The International Organization for Migration has announced it is building nearly 900 transitional shelters in the new Nguenyyiel camp for South Sudanese refugees in the Gambella Regional State.

Nguenyyiel camp was opened in September 2016 to accommodate roughly 4,400 people; it currently hosts 27,620 refugees who have fled from South Sudan. Transitional shelters are a considerable improvement on the basic emergency shelters currently being used by refugees in the camp. They will be built using local techniques and materials, with the refugees themselves playing a large part in the building process.

The livelihoods of the refugees and the communities hosting them will be supported through the construction phase.

The Head of IOM Ethiopia’s Sub-Office in Gambella said the new shelters would be vital in the ongoing efforts to manage the continuing flow refugees into Gambella and in responding to their needs.

Last year, IOM provided pre-departure medical screening and evacuations to 53,240 refugees in Gambella.

IOM’s shelter and relocation efforts are carried out with the invaluable support of the Government of Ethiopia’s Administration for Refugee and Returnee Affairs (ARRA) and the Gambella Regional Disaster Prevention and Food Security Agency (DPFSA). The construction of the shelters is being supported by the UK’s Department for International Development which also allows for IOM to relocate refugees from the border after they have been screened.

Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr.Workneh Gebeyehu, arrived in Munich – Germany to attend the 53rd Munich Security Conference (MSC), which is scheduled for February 17 to 19, 2017.

Just ahead of the 53rd edition of the Munich Security Conference which opens on Thursday, the Munich Security Conference Foundation released the third edition of its annual report on key issues in international security.

“The international security order today is probably more volatile than at any other point after the end of World War II.” With these words, Ambassador Wolfgang Ischinger, chairman of the Munich Security Conference, welcomed the about 300 guests of the traditional MSC Kick-off event at the Bavarian Representation in Berlin on February 13, 2017.

Ischinger gave a first overview of the topics of the upcoming Munich Security Conference and presented the new Munich Security Report. Entitled “Post-Truth, Post-West, Post-Order?”, the report compiles a variety of analyses, data, statistics, infographics, and maps on major developments and challenges in international security. Ischinger’s summary: “The West is shaken to its very foundations.”

Among the key topics of this year’s MSC 2017 are Cyber, Health, Energy and Climate Security issues, Terrorism and Extremism, the war in Syria and the future of the European Security Order.

European and Global Cooperation as well as Global Order are also among issues on the agenda.

A selection of Official partner events will take place on the sideline of the Conference on which issues of fighting the root causes of Migration and Economic Cooperation as a new Deal for Africa will be addressed on a panel discussion by German-Africa Business Association

There will also be Discussion on ‘Building Security in Post-Conflict Country: Beyond ‘Guys and Guns ‘in Somalia hosted by the United Nations.

MSC is an independent forum dedicated to promoting peaceful conflict resolution and international cooperation and dialogue in dealing with today’s and future security challenges. Over the past five decades, the Munich Security Conference (MSC) has become the major global forum for the discussion of security policy. Each February, it brings together more than 450 senior decision-makers from around the world, including heads-of-state, ministers, leading personalities of international and non-governmental organizations, as well as high ranking representatives of industry, media, academia, and civil society, to engage in an intensive debate on current and future security challenges. In addition to its annual flagship conference, the MSC regularly convenes high-profile events on particular topics and regions and publishes the Munich Security Report.

Source: http://www.mfa.gov.et/web/guest/-/dr-workineh-arrives-in-munich-germany-to-attend-the-53rd-munich-security-conference

The 15th African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition kicked off at the Millennium Hall, Addis Ababa on Wednesday (February 15, 2017). The conference was organized by African Fine Coffee Association under the theme: ‘Reshaping the African Coffee Industry for Productivity & Investment’.

Opening the Conference, President Dr. Mulatu Teshome noted that the 15th African Fine Coffee Conference and Exhibition will create a good opportunity to promote Ethiopia’s coffee as it comes at a time when Ethiopian coffee growers are harvesting coffee beans.

Speaking about benefits of the conference, President Mulatu stated that such a platform has significant contribution towards generating the revenues which Ethiopia has targeted from coffee. Coffee accounts 26 percent of Ethiopia’s total export earnings. The country envisaged earning over 2 billion US dollars from the export of 302, 560 tons in the second Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP-II).

The Conference brings over more than 2000 regional and international coffee roasters, traders, producers, professionals and connoisseurs from countries including Malawi, Kenya South Africa Tanzania, Congo, Zimbabwe, and Burundi and visitors all over the world.

The three days African Fine Coffee Conference & Exhibition is the continent’s largest coffee trade platform that included panel discussions, exhibitions about specialty coffees, and various deliberations that will enhance the sector in Africa and its competitiveness in the global market.

The Organizer Association (AFCA) is a regional non profit, non political, member-driven association representing coffee sectors in 11 member countries namely Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe. Coffee is the second most traded commodity in the global market next to Oil.

Source:

http://www.mfa.gov.et/web/guest/-/15th-african-fine-coffee-conference-exhibition-opens-in-addis-ababa

The Netherlands organisation for international cooperation in higher education (EP-NUFFIC) offers fellowships to participate in training courses in The Netherlands. The aim is to promote capacity building within organisations in eligible countries via training and education for professionals. This is initiated and (almost) fully funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs from the budget for development cooperation.

The Hague Academy for Local Governance is proud to offer short courses which qualify for the Netherlands Fellowship Programmes (NFP). For more information about the eligibility criteria and the application procedure please see the website of The Hague Academy for Local Governance http://thehagueacademy.com/blog/2016/12/nuffic-fellowships/

The next opportunity to apply for a scholarship starts on the 24^th January 2017 and the deadline for application is the 7^th of March 2017! The training courses are:  

• Multi-Level Water Governance (18– 29 September, 2017)
  The Hague Academy for Local Governance organises a two-week, practice oriented training course on water governance in which leading international experts and practitioners provide you with a unique insight into international best practices and water governance tools. 
• Conflict, Rule of Law and Local Security (30 October – 10 November, 2017)
  In this training you will get an insight in the roles of different governmental and judicial institutions in restoring security and legitimacy. Broaden your understanding of local security and discuss different approaches and tools for conflict analysis. Increase your knowledge on the general notions of rule of law and human rights case-law.
• Local Economic Development (20 November – 1 December, 2017)
  This course discusses strategies and tools to manage inclusive and sustainable local economic development (LED) processes. It addresses questions such as: how to develop a joint vision for the area in a participatory manner, involving government, citizens, businesses and CSOs? How to promote job creation and entrepreneurship? How to improve conditions for business investments and small and medium enterprises? And how to finance local economic development?

Ethiopia and Sweden have agreed to enhance the already strong relations and further reinforce the bilateral cooperation between the two countries.

This has been emphasized during a meeting between State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Hirut Zemene and Ambassador Anna Karin Enestrom, Director General for Political Affairs at the Swedish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, on 14 February 2017.

On the Occasion, State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mrs. Hirut Zemene acknowledged the excellent socio-economic and political ties between Ethiopia and Sweden.

The State Minister also took note of the importance of expanding the bilateral cooperation across a wide spectrum of areas, including the need to deepen political consultation, enhance trade and investment ties, and boost the partnership on climate change as well as work together on UNSC platforms.

Mrs. Hirut further called for enhanced involvement of Swedish investors in the agro-processing and manufacturing sectors.

Ambassador Anna Karin Enestrom on her part noted that Sweden fully recognizes Ethiopia’s commitment and of significant contribution towards ensuring peace and stability in the Horn of Africa region and beyond.

As both Ethiopia and Sweden have joined the United Nations Security Council as non-permanent members, the Ambassador emphasized that her country is keen to work more closely with Ethiopia on a range of regional and international issues.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission says Ethiopia has managed to attract anchor companies during the first six months of the current Ethiopian budget year (2016-2017) despite being under a state of emergency.

Commissioner Fitsum Arega told the Ethiopian News Agency that ten major Chinese companies have decided to invest in Ethiopia, half of them licensed in textile and garment manufacturing industries. They include Jiangsu Sunshine Group which engages in wool textiles and garments, biological pharmacy, real estate, energy, thermal electricity, IT industry, and others businesses in China and internationally, and has decided to invest in Ethiopia with close to US$1 billion.

The Commissioner said this decision clearly showed Ethiopia remained a favorable investment destination for anchor companies, with China the leading country in terms of capital and engagement in manufacturing industry, and India second during the first half year.

He said the Government’s ongoing direction was not focusing on increasing the number of participants coming as investors but rather aiming to attract “giant, effective companies which could meet the targets of both the company and the country”.

The Commission had, therefore, changed its way of licensing projects, giving priority to those companies with a high profile and which would change the projects into action.

He underlined that the peace and stability which continued to prevail in the country, ongoing infrastructure development including railway, road and energy developments were among the attractions.

Other factors were a trainable workforce, competitive wages, a fast growing economy, strong government support from the government, and a favorable investment climate.

(EBC; February 9, 2017) – Diplomatic works on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) have borne fruit, Office of the National Council for the Coordination of Public Participation on the Construction of the GERD has said.

According to Dr. Debretsion Gebremichael, Office Board Chairman, Ethiopia has exerted unrelenting diplomatic efforts to show to the world that GERD would have no negative environmental impacts on downstream countries.

The efforts have produced a positive stance among the Nile riparian countries, said Dr. Debretsion, who is also Minister of Communication and Information Technology and Coordinator of Finance and Economy Cluster with the rank of Deputy Prime Minister.

The minister made the remarks on Wednesday during a discussion forum on EBC regarding diplomatic efforts and ongoing collaborative works on GERD.

It was also noted on the occasion that a 6km road race bringing together some 650 thousand Ethiopians from all walks of life would be held on March 5, 2017 under the motto “We run for GERD” as part of fundraisers for the grand project.

Reporter: Dawit Tasew

Source: http://www.ebc.et/web/ennews/-/diplomatic-works-on-gerd-have-borne-fruit-dr-debretsion

The European Union has announced the launch of a $47.46 billion Africa Economic Development Fund aimed at helping Nigeria and other African countries drive economic growth and development.

According to the Vice-President of EU Digital Single Market, Andrus Ansip, at a press conference in Lagos, the EU is developing a strategic framework for the implementation and disbursement of the fund. He said the EU was also designing security measures to ensure it is effectively and efficiently disbursed.

He said the fund would go a long way to reduce the number of refugees arriving in Europe. In a press conference, he said disbursements from the fund would be available in first quarter 2018, providing credits to help developing economies cover identified risks to attract foreign direct investments.

In the latest of a number of measures pushed by the European Union to stop refugees reaching Europe Italy launched a new fund of €200 million a week ago to help African countries control their borders.

On Friday last week, EU leaders also gave their backing to a new drive to stem African migration to Europe.

It includes stepping up training of Libya’s coastguard and financing for UN agencies for refugees and migration to improve conditions for refugees in Libya.

Source: MFA Ethiopia

Reuters – French grain co-operative group Axereal is to build a malt processing factory in Ethiopia and expand capacity at its export hub in Belgium as it seeks to tap into rising demand for beer in emerging market countries.

Axereal is one of France’s biggest grain handlers and its Boortmalt division is also one of the world’s largest malt makers, behind fellow French groups Soufflet and Vivescia.

In Ethiopia, Boortmalt will develop a malt processing site with an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes, with the aim of starting production by the end of 2018, Axereal said on Tuesday.

“The market for beer is growing in emerging countries, and in Africa in particular,” it said in a statement.

“Axereal Group will leverage its expertise by working alongside its brewing customers to develop local barley and malt production in these countries,” it added.

Boortmalt will also add a fourth production facility at the Belgian port of Antwerp, which will make its hub there the world’s largest malt production site with 470,000 tonnes in annual capacity, it said.

Financial details of the investments were not disclosed.

Rising worldwide consumption of beer, in which grain-based malt is a key ingredient, has led Boortmalt’s 10 existing malt factories in Europe to run at full capacity of 1.1 million tonnes, Axereal said.

The planned investments will bring its total annual malt capacity to 1.3 million tonnes, the company added.

http://www.reuters.com/article/grains-axereal-malt-idUSL5N1FS2JC

The Ethiopian Embassy, together with Ethiopian Airlines and five tour operators from Ethiopia colorfully promoted Ethiopia at the Brussels holiday fair “Salon des Vacances” from 2-4 February 2017. On the 2nd of February, the Ethiopian stand was officially inaugurated jointly with the Embassy and Ethiopian Airlines and on Saturday 4th of February, a cultural performance was presented. Coffee ceremonies took place throughout the fair.