How to accelerate development through successful partnerships in higher education

This article was originally published in the second issue (April 2016) of the The Ethiopian Messenger, the quarterly magazine of the Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels.

Ethiopia and Belgium have enjoyed a long-standing diplomatic relation dating back to 1906. Belgium mostly imports coffee, cut flowers, grains and horticultural products from Ethiopia, while Ethiopia imports agricultural chemicals and machinery. Despite the more than century old diplomatic relations, the Belgian investment in Ethiopia falls short when compared with flow of investment from countries like the Netherlands, China or the Great Britain. Recently however, Belgian investors have shown a greater interest to invest in Ethiopia, among others because of the economic growth of Ethiopia, which is one of the fastest in the world.

The bilateral development relation of the two countries tells a different and lively story. Ethiopia was on the Belgian list of bilateral partner countries until 2003 when Belgium reformulated its cooperation policy after the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness. Belgium’s primary focus in Ethiopia shifted to higher education and to a lesser extent to food security and agriculture. Though this has resulted in the reduction of the total amount of the financial support, the policy change accelerated a successful academic collaboration and networking between Ethiopian and Belgian Universities and has since become one of the most valuable, effective, sustainable and visible development cooperation instrument of the two countries’ age-old relation.

Belgium implemented the Interuniversity cooperation (IUC) in an institutionalized framework and is pursuing its North‐South programs through its Flemish and French speaking Universities. The substantial amount of the institutionalized academic collaboration between Ethiopia and Belgium is expedited through the Flemish Interuniversity umbrella organization for development cooperation, VLIR-UOS, a public institution founded by the Flemish Interuniversity Council (VLIR).

The VLIR-UOS cooperation framework includes the provision of a generous scholarship scheme and implementation of inter-university projects that are formulated to develop the teaching, research, institutional management and community service of partner country universities. The projects supports the development of a high‐level scientific knowledge and skills through the collaboration between Belgian and Ethiopian universities. This unique arrangement has enabled Universities like U Ghent and KU Leuven to share and transfer their expertise, experience and know-how in fields like agricultural technology, public health, water and sanitation sciences, natural resource conservation with the two Ethiopian Universities, Jimma and Mekelle, selected under the first cooperation framework in 2003.

Other universities such as Addis Abeba school of Veterinary Medicine, Bahir Dar, Arba Minch, Ambo, Gondar, Diredawa and Addis Ababa Science and Technology have partnered with the Belgian universities and colleges on a single project basis. The other Belgian universities involved are Hasselt, VUB and institutes such as Institute of Tropical Medicine and the Antwerp Institute of Development Policy and Management. In addition, KU Leuven Campus Group T has a special agreement with the Ministry of Education of Ethiopia to train a selected number of Ethiopian university lecturers in various engineering fields under its own distinct budget.

VLIR-UOS made a significant amount of investment in Ethiopia over the last decade through several capacity building programs. To date, it has channelled 16 million Euros for about 50 academic cooperation projects, and more than 12.5 million in scholarships for the training of 900 masters and PhD students, which amounts to 29 million Euros in academic cooperation with Ethiopia since 2003. This makes Ethiopia the first beneficiary country of the VLIR-UOS program and apart from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia is the only country to host a VLIR-UOS country office. Furthermore, both Ethiopian and Belgian universities assign coordinators facilitating the collaboration from both ends.

Furthermore, the partnership resulted in many high-level researches that directly benefited the Ethiopian society in general and Ethiopia’s development endeavors in particular. These include research to eliminate the negative impact of the Gilgel Gibe dam on malaria that was spread because of mosquitos breeding as a consequence of the dam, identifying ways to helps cattle breeders protect their cattle from the sleeping sickness disease, and increasing soil and water conservation in the northern and southern part of Ethiopia and Lake Tana basin.

The cooperation between Belgian academic institutes and its southern partners in Ethiopia has proven to be effective and exemplar for a successful North-South partnership. The programme is unique in so far it is based on a partnership, convergence in the field of interest and expertise between Belgian and Ethiopian universities. The VLIR‐UOS programme was conceived at a time when the main modality of international aid was channelled through stand‐alone projects, which still accounts for the delivery of the majority of worldwide development projects. Through this unique arrangement, a substantial amount of VLIR‐UOS funding is used directly by partner institutions in Ethiopia. Moreover, it focus on capacity building programs at the highest academic levels; MSc and sandwich PhD programs amongst others. These sandwich PhDs programs are designed to be undertaken both in Belgium and in Ethiopia. This approach will have a long term positive impact on Ethiopia’s development endeavour by allowing the country to retain its highly trained personnel while providing research and internship opportunities for Belgian universities as well as enriching the diversity and competiveness of Belgian universities via the highly valued Ethiopian students.

Despite the 2008 financial crisis and a policy change aligned towards its bilateral partner countries, Belgium has shown its consistent and continuous commitment to support a sustainable development in Ethiopia. In a conference entitled ‘Making a Difference in Ethiopia. The Impact of University Cooperation for Development’ held on 5th November 2014 and organized by VLIR-UOS, the Deputy Prime Minister of Belgium and Minister of Development Cooperation, H.E. Mr De Croo reaffirmed the support of his government to the academic cooperation since it has proven its effectiveness. Overall, Ethio-Belgian collaboration in higher education is a good example of how inter-university cooperation for development makes a real and tangible difference. There is a consensus between academics and policy-makers that this should remain a key component of the Belgian development policy. Likewise, Ethiopian stakeholders regard the partnership as an effective investment with high value for money and the government of Ethiopia attaches great value to this partnership. Henceforth, it is clear that the partnership between Ethiopian and Belgian universities will continue to flourish for some time to come.

On 2nd July 2015, VLIR-UOS launched a call for its inter-university Cooperation and network components for universities amongst its twenty partner countries. Six institutions including the Ethiopian Arba Mich and Bahir Dar universities were selected. A third, Jimma University was included for networking in the second round of VLIR-UOS program. Under this arrangement, the networking component allows Jimma university to consolidate the achievements gained during the first round of the collaboration and maximize the impact and sustainability of the cooperation by keeping it in the network of its Belgian partner universities.

The Ethiopian government would like to further strengthen and deepen the cooperation to enhance the results achieved so far and raise the level of collaboration to a long-term partnership backed by a Memorandum of Understanding in a way that can ensure the realization of mutual benefits. This envisions including other Ethiopian Universities into the partnership through a cluster approach and by expanding home grown PhD programs to standardize the delivery quality of higher education across the country.

The European Commission (EU) put funds for in the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative, in line with its wider efforts in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda on Sustainable Development and the Paris Climate Change Agreement.

According to a presser Walta Information Center has received from EU Country Office in Addis Ababa, EU’s Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development, Neven Mimica, has announced the preparation of 19 new renewable energy projects, with a total potential investment of 4.8 billion euros on the 4th of March in Conakry, Guinea.

This was done during the second Board of Directors meeting of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative.

These sustainable energy projects have an indicative EU contribution of 300 million euros which is expected to leverage total investments amounting to 4.8 billion euros.

The new move will add 1.8 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation in Africa. The European Union is a key counterpart for Africa on sustainable energy cooperation.

“With these 19 new projects, potentially worth 4.8 billion euros, the EU is delivering on its promises. We are turning our pledges into real projects with true impact on the ground. The EU hereby reaffirms its leading role in supporting the African continent in the promotion of renewable energies for the improvement of energy access for African citizens,” said Commissioner Mimica.

According to the presser, this will contribute to the European Commission’s aim for 2020: to give 30 million more people access to sustainable energy, to save 11 million tons of carbon dioxide annually and to help generate five gigawatts of new renewable energy in Africa.

According to the same source, that represents half of the Africa Renewable Energy Initiative’s overall target, as one of AREI’s key objectives is to generate 10 gigawatts of new renewable energy in Africa by 2020, and to unlock Africa’s potential to generate as much as 300 gigawatts from renewable energy by 2030.

The EU’s development funding towards sustainable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa for the period 2014-2020 amounts to approximately 2.7 billion euros.

The European Commission, the EU Member States and the EU Financial Institutions have committed to support AREI through existing financial instruments and mechanisms.

This includes the Africa Investment Facility (AfIF), the Electrification Financing Initiative and the new opportunities that will be made available under the future External Investment Plan, to leverage the sustainable energy investments that will unlock Africa’s potential and improve the lives of millions.

The Africa Renewable Energy Initiative (AREI) is an Africa-owned and Africa-led initiative of the African Union. It aims at harnessing Africa’s abundant renewable energy resources to help African countries to support their development strategies and leapfrog towards low-carbon economic development. In so doing the Initiative will increase access to sustainable and affordable energy while addressing climate change.

AREI was launched at COP21 in Paris in December 2015 and is receiving strong international support from development partners.

Walta/ Mon, Mar 06, 2017

Program

8.45- 9.15 Registration

9.15-9.20 Welcoming the delegation by H.E. Teshome Toga, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Benelux, Baltic Countries and the EU.

9.15-10.00 Status update Ethiopia:

– H.E. Teshome Toga, Ambassador of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the Benelux, Baltic Countries and the EU.

– H.E. Dr. Arkebe Oqubay Metiku, Special Advisor to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia

– Ethiopian Investment Commission

10.00-10.30 Q&A

10.30-11.00 Testimonies from the Dutch Private Sector in Ethiopia.

11.00-12.00 One on one meetings with the delegation members.

More information & Registration

The 121st anniversary of the victory of Adwa was colorfully celebrated at the historic town of Adwa, Tigray regional state, the very spot where Ethiopians defeated the Italian invading army on March 1, 1896.

Speaking at the celebration, President Mulatu Teshome said Adwa is a great victory which resonates the spirit of cooperation and mutual respect as well as the value of determination for success, adding “it is a victory for all black people.”

The President said “Our ancestors have made huge sacrifices to safeguard the sovereignty of the country and pass it down to the existing generation.”

The current generation, and the youth in particular, Dr. Mulatu added need to step up its engagement towards building the national image, further calling the nation to support the country’s ongoing development projects, and notably the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

At the event, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen handed over a torch for President Mulatu Teshome and Speaker of the House of Federation, Yaelw Abate, dedicated for the proposed campaign to raise fund for GERD, which will unfold on March 26, 2017 in Addis Ababa, and ran across all the regional states and city administrations for 11 months.

In connection, Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen called on all Ethiopians to sustain the unity and participation evident during the battle of Adwa onto the construction of the renaissance dam.

The Ethiopian Investment Commission announced that the country’s Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) jumped up by 35 percent on average over last six months compared to same period last year.

During the current fiscal year, which has started last June, the country is able to attract FDI valued to 1.2 billion dollar hugely surpassing the record gained during the beginning of the first Growth and Transformation Plan (GTPI) and that of same period the previous year.

Commission Public Relation Head Mekonnen Hailu told Walta Infromation Center that the rise in the flow FDI is owing to the expansion of multi-million dollar industrial parks in different parts of the country.

According to him, giant companies from Europe, America and Asia coming into the country over the last six months.

He said that three Chinse manufacturing industries and two Indian companies, which took shades at Hawassa Industrial Park, are few of the foreign companies coming in six months period and boosted volume of FDI. Among three Chinese companies, according to him, Giangsu Sunshine Group is decided to invest 945 million dollars in the country.

He also said that infrastructure and power supply, peace and cheap labor help the country increase the flow of FDI.

The rise in the investment flow in the country is also meant absorbing significant number of unemployed segment of the population, which is one of the top priorities of the government.

Source: http://www.waltainfo.com/news/business/detail?cid=27824

On 20-21 February, Foreign Minister Dr. Workneh visited Brussels and held meetings with the Belgian Foreign Minister, Didier Reynders, and various EU officials. The Minister met with Mr. Reynders on Tuesday and discussed bilateral relations. They agreed on the need to further strengthen cooperation as their capitals were seats of their respective regional organizations, the African Union and the European Union.

Ethiopia is one of the EU’s most important partners on the African continent, active in regional peace and security as well as in thematic international debates such as climate change. Against this background, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu held talks with Mr. Stefano Manservisi, Director-General DEVCO, on further supporting the efforts of Ethiopia to eradicate poverty, and foster inclusive and sustainable economic, social and environmental development through programmable development aid from the European Development Fund,  as well as non-programmable development aid, projects funded by the EU Trust Fund, humanitarian assistance and concessional loans from the European Investment Bank. EU support to Ethiopia for the period 2015-2020 will exceed € 2 billion and rests on these five pillars. The two sides also looked at ways of maximizing the social and economic impact of development cooperation while ensuring sustainability, including improved alignment of EU donors with the Growth and Transformation Plan II and Ethiopia’s Climate-Resilient Green Economy Strategy.

Ethiopia, one of the countries most affected by the El Niño phenomenon, is experiencing its worst drought in 50 years following three failed rainy seasons. More than 5 million people are in need of emergency assistance and millions more across the continent are affected by the extreme weather conditions. Dr. Workneh thanked the EU Director General for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, Ms. Monique Pariat, for earmarking 27.5 million Euros for emergency assistance in 2017. He called on the agency to support the region as the drought is intensifying.

Dr. Workneh met with Mr. Jean-Christoph Belliard, Political Affairs Director at EEAS and Ambassadors of the 28 EU member states. He briefed them on the current political situation and reform measures taken by the government to enhance its peace, development and democratization agenda. Ethiopia and the EU, he noted, share a vision for a peaceful, safe and stable Horn of Africa, a precondition for the political, economic and social development of the region as a whole. Given Ethiopia’s crucial stabilizing role in the Horn of Africa, the EU and Ethiopia share information, perspectives and lessons learned, and consult each other on issues of common interest. These include conflict prevention and resolution in the Horn of Africa and the broader region, the role of IGAD, the African Peace and Security Architecture and the African Peace Facility. They intend to enhance their cooperation to maintain the dynamic economic growth and ambition of Ethiopia to join middle income countries on the basis of its green and inclusive economic growth.

Foreign Minister Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu met with Dr. Patrick I. Gomes, Secretary-General of the ACP during his stay in Brussels and discussed the evolving role of the secretariat in regard to its relationship with the EU and also the global dynamic situation. The Minister assured the Secretary-General of Ethiopia’s readiness to assist the continued efforts of the secretariat to sustain the development of member states from Africa, the Caribbean and Pacific regions.

Dr. Workneh also met with the Ethiopian Ambassadors accredited to European states and discussed current issues in Ethiopia and the region. He briefed the Ambassadors on the reforms being undertaken in the country to strengthen good governance and institutional capacity issues and measures taken to enhance the business and investment climate. The discussion also focused on ways to transform the Foreign Ministry to effectively address the regional and global challenges that it faces and to meet the strategic goals put forward to achieve a middle income economy by the end of the next decade. The meeting agreed on the need to actively use all instruments of diplomacy and reform to help meet the expectations of the government and people of Ethiopia.

The relations between the EU and Ethiopia are founded on the Cotonou Agreement and have 40 years of constructive bilateral relations in areas as diverse as development cooperation, trade and economic development, consolidation of democratic institutions, regional peace and security and migration.

Source: A Week in the Horn

Boortmalt, a subsidiary of the French group Axéréal, said it will extend its malt factory in Antwerp, Belgium, and invest in a new malt factory in Ethiopia.

The factory in Antwerp will become the world’s largest malt production facility, with a yearly capacity of 470,000 tons.

According to the press release, the new malt factory in Ethiopia will have a total production capacity of 60,000 tons.

It is expected to start operations in 2018.

Boortmalt is currently producing 1.1 million tons of malt in Europe.

Finland Ambassador to Ethiopia Helena Airaksinen said that Ethiopia has made good progress in terms of economic development.”Finland is also keen on expanding economic cooperation with Ethiopia.”

In an exclusive interview with The Ethiopian Herald, Amb. Helena Airaksinen said Finland and Ethiopia have been working together in rural economic development particularly in Amhara state focusing on inland administration, agricultural value chain production improvement programs and the like.

According to her, the rural economic development programs are aimed at improving rural farmers’ productivity and income.

Remarking on various cooperative programs in Ethiopia including the education cooperation, Airaksinen said : “The clean water program benefits millions of people in the country as it has enabled them to access clean water easily and so we are glad for such success story.”

Moreover, she lauded the Ethiopian government and the local authorities for their commitment towards the cooperative programs.

Regarding the ongoing efforts to reduce poverty rate in Ethiopia, she said Finnish government is pleased to the so far remarkable achievements gained in this regard.

Source: The Ethiopian Herald

Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu met his Belgian counterpart, Mr. Didier Reynders on Tuesday (February 21, 2017) in Brussels, and discussed the bilateral relations between the two countries and agreed to further strengthen their cooperation as seats of their respective regional organizations – the African Union and the European Union.

Ethiopia and Italy struck a soft-loan agreement with the latter providing 5 million euro to the infrastructural development of Ethiopian health sector here yesterday.

The agreement was signed by Finance and Economic Cooperation State Minister Admasu Nebebe and Giuseppe Mistretta, Italian Ambassador to Ethiopia.

Speaking at the signing ceremony, Admasu said Ethiopia and Italy enjoy a long standing ties and Italy’s tremendous financial contribution to the development endeavours in Ethiopia has been exemplary for many years.

The loan agreement is well aligned with Ethiopia’s priority and will help promote the health sector. The accord has an added value for addressing the challenges facing the health sector in terms of infrastructural facilities, said Admasu.

Italian Ambassador Giuseppe Mistretta for his part said that the loan would be used to promote the infrastructural facilities of the health sector.

Italy has planned to provide Ethiopia about 125 million euro as per its three year scheme that would be used to cater to the development of Ethiopian people, he added.

The two-year project will be implemented in Amhara and SNNP states as well as in Addis Ababa.

BY DESTA GEBREHIWOT