Ethiopia - Mott MacDonald

Since undertaking feasibility studies on water resources development and investigating, designing and supervising water supply projects in the 1970s, Mott MacDonald has been supporting clients in Ethiopia’s education, health, environmental, and water sectors.

The development of a roadmap to improve coordination of donor support will help achieve best value from international finance.

Health

Our health experts are leading the final review of a program that addresses HIV prevention and sexual and reproductive health and rights, as well as gender-based violence among young people aged 10-24 years, such as female genital mutilation/cutting, rape, abduction, and child marriage. Our review will ascertain whether the program objectives have been achieved, and will fill knowledge gaps, provide lessons learned, and suggest the way forward for the program. The initiative is funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy and implemented by UNFPA and UNICEF Ethiopia as a joint program.

We recently guided the development of a roadmap to improve the coordination of donor support on behalf of the Ethiopian government. The roadmap outlines a number of activities to help ensure that the best possible value is obtained from international financing for the country’s health sector. For examples donors should align with Ethiopia’s planning cycle rather than the other way round. Another stream of work aims to change the focus on donors’ rules and procedures: the government is documenting the advantages of using its own rules and procedures.

Education

The UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) wanted to increase the results focus of its education portfolio. We investigated how DFID could transfer resources based on agreed results. Our recommendations included offering higher incentives to the four emerging regions and basing "results" on students completing particular schooling levels.

Transport

We're providing technical review and advisory services to the Ethiopian Railway Corporation to help optimize the design of a 472-mile (760-kilometer) standard-gauge electrified railway from Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti. The advice and skill transfer covers a range of disciplines from transport and operations planning, to geotechnical, bridges, signaling, and alignment design.

Water

As part of the Koga Irrigation and Watershed Management Project, funded by the African Development Bank, we designed and supervised construction of the Koga dam and developed irrigation to help reduce poverty, increase food security, and improve rural employment opportunities through greater agricultural productivity.

Another prestigious project that positively impacted local communities is the 15 Towns Water Supply and Sanitation Project. Ethiopia’s Ministry of Water Resources appointed Mott MacDonald, with local firm AG Consult, to deliver the project, which involved supplying clean water to 500,000 people in four of the country's regions.

Mott MacDonald provided Addis Ababa Water and Sewerage Authority with feasibility, optioneering, and detailed design services to upgrade a transmission pipe to increase potable water supply to Ethiopia’s capital. Water supply was increased by 33 million gallons (125,000 cubic meters) per day through 40 wells tapping an aquifer 1,300 feet (400 meters) deep.

Environment

We prepared a priority plan for growth of the Tana and Beles basins. As sub-basins of the Abbay river basin, they have a substantial potential for irrigated hydropower development. The project’s aim has been to develop an integrated regional economic development framework and a practical investment promotion project within the parameters of natural resources available and other endowments.