The National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) has proposed holding the six general elections in late May or early June, 2021.

The board’s remarks came today during a consultative meeting organized for Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) and media to discuss precautionary measures against COVID-19 during voting.

On the occasion, the NEBE officials proposed conducting the elections in the last two weeks of May or the first two weeks of June 2021.

The board also asked for an additional 1.1 million birr for the precautionary measures and deployment of additional manpower at polling centers.

The board also proposed providing training for poll workers from mid-December to mid-January and conducting voters’ registration from mid-January to the 3rd week of February.

It also proposed holding registration of candidates beginning from early to mid-February and election campaign from mid-February till the last week of the election period.

Source: FBC

Ethiopian Airlines has won the Business Traveller Award 2020 in the category of Best African Airline.

The winners of the award have been unveiled by the publishers of Business Traveller Magazine, Panacea Media.

The awards are voted for by readers of the Business Traveller Magazine, with the results produced by an independent research company, and are widely recognized as the markets’s benchmark for excellence, it is indicated.

It is to be recalled that Ethiopian Airlines Group was Voted ‘Best Airline in Africa’ for 3rd Consecutive Year at Skytrax 2019 World Airlines Awards in June 2019.

Source:FBC

The African Union (AU) led negotiation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt will resume tomorrow after a seven-week break, said AU.

AU Chair and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the recommencement of the talks tomorrow following consultations with the Heads of State of the three countries.

President Ramaphosa welcomed the commitment of PM Dr Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, PM Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan, and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt to pursue negotiations guided by the spirit of cooperation, goodwill and compromise with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.

“The resumption of the Trilateral Negotiations on the GERD under the auspices of the AU indicates strong political will & commitment by the leadership of the 3 Parties involved in negotiations to the peaceful and amicable resolution of the GERD matter. It is a reaffirmation of the confidence that the Parties have in an African-led negotiations process, in line with the Pan-African maxim of African solutions to African problems, one of the cornerstones of the African Union,” President Ramaphosa said in a statement.

He reassured the three negotiating parties of the AU’s unremitting support and cooperation and expressed his utmost confidence that the parties will reach an agreement on remaining issues, including those related to the technical and legal aspects of the negotiations.

President Ramaphosa concluded, “Without any doubt, the successful conclusion of the GERD negotiations will enhance and accelerate regional integration, while boosting cooperation and sustainable development in the region, for the benefit of Africa as a whole”.

“The African Union remains seized of the GERD matter,” the statement added.

Source: FBC

a delegation from House of Representatives highlighted Ethiopia’s position on the GERD negotiation.

The 56^th session of the Organization of African Caribbean Pacific States (OACPS) was held virtually on Friday October 23, 2020. The plenary session was preceded by meetings of the three standing committees, the Committee on Political Affairs, the Committee on Social Affairs and the Environment, and the Committee on Economic Development, Finance and Trade, and a meeting of the Bureau, beginning from October 19 to 22, 2020.

The meeting brought together members of Parliament of the African, Caribbean, and Pacific states from the 78 signatory states to the Cotonou Agreement which is the foundation for the ACP-EU partnership. In this meeting Ethiopia’s delegation was headed by Honorable Mr. Zeleke Mehari, deputy chair of Foreign relation and peace sub-standing committee of the House of Peoples’ Representative.

The meeting deliberated on various important issues of concern of the ACP Countries:  impact of Covid-19 pandemic, ways of underpinning solidarity, consolidating democracy and respect for Constitution as well as the fate of the Joint Parliamentary Assembly (JPA) under the post Cotonou agreement are the main ones,.

On this Assembly, Ethiopia’s delegation took the opportunity to inform the members of the Assembly regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) and ongoing tripartite negotiation. In this regard, Honorable Mr. Zeleke noted Ethiopia’s inalienable right to utilize its natural resources to alleviate its people from abject poverty and the importance of the GERD to the country and beyond. While informing the Assembly of the facilitation effort being made by the African Union under the leadership of the South African President with the principle of finding African solutions to African problems, Honourable  Zeleke also  stressed Ethiopia’s willingness to work in collaboration with the brotherly countries of the downstream for the mutually beneficial solution on the issue.

The OACPS Parliamentarians are expected to meet with their European Parliament counterparts on October 29 and November 5 2020, at the Joint Parliamentary Assembly of the two sides. On this meeting, various motions of resolution tabled by the three joint standing committees are expected to be adopted.

Ethiopia is working to complete its accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) by next year, Senior Policy Advisor and Chief Trade Negotiator at the Office of the Prime Minister said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Senior Policy Advisor and Chief Trade Negotiator Mamo Mihretu revealed that the negotiation toward accession to WTO which started 16 years is making progress.

In a multilateral negotiation held last January with WTO member countries, Ethiopia had examined its trade and investment regime against WTO agreements and requirements.

For the most part the country’s trade regime is consistent with WTO rules and regulations, the senior policy advisor said, adding “we believe that there will not be an important setback for Ethiopia to be part of the multilateral trading system.”

Similarly, significant progress was made during bilateral trade negotiations with 8 member countries in Geneva last January.

“The main issue when it comes to bilateral negotiations is the tariff that we apply in our trading goods and the kind of investment or service sector that we open to foreign investors,” Mamo explained.

Furthermore, he pointed out that the government has made significant progress; and there is a lot of momentum, goodwill, and support from WTO member countries to see Ethiopia complete its accession process.”

“Our goal is to conclude Ethiopia’s WTO accession negotiations in 2021. But that of course very much depends on what we will successfully discuss and conclude bilateral negotiations with the member countries. For us concluding the WTO accession is critical because we consider it an external anchor to our domestic reform effort. Being part of the multilateral trading system is a natural outcome of the domestic economic reform program that the government is currently undertaking,” the chief trade negotiator stressed.

Concluding WTO accession process will create clear, predictable external market access to Ethiopian traders and investors, Mamo stated, adding “WTO, for the most part, will have a very positive impact on the domestic private sector.”

The government is not eliminating tariff on goods coming to Ethiopia, but putting a ceiling to it. “So, most of the private sector will still enjoy the protection that prevails.”

The most sensitive part of the negotiation is the extent of will allowing foreign investors to come and operate in Ethiopia, particularly telecom and financial institutions, the chief trade negotiator stated.

However, Mamo stated that in telecom, regardless of WTO, the government is currently undertaking a reform program and as a result new telecom operators are allowed to come in and invest.

The sensitive issue is the financial sector, according to Mamo, who pointed out that most of the member countries would want to see Ethiopia open up its financial companies.

He said the government’s position in that regard very much depends on the reform program.

“We believe we can negotiate WTO accession by maintaining the current prudential regulations on the financial sector. We need to make a distinction between opening up and deregulation. We will still maintain our strong prudent regulatory framework while creating a competitive investment climate for investors to come and operate in Ethiopia,” Mamo emphasized.

He believes that WTO accession will fundamentally transform Ethiopia’s investment climate and modernize trading rules and regulations thereby ultimately attracting FDI.

Source: FBC

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed held a discussion with ‘Dine for Ethiopia’ committee members to assess the progress of the fundraising program for Wonchi, Gorgora, and Koysha projects.

‘Dine for Ethiopia’ is a fundraising program to finance the three projects that will be executed in Oromia, Amhara and SNNP regional states. It aims to raise 3 billion birr.

In a Facebook post, the Prime Minister said “fundraising progress for the Dine for Ethiopia projects is proceeding according to plans per our progress evaluation today.”

“According to Dine for Ethiopia committee members, the 3 billion birr target is on course to be achieved,” he added.

The Prime Minister appreciated business owners, institutions, and government employees who have made their contribution to the three national projects.

According to him, the fundraising activities will be completed in the next coming two weeks.

The ‘Dine for Ethiopia’ program will be hosted within a month, the Prime Minister indicated.

The three projects are expected to create jobs for the local communities, drive tourism and create service economies.

Source : FBC

President Sahle-Work Zewde yesterday attended the 9th Tana High-Level Forum on Security in Africa, which is underway in Addis Ababa.

In her remark, the President highlighted the significance of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) in revitalizing pan-Africanism for sustainable peace and development in Africa.

She said “We are in the midst of turbulent times. The health and economic challenges brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic have negatively impacted the global economy.

“As we respond to the pandemic and look towards recovery and resilience, we must consider the transformative positive impact that the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) promises.

“In fact, this pandemic and the multifaceted disruptions that it has caused, have shown us the importance and value of inter-Africa trade more than ever before. “

The President also emphasized the importance of the Forum in promoting African solutions to continental security issues.

“Tana Forum is indeed a platform that strives to meet the intellectual challenge for African-led discussions and solutions to the problems confronting our continent.”

Source: FBC

Ethiopia’s effort to stamp out counterfeiting by introducing new currency notes is pulling people who’ve never had a bank account into the financial system.

Over the past four weeks, almost 1 million previously unbanked Ethiopians have handed in their two-decade-old banknotes, according to the central bank.

In exchange, they were given a bank account from which they can draw the new notes. The regulator is trying to deter cash hoarding that enables corruption and illegal trading to thrive and escapes the tax net.

The rush of applications forced the nation’s biggest commercial lender to assign more tellers to only handle money changing at its main branch next to its headquarters in the capital, Addis Ababa.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia branch gained a lot of new customers in the past month, while many others deposited cash in accounts that had been dormant.

“On the first day of the new currency notes, you wouldn’t believe what happened here — everybody came,” said Nebyou Birhanu, who heads digital services at CBE. “The money is coming into the bank.”

The demonetization initiative has added 31 billion birr ($830 million) to the 990 billion birr of deposits that were in the country’s 19 banks at the end of March. The central bank estimates there was 92 billion birr of unbanked cash in Ethiopia in July 2019.

“We expect more people, in the rural and urban areas, to open bank accounts,” National Bank of Ethiopia Governor Dr Yinager Dessie told state television last week.

The central bank is preparing to allow non-financial institutions to offer mobile-money services, opening up banking to local phone companies.

To ward off that threat, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia updated its banking app to allow customers to get credit, pay utility bills and transfer cash more easily, said Nebyou.

Source: FBC

Addis Ababa, Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy jointly with the Amhara Regional State Presidential Office has announced a month-long campaign to remove water hyacinth from Lake Tana.

The Ministry has so far discussed with high officials of the Amhara Regional State and various stakeholders on ways how to fight the water hyacinth infestation that has endangered aquatic resources of Lake Tana, the largest water body in the country.

Federal regional public institutions, universities, city administrations, and non-governmental organizations are expected to actively participate in the fight against the water hyacinth infestations.

The Ministry of Water, Irrigation, and Energy also called upon all Ethiopians to contribute to the water hyacinth removal national complaint.

The national campaign which is aimed to free Lake Tana from water hyacinth will run from October 19 to November 19, 2020.

Source: FBC