Following threats to declare a new region by the Sidama ethnic group, business was not going on as usual in Hawassa and other surrounding towns including Ethiopia’s flagship Hawassa Industrial Park where employees were absent for days, Capital learned.
As youth and activists of the Sidama ethnic group announced they would declare independent regional states on the 18th of July, the park stopped operating for three consecutive days starting from Thursday July 18.
There was a sign when the majority of the employees at the industrial park wore a t-Shirt with the flag of the new region on July 17. 
In a country like Ethiopia where employment is above 10 million, and there is a huge demand for job opportunities, it is unprofessional to call a demonstration on working days, the Prime Minister said. He used the example of neighboring Kenya’s working discipline as exemplary pointing out that they call any strike or demonstration over the weekend.
When some political cases arise in the city, it will interrupt the investment climate. The odd thing is, workers asked to be paid for the days they did not show up. Now companies will be in trouble with their customers for late deliveries. This has a domino effect, the Prime Minister pointed out.
He criticized the bad habit of Ethiopian employees accustomed to taking a salary for absent days. Their entitlement is unethical and should be corrected, said the Prime Minister.
The government spent a huge amount of money to build the park, not only that, other investments like the toll roads to connect to the park and the money spent on supplying power will be wasted if people don’t change their behavior, the Prime Minister said.
Ethiopia is investing billions of dollars to open a total of 30 industrial parks by 2025 with the vision to become Africa’s manufacturing hub and create more jobs for the youth and earn hard currency.
As Capital confirmed, one of the operators, things went back to the normal conditions after Tuesday this week where 80 percent of the employees are back on track.
“Being an area of conducive investment climate is essential for employment opportunities and the communities should protect the investment if they need jobs for their youth,” PM Abiy added.
Hawassa Industrial Park is the largest government industrial park, built at a cost of 250 million USD in just nine months by the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and presently hosts more than fifty manufacturing companies that employs 25,000 workers.
Unrest closes Hawassa Industrial-Park
Meds for poor smuggled to private pharmacies
Officials from the Food, Medicine and Health Care Administration and Authority (FMHACA), says medicines for serious illnesses like malaria are being stolen from pharmacies at government hospitals and sold for three times the original amount in private pharmacies.
According to sources, private pharmacies are illegally selling government subsidized pharmaceutical drugs meant to be provided for free to patients at government hospitals. The source added that subsidized medicine sold for a low price in government pharmacies is being smuggled to private pharmacies.
“After the Ethiopian Pharmaceuticals Supply Agency (EPSA) gives the drugs to the government pharmacies there is not a reliable method to check and make sure the drugs are getting to the patients at those hospitals. Instead brokers at government pharmacies illegally sell the drugs to private pharmacies.’’
Heran Gerba, Director of FMHACA told Capital that the hospitals need to work harder to stop illegal medicine sales. Regulations are not being enforced, there is little inter-agency cooperation among law enforcement the border control is porous.
“Sometimes these drugs are only available at private pharmacies. Our job is to check the quality and effectiveness of the drugs not to check whether hospitals are selling them to the right people. This is up to the hospital administrations. Pharmacies are audited and an electronic system helps guard against misconduct. Every administration and region should follow up with the hospitals and use this system.”
Proclamation 661/2009 says people or institutions can not work in the pharmaceutical business, unless they are authorized or licensed. Trading medicine without a certificate of competence can lead to 5 to 7 years in prison and 100,000 to 150,000 birr fine. Yet, people still sell and import drugs without a license. Often this is accomplished by bribing inspectors, customs agents or medical regulatory bodies.
36.3 billion birr in revenue
The state-owned Ethio Telecom, a potential candidate for privatisation, generated 36.3 billion birr in revenue during the last fiscal year, a 7 percent rise from the previous year.
Multinational firms are eyeing a slice of the telecom provider after the government announced to liberalise the telecommunications sector, opening up one of Africa’s last remaining state-controlled telecoms markets.
France’s Orange, MTN of South Africa, Britain’s Vodafone Group, the UAE’s Etisalat and Zain of Kuwait are among the companies that have expressed an interest in the firm.
Super Supermarket
MIDROC inaugurated a unique branch of Queen’s Supermarket at Keranyo area-Keranyo Plaza at a cost of 60 million birr including pre operating and working capital. The building alone is priced at 37.7 million birr.
The Supermarket was inaugurated in the presence of Shiek Abdela Ali Huissen Almoudi, brother of the owner of MIDROC, and Arega Yirdaw, CEO of MIDROC and President of Unity University.
“The Supermarket has a unique feature as it is designed in line with internationally accepted norms for supermarkets making shopping easy and comfortable,” said Arega Yirdaw.
The Supermarket is built with other facilities such as a gas station, car service, Café, bank and event center. It has also safe and spacious parking lots that enable it to host close to 150 cars.
“We need to be exemplary for the other investors who want to build a Supermarket in line with internationally accepted standards as we are the seat of the diplomatic capital,’’ adds Arega.
