PM Abiy Ahmed announced his intention to amend the country’s constitution to the effect that terms of office for the Prime Minister to two terms.

Abiy Ahmed told thousands who welcomed him in the Hawassa capital of the Southern regional state that he was committed to deepening democratic reforms in the country. The trip was part of the countrywide tour that Abiy undertook upon taking office on April 2.

“Any leader of the country will not serve in office beyond two terms following the amendment on the constitution,” Abiy said, and added that “seizing power for a lifetime come to a dead end in Ethiopia.”

The current constitution stipulates that the term of office for the Prime Minister is unlimited.

Ethiopia uses a parliamentary system of government where the party with majority seats in parliament nominates a prime minister.

Abiy commended his predecessor, Hailemariam Desalegn, for resisting the temptation to cling to power.

‘‘Hailemariam resigned at a time when he can contribute a lot to his country. However, some leaders refuse to leave office though they have to retire.’‘

The prime minister also responded to various questions raised by participants regarding infrastructure, good governance, corruption, and gender equality among others.

He pledged to prioritise the fight against theft and corruption, improve empowerment of women and fill infrastructure gaps after necessary studies have been conducted to understand the needs.

The EU and Ethiopia decided to enhance the level of the partnership on 14 June 2016, when the then Prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn and European Commission President Jean-Claude Junker signed a Joint Declaration towards an EU-Ethiopia Strategic Engagement.

The European Union wants to work with Ethiopia on regional issues and today’s discussion is part of the Union’s strategic engagement developed with Ethiopia over the years, Mr Vervaeke said.

Following the dialogue, he said that Ethiopia is a critical partner of the European Union, which already has a strong relationship with the country in political, development, security, and trade issues.

He added that the European Union is looking forward to further strengthening the existing relationship to the regional level.

“We mainly discussed the existing cooperation we have in Somalia and South Sudan; but also the critical positions to be taken in the coming months in order to pursue our commitment there,” Vervaeke elaborated.

According to him, the partners have also developed new areas of dialogue in the region overlooking the Red Sea and Yemen and impacts of the situation in the Horn of Africa. “It is really important to listen to what Ethiopia’s view, and see how we can work together,” he added.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs Hirut Zemene said Ethiopia had developed a strong strategic relationship with the European Union over the years.

She indicated that the discussion was focused on how to cooperate with the European Union on regional issues.

Hirut added, “we mainly discussed on the regional peace and security across the Red Sea line and the situation in the Horn of Africa, and the EU supports focusing on the stability of the Horn.”

Ethiopia has intensified its efforts towards the establishment of a pan-African university that aspires to pay tribute to black people’s achievements and history, with due emphasis given to the fight against colonialism.

An international conference that envisaged to fast-track the establishment of the Adwa Pan-African University is underway in Ethiopia’s northern town of Adwa.

Ethiopia’s former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, while addressing conference participants, has stressed the importance the Adwa Pan-African University in preserving African history and culture by focusing on Africans’ solidarity in the fight against colonialism.

Desalegn, who previously called on Ethiopians to support the establishment of the Adwa pan-African university as it mainly aspires to signify the contribution of black people from every walks of lives, also stressed the historical importance of the university for Ethiopia and Africa in general.

The Adwa Pan-Africa University is named after the battle of Adwa held in 1896, in which the less-equipped Ethiopian forces scored a victory against the colonial Italian force.

The battle of Adwa, which is also referred to as the first Ethiopia-Italian war, marks the first black victory against a colonizer force in the African continent. The war is believed to initiate other freedom fighters in the African continent to struggle towards independence.

The conference, which is also expected to discuss the design of the university, cost and public participation in the construction of the university, has also attracted the pan-African bloc’s attention.

Thomas Kwesi Quartey, African Union Commission (AUC) Deputy Chairperson, who recognized the Ethiopian government’s initiative in its cause, said that the Adwa Pan-African University signifies the battle of Adwa, which he said had helped other African countries to strengthen their struggle for freedom.

As the Ethiopian government expects a continent-wide support for the construction of the pan-African university as it signifies alliance among Africans, other African countries had recognized Ethiopia’s ambition towards establishing a pan-African university.

African leaders, including Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni and former South African President Thabo Mbeki, were among the high-level officials attending the cornerstone laying ceremony for the construction of the university in the northern part of the east African country back in April 2017.

The Ethiopian government has allocated some 150 hectares of land for the construction of the Adwa Pan-African University.

The university, whose construction is scheduled to start within the coming two months period, will be constructed in Ethiopia’s Tigray regional state in the town of Adwa.

On 20 April, the Ethiopian government revealed that Ethiopia’s access to electric power grid system has now reached more than 57 percent.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Electricity, in its latest report presented to the Ethiopian House of Peoples and Representatives, indicated that the country’s access to electric power has reached 57 percent, while the number of households that are connected through the national electric power grid system has reached to 2.8 million.

According to Tilahun Legesse, Director of the National Electricity Provision under the ministry, the number of Ethiopian households and the reported percentage level is only attributed to the electric power energy, in which the contribution of other sources of energy would further augment the country’s energy coverage.

According to the World Bank, Ethiopia has the second highest available energy generation capacity in the Sub-Saharan African region, with nearly 100 percent coming from renewable energy generation (mostly hydropower), and vast and mainly untapped solar, wind, and geothermal clean energy resources.

Bizuneh Tolcha, Director of Public Relations and Communications Directorate at the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE), recently told Xinhua that the East African country plans to reach 17,300 MW of energy by the end of 2020, a major leap from the current 4,280 MW of energy.

According to Tolcha, the Ethiopian government expects to reach the figure with the generation of energy projects in hydro, wind, geothermal and biomass energy sectors.

The biggest project that Ethiopia envisaged to fulfil the planned 17,300 MW is the 6,450 MW hydro project, under construction on the Blue Nile river at a cost of close to 4.7 billion U.S. dollars, which is currently 65 percent completed.

While the other projects that are expected to be completed before the 2020 deadline include the 254 MW Genale Dawa I hydropower project and the 120 MW Aysha Windfarm project.

Ethiopia also expects to generate energy from the under-construction 50 MW Reppie waste-to-energy project and the 70 MW Aluto Langano geothermal energy project.

Ethiopia Premier Abiy Ahmed visited on 20 April the cities of Gondar and Bahir Dar town in the northern Amhara region. The trip was of his nationwide tour that started two weeks ago.

In Gondar, PM Abiy was received by the head of the region, Gedu Andargachew and other top officials of the state.

As part of his itinerary, he addressed residents at the Gondar stadium to listen to their concerns and send messages of unity.

He said the Ethiopian government would work to make Gonder city which is close to the Sudanese border a foreign trade hub for northwest Ethiopia. The PM also pledged to fix youth unemployment and other economic needs of the population.

Since taking over from PM Hailemariam Desalegn on April 2, PM Abiy has embarked on a national tour that has seen him visit Jijiga (Ethio-Somali region), Ambo (Oromia region) and Mekelle (Tigray region). He has shared the message of peace during all his rounds across the country.

He is tasked with undertaking political reforms that were announced in early January by the ruling Ethiopia Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

Ethiopia’s parliament, the House of Peoples’ Representatives, has chosen a former Minister of Women’s, as its new speaker. She replaces Abadula Gemeda who has been in the role since 2010.

Muferiat Kamil belongs to the Southern Ethiopia Peoples Democratic Movement (SEPDM), one of the constituent bodies of the ruling Ethiopian Peoples Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF).

In 2008, Muferiat Kamil, the new speaker became Minister of Women’s Affairs at the age of 32, at the time, the youngest appointee of the late Meles Zenawi.

She was born in Jimma, the largest city in south-western Ethiopia. She Graduated from Haramaya University with BSc. Degree in Agriculture in 2000.

She held different women affairs roles and from 2002 till her appointment as Public Relations Advisor to the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples’ Region (SNNPR) President in 2007.

She worked at the EPRDF office in Addis Ababa in April 2008, then as a junior public relations officer till her appointment as Minister of Women’s Affairs.

Both the speaker and the deputy positions will be held by women, as Shitaye Menale was appointed as her Deputy.