Chancellor Angela Merkel officially invited Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to visit Germany. The invitation came during a telephonic conversation the two leaders had on 28 August.

The German Chancellor congratulated the Premier in bringing promising results in the ongoing economic and political reforms.

She also commended the recently reached peace agreement between Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Abiy welcomed the official invitation of the Chancellor to visit Germany.

Former President of Ethio-Somali Regional State Abdi Mohammed Oumer was arrested on Monday 27 August on suspicion of gross violations of human rights, inciting ethnic and religious conflicts and atrocities.  

 According to the Federal Attorney General, the Federal Police has been arresting other individuals who have participated in similar atrocious activities.

The Ethio-Somali Regional State Council lifted amnesty from prosecution of seven members of the council including the former president Abdi Mohamed Umer who is accused of inciting the recent turmoil in the region.

In an extraordinary session, the Council of Ethiopian Somali regional state stripped immunity of seven of its members on suspicion of their links with the recent violence in the regional state.

Below the is list of members of the Council who lost their immunity:

1. Abdi Mohamed Omer –Former Chief Administrator of Ethiopian Somali regional state

2. Abdijemal Kelonbi- Head of Justice Bureau

3. Rahma Mohammed – Head of Women’s and Children’s Bureau

4. Ibrahim Mehd- Head of Education Bureau

5. Dek Abdulahi –Deputy Head of Water Resource Development Bureau

6. Ibrahim Mohammed Mubarek – Mayor of Jigjiga

7. Omer Abdi – Political Affairs Head of the Ethiopian Somali People Democratic Party (ESPDP)

Ethiopia and Germany signed a grant agreement amounting to 100 million Euros.

Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance and Economic Cooperation, Dr Abrham Tekeste, and Gerd Muller, Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development of Germany,  signed the agreement in Addis Ababa.

During the meeting, the two sides also signed a Joint Declaration of Intent on the special initiative on training and job creation.

According to the agreement, the government of Germany expresses its intent to support the training and job creation programme of Ethiopia financially and technically.

The main purpose of the Joint Declaration of Intent is to complement the Government of Ethiopia’s effort in relation with creating more job opportunities to its citizens.

Vietnamese President Tran Dai Quang arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia for a three-day state visit.

Upon arrival at the Bole International Airport, President Quang was warmly welcomed by the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr Mulatu Teshome and government officials.

During his visit, President Quang will also meet Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and other senior government officials.

Executive Committee of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) concluded its three days regular meetings. It reviewed and endorsed the widespread gains made from the realization of the reform outline.

The Executive Committee also highlighted the necessity “to ensure full and total respect for the rule of law without which justice and order will break down and the promise of the current reform initiatives will not fully be realized,” Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s chief of staff Fitsum Arega said in his tweet.

The committee valued the success achieved in the political, diplomatic, and socio-economic sectors as well as the peace deal reached between Ethiopia and Eritrea and the strengthening of relations with neighbouring and Middle East countries.

The Committee assessed the release of Ethiopian prisoners both at home and abroad, negotiations held with armed groups, the opening of blocked websites and efforts made to reform the justice system as a positive move, which according to the Committee would help to widen the political space.

It also praised the measures taken to strengthen the unity of Ethiopians by uniting the two synods of the Ethiopian Orthodox churches and reconciling the Muslim community.

The Committee commended the measures taken to curb the shortage of foreign currency and the ongoing efforts to finalize delayed projects.

However, it underscored the need to boost the productivity of the agricultural and manufacturing sectors and called for the utilization of all means to reduce inflation to a single digit and to exert more efforts to ensure rule of law and realize the reform.

The Committee finally called on the public to strengthen their support for the sustainability of the reform launched at a national level.

The newly set up Law and Justice Advisory Council has begun consultation to amend the anti-terrorism and civil society organizations (CSOs) laws of Ethiopia. The Anti-Terrorism Law has been criticized for restricting democratic space in the country.

Attorney General Berhanu Tsegaye told journalists that “there is a shortcoming in realizing properly a justice system which meets the needs of the people.”

Thus, the government has begun to reform the system by establishing an Advisory Council, he added.

He added the Council is tasked to provide policy recommendations to the government for the amendment of laws and reform of the justice system.

Chairperson of the Council, Professor Tilahun Teshome, for his part stressed the need to amend the justice system and ensure rule of law to maintain peace and development in the country.

Legal professionals, representatives of civic societies and political parties, as well as academicians attended the discussion on the proposal that the Justice and Legal Affairs Advisory Council has presented.

The participants thoroughly discussed issues included in the proposal including the definition of the concept of terrorism, implementation of the law, basic principles of criminal law and global standards.

It was indicated that a gap was observed in the definition of concepts as well as implementation. The Advisory Council recommended for the revision of the law in order to improve the justice system and strengthen democracy.

The Reppie waste-to-energy project built at the cost of 95 million USD on 37 hectares of land is to be inaugurated on Sunday, August 19/2018, according to Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP).

EEP External Relations Director Misikir Negash told ENA the project, which is fully financed by the government, will be inaugurated on Sunday.

In waste-to-energy incineration plants, rubbish is burned in a combustion chamber and the resulting heat is used to boil water until it turns to steam, which drives a turbine generator that produces electricity.

The facility is expected to produce 185GWH of electricity annually that will be siphoned to the Ethiopian national grid and will incinerate over 1,400 tons of waste every day.

Africa’s first ever waste to energy facility, the first of its kind commenced full construction in Addis Ababa in September 2014.

The project is jointly constructed by Cambridge Industries Ltd (CIL) and its partner China National Electric Engineering Co. (CNEEC).

The project, which is located in Kolefe Keranio Sub-city, provides employment opportunities for 1,300 employees and has been instrumental in promoting skill transfer in the sector.

This project effectively linking environmental protection with a generation of renewable energy for the country and process around 350,000 tonnes of waste annually.

Reppie Waste-to-Energy in Ethiopia will support in reducing poverty conditions through increasing access to electricity, creating jobs and improving the environment to the benefit of human health, thus it will serve as a model for other countries in the region, and around the world.

For more than five decades, the Reppie dump site has been the only landfill in Addis Ababa.

Ethiopian and Sudanese armies yesterday signed an agreement to withdraw troops from both sides of the border and to deploy joint forces to combat “terrorism”, human trafficking and to eliminate any potential security tensions.

In spite of strong bilateral relations between Addis Ababa and Khartoum, the border area between the two countries remains a source of tension and violence between the two sides due to the human trafficking and smuggling to reach Egypt and Libya.

Sudan Tribune reported that the chief of staff of the two countries held an extraordinary meeting of the Joint Sudanese-Ethiopian Military Commission in Khartoum on Thursday, August 16/2018 after an expert meeting on Wednesday.

According to a statement released after the meeting, the two sides agreed to withdraw troops from the border in conjunction with the formation and deployment of joint forces before next December.

Further, it was agreed that a protocol of the joint forces will be signed in the next meetings of the Commission next October.

In October 2017, the security committee between Ethiopia’s Amhara region and Sudan’s Gedaref state decided to recommend to the leadership of the two countries to deploy joint forces along the border.

Speaking after the meeting, Sudan Armed Forces (SAF)’s Chiefs of Staff General Kamal Abdel-Maarouf said the relations between the two countries are eternal, and the relations between the armies are historical.

He added that the two sides held technical mechanisms at the highest levels to settle the tensions on the common borders.

For his part, the Chief of Staff of Ethiopia National Defence Forces (ENDF), General Seare Mekonnen, said Sudan and Ethiopia had cooperated in the past to protect the common border.

He added that the joint forces would be deployed along the two countries’ borders according to the agreement and would work together to combat security threats and prevent all negative activities on the border.

Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed today met with key industry actors and regulators of the coffee sector to address the binding constraints in order to improve productivity, value addition export earnings.

The Premier “addressing the poor export performance and the weak trade balance is an urgent priority for Ethiopia,” according to Fitsum Arega, Chief of Staff at the Premier’s Office.

Ethiopia earned 2.8 billion US dollars from export, slightly higher than half of the planned 5.23 billion US dollars concluded Ethiopian budget year, ENA reported.

Agriculture, manufacture and mining sectors were the top sectors in achieving better performances of 64.9 percent, 45.9 and 15.2 percent of the plan respectively, the press release added.

Compared to the same period of last year, the revenue earned in the budget year witnessed a lower performance by 71.4 million US dollars.