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| A pic that I took in 2014 on arrival from DC |
Note: A translated version of this article into Mandarin was published
on the July issue of The Eminence
magazine. You can find the link is at the bottom.
Ethiopia’s private investment ranks as one of the lowest in the world,
while its public investment is one of the highest. Despite continuous criticism
by international institutions for lack of private investment, the Ethiopian government
takes pride in its course and economic achievements. Though the complaints are not
without their merits, the government has the numbers to prove why its strategy
is working.
Ethiopia has been one of the fastest growing economies in the world
for over a decade now. The state owned Ethiopian Airline (ET) often referred as
Ethiopian in short, leads the way of proving state owned companies and
enterprises could be profitable. In recent years, Ethiopian generated more
profit than the rest of African airlines combined.
Winning award after award at the international level, Ethiopian does not
look it will slow down anytime soon. Considering its ambitious “Vision 2025”
growth plan, ET looks well placed to outperform and lead the continent’s airline
industry for years to come.
Under its 15 year Vision 2025 plan, Ethiopian aims to become a world
class African airline with more than 140 fleet. The additional 60 aircraft
fleet will help ET transport over 22 million passengers world wide and meet its
15-year targeted goal. According to ET staff, the airline hopes to reach 146
destinations by 2025 and earn up to $10 billion in revenue and $1 billion
dollars in profit.
Reaching those ambitious goals will not come easy to ET, but a closer
look into ET’s past five years record proves, it can accomplish its 15-year ambitious
growth plan. The next few years will see Ethiopian add dozens of ultra-modern
fleet to its collection; including A350-300 Airbus and Boeing 787 Dreamliner
planes. The airline has already started taking huge infrastructure expansions projects
to accommodate its ever-growing services and meet ever-increasing demand.
Among ET’s mega projects are a USD 7 million worth Light Aircraft
Maintenance Hangar project to be financed by the airline itself; a USD 92 million
worth Wide Body Maintenance Hangar to be financed by EX-Im bank of China and a
cargo terminal with an annual capacity of 1.2 million tons, which will be one
of the largest cargo terminals in the world. The construction of the cargo terminal
is expected to be completed in the next four years and is estimated to cost USD
150 million.
China’s increasing presence and influence in Africa has transpired to
more than trade and investment. The growing interconnectedness between China
and African countries has been a topic of passionate debates for many years.
China’s intentions and its long-term plans are both derided and embraced at the
same time.
Ethiopia is one among many that has embraced a lot of the Chinese developmental
state policies and models. There is no surprise then, to see one of Ethiopia’s
most successful state owned company leading the way in tending and catering to
its Chinese customers. It was six years ago that ET hired its first Chinese cabin
crew. Now, in addition to continuing to recruit Chinese flight attendants, ET
has added in-flight announcement services and various writings in Mandarin
(Chinese) to exceed its growing Chinese customer satisfaction. The infusion of
Chinese culture in Ethiopian is beyond the airline and its airport terminals.
Here in Addis, new Chinese authentic restaurants and gift shops can be seen sprouting
in various corners of the city.
In hindsight, the USD 200 million worth African Union (AU) building
that was built and give to Africa countries as a gift was just a drop in the
ocean compared to the amount of money and resources China and the Chinese are committing
themselves for the continent. Looking at the recently inaugurated building of
the Chinese Mission to the AU building in the center of Addis, there is no
doubt that the Chinese are here to stay.
Forwards thinking companies and organizations are positioning
themselves to tap into the Chinese market; and ET seems to be doing exactly
that. Ethiopian discloses that, although currently approximately 70% of ET
passengers are transiting within the Africa continent, at the rate at which the
trade relations is increasing between China and African countries, it is
strategically aligning itself to win and retain Chinese customers.
http://www.theeminencemagazine.com/index.php/component/k2/item/662-2015-07-30-07-43-08
You might also find this interesting http://afkinsider.com/102462/ethiopian-airlines-make-more-profit-than-all-other-african-carriers-combined/#sthash.3CdrD4m5.dpuf
Cheers,
Daniel
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