BY MENGESHA AMARE
Numerous development undertakings have been run at national level in Ethiopia since the advent of the recent reform. The case of the grand Abay Dam and its timely filling as well as the Gorgora, Wonchi and Koishamega projects is a case in point in this regard.
Undoubtedly, it is quite important to build and maintain infrastructure as it has become a critical and sometimes even lifesaving undertaking and the big infrastructure projects can also be socially, economically and even politically transformative.
All these megaprojects have been done as intended since it is almost impossible to think of meaningful change and progress in the nation without them and other eloquent projects. Even the hyper-efficient Abay Dam has been run rapidly keeping the national timetable disabling the delays it had faced around the construction outset.
Taking advantage of the celebration of tourism day in Benishangul Gumuz State capital, Assosa town, this writer had a stay with State Tourism Bureau Head, Jemal Umer Hojele to have a piece of information about the significance of constructing megaprojects, which include immensely financed undertakings like the Abay Dam, the aforesaid megaprojects such as Wonchi, high-speed rail lines, airports, seaports, information and communication technology (ICT) systems and other related aspects, helping the country come up with development and change as well as tourism sector promotion at nation level in general.
He said, “It is better I think big projects across the state or at national level shall involve a mix of private and government spending. For example, the newly commenced projects need to be run using a combined effort of national government, numerous local government, suppliers and end users following different environmental and health standards.”
Ethiopia is rich in a number of tourist attraction sites, places where many more megaprojects can be constructed, and even plenty of suitable topographies for development and other earthshaking undertakings, he said.
“Obviously, each megaproject and the top ongoing mega projects in Ethiopia aim to transform the livelihoods of the millions in the part of the nation. Ethiopia is among East African countries that have been ranked to have a fertile land for construction business to flourish. The construction industry in the region is growing and offering a green market through the various ongoing mega projects,” he said.
He further elucidated that the Abay Dam construction timely completion, within budget, scope and specified standard is a major task that needs to be well focused on in Ethiopia, indeed!
The government of Ethiopia has been implementing development policies and strategies over a long time to alleviate poverty and ensure multifaceted progress across the nation. These efforts envisage transforming the country on a trajectory to become a middle-income economy within the shortest time possible. To this end, the country needs to register rapid and sustainable economic development as political stability and zeal for education has allowed this country to achieve high growth and development, he said.
As to Jemal, true, the government has identified the need for strengthened, reoriented and revitalized human resource development as a key to the success of socio-economic policies and strategies to spearhead development with knowledge. Among other things, he added, the government has also invested heavily in economic and social infrastructure. At the center of the country’s strong economic and social performance has been the government’s proactive and leading role in implementing megaprojects.
Effective governance, good organization, and coordination have powerful drivers of national transformation. The country has articulated a clear vision and aligned its objectives with national policy, he added.
As to him, the private sector has been playing a vital role in fostering transformation as solely managing megaprojects has been becoming a significant challenge. Here, the government has to be systematic enough and goes to great lengths to obtain secure project success, control demand, and keep operating expenses under scrupulous control.
He said, “Infrastructure is profoundly connected with—and drives—development, growth and prosperity. Even urban and transportation development are closely linked and should be coordinated as defining urban localities’ infrastructure is a critical first step to bring about real change. Principally, coordination across government agencies and stakeholders can significantly reduce the time necessary to design and implement projects, peculiarly mega ones.”
According to Jemal, good governance increases confidence in infrastructure planning and programs and it begins with effective leadership and a clear vision. Besides, speeding up construction of mega projects is important support in growing domestic demand and stabilizing the country’s economic foundations.
At the same time, he stated regional states in Ethiopia have also mounted efforts to enhance promotion mechanisms for numerous projects which are designated for priority implementation.
According to Jemal, the mega projects cover a number of key areas such as major national scientific infrastructure, state-of-the-art technology and modern rural construction. Furthermore, domestic economic performance and changing policy interventions also exert significant influence on project approval and long-term project development.
“The Abay Dam project situated in our state is indeed another cross-regional project in Ethiopia’s pursuit of high-quality development through the optimization of water resources and the boosting of sustainable development,” he added.
Bluntly speaking, many parts of Ethiopia are rich in resources, especially renewable energy, and have the potential to nurture development thereby meeting the long aspired mission of this great nation, Jemal said.
He added that the implementation of mega projects is conducive to promoting the green development and utilizing green energy, and continuously optimizing the energy efficiency in the country.
“In the next stage, I think Ethiopia should focus on improving the influence of the mega projects to drive the integrated and coordinated development and lucrative impetus,” he opined.
Highlighting the experience of megaproject development in developed countries, where state governments tend to play a key role commissioning, sponsoring and regulating national development, Jemal underscored the significance of the combined effort of all.
Yes, he said mega projects are the sites where governance innovation is experimented upon, and most megaprojects are made viable and they can pass viability criteria.
Interestingly, he said, there is much room for improvements in megaproject decision-making by both states and the federal government. Following the recent reform in Ethiopia, good governance has been gaining a foothold even in mega projects management and in running a range of meaningful undertakings.
“Hence, we all are expected to well understand and fight together pessimist moves and strategic misrepresentations against mega projects forwarded from internal and external foes of the country so as to successfully achieve nationally set targets in general and that of states in particular,” he added.
As to Jemal, megaprojects are large-scale, complex ventures that typically cost huge amount of money, take many years to develop and build, involve multiple public and private stakeholders, are transformational and have immense impact on thousands and millions of citizens of the country.
Megaprojects, therefore, are not just magnified versions of smaller projects. They are completely different breed of projects in terms of their level of aspiration, lead times, complexity, and stakeholder involvement. Consequently, they are also a very different type of project to manage, he added.
As learnt from Jemal, megaprojects are increasingly used as the preferred delivery model for goods and services across a range of businesses and sectors, including infrastructure, water and energy, information technology, industrial processing plants, mining and change programs like government administrative systems, banking, defense, intelligence, air and space exploration, big science, urban regeneration, and major events. Hence, developing mega projects is of paramount importance in bringing about viable growth and change.
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 17 NOVEMBER 2022
