In his remarks during the launch of the Electronic World Trade Platform, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated, “Electronic trade platform is part of Ethiopia’s technological development. Technology affects lifestyles by assisting the shift from old to new. The world is in a fast-paced change due to the fourth industrial revolution. The electronic trade platform is a step forward to making Ethiopia among the five economic giants of Africa within the coming decade. It also expands the horizon for small and medium enterprises.”

The African Union (AU) commended the government and people of Ethiopia today for their efforts to promote and ensure the empowerment and participation of the youth in peace and development initiatives in the country.

In his welcoming address to the participants of a workshop on youth and peace, AU Commissioner for Peace and Security Smail Chergui lauded the Government of Ethiopia for its commitment towards taking bold steps to widen the political space through releasing political prisoners and inviting exiled opposition parties to return and pursue a peaceful struggle in the country.

“Allow me also to express my appreciation and gratitude to the Government and people of Ethiopia for the strides the country is making towards an inclusive, accountable and a democratic nation that is creating the conditions for inclusive and participatory socio-economic development for its youth and the general public,”  the commissioner added.

Chergui stated that the workshop “is taking place at the backdrop of ongoing political reforms, democratization processes, as well as the holding of Ethiopia’s national elections in 2020.”

However, political reform processes take time and are always fraught with challenges, he warned, adding that “we know from experience that election periods heighten the vulnerabilities of countries.”

According to the commissioner, “harnessing the positive contributions of the youth and ensuring their active participation in the political discourse and decision-making processes will be key for the successful implementation of the reform agenda and other peacebuilding efforts.”

Ethiopia’s success in conducting a credible and peaceful election will be crucial to the successful implementation of the comprehensive reform agenda.

“We must work together – old and young, to ensure the gains so far made are not reversed but rather consolidated,” Chergui stressed.

In this context, the youth in Ethiopia can and are encouraged to play a significant role in the overall reform process and the holding of credible and peaceful elections, according to the commissioner.

Furthermore, the commissioner expressed his appreciation to the talented young women and men across the continent, which is playing “cardinal roles towards the promotion of peace and nation-building in their respective countries.”

He reaffirmed the African Union’s readiness to work together, share expertise and knowledge for the successful holding of the upcoming national elections and the implementation of the reform agenda in Ethiopia.

Peace Minister Muferihat Kamil said on her part Africa is a continent of youth; and this is a great opportunity and grace for Africa, noting that 70 percent of the population in Ethiopia is young.

She said the Government of Ethiopia is working hard to enhance the participation of the youth in peace, nation-building and development activities in the country.

The minister noted that the workshop will create the opportunity to transfer and exchange experiences among the Ethiopian youth and their African brothers and sisters.

Muferihat further expressed gratitude to the Peace and Security Department of the African Union for “the support extended to us and being with us in making peace happen in the continent.”

AU Youth Envoy, Aya Chebbi said in Ethiopia, with its very dynamic and young population, we have an opportunity to promote the empowerment of youth as a catalyst for positive and peaceful change.

She said “young people play a positive role in the prevention and resolution of conflicts and eventually a key role to support the government’s peace and security architecture in Ethiopia.”

Chebbi pointed out that “a question that every young African pose to themselves today, every single country young people ask what is the Africa we want and what’s the country they want is also a question young Ethiopians ask. The Ethiopia they want to build.”

The youth participants from the continent will discuss youth engagement and participation in nation-building, normative frameworks on youth’s roles in peace and nation-building, among other issues, in the two-day workshop.

The workshop is organized by the Government of Ethiopia, in collaboration with AU, under the theme “Youth for Peace Ethiopia: Cross-Regional Dialogue and Experience Sharing.”

ክቡር የትምህርት ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር ዶክተር ጥላዬ ጌቴ በበብራስል የኢ.ፌ.ዲ.ሪ ኤምባሲ በመገኘት በአዲሱ የኢትዮጵያ የትምህርትና ስልጠና ፍኖተ ካርታ ዝግጅት እና ትግበራ ላይ ከዲፕሎማቶች ጋር ህዳር 16 ቀን 2012 ዓ.ም ተወያይተዋል።በዚህ ወቀት በሀገሪቱ በየደረጃው ባለው የትምህርት እርከን እየገጠመ ስላለው የትምህርት ጥራት መጓደል የትምህርት ሚኒስቴር ሚኒስትር ዶክተር ጥላዬ ጌቴ ማብራሪያ ሰጥተዋል።በአጠቃላይ ትምህርትና በከፍተኛ ትምህርት ተቋማት የወደፊት አደረጃጀትን አስመልክቶ በቀረበዉ ሰነድ ላይ ህብረተሰቡ በስፋት ተወያይቶ ጠቃሚ ሃሳቦችና አስተያየቶች ተሰብስበው መካተታቸውን ገልጸዋል፡፡
የኢትዮጵያ የትምህርት ፍኖተ ካርታ ጥልቅ ጥናት ተደርጎበት የፖሊሲ ማሻሻያዎችን አካትቶ ተግባራዊ ለማድረግ አስፈላጊው ዝግጅት መጠናቀቁን ገልጸዋል፡፡ የቬትናምንና ማሌዥያን እንዲሁም የሌሎችን ሃገሮች ልምድ በማካተት የተዘጋጀው የትምህርት ፍኖተ ካርታው ለሚቀጥሉት አመታት ተግባራዊ ይደረጋል ብለዋል፡፡
የትምህርት ሚኒስትሩ ዶ/ር ጥላዬ ጌቴ በውይይቱ ወቅት እንደገለጹት ፍኖተ ካርታው በማንኛውም የትምህርት ዘርፍ ወደ ዩኒቨርሲቲ ሚገባ ተማሪም መጀመርያውን አንድ አመት ሙሉ ሃገሪቱን ታሪክ፣ ባህልና መልክአምድር በማጥናትና በመማር ግብረገብነትን ያዳበረ እንዲሆን ይደረጋል ብለዋል፡፡
የትምህርትና ስልጠና ፍኖተ ካርታው በአገሪቱ የሚሰጠው ትምህርት እውቀት ብቻ ሳይሆን ተግባርን ያማከለ እንዲሁም አገር በቀል እውቀትና አስፈላጊውን ክህሎት ያካተተ እንዲሆን ለማስቻል ታልሞ የተዘጋጀ እንደሆነ ገልጸዋል።
በእዚህና በመሰል ጉዳዮች ላይ ከሌሎች በተለያዩ ሀገሮች ከሚገኙ የኢትዮጵያ ዲፕሎማቶች ጋር ለመወያየት ፍላጎት እንዳላቸውም ጠቁመዋል።
ውይይቱ ስለፍኖተ ካርታው ግንዛቤ ለመፍጠር ከማገዙ ባሻገር ለልማት አጋሮች ስለ ፍኖተ ካርታው ማስረዳትና ድጋፍ ማስገኘት እንደሚገባም ጠቁመዋል።
በመጨረሻም በጉዳዩ ላይ ከዲፕሎማቶቹ ለተነሱ ጥያቄዎች እና አስተያየቶች ማብራሪያ ሰጥተዋል።

H.E. Mr. Gedu Andargachew today (November 26) received and held talks with H.E. Ms. Maymunah Mohd Sharif, Executive Director of UN-Habitat.

The two exchanged views on strengthening the partnership between UN-Habitat and Ethiopia.

The Foreign Minister commended Ms. Maymunah Mohd and UN-Habitat for responding positively to Prime Minister Abiy’s request to assist Ethiopia on the Sheger River Rehabilitation Project.

Mr. Gedu also appreciated the UN-Habitat for extending its assistance to Ethiopia in areas of urban planning, solid waste management, urban resilience and urban monitoring in different parts of the country.

He also urged UN-Habitat to expand its support to Ethiopia in technical and capacity building areas considering the rapid urbanization process taking place in Ethiopia.

Ms. Maymunah Mohd Sharif for her part said UN-Habitat is undertaking activities to modernize cities in Ethiopia so that they can be suitable for living.

She also cited some cities in Ethiopia particularly Bahir Dar, Hawassa, Dire Dawa and Kombolecha, where her organization is running city-development projects currently.

UN-Habitat will focus on cities where Industrial Parks have been built to help reduce air pollution, the Executive Manager added.

The Nairobi-based UN-Habitat runs projects in Ethiopia aiming at developing and promoting socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities.

 

The Executive Director of the United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat), Maimunah Mohd Sharif is in Ethiopia for a two-day official visit.

This morning, she met with United Nations (UN) staff working in Ethiopia.

She thanked them for their active engagement in implementing SDG 11 (making cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable) and the new urban agenda in Ethiopia.

During her visit, the Executive Director will meet with high Ethiopian government officials, including Engineer Aisha Mohamed, Minister of Urban Development and Construction.

She will also visit a garbage dumpsite, Koshe landfill and the UN-Habitat funded project located at Ras Mekonnen area.

The United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat, is the United Nations agency for human settlements.

It is mandated by the UN General Assembly to promote socially and environmentally sustainable towns and cities with the goal of providing adequate shelter for all.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held a discussion with the Chairman of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma this morning (November 25th).

Founder of Jack Ma Foundation and Partner of Alibaba Group arrived last night in Addis Ababa, following his meeting with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in Alibaba headquarter in Hangzhou city earlier this year.

Jack Ma is in Addis Ababa to launch the Electronic World Trade Platform in Ethiopia.

The Prime Minister Office announced that electronic World Trade is a platform that will support the country’s national digital transformation strategy.

During their meeting in Hangzhou last April, Prime Minister Abiy and Jack Ma shared on the future of disruptive technologies on market and societies.

On the occasion, Jack Ma agreed to consider potential investment in Ethiopia that will impact the daily lives of the people in the region.

The engagement of women in science and technology is pivotal to achieve development goals, President Sahlework Zewdie said.
Addressing a consultative meeting on Ethiopian women and science today, the president said the participation of women in science and technology is low in the country.

Yet, there are some influential Ethiopian women in science and technology at national and international levels, Sahlework added.

According to her, “the journey to ensure equality of women will be daunting, unless the participation of women is strengthened.”

The government has, therefore, been encouraging and supporting women to actively engage in the field.

The president underscored the need for transformation of knowledge and exchange of experiences among women and stakeholders to improve the situation.

Science and Higher Education Minister, Professor Hirut Woldemariam said encouraging and recognizing women in science and technology is crucial for the development of the country.

She stated that the ministry has taken various measures to enhance the participation of women in science and technology.

Ministry of Science and Higher Education, in collaboration with the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences, organized the consultative meeting.

Ethiopia will launch its first satellite into space on December 17 2019, according to the Ethiopian Space Science and Technology Institute (ESSTI).

The Multi-Spectral Remote Sensing Satellite ET-RSS1 will be launched in partnership with China, said Dr. Engineer Getahun Mekuria, Minister of Innovation and Technology.

He said the satellite will be launched at 6:21 am local time.

The Satellite, which will be launched from China, will have its command and control center in Ethiopia at the Entoto space observatory facility located on the outskirt of Addis Ababa.

Once launched into space, the satellite will provide all the necessary data on changes in climate and weather-related phenomena that would be used for agriculture, forestry, and natural resources conservation activities.

During his visit to China Academy of Space Technology last April, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed inspected the 70kg satellite.

Nation attracted 700 Million Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) during the first quarter of the on-going fiscal year, according to Ethiopian Investment Commission report.

In its report to the House of Peoples’ Representatives Trade and Industry Standing Committee, the Commission said the country has achieved 70 percent of the plan which was projected to bring over a billion U.S. dollar investments during the stated period.

The country attracted the investments from close to 100 new foreign companies being operational in various sectors, the report showed.

Ethiopian Investment Commissioner, Abebe Abebayehu, stated that the achievement has shown a 13 percent progress compared to in the same period of the last budget year.

Acknowledging that Ethiopia has still not been earning the expected foreign currency from its manufacturing products,  lack of peace and stability, repeated power break, inadequate infrastructure around the industrial parks are among the major challenges for the sector, the commissioner revealed.   

He particularly noted that the recent instability of the country is affecting the investment flow saying “Ethiopia has lost 300 million USD due to the disruption in different parts of the country.”

Noting that attracting the highly qualified investors has been a top priority of the nation, the commission has licensed the best global firms during the last three months unlike the past experience in this regard, he underscored.

After hearing the report, the standing committee urged the commission to focus on export-oriented products, job creation, and technology transfer.

The country has secured 47 million USD from the manufactured products, which is the least achievement of the targeted plan in the first three months, according to the report.

The National Sterling Committee will celebrate International Coffee Day in Addis Ababa on February 5-7 2020. The celebration will include an exhibition, conference, and festival with the motto Coffee from the land of origin.

The National Sterling Committee invites Ethiopian and foreigner academicians, researchers and professionals to submit a research paper related to the motto and objective of the conference. The Committee is interested in topics which can address Branding Ethiopian Coffee in International Market, Developping Echo Tourism in Tranding Areas, Challenges and Prospects of Ethiopian Coffee Export, etc.

Candidates should submit their work on one A4 paper in Amharic or English before December 15, 2019.

More information in the document below.