Selamawit Kassa
The world community has now identified investment as one of the key priorities for tourism’s recovery and future growth and development. For this year’s World Tourism Day, UNWTO highlights the need for more and better-targeted investment for people and the planet. Now is the time for new and innovative solutions, not just traditional investments that promote and underpin economic growth and productivity.
Investment plays an important role in the recovery of global tourism and needs to contribute more to its greener and more sustainable future. The sector is highly vulnerable to climate change and at the same time leads to significant emissions of greenhouse gases. Looking into the future, the need to reduce emissions provides a significant investment opportunity in green buildings for hotels, resorts and restaurants. In addition, tourism offers investment opportunities related to new solutions and technologies to decarbonize the sector and to ensure climate-resilient infrastructure through adaptation solutions. Tackling all these opportunities will help bridge the $4 trillion annual investment gap for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals in the developing world.
To promote tourism, World Tourism Day has been marked throughout the world. Celebrating the day is helping to make a call to action to the international community, governments, multilateral financial institutions, development partners and private sector investors to unite around a new tourism investment strategy. Just before the call, the government of Ethiopia had identified and promoted various green development projects.
In the southwest Ethiopia region, for instance, the government has been conducting two big and significant projects to improve the livelihood of Ethiopians in general and the community in particular. One is the Koysha hydro power plant and the other is the Koysha tourist destination development project which is one segment of the Gebeta Lehager project.
In connection with World Tourism Day, the FDRE Government Communication Service, in collaboration with the Ministry of Tourism, has conducted a media tour of the South West Region, which is blessed with tourism potential. Selamawit Kassa, State Minster of the Government Communications Service and a crew of journalists drawn from various media outlets visited the wonders of Chebera Churchura Park which is part and parcel of the Dine for Nation Project and the Koysha Hydroelectric Dam.
The Koysha hydropower project is a 2.16GW hydroelectric facility under construction on the Omo River. State-owned public utility enterprise Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) has been developing the project since October 2016. The issues that were holding back the construction of the Koysha hydroelectric plant have been rectified and the construction is going well now.
It is learned that the construction of the project is being carried out by “We Build”, formerly known as Salini. The manager of the project, when the construction of the Koysha hydropower dam is completed, it will have the capacity to generate 1800 megawatts of power with six power station turbines.
The other is, the Koysha tourist destination project is situated in the newly established southwest Ethiopia along with Gorgora and Wonchi located in Amhara and Oromia regional states, respectively. It is expected to catch the attention of more tourists across the world, as it is endowed with immense natural gifts. Koysha is also the biggest of all the three projects in terms of size, content and diversity which is full of attractions with rich natural, artificial and historical resources.
In connection with the visit, The Ethiopian Herald made a brief stay with State Minister Selamawit Kassa who spent a few days with the journalists and visited the aforementioned two projects that the government gave special attention to. During her stay with the Ethiopian Herald, Selamawit raised issues related to the progress of the projects and the due attention of the government just after the reform. Have a nice read!
To what extent do you think the Koysha project intertwines with the tourism sector?
This overall project is very intertwined with nature. As you can see the surrounding area is very green. Chebera Churchura National Park is part of the Koysha project which is being undertaken by the initiative of the Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed. It is one of the three tourism destination projects. It is one part of the Dine for Nation (Gebeta Lehager) projects.
The tourism destinations under development in three regions of the country would have a big impact on enhancing the tourism capacity of the country. By and large, these projects will add another tourist attraction to the country’s tourism sector. If you look at, the artificial lake that will be created by this dam, which covers probably 136 km from here, it will add another attraction site for this magnificent overview. This is also included in the national environment protection aspect of our country’s tourism development activities.
How do you evaluate the project management demonstrated on this project?
To give you a better background, as you know our mega projects were in big trouble before the reform that is undertaken by the current government. So the reform government has been undertaking a lot of reforms specifically in the economic aspect. One of the focuses is advancing the project management of this mega project. Here, we can mention the Abbay Dam and this one is included in that aspect.
So, the reform has focused on elevating the project management capabilities of this project. Now, within a few years, since the reform was launched, construction activity has been booming. We are planning to conclude the construction in a few years. The construction of the Koysha Hydroelectric Power Project is being expedited thanks to the special attention given by the government to mega projects in Ethiopia.
How does this hydroelectric dam meet the need of citizens who could not get electric power?
It will add 1800MW to the national grid that increases power distribution. This will also encourage the foreign direct investment aspect of the economy and the people who are living in the dark will get electric power.
The Ethiopian government is now conducting a green revolution throughout the country. In this regard, what are the efforts to make the dam eco-friendly?
As you know the government is highly focused on promoting green legacy. Now, the country is advocating it among our neighbors, and internationally as well. The Koysha Hydroelectric Dam demonstrates that kind of harmony between project and nature. So, as I have mentioned before, the southwest Ethiopia region, especially Koysha is very gifted when it comes to natural scenery, it has a whole lot of wildlife. There is a huge concentration of elephants here. You can find lions and indigenous birds. So this project will add that natural preservation concept to the community.
The other aspect that should be mentioned here is, that society is highly included in the project as well and just by being employed in this project also getting benefit from the actual presence of this project. Due to this project, more than 50 km of road have been constructed just to connect the places that were separated just because of the project. By and large, the bridge was constructed because of this project. So, there is huge potential that the community can benefit even further.
The construction of roads that were undertaken by this project management is now enhancing the economic integration between the woredas and the zones. The vegetables that are produced here for example mango, papaya and other agricultural products are now being sold to the major cities including Addis Ababa and also being exported out of the country. So, there is an economic benefit. Apart from getting environmental benefit of this project also it will increase the electricity production of our country.
Apart from developing tourism destinations, what is the Ethiopian government doing to attract more local and foreign tourists?
That is the main reason why this whole trip has been planned. The main thing you have to do is establish a tourist attraction site or build a tourism sector you have to promote it. You have to let people know what we are doing. That is why the government communication service has been participating in organizing this media trip to this side specifically because this area in general shows the high potential of our country when it comes to environmental protection and tourism attraction. So this can be connected by specifically being here and the media will play a great role in promoting our potential tourist attraction sites and what the government has been doing so far when it comes to building up the tourism sector in general.
From your visit to the area, what do you think would be the most impressive thing that would captivate visitors?
As you know Ethiopia has a lot of tourist attraction potentials. We have developed some of them. The government specifically Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has initiated the Gebeta Lehager initiative and he has been focusing specifically on these areas that we have been touring for the past two weeks.
This area you can see here is a huge tourist attraction or destination. For example, the place where we are now at this moment- the Halala Keela resort which was initiated by the Prime Minster, considering the historical and natural attraction that this place has and also the Gilgel Gibe III dam which was built around this area has also added a new perspective to the place. So, using those kinds of potentials can create the amazing surroundings that we can see right now.
The other thing that this area specifically has is, the natural resources not just the wildlife. The wildlife is amazing because just simply mentioning numbers; close to 1000 African elephants are roaming around this forest which is called the other part of the Chebera Churchura National Park. You can also find the biggest five wild animals in this Park. So, the visitors can come and see how people are living in harmony with nature, and the surrounding people. The community has a strong attachment to nature and that has contributed to the preservation of natural resources here. That is another attraction.
When you see the whole resource here from a business perspective, there are also mineral resources. You can find iron ore with a huge amount. You can also see a huge potential for coal mining. The coal is also another resource that can be easily developed. So not just tourism, there is ample potential here that can be tapped for the betterment of our country. Using this, the government has opened up the door for local and international investors to come and invest and create wealth in such a heavenly area or beautiful place.
Concerning the facility for those who are interested in investing in Ethiopia, what do you say and recommend?
There are specific needs from the investor’s side to come here and invest in this infrastructure. You can see the roads are built at this moment being facilitated. The other is providing power. The surrounding has a lot of dams that can provide sustainable power to the investors and those who want, can come and do business. Another thing is the community; how welcoming it is. You can see the community and the people are welcoming and they are eager to come here and see their places and recognize the thousand years of history that have been preserved by the community.
Considering the huge potential in the area, the government communication service is trying to promote these untapped resources. The media houses here are also trying to show the beautiful scenery and reach the country we are. So I believe, we will make some changes in the future and that will be at least a wake-up call for the international community and for the local investors who are interested in coming here and doing business.
Thank you very much
It is my pleasure
BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 28 OCTOBER 2023
