Extraordinary and plenipotentiary Ambassador of the Federal Democratic republic of Ethiopia to the Kingdom of Belgium Teshome Toga presented his credentials to His Majesty King Philippe of Belgium at a ceremony held at the Royal Castle of Laeken on January 9, 2014.
During the ceremony, king Philippe and Ambassador Teshome discussed issues of bilateral relations between the two countries. King Philippe of Belgium mentioned his memorable visit to Ethiopia in 1991 and positively evaluated the current state of development in Ethiopia and confirmed his intention to further develop the existing relationship between the two countries.
Ambassador Teshome on his part thanked Belgium for the fruitful cooperation in the higher education sector and informed the King on the robust investment opportunities and the keen interest to attract Belgian investors to Ethiopia. The Ambassador further briefed the King on the role Ethiopia is playing, as chair of IGAD and the African Union, to bring peace and stability to the Horn of African region.
In conclusion, His Majesty expressed the hope that the bilateral relations between Belgium and Ethiopia would get further momentum during Ambassador Teshome’s tenure in Brussels.
Ambassador Teshome has officially taken up his duties as Ambassador plenipotentiary to the Kingdom of Belgium as of January 9, 2014.
Brief Resumé of Ambassador Teshome TOGA:
Ambassador Teshome TOGA joined the Ethiopian Diplomatic Mission in Brussels on October 11, 2013. As Head of the Mission, he is accredited to the Benelux and Baltic States and to the EU Institutions. Prior to this, he served in the same capacity in Paris since January 2011, concurrently accredited to Spain, Portugal, the Vatican and Tunisia. At the same time, Ambassador TOGA was the Permanent delegate to UNESCO.
From 2005-2010, Ambassador TOGA was the Speaker of the 3rd House of the Peoples’ Representatives of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the highest authority of the Federal Government. While Speaker of the House, he led the Ethiopian Parliamentary delegation to the ACP-EU Joint Parliamentary Assembly between 2005-2011 and was member of the Bureau and Vice-President in charge of Human Rights from the ACP side. As Speaker, he also participated in several Parliamentary Meetings.
He was the President of the 120th IPU General Conference and related meetings. Ambassador TOGA also presided over the 30th African Parliamentary Union Assembly. He contributed to the revitalizing of IGAD Inter Parliamentary Union and was Vice-President of IPU-IGAD.
Before this, Ambassador TOGA joined the Council of Ministers in 2001 as the Minister of Youth, Sports and Culture until his election as Speaker of HOPR.
In between 1992 and 2001, Ambassador TOGA was Ethiopia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Ghana (1992), Egypt (1993-1996) and Kenya (1996-2001). While in Kenya, he was accredited to Tanzania and Permanent Representative to UNEP and HABITAT.
He served as Special Envoy of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia to the Sudan Peace Talks and Great Lakes Region.
He is married with 3 children.
