Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the Norwegian Minister of International Development visit Ethiopia to take stock of education needs in light of the country facing one of the worst humanitarian crises it has seen in decades due to compounding effects of conflict, climate change, malnutrition and displacement.
On their high-level joint mission, Anne BeatheTvinnereim, Norway’s Minister of International Development, Graham Lang, ECW Director of the High-Level Financing Conference and Chief of Education, Birgitte Lange, CEO of Save the Children Norway, and other partners met with children and adolescents impacted by the ongoing crises in the Oromia and Somali regions.
The number of out-of-school children in Ethiopia as a result of these emergencies has spiked from 3.1 million to 3.6 million in just the last six months, according to UNICEF. The recent conflict in Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions have displaced families from their homes. Similarly, the ongoing violence in parts of Oromia is causing further civilian displacement.
The worst drought in over four decades has made matters even worse with 24.1 million people affected, including 12.6 million children. Over 1 million people have been displaced by the drought in the Somali region alone. Across the country, 20 million people are in need of food assistance, according to the World Food Programme.
The delegation visited schools and communities benefitting from holistic education support funded by ECW and delivered in partnership with UNICEF, Save the Children Ethiopia, and local partners in support of the Government. In three years, the multi-year programme has reached over 250,000 vulnerable girls and boys with ‘whole-of-child’ interventions that include school-feeding, psychosocial support, teacher training, school materials, accelerated learning, gender transformative approaches, and the construction and rehabilitation of school facilities.
ECW has invested 55 million dollars in Ethiopia since 2017, with an additional 5 million dollars investment being finalized to further scale up education response to the drought.

Addis Ababa City administration fully imposes the suspension of any property transfer in the capital.
A letter issued on December 8 by the city administration for city bureaus and sub cites now explicitly underlined that as of December 8 any transfer of property has been banned for an unspecified period.
The letter that was signed by Binyam Mikru, Cabinet Affairs Head at the Mayor’s Office, highlighted that in line with harmonizing and taking stringent measures on the illegal activities in the capital, the ban has been applied.
Recently, the city administration had applied different tactful instruments to control illegal activities particularly to land and related sectors.
For instance it had banned the service on land and land related issues on August last year which was lifted after a few months. Similarly it imposed the same measure at the beginning of the Ethiopian New Year particularly on the power of attorney similar to instances taken in previous years.
This time around the letter that was sent to 11 sub-cites and six city offices did not however explain at length what drove to this particular decision. It only highlighted that the decision was made to provide a positive impact and to take legal actions on illegal activities being conducted in the capital.
Regarding the suspension, it is stated that the ban to transfer was imposed on fixed assets but was not clear if it was for individuals or companies.
In the ban applied on September, the city administration suspended transfer of properties through individuals that have a power of attorney on behalf of the owners.
However, the ban was eased in October for those who are; disabled, unable to move because of illness, diasporas living abroad and companies that were represented by officials.

The embassy of Belgium here in Ethiopia launched the first of a series of discussion events: ‘Chocolate & Coffee Talks’ with an aim of sharing expertise from world class scholars. This time around, discussions were held with the prominent economy and policy professor and author of ‘Gambling on Development’, Stefan Dercon, who was on an Addis Ababa visit.
At the session that gathered various local and foreign stakeholders he presented his book that discusses ‘Development with a Case Study of Ethiopia’.
At the discussions, Stefan articulated why some countries prosper while others fail. He also highlighted why others cannot be found in specific set of policies but rather in key development bargain of the elites.

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) expects a return to profitability for the global airline industry in 2023 as airlines continue to cut losses stemming from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic to their business in 2022; however African Airlines are set to post losses of USD 638 million in 2022 and USD 213 million in 2023.
In 2023, airlines are expected to post a small net profit of USD 4.7 billion-a 0.6% net profit margin. It is the first profit since 2019 when industry net profits were USD 26.4 billion. IATA also expects in 2022, airline net losses are expected to be USD 6.9 billion. This is significantly better than losses of USD 42.0 billion and USD 137.7 billion that were realized in 2021 and 2020 respectively.
“Resilience has been the hallmark for airlines in the COVID-19 crisis. As we look to 2023, the financial recovery will take shape with a first industry profit since 2019. That is a great achievement considering the scale of the financial and economic damage caused by government imposed pandemic restrictions. But a USD 4.7 billion profit on industry revenues of USD 779 billion also illustrates that there is much more ground to cover to put the global industry on a solid financial footing. Many airlines are sufficiently profitable to attract the capital needed to drive the industry forward as it decarbonizes. But many others are struggling for a variety of reasons. These include onerous regulation, high costs, inconsistent government policies, inefficient infrastructure and a value chain where the rewards of connecting the world are not equitably distributed,” said Willie Walsh, IATA’s Director General during IATA’s Global Media Day held in Geneva, Switzerland from December 6 to 7, 2022.
2022
Improved prospects for 2022 stem largely from strengthened yields and strong cost control in the face of rising fuel prices. Passenger yields are expected to grow by 8.4%. Propelled by that strength, passenger revenues are expected to grow to USD 438 billion up from USD 239 billion in 2021.
Air cargo revenues also played a key role in cutting losses with revenues expected to reach USD 201.4 billion. That is an improvement compared with the June forecast, largely unchanged from 2021, and more than double the USD 100.8 billion earned in 2019. Overall revenues are expected to grow by 43.6% compared to 2021, reaching an estimated USD 727 billion.
Most other factors evolved in a negative manner following a downgrade of GDP growth expectations (from 3.4% in June to 2.9%), and delays in removing COVID-19 restrictions in several markets, particularly China. IATA’s June forecast anticipated that passenger traffic would reach 82.4% of pre-crisis levels in 2022, but it now appears that the industry demand recovery will reach 70.6% of pre-crisis levels. Cargo, on the other hand, was anticipated to exceed 2019 levels by 11.7%, but that is now more likely be moderated to 98.4% of 2019 levels.
On the cost side, jet kerosene prices are expected to average USD 138.8/barrel for the year, considerably higher than the USD 125.5/barrel expected in June. That reflects higher oil prices exaggerated by a jet crack spread that is well-above historic averages. Even with lower demand leading to reduced consumption, this raised the industry’s fuel bill to USD 222 billion (well above the USD 192 billion anticipated in June).
“That airlines were able to cut their losses in 2022, in the face of rising costs, labor shortages, strikes, operational disruptions in many key hubs and growing economic uncertainty speaks volumes about peoples’ desire and need for connectivity. With some key markets like China retaining restrictions longer than anticipated, passenger numbers fell somewhat short of expectation. We’ll end the year at about 70% of 2019 passenger volumes. But with yield improvement in both cargo and passenger businesses, airlines will reach the cusp of profitability,” said Walsh.
2023
In 2023 the airline industry is expected to tip into profitability. Airlines are anticipated to earn a global net profit of USD 4.7 billion on revenues of USD 779 billion (0.6% net margin). This expected improvement comes despite growing economic uncertainties as global GDP growth slows to 1.3% (from 2.9% in 2022).
“Despite the economic uncertainties, there are plenty of reasons to be optimistic about 2023. Lower oil price inflation and continuing pent-up demand should help to keep costs in check as the strong growth trend continues. At the same time, with such thin margins, even an insignificant shift in any one of these variables has the potential to shift the balance into negative territory. Vigilance and flexibility will be key,” said Walsh.