Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met this morning with Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Ms. Sigrid Kaag who came to Ethiopia to handover a ceremonial 18th-century crown. The crown had been missing since 1993 and rediscovered in Rotterdam, Netherlands in October 2019. The Netherlands government facilitated this handover with the belief that it has a duty to restitute this important artifact back to Ethiopia.

አዲስ አበባ፣የካቲት10፣2012 (ኤፍ.ቢ.ሲ) በህዳሴው ግድብ ላይ እየተደረገ ባለው ድርድር ዩናይትድ ስቴትስ ሀገራቱ በራሳቸው መፍትሄ እንዲያስቀምጡ ብቻ ድጋፍ እንደምታደርግ የሀገሪቱ የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር ማይክ ፖምፔዮ ገለፁ።

የኢፌዴሪ የውጭ ጉዳይ ሚኒስትር አቶ ገዱ አንዳርጋቸው እና ማይክ ፖምፔዮ በጋራ ዛሬ ጋዜጣዊ መግለጫ ሰጥተዋል።

National Electoral Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) is undertaking its second electoral stakeholders Conference today to solicit inputs and discuss shared responsibilities for conducting the upcoming general elections effectively.

NEBE has also revealed a new logo as part of its comprehensive reform activities.

Following the comprehensive reforms that has been undertaking, NEBE is bringing pertinent actors into a continued round table discussion with the aim of accomplishing fair, free and democratic elections.

Thus, the conference brought senior government officials, international donors, competing political parties and other stakeholders together.

NEBE officials stated that 40 percent of the Board’s personnel have been assigned in the regional electoral stations.

It is to be recalled that the Board conducted its first electoral stakeholders conference last October at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa.

Ministers of Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan and their delegations met with the Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank, participating as observers, to continue negotiations on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), in Washington, D.C. on February 12-13, 2020.

The Ministers reviewed the progress achieved by their technical and legal teams and continued their discussions on the remaining issues necessary for a final agreement. The Ministers reaffirmed the importance of transboundary cooperation in the development of the Blue Nile to improve the lives of the people of Egypt, Ethiopia, and Sudan, and their shared commitment to concluding an agreement.

“The United States, with technical support from the World Bank, has agreed to facilitate the preparation of the final agreement for consideration by the Ministers and heads of state for conclusion by the end of the month,” said Steven T. Mnuchin, Secretary of the Treasury.

Ethiopian parliament today approved a hate speech and disinformation prevention and suppression law.

The law was approved with a majority vote, 23 against and 2 abstentions.

The law is aimed at preventing individuals from engaging in speech that incites violence, promote hatred and discrimination against a person or a group.

It is also aimed at promoting tolerance, civil discourse and dialogue, mutual respect and understanding and strengthening democratic governance.

It is also intended to control and suppress the dissemination and proliferation of hate speech, disinformation and other related false and misleading information.

The law prohibits disseminating hate speech by means of broadcasting, print or social media using text, image, audio or video.

The parliament also approved the revised excise tax law with a majority vote, 4 against and 7 abstentions.

The parliament approved the law after a revision was made on the initial draft bill.

Accordingly, the excise tax levied on new vehicles with engines below 1,300cc is reduced to 5% from the initially proposed 30%.

Moreover, the excise tax on 1-2 year old cars is reduced to 55% from 80%, 2-4 year old cars to 105% from 130%, 4-7 year old cars to 205% from 230% and above seven year to 405% from 430%.

However, the excise tax on tobacco increased to 8 birr per pack from the initially proposed 5 birr.

The excise taxes imposed on bottled water is reduced to 10% from the proposed 15%.

The parliament scrapped the proposed 5% excise tax imposed on telecom services

Trade and Industry Affairs Standing Committee of the Ethiopian Parliament held a discussion with a delegation of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The discussion mainly focused on Ethiopia’s accession to the Organization.

Members of the Standing Committee told Ambassador Alan Wolff, Deputy Director-General of WTO and head of the delegation, that Ethiopia is keen to join the organization.

Ambassador Alan Wolff for his part said he is hopeful that Ethiopia’s bid to become members of the organization could get an answer by the end of this year.

Joining WTO would help the country to achieve Agenda 2030, Ambassador Wolff said.

Ethiopia resumed discussion last month to join the organization after eight years.

Mamo Mihretu, Senior Advisor and Chief Trade Negotiator at the PM office, held the discussion with WTO Director General Roberto Azevedo in Geneva, Switzerland.

The two discussed ways to expedite the process in Ethiopia’s longstanding efforts to be part of the multilateral trading system.

The 3rd Africa Business Forum (ABF) kicked off in Addis Ababa on February 11th with the theme; ‘Investing in People, Planet and Prosperity’.

The event, which aims to promote an ongoing dialogue between Africa’s private and public sectors, was opened by Dr. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA).

The forum will foster opportunities for the private sector to contribute towards the continent’s collective efforts in addressing some of the key issues that have an impact on people, planet and prosperity.

Key topics under the spotlight include challenges and impacts of climate change, energy sustainability and efficiency, healthcare-renewable energy nexus, pharmaceuticals manufacturing, innovative financing mechanisms, governance, and responsible investments, and sustainable development in Africa.

ABF is an annual event that brings together Heads of States, policymakers, industry leaders, thinkers and private businesses to discuss the role of the private sector in Africa’s development; cutting edge and innovative ideas for financing sustainable development; and partnerships between the private and public sectors.

The Forum focuses on issues, challenges, and opportunities that are most relevant for African economies and societies, and provides a unique networking environment for policymakers, private sector, financiers, academia and civil society.

 

The Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund (EDTF) has chosen to fund five development projects that aim to improve the social and economic wellbeing of Ethiopians in need; this comes after a rigorous selection process carried out by the organization over the last few months.

EDTF launched in August 2018 and is a tax-exempt nonprofit organization in the United States that is designed to provide funding for entrepreneurial projects geared towards the betterment of Ethiopia. The funds are raised in the form of donations by members of the diaspora around the world, following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s call for the diaspora to donate a-dollar-a-day, contributing to initiatives deemed critical projects. The organization raised USD$ 5.848 million from 25,735 donors living in 93 countries, all donations raised by EDTF are dedicated to funding the projects.
Three of the five selected projects are related to enhancing childhood education. The remaining two cover areas of hygiene, sanitation, and water supply.
The five projects were narrowed down from an initial submission of 410. They were further tapered down to the final 22 project proposals that met the formal requirements by EDTF’s panel of experts, before the final selection.
The chosen projects are as follows:
Early childhood care and education services for orphans and vulnerable children by Hiwot Integrated Development Organization (HIDO). The project costs 10,491,742 birr.
Hygiene and sanitation promotion by Korah Great Hope Charity Organization (KGHCO). The project costs 10,314,255 birr.
Promotion of safe water supply, hygiene and sanitation for hard to reach communities using renewable energy by Pro Development Network. The project costs 8,924,780 birr.
Enhancing educational provision through improving children learning environment by Gurmuu Development Association. The project costs 10,628,885 birr
Build the capacity of special needs education to integrate children with disabilities in the school system by Help for Persons with Disabilities Organization (HPD-O). The project costs 15,651,374 birr.

source: Capital Ethiopia Newspaper

The 33rd African Union (AU) Heads of State and Government summit concluded on Monday in Addis Ababa, with discussions on creating conflict-free Africa in line with the theme on” Silencing the Guns: Creating Conducive Conditions for Africa’s Development .
The summit which has been taking place from 21^st January to 10^th of February 2020 in AU Headquarters in Addis Ababa wrapped up after long delays.

The annual summit discussed on wide range of issues with due emphasis on ways to further sustaining peace and security in Africa.

During their deliberations the African leaders looking at the achievements made in recent decades in promoting peace and security across the continent.

The theme of the summit was showcasing a commitment to aspire peace and security in Africa in line with the continent’s Agenda 2063.

The AU needs more than ever to spearhead and toughen its conflict mediation efforts and lead action aimed at more operationally bringing together all African and international actors to silence the guns and create conducive conditions for socio-economic development in the continent.

Several leaders of member states of the African Union have attended the 33rd Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Heads of State and Government.

The summit was attended by United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres and other representatives of international organizations.