Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs Workneh Gebeyehu asserted on 16 January that the partnership between Ethiopia and Egypt is longstanding, beyond the Nile River that the two countries share.

Gebeyehu made the remarks during his discussion with his Egyptian counterpart Sameh Shoukry on the sidelines of the 6th Ethiopia-Egypt Joint Ministerial Commission meeting.

Gebeyehu, who praised the historic relations between the two countries, also called for further strengthening the ties between Ethiopia and Egypt with due emphasis given to priority interest areas.

According to Gebeyehu, the diplomatic relations among Ethiopia and Egypt is beyond the Nile River that the two countries share and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which Ethiopia is building on the Blue Nile River, a major tributary to the River Nile.

Shoukry revealed that the current high-level meeting between Ethiopia and Egypt mainly envisaged to strengthen partnerships in the areas of education, culture, trade and investment.

The diplomatic relations between Ethiopia and Egypt is largely intertwined with the Blue Nile River that originates from Ethiopia and shared among Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt.

The construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the river, which will be regarded as Africa’s largest dam upon completion with a total volume of 74,000 million cubic meters, has been a major issue among the two countries since its commencement in April, 2011 with a construction cost of 80 billion Ethiopian birr (close to 4.7 billion U.S. dollars). While Ethiopia and Sudan reached a mutual consensus on the construction of the dam, Egypt frequently expressed its concern that the dam would affect its share of the river.

The three countries had formed a tripartite committee back in 2012 to create understanding and look into the benefits and impacts the project would have in the three countries.

Announcement from Awash International Bank

 

Link_to_Awash_Bank_Form

 

Work is to start later this year on the construction of a railway training academy, Ethiopian Railways Corp announced on January 13.

When fully operational, the academy is expected to employ around 250 teachers and administrative staff, training up to 1 00 students at a time in seven different railway-related disciplines.

The Chinese-built electrified railway linking Addis Ababa and Djibouti began full commercial operation on January 8, following a year of trial running since its formal launch in October 2016. The line is initially being operated by Chinese contractors but is scheduled to transfer to local management after five years. While some Ethiopian staff have already been sent to China and Russia for training, the new academy is expected to play a key role in ensuring that the necessary operational and engineering skills are available.

Under an agreement signed in December 2016, a joint company is being established to manage the railway, owned 75% by Ethiopia and 25% by Djibouti. Ethiopia is to appoint three of the four board members, including Transport Minister Ahmed Shide who will act as Chairman, according to ERC Communications Director Dereje Tefera.

A cornerstone laying ceremony was held on 16 January in Ethiopia’s eastern city, Dire Dawa, for a textile plant that will be built with an investment of 220 million U.S. dollars. Dire Dawa mayor’s office said Chinese firm Wuxi No. 1 Cotton Mill will build the textile plant which will lie on 40 hectares of land. The construction of the textile plant will take 30 months and is expected to employ 3,000 Ethiopians once commissioned.

The plant will be located inside Dire Dawa Industrial Park (DDIP) that is currently being constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC). DDIP, currently being built at a cost of 159 million U.S. dollars on 159 hectares of land, is expected to attract industries specialized in textile, apparel, and agro-processing.

The Ethiopian government is financing the construction of the industrial park which is expected to be commissioned later this year. The textile plant’s cornerstone laying ceremony was held in the presence of Liu Yu, economic and commercial counsellor at the Chinese embassy in Ethiopia and Ibrahim Usman, mayor of Dire Dawa city administration.

Ethiopia has earned $ 143.88 million from the export of oilseeds during the first 5 months of the current fiscal year – exceeding the plan by 11.2 percent. The development was disclosed by the country’s Ministry of Trade. During the period, Ethiopia exported more than 128 thousand tons of oilseeds, which is 27.92 percent higher than what the country exported same period last fiscal year. The revenue, on the other hand, is 31.72 percent higher than what the subsector made in the first 5 months of last fiscal year.

 

Commenting on the achievements, Shimelis Arega, Senior Public Relations Expert at the Ministry, said the increase in global sesame price and strong monitoring and support mechanism from the ministry enhanced the performance of the subsector.

The performance has enabled Ethiopia to secure a little more than 70 percent of the annual target it has set when it comes to volume of export. Nevertheless, the revenue generated is only 58.12 percent of the yearly plan.

In the entire past fiscal year, Ethiopia made 345.29 million USD from the export of 323,755 tons of oilseeds.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Ethiopia has planned ambitious programs of forest landscape restoration to resuscitate more than 20 million hectares of degraded forest landscapes within the next 20 years, The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change disclosed.

In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Dr Yitebitu Moges, Manager for REDD+ program under the Ministry, said that the forest coverage of the country will leap to 20 percent by 2030 from its three percent status it was in two decades ago.

A plan is set to develop seven million hectares of forestland by the end of the strategic year, as there is a conducive environment to achieve the target.

Dr Yitebitu Moges also said that the nation suffers the dwindling of about 92 thousand hectares of forest covered land every year. To curb this problem, the Ministry has to engage itself aggressively in the development of forest lands, integrating things with the green development strategy.

 

According to a World Bank report, the Ethiopian economy will maintain its growth lead for the East African region. The economy, however, dropped a step in growth forecast in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) region, falling behind Ghana. In June 2017, the WB forecast Ethiopia as the most expansive in SSA pegging growth at 8.3%. The latest forecast puts Ethiopia at a percentage point behind Ghana. The West African nation is forecast to grow at 8.3% as against Ethiopia’s 8.2%.

Among East African countries, Ethiopia is likely to remain the fastest growing economy, but growth is expected to soften as it takes measures to stabilize government debt. Other 2018 forecasts for the East African region’s economic giants are Kenya (5.5%), Tanzania (6.8%), Uganda (5.1%) and Rwanda (5.9%). Ethiopia beat Kenya last year to become economic giant of the region according to the IMF.

The WB’s Global Economic Prospects report released on January 10, 2018, said there was a modest recovery underway in Sub-Saharan Africa buoyed by an improvement in commodity prices.

Under the area of outlook, the report said regional growth was projected at 3.2% for this year up to an average of 3.6% in 2019 – 2020. It hinted at a solid performance for non-resource-intensive countries hinging it to public investment growth. “Non-resource-intensive countries are projected to expand at a solid pace, helped by robust public investment growth. Economic activity is expected to remain solid in WAEMU, with Ivory Coast and Senegal expanding at a rapid pace,” the report added.

http://www.africanews.com/2018/01/11/ethiopia-to-remain-east-africa-s-fastest-growing-economy-world-bank-forecast/

According to the Minister of Culture and Tourism, Ethiopia earned more than $1.8 billion from tourism in the first half of this Ethiopian fiscal year, which ended on last Monday, January 8, 2018.

A total of 485,806 foreign tourists have visited the country during the past six months. The country’s rugged mountains (some 25 are over 4000 meters high) broad savannah, lakes and rivers, the unique Rift Valley and volcanic lakes, birdlife and the Blue Nile falls are some of the natural attractions in Ethiopia.

The medieval city of Gondar, with more castles, palaces and churches; the ancient capital of the Queen of Sheba and Ethiopia’s holiest city, Axum, where the original Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandments was seen, are the other tourist attractions in Ethiopia.

The Minister said the revenue secured in this half year surpassed by 10.8 percent, compared to the same period last year.

She attributed the successes to the collaborative efforts between her ministry and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as other stakeholders in promoting the tourist attraction sites of the country.

Ethiopia targets to earn $4.5 billion from tourism this fiscal year.

http://apanews.net/index.php/en/news/ethiopia-earns-18b-from-tourism-in-half-year/

Invitation to attend the cultural show and  ceremony to be held on 13 January 2018 in Luxembourg.