Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Thursday inaugurated the first phase of the Ogaden Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) Project in Calub, Somali Region, marking a major milestone in the country's push to unlock its energy potential.
The facility, with an annual production capacity exceeding 100 million liters, is set to play a pivotal role in Ethiopia's strategy to leverage its vast natural gas reserves for economic development.
In an interview with China Media Group (CMG) on the sidelines of the inauguration ceremony, Ahmed hailed the project as a symbol of deepening cooperation between Ethiopia and China.
"It's clear that we do have a very strong relationship with the government of China. Our diplomatic relationship, also economic relationship, is one of the exemplary ones on this continent. And today is a great day for Ethiopia, because it shows the friendship between Ethiopia and China. The investment, which is taking place in the Ogaden area today, will transform the energy sector in Ethiopia. It will also enhance our development. There is a huge amount of advantages that we're going to harness from this investment," said the prime minister.
The project is a joint venture between Ethiopia's Ministry of Mines and Petroleum and GCL Group, a leading Chinese private energy company.
"After this project is operational, it will greatly benefit Ethiopia's entire industry, agriculture, transportation, and all other sectors. Its driving effect on the national economy is very significant," said Zhu Gongshan, chairman of GCL Group.
Ethiopia inaugurates first phase of Ogaden LNG project co-developed with China
China will push for the rollout of next-generation communication networks ahead of market demand in the coming five years, a senior official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Wednesday at the annual International Postal and Telecommunications Expo (PT Expo).
The push mirrors the development plan recently issued by the ministry for the information and communications industry during the 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026-2030).
According to the plan, a new-generation communications network with comprehensive coverage and leading performance is expected to be fully established by 2030, the 5G user penetration rate will reach 95 percent, gigabit-capable broadband will connect to 320 million households, and intelligent computing power will reach 9,800 EFLOPS -- a unit of computing performance, with each unit representing one quintillion floating-point operations per second.
"We will systemically promote the development of an application-driven and appropriately future-oriented next-generation communications network, push broadband networks toward dual 10-gigabit evolution, and advance the construction of low-Earth orbit satellite internet systems. We will also holistically optimize a communications network that links ground and sea, expand and improve computing facilities, and strengthen computing-network integration and the interconnection of computing power, so as to better support the national integrated computing network," said Yu Xiaohui, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The move came as breakthroughs in digital intelligence technologies -- represented by artificial intelligence -- brought opportunities for the development of information and communication.
As of the end of July, China had deployed over 5.15 million 5G base stations, with early-stage deployment of 10-gigabit optical networks already underway and intelligent computing power standing at 2,185 EFLOPs, according to official data.
China will also deepen the integration of terrestrial and satellite networks, including commercial applications for smartphone direct-to-satellite services and the Internet of Things (IoT), ramp up research and development for 6G base stations, and advance the development of standards in key information and communication sectors, such as computing power networks and quantum communication, according to the development plan.
The PT Expo this year is being held from Tuesday to Thursday in Beijing.
China to push ahead-of-demand rollout of next-generation communications networks
