• 

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived in Addis Abeba yesterday for a two-day official visit upon the invitation of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. This is Emmanuel Macron’s first state visit to Ethiopia.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and President Emmanuel Macron visited together the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela, a UNESCO World Heritage site located in the Amhara regional state.

Ethiopia and France also signed their first military cooperation accord yesterday, a deal that includes helping the nation build a navy, as Paris seeks to boost economic ties in Africa’s second-most populous country.
Macron wants to leverage a mixture of Paris’ soft power in culture and education and its military know-how to give it a foothold at a time when Ethiopia is opening up.

“This unprecedented defense cooperation agreement provides a framework… and notably opens the way for France to assist in establishing an Ethiopian naval component,” Macron told a news conference alongside Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

The accord also provides for air cooperation, joint operations and opportunities for training and equipment purchases. “We are here in a friendly country where we want to strengthen and build a new page in our common history,” Macron said. “Since you became prime minister our vision of Ethiopia has profoundly changed.”

He and Prime minister Abiy also signed deals to develop Ethiopia’s cultural heritage, including preserving churches and opening an archaeological dig at a 12th-century village. Paris will provide 100 million euros to help the country’s economic transition.

Macron was accompanied by a delegation of businesspeople, including the chief executive of telecommunications group Orange, Stephane Richard, who is looking to position the company ahead of Ethiopia’s privatization of the sector. A 50-strong French business delegation is due in Addis on Friday.

Today, President Macron will also meet with President Sahle-Work Zewde for talks on bilateral and regional issues of mutual benefit to the peoples of the two countries. France and Ethiopia countries have enjoyed strong diplomatic relations since 1897.

President Emmanuel Macron of France is due to arrive in Addis Ababa today for a two-day state visit to Ethiopia. President Macron embarked on a four-day tour of East Africa on Monday evening, during which he will visit Djibouti, Ethiopia, and Kenya.

The French president will kick off his tour with a 12-hour stop in Djibouti and a meeting with President Ismaïl Omar Guelleh. “We’re also going to East Africa because it’s a competitive region, especially with China. We’re coming with a different, more positive project that is perhaps a little less purely mercantile,” the Élysée added.

Macron’s next stop will be neighboring Ethiopia, still reeling after this weekend’s deadly plane crash outside of the capital Addis Ababa.

The French president will begin his visit with a trip to the northern town of Lalibela, known for its stunning 13th century rock-hewn churches that were designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1978. Macron promised Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in October that he would propose plans to restore and renovate the churches, currently threatened by erosion caused by mass tourism.

Lalibela locals hope that Macron and Ahmed’s visit will result in a new plan, money, and expertise for the complex’s renewal.

Macron will then meet with Ethiopia’s first female president Sahle-Work Zewde, and the only current female African head of state, elected in October last year. Sahle-Work has a longstanding personal relationship with France. She attended university in the southern French city of Montpellier before later serving as Ethiopia’s ambassador to France.

While in Addis, Macron will be joined by a delegation of businessmen. Ethiopia has quickly risen to become France’s third market in sub-Saharan Africa, with the largest trade surplus in the region at €791.6 million in 2017.

The French president will also visit the African Union (AU) headquarters, where he will discuss sustainable development.

The House of People’s Representatives declared Monday, March 11, 2019, a day of national mourning following the tragic crash of flight ET302 yesterday.

A total of 157 people on board were killed when the Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on a regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya crashed around Bishoftu, 47km away from the capital Addis Ababa on Sunday.

The aircraft B-737-800MAX with registration number ET- AVJ took off at 08:38 am local time from Addis Ababa, Bole International Airport and lost contact at 08:44 am.

B-737-800Max aircraft is new to the skies and been launched in 2016. Ethiopian received the aircraft in November last year.

Four months ago another brand new 737-800 MAX (Lion Air) had crashed in Indonesia.

In a televised statement yesterday, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed expressed his condolences to the families of passengers and crew members who were on board ET 302.

The Prime Minister assured that technical experts would investigate the cause of the accident and communicated promptly to the public as updates come in.

He also shared his appreciation to the management and board members of Ethiopian Airlines for their efforts throughout the day.

It was the second crash in five months involving a 737 Max 8, and comparisons are being drawn with a Lion Air accident in Indonesia last October.

In response, China’s civilian aviation authority, Ethiopian Airlines, and Caribbean carrier Cayman Airway have now grounded all planes of the same model. However, experts warn it is too early to say what caused the latest disaster.

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.

• 

The European Union (EU) will launch an EU-Coffee Action for Ethiopia (EU-CafE), a €15m project which will help Ethiopian smallholder farmers boost the yields and quality of their coffee crops through better seeds and farming techniques.

This was announced during a visit by the EU’s Ambassador to Ethiopia, Mr Johan Borgstam, and the EU Head of Cooperation, Mr Erik Habers, to Manna woreda (district) near Jimma, the heartland of Ethiopian coffee farming.

In combination with improvements in marketing, the project will allow coffee farmers and processors – many of them being rural women and youth – to improve their living conditions, according to a statement issued by European Union in Ethiopia.

Coffee is extremely important to Ethiopia, as the land of origin of Arabica. Approximately twenty million Ethiopians make a living from coffee, from farmers to roasters to baristas and exporters. Green coffee beans are Ethiopia’s main export, generating up to €750 million in hard currency each year.

Grown under forest canopies, Ethiopian Arabica is considered among the best in the world and sought after by coffee aficionados everywhere. In spite of this, Ethiopian growers could still command a higher price for their coffee.

Building on forty years of support to the sector, the European Union stands ready to help Ethiopian coffee farmers improve their fortunes in the years to come.

Addis Ababa just launched a 29 billion birr (about $1.028 billion) project aiming at making the city green by developing and rehabilitating two river streams of the city. The project aims to enhance the well-being of city dwellers by mitigating river flooding and through the creation of public spaces and parks, bicycle paths and walkways along the riversides.

This project will run along two of the largest rivers of the city, stretching a total of 51 kilometres, all the way from the mountains of Entoto through to Akaki River.

It also aims to improve the well-being of inhabitants and realise the country’s aspiration of building a green economy through the expansion of green spaces and converting solid waste dropped into the rivers to usable materials.

The public parks that will be developed through this project will have lanes dedicated for bicycle riders, pure water and solar energy supply and recreational areas.

The project is expected to be completed within three years, and create job opportunities for lots of people of the city.

The Addis Ababa River Side Project is an initiative of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia. It aims to face-lift the image of the city and properly utilise the potential of the capital.

“Creating many jobs in the project phase, it will also nurture riverside economies, increase urban tourism, and provide city residents with areas of respite,” according to twits of the Office of the Prime Minister.