Wanchi-Dandi: Ethiopia's Ecotourism Project 'Completely Changes Life' of Local Community

The communities located near the Wanchi-Dandi ecocenter have "highly benefited" from the project, as it has brought better road infrastructure, electricity and clean water facilities to the locals, Berhanu Tesfaye, head of the Wanchi-Dandi Ecotourism Project, told Sputnik Africa.

"The community has got a better road infrastructure, [...] all communities have electric power, [...] there are clean water facilities installed for the community and also for the projects. Also, the communities are now starting to get income from the tourists. Because [...] a minimum of 1000 or 2000 tourists are coming [every] week [...] around these projects. This generates a big economic transaction for the community," Berhanu Tesfaye elaborated.

Moreover, the local farmers received modern houses with "five bedrooms, kitchens, toilets as well as a big living area." This means that they can start renting out their rooms to tourists, which will provide the farmers with additional income, the head of the project added.

"This completely changes the life of the community living on the projects. And this is the general benefit which communities get from these projects," Berhanu Tesfaye said.

In a recent statement, Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated the need to develop the tourism sector to attract investment and emphasized the importance of implementing new projects such as the Wanchi-Dandi ecotourism center.

Speaking on the importance of tourism development, Berhanu Tesfaye underlined that this sector of the economy is now "a big pillar of economic transactions in the world" and Ethiopia is also actively developing this area.

"So the Ethiopian government was also planning on its ten-year strategic plan. Of the five economic pillars of the country, one is the tourism sector. So to make Ethiopia a better country for tourism, they are highly focusing on developing every tourism destination in the country," the Wanchi-Dandi's head said.

Berhanu Tesfaye further revealed that three other projects are currently under construction, as the income from tourism is "very critical" in increasing the country's GDP.

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Berhanu Tesfaye also referred to Abiy Ahmed's recent statement inviting the Ethiopians who were born and raised abroad to return to their homeland to reconnect with their heritage. Tesfaye went on to say that projects like the Wanchi-Dandi can encourage Ethiopians to return home because such projects show the level of development in Ethiopia and what the country is capable of.

"When people are living outside this country, they get information from the media or social media. They do not know the real things about their countries. [...] This [projects like Wanchi-Dandi] will make young people living out of their country, especially, to admire and to love their country, to work more on their country, as well as to be interested in [coming] back to their country and work on different activities," Tesfaye concluded.