Another border crossing between Ethiopia and Eritrea has been opened for travelers and businesspeople as reconciliation between the two Horn of Africa countries continues, all part of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s attempts to build peace with his neighbors and broaden the political space at home.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Eritrean President Isayas Afework officially opened Oumajir-Humera border along Gonder and Eritrea, in Western Ethiopia, as Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Church followers celebrated Christmas, along with the rest of the Orthodox Christian World on Monday 7 January.

This development is a further sign that the two former enemies are working to bury the hatchet after 20 years of closed borders and tensions. An update issued by the office of the prime minister says, “the opening of the border [Oumajir-Humera] will further enable the people to people connection on both sides and facilitate cross-border trade in the long term.”

The Humera-Oum Hajer border on the western side of both countries was not the first border crossing to be reopened. In September, two land crossings were opened.

Since then, relations between the neighbors have continued to improve, with the normalization allowing the free movement of people and goods.

Ethiopia’s exports to the United States under the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) have risen by 62 percent in just one year. If this trend continues, Ethiopia is poised to be the second or third largest exporter in East Africa under AGOA, according to the US Agency for International Development (USAID).

Under AGOA, exports from Ethiopia, Rwanda, Uganda, Madagascar, Kenya, Tanzania, Mauritius and Burundi, the eight countries which benefit from the act, rose by 17 percent during the period October 2017 to September 2018, compared to the same period in the previous year.

In total, the eight countries exported $1 billion worth of products to the United States between October 2017 and September 2018. Kenya, the largest exporter of the eight, accounted for $454 million while Ethiopia’s exports amounted to $137 million. 84.4 percent of AGOA exports are made of apparel.

To date, USAID Hub trade and investment support have contributed to $4.07 billion in AGOA exports from the region, with $491.5 million from USAID Hub-supported firms.

AGOA is a United States Trade Act, enacted on 18 May 2000, which significantly enhances market access to the US for qualifying Sub-Saharan African countries. While it was initially intended for a period of eight years, subsequent renewals have ensured its existence until at least the year 2025.

The office of the Attorney General of Ethiopia announced on January 2 that it had pardoned 538 prisoners, both from Federal and regional prisons.

This amnesty was given on the occasion of Ethiopian Christmas, which will be celebrated on January 7 with the rest of the Orthodox Christian world.

Priority will go to mothers, elders and those whose health is not in good condition.

Zeleke Dalalo, Federal Amnesty Board Office secretary, told journalists during a press conference that the amnesty focused on those who need special attention.

“From the point of view of observing the rights of children, the Board gave special consideration to 26 mothers who were arrested with their children to make them beneficiaries of the amnesty,” he told journalists.

He also added that elderly prisoners whose names were forwarded by prison administration on the grounds that they have made the correctional service a bit difficult because of their age are included in the amnesty. Prisoners over sixty years of age are included in this category of Amnesty.

The Board decided that convicts who committed crimes like rape, homicide, severe corruption, and contraband trade would not be included in the amnesty. The consideration for this decision, according to Zeleke Dalalo, was public interest and correctional benefits of times to be served for individuals who committed the crimes mentioned above.

Since the Amnesty Law was promulgated last year, Ethiopia has given amnesty to 13,122 inmates. The Ethiopian government, following Abiy Ahmed’s appointment as the country’s Prime Minister in April 2018, has been implementing various decisions aimed at creating a nationwide reconciliation. They include the release of prisoners, the invitation for Ethiopian rebel groups for talks as well as the decision to normalize relations with its regional arch-rival Eritrea.

Ethiopia’s US$4 billion dam project on the River Nile will start initial operations in December 2020, according to the water and energy minister.

The planned 6,000-megawatt Grand Renaissance Dam is the centerpiece of Ethiopia’s bid to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, but until this week progress had been unclear after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed last August canceled a state-run conglomerate’s contract to build the turbines.

The government had signed an agreement with GE Hydro France, a unit of GE Renewables, to accelerate the completion of the dam, and water and energy minister Seleshi Bekele said on Thursday3 January that the project was on track to open in two years.

“750 megawatts is the planned initial production with two turbines,” Seleshi told parliament. The government expected the dam to be fully operational by the end of 2022, he said.

When PM Abiy canceled the contract of Ethiopian military conglomerate Metals and Engineering Corporation (METEC) in August, he said that not a single turbine was operational more than seven years after the government awarded the contract. Dozens of senior officials from METEC, including its head, have been arrested in a corruption crackdown launched by the reformist leader who took office last year.

METEC had only completed 23 percent of the work. There have been other construction delays.

“Purchased generators, turbines and other equipment are scattered in ports and other places, meaning more costs,” Seleshi said.

The project was announced in 2011 and only 65 per cent of work has been completed. “It is a project that was supposed to be completed within five years, but seven or eight years later not a single turbine is operational,” Ahmed said.

Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt have been holding regular talks regarding the project as Cairo fears it will impact access to its share of Nile waters.

GE Hydro France will be paid nearly €54 million (US$61 million) to manufacture, fix and test turbine generators.

The Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs disclosed the names of Ambassadors to 19 countries and missions this Thursday. This statement followed the ministry’s announcement earlier this year that it was working to make the appointments of foreign representatives more professional, rather than political, and to select people who can promote Ethiopia’s interests abroad more effectively

Part of the initiative in the ministry as part of reform measures was to appoint a good number of young diplomats and the appointments seem to reflect that.

The spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Meles Alem, was appointed as Ethiopia’s ambassador to Kenya. The new foreign policy objective also focuses on fostering economic and security cooperation among the countries in the region, according to information from the ministry.

Notable appointees include Fitsum Arega, who was the Director General of the Ethiopian Investment Commission and the Chief of Staff of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia. He is now appointed as Ambassador to the United States of America. Further, Ambassador Teshome Toga, former Ambassador to the E.U., Benelux countries and the Baltic States, will become the new Ambassador to China. He was the second Speaker of the House of Peoples’ Representatives, the lower chamber of the Ethiopian Parliament, from 2005 to 2010. He was succeeded in that position by Abadula Gemeda. Teshome Toga has held several ambassador positions and was a member of many diplomatic missions, including Ambassador to Kenya and Tanzania.

The lists of countries to which the Ambassadors are appointed are as follows.

1. Ambassador Sulieman Dedefo – United Arab Emirates
2. Mulu Solomon – Germany
3. Abdulaziz Mohammed – Djibouti
4. Nasise Chali – Canada
5. Hassen Taju – Senegal
6. Reta Alemu – Israel
7. Henok Tefera – France
8. Alemtsehay Meseret – Uganda
9. Tizita Mulugeta (Ph.D.) – India
10. Ambassador Tesfaye Yilma – Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to AU
11. Ambassador Teshome Toga – China
12. Teferi Tadesse – South Sudan
13. Fitsum Arega – USA
14. Addisu Gebre-Egziabher (Ph.D.) – Zimbabwe
15. Million Samuel – The Netherlands
16. Meles Alem – Kenya
17. Berhane Fisseha – Deputy Permanent Representative of Ethiopia to the AU
18. Airorat Mohammed (Ph.D.) – Oman
19. Ambassador Samia Zekaria – Qatar

The Ethiopian Foreign Ministry announced on 27 December that some 44,500 citizens from Saudi Arabia and other countries had been repatriated in the last six months

The repatriation operation was conducted with the joint efforts of Ethiopia’s foreign mission in Saudi Arabia — including the Jeddah Embassy — and international organizations, Meles Alem told a press briefing.

Of these, 4,168 citizens were brought back home from Libya, the United Arab Emirates and Tanzania in the last two weeks, he said.

He said Ethiopia has been giving emphasis to the safety of citizens after it embarked on reformation, and stressed that efforts would continue to bring back citizens suffering in foreign lands.

Enhanced activities have been launched to make sure that citizens go abroad as domestic workers legally, he said.

Immediately after taking office as prime minister in April, Abiy Ahmed visited Saudi Arabia from where he came back with a plane full of refugees who lived in agony.

Saudi Arabia had earlier incarcerated thousands of Ethiopians who went there to work as domestic workers, saying most of them were not legal.

On Tuesday 25 November, Ethiopia’s parliament approved the creation of a reconciliation commission as the government seeks to end inter-communal ethnic violence.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has won international praise for his reformist agenda since coming to power in April, including allowing the return of exiled political figures.

However, his mandate has been marked by ethnic violence, mainly between the Oromo community and other minority groups in several parts of the nation.

The objective of the Commission is to maintain peace, justice, national unity and consensus and also reconciliation among Ethiopian peoples.

The commission will also identify the reasons for disputes and violations of human rights. Besides, the commission will investigate abuses and make proposals to the parliament on how to make amends.According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, at least 2.4 million people have been displaced inside Ethiopia by inter-communal violence.

Ethiopia is on course to become Africa’s fastest-growing economy as a result of various development projects by the East African nation. Apart from this, the International Finance Corporation (IFC), an arm of the World Bank Group is also playing a vital role to support companies and the economy.

In a December 2018 issue, IFC said it is significantly expanding its investments in Ethiopia. In the last five years, the finance group has provided $452 million in new investment commitments across agribusiness, financial, manufacturing, and other sectors while delivering advisory services that support leasing and financial infrastructure and improve the investment climate.

“In Ethiopia, IFC’s work will help expand credit and trade and create markets, while mobilizing private financing that can become a more important factor toward diversifying the country’s economy,” said IFC CEO Philippe Le Houérou, who recently visited the country.

Some of the indices that show the country is marking a giant stride across Africa can be seen in some of the most successful companies.

IFC cited Habesha Breweries, based in central Ethiopian City, introduced two years ago and has expanded three times with its newly introduced Habesha beer with an aspiration to become Ethiopia’s leading brand.

Habesha’s growth plans have been “curtailed by the country’s depreciating currency and competition from global brands such as Heineken and Castle.”

“We are really trying to keep up with the big boys,” said Jort Crevels, Habesha’s finance director. “With IFC’s support, we have no reason not play in that league.” IFC is planning to provide a syndicated-loan facility of up to €70 million to support the company’s €131 million expansion. Habesha aims to increase production nearly eightfold to 4.5 million hectoliters – or almost 119 million gallons of beer – within five years.

To shove up forex risks for investors, IFC signed an agreement with Ethiopia’s central bank to expand trade and local-currency financing. It also entered a multi-year partnership with the central bank to strengthen Ethiopia’s nascent credit-reporting system. “This is part of a broader effort by IFC to support Ethiopia by helping create new markets for private investors,” IFC said.

Since Abiy Ahmed became the country’s prime minister in April 2018, he has been changing the face of the second-most populous nation in Africa. From releasing prisoners, promoting peace with Ethiopia’s former enemy, Eritrea, and with the hope of opening up the economy for potential investors.

He has also recently slashed ministerial positions and made an unprecedented move by constituting a new cabinet that is half female with Sahle-Work Zewde as the country’s president after Mulatu Teshome stepped down in October.

Source: Pulse

Focusing on job creation, the Government of Ethiopia has launched a national program that will enable it to improve the business and investment climate of the country.

The national program has 80 activities that will be implemented by ten implementing agencies. Prime Minister Abiy has attended the launching of the program on Tuesday 25 December 2018.

The program, which is part of the national job creation program, aims to improve the global competitiveness of Ethiopia on how to start and grow business.

The government will play a key role in removing the bottlenecks that hinder the private sector from creating jobs.

In Ethiopia, the unemployment rate stands at 24%. Reports show that Ethiopia’s rural youth are becoming landless and lacking job opportunities, which often leads to increased migration to urban areas.

According to the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) 2016 World Employment and Social Outlook, in 2015 the youth unemployment rate was 10.9% in Sub-Saharan Africa, with the working poverty rate among youth standing at 70%. In Northern Africa, in 2015 the unemployment rate was 29.3%, with one in four working youth estimated to be living in extreme or moderate poverty.

The 2018 ILO report on Sub Saharan shows:

The unemployment rate is expected to reach 7.2%, essentially remaining unchanged.
The number of unemployed should increase by 1 million due to the region’s high levels of labor force growth.
More than one in three workers is living in conditions of extreme poverty, while almost three out of four workers are in vulnerable employment.

Over 200 million dollars were generated from 84,000 tons of commodities in the first quarter of the fiscal year, including coffee, tea, and spices.

The boost is attributed to the measures taken to improve quality by the newly-formed national committee to oversee the entire product chain, according to Adugna Debela, director general at the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority.

In addition, the Authority has been working with agriculture extension workers in introducing seeds that suit the ecology of the country to enhance productivity.

There are challenges with regards to the quality and implementation of guidelines that the authority has to tackle in the coming seasons, according to Hussien Agraw, president of the Ethiopian Coffee Exporters Association.

Ethiopia plans to export 300,000tn of coffee, tea, and spices in the current fiscal year.