On the occasion of International Women’s Day, President Sahlework Zewdie, the first female President of Ethiopia, pointed out the need for realizing gender parity even further at the lower echelon of power.

President Sahlework said that March 8 should not be taken as any other yearly celebration. “It is a matter of women’s right,” she stressed.

President Sahlework, who shared with the audience her 30 years experience in diplomacy, stated that diplomacy is a respected profession that should be practiced without political influence.

“I was for the first time assigned as an Ambassador on March 8 thirty years ago,” she said.

Ethiopia is celebrating International Women’s Day for the 43rd time under the theme “Enhanced Commitment and Focus on the Universal Participation and Benefits for Women.”

The theme of the 108th International Women’s Day this year is, “Think equal, build smart, and innovate for change.”

Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyehu, through his representative State Minister Hurit Zemene, promised to apply gender parity in his ministry.

He added the Ministry would continue to work on particularly ensuring overall women’s right out of the country.

An Ethiopian-led mediation process kicked off in Nairobi today to resolve a diplomatic row between Kenya and Somalia over their maritime territorial boundary. The area in question covers an estimated 100,000 square kilometers of the Indian Ocean.

Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi arrived in the country Tuesday night accompanied by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia for talks with President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Through the facilitation of Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, President Uhuru Kenyatta and President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed met this morning to discuss extensively on the source of the two countries dispute.

Last month, Kenya summoned its ambassador to Somalia, saying it was protesting a decision by the Mogadishu government to auction oil and gas exploration blocks at the centre of a maritime territorial dispute in the Indian Ocean.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague is considering a claim on the two countries’ maritime boundaries brought by Somalia in 2014 after negotiations over the 100,000 square km stretch of seafloor broke down.

The office of the Ethiopian prime minister said mediation efforts were designed to ‘ease tensions that have been building.

As an outcome of the discussions, both parties agreed to work together towards peace and to take measures in addressing particular issues that escalated the tensions, according to the Office of the Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia and visiting Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta inaugurated on March 2 the Debre Birhan Industrial Park (DIP), a project that will initially create 13,000 jobs.

The Ethiopian government has invested $71 million for the construction of DIP, located in Amhara Region around 170 kilometers from Addis Ababa.
Stretched on 75 hectares of land, the industrial park has eight industrial sheds ready to accommodate prospective investors.

The inauguration of the Debre Birhan Industrial Park is crucial for the development of the manufacturing sector in the Amhara Region along with the recently inaugurated Kombolcha Industrial Park, and Bahir Dar Industrial Park, which will be inaugurated soon, and the Arerti Industrial Park that is currently under construction.

The companies that will initially start production within the DIP will create jobs for 13,000 employees in the textile industry. Gradually, the Park should operate in two and three shifts, doubling and tripling the number of employees.

Recalling that Ethiopia is celebrating the 123rd anniversary of the victory of Ethiopians over Italian invasion, Prime Minister Abiy said: “…like our grandparents paid a heavy price for the independence of Ethiopia, today we are willing to make any sacrifices to assure the unity and equality of Ethiopia.”

President Uhuru on his part stressed the need for unity and collaboration to lift the people of East Africa out of poverty and lead to prosperity.

“If we are united we will prosper. If we are united, we will be peaceful. If we are united, we will be strong enough to face any enemy in any direction. I bring to you, the people of Ethiopia, a message of peace, a message of love and a message of unity,” President Uhuru said, stating that the people of Kenya, Ethiopia, Somali, Eritrea or Sudan are the same and needs to work together.

Currently, several industrial parks are already operational in Ethiopia, creating jobs for over 64,000 people.

Ethiopia plans to increase the number of operational industrial parks from the current five to around 30 by 2025, as part of its efforts to make the country a light manufacturing hub and lower-middle-income economy in the same period.

On 1st March, an EU-funded legal research and training facility aiming at supporting the Ethiopian judiciary was inaugurated in Addis Ababa,

The €3.3m Federal Justice and Legal Research Institute is expected to provide training for justice sector officials from across the country.

This is the latest plank of EU support for the sector. In November 2018, the EU announced a 10 million euro support package to the legal sector in Ethiopia.

The EU ambassador to Ethiopia, Johan Borgstam and Chief Justice Meaza Ashenafi were present at the launch. Chief Justice Meaza Ashenafi, the first woman to hold the post, had repeatedly stressed the importance of judicial reforms in the past.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the road linking Ethiopia with Somaliland (Berbera Corridor) took place on Thursday 28 February.

The “Berbera Corridor” is a collaboration project between Somaliland, a Dubai-based Company and the government of Ethiopia to jointly develop the port of Berbera.

The agreement created a new company to manage the Port of Berbera; the ownership shares of the company have been allocated with DP World taking 51% ownership of the company, Somaliland will own 30% of the shares, and Ethiopia will own 19% of the shares.

The port expansion project is expected to be completed in a year. When that happens, the capacity of the port should increase by 50 %.

The agreement calls for infrastructure investment of $442 million to upgrade the existing Berbera Port and to build a new adjacent Container Port. It includes millions of dollars more to build a new road from Berbera to the Ethiopian border town of Wajale.

The expanded Berbera port and the new road will provide Ethiopian government and Ethiopian business community to have increased capacity to import and export merchandise to support the growth of the Ethiopian economy.