Information note for participants

Thank you for confirming your participation at the upcoming First Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from Wednesday, 25 March to Tuesday, 31 March 2015. The Conference will be held in the United Nations Conference Centre, at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

Please read the following information carefully, as it will help you to plan your travel to Addis Ababa.

Immigration requirements

All participants coming from countries in which there are Ethiopian embassies or consulates are strongly advised to obtain their Ethiopian visas prior to arrival in Ethiopia. For participants who are not able to process their visas in advance, ECA will make a request for them to be given business visas upon arrival at Bole International Airport.

In order to assist participants in obtaining visas upon arrival, the secretariat needs to receive the following particulars at least five working days before arrival at Bole International Airport:

(1)     First name and second name;

(2)     Nationality;

(3)     Flight details (arrival and departure).

Participants requesting visas upon arrival should carry with them their personal official letter of invitation for the event, so that they can show it to the immigration authorities at Bole International Airport.

Please note that an Ethiopian visa costs US$ 30 or the equivalent in euros per person. Payment must be made in either US dollars or in euros at the time of issue. For media, the cost of a visa is US$ 40 or the equivalent in euros. Holders of diplomatic and service passports and United Nations Laissez-Passer will receive visas gratis. Bank receipts for money changed at the airport must be kept securely as they may be asked for upon departure.

Health requirements

Visitors to Ethiopia should be in possession of a valid health certificate for yellow fever. Vaccination against cholera is also required for anyone who has visited or transited a cholera-infected area within six days prior to arrival in Ethiopia. As Addis Ababa is situated at an altitude of 2,400 metres, it is advisable to take precautionary measures to avoid any health problems that might occur because of the high altitude.

The United Nations Health Care Centre, situated on the ground floor of the Conference Centre, can provide emergency medical services to participants and delegates attending the Conference of Ministers.

In case of a medical or dental emergency, please contact:

Dr. Grace Fombad

Chief, United Nations Health Care Centre

Telephone: + 251 (0) 115 51 58 28 or 51 72 00; ext. 88888 or 448888

ECA Ambulance: + 251 (0) 115 51 42 02 or 51 58 28

Guidelines on personal security and safety of participants

The United Nations Security and Safety Service is always ready to serve its clients. In this regard, the full cooperation of all participants is needed to ensure the safety of your valuables and your personal security.

While you are on ECA premises, please ensure that you:

• Show your conference badge to any authorized person who asks to see it, and wear it visibly
• Do not leave bags and parcels unattended, as they may be confiscated or destroyed
• Do not bring unauthorized persons and children into the Conference Centre
• Look after your valuable property
• Check that you have all your documents and personal items before you leave conference halls and meeting rooms
• Inform the Security and Safety Service or inform the nearest Security Officer if you lose anything valuable.

When you are in your hotel, please follow this safety advice:

• Upon entering or leaving your room, make it a habit to lock the door
• Before leaving, inspect your room to make sure that no money, jewellery, cameras, etc. are visible
• Deposit valuables or portable items at the reception desk and obtain a receipt
• Should you observe anything suspicious or out of the ordinary, please contact the Security and Safety Service

Useful telephone numbers

Emergency numbers

UN Control Room – Addis Ababa (24 hrs)   +251 – 115 445135 / 516537 / 512945

Security Chief                                                 +251 – 0911 201802

Deputy Chief                                                  +251 – 0911 508578

Emergencies outside of Addis

United Nations Operations Centre (24 hrs)    +251 – 115-511726

Satellite phone                                                +87162546835

Police Emergency Numbers (24 hrs)               911

City Police                                                      +251 – 115 572100 / 572121

Federal Police                                                 +251 – 115 524077 / 526302 / 526303

Airline reservations

A number of international airlines operate to and from Addis Ababa. Participants must secure their return/onward air passage prior to arrival in Addis Ababa. There are two official travel agencies in the ECA compound – Gashem Travel and Airlink Travel – that can assist with re-confirmation of tickets and provide participants with travel and tour-related information.

Gashem Travel            Tel: +251 115 44 30 51 / 44 30 52 / 46 84 85 or +251 0911 25 04 68 (mobile)

Airlink Travel              Tel: +251 115 44 43 33/ 44 43 34/ 44 43 65 or 44 43 37

Ethiopian Airlines and Kenya Airways also have offices in the ECA compound, in the Rotunda.

Please have your ticket with you when visiting the travel agencies and the airlines to re-confirm your flights.

Hotel accommodation

The secretariat of the Conference of Ministers will make hotel reservations for all sponsored participants.

Block bookings of hotel rooms at special United Nations rates have been made for non-sponsored participants in the hotels listed below.

All non-sponsored participants must contact the hotels directly to arrange, confirm and guarantee their bookings. The deadline for keeping the reserved rooms is Thursday, 12 March 2015. After this date the reserved rooms will be released and the hotels will accept accommodation requests on the basis of room availability.

All non-sponsored participants are kindly requested to note that ECA will not be in position to provide hotel accommodation to those of them who fail to arrange their hotel accommodation directly with the hotels listed below.

ECA will provide transportation to and from the hotels listed below only.

In addition to accommodation costs, all participants will be responsible for all other additional costs – i.e. breakfast (where not included), telephone, Internet/fax, room service, mini-bar, laundry, other meals (lunch and dinner) – and must pay for these directly when checking out.

The following hotels have been identified for Conference participants.

List of hotels in Addis Ababa

Radisson Blu Online Booking with UNECA rate:

1) click on http://www.radissonblu.com/hotel-addisababa
2) enter check-in and check-out dates then Click on MORE OPTIONS and enter your Corporate ID number which is 91317 to get the UNECA agreed rate for Standard room.
3) Next, click on FIND RATES
4) Once you have found the applicable corporate rate, click on BOOK NOW and the applicable rate with taxes will be displayed.
5)Using the down arrow, select the room type (King, Queen, Twin/ smoking, non-smoking) then Click on CONTINUE
6) Enter guest information as required. Concerning payment, you can either guarantee with a Credit Card, book a non-guaranteed booking which will be released if not guaranteed timely or if your company is paying, click on Company.
7) Click on Confirm Reservation to complete the booking & write down the booking Reference/Confirmation number.

Arrival at bole international airport

All participants will be met upon arrival at Bole International Airport and will be assisted with the immigration and customs formalities. Date and time of arrival in Addis Ababa, with full flight details, should be sent to the secretariat of the Conference of Ministers. More detailed information on the above will be posted on the website of the Conference in due course. Please ensure that you inform the focal points of any subsequent changes to your time and date of arrival.

Temporary importation of laptops and other conference equipment

To comply with the import customs regulations of the Government of Ethiopia, participants should declare laptops and any conference equipment they may be bringing with them into the country. In order to be assisted with the temporary importation of the above items, participants should send the detailed specifications of the items to be brought in, together with their arrival and departure details, to the secretariat of the Conference of Ministers, by Monday, 16 March 2015 at the latest. Detailed information on the focal points will be posted on the website of the Conference shortly. The items will be registered for temporary import by the customs office and they will be taken out of the country at the end of the Conference.

Journalists coming into the country with professional cameras will need to bring two passport-sized photos with them and pay a fee of 1,000 Ethiopian birr upon arrival.

Registration and identification badges

Participants will be required to register and obtain identification badges prior to the start of the Conference.

For security reasons, identification badges should be worn by all participants at all times, during the Conference as well as during official social functions.

Registration will start from Sunday, 22 March 2015 and will take place at the Delegates Registration Building, which is located at the pedestrian entrance of the ECA compound.

More up-to-date information about the accreditation arrangements for the Conference of Ministers will be posted on the Conference website in due course.

Transport

ECA protocol officers will be stationed at Bole International Airport to assist participants upon their arrival and facilitate their transfer to hotels.

Shuttle buses will also be available to ferry participants back and forth from their hotels to the conference venue in the mornings and at the end of the daily sessions. Transport will not be provided during lunch breaks, as all lunch breaks shall take place within the ECA compound.

In the event that you would like to arrange transportation in Addis Ababa outside of the time of the Conference or to take you to the airport at the end of the Conference, you will find all the information and the contact details of recommended taxi and car hire companies in Addis Ababa on the website of the Conference.

ICT services

The United Nations Conference Centre is equipped with Wi-Fi. Technical support is available through the ECA Help Desk (phone +251 – 11 5 443123; ihelpdesk@uneca.org). Technical support for presentations must be arranged in advance with the Conference Centre support team.

Please be advised that Blackberry services are not available in Ethiopia.

Catering facilities

Catering facilities for refreshments and meals within the ECA compound include:

Sheraton Addis, located in the Conference Centre

Harambe Restaurant, located near the Nigerian lounge, near the Africa Hall

Kaldis Coffee, located in the Rotunda, near the Africa Hall

Restaurants in Addis Ababa

A list of selected restaurants in Addis Ababa will be uploaded to the Conference website in due course.

Mobile phones

Participants are encouraged to bring with them a dual band mobile handset (900/1800 MHZ). The Ethiopian Telecommunication Company (ETC) sells SIM cards with pre-charged airtime. The total package costs 40 Ethiopian birr, which includes 15 birr-worth of airtime. It takes approximately two days to have an ETC mobile phone connected.

General information about Ethiopia

Ethiopia is as large as France and Spain combined and has an area of 1,112,000 square metres. Addis Ababa is situated at an altitude of 2,400 metres. Agriculture is the backbone of the national economy, and the principal exports from this sector include coffee, oil seeds, pulses, flowers, vegetables, sugar and animal feed. About 90 per cent of the population earns its living from the land. There is also a vibrant livestock sector, and exports include cattle, hides and skins.

The population of Ethiopia is estimated at 80 million, and over 50 per cent of the population is under 20 years of age. The average number of inhabitants per square kilometre is 69. Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with a great variety of spoken languages. There are 83 languages with 200 dialects, and the three main languages are Amharic, Tigrigna and Oromigna. English, French, Italian and Arabic are also spoken, mainly in Addis Ababa. Additional information on Ethiopia and ECA can be found online at http://www.uneca.org, http://www.ethionet.et, and http://tour.ethiopianonline.net.

Climate

Ethiopia has two main seasons. The dry season lasts from October to May, and the rainy season starts in late June and ends in September. Temperatures depend on season and altitude.

The weather is likely to be cold at night in March, so please ensure that you bring a warm jacket or sweater.

Electricity

Electric supply in Ethiopia is 220-240 volts, 50 cycles AC accessible via 13-amp, two-pin (European) socket.

Currency (Ethiopian birr)

Ethiopian currency is denominated in “birr” and “centimes”. The exchange rate fluctuates. The official exchange rate of the United Nations was US$ 1.00 = ETB 20.15 as of January 2015.

There is a branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia in the ECA compound, in the Rotunda. The bank is open Monday–Friday, from 8 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. There is also an authorized exchange centre (Forex) at the Sheraton Hotel, and ATM machines for Visa/MasterCard users in the Conference Centre and at the Sheraton, Hilton, Radisson Blu, Intercontinental Hotel, Ethiopia Hotel and Wabe Shebelle Hotels, which will give you money in birr.

Thank you for confirming your participation at the upcoming First Joint Annual Meetings of the African Union Specialized Technical Committee on Finance, Monetary Affairs, Economic Planning and Integration and the Economic Commission for Africa Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, which will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from Wednesday, 25 March to Tuesday, 31 March 2015. The Conference will be held in the United Nations Conference Centre, at the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).