On 10 October 2016, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, made an official visit to Addis Abeba, Ethiopia where she met with Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn. The two leaders discussed on a range of issues including peace and security in the region, migration and refugees, natural resource conservation and development, democracy and good governance and trade and investment as well as the current situation in Ethiopia.

During a joint statement to the press, Prime Minister Hailemariam said the Chancellor’s visit to Ethiopia marks the beginning of a new chapter in the longstanding bilateral relation and development cooperation between Ethiopia and Germany.

He said the visit reaffirms the two sides’ commitment to lift the bilateral cooperation into a new high, adding that Ethiopia and Germany have had an excellent cooperation in human resources development, particularly in areas of water, engineering and education, which has significantly assisted farmers in Ethiopia.

The Prime Minister said Germany is providing assistance in human capacity development which takes center stage in the overall economic development. He said efforts of producing personnel in technical and vocational education and engineering fields is fruitful, with remarkable gains in raising productivity of smallholder farmers by acquiring lessons from Germany’s forest and land administration programs.

German owned businesses in Ethiopia are quite minimal as compared with other European and Asian countries, according to Hailemariam, who extended calls to German companies to do business in Ethiopia.

Asked about the current situation in Ethiopia, the Premier said the government is now undertaking series of relevant reforms with the full measure of addressing public demands. Among others, the country’s electoral law will be reformed following dialogues with opposition parties. He added various democratic platforms will also be put in place to maximize the full participation of all stakeholders and guarantee accountability and transparency.

Responding to whether security forces have used excessive force in a bid to contain the current protest and violence, Prime Minister Hailemariam said an investigation is underway by the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. In this connection, he said “We launched this investigation not to please the international community, but we are responsible to our citizens.”

“Our democratization process is still nascent. It is moving at the right direction, but it has not yet come up with inclusive engagement”, the Prime Minister added.

Chancellor Angela Merkel noted that Ethiopia and Germany have achieved tremendous results in human resource capacity building, agriculture and rural development endeavors.

She said Ethiopia was able to improve the living standards of its citizens much due to the activities of the country’s poverty reduction efforts, which she said managed to lift many people out of poverty and offer educational opportunities for numerous youth in the past.

The Chancellor, however, stressed the need to work hard to meet the growing demand of the youth, while also expressing her country’s readiness to extend support to Ethiopia’s efforts of responding to the demands of the youth.

Touching upon the recent protests and violence in some parts of Ethiopia, Chancellor Merkel, while welcoming the government’s reform agenda, emphasized the need for dialogue between stakeholders.  “I always argue that allowing people to express different political opinions and views is good because democratic experience shows that out of discussions and debates come out good solutions”. “The government has correctly identified the problems and has set ways to address them,” the Chancellor added.

On the need to intensify cooperation with Africa on migration and refugees, Merkel said the EU was ready to work together with the continent. “Africa’s economic development means a lot to European stability.” She further pledged to reinforce the financing of endeavors dedicated to dealing with migration and refugees.

The Chancellor indicated that her government encourages and supports German investors to do business in Ethiopia, promising further assistance to accommodating refugees in Ethiopia.

Furthermore, the two leaders have also discussed about regional issues, particularly ensuring peace and security in South Sudan and Somalia during which the Chancellor pledged to assist Ethiopia in promoting peace and stability in region.

During the German Chancellor’s visit the new Julius Nyerere Peace and Security Building in the premise of the African Union (AU) Headquarters located in Addis Ababa was inaugurated.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and African Union Commission Chairperson, Nkosazana Dlamini Zum, inaugurated the new facility built at a cost of 27 million EUR with funds provided by the government of Germany.

This landmark project depicts the close cooperation that exists between the AU and Germany and goes a long way in enhancing the AU’s capacity to meet the challenges of peace and security on the continent.

Speaking during the grand inaugural event, the Chancellor said the relation between Africa and Germany rests on a common interest.

“Our cooperation is characterized by common effort for a sustainable economic development, education, governance and peace and security”.

She mentioned progresses in Africa including the continent’s economic potential, enormous natural resources and the growing middle class in many countries.

The Chancellor noted the huge number of youth in the continent that has hopes to change and many hopes that can be translated to a reality.

Africa’s sustainable growth and job creation requires the involvement of a strong private sector, she said, promising further support to development projects in the continent in a bid to tackle the root causes of migration from Africa to Europe.

African Union Commission Chairperson Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma on her part said Africa is ready to learn from Germany as the continent started implementing the Agenda 2063, the vision to Africa’s reconstruction.

The donation of the building is a visible monument of the spirit of solidarity and cooperation between Germany, the AU and Africa as a whole, the AUC Chair remarked.

Dr. Zuma said the building offers an important setting to take forward efforts of development and peace building as Africa is intensifying the silencing guns campaign.

The landmark project depicts the close cooperation that exists between the AU and Germany and goes a long way in enhancing the AU’s capacity to meet the challenges of peace and security on the continent.

The building hosts the AU Peace and Security Department, and provides a base for the operation of the continental early warning system and the coordination of peacekeeping missions.

Ethiopia hosts more than 800,000 refugees, mainly from neighboring African countries. Ethiopia has an open door policy that welcomes the refugees and give an economic and education opportunities to join universities, mainly to Eritrean and Somalia youth refugees. In November 2015 at the Valletta Summit, Ethiopia and the EU have signed a Common Agenda on Migration Agreement to resolve the root causes of migration in that part of the region and provide financial and technical assistances at project level.

On 12 October 2016, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Government Communication Affairs Office briefed the diplomatic community and representatives of international organizations in Addis on current political developments in the country and the reasons for the declaration of a State of Emergency.

State Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Taye Atske-Selassie, and the Minister for Government Communication Affairs Office, Getachew Reda, detailed the current situation, the reasons behind the declaration of the State of Emergency and its scope, and highlighted planned political reforms to encourage restoration of peace and security and the creation of a positive climate for continued momentum for development.

Minister Getachew Reda emphasized that the State of Emergency had been put in place to allow full play for political engagement to address the protests, frustrations and concerns raised by the youth. It was not aimed at addressing people’s grievances through security measures; it had been put in place to address emerging, organized, mobile and coordinated security threats against peoples’ lives and the security of the country.

He also emphasized that the State of Emergency did not mean a blanket ban on all activities. It provided conditional controls on certain areas and activities as needed. In such score, the Minister once again stressed there is no blanket ban on communications, freedom of movement and imposition of curfew.

Ambassador Taye noted protests and disturbances over the last six months were unprecedented. These included legitimate grievances but regrettably in some cases the concerns of the people were hijacked by some extremist elements aiming to take control of the protests as a means towards taking unconstitutional control of state power.

It was in this context that the government examined the ongoing and future prospects of the security situation. It was resolved to bring peace and stability. This was needed to advance political reforms for the greater benefit of the people and to reverse the violence that had led to loss of life and destruction of property.

Ambassador Taye emphasized that the declaration of a State of Emergency should be seen in the light of the urgent need to protect the national life of the people and preserve the territorial integrity and sovereignty of the country in the face of increased insecurity. The point had been reached when ordinary law-enforcement measures were insufficient when faced by the security threats posed by armed anti-peace elements financed and encouraged by external forces.

The State of Emergency was a strategic choice to bring back immediate peace and security as well as encourage the country onto a course of political reform in response to peoples’ grievances and questions.

In the question and answer session that followed, Ambassador Taye underlined that the purpose of the State of Emergency was first and foremost the protection of the safety and security of the people, and to reverse the course of the current of chaos, hatred, tension and insecurity in the country. He emphasized the six-month State of Emergency included respect for fundamental human rights; as well as for the diplomatic and consular rights enshrined in the Vienna Convention. The declaration did not in any way stifle the normal exchange of ideas and discourse. It would only affect information inciting violence and hatred. Referring to the proposed political reforms, Ambassador Taye explained that the Government was committed to create conditions for an inclusive nation-wide dialogue on a wide range of national issues in order to bring lasting peace and security, and encourage the country’s rapid economic growth.

President Dr. Mulatu Teshome who addressed a joint session of the two chambers of Parliament, the House of Peoples’ Representative (HPR) and the House of Federation (HoF), extended his condolences over the loss of life and injuries occurred following violence in some parts of the country. The two chambers of Parliament also held a moment of silence in memory of those who lost their lives and suffered injuries in a stampede caused by anti-peace elements during the annual celebration of Irreechaa.

Opening the second year of the fifth parliamentary session, President Mulatu noted the gains made so far as well as the challenges faced by the people over the last fiscal Ethiopian year (2008) underlining the need for the two chambers to pivot their deliberations on ways to maintain the success, tap opportunities and meet the challenges in the next fiscal year (2009). President Mulatu noted that Ethiopia capitalizing on domestic resource mobilization had surmounted the severe impact of El-Niño-induced drought in close collaboration with international development partners.

The President, who spoke on the loss of lives, injuries as well as damage of properties caused by the recent protests and disturbances, stressed the need to look into the root causes driving the youth to involve in those unrests. Noting the fact that the protests had had some legitimate questions, the President underlined the urgency to fully assess the loss of lives and destruction of property. He also noted that questions of bad governance, leadership inefficiency, official misconduct, dislocation of farmers and pastoralists on the outskirts of the cities, economic inclusivity, ethnicity and self-administration, among others, were at the heart of and fueled people’s grievances.

The President pointed out that focus will be given to small and middle-level rural industrial development, creation of conditions for local investors, most importantly youthful investors, on industrial and modern agricultural sectors of development, and establishment of a ‘Mobile Youth Fund.’ The Government is willing to raise the living standards of civil servants.

Concerning the reforms on the field of democratization process of the country, the President said that the Government is ready to reform the country’s electoral law to place proportional representation and a majority system on an equal and balanced footing after detailed negotiations between political parties with a view to make the voices of the people heard in both chambers of the Parliament.

He also said that constitutional solutions will be provided to the questions of ethnicity and self-administration in line with the country’s constitutional and democratic system. He also noted that the House of People’ Representatives will also announce new proclamations to achieve the goals of the second Growth and Transformation Plan. Among these, the House will endorse the special interest of the Regional State of Oromia in the Addis Abeba City Adminstration.

The President reiterated that the House plans to restructure the leadership of the Federal and State Governments in a new and comprehensive manner giving emphasis to the demands and concerns of the peoples. He also revealed that a new council will be set up to devise a mechanism to ensure the leadership of the Federal and State Governments deliver result-oriented and quality service besides guaranteeing government effectiveness and efficiency in implementing the national development and democratization agenda.

Read the full speech of President Dr. Mulatu Teshome (PDF)

The Council of Ministers of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has declared a six-month state of emergency effective from Saturday, 8 October 2016, to reverse the danger posed by destabilizing forces undermining the safety of the people and security and stability of the country.

The decree came following detailed discussion by the Council of Ministers on the situation that led to the loss of lives and damage on properties.

The Ethiopian constitution under article 93 provides the power for the Council of Ministers to decree a state of emergency “should an external invasion, a breakdown of law and order which endangers the constitutional order and which cannot be controlled by the regular law enforcement agencies and personnel, a natural disaster, or an epidemic occur.”

The decree has been submitted to the Ethiopian Parliament according to the constitution.

Context

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn said the state of emergency is crucial in halting the danger posed by the spoilers and anti-peace groups on the safety of the people as well as peace and stability of the country.

“The state of emergency is vital. It is essential to restore peace and stability over a short period of time,” the Prime Minister said.

Hailemariam said “The state of emergency will not breach basic human rights enshrined under the Ethiopian constitution and won’t also affect diplomatic rights listed under the Vienna Convention”.

Orchestrated violent activities carried out in various parts of the country led to the loss of lives and enormous damage on properties in the last weeks.

The country over the past decade has witnessed a double digit economic growth, huge infrastructure development, accumulation of wealth and growing FDI inflow because peace and stability prevailed in the country.

The Prime Minister said these infrastructures that consume huge investments are being destroyed by these anti-peace elements within a short period of time.

In the last weeks, investments amounting to several million euros were destroyed by protesters.

Schools, health institutions, administrative institutions are also being attacked.

The violence in some parts even goes beyond damaging properties, the Prime Minister said, adding, the forces are trying to trigger conflict among different ethnic groups and followers of different religions.

If not properly addressed within a short period, the situation could undermine the national integrity of the country.

Precisions by the Federal Attorney

The Office of the Federal Attorney disclosed measures that will be taken during the state of emergency to restore order, ensure safety of the public and stability of the state.

The nature of recent violent demonstrations and conflicts that led to the loss of lives and destruction of properties make the state of emergency crucial, as it is difficult to handle this situation using regular law enforcement, General Attorney Getachew Ambaye said.

The country is not placed under curfew currently, even though the law allows the introduction of a curfew during the emergency rule, Getachew further specified.

Provision of the Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia about the State of Emergency (Excerpts)

Article 93.1.

(a)The Council of Ministers of the Federal Government shall have the power to decree a state of emergency should an external invasion, a breakdown of law and order which endangers the constitutional order and which cannot be controlled by the regular law enforcement agencies and personnel, a natural disaster, or an epidemic occur.

Article 93.4

(a) When a state of emergency is declared, the Council of Ministers shall, in accordance with regulations it issues, have all necessary power to protect the country’s peace and sovereignty, and to maintain public security, law and order.

(b) The Council of Ministers shall have the power to suspend such political and democratic rights contained in this Constitution to the extent necessary to avert the conditions that required the declaration of a state of emergency.

(c) In the exercise of its emergency powers the Council of Ministers cannot, however, suspend or limit the rights provided for in Articles 1, 18, 25. and sub- Articles 1 and 2 of Article 39 of this Constitution.

Read the full Ethiopian Constitution

Contact : info@ethiopianembassy.be // +32 2 771 32 94

In an opinion piece published on 6 October on EUobserver, Felix Horne, Ethiopia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the European Union (EU) needed to adopt a new approach to Ethiopia, referring to the protests that have taken place in some parts of the country in recent months.

According to him, the EU has to use its role of main cooperation partner to “push Ethiopia” to accept an international investigation and take several measures, including respect of divergent views and bringing security forces to justice in case of illegitimate use of force. This would, according to Mr Horne, ultimately ensure the country remains a stable partner of the EU on the long term.

https://euobserver.com/opinion/135422

By Teshome Toga, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Benelux and Baltic countries and to the European Union

In an opinion piece published on 6 October 2016 on the EU Observer, Felix Horne, Ethiopia researcher at Human Rights Watch, said the European Union (EU) needs to adopt a new approach to Ethiopia, referring to the protests that have taken place in some part of the country in recent months. According to him, the EU has to use its role of main cooperation partner to “push Ethiopia” to accept an international investigation and take several measures, including respect of divergent views and bringing security forces to justice in case of illegitimate use of force. This would, according to Mr. Horne, ultimately ensure the country remains a stable partner of the EU on the long term.

However, this suggestion is off-topic. It assumes EU-Ethiopia cooperation is a unilateral donor-recipient relationship whereas it is based on mutual interest and respect. Both parties know how to govern their relations. The EU is a very important partner of Ethiopia and a constructive dialogue mechanism has been established.

Moreover, any imposed international investigation would be unacceptable. As Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn recently said, Ethiopia is a sovereign and independent country and it has its internal institutional mechanism for investigation and accountability. Bypassing the institutional mechanisms would undermine and discredit the constitutional obligations of the government. The Ethiopian government, by the pertinent constitutional institution, will carry out its own investigation and rectify any shortcomings.

When the Federal Democratic Republic was established in 1991, Ethiopia started working on democratic and human rights issues not because it was pushed from outside through financial or other incentives, but because its people and government firmly believed it is the only way for Ethiopia to accommodate the multiple identities and diversities in the country and to achieve prosperity and stability. More fundamentally, as Prime Minister Hailemariam put it, these values are central for the very “survival” of the country which is made out of more than eighty nations and nationalities.

Implementing these values is not an easy task. Especially when the country’s democratic history is a very young one. The government has to find a balance between maintaining law and order and delivering genuine solutions to people’s demands including lack of effective good governance and unemployment challenges. The Prime Minister has not been shy of speaking out, and said addressing these challenges is a matter “life or death”.

Much work has been done, among others through a progressive Constitution by protecting rights of individuals and groups. Moreover, the government has addressed the legitimate demands and launched deep renewal to address these challenges with the inclusive and full participation of Ethiopians from all walks of life. In the wake of the initial protests in some parts of the Oromia regional states, the regional government decided to shelve the Addis Ababa master plan. This unprecedented government compromise was praised by many. Similarly, the protest in the Amhara regional state related to identity issue of the Qimant community has been resolved using the constitutional laid procedure.

To assess the cause of loss of life which occurred in the first wave of unrest that started in the two regional states in November 2015, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission has made an independent inquiry presented to the national Parliament. It conclusions were that, though measures taken by the law enforcement agents and the federal police to control the situation were proportionate, in some specific cases security forces used excessive force to control the violence. The Government said it will make sure that those responsible for violence or illegal acts during the protests, or who were responsible for any undue use of force, will be brought to justice.

But the enquiry also pointed out violent groups inside and outside the country, especially extremists in the diaspora, took part in the protests, hijacking legitimate demands by propagating hate speeches through social media. The repeated involvement in protests of several groups trying to undermine and ultimately overthrow the legitimate government of the country through violence has since then become even more obvious as it led to destruction of foreign investments, public and private properties and attacks on police forces as reported in international media. This shows the complexity of the situation the government and security forces face.

In the last twenty-five years, the country has made tremendous progress in the economy, infrastructure, access to health and education among others. It can now legitimately assume to become a middle-income country by 2025. This was confirmed by a 2010 independent survey of people’s attitude that revealed that 50 percent of the population believe they were better off in 2010 than in 2005 and three quarters expected this improvement to continue in the future.

Alongside these developments, new challenges have arisen related to access to jobs for young graduates, and lack of efficient and effective good governance. The Ethiopian government is determined to address them in effective ways. Extensive engagement with the public and different sectors of the society after the recent unrest have led the government to improve and reorganize government bodies and structures to make them more effective and responsive and to ensure transparency and accountability.

The European Union has been a key ally to alleviating poverty and improving the population’s well-being. In this context, the EU is more important than ever to Ethiopia as a partner, and its role has increased during the past years following a set of high-level political consultations. After significant milestones such as the Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility in November 2015 and the establishment of a friendship group within the European Parliament in March 2016, H.E. Prime minister Hailemariam Desalegn of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and H.E Jean-Claude Junker, European Commission President signed an Ethiopia-EU strategic engagement document in Brussels on 14 June 2016 aiming at structuring the reinforced cooperation between the two partners. Ethiopia values the partnership with the European Union helping the country to address its developmental issues and to face its internal challenges constructively. The European Union is also keen to intensify its partnership with Ethiopia as stated by an inter-service EU Commission delegation currently visiting the country.

A high-level delegation from the European Union Commission met with State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Taye Atske-selassie here today (Oct.07, 2016), during which Head of the delegation, Mr. Olivier Onidi, European Commission Deputy Director General, DG HOME stated the EU is keen to enhance cooperation with Ethiopia, particularly on issues of promoting regional peace and security and dealing with the challenge of migration.

The delegation said the EU welcomed Ethiopia’s positive engagement in the maintenance of regional peace and security and its efforts of dealing with the problems of migration, adding Ethiopia has played a constructive role in rallying countries to mitigate the challenge. The Delegation also suggested that Ethiopia as a signatory of Common Agenda on Migration and Mobility with EU should come up with more projects and initiatives on migration. Reiterating the fact that Ethiopia is going to take the chairmanship of the Khartoum Process from the current chair, the United Kingdom; the European Union pledged full support in due course. Touching upon current situations in Ethiopia, the delegation further welcomed the government’s engagement and consultations with citizens and communities.

State Minister Ambassador Taye Atske-selassie underlined the importance of the EU-Ethiopia and EU-Africa cooperation on issues of regional peace and security and challenges of migration. The State Minister mentioned Ethiopia has introduced a weekly reporting system on any attempt of trafficking and that an agreement has been concluded with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, which he said allowed domestic workers to work in legal and dignified provisions. The State Minister reaffirmed that Ethiopia was keen to further intensify the partnership in tackling the challenges posed by migration. He said, “As a source, transit and destination of migrants Ethiopia will come up with projects which are close to communities,” adding: “we are only seeing the outcome of migration but we should see also the cause and source of migration and work on it”.

Source: MFA

On 5 October, Ethiopia and Djibouti launched the first fully electrified cross-border railway line in Africa. The new 750km line will link Addis Ababa to the sea in 10 hours, compared to several days by road. During the construction, nearly 40,000 local jobs have been created, and many of those have gained valuable skills and technics to operate sophisticated railroad machines. The railway is the first step in a vast 5,000km-long network of rail which Ethiopia hopes to build by 2020, connecting it to Kenya, Sudan and South Sudan.

Read the full article (BBC)

In a joint press conference organized with the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation, State Minister of Industry Dr. Mebrhatu Meles said that the government is determined to mobilize resources of all types to the expansion of agro-industrial parks during the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) to boost agro-industry investments in the country.

The Ministry of Industry said Ethiopia is keen to enhance the agro-industry sector to advance the transformation of manufacturing sector. The 1st International Agro-Industry Investment Forum is to be held from October 5-7, 2016.

Twenty-two corridors have been identified to launch an integrated agro-industry investment parks throughout the country, State Minister of Industry Dr. Mebrhatu Meles said. Additional 13 corridors have also been selected for the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency.

An additional 17 corridors of potential agro-processing industry such as coffee, sugarcane, sesame, cotton have been identified. Some 13 of these are integrated to process more than one commercially surplus commodity and the remaining are special corridors to animal husbandry.

To avoid shortage of raw material in the textile industries, highly mechanized cotton production activities have been launched in Shinle, Omo and Amibara localities of Somali, SNNP and Amhara States respectively.

According to Dr. Mebrhatu, additionally four pilot corridors in Baeker, Bure, Zeway and Sidama areas in Tigray, Amhara, Oromia and SNNP states have been selected for the integrated agro-indusrial parks development to transform the agriculture-led economy to industry one.

He added that the international forum will help align potential resources areas and agro-processing industries for effective sub-sector development.

He said the Forum will also come up with solutions for constraints in transforming the agricultural sector and effective utilization of raw materials.

Finance and Economic Cooperation State Minister Ahmed Shide also said the Forum is an opportunity for the government to showcase its commitment in realizing vision 2025, and the potential of the economy to became Africa’s leading light manufacturing hub by the reported period.

The Forum would bring together over 1,000 participant investors, industrialists, leaders of international business and investment, international development agencies and financial companies and senior government officials from FDI source countries.

Ahmed said: “ The Forum will have sessions showcasing the country’s conducive investment climate, opportunities for financing investment in the agro-industries and three separate sessions dedicated to leather, textile and agro-processing industry respectively.”

Source: The Ethiopian Herald