Ethiopia and the United Kingdom have agreed to expand bilateral cooperation and strengthen trade and investment, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA).

Foreign Affairs State Minister Hirut Zemene held talks with Harriett Baldwin, UK Minister of State for Africa at the Foreign and Commonwealth Office yesterday.

The two sides have agreed to expand cooperation between the countries.

The statement added that the officials have noted the growing trade and investment ties between Ethiopia and the United Kingdom, and emphasized the need to strengthen the level of trade and investment cooperation further.

The trade volume between the countries has reached 2 billion USD.

UK Minister Harriett Baldwin expressed her country’s continued commitment to support the efforts of ensuring regional peace, stability and economic integration in the Horn of Africa.

Ethiopia and the UK have enjoyed rich diplomatic relations covering a range of areas, including trade, culture, education and development cooperation.

Former rebels belonging to Ethiopia’s Ogaden National Liberation Front, ONLF, on Wednesday returned to the country from their base in neighboring Eritrea.

The contingent was flown from Asmara to Jijiga, capital of the Somali Regional State, SRSby an Ethiopian Airlines flight. They were received with cultural displays upon their arrival at the airport.

In mid-November, the group signed a peace deal with the Ethiopian federal government in Asmara, where they had been based for several years.

As part of the agreement, “The two sides have reached a historical agreement regarding the political rights of the people from Somali Regional State and genuinely addressing the root causes of the conflict between ONLF and the Ethiopian government”.

As at the last meeting, there was also the announcement of a joint committee established for further discussions. The first round of talks between the two parties was in September this year. Months earlier the Ethiopian parliament had struck them off a list of terrorist organizations whiles they also called a ceasefire.

The ONLF was formed in 1984 amid a resurgence of separatist sentiment in the ethnically Somali Ogaden region on Ethiopia’s border with Somalia.

 

The House of Peoples` Representatives (HPR) appointed Birtukan Mideksa as the new Chairperson of the National Electoral Board (NEBE) today.

Nominated by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, Birtukan replaced Ambassador Samia Zekaria, who was the chairperson of NEBE since last year.

Premier Abiy has pledged to deliver a credible election in 2020.

Birtukan recently returned to Ethiopia after seven years in exile in the United States and was compelled to return by the ongoing reforms. She has always been a vocal advocate for the rule of law and respect for the constitution.

She has in the past years resigned from her position as chairperson of Ethiopian Unity Party and before being nominated to the chairpersonship NEBE, she has been engaged in the National Endowment for democracy in Washington D.C. as a non-partisan research institute formed by Ethiopians.

She founded the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party in 2008 and had previously worked with opposition parties including Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice and Coalition for Unity and Democracy.

The National Electoral Board is accountable to the House of Peoples Representatives and is an independent and autonomous organ for conducting elections having its own legal personality.

The Broad has nine members who are nominated by the Prime Minister and appointed by the House of Peoples Representatives.

The composition of the Board Members has taken into consideration the national diversity, gender representation and includes legal professionals.

Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed who has implemented several reforms across the political, economic, social and diplomatic front, has also recently appointed several women to key government positions including the president.

Birtukan Midekssa was elected as the first female NEBE chairperson on the 7th regular session of this year’s HPR meeting with four members against and three abstentions.

 

With an average growth rate of 6.7% between 2013 and 2017 – double the African average – East Africa is one of the fastest growing regions in the world, accompanied by rapid social improvements.

Average life expectancy has increased by 5.3 years over the past decade, with some countries registering historically unprecedented gains (e.g., 8.5 years in Kenya and Rwanda).

“There are of course still many challenges – chief amongst them being the need for faster job creation for the rapidly growing population – but on balance, progress has been impressive. Life expectancy is a good general indicator of living standards, and the pace of change is one of the fastest in history”, said Andrew Mold, the Acting Director of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) in Eastern Africa, presenting an overview of economic and social developments in the region at the 22nd meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee of Experts, ICE.

The three-day meeting takes place in Kigali, Rwanda, and gathers more than 250 economic stakeholders and decision makers of 14 countries in East Africa.

In 2019, the region is expected to grow at 6.2%, thanks to sustained public and private investment, renewed optimism in the Horn of Africa, and the opening up of new trade opportunities under the AfCFTA.

Minister of Finance and Economic Planning of Rwanda, Dr. Uzziel Ndagijimana, noted that “ In many aspects, the Eastern Africa region has been leading continental trends – be it in terms of economic progress but also social – with life expectancy and other indicators improving a lot over the last decade.”

Amongst the challenges are the impact of climate change on agricultural production, rising levels of debt in some countries, and peace and security concerns.

Outside the continent, the specter of trade wars and moderating global demand could also impact on regional growth. At such a time, ECA argues that African countries should focus their attention on the more resilient and dynamic regional trading relations.

Participants of the ICE meeting will discuss how to strengthen regional integration through the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, AfCFTA.

The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) approved on 19 November additional resources to Ethiopia’s Basic Services Transformation Program in the form of a 123- million US dollars grant.

The Basic Services Transformation Programme Supplementary Financing (BSTP-SF) will be for the fiscal years 2018/19 to 2019/20, according to a press release issued by the bank.

The proposed support is consistent with the Ethiopian government’s Growth and Transformation Plan II (GTP II) 2015/16 – 2019/20), with specific reference to the strategic pillar on accelerating human development and technological capacity building and ensuring its sustainability.

The additional financial support is a continuation of the African Development Bank Group’s commitment to deliver quality basic services in Ethiopia in sectors such as healthcare, education and water and sanitation.

The original support program was approved in December 2015, the statement noted.

It will also enable Ethiopia to continue with programs that increase access to better basic services at the local level; strengthen accountability and transparency in service delivery and improve citizen’s engagement in service delivery.

According to the statement, Ethiopia has made strong progress in human capital development. It increased net enrolment rate in primary schools from 77.5 percent (2006) to 99 percent (2016); reduced child mortality from 72 children per 1000 in 2006 to 20 children per 1000 by 2016, and improved rural water supply from 46 percent in 2006 to 74 percent as at the end of 2017.

In approving the additional support, the Board of Directors of the African Development Fund noted Ethiopia’s progressive economic development and structural transformation process.

The East African nation’s fiscal policy in 2018/19 is expected to sustain focus on fiscal consolidation, characterized by stable pro-poor spending and improvements in public revenue mobilization.

BSTP-SF was developed jointly by the African Development Fund and the Government of Ethiopia, in close consultation with key development partners supporting basic service delivery (the World Bank, EU, Austria Development Agency and Italy Development Cooperation).

On 19 November 2018, the Council adopted conclusions on Ethiopia. The Council notes that Ethiopia has witnessed momentous change and that political and economic reforms have gained a new impetus under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. His ambitious agenda towards a more democratic and just Ethiopian society is a positive example for the region and beyond.

The Council welcomes the commitment of the government of Ethiopia to multi-party democracy, respect for human rights, the rule of law and gender equality. The EU encourages the government to continue its efforts in this area and towards developing an inclusive dialogue with all stakeholders, including federal and regional authorities, opposition groups, civil society, youth groups, and media, on sustainable solutions towards better governance, justice and accountability, elections, job creation, and security challenges.

Read the full text of the conclusions

Ethiopia and Egypt will hold talks in the next two weeks to iron out differences over an Ethiopian dam on the River Nile.

The two countries and Sudan have held a series of constructive meetings over the $4 billion hydroelectric Grand Renaissance Dam, but have yet to reach a deal on managing flows and other issues.

Ethiopia is also one of the countries with the highest energy poverty in the world, while the energy demand is increasing by 32 percent each year. The utilization of the waters of the Nile River is indispensable to eradicate poverty and the centrepiece of Ethiopia’s developmental project.

However, Egypt fears the scheme will restrict the waters coming down from Ethiopia’s highlands, through the deserts of Sudan, to its fields and reservoirs. Ethiopia, which wants to become Africa’s biggest power exporter, says it will have no such impact.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed conferred with Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly on the sideline of the 11th African Union Extraordinary Summit yesterday.

Egypt’s prime minister, Mostafa Madbouly, said he and his Ethiopian counterpart, Abiy Ahmed, agreed “to start bilateral discussions in the next two weeks to agree on the points that remain unagreed”.

PM Abiy repeated that he wanted to preserve Egypt’s Nile river rights.

In 2013, Ethiopia began construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), located in the headwaters of the Blue Nile River. Upon completion, the dam will be Africa’s largest hydroelectric power plant and will boost the economic growth of Ethiopia.

The Ethiopia- EU Sectoral dialogue on migration began in Addis Ababa on Friday 16 November 2018. Following the signing of a strategic partnership engagement in June 2016, Ethiopia and the EU are working together to further enhance the existing dialogue into a more comprehensive and higher level consultation platform.

Ethiopia and the EU cooperate on a wide range of areas, including regional peace and security, countering terrorism and radicalization, migration, social and economic development, investment and trade; governance and human rights, climate change, and environmental cooperation.

The EU side was led by Johan Borgstam, Ambassador of the EU delegation to Ethiopia. The Ethiopian side was led by Ambassador Tesfaye Yilma, director general for European Affairs.

Ambassador Tesfaye updated his European counterpart on the situation of the internally displaced persons in the country and the migration policy in Ethiopia. The discussion also focused on addressing the root causes of migration, including the implementation of the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa; on the developments regarding the global compact; on the joint efforts to halt smuggling and trafficking, on the legal path of migration and the return and reintegration procedures.

Both parties have expressed their satisfaction with their partnership and agreed to continue working in close cooperation. Both sides also agreed to meet again on 27 November to discuss the developments and implementation of the bilateral programs aimed to better manage migration.

Ethiopia’s former deputy intelligence chief has been arrested amid investigations into corruption and human rights abuses committed by the security forces.

Yared Zerihun, the former deputy head of the national security agency, is one of more than 60 intelligence and military figures arrested since Monday.

The move has been widely welcomed by human rights groups.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed promised a firm line on corruption and human rights abuses when he came to power in April this year and has passed a string of reforms, including ending a two-decade conflict with neighbouring Eritrea. 

Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye has accused “the senior leadership of the national security agency” of involvement in a grenade attack at a rally attended by the prime minister in June, in which two people were killed.

So far this week, 27 people have been detained over alleged crimes committed at the Metals and Engineering Corporation (Metec), Ethiopia’s military-run conglomerate – including its former head, who was arrested as he tried to flee the country.

Police have also arrested Gudeta Olana, the head of the security division at state-owned Ethio Telecom network.

He is accused of intimidating and obstructing investigators probing alleged corrupt practices at the military-linked business conglomerate Metal Engineering Corporation (MeTEC). On Tuesday, Ethiopian security forces arrested the ex-chief of MeTEC, Kinfe Dagnew on corruption charges. Dagnew had resigned from MeTEC in April amid allegations of widespread corrupt practices.

The arrest of Dagnew and Olana comes soon after the Ethiopia Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye said the east African country is launching a massive probe into corrupt practices at MeTEC.