Ghana has lost its mantle as the African economy likely to grow the quickest this year to Ethiopia, which has held the position for most of the past decade, International Monetary Fund data showed.

West Africa’s second-biggest economy should expand 6.3 percent this year, the IMF said in its World Economic Outlook released on 17 April. That’s lower than the 8.9 percent forecast in October and is also less than the raised 7.4 percent estimate for Ivory Coast and the prediction for Ethiopia, which was held at 8.5 percent.

Commodities including oil, gold and cocoa are the mainstay of Ghana’s $43 billion economy, which surged 8.5 percent last year. Its growth booms and busts have been closely linked to oil since it became a producer in 2010. Ethiopia, whose gross domestic product is almost double Ghana’s, has drawn investors including General Electric Co., Johannesburg-based Standard Bank Group and hundreds of Chinese companies.

The IMF increased its forecast for expansion in sub-Saharan Africa to 3.4 percent this year and 3.7 percent the next “as the challenging outlook in commodity exporters gradually improves,” it said.

Nigeria, the region’s most-populous nation and top crude producer, will grow 2.1 percent, matching the lender’s estimate released in the January 22 update to the outlook, while South Africa, the world’s biggest source of platinum, will expand 1.5 percent, more than the 0.9 percent prediction three months ago. The two economies account for almost half of the region’s GDP.

Forecasts from the World Bank and African Development Bank in January also showed Ghana would expand the fastest this year. The World Bank will publish an updated report on African economies today.

Ethiopia and the UN have agreed to boost their already strong peacekeeping ties, the Ethiopia Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MoFA) said on Monday 16 April.

In a press statement, the ministry said the agreement was made during discussions between the UN Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, Jean-Pierre Lacroix and Deputy Minister of MoFA, Hirut Zemene.

Lacroix praised Ethiopia’s six decades old peacekeeping contribution to the world starting from the Korean war of 1950-53 to present day peacekeeping operations particularly in the Horn of Africa region in troubled nations like Somalia.

Zemene on her part called on UN and partner nations to give sufficient assistance to peacekeeping operations in which Ethiopian soldiers are participating.

Ethiopia is currently the largest peacekeeping contributing nation in Africa and is among top four peacekeeping forces contributing countries globally.

These include the UN Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), UN Mission in Liberia (UNML), UN Mission in the Republic of South Sudan (UNMISS), the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) and UN Operations in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI).

The East African nation is also providing all the 4,400 troops deployed in the disputed Abyei region, between Sudan and South Sudan.

Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who is currently addressing the various groups of the Ethiopian society, met 25,000 representatives of the Ethiopian community and the diplomatic community on Sunday 15 April.

The meeting, which was held at the Millennium Hall in the capital, brought together officials from federal and regional governments, religious leaders, representatives of women and youth, academia and experts from various disciplines.

PM Ahmed’s first-ever meeting with the public in the capital Addis Ababa was also attended by representatives of the diplomatic community based in Addis Ababa, which is home to more than 140 diplomatic missions and the headquarters of the African Union (AU) and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA).

The premier has been addressing Ethiopians residing outside the capital over the past week, in which he assured the public of unity and equality.

 

Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed has continued his country tour, visiting Mekelle, the capital of the Tigray regional state, where he addressed war veterans and members of the community.

Welcomed by the Tigray president, Dr Debretsion Gebremichael, PM Abiy visited the Martyrs Monument in Mekelle, before addressing a public gathering at the Martyrs Hall in the Tigray capital.

In his speech, the Premier said: “it is impossible to think of Ethiopia without Tigray and vice versa.”

Natives of Tigray regional state defended their country from external aggression as well as sacrificed for freedom, democracy, and unity of the country, he said.

After urging the people to divert their attention towards peace and development, the Premier pledged to work to respond to questions of the residents about development and good governance, notably on railroad project, support to the private sector, loan for investment, export support from the national bank, and short lease proclamation for agriculture

 

 

Ethiopia’s new prime minister Abiy Ahmed is reaching out to opposition parties, calling on them to prepare for peaceful dialogue and negotiations to broaden the political space. Abiy Ahmed spoke Thursday evening as he hosted opposition figures, civic group members and religious leaders in Addis Ababa. Among the guests were some opposition figures recently released from detention, including Bekele Gerba and Merara Gudina.

The Premier affirmed his party’s readiness to negotiate with political parties that prefer peaceful struggle. He noted that efforts towards democratic system building could not be fruitful without strong opposition parties. Mr Abiy Ahmed made the remark during a dinner program he held at the National Palace for religious and community leaders, as well as leaders of opposition parties and people drawn from civic societies.

In his speech, the Premier acknowledged the contribution that religious leaders, civic societies and opposition parties played in the country to date. Noting that efforts towards building a prosperous Ethiopia need everyone’s participation, he urged citizens to discharge their responsibilities in this regard: “I urge you to serve as alternative idea generators for our country”.

The Premier said political parties should come out of feelings of resentment and work with a new spirit. The ruling party EPRDF is ready to negotiate with any political party that wants to hold talks peacefully.

EPRDF will do all it can to make the upcoming election free, fair and democratic, he said, urging oppositions to do their part for its success. The political space should be broadened, as parliamentary democracy could not be successful without political parties, Prime Minister Abiy added. He added that opposition political parties should come up with comprehensive policies and become competent, further highlighting that zero-sum game politics is detrimental to the country.

Since taking office, PM Abiy has been meeting with the public in different parts of the country as part of efforts towards reconciliation.

The Premier last week visited Somali Regional State and discussed with the public along with officials of the region and Oromia Regional State.

On Wednesday, he visited the town of Ambo that has been known for its restiveness over the past few years and during previous regimes.

Yesterday’s discussion with the opposition, religious leaders and civic societies is part of the Premier’s plan in promoting dialogue.

Ethiopia Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received a warm welcome during his visit to Ambo yesterday.

He tasked citizens to join hands and make history by focusing their attention towards peace and development. He also highlighted the importance of resolving differences through dialogue.

The Premier pledged utmost efforts by the government to ensure benefits of all Ethiopians, including women, and urged scholars to conduct problem-solving researches.

Abiy was accompanied by his deputy Demeke Mekonnen who hailed the efforts of the youth in the sustainability of reforms currently underway.

Chief Administrator of Oromia regional state, Lemma Megeressa, said: “we are here to announce good news and strengthen our hope for tomorrow.”

The regional state has passed through several ups and downs as well as paid sacrifices in the past, Lemma said, adding “it is important to work together to pass on this glorious history to the next generation.”

Present at the discussion were residents of Ambo town and its environs as well as representatives drawn from 22 woredas of West Shoa zone.

After expressing their pleasure and highlighting the importance of the visit for peace, participants of the discussion raised various questions for the Premier.

Among the questions raised by the residents include infrastructures and unemployment problems. The residents also pledged to be part of the solutions for these problems.

Several high ranking federal and regional governments officials attended the discussion.

The Federal Attorney General revealed that charges on some 114 prisoners, including monks from the Waldiba monastery, who were arrested for terrorism and other crimes, were dropped yesterday.

In late December, Executive Committees of the ruling party, Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) had passed a number of decisions including dropping charges and releasing prisoners to widen the political space after an extended meeting.

It should be recalled that government has released and dropped charges of many prisoners at the federal and regional levels in line with the requirements set by the Federal Attorney General.

Thousands of prisoners have been released so far.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held discussions with the residents of Ambo town (Oromia region) today.

In his address to the public who converged in Ambo Stadium starting from 10:00 a.m, the Premier tackled various local, regional and national political, social and development issues related to the current situation in the country.

Ambo is a town some 120 km west of the capital Addis Ababa, was not long ago that hit by protest against the Addis Ababa and Surrounding Oromia Special Zone Integrated Master Plan.

In mid-April 2014, the government announced its readiness to implement the master plan in a bid to develop the capital Addis Ababa and the vicinity of Oromia Special Zone in an integrated manner.

However, this move provoked an immediate reaction from some university students across the Oromia region, and Ambo was one of the towns that resisted the implementation of the master plan.

The town remained the heartbeat of spreading protests that started in late 2015 through to the reform of the ruling EPRDF party and the appointment of the new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

But now residents of Ambo town expressed their joy in the visit of the Prime Minister with the expectation that such a visit would be instrumental in finding viable solutions to public demands in various areas of socio-economic development of the town and the country at large.

Geremew Belay, a young resident of Ambo Town, said:

“Upon hearing that the Prime Minister will make a working visit to our town, we were excited to welcome him, and we are preparing a list of socio-economic challenges that the town is facing. We are optimistic that his visit will play a major role in solving a number of development problems the town is facing.”

Aster Nemera, a woman residing in Ambo town said “The visit of Prime Minister Abiy Amed to our town would usher a new hope and opportunity for the improvement of the livelihood of women in the town. We are also expecting the development of manufacturing industries in the town. She also said that Ambo Town Administration is expected to effectively respond to the development needs of the women in the town.”

Mekonnen Bedada, another resident of Ambo town, said the town administration needs to work in collaboration with the government to resolve public grievances in the areas of infrastructural developments like roads, potable water and electricity.

He added that the visit of the Prime Minister would help to speed up the positive responses to the development needs of the town.

In his visit to Ambo today, the Premier will also confer with representatives of the public, elders and youth groups.

 

 

Job opportunities were offered to 5.16 million people in the second half of GTP II according to Asefa Ferede, head of Public Relations of the Federal Urban Job Creation and Food Security Agency.  Over 60% of them are youngsters.

With the support of the government, the Agency renders short-term training for job seeker youngsters in different kinds of fields, addressing over 2.8 million people and lends money based on savings. The Agency is facilitating job opportunities, especially for young people. In the proposal of the GDP II, a plan was set to lend 21 billion Birr. While the plan is halfway through, about 18.1 billion Birr has already been given out with a total of 933,000 people beneficiaries.

The Agency had urged beneficiaries to save about 17 billion Birr, and they saved over 20.5 billion Birr, which is above the plan. This was made possible by mobilising youngsters and students engaged in TVET. The GDP II was also planning to create market links which have so far resulted in 37.6 billion Birr and benefited 2.6 million people.

According to Asefa, the Agency is institutionalized to facilitate job opportunities and security of food both at the federal and state level. It also plans and assesses different activities in the sector, builds the capacity of the unemployed and generally works on averting hurdles on the way to success.

There are different challenges that affect the sector such as lack of good governance, corruption, the dearth of working places and lack of training, even if the government is highly working on these shortfalls for a better outcome.  Asefa added that creating job opportunities and organizing jobless people in Micro and Small Enterprises is a very effective way of developing a country’s economy. This enterprise will also help for the transformation of knowledge and technology. Products produced by enterprises will curtail the outflow of foreign currency.

It is known that the major problem for most developing countries is poor economic performance, low economic growth, which is manifested in low economic activity and little investment.  However, currently, Ethiopia is trying to overcome this challenge by engaging the people in small scale enterprises, which is effective in reducing the problem of unemployment.

Source: The Ethiopian Herald