Ethiopian and Agence Française de Développement Sign €50 million Loan Agreement - 20 June, 2014
Ethiopian Airlines and the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) signed a loan agreement of 50 million euros on 20 June 2014 at the Ethiopian Airlines Headquarters. The agreement is aimed at financing the construction of the new state-of- the art cargo terminal.
Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines, Tewolde Gebremariam, and Mr. Christian YOKA, AFD Regional Director signed the agreement at Ethiopian Headquarters on 20 June 2014 in the presence of H.E. Ms. Brigitte Collet, French Ambassador to Ethiopia.
“Infrastructure development is one of the four pillars of our fast, profitable and sustainable growth strategic roadmap, Vision 2025. This loan from AFD will enable us to build our new cargo terminal, which is being constructed in 2 phases, and when completed will have 1.2 million tons annual capacity, making it one of the largest in the world. The new cargo terminal is part of our Ethiopian Cargo Vision 2025, which aims first and foremost to support our country’s fast growing export of perishables such as flowers, fruits, vegetables and meat. As part of our Ethiopian Cargo Vision 2025, we plan to operate 18 dedicated freighters serving 37 international cargo destinations by 2025.
I wish to thank our longtime partner AFD, the French Government, and the French Embassy in Addis Ababa for their continued support. Our Academy expansion is also being undertaken thanks to the financial support of AFD. We look forward working for a successful and continued partnership with AFD”, said Mr. Tewolde G. Mariam, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian.
“This credit agreement is the second of its kind after the one signed for the expansion and upgrading of Ethiopian Airlines multinational aviation training center which is nearly completed partially in operation. The new agreement shows our commitment to further support Ethiopian in its growth plan,” said Mr. Christian YOKA, AFD Regional Director for Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia and Eritrea.
Ethiopian Cargo currently has dedicated freighter services to 26 cargo destinations in Africa, the Gulf, Middle East, Asia and Europe, using 6 dedicated cargo freighters including B777-200Fs. Ethiopian Cargo is an award winning cargo service provider and is ranked 43rd by revenue out of the top 50 global cargo operators.
About Ethiopian
Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) is the fastest growing Airline in Africa. In its operations in the past close to seven decades, Ethiopian has become one of the continent’s leading carriers, unrivalled in efficiency and operational success.
Ethiopian commands the lion share of the pan-African passenger and cargo network operating the youngest and most modern fleet to more than 81 international destinations across five continents. Ethiopian fleet includes ultra-modern and environmentally friendly aircraft such as the Boeing 787, Boeing 777-300ER, Boeing 777-200LR, Boeing 777-200LR Freighter and Bombardier Q-400 with double cabin. In fact, Ethiopian is the first airline in Africa to own and operate these aircraft.
Ethiopian is currently implementing a 15-year strategic plan called Vision 2025 that will see it become the leading aviation group in Africa with seven business centers: Ethiopian Domestic and Regional Airline; Ethiopian International Passenger Airline; Ethiopian Cargo; Ethiopian MRO; Ethiopian Aviation Academy; Ethiopian In-flight Catering Services; and Ethiopian Ground Service. Ethiopian is a multi-award winning airline registering an average growth of 25% in the past seven years.
