Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed, along with First Lady Zinash Tayachew and Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa city Engineer Takele Uma,  today visited COVID 19 patients at Kotebe area in the outskirts of the city.

According to the Mayor Office of Addis Ababa, the Prime Minister and the First Lady paid a visit to the patients at Eka Kotebe hospital.

The two also presented various gifts to medical professionals working at the hospital in connection with the upcoming Ethiopian Easter, which will be celebrated on Sunday.

The Prime Minister expressed his gratitude to the medical professionals and encouraged them to be resilient during this time while saving a nation.

The Prime Minister and the First Lady also delivered Easter Holiday gifts to elderly women within the Arat Kilo neighbourhood as well as for children living in the Kibebe Tsehay orphanage.

The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) has called for adequate consideration of the vulnerability of city economies as African governments consolidate efforts and define stimulus measures to mitigate national and regional economic impacts by COVID-19.

ECA Gender, Poverty and Social Policy Division Director, Thokozile Ruzvidzo stated that cities, being engines and drivers of economic growth, face considerable risks in light of COVID-19 with implications for the continent’s resilience to the pandemic.

In light of these circumstances, ECA is proposing specific support to city governments to mitigate and respond to the economic effects of COVID-19, in addition to the immediate health and humanitarian focus, a press release of the commission stated.

Disaggregating the analysis and identification of priorities and responses at the sub-national and city scales is a first step.

Proactive measures are also needed for urban economic recovery, including through measures to boost finances and capacities of local authorities as first responders, short-term bailouts and exemptions for SMEs to limit productivity and employment loses, social protection for those in informal urban employment while anticipating the potential of labor-intensive public work programs for job creation in the medium term.

The director emphasized that “local governments must be supported because they are better able to respond to local needs, including in coordination with community-based structures.”

According to ECA, Africa’s cities are home to 600 million people and account for more than 50% of the region’s GDP. This is even higher at more than 70% for countries such as Botswana, Uganda, Tunisia, and Kenya. A third of national GPD (31%) comes on average from the largest city in African countries.

As such, the economic contribution of cities in the region is far higher than their share of the population.

COVID-19 employment effects are likely to be severe in urban areas. With urban-based sectors of the economy (manufacturing and services) which currently account for 64% of GDP in Africa, cities are expected to be hit hard by COVID-19 related effects, leading to substantial losses in productive jobs.

In particular, the approximately 250 million Africans in informal urban employment (excluding North Africa) will be at risk.

Firms and businesses in African cities are highly vulnerable to COVID-19 related effects, especially SMEs, which account for 80% of employment in Africa, the release added.

These risks are compounded by a likely hike in the cost of living that is expected as shown for example by some initial reports of up to 100 percent increase in the price of some food items in some African cities.

Additionally, urban consumption and expenditure (of food, manufactured goods, utilities, transport, energy and services) is likely to experience a sharp fall in light of COVID-related lockdowns and reduced restrictions, it added.

Ruzvidzo explained that “Africa’s cities drive consumption with their growing middle class with per capital consumption spending in large cities being on average 80 percent higher at the city level than at the national level.

COVID-19 related decline in urban consumption will thus impact domestic value chains, including rural areas.”

Furthermore, with the per capital expenditure of African local authorities being the lowest in the world at 26 USD, many local authorities are poorly resourced and less able to contend with the onslaught of COVID-19.

In the longer term, the acute vulnerability of city economies calls for efforts to revitalize and enhance the productivity of Africa’s cities through adequate investments to address the substantial deficits and barriers they face.

Ethio-telecom has announced plans to improve its services from April 16, 2020.

Firehiwot Tamiru, CEO of Ethio-telecom, said the service improvement aims to limit the movement of people outside of their home and stem the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to her, the company will avail ‘Stay at Home Mobile Package’, ‘Stay Connected,’ and ‘Stay Active’ services as of tomorrow.

‘Stay at Home Mobile Package’ allows subscribers to make 30 minutes voice call locally for five birr, together with  20 free local text messages.

It also offers subscribers  100Mb internet service for five birr and  250Mb internet service for 10 birr, along-with 20 free local text messages.

‘Stay Connected’ services offer subscribers 300Mb internet service and 30 minutes local voice call for 15 birr, with 20 free local text messages , she said.

All the services will be available from 6am in the morning to 4pm in the afternoon.

Ethiopia has registered three more coronavirus (COVID-19) cases out of the 431 samples tested over the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 85.

All three confirmed cases are Ethiopian nationals, according to the Ministry of Health.

All three confirmed cases are Ethiopian nationals, only one of them had travel history to the United States (US), according to the Ministry of Health.

The other two have exposure to patients with confirmed COVID-19 cases, it added.

Ethiopia has so far registered three deaths and 14 recoveries from the virus.

According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.9 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally.

Nearly 127,000 people have died and more than 486,000 have recovered from the virus.

Ethiopia and the World Food Program (WFP) have opened a new hub at Bole International Airport from which COVID-19 supplies, equipment, and humanitarian workers will be transported across Ethiopia and Africa.

The Addis Ababa Humanitarian Air Hub is part of a United Nations initiative move to scale up procurement and distribution of protective equipment and medical supplies for the COVID-19 response.

With guidance and support from the Government of Ethiopia, WFP set up the hub in Addis Ababa and began operations this week, according to a press release of the World Food Program.

Finance State Minister Admasu Nebebe said “the Government of Ethiopia is proud to host this hub in Ethiopia on behalf of the global community. We are honored to be contributing this way to the global endeavor to tackle the coronavirus disease.”

The first cargo flight arrived in Ethiopia yesterday from the United Arab Emirates loaded with aprons, face shields, gloves, goggles, gowns, masks and thermometers procured by the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) for distribution to 32 African countries.

WFP Country Director and Representative Steven Were Omamo said, “Thanks to the Government of Ethiopia, WFP worked with airport and customs authorities to establish this air hub in days. Ethiopia has proven its willingness and agility to act as a regional caregiver in this time of crisis.”

A team of 25 WFP aviation and logistics staff are based at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, managing the 24-hour operation, it was learned.

They organize warehouse space for dry bulk, temperature-controlled and cold storage cargo, and its onward flights.

WFP also provides dedicated cargo tracking, warehouse management and customer service for countries across Africa in collaboration with the Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

United Nations Resident Coordinator and Humanitarian Coordinator in Ethiopia, Catherine Sozi noted that “this partnership between the Government of Ethiopia, WFP and WHO is aligned with the vision of the United Nations in Ethiopia and highlights the value of collaboration in responding to the needs of millions of people.”

Following further discussions with the Government of Ethiopia, WFP is planning to organize and process flights for humanitarian personnel through the Addis Ababa hub as well as medical evacuations, it was also learned.

As part of a global appeal to raise 2 billion USD for the COVID-19 response, launched by the United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs on 25 March, WFP is calling for 350 million USD to support vital common aviation, shipping, storage and transport, and engineering services in areas affected by the pandemic.

Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed co-authored another illuminating article on ‘FINANCIAL TIMES’ along with 17 African and European leaders of State and Governments calling for cooperation; emphasizing, in particular, Africa’s vulnerabilities that need to be addressed in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Click here for more: https://on.ft.com/2wFJ5xb

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed wrote a piece on ‘Bloomberg’ arguing for debt relief measurements to help Africa survive the effects of COVID-19 pandemic. In line with his call for financial support for Africa from the international community, in his recently published article on ‘FINANCIAL TIMES,’ the Premier reiterated: “Africa needs an immediate emergency fiscal stimulus worth $100 billion in addition to the International Monetary Fund’s already programmed $50 billion of regular support to tackle the crisis.” Noting that the ongoing crisis will not be short-lived, Abiy underscored the need to have additional support to Africa over the next two to three years from the International Community. He argued that without a vast restructuring of debt, all the continent’s recent gains will be wiped out. Please click here for more: https://bloom.bg/3b8ZFVb

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has met with the COVID19 Ministerial Committee to discuss development in the fight against the spread of the virus.

“Updates from the COVID19 Ministerial Committee indicate good progress,” tweeted the Prime Minister.

“I am pleased to hear that within Addis Ababa itself around 1,200 food banks have been set up for extreme eventualities,” he added.

“Setting up multiple testing labs in regions is also on-going with the aim of increasing daily testing capacity.”

“The potential to locally produce ventilators is being explored as we add new sites to the quarantine, isolation and treatment facilities.”

“I have to take the opportunity to acknowledge all generous individuals who have been lending a hand in all manners. Unity is a pre-requisite for collective survival.”

The country has so far registered 82 confirmed cases, with three deaths and 14 recoveries.

The Ministry of Health has reported 8 new cases of coronavirus (COVID-19) out of the 447 samples tested over the past 24 hours.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 82.

Five of today’s confirmed cases are Ethiopians and the other three are Eritrean, Somali and British nationals.

The country has so far reported three deaths and 14 recoveries from the virus.

According to the latest figures from Johns Hopkins University, more than 1.9 million cases of coronavirus have been registered globally.

Nearly 120,000 people have died and more than 453,000 have recovered from the virus.