Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed concluded on Monday a two-day state visit to Kenya during which he held talks with his counterpart Uhuru Kenyatta at State House in Nairobi. At the heart of deliberations was bilateral and historical agreements between the two nations. Issues of prime importance included security, trade, tourism and economic cooperation.

Ethiopia and Kenya have emphasised the importance of the role they played in regional peace and security and agreed to intensify joint efforts to bring greater peace and security to the region, in particular in South Sudan and Somalia.

According to a joint communiqué issued after bilateral talks between Prime Minister Abiy and President Uhuru Kenyatta, the leaders have expressed their deep disappointment at the slow pace of progress in the ongoing efforts to restore peace in South Sudan.

The two leaders pledged their full commitment to the IGAD’s mediation efforts.

In this regard, they urged the leaders of South Sudan to place the interests of their people above their own to give peace a chance.

Noting that Al Shabaab continues to pose a significant threat to Somalia and the region, the statement stated that they expressed concern at the continued lukewarm international support for Somalia, in particular, the inadequate and unpredictable funding for AMISOM, which poses a threat to gains made thus far.

Ethiopia and Kenya are committed to continuing lobbying for adequate and sustainable support to AMISOM, including the provision of force multipliers for the mission in Somalia, as well as training for the Somalia security forces.

The leaders of two nations also identified cross-border security challenges exacerbated by vulnerable communities, as obstacles to sustainable peace.

Ethiopia and Kenya are major actors in the fight against terrorism. Both countries have troops in Somalia helping in the fight against Al Shabaab.

The Water Ministers of Ethiopian, Egypt and Sudan are conducting a joint meeting with the technical committee on the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam. The two-day meeting off yesterday in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopia’s Water and Irrigation Minister Sileshi Bekele, Sudan’s Minister of Water resources and Irrigation Muataz Musa; and Egyptian Water resources and Irrigation Minister Mohamed Abdel Ati have been attending the meeting.

 It was recalled that the water ministers of the three countries in Khartoum weeks back have agreed to implement the guideline given by the leaders’ of the countries.

 However, they did not reached on a consensus by the 1959 agreement that presented by Egypt regarding the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

 It is recalled that Spokesperson of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Meles Alam had said earlier that Ethiopia won’t accept the 1959 agreement, which totally ignored it.

 The 1959 agreement signed between Sudan and Egypt, gives Cairo the lion’s share of the Nile water, which is 55.5 billion cubic meters annually, while Khartoum allowed to use 18.5 billion cubic meters. Though there is no information on the agendas of the meeting for media but it’s expected that there will be a wide range of discussion on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

The Ethiopian Premier arrived in Kenya yesterday for a two-day state visit aimed at enhancing the existing strong relations between the two countries.

On arrival at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, he was welcomed by Kenya’s Foreign Affairs and International Trade secretary, Monica Juma and other senior Kenyan government officials.

This morning, PM Dr Abiy Ahmed had a meeting with President Uhuru Kenyatta on bilateral and regional issues in Nairobi.

Kenya and Ethiopia enjoy strong bilateral relations, deepened by the Special Status Agreement between the two countries.

 

Ethiopia and Sudan have agreed to jointly develop and administer Port Sudan to facilitate Ethiopia’s access to the port.

Premier Abiy Ahmed, who is on an official working visit to Sudan, has discussed with the Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on a range of bilateral and regional issues.

Foreign Minister Workneh Gebeyhu said that the two leaders have agreed on four major issues, which are taking into account the countries national interests and principles of shared benefits and added that “The two countries have agreed to develop and jointly manage Port Sudan together.”

Regarding the GERD, President Al-Bashir announced that his country will respect the agreements signed between Ethiopia and Egypt and will provide support for the National Technical Committee.

The two leaders have also agreed during their discussion to turn Assosa into a commercial centre in which Ethiopia and Sudan traders and business persons meet and converse on joint development issues.

Workneh also pointed out that the two leaders have reached a consensus to link Ethiopia and Sudan with a railway line.

In a related development, Prime Minister Abiy has urged President Omar Hassan al-Bashir to assist in the release of Ethiopians who are detained for various reasons in Sudan.

As per the request of the Premier, President Al-Bashir announced during the visit that the Ethiopian prisoners will be released.

Djibouti has already agreed on the sharing of a stake in the port of Djibouti with Ethiopia on Sunday.

Germany’s new foreign affairs chief, Heiko Maas, is in Ethiopia for the first leg of his two-nation African trip. It is his first African mission since taking office barely two months ago. He has held meetings with the Deputy Chairperson of the African Union on a number of mutual issues including financing the A.U.

After meeting with Ethiopian government officials for talks, he is expected to visit Tanzania on the final leg of his trip.

“I am looking forward to my first trip to Africa as German Foreign Minister. We have close and special relations with many African countries. These relations are important to us and we want to foster and expand them”, his office said in a statement on Tuesday, May 2.

During their meeting on May 3, Heiko Maas and Foreign Affairs State Minister HirutZemene discussed the status of the ongoing reform in Ethiopia. Briefing Maas, State Minister Hirut said the transition of power following the resignation of former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn was transparent, democratic and smooth.

As a result, the country has now come back to normalcy and the dialogue between the ruling party and competing parties which started a year ago also manifests the desire to open up the political space, she noted. Recently, there were very serious deliberations and the government is pushing the reform process forward.

Germany’s Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas praised the willingness of the new Prime Minister for dialogue and expressed his best wishes for the success of the country.

The German government also recognizes the leading role of Ethiopia in terms of keeping peace and security in the region and in the continent, Maas stressed.

Ethiopia and Germany have strong cooperation in development, investment, and trade, Hirut said, further calling for Germany investors to invest in renewable energy development in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia and Germany have a longstanding diplomatic relations that goes back to 1905.

Africa’s largest hydro dam project, the 6,450 MW Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), is 66 percent complete.

Bizuneh Tolcha, Director of Public Relations and Communications Directorate at the Ethiopian Ministry of Water, Irrigation and Energy (MoWIE), said on Saturday the construction of the hydro project is going well and is expected to start partial test power generation soon.

The project is a major part of a massive energy infrastructure project the Ethiopian government is undertaking which aims to see the country’s power generation capacity increase from the current 4,280 MW to 17,300 MW by 2020, he said.

The Ethiopian government has embarked on massive energy projects across the country with a view to succeeding in its plans to make the East African country a light industry hub in Africa and a middle-income economy by 2025.

 GERD, whose construction started in April 2011, is being built at a cost of 4.7 billion U.S. dollars, fully financed from domestic resources and is expected to have a reservoir with a total of 74 billion cubic meters of water upon completion.

The hydro dam, which is being built on Blue Nile river 40 km from Sudanese border, has been billed as a landmark project signalling Ethiopia’s renaissance.

Already, a high voltage electric transmission line built by State Grid of China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Co. Ltd (SGCC) at a cost of 1 billion dollars has been inaugurated, waiting for GERD’s total commissioning to be operational.

Source: Xinhua

 

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrived in Sudan this morning for a two-day official visit.

During his visit to Khartoum, he is expected to hold talks with President Omar al-Bashir and with the Sudanese vice-president Hassabo Abdel-Rahman.

The visiting Prime Minister will also visit a number of development projects in the country.

On 21 April, President al-Bashir and Prime Minister Abiy Ali had already met in the Ethiopian city of Bahr Dar on the sidelines of the Tana Forum.

Ethiopia and Sudan are engaged more and more in joint security, military and economic cooperation.

In April 2017, the two sides signed a number of joint agreements to promote economic relations and strengthen ties between the two countries.

Also in February, they signed multiple agreements to further boost up cooperation on a range of development activities.

In March 2012, al-Bashir announced his support to the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), saying his government understands the mutual benefits the project could offer Ethiopia and Sudan.