ENAAddis Ababa
The Ethiopian Airlines and the Gabon Airlines yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding MoU to cooperate in technical and manpower training.
Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake and Gabon Airlines President Director General Christian Bongo signed the MoU.
Speaking on the occasion Girma said that the Ethiopian Airlines would provide technical assistance and training to the Gabon Airlines until the airway is well equipped.
The CEO said his airline would train Gabonese pilots and provide maintenance service to Gabonese aircrafts.
Girma said the Ethiopian Airlines has the responsibility of extending support to airways in Africa for most of them are in bankruptcy.
He said the Gabonese Airlines has requested its Ethiopian counterpart to increase its flight to Libreville, Gabon, which is now twice a week, for it is profitable.
Bongo on his part said that the Gabon Airlines resumed operation a year ago after closure and needs Ethiopian Airlines support.
He said the Ethiopian Airlines would help the Gabon Airlines in training its pilots and maintaining planes.
Bongo further indicated that the experience the Airlines would get from the Ethiopian Airlines, the most popular in Africa, is significant.
Monday, October 23, 2006
Banks Competing for Visa Card Primacy
Issayas Mekuria
Dashen Bank S.C and Barclaycard Kenya are deep into a dispute over who legitimately has the right to be Ethiopia's Visa card service provider.
For more than 30 years, Barclaycard services only existed at Ethiopian Airlines and the stores run by the Ethiopian Tourist Trade Enterprise. But that changed six years ago, when Barclaycard Kenya began being represented in Ethiopia by CcSI.
Since then, CcSI has been offering VISA, MasterCard, American Express and JCB card services. Today, CcSI has over 70 commercial outlets that deal in credit card services, 34 of which are active in using the point of sales (POS) terminals that CcSI installed.
Dashen Bank was one of these outlets, offering Visa based cash advance for four of those years. But in March 2006, Dashen became a VISA Association Principal in its own right. And in July, when Dashen started operating its own POS at different outlets and providing its own VISA card services, a dispute was sparked between the two parties.
According to the VISA Association regulations, if a local bank is providing VISA services, then a cross-border VISA service from another VISA principal is not permitted. Therefore, in accordance to this, Dashen requested Barclaycard to cease providing VISA card services in Ethiopia as it was now the legitimate principal in the country.
"There is no reason for a dispute to arise, all we are saying is that the norm should be followed," said, Lulseged Teferi, president of Dashen Bank. "We have no problems with another local Bank becoming a VISA principal."
Nikodimos Makonnen, Managing Director of CcSI, confirmed Dashen's claim that a Principal Bank cannot perform cross-border services.
"Nevertheless, the case of Barclaycard is looked upon in a different light," he said.
Barclaycard in Nairobi has been giving service for more than 35 years in over 42 African countries. Since most African banks did not provide credit card services, Barclaycard has been providing cross-border services quite freely.
Nikidimos told Fortune that of course Barclaycard believes in upholding the VISA regulations.
But he argued that because Barclays has been the sole VISA principal in Africa for a very long time, the British Bank had been allowed to be a principal for other credit card businesses, such as MasterCard and American Express, although VISA regulations had it that its principals could not. According to the managing director, Barclays has 25,000 card users in Africa, with 50pc holding a VISA, 35pc being Mastercard and American Express holding 10pc.
Barclays Bank was founded in the United Kingdom in 1896. Although the Bank's headquarters are in London, Barclays has 815 branches around the world and has 111 billion Pounds Sterling in capital. Barclaycard has 95,000 international retailer relationships and 5.3 million international cards in issue.
When Dashen became a VISA principal and started performing its duties, Barclays moved on to United Bank S.C, which will now be responsible for the cash advance work that Dashen used to perform.
United signed the contract with Barclaycard on July 26, 2006. It has since started rendering cash advance services from its branches at the Addis Abeba Hilton Hotel and on Africa Avenue in Bole.
"Because I want my Bank to become strong in foreign currency, I pounced on the opportunity to sign with Barclays as soon as I found out that Dashen finalized its contract," Birhanu Getaneh, president of United Bank told Fortune. "I have no idea about the controversy that has arisen between Dashen and Barclays."
Despite this statement, Birhanu WoldeSelassie, vice-president at Dashen, wrote a letter three weeks ago to United Bank stating that now that Dashen was a VISA principal, it was not right for United to sign with Barclaycard and render the same services. United Bank President has chosen not to comment on matters concerning the letter.
"There is nothing antagonistic between United Bank and us," said Lulseged. "All we are saying is that the regulations should be upheld, not that another local bank should not get into this aspect of the business."
According to the National Bank of Ethiopia, transactions worth beween 1.5 to two million dollars take place through VISA, MasterCard and American Express in just one month. United Bank serves more than 100 customers a month and receives five percent commission.
"A lot of money is made through this commission; hence it is not surprising that a controversy should arise around it," a local banker said.
Dashen has invested more than three million dollars to render card services. The president told Fortune that as a VISA principal, Dashen will not be receiving the five percent commission, but that the wider customer base that it intends to have will in the long-run benefit the Bank more than the commission will.
"The main reason for being a VISA principal is to ensure that the card service is of a better quality as well as more convenient for card users, which will in turn help us widen our customer base" said Lulseged.
Before it started providing credit card services in July, Dashen Bank provided cash advance services from its Sheraton Branch. After becoming VISA's principal, it has subscribed 1, 672 card users and has POS in 54 commercial outlets.
Dashen had written a letter to the VISA Association requesting that Barclaycard be stripped of its privilege to provide VISA card services in Ethiopia. Fortune was unable to get a hold of the response given by the Association if any was actually given.
Addis Fortune
Nikodimos told Fortune that as long as Dashen provides efficient VISA card services, Barclaycard intends to respect the Association's regulations and slowly move out of the market.
Dashen Bank S.C and Barclaycard Kenya are deep into a dispute over who legitimately has the right to be Ethiopia's Visa card service provider.
For more than 30 years, Barclaycard services only existed at Ethiopian Airlines and the stores run by the Ethiopian Tourist Trade Enterprise. But that changed six years ago, when Barclaycard Kenya began being represented in Ethiopia by CcSI.
Since then, CcSI has been offering VISA, MasterCard, American Express and JCB card services. Today, CcSI has over 70 commercial outlets that deal in credit card services, 34 of which are active in using the point of sales (POS) terminals that CcSI installed.
Dashen Bank was one of these outlets, offering Visa based cash advance for four of those years. But in March 2006, Dashen became a VISA Association Principal in its own right. And in July, when Dashen started operating its own POS at different outlets and providing its own VISA card services, a dispute was sparked between the two parties.
According to the VISA Association regulations, if a local bank is providing VISA services, then a cross-border VISA service from another VISA principal is not permitted. Therefore, in accordance to this, Dashen requested Barclaycard to cease providing VISA card services in Ethiopia as it was now the legitimate principal in the country.
"There is no reason for a dispute to arise, all we are saying is that the norm should be followed," said, Lulseged Teferi, president of Dashen Bank. "We have no problems with another local Bank becoming a VISA principal."
Nikodimos Makonnen, Managing Director of CcSI, confirmed Dashen's claim that a Principal Bank cannot perform cross-border services.
"Nevertheless, the case of Barclaycard is looked upon in a different light," he said.
Barclaycard in Nairobi has been giving service for more than 35 years in over 42 African countries. Since most African banks did not provide credit card services, Barclaycard has been providing cross-border services quite freely.
Nikidimos told Fortune that of course Barclaycard believes in upholding the VISA regulations.
But he argued that because Barclays has been the sole VISA principal in Africa for a very long time, the British Bank had been allowed to be a principal for other credit card businesses, such as MasterCard and American Express, although VISA regulations had it that its principals could not. According to the managing director, Barclays has 25,000 card users in Africa, with 50pc holding a VISA, 35pc being Mastercard and American Express holding 10pc.
Barclays Bank was founded in the United Kingdom in 1896. Although the Bank's headquarters are in London, Barclays has 815 branches around the world and has 111 billion Pounds Sterling in capital. Barclaycard has 95,000 international retailer relationships and 5.3 million international cards in issue.
When Dashen became a VISA principal and started performing its duties, Barclays moved on to United Bank S.C, which will now be responsible for the cash advance work that Dashen used to perform.
United signed the contract with Barclaycard on July 26, 2006. It has since started rendering cash advance services from its branches at the Addis Abeba Hilton Hotel and on Africa Avenue in Bole.
"Because I want my Bank to become strong in foreign currency, I pounced on the opportunity to sign with Barclays as soon as I found out that Dashen finalized its contract," Birhanu Getaneh, president of United Bank told Fortune. "I have no idea about the controversy that has arisen between Dashen and Barclays."
Despite this statement, Birhanu WoldeSelassie, vice-president at Dashen, wrote a letter three weeks ago to United Bank stating that now that Dashen was a VISA principal, it was not right for United to sign with Barclaycard and render the same services. United Bank President has chosen not to comment on matters concerning the letter.
"There is nothing antagonistic between United Bank and us," said Lulseged. "All we are saying is that the regulations should be upheld, not that another local bank should not get into this aspect of the business."
According to the National Bank of Ethiopia, transactions worth beween 1.5 to two million dollars take place through VISA, MasterCard and American Express in just one month. United Bank serves more than 100 customers a month and receives five percent commission.
"A lot of money is made through this commission; hence it is not surprising that a controversy should arise around it," a local banker said.
Dashen has invested more than three million dollars to render card services. The president told Fortune that as a VISA principal, Dashen will not be receiving the five percent commission, but that the wider customer base that it intends to have will in the long-run benefit the Bank more than the commission will.
"The main reason for being a VISA principal is to ensure that the card service is of a better quality as well as more convenient for card users, which will in turn help us widen our customer base" said Lulseged.
Before it started providing credit card services in July, Dashen Bank provided cash advance services from its Sheraton Branch. After becoming VISA's principal, it has subscribed 1, 672 card users and has POS in 54 commercial outlets.
Dashen had written a letter to the VISA Association requesting that Barclaycard be stripped of its privilege to provide VISA card services in Ethiopia. Fortune was unable to get a hold of the response given by the Association if any was actually given.
Addis Fortune
Nikodimos told Fortune that as long as Dashen provides efficient VISA card services, Barclaycard intends to respect the Association's regulations and slowly move out of the market.
Ethiopian Airlines set to buy five aircrafts
Ethiopian Airlines set to buy five aircrafts
By Kaleyesus Bekele (The Reporter)
Ethiopian Airlines, on Thursday, announced it planned to purchase five new aircrafts.
In a joint press conference organized by Airbus and Ethiopian at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Girma Wake, Ethiopian CEO, said that Ethiopian needed to buy five jetliners. Girma told journalists that the Airline had invited Boeing and Airbus to present proposals. Ethiopian has been considering buying the Airbus A350 and Boeing B787-9 (dreamliner) aircrafts. "We are holding talks with the manufacturers. But we have not yet decided on which aircraft to aquire," Girma said.
In 2004 Ethiopian evaluated the A 350 and B787 dreamliner aircrafts and opted to buy the latter. In January 2005, Ethiopian placed orders for ten B787 aircraft with a total value of 1.2 billion dollars. Delivery for these aircraft will begin in 2008. "We opted to buy the B787 because it was more convenient to bring the aircraft into our system. This does not mean that A350 is a bad aircraft," Girma told journalists. "There is a neck to neck competition between the two aircraft manufacturers," he added.
As part of its fleet modernization program, Ethiopian has acquired eleven B767 and B737 aircrafts in the past three years. However, the growing number of passengers has prompted the airline to buy additional aircraft. Recently, it leased an A330-200 from a company called Societede Transport Aerien Regional. According to Girma, the comparison was made based on the price of the aircraft, its performance and the investment that was required to introduce the aircraft into Ethiopian's system.
The Airbus A380, the ever largest passenger aircraft, this week, conducted high altitude test flights in Addis Ababa. The new aircraft, equipped with four engines manufactured by Alliance Engine, and weighing about 560 tons, landed in Addis Ababa last Monday. It flew seven hours directly from Toulouse, France to Addis Ababa.
The A380 crew, which comprises of test pilots, flight engineers and other experts from the European Aviation Safety Agency, conducted several test flights in Addis Ababa in the past four days.
Captain Etienne Tarnowski, head of the crew, said that the particular A380 he commanded was the fifth prototype aircraft. He added that the performance of the aircraft was tested under extreme conditions. "Addis Ababa was selected for the test flight for its high altitude [7,500 feet above sea level] and for its airport facility."
Alemayehu Tekle, general manager of the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise, said that the new runway and taxiway at the airport demonstrated it was of a high standard by accommodating the A380 aircraft. President Girma Woldegiorgis, Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Junedin Saddo, Minister of Transport and Communication and the ambassadors of Germany, UK, France and Spain and other officials visited the prototype aircraft.
The A380 is a 555-seater aircraft and double decker which consumes three litters of fuel per 100 kms per seat. The number of seats could be increased up to 800 by changing the configuration. The price of the aircraft is 300 million dollars. Airbus spent 10.7 billion dollars on the A380 aircraft development program. So far five A380 prototype aircraft have been manufactured. Four of them are equipped with Rolls-Roce engines.
Mr Hadi Akoum, vice president of customer relations for Africa, said that the A380 has attracted about 200 orders from 16 airlines. Air France, Lufthansa, Singapore, China Southern, China Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Quatar are some of the airlines that have placed orders for A380. Mr Akoum said so far there was no African airline which had ordered the A380. "We manufacture 13 different aircrafts. We started to sell the aircrafts to Africa in the '70s. We hope to find African airlines who will order the A380," he added.
Three weeks ago airbus informed its A380 customers of a further delay in the delivery schedule of the aircraft. According to the company's revised plan, the first A380 will be delivered in October 2007.
Girma Wake said the A380 was too big for Ethiopia's needs." .At the moment we don't dream to acquire this giant aircraft. But we are grateful to Airbus for picking up Addis for the first test flights in Africa," he added. Airbus will reportedly pay substantial fees to the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise and Ethiopian for the airport facilities and other services they rendered during the test flight. The A380 yesterday, left for the United Arab Emirates. Airbus has so far conducted test flights for the A380 in the UAE, Columbia and Canada. It will also have similar tests in China, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, and India.
Airbus is a European consortium owned by the governments of France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The company was established 30 years ago and is headquartered in Toulouse.
Source: The Reporter
By Kaleyesus Bekele (The Reporter)
Ethiopian Airlines, on Thursday, announced it planned to purchase five new aircrafts.
In a joint press conference organized by Airbus and Ethiopian at the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, Girma Wake, Ethiopian CEO, said that Ethiopian needed to buy five jetliners. Girma told journalists that the Airline had invited Boeing and Airbus to present proposals. Ethiopian has been considering buying the Airbus A350 and Boeing B787-9 (dreamliner) aircrafts. "We are holding talks with the manufacturers. But we have not yet decided on which aircraft to aquire," Girma said.
In 2004 Ethiopian evaluated the A 350 and B787 dreamliner aircrafts and opted to buy the latter. In January 2005, Ethiopian placed orders for ten B787 aircraft with a total value of 1.2 billion dollars. Delivery for these aircraft will begin in 2008. "We opted to buy the B787 because it was more convenient to bring the aircraft into our system. This does not mean that A350 is a bad aircraft," Girma told journalists. "There is a neck to neck competition between the two aircraft manufacturers," he added.
As part of its fleet modernization program, Ethiopian has acquired eleven B767 and B737 aircrafts in the past three years. However, the growing number of passengers has prompted the airline to buy additional aircraft. Recently, it leased an A330-200 from a company called Societede Transport Aerien Regional. According to Girma, the comparison was made based on the price of the aircraft, its performance and the investment that was required to introduce the aircraft into Ethiopian's system.
The Airbus A380, the ever largest passenger aircraft, this week, conducted high altitude test flights in Addis Ababa. The new aircraft, equipped with four engines manufactured by Alliance Engine, and weighing about 560 tons, landed in Addis Ababa last Monday. It flew seven hours directly from Toulouse, France to Addis Ababa.
The A380 crew, which comprises of test pilots, flight engineers and other experts from the European Aviation Safety Agency, conducted several test flights in Addis Ababa in the past four days.
Captain Etienne Tarnowski, head of the crew, said that the particular A380 he commanded was the fifth prototype aircraft. He added that the performance of the aircraft was tested under extreme conditions. "Addis Ababa was selected for the test flight for its high altitude [7,500 feet above sea level] and for its airport facility."
Alemayehu Tekle, general manager of the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise, said that the new runway and taxiway at the airport demonstrated it was of a high standard by accommodating the A380 aircraft. President Girma Woldegiorgis, Seyoum Mesfin, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Junedin Saddo, Minister of Transport and Communication and the ambassadors of Germany, UK, France and Spain and other officials visited the prototype aircraft.
The A380 is a 555-seater aircraft and double decker which consumes three litters of fuel per 100 kms per seat. The number of seats could be increased up to 800 by changing the configuration. The price of the aircraft is 300 million dollars. Airbus spent 10.7 billion dollars on the A380 aircraft development program. So far five A380 prototype aircraft have been manufactured. Four of them are equipped with Rolls-Roce engines.
Mr Hadi Akoum, vice president of customer relations for Africa, said that the A380 has attracted about 200 orders from 16 airlines. Air France, Lufthansa, Singapore, China Southern, China Virgin Atlantic, Emirates and Quatar are some of the airlines that have placed orders for A380. Mr Akoum said so far there was no African airline which had ordered the A380. "We manufacture 13 different aircrafts. We started to sell the aircrafts to Africa in the '70s. We hope to find African airlines who will order the A380," he added.
Three weeks ago airbus informed its A380 customers of a further delay in the delivery schedule of the aircraft. According to the company's revised plan, the first A380 will be delivered in October 2007.
Girma Wake said the A380 was too big for Ethiopia's needs." .At the moment we don't dream to acquire this giant aircraft. But we are grateful to Airbus for picking up Addis for the first test flights in Africa," he added. Airbus will reportedly pay substantial fees to the Ethiopian Airport Enterprise and Ethiopian for the airport facilities and other services they rendered during the test flight. The A380 yesterday, left for the United Arab Emirates. Airbus has so far conducted test flights for the A380 in the UAE, Columbia and Canada. It will also have similar tests in China, South Africa, Egypt, Australia, and India.
Airbus is a European consortium owned by the governments of France, Germany, Spain and the UK. The company was established 30 years ago and is headquartered in Toulouse.
Source: The Reporter
Ethiopia: Girma Leaves Ethiopian's Door Open
Addis Fortune (Addis Ababa)
October 24, 2006
amrat G. Giorgis
The gargantuan Airbus 380 landed successfully in Bole Airport last week, to the delight of local dignitaries. But in 60 years of history, Ethiopian Airlines has never once purchased an Airbus. But this does not mean that the national airline and the European supplier have not spent many long hours in meetings and otherwise courting each other. Maybe not too far in the future, Airbus' moment in Ethiopia will finally come.
With his trademark witty remarks, Ethiopian Airlines chief, Girma Wake, remained bemused as to whether there is any chance for his company to acquire Airbus A380, the largest aircraft the world has seen to date.
"For us to dream to have something like that in the immediate future is not likely," he told members of the press on Thursday, October 19, in a joint press conference he gave with Airbus officials, inside the new cargo terminal. "If the Sheraton refuses to let us have room, we may consider it for a hotel."
Jokes aside, Girma felt pleased to see the A380 landing at the Bole International Airport on Monday, October 16. He was pleased to see Ethiopians exposed to "what is outside in the world".
Amidst uncertainties, this super jumbo jet successfully landed at 5:20pm, to conduct a five-day test flight cruising in high altitude airport with 2,500m above see level. According to Etienne Tarnowski, one of the two test pilots, Addis was picked for it has the right altitude and temperature, factors required for technical reasons in the process of certifying the aircraft for commercial purpose.
One of the five aircrafts of its model, the jumbo jet that came to Addis was fitted with new engine manufactured by Alliance Engine, a European firm.
"We are here to study and assess the behaviour of the engine in high altitude and take data on its performance," said Mr. Tarnowski.
The pilots performed over six takeoffs and landing during the week. To the delight of Ethiopia's aviation authorities, Tarnowski told the media he found Bole International Airport to have "a perfect runway" and the taxiway to be in "a very good shape".
The sense of pride by the authorities is deep. A series of visits by President Girma W. Giorgis and Seyoum Mesfin and Junadin Sado, ministers of Foreign Affairs and Transport and Communications, respectively, reflected that.
"Our facility has proven to be capable of handling even the largest aircraft in the world," said Alemayehu Tekle, general manager of the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise. "We are proud of our airport."
For a landing fee said to be more than 14,000 dollars, the airport indeed managed to entertain the biggest aircraft ever manufactured with a net weight of 560,000Kg and a width of 80m. The aircraft left the airport with no reported damage to the facilities, with the exception of a broken signal light during a turn-around on the taxiway.
"We have given the Enterprise our insurance details," said one of the three members of Airbus' advance mission.
Enterprise managers, however, feel that the damage is Very negligible in the face of what A380 appearance to their airport would do in terms of international exposure. It is the first African airport to receive this huge aircraft, whose making and delivery became a source of international controversy, starting from its original inception.
Minister of Transport and Communications, Junadin Sado, had a lighter moment with Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Girma Wake, before a visit inside Airbus' A380. They were accompanied by one of the two Airbus test pilots, Etienne Tarnowski, and Hadi Akoum, vice president of Sales for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean.
Relatively young compared to its archrival aircraft manufacturers, the American Boeing, the European Airbus has a different analysis on how demand in the aviation industry will evolve in the coming two decades. This is ironic because their respective projections of the volume of business are almost identical.
Both manufacturers hardly disagree on the 5.3pc growth of the industry, almost tripling in 20 years. This will require the making of 17,300 new passenger and freight aircrafts with a value of close to two trillion dollars. Their differences rather lie on what sort of aircrafts will be needed by the industry.
Airbus gambles on larger aircraft that could fly thousands of kilometres, carrying over 500 passengers. This, its officials argue, will enable airlines to offer comfort due to added space, and at a much lower cost to individual passengers. The company claims the new aircraft is too irresistible for it offers airlines a long-haul aircraft that consumes less than three litres of fuel per passenger over 100Km, a consumption as good as any regular car.
"The A380's efficiency and advanced technology results in 15 to 20pc lower seat-mile costs," said a press statement Airbus issued last month. "Its range is 10pc greater than that of other large aircraft. Quite simply, the A380 will provide passengers on major long-haul routes like London to Singapore and Los Angeles to Sydney with a new way of flying."
Executives at Boeing have a different outlook. They see passengers reluctant to fly long distances such as from Chicago to Sydney, prefering shorter distances. They also see airport administrations across the world little prepared to handle not only such a gigantic aircraft, but also the influx of people that come off all at once. The amount of investment countries are required to turn their airports compatible to the landing of A380 and the crowd created inside airports and in front of immigration posts are too much trouble to go for any aircraft that carries over 300 passengers, Boeing executives believe.
Yet, close to 16 airlines, including those based in the United States such as UPS and Federal Express, have placed 159 orders to date. If certification is successfully obtained, Singapore Airlines will be the first operator to use this aircraft, although the largest order, 43 aircrafts, has been placed by Emirates.
Whether or not delivery will meet deadline is a subject of international discussion. Delays in manufacturing have subjected Airbus' parent company, the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company (EADS), to a seven billion dollar loss in market capitalization, and led the replacement of its chief executive officer by Louis Gallois, the second boss in just 10 months.
Airliners that have ordered A380 are being paid compensation for the delay, while some of them are even threatening to cancel their orders, according to international reports. No African airline is to benefit from this windfall, for no one in Africa has placed an order for this aircraft.
Nevertheless, Airbus claims to have a 56pc lead on Boeing when it comes to the African market, which accounts two per cent of the world air traffic and three per cent of the global commercial passenger fleet. It has 130 aircrafts operated by 23 airlines across the continent, including three of the four largest: South African, Egypt and Kenyan.
Although Tarnowski told members of the press last week that he sees Addis as a friendly environment for they have had similar test flights before with A320, and consider Ethiopia as "close to our heart", its national carrier has never acquired a single aircraft manufactured by Airbus to date.
It had a close call two years ago when it introduced its midsize plane, A350, designed to rival Boeing's 787, aka Dreamliner. In spite of reported pressure by European leaders on the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Ethiopian negotiators were never convinced A350 would be a best bet when analysed in 10 years forecast.
"In fact, they had given us a wonderful offer in price," an Ethiopian official recalls. "We are not convinced that the economic analysis was in our favour, thus did not dare touch it."
Ethiopian negotiators were adamant that A350 had little to offer in terms of costs - fuel consumption, maintenance and depreciation - when compared to Boeing's 787, that the American giant describes it a "game changer".
Understandably, the news that Ethiopian was to conclude the purchase deal for 10 Boeing 787, with delivery date to be completed in 2011, was devastating to Airbus marketers. They were about to break the Boeing monopoly on one of Africa's celebrated airlines it watched closely for over half a century.
"It was a neck to neck competition," recalled CEO Girma, who was then new in his current position, replacing Bisrat Negatu.
Luckily, his technicians were vindicated when Airbus came out with a painful discloser during the Paris air show in July 2005 that it would postpone the launching of A350. And recently, the European aircraft manufacturer abandoned the making of this model and decided to introduce a newer version, A350XWB, whose development is estimated to cost 10 billion dollars. It will carry 270 passengers in three-class configuration and will cruise as fast as the A380 that is now under testing.
When, and if, delivered by 2012, Airbus promised this model to provide a 21st Century solutions to the global aviation industry.
Says Airbus: "Designed to have longer maintenance intervals with lower tasks and less man-hours, cash operating costs will be up to 10pc lower than competing 787 models and 20pc lower than current generation competitors."
It just sound likes Airbus is answering the complaints made by Ethiopian negotiators two years ago. But Ethiopian has not given up hope on Airbus, according to Girma.
"If Airbus is to come with concerted plans, the door is open," he told the media, in the joint press conference with Airbus executives. "If they are to come with a model that will compete Boeing, we will be happy to consider it."
And they have already come to knock on his door: Three delegates from the company, including Hadi Akoum, vice president of Sales for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean, and Somas Appavou, sales director for Africa and Indian Sub-ocean, were in Addis a month and half ago to conduct a presentation to senior officials of the Ethiopian Airlines.
"They have changed so much on paper," said one of these senior executives.
Another senior executive who attended the meeting, however, felt Airbus has yet to take this project off the drawing board. His company is interested to acquire five new aircrafts beyond 2011, to add what will be a fleet side of 33 aircrafts by then.
It will be but a few of the 640 aircraft African airlines will need in the next 20 years, at a cost of 60 billion dollars, according to global market forecast. Aviation experts anticipate that this will be driven by a strong demand due to increasing trade ties and inflow of tourists from Europe, China, the Middle East and North America.
Nonetheless, Ethiopian officials do caution the likelihood of delays with the delivery of the newly developed A350-XWB.
"They are confronted with the delay on A380 that pushes the deadline on A350-XWB even further than 2012," said a senior management staff of Ethiopian. "We do not think it is wise to start negotiations on something that is not yet firm."
Airbus officials who came to Addis to attend the landing of their largest aircraft last week, are promising to come back next month, after putting their acts together, and perhaps tap on the door CEO Girma has promised is open for them.
October 24, 2006
amrat G. Giorgis
The gargantuan Airbus 380 landed successfully in Bole Airport last week, to the delight of local dignitaries. But in 60 years of history, Ethiopian Airlines has never once purchased an Airbus. But this does not mean that the national airline and the European supplier have not spent many long hours in meetings and otherwise courting each other. Maybe not too far in the future, Airbus' moment in Ethiopia will finally come.
With his trademark witty remarks, Ethiopian Airlines chief, Girma Wake, remained bemused as to whether there is any chance for his company to acquire Airbus A380, the largest aircraft the world has seen to date.
"For us to dream to have something like that in the immediate future is not likely," he told members of the press on Thursday, October 19, in a joint press conference he gave with Airbus officials, inside the new cargo terminal. "If the Sheraton refuses to let us have room, we may consider it for a hotel."
Jokes aside, Girma felt pleased to see the A380 landing at the Bole International Airport on Monday, October 16. He was pleased to see Ethiopians exposed to "what is outside in the world".
Amidst uncertainties, this super jumbo jet successfully landed at 5:20pm, to conduct a five-day test flight cruising in high altitude airport with 2,500m above see level. According to Etienne Tarnowski, one of the two test pilots, Addis was picked for it has the right altitude and temperature, factors required for technical reasons in the process of certifying the aircraft for commercial purpose.
One of the five aircrafts of its model, the jumbo jet that came to Addis was fitted with new engine manufactured by Alliance Engine, a European firm.
"We are here to study and assess the behaviour of the engine in high altitude and take data on its performance," said Mr. Tarnowski.
The pilots performed over six takeoffs and landing during the week. To the delight of Ethiopia's aviation authorities, Tarnowski told the media he found Bole International Airport to have "a perfect runway" and the taxiway to be in "a very good shape".
The sense of pride by the authorities is deep. A series of visits by President Girma W. Giorgis and Seyoum Mesfin and Junadin Sado, ministers of Foreign Affairs and Transport and Communications, respectively, reflected that.
"Our facility has proven to be capable of handling even the largest aircraft in the world," said Alemayehu Tekle, general manager of the Ethiopian Airports Enterprise. "We are proud of our airport."
For a landing fee said to be more than 14,000 dollars, the airport indeed managed to entertain the biggest aircraft ever manufactured with a net weight of 560,000Kg and a width of 80m. The aircraft left the airport with no reported damage to the facilities, with the exception of a broken signal light during a turn-around on the taxiway.
"We have given the Enterprise our insurance details," said one of the three members of Airbus' advance mission.
Enterprise managers, however, feel that the damage is Very negligible in the face of what A380 appearance to their airport would do in terms of international exposure. It is the first African airport to receive this huge aircraft, whose making and delivery became a source of international controversy, starting from its original inception.
Minister of Transport and Communications, Junadin Sado, had a lighter moment with Ethiopian Airlines CEO, Girma Wake, before a visit inside Airbus' A380. They were accompanied by one of the two Airbus test pilots, Etienne Tarnowski, and Hadi Akoum, vice president of Sales for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean.
Relatively young compared to its archrival aircraft manufacturers, the American Boeing, the European Airbus has a different analysis on how demand in the aviation industry will evolve in the coming two decades. This is ironic because their respective projections of the volume of business are almost identical.
Both manufacturers hardly disagree on the 5.3pc growth of the industry, almost tripling in 20 years. This will require the making of 17,300 new passenger and freight aircrafts with a value of close to two trillion dollars. Their differences rather lie on what sort of aircrafts will be needed by the industry.
Airbus gambles on larger aircraft that could fly thousands of kilometres, carrying over 500 passengers. This, its officials argue, will enable airlines to offer comfort due to added space, and at a much lower cost to individual passengers. The company claims the new aircraft is too irresistible for it offers airlines a long-haul aircraft that consumes less than three litres of fuel per passenger over 100Km, a consumption as good as any regular car.
"The A380's efficiency and advanced technology results in 15 to 20pc lower seat-mile costs," said a press statement Airbus issued last month. "Its range is 10pc greater than that of other large aircraft. Quite simply, the A380 will provide passengers on major long-haul routes like London to Singapore and Los Angeles to Sydney with a new way of flying."
Executives at Boeing have a different outlook. They see passengers reluctant to fly long distances such as from Chicago to Sydney, prefering shorter distances. They also see airport administrations across the world little prepared to handle not only such a gigantic aircraft, but also the influx of people that come off all at once. The amount of investment countries are required to turn their airports compatible to the landing of A380 and the crowd created inside airports and in front of immigration posts are too much trouble to go for any aircraft that carries over 300 passengers, Boeing executives believe.
Yet, close to 16 airlines, including those based in the United States such as UPS and Federal Express, have placed 159 orders to date. If certification is successfully obtained, Singapore Airlines will be the first operator to use this aircraft, although the largest order, 43 aircrafts, has been placed by Emirates.
Whether or not delivery will meet deadline is a subject of international discussion. Delays in manufacturing have subjected Airbus' parent company, the European Aeronautic, Defence and Space Company (EADS), to a seven billion dollar loss in market capitalization, and led the replacement of its chief executive officer by Louis Gallois, the second boss in just 10 months.
Airliners that have ordered A380 are being paid compensation for the delay, while some of them are even threatening to cancel their orders, according to international reports. No African airline is to benefit from this windfall, for no one in Africa has placed an order for this aircraft.
Nevertheless, Airbus claims to have a 56pc lead on Boeing when it comes to the African market, which accounts two per cent of the world air traffic and three per cent of the global commercial passenger fleet. It has 130 aircrafts operated by 23 airlines across the continent, including three of the four largest: South African, Egypt and Kenyan.
Although Tarnowski told members of the press last week that he sees Addis as a friendly environment for they have had similar test flights before with A320, and consider Ethiopia as "close to our heart", its national carrier has never acquired a single aircraft manufactured by Airbus to date.
It had a close call two years ago when it introduced its midsize plane, A350, designed to rival Boeing's 787, aka Dreamliner. In spite of reported pressure by European leaders on the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Ethiopian negotiators were never convinced A350 would be a best bet when analysed in 10 years forecast.
"In fact, they had given us a wonderful offer in price," an Ethiopian official recalls. "We are not convinced that the economic analysis was in our favour, thus did not dare touch it."
Ethiopian negotiators were adamant that A350 had little to offer in terms of costs - fuel consumption, maintenance and depreciation - when compared to Boeing's 787, that the American giant describes it a "game changer".
Understandably, the news that Ethiopian was to conclude the purchase deal for 10 Boeing 787, with delivery date to be completed in 2011, was devastating to Airbus marketers. They were about to break the Boeing monopoly on one of Africa's celebrated airlines it watched closely for over half a century.
"It was a neck to neck competition," recalled CEO Girma, who was then new in his current position, replacing Bisrat Negatu.
Luckily, his technicians were vindicated when Airbus came out with a painful discloser during the Paris air show in July 2005 that it would postpone the launching of A350. And recently, the European aircraft manufacturer abandoned the making of this model and decided to introduce a newer version, A350XWB, whose development is estimated to cost 10 billion dollars. It will carry 270 passengers in three-class configuration and will cruise as fast as the A380 that is now under testing.
When, and if, delivered by 2012, Airbus promised this model to provide a 21st Century solutions to the global aviation industry.
Says Airbus: "Designed to have longer maintenance intervals with lower tasks and less man-hours, cash operating costs will be up to 10pc lower than competing 787 models and 20pc lower than current generation competitors."
It just sound likes Airbus is answering the complaints made by Ethiopian negotiators two years ago. But Ethiopian has not given up hope on Airbus, according to Girma.
"If Airbus is to come with concerted plans, the door is open," he told the media, in the joint press conference with Airbus executives. "If they are to come with a model that will compete Boeing, we will be happy to consider it."
And they have already come to knock on his door: Three delegates from the company, including Hadi Akoum, vice president of Sales for Southern Africa and Indian Ocean, and Somas Appavou, sales director for Africa and Indian Sub-ocean, were in Addis a month and half ago to conduct a presentation to senior officials of the Ethiopian Airlines.
"They have changed so much on paper," said one of these senior executives.
Another senior executive who attended the meeting, however, felt Airbus has yet to take this project off the drawing board. His company is interested to acquire five new aircrafts beyond 2011, to add what will be a fleet side of 33 aircrafts by then.
It will be but a few of the 640 aircraft African airlines will need in the next 20 years, at a cost of 60 billion dollars, according to global market forecast. Aviation experts anticipate that this will be driven by a strong demand due to increasing trade ties and inflow of tourists from Europe, China, the Middle East and North America.
Nonetheless, Ethiopian officials do caution the likelihood of delays with the delivery of the newly developed A350-XWB.
"They are confronted with the delay on A380 that pushes the deadline on A350-XWB even further than 2012," said a senior management staff of Ethiopian. "We do not think it is wise to start negotiations on something that is not yet firm."
Airbus officials who came to Addis to attend the landing of their largest aircraft last week, are promising to come back next month, after putting their acts together, and perhaps tap on the door CEO Girma has promised is open for them.
What is Yebbo? የቦ ምንድን ነው?
What is Yebbo?
When people hear about the word "Yebbo" the first thing they are asking is what is "Yebbo"? So far only few people knew what is our "Yebbo" means. As we meet several people from different parts of the world we have various meanings for "Yebbo". Some people told us Yebbo is a spear, other told us wild dog, some other people told us Yebbo is " be happy". We like all the meanings. However the real name Yebbo comes from a small farm village in Ethiopia. It is where our ancestors born, lived and had a wonderful time still having a wonderful time. It is like a place in the movie the Lion King. It is a place "Akum Metata", a place where "no worries" Yebbo is like an oasis, like a place where you smell 100% natural organic air.
Where exactly is Yebbo? Well, we tried to point the exact location of Yebbo in a map but so far it ሰ hard even to find big Ethiopian cities. However we can tell you approximately where is Yebbo located.
Yebbo is located in the state of Gojjam, in Debre Markos Awraja.
It is few miles to south west of city of Debre Markos. Most of the time people walk to Yebbo. It takes about two hrs of walking. St Mary (Yebbo Mariam) is the only church in this farm village. The people are 100% farmers. Every year when the yearly Yebbo's St Mary (Yebbo Mariam) celebration people from the town and the neighborhood go to Yebbo. In Yebbo guest is like a king. There is no invitation to be a guest. During the celebration after the church people can go anybody's house and eat and drink what every they like. People can go to anyone's house and eat and drink for free. Nobody asks who you are or where are you from.
Yebbo's soil is so fertile. people do not wait for the rainy season to cultivate their crop. instead they use irrigation and Yebbo is green all years around. Witren river is the main supply of water and irrigation system. When you go to Yebbo you will smell nature. lemon tree, coffee tree, orange tree, lavender tree, jasmine tree, wild berry, strawberry, Shola, choshim, chat, tringo, green paper, mango, tiringo, and so on.
Yebbo is a paradise. That is where our name comes from
Next time we will have the photo gallery what the actual Yebbo looks like. What to visit Yebbo? well let us know we can arrange your trip.
=====================
የቦ ምንድን ነው?
እንሆ ዛሬ የየቦን ስም ይዘን ትርጉሙን ሳንነግራችሁ ወደ አስር አመት ሊጠጋን ነው፡፡ በነዚሁ አመታት ውስጥ ስለ የቦ ያልደረሰን ጥያቄ የለም፡፡ በሪድዮ፣ በቴሌዥን በጋዜጣ፣ ሰወች በአካል መጥተው፣ በኢሜል እና በተገኘው አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ሰለየቦ ትርጉም የተጠየቅን ሲሆን፣ የሚገርመው ብዛት ያላቸው ቋንቋች ለየቦ ትርጉም አላቸው፡፡ ከነዚህም ውስጥ የቦ ማለት ጦር፣ ሀይለኛ ውሻ፣ መደሰት እና የመሳሰሉ ለየቦ የተሰጡ ትርጎሞች ናቸው፡፡
ዋናው እና ለእኛ የቦ ለማለት ያስቻለን ስም ግን የመጣው አያት ቅድማያቶቻችን ተወልደው አድገው የተወሰነው ዘር ደግሞ እስከ አሁን ከሚኖርበት ከተቀደሰው እና ከተባረከው የገጠር መንደር የተወሰደ ነው፡፡ የቦ ወይም የቦ ማርያም የሚገኘው በጎጃም ክፍለ ሀገር በደብረማርቆስ አውራጃ ከደብረ ማርቆስ ከተማ በእግር በግምት ወደ ሁለት ሰዓት ከሚወስድ የገጠር ቦታ ላይ ነው፡፡
የቦ ማለት በምድር ላይ ያለ ገነት ማለት ነው፡፡እስከ አሁን ድረስ የሚታየኝ የሰው የዋህነት፣ የእንግዳ አክባሪነት፣ እና ትሁትነት ነው፡፡ የቦ እንደሌላው የኢትዮጵያ ገበሬ ዝናብ ጠብቆ የሚያመርት ሳይሆን በመስኖ እየተጠቀመ አመቱ ሙሉ ለምለም የሆነ ቦታ ነው፡፡ ትርንጎ፣ ሎሚ፣ ቡና፣ ሾላ፣ አሽቃሞ፣ ኮሽም፣ ቃሪያ፣ ቲማቲም፣ በሶ ብላ(ዝቃ ቅቤ)፣ ጠጀ ሳር፣ ፊላ፣ ቄጠማ፣ ባኅር ዛፍ፣ እነጆሪ፣ ዘንባባ፣ እና የመሳሰሉት እፅዋት የተለመዱ ሲሆኑ ገና የውትርንን ወንዝ ተሻግረው ወደ የቦ ሲገቡ የሚቀበልዎ ሽታ ንፁህ፣ በተፈጥሮ ማእዛ ያማረ ጤናማ አየር ነው፡፡
የቦ ማርያም በያመቱ የሚከበር ታላቅ ንግስ (ባዕል) ነው፡፡ የየቦ ማርያም ቀን ሁሌ የሚውለው ፍስለታ ከመግባቱ አንድ ቀን ቀደም ብሎ እሁድ ቀን ነው፡፡ በዚህ ባህል ላይ ለመገኘት ከየቦታ ያሉ ምእመናን ከከተማም ሆነ ከገጠሩ መሄድ የተለመደ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ቀን ማንም ሰው ከማንም ቤት ከብቶ መብላተም ሆነ መጠጣት መብቱ ነው፡፡ የሚገርመው የየቦ ሰው በመንገድ ያለፈውን ሰው ሁሉ እረ ባካች ጠበል ቅመሱ እያለ ቤቱ መጋበዙ ነው፡፡ በመቦቴ አፈር ስሆን እያለ ሰውን ካልበላችሁ ብሎ መለመን የተለመደ ነው፡፡ የቦ አንድን ሰው ሰላም ለማለት ማወቅ አያስፈልገም፡፡ ሰላምታ የእግዚያብሄር ነው ሰለሚባል የተገናኘው ሰው ሁሉ ሰላም ተባባሎ ተሳስቆ ነው የሚለያየው፡፡ ታዲያ የየቦ ማሪያም ቀን ሁሉም ሰው እኩል ነው፡፡ ሁሉም ሰው በፈለገው ቤት ገብቶ ከፈለገው ጓሮ ሄዶ በልቶ ጠጥቶ ሆዱ ሞልቶ ተደስቶ ለዛሬ አመት ያድረሰን ብሎ አመስግኖ ነው የሚሄደው፡፡
ያ ነው የኛ የቦ፡፡የምድር ላይ ገነት፡፡ ሰው የሚዋደድበት፣ ሰው የሚፋቀርበት ሰላም እና ወንድማማችነት የሰፈነበት ቦታ ለመፍጠር፡፡
ታዲያ ያው እንደለመድነው ወደ የቦ ሲመጡ የምንቀበልዎ እንደ እህት እንደ ወንድም፣ እንደ አባት እንደ እናት አድረገን ነው፡፡
በዚህ አጋጣሚ ይህን ወብሳይት ከዚህ ደረጃ ላይ እንዲደርስ በሃሳብም ሆነ በማንኛውም ትብብር ላደረጋችሁልን ህዝቦች በጣም እናመሰግናለን፡፡ ባጋጣሚ የቦ ከሄዳችሁ የላካችሁ
የቄሰ ገበዝ ዋሲሁን ልጆች ልይሽ ዋሲሁን፣ የደርሰህ ዋሲሁን፣ የ እውነቱ ዋሲሁን፣ የ ሰዋለም ዋሲሁን፣ የታጫውት ዋሲሁን፣ የአንየው ደርሰህ፣ የበቃሉ ደርሰህ የየውብዳር ደርሰህ፣ ዘር ነው በሉ፡፡
ይህም ወብሳት ከዚህ በላይ ለተጠቀሱት እና ለየቦ ማርያም ህዝቦች ስም የተሰራ ነው፡፡
የቦ፡ የምድር ላይ ገነት
When people hear about the word "Yebbo" the first thing they are asking is what is "Yebbo"? So far only few people knew what is our "Yebbo" means. As we meet several people from different parts of the world we have various meanings for "Yebbo". Some people told us Yebbo is a spear, other told us wild dog, some other people told us Yebbo is " be happy". We like all the meanings. However the real name Yebbo comes from a small farm village in Ethiopia. It is where our ancestors born, lived and had a wonderful time still having a wonderful time. It is like a place in the movie the Lion King. It is a place "Akum Metata", a place where "no worries" Yebbo is like an oasis, like a place where you smell 100% natural organic air.
Where exactly is Yebbo? Well, we tried to point the exact location of Yebbo in a map but so far it ሰ hard even to find big Ethiopian cities. However we can tell you approximately where is Yebbo located.
Yebbo is located in the state of Gojjam, in Debre Markos Awraja.
It is few miles to south west of city of Debre Markos. Most of the time people walk to Yebbo. It takes about two hrs of walking. St Mary (Yebbo Mariam) is the only church in this farm village. The people are 100% farmers. Every year when the yearly Yebbo's St Mary (Yebbo Mariam) celebration people from the town and the neighborhood go to Yebbo. In Yebbo guest is like a king. There is no invitation to be a guest. During the celebration after the church people can go anybody's house and eat and drink what every they like. People can go to anyone's house and eat and drink for free. Nobody asks who you are or where are you from.
Yebbo's soil is so fertile. people do not wait for the rainy season to cultivate their crop. instead they use irrigation and Yebbo is green all years around. Witren river is the main supply of water and irrigation system. When you go to Yebbo you will smell nature. lemon tree, coffee tree, orange tree, lavender tree, jasmine tree, wild berry, strawberry, Shola, choshim, chat, tringo, green paper, mango, tiringo, and so on.
Yebbo is a paradise. That is where our name comes from
Next time we will have the photo gallery what the actual Yebbo looks like. What to visit Yebbo? well let us know we can arrange your trip.
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የቦ ምንድን ነው?
እንሆ ዛሬ የየቦን ስም ይዘን ትርጉሙን ሳንነግራችሁ ወደ አስር አመት ሊጠጋን ነው፡፡ በነዚሁ አመታት ውስጥ ስለ የቦ ያልደረሰን ጥያቄ የለም፡፡ በሪድዮ፣ በቴሌዥን በጋዜጣ፣ ሰወች በአካል መጥተው፣ በኢሜል እና በተገኘው አጋጣሚ ሁሉ ሰለየቦ ትርጉም የተጠየቅን ሲሆን፣ የሚገርመው ብዛት ያላቸው ቋንቋች ለየቦ ትርጉም አላቸው፡፡ ከነዚህም ውስጥ የቦ ማለት ጦር፣ ሀይለኛ ውሻ፣ መደሰት እና የመሳሰሉ ለየቦ የተሰጡ ትርጎሞች ናቸው፡፡
ዋናው እና ለእኛ የቦ ለማለት ያስቻለን ስም ግን የመጣው አያት ቅድማያቶቻችን ተወልደው አድገው የተወሰነው ዘር ደግሞ እስከ አሁን ከሚኖርበት ከተቀደሰው እና ከተባረከው የገጠር መንደር የተወሰደ ነው፡፡ የቦ ወይም የቦ ማርያም የሚገኘው በጎጃም ክፍለ ሀገር በደብረማርቆስ አውራጃ ከደብረ ማርቆስ ከተማ በእግር በግምት ወደ ሁለት ሰዓት ከሚወስድ የገጠር ቦታ ላይ ነው፡፡
የቦ ማለት በምድር ላይ ያለ ገነት ማለት ነው፡፡እስከ አሁን ድረስ የሚታየኝ የሰው የዋህነት፣ የእንግዳ አክባሪነት፣ እና ትሁትነት ነው፡፡ የቦ እንደሌላው የኢትዮጵያ ገበሬ ዝናብ ጠብቆ የሚያመርት ሳይሆን በመስኖ እየተጠቀመ አመቱ ሙሉ ለምለም የሆነ ቦታ ነው፡፡ ትርንጎ፣ ሎሚ፣ ቡና፣ ሾላ፣ አሽቃሞ፣ ኮሽም፣ ቃሪያ፣ ቲማቲም፣ በሶ ብላ(ዝቃ ቅቤ)፣ ጠጀ ሳር፣ ፊላ፣ ቄጠማ፣ ባኅር ዛፍ፣ እነጆሪ፣ ዘንባባ፣ እና የመሳሰሉት እፅዋት የተለመዱ ሲሆኑ ገና የውትርንን ወንዝ ተሻግረው ወደ የቦ ሲገቡ የሚቀበልዎ ሽታ ንፁህ፣ በተፈጥሮ ማእዛ ያማረ ጤናማ አየር ነው፡፡
የቦ ማርያም በያመቱ የሚከበር ታላቅ ንግስ (ባዕል) ነው፡፡ የየቦ ማርያም ቀን ሁሌ የሚውለው ፍስለታ ከመግባቱ አንድ ቀን ቀደም ብሎ እሁድ ቀን ነው፡፡ በዚህ ባህል ላይ ለመገኘት ከየቦታ ያሉ ምእመናን ከከተማም ሆነ ከገጠሩ መሄድ የተለመደ ነው፡፡ በዚህ ቀን ማንም ሰው ከማንም ቤት ከብቶ መብላተም ሆነ መጠጣት መብቱ ነው፡፡ የሚገርመው የየቦ ሰው በመንገድ ያለፈውን ሰው ሁሉ እረ ባካች ጠበል ቅመሱ እያለ ቤቱ መጋበዙ ነው፡፡ በመቦቴ አፈር ስሆን እያለ ሰውን ካልበላችሁ ብሎ መለመን የተለመደ ነው፡፡ የቦ አንድን ሰው ሰላም ለማለት ማወቅ አያስፈልገም፡፡ ሰላምታ የእግዚያብሄር ነው ሰለሚባል የተገናኘው ሰው ሁሉ ሰላም ተባባሎ ተሳስቆ ነው የሚለያየው፡፡ ታዲያ የየቦ ማሪያም ቀን ሁሉም ሰው እኩል ነው፡፡ ሁሉም ሰው በፈለገው ቤት ገብቶ ከፈለገው ጓሮ ሄዶ በልቶ ጠጥቶ ሆዱ ሞልቶ ተደስቶ ለዛሬ አመት ያድረሰን ብሎ አመስግኖ ነው የሚሄደው፡፡
ያ ነው የኛ የቦ፡፡የምድር ላይ ገነት፡፡ ሰው የሚዋደድበት፣ ሰው የሚፋቀርበት ሰላም እና ወንድማማችነት የሰፈነበት ቦታ ለመፍጠር፡፡
ታዲያ ያው እንደለመድነው ወደ የቦ ሲመጡ የምንቀበልዎ እንደ እህት እንደ ወንድም፣ እንደ አባት እንደ እናት አድረገን ነው፡፡
በዚህ አጋጣሚ ይህን ወብሳይት ከዚህ ደረጃ ላይ እንዲደርስ በሃሳብም ሆነ በማንኛውም ትብብር ላደረጋችሁልን ህዝቦች በጣም እናመሰግናለን፡፡ ባጋጣሚ የቦ ከሄዳችሁ የላካችሁ
የቄሰ ገበዝ ዋሲሁን ልጆች ልይሽ ዋሲሁን፣ የደርሰህ ዋሲሁን፣ የ እውነቱ ዋሲሁን፣ የ ሰዋለም ዋሲሁን፣ የታጫውት ዋሲሁን፣ የአንየው ደርሰህ፣ የበቃሉ ደርሰህ የየውብዳር ደርሰህ፣ ዘር ነው በሉ፡፡
ይህም ወብሳት ከዚህ በላይ ለተጠቀሱት እና ለየቦ ማርያም ህዝቦች ስም የተሰራ ነው፡፡
የቦ፡ የምድር ላይ ገነት
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