Voith has officially opened a new East Africa Hub in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, with the facility to coordinate hydropower projects in nine countries in the east of the continent.
The opening ceremony on May 11 was attended by Ethiopia's State Minister of Water, Irrigation and Electricity Dr. Frehiwot Woldehanna, German ambassador to Ethiopia Brita Wagener, Uwe Wehnhardt, CEO of Voith Hydro and Member of the Corporate Management Board, and numerous guests from the business and political arenas.
In his opening address, Uwe Wehnhardt emphasized the enormous potential of hydropower in the region. “Voith has been supporting the development of clean energy generation in Africa since the 1940s. We are reinforcing this commitment through the opening of our facility in Addis Ababa,” he said. ““Good market conditions and the proximity to our customers and partners, as well as the hydropower market potential and impressive economic development in recent years make Ethiopia an ideal base for our new site.”
Voith said it will work with customers and investors to continue to play an active role in developing a sustainable energy supply in Africa. As part of this, training measures will in future be coordinated from Addis Ababa.
With a hydropower potential of 45,000 MW, Ethiopia has one of the largest resources on the African continent. Since 2011, the country has been boosting the development of renewable energies and aims to be the energy hub for East Africa in the medium term. “Due to the longstanding history of hydropower projects in Ethiopia there are a large number of well-trained experts in the country. Some of these experts are now supporting us in our new East Africa Hub,” explained Wehnhardt.
