Addis Ababa, 18 October 2014 (WIC) – A Business Forum entitled ‘Invest in Ethiopia’, organized by the Norwegian African Business Association was held in Oslo, Norway on Thursday (October 16).

The Forum aimed to build a new chapter of cooperation between Norway and Ethiopia and was attended by high-level government officials from both countries as well as members of business confederations and representatives of Norwegian companies.

Presentations were made about the business opportunities available in Ethiopia and the Forum reached a consensus that there was growing interest among investors to engage in the various possibilities.

Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Dr. Tedros Adhanom, who attended the Forum, said it demonstrated new possibilities to strengthen cooperation between Norway and Africa and more especially with Ethiopia.

It would boost bilateral relations between Norway and Ethiopia, he said, and increase investment and economic partnerships to add to the excellent relations the two countries already had in their strategic and political links.

Dr. Tedros noted that Norway has proclaimed its partnership for the implementation of Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy strategy and its support for the country’s clean energy development as well as for the agriculture and forest sectors.

Dr. Tedros briefed the audience on Ethiopia’s achievements in various sectors of its pro- poor development strategy which provides a development focus for the majority of people living in rural areas, and gave an account of Ethiopia’s achievements in meeting the Millennium Development Goals and some details of its fast economic growth.

In conclusion, Dr. Tedros provided eight reasons to invest in Ethiopia: its political and social stability, a supportive macroeconomic policy, its strategic geographic position, an abundant labor force, a conducive legal framework, competitive incentives, one of the lowest corruption levels, and a generally supportive environment for foreign direct investment. (MoFA)

Addis Ababa, 13 October 2014 (WIC) – Ethiopia has achieved the MDG goal one, halving extreme poverty and hunger by 2015, the Ministry of Agriculture said.

Ethiopia is among the 63 developing countries have reached the MDG target.Ethiopia is also among the 25 countries that achieved the more ambitious World Food Summit (WFS) target of halving the number of undernourished people by 2015.

The nation has managed to reduce undernourished people to 35 percent, which 20 years ago was 75 percent, the Ministry said.

The various activities being undertaken by the government to increase food security has contributed for the success.

According to the Ministry, Ethiopia along with the other countries will be honored at the 150th FAO Conference to be held in December.

The agriculture sector, growing by 8 percent in average is contributing for the overall development of the country and this achievement, the Ministry said.

According to reports, Ethiopia has made commendable progress towards reaching most of the MDGs. Apart from the overall decline in poverty, positive gains have been made in terms of education, health and reducing the prevalence of HIV and AIDS. These advances are owed largely to the Government’s efforts, with substantial support from the UN.

The State of Food Insecurity in the World (SOFI 2014) report issued by FAO confirmed a positive trend which has seen the number of hungry people decline globally by more than 100 million over the last decade and by 209 million since 1990-92.

The overall trend in hunger reduction in developing countries means that the (MDG) of halving the proportion of undernourished people by 2015 is within reach, the report said.

To date, 63 developing countries have reached the MDG target, and six more are on track to reach it by 2015. (ENA)

Addis Ababa, 13 October 2014 (WIC) – Ethiopia is planning to earn a total of over $2.5 billion revenue from its exports of agricultural products during the current budget year, which began in July, an official with the Ministry of Trade said on Sunday.

“The stated amount of revenue will be secured from the export of more than 1.1 million tons of agricultural products,” Abdurrahman Seid, Public Relation Deputy Head of the Ministry, told Anadolu Agency.

He said the products include coffee, oil seeds, cereals, khat, spices, natural gum and incense among others.

“The revenue is projected to surpass by 16.3 percent that of the $2.1 billion income earned during the previous budget year,” he added.

The target is taking into consideration the growth of agricultural products, market system efficiency, capacity of the exporters and suppliers of the products, he said.

The biggest export item will be coffee followed by oil seeds, Seid said.

Around $862 million of the total revenue is expected from the export of coffee, which contributes the lion’s share in the country’s economy, he said.

“The country will also export 362,422 tons of oil seeds and secure over $724.8 million revenue in this fiscal year,” he added.

Coffee is believed to have been first discovered in Ethiopia’s south-west region of Kaffa/Caffa, with its name derived from the region.

Africa’s largest coffee producer, Ethiopia generated some $718 million from coffee exports during the 2013/14 financial year. (Journal of Turkish Weekly)

የአየርላንድ መንግስት በዝቅተኛ የኑሮ ደረጃ ላይ ለሚገኙ ኢትዮጵያዊያን የህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት የሚውል 200 ሺህ ዩሮ በእርዳታ ሰጠ።

የእርዳታ ስምምነቱን የተፈራረሙት በኢትዮጵያ የአየርላንድ አምባሳደር ኤደን ኦሆራና የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብት ኮሚሽን ኮሚሽነር ጀነራል አምባሳደር ጥሩነህ ዜና ናቸው።

አምባሳደር ኦሆራ እንዳሉት ኢትዮጵያ በሰብአዊ መብት ዙሪያ እያከናወነች ላለው ጠንካራ እንቅስቃሴ አገራቸው የምታደርገውን ሁለንተናዊ እገዛ አጠናክራ ትቀጥላለች።

በአገሪቱ ውስጥ በተመረጡ 8 የመንግስት ዩኒቨርስቲዎች በዝቅተኛ የኑሮ ደረጃ ለሚገኙ የማህበረሰብ ክፍሎች እየተሰጠ ያለው የህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት እንዳስደሰታቸውና በቀጣይም የሚያደርጉት ድጋፍ ተጠናክሮ እንደሚቀጥል አምባሳደር ኦሆራ አረጋግጠዋል።

የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብት ኮሚሽን ኮሚሽነር ጀነራል አምባሳደር ጥሩነህ ዜና በበኩላቸው ኮሚሽኑ እያከናወናቸው ካሉ ፕሮጀክቶች መካከል ነፃ የህግ ማማከርና ጥብቅና አገልግሎት አንዱ መሆኑን ገልፀዋል።

ኮሚሽኑ ለሚያከናውናቸው ተግባራት የተለያዩ አገራት ድጋፍና እርዳታ እያደረጉ መሆኑንና የአየርላንድ መንግስትም በሌሎች ፕሮግራሞች ላይ ከሚያደርገው ድጋፍ በተጨማሪ ለህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት ከፍተኛ አስተዋፆ እያበረከተ ነው ብለዋል።

በአሁኑ ወቅት አገልግሎቱን እየሰጡ ያሉት ዩኒቨርስቲዎች መቐለ፣ አክሱም፣ ባህርዳር፣ ጎንደር፣ ወላይታ ሶዶ፣ ዲላ፣ አዳማና ጂማ ዩኒቨርስቲ ናቸው።

ችግሩ ለመቅረፍም የኢትዮጵያ ሰብአዊ መብት ኮሚሽን ከኢትዮጵያ ሴት ጠበቆች ማህበር እንዲሁም ከዩኒቨርስቲዎች ጋር በመተባበር በመላ ሃገሪቱ 130 የሚሆኑ ነፃ የህግ ድጋፍ አገልግሎት መስጫ ማዕከላት ተከፍተዋል፡፡

ባለፉትሶስትአመታትብቻከ20 ሺህበላይዜጎችየአገልግሎቱተጠቃሚመሆናቸውንና በቀጣይምወደ 500 የሚደርሱማእከላትንየመክፈትእቅድመያዙን የኢዜአ ዘገባ ያመለክታል፡፡

ኢትዮጵያ ከግብርና ወደ ኢንዱስትሪ መር ለምታደርገው ኢኮኖሚያዊ ሽግግር የኔዘርላንድስ ሕዝብና መንግሥት አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ እንደሚያደርጉ በኢትዮጵያ የአገሪቱ አምባሳደር ገለጹ።

አምባሳደር ሊዲ ረሜልዝዋል ኢትዮጵያ ለምታደረገው መዋቅራዊ ሽግግር አገራቸው አስፈላጊውን ድጋፍ እንደምታደርግ አረጋግጠዋል።

በአሁኑ ጊዜ ኢትዮጵያ ውስጥ ከ80 በላይ የኔዘርላንድስ ኩባንያዎች በግብርና ኢንቨስትመንት መሰማራተቸውን ጠቅሰው ኩባንያዎቹ አገሪቱ ለምታደርገው የኢንዱስትሪ ሽግግር ጠቃሚ አስተዋጽኦ እንደሚያደርጉ ተናግረዋል።

ኢትዮጵያ በቀጣይ ሦስት ዓመታት ለምታከናውናቸው የልማት ሥራዎች ማስፈጸሚያ የሚውል 2 መቶ 18 ሚሊዮን ዩሮ ድጋፍ ሐገራቸው እንደምሰጥ አምባሳደሩ አመልክተዋል።

ኔዘርላንድስ ከፍተኛ የውኃ ኃብት ባለቤት አገር እንደሆነች ያስታወሱት አምባሳደሯ የውኃ ኃብትን እንዴት መጠቀም እንደሚቻል ያላትን ልምድ ለኢትዮጵያ ለማጋራት እየሰራች እንደምትገኝ አስታውቀዋል። ዘገባው የኢዜአ ነው።

Addis Ababa, 6 October 2014 (WIC) – Representatives of the European Union Parliament and Global Fund on Friday visited two health institutions which demonstrate Ethiopia’s health service delivery. The objective of the visit is to check on the delivery of health services in the country thereby mobilize funding to prevent malaria and other diseases in Ethiopia, according to delegation leader, Charles Goerens. The delegation has visited two clinics, the Modjo and Koga Nejo health centers, in Oromia State. The delegation visited the two clinics because of achievements regarding malaria, HIV and TB prevention and control activities.

“This country has many progress and I see well organized health centers that focus on disease prevention activities,” he said. Twenty percent of the total assistance of the European Union goes to health interventions to control such diseases, he added. Such kind of contribution has brought development in Ethiopia. “We have seen that our assistance is making health progress possible here in Ethiopia. So after this visit we will discuss with the EU parliament to continue the program,” Goerens said.

Ethiopia has been a beneficiary of the financial support from the Global Fund, said Disease Prevention and Control Director at the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, Dr. Abdissa Kurke. Global Fund donated over 530 million USD to prevent HIV/AIDS, Malaria and Tuberculosis prevention and control. It is helping Ethiopia to treat, prevent and control malaria, HIV and TB, and strengthen its health system so as to improve service quality in health institutions. Through the concerted efforts being undertaken so far, Ethiopia has managed to prevent and control those diseases, Dr. Abdissa said.

The nation has managed to reduce new HIV infections by 90 percent. HIV transmission rate has also declined to 0.03 percent from the previous 0.28. New TB infections have also declined to 247/100,000 from the 425 in 1995. (ENA)

Addis Ababa, 2 October 2014 (WIC) – To explore solutions to improve the business climate in Ethiopia a conference opened today (October 2, 2014) in Addis Ababa.The Conference was organized by the EU Business Forum-Ethiopia (EUBFE) in cooperation with the EU Delegation to Ethiopia and the ACP Business Climate Facility (BizClim).

The conference and business exhibition entitled, “Enhancing the Investment and Business climate in Ethiopia”, has brought together Ethiopian Government representatives, European Union Delegation and Member States officials as well as members of the business community in Ethiopia.

EU being Ethiopia’s main trading partner, there are currently around 300 European companies active in Ethiopia, making it a key investor for this fast-growing African economy, according to the press statement from the organizers.

Chairman of the EUBFE, Chris de Muynck, said, “There is a lot of foreign investment coming in, and Europe is still one of the bigger investors in Ethiopia. Things are changing, and Ethiopia is one of what they call the ‘tigers of Africa’.”

A contributor to this investment is BizClim, which undertakes initiatives in ACP countries, including Ethiopia, to boost development and improve investment in this part of the world, in cooperation with national governments, local stakeholders and the European Union.

Results of a study that has been carried out on the top challenges facing EU investors in Ethiopia, including Taxation, Business Licensing, Customs and Foreign Exchange, is expected to be announced at the conference.

“As well as discussing the main impediments for business, according to the EU companies surveyed, the conference will highlight best practices in the fields of FDI promotion and challenges on licensing procedures as well as the changes that the Government of Ethiopia has made and plan to make in the future, in order to attract more FDI to Ethiopia,” the statement noted.

Chargée d’Affaires of the European Union Delegation, Barbara Plinkert, and Chairman of the EUBFE, Chris de Muynck, have addressed the conference.
The EUBFE was set-up in response to the need for both a platform for networking and information exchange between EU businesses and a systematic dialogue with the Ethiopian authorities.

The EUBFE operated under the umbrella of the EU Delegation to Ethiopia. It is managed by a Steering Committee of 10 to 12 members representing the EU business community in Ethiopia and is headed by a Bureau made of a Chairman, a Treasurer and a Secretary.

The EU Business Forum in Ethiopia aims to make it easier for existing EU companies to do business in Ethiopia. (newbusiness)

Ethiopia ranked first among top 10 coffee growing countries by a group of 11 roasters and writers.Thrillist.com asked 11 coffee industry experts to rank their top three coffee growing countries.

The experts ranked Ethiopia the best coffee growing country with 25 points, while Kenya and Colombia stands second and third respectively with 12 and 10 points.

“With sweet fruit notes and delicate floral aromas, it’s hard to imagine a coffee that tastes better than a finely washed Yirgacheffe or a big, sweet, natural processed Sidama,” said Lorenzo Perkins, Director of Education at Cuvée Coffee.

Ethiopia is the genetic birth place of Coffee Arabica, which has been growing wild and harvested here for millennia, he said.

“Every time I drink coffee from Ethiopia, I can’t help but feel that this is how coffee is supposed to taste and everything else is an imitation, a copy of a copy, changed in some way inadvertently because of genetic drift or changing climates,” he added.

He acknowledged that there are many unclassified coffee varieties, which he said contributes to the ‘uniqueness of the cup character.’
For Ethiopia to produce ‘great’ coffee every year is because ‘it’s truly the birthplace of coffee’, according to Sarah Allen, editor of Barista Magazine.

She stated that it is native to Ethiopia means its producers ‘rarely contend with problems that can overwhelm’ coffee growers in Central and South America (where coffee is not native, but rather introduced).

She mentioned the recent example of the coffee-leaf rust that has plagued Central America this past year and wiped out thousands of farms.

“Because coffee is native to Ethiopia, it rarely incites climate or disease-born chaos. Coffee still grows wild all over Ethiopia, and there are thousands of undiscovered varietals in Ethiopia.”

“Specialty coffees from Ethiopia are known for their syrupy body, which is a result of the dry processing method still popular with Ethiopian producers, in which the coffee’s cherry skin is left intact. This process also lends the coffee an exceptionally fruity and floral character,” she said.

The largest producer of coffee in Sub-Saharan Africa, Ethiopia is the fifth largest coffee producer in the world next to Brazil, Vietnam, Colombia, and Indonesia, contributing about 7 to 10 percent of total world coffee production.

Coffee production is important to the Ethiopian economy with about 15 million people directly or indirectly deriving their livelihoods from coffee.

Ninety five percent of Ethiopia’s coffee is produced by small holder farmers on less than two hectares of land while the remaining five percent is grown on modern commercial farms.

Coffee is a major Ethiopian export commodity generating about 25 percent of Ethiopia’s total export earnings.

Source: ENA