Ethiopia

Market

Ethiopia boasted the highest economic growth rate in Africa in the past five years (IMF estimate for 2015: GNP growth 11.2%) and has ambitious development plans for the next five. The country’s economic development is mainly due to a range of policies on several fronts, from infrastructure to education, from energy to urban development, from health to agricultural productivity. All these areas experienced significant improvement that translated into a positive market transformation.

Significant events in the year

During the year, works on existing projects continued, and contractual variants described in detail below were agreed.

The table below shows quantitative values for the main projects in the portfolio at December 31, 2015:

Gibe III

The Gibe project envisages the construction of a 1,870 MW hydroelectric plant as well as of a 66kw power line from the Sodo-Wolayta substation to the Gibe III site. At December 31, 2015, the works had reached completion stage. The remaining part pertains to the spillway and to finishings in the power station and the external areas occupied by the site.

Gerd

The Gerd project, located at approximately 500 Km North-West of the capital Addis Ababa, in the Benishangul - Gumuz region along the Blue Nile, consists in the development of a hydroelectric plant called “Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam” (GERDP), entailing the construction of the largest dam in the African continent (1,800 long, 170 meters high). The project also involves the development of two power stations on the riverbanks of the Blue Nile, each equipped with 16 turbines with a power of 375 MW. At December 31, 2015, construction work on the riverbank power plants, the permanent camp, and the construction site roads was mostly completed, as well as work, on diverting the Nile into the special channel.

2016 outlook

In 2016, the Group shall continue to pursue new business opportunities linked to the country’s growing development.