Foreign Minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia and Chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers, H.E. Gedu Andargachew chaired the 67th Extraordinary Session of Council of Ministers, which opened in Juba, South Sudan on May 7.

The meeting aimed at taking stock of the progress made in the implementation of the Revitalized Peace Agreement and the challenges encountered in meeting some of the key timelines and benchmarks.

Thanking his colleague Ministers for their congratulatory messages and best wishes on his new appointment as Foreign Minister, H.E. Gedu Andargachew recalled the meeting of the parties to the Revitalized Agreement under the auspices of IGAD, which was held in Addis Ababa last week to review the status of implementation of the pre-transitional tasks, identify key challenges.

He commended the parties for their commitment to reach at consensus in extending the pre-transitional period for six months to allow for the full implementation of critical pending tasks. In connection, the Minister noted the importance of developing a clear roadmap and implementation schedules for the pending tasks.

Acknowledging the challenge related to finance, Minister Gedu commended the Transitional Government of National Unity for its pledges to commit 100 million US dollars to expedite the implementation of the pending tasks, which he said, would encourage regional and international partners to provide support to this process.

Despite the challenges and delays in meeting some of the timelines and benchmarks, Foreign Minister Gedu said progress has been made since the signing of the revitalized peace agreement, including the establishment and reconstitution of the necessary Agreement institutions and implementation mechanisms for the Pre-Transitional Period as well as improvements in the implementation of the Permanent Ceasefire. “I hope at the end of our meeting, we will be able to agree on the right course of action to help the process move forward,” he added.

The Government of Ethiopia and the European Union (EU) have signed a financing agreement amounting to 33.5 million Euros for the EU-TRUST Fund for Disaster Risk Reduction project.

The agreement was signed here today by Admasu Nebebe, Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance and Mr. Erik Habers, Head of Cooperation of the European Delegation to Ethiopia, according to a press release issued by the Ministry.

The Disaster Risk Reduction project will focus on strengthening households, communities and local authorities to manage and adapt to disasters and other risks, thus reducing their humanitarian and economic impact, including forced displacement and irregular migration.

According to the Ministry, the project will be implemented in 54 months (2019-2023) by NGOs, National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Agency in Somali, SNNP, Oromia and Amhara regional states.

The Addis Ababa city administration has announced a plan to create employment opportunities for more than 161, 000 unemployed youth.

According data from the Central Statistics Agency, more than 10 million people are currently unemployed in Ethiopia, including 406,000 in the capital Addis Ababa. And 200,000 of them are youth.

The Addis Ababa city administration had allocated 2 billion birr revolving fund for job creation activities.

Jemalu Jember, job creation and enterprises development bureau head of the administration, told FBC that preparations have been finalized to use the fund for the intended purposes.

He said amendment was made on the distribution of loan to increase the number of beneficiaries of the revolving fund.

According to him, an individual can get access to loan service without age limit if his/her business idea is proved feasible and labor intensive.

Amendments were also made on the amount an individual is required to save in order to get access to loan as well as on the repayment of loans and grace period, he added.

The UK government has announced a £15.5 million support to help Ethiopia run transparent, free and fair elections next year.

Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt made the announcement at the 2019 World Press Freedom Day celebrations that started in Addis Ababa yesterday.

The money will build the capacity of the elections board to run the election which will make electoral operations more transparent and enhance communications and engagement for the National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE).

It will also prevent electoral violence through enhanced monitoring and early warning to improve the effectiveness of electoral dispute mechanism.

“If successful and peaceful, the elections in May 2020 will be a major step towards building a democratic culture in Ethiopia and will lay a platform for a continuation and deepening of Prime Minister Abiy’s political and economic reforms,” he said.

The Foreign Secretary also expressed his delight “to be in Ethiopia, where under Prime Minister Abiy’s leadership the new government has transformed political discourse by allowing the creation of hundreds of websites, blogs, and newspapers.”

“Since the Prime Minister assumed office last year, Ethiopia has climbed the World Press Freedom Index faster than any other country, rising 40 places and showing just how much can be achieved when the political will exists.”

The Foreign Secretary also announced a new Chevening Africa Media Fellowship programme that will provide 60 exceptional African journalists over the next five years to gain experience in the newsrooms of Britain’s leading media organizations.

This year, applicants from ten African countries will be eligible, including Ethiopia.

In his remark at the event, Jeremy Hunt set out his vision to improve media freedom around the world, calling on leaders to recognize that “media freedom is not a “Western” value, but instead a force for progress from which everyone benefits.”

“Whatever we politicians claim during election campaigns, no single party or leader or philosophy has a monopoly on wisdom. Instead of the progress of humanity clearly shows that wisdom arises from the open competition between ideas when different viewpoints are given the oxygen to contend freely and fairly,” he said.

Hunt indicated that a free media “provides a channel for people to voice discontent without resorting to violence. If problems and tensions are bottled up, then they are far more likely to boil over. Stopping journalists from reporting a problem does not make it go away.”

Jeremy Hunt also made the link between a free media and lower levels of government corruption, saying that “far more effective than the crackdowns regularly launched by authoritarian regimes is the sunlight of transparency – just witness the striking overlap between the least corrupt countries in global indices and those with the freest media.”

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) awarded Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed the Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for Peace for his commendable work in pursuit of peace.

The Félix Houphouët-Boigny Prize for Peace goes to individuals who have “actively contributed to bring peace by solving international conflicts, by searching dialogue and negotiation in their conciliation role and by achieving ecumenical understanding for tolerance,” according to office o the Prime Minister.

Ethiopia in joint cooperation with UNESCO and the African Union Commission (AUC), is currently hosting the 2019 World Press Freedom Day global conference.

Journalists from across the world have gathered in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for a three days conference and celebrate the World Press Freedom Day.

The official celebration of the 2019 World Press Freedom Day officially kicked off at the African Union (AU) headquarters today.

The event which is being held under the theme “Media for Democracy: Journalism and Elections in times of Disinformation,” brought together more than 2,000 participants from over 95 countries.

The celebration started yesterday with a joint media forum held at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa to discuss the challenges and opportunities for the media in the age of disinformation.

In a forum, the participants underscored the need for mainstream media to be more critical of fact-checking during election periods as disinformation has been threatening the bases of African democracy.

The forum stressed the significance of critical journalism to be factually correct in an era where disinformation seems to create alternative realities and threaten the basis of democracy in Africa.

Over the past year, Ethiopia has undertaken dramatic changes to open up media and use it for promoting democracy. A lot of significant policy and a shift in practice have taken place over the past year. The government is working on drafting rules and regulations that could curb hate speech.

The government of Ethiopia has secured $103 million export earnings from products manufactured in industrial parks over the first nine months of its fiscal year started July 8, 2018.

The performance has increased by 40 percent compared to last year same period, according to Ethiopian Investment Commissioner Abebe Abebayehu. He noted that the country had met 70 percent of its export earning target over these nine months.

Textiles, shoes and other leather products were among the manufactured items that generated hard currency for Ethiopia. The report also stated that the active industrial parks of Ethiopia have created jobs for over 70,000 people so far, of which around 16,000 were created over the past nine months.

Ethiopia’s industrial parks include Hawassa, Bole Lemi, Kilinto, Mekelle, Dire Dawa, Kombolcha, Debre Birhan, Addis Industrial Village and Jimma, among others.

To date, Bole Lemi, Mekele, Adama have partially started operation, and Hawassa Industrial Park is already operational.

The conflicts in different parts of the country over the years have hardly affected the performance of the industrial parks. Special security precautions are in place to ascertain the safety and security in and around the industrial parks.

In recent years, Ethiopia has focused on building industrial parks as a viable strategy to increase foreign exchange earnings; and the country is striving to complete a total of 30 industrial parks over the coming years.

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met yesterday with Prime Minister Li Keqiang to discuss the further strengthening of Ethiopia-China relations.

Premier Li Keqiang confirmed that China would continue to support Ethiopia’s efforts in promoting the wellbeing of its citizens and its economy.

They presided over the signing of five agreements that reflect the deepening of these relations. The agreements signed include a financing agreement for the development of a plaza and 12km of the ‘Beautifying Sheger’ river bank project, the provision of grants for technical cooperation and food aid, a Belt and Road Initiative five-year cooperation plan and an MOU operationalizing cooperation under FOCAC.

Ethiopia and China have signed a 1.8 billion US dollars investment agreement which covers the provision of electric power transmission and distribution lines.

The same day, an agreement was signed following Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s meeting with State Grid Corporation of China.

The project will supply power for up to 16 industrial parks; the Addis Ababa to Djibouti 2nd railway line and for different cities in the country.

The agreement will facilitate not only uninterrupted power supply but also enable the creation of jobs.

Prime Minister Abiy arrived in China yesterday to attend the second Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation (BRF), which will be held on April 25-27 in Beijing under the theme “Belt and Road Cooperation: Shaping a Brighter Shared Future.”

The forum events include leaders’ round-table, high-level meeting, thematic forums, CEO conference and other side events. Representatives from over 100 countries, including 40 leaders of foreign governments have confirmed their attendance.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his delegation met with Chinese President Xi Jinping ahead of the Belt and Road Forum.

The Chinese President admired the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy and the reforms he has led over the past year, noting that China holds Ethiopia’s development in high regard. He also announced the cancellation of interest on all loans accumulated until the end of 2018.

Furthermore, President Xi emphasized that the Chinese government attaches high importance to the beautifying Sheger project and is working on a grant assistance in its support.

Both parties agreed to a strengthened cooperation between the two countries in various sectors.

In a related development, the Prime Minister met with the leadership of the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) in Beijing yesterday.

CRCC’s current largest engagement includes connecting Ethiopia and Djibouti through the railway project. CRCC has expressed interest in investing in agro-industry parks development, oil and gas development, and the beautifying Sheger river project.

Tuesday, 14 May 2019 09:00 – 18:00

The Square, Brussels

The EU-Ethiopia Business Forum, hosted by the European Commission, will take place on May 14 in Brussels.

The objective of this Forum is mainly to support and stimulate European private sector trade and investment.

During this high-level business forum you will hear practical information about doing business in Ethiopia and you can interact with top-officials from the Ethiopian Investment Commission and with other high-ranking officials from Ethiopia.

In the presence of Mr. Jyrki Katainen, vice-president of the European Commission and Commissioner for Jobs, Growth, Investment and Competitiveness, the day-long program will focus on four key sectors in Ethiopia. These sectors are:

• Agroprocessing
• Textile, apparel and leather
• Pharmaceutical and medical
• ICT

A delegation of business-leaders from Ethiopia is also expected, who shall be available for matchmaking during the event on May 14^th, and the following day.

Please notice that access to the EU-Ethiopia Business Forum is free of charge but kindly keep in mind that a final selection of participants will be made by the organizers on May 7^th.

The EU-Ethiopia Business Forum 2019 starts at 09:00, doors open at 8.

You can register here:
https://en.xing-events.com/eu_ethiopia_businessforum.html?page=1699742