30% in Africa. This skyrocketing demand has billions of stressed animals mutilated and confined to cramped and barren cages or pens for their whole lives. Over seventy percent of the 80 billion land animals farmed globally are raised and slaughtered within cruel industrial livestock production systems annually.
World Animal Protection details how these negative health impacts are directly linked to industrial livestock production systems, characterized by substandard husbandry practices and poor animal welfare, and has further identified that African Governments are most significantly fueling the emergence of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) and increasing foodborne illnesses.
Dr. Victor Yamo, Farming Campaigns Manager, World Animal Protection said, “The emergence of Antimicrobial Resistance in Africa is driven by weak regulatory capacity of government agencies charged with the responsibility of managing the production, registration, distribution and utilization of these products leading to the rampant misuse of these products. For instance, the law requires that antimicrobial drugs be purchased against a prescription, but our farmers can purchase the same over the counter without a prescription.”
He adds that “The situation is further compounded by the inadequate extension personnel on the ground to advice the farming community on innovative and good animal welfare, animal husbandry and animal health practices such as good biosecurity, proper nutrition, housing, stocking densities, hygiene & sanitation and infection, prevention & control (IPC) strategies which would render the need for use of antimicrobial drugs unnecessary.”
The report highlights that three-quarters of the world’s antibiotics are used in farmed animals, either to prevent them getting sick, promote fast growth or treat disease – a practice driving the emergence of superbugs (antimicrobial resistant bacteria), which leaves us less able to fight infections. New research has found that 1.27 million people die each year from superbugs, and it is estimated that by 2050 this will be the leading cause of death globally. On top of this threat, industrial livestock production systems squash animals into tightly packed sheds, risking disease like swine flu or bird flu that can jump to humans.
Animals cruelly packed in such shades are often immensely stressed leaving them prone to infection by bacteria or parasites that can cause foodborne illness in humans, such as Salmonella. An estimated 35% of all foodborne diseases globally are linked to meat, dairy or eggs, which is costing lower income countries billions of dollars annually in lost productivity and medical expenses.
Dr. Lian Thomas, Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) in Nairobi said: “Industrial livestock farming requires the production of a high density of genetically homogenous animals, which leads to the quick spread of diseases – many of which can directly affect human health. The health of farmed animals and their environment must be a high priority for the public health sector. Sustainable food systems which promote good animal health and welfare, and environmental protection, will directly protect human health.”
Systemic shifts are needed to deliver the biggest health gains for our population. Some of those include re-orientating subsidies away from factory farming towards humane and sustainable practices, improving affordability of plant-based foods, and providing transition support for farmers no longer wishing to engage in factory farming.
To make these shifts, World Animal Protection is calling for African governments to impose a moratorium on Industrial livestock production systems, introduce and enforce higher farmed animal welfare standards like the Farm Animals Responsible Minimum Standards (FARMS)
Jacqueline Mills, Head of Farming, at World Animal Protection, said: “Industrial Livestock Production systems are not only cruel to the animals that they produce but are also making us sick. On the surface, the meat, eggs, fish and dairy products produced by these systems seem cheap, but they are costing us our health and our governments trillions of dollars each year to mop up the damage they cause.”
“We need to break the cycle of suffering of the animals in our food system. The food industry needs to embrace a humane and sustainable future where farmed animals are kept in genuinely high welfare systems where they can have good lives. Now is the time for governments to focus on better health outcomes for farmed animals, people and the planet. We need a moratorium on Industrial Livestock Production systems.”
African governments should recognize the inter-connectivity between public health and planetary impacts of industrialized farming systems and commit to stopping the support for these systems. The commitment in the form of a moratorium on industrial livestock production systems should be within the National Climate Action Plans (known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs)) in recognition of these systems contribution to climate impacts. As well as this, the African governments must develop and implement national One Health, One Welfare action plans and national Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) plans that recognize the health impacts of industrialized livestock and restrict its growth.
Ethio telecom launches an online market platform, telegebeya
Ethio telecom launches an online market platform called telegebeya which enables its customers to purchase Ethio telecom products.
The new online sales channel which is a new and an alternative sales platform that enables customers to purchase Ethio Telecom products easily from their whereabouts by using telebirr as a payment modality in addition to the company’s existing 615 point of sales and 116 franchise shops.
On this web based sales platform, different smart mobile phones, internet modems, fixed broadband terminals and other telecom services are available to customers with affordable prices. As a first phase telegebeya online sales start up for customers who reside in Addis Ababa The company has promised to expand this web based online sales service and avail it in major cities of the country along with additional telecom products in not the distant future.
In addition as part of its initiative to start new service and products to satisfy its customers the company has launched Ashamtele customer loyalty program to ensure better customer satisfaction and experience.
Ashamtele is said to enable Ethio Telecom’s customers be rewarded for using its services through which customers get incentives and rewards based on points collected using the tracks of each of their diverse telecom services usage like voice, data/internet and SMS, as well as for recharging airtime and making payments for goods and services via telebirr, using the loyalty program registered customers will get various incentives and rewards that will possibly enable them to buy smart mobile phones, tablets and laptop; as well as to buy packages, recharge airtime and pay monthly bills.
Ethio telecom, since the recent past years has been on visible and multifaceted strategic reforms, stemming from telecom infrastructures expansion and latest technologies deployment to massive tariff reduction and emerging new telecom services and products in order to provide reliable and quality services, thereby meeting the ever increasing demands of its customers.
The company announced the operation of these two new schemes on Wednesday April 27, 2022.
Somalia’s federal Parliament elects speakers, deputy speakers
Newly elected Somali parliamentarians have concluded the election of the Speakers and Deputy Speakers of the Upper and Lower Houses of the federal Parliament.
The three-day exercise to elect the speakers took place in Mogadishu, secured by the Somali security forces supported by the African Union Transition Mission in Somalia (ATMIS).
On Tuesday, the legislators re-elected veteran lawmaker Abdi Hashi Abdullahi as Speaker of the Senate, the Upper House of the bi-cameral Parliament.
In his victory speech, Abdi hailed the senators for participating in the election. He also reminded them of the duty to effectively draft laws to address national challenges.
“There are challenges our country faces, such as the prevailing drought situation. I am certain we will address these challenges since we have established the House leadership,” Abdi noted.
The senators also elected Ali Shaban Ibrahim and Abdullahi Ali Tima’adde as first and second deputy Speakers, respectively.
On Thursday, lawmakers chose Sheikh Adan Mohamed Nur, alias Madobe, as Speaker of the House of the People, which is the Lower House of the federal Parliament.
The House of the People also elected Sadiya Yasin Samatar as the First Deputy Speaker. She became the first-ever woman to hold the position. Abdullahi Omar Abshirow was also elected Second Deputy Speaker of the House of the People.
In a speech after his election, the Speaker of the House of the People, Sheikh Adan, noted the security and political challenges facing Somalia and pledged to promote inclusive politics.
“We are committed to leading the country towards reforms, restoring order and ending the suffering of the Somali people,” he said.
The election of the country’s parliamentary leadership paves the way for presidential elections and the conclusion of the electoral process.
