The Ministry of Peace has announced plans to return all internally displaced persons (IDPs) to their areas of origin by the end of this month.
Minister of Peace, Muferiat Kamil, told journalists yesterday that the repatriation process will be conducted voluntarily.
Out of the total 2.3 million IDPs, 1.2 million people were displaced before March 2018 and the remaining 1.1 million after April 2018, she said.
The IDPs received food and non-food assistance in their temporary sites, with the government of Ethiopia covering 60 percent of the spending and donors contributing the remaining 40 percent, according to Muferiat.
As a result of the efforts undertaken during the past two months, 1.3 million people have returned to their areas of origin, the Minister indicated.
She said the returnees would be provided with all the necessary rehabilitation support for the coming six months.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed of Somalia on Sunday 2 June and held discussions at the office of the Prime Minister.
In their discussions, they raised bilateral issues of mutual interest, including further strengthening cooperation in regional peace and security.
Relations between the two countries have further strengthened in recent months, with visits by both leaders to their respective capitals. Somali President last visited Addis Ababa a few months back, following which he flew with PM Abiy to Nairobi to mediate on a diplomatic spat between Kenya and Somalia.
He also went to Ethiopia for a tripartite meeting between the two countries and neighboring Eritrea.
The two leaders, accompanied by the First Lady of Somalia, planted seedlings within the compound.
Prime Minister Abiy launched last week a campaign to plant four billion trees across Ethiopia. He kicked off the initiative in Adama, Oromia region and has since joined visitors to plant seedlings.
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) revealed on May that ten global companies had signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) to set up factories inside the Kilinto Pharmaceutical Industrial Park.
With a total size of 337 hectares, the industrial park is nearing completion. Once completed, the Kilinto Pharmaceutical Industrial Park will have the capacity to accommodate more than 1,000 factories. Located in the south of Addis Ababa, Kilinto is being developed in two phases in collaboration with the World Bank Group.
The industrial park, which is fully financed by the World Bank, features 18-km of asphalt road, provision of essential social services, green spaces, warehouses, business centers, and car parking space, according to the Ethiopian Industry Parks Development Corporation (IPDC).
According to Adenan Bere, Communications Director at the IPDC, Ethiopia expects to lure world-class companies to help its economy through the export of pharmaceutical products as well as import-substitution. Bere also noted that in addition to attracting foreign firms to penetrate Ethiopia’s emerging pharmaceutical sector, the IPDC is also working with local financial institutions to support local firms to invest in the industrial park.
As the Ethiopian government in recent years embarked on attracting foreign firms in the pharmaceutical sector, Chinese firms are becoming among the major international firms in exerting their capital and technology in the industry.
In June last year, Chinese pharmaceutical giant, Sansheng Pharmaceuticals Plc, had inaugurated its production plant in Ethiopia amid Ethiopia’s higher demand for import substitution in medicines. Sansheng Pharmaceuticals Plc commenced its first phase of production in June 2018 inside the premises of the Eastern Industry Zone on the outskirt of Ethiopia’s capital.
The Ethiopian government, which has been expressing its concern over the minimal share of local medical drugs production for the country’s domestic use, also stressed the benefits of the Chinese pharmaceutical firm in saving a substantial amount of hard currency through import substitution.
Demeke Mekonnen, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia, said during the plant’s inauguration ceremony that despite the Ethiopian government’s various measures to support the pharmaceutical sector, the “sector has not yet evolved into where we projected it to be — both in terms of its investment portfolio, production capacity, technology acquisition and the creation of employment opportunities.”
He also noted that the sector is still dominated by heavy importation of pharmaceutical products from abroad, which currently represents about 85 percent of the annual 500 million U.S. dollar local market. “Your investment to Ethiopia could not have come at a more opportune moment,” Mekonnen said.
Ethiopia is currently constructing or has commissioned 15 industrial parks as part of a plan to turn the country into a light manufacturing hub in Africa by 2020.
Chinese companies, which are the leading partners of the Ethiopian government in the construction of industrial parks across the country, are also actively engaging their capital and technologies by investing inside the newly built industrial parks.
The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors has approved a total of $550 million for Ethiopia to support the country’s efforts to improve the livelihoods of pastoralists and its ongoing power sector reforms.
Accordingly, it approved $350m ($70m grant $280m credit) from the International Development Association (IDA) in support of the country’s efforts to improve the livelihoods and resilience of 2.5 million pastoralists and agro-pastoralists in low land areas.
The Low lands Livelihood Resilience Project will help to improve the livelihoods and resilience of pastoral and agro-pastoral communities in Ethiopia by addressing their binding constraints, the Bank said in a statement.
“The project will put communities in charge of their own development priorities by enabling them to identify, lead and manage local development initiatives,” said Carolyn Turk, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan.
According to the statement, the project will reduce long-term environmental degradation and communities’ vulnerability to climate change-related droughts.
It will also facilitate access to essential social services such as water resources to communities, upgrade veterinary facilities, and help construct key infrastructure such as bridges roads, livestock markets, small scale irrigation schemes.
The project will support the introduction of technologies that improve animal productivity (i.e., milk and meat production). Furthermore, it will improve market linkages and commercialization by facilitating the development of partnerships between private companies and groups of producers.
Similarly, the $200m Renewable Energy Guarantees Program (REGREP) approved by the bank will support Ethiopia’s ongoing power sector reforms and leverage private sector financing for renewable energy generation.
The program will support the Government of Ethiopia’s ongoing power sector reforms and leverage private sector financing for renewable energy generation.
REGREP will support the development of over 1,000 MW of greenfield solar and wind energy Independent Power Producer (IPP) projects in Ethiopia, including the World Bank Group Scaling Solar initiative.
Enabled by the 2018 Public-Private Partnership Proclamation, this program reflects a new way of doing business in the energy sector in Ethiopia – transitioning from continued public-financing towards private sector-led competitively tendered procurement of new renewable generation capacity.
“With the support of the World Bank Group, this program will create a platform for much-needed private sector participation in the crucial energy sector by lowering the risks of investing in Ethiopia,” said Carolyn Turk, World Bank Country Director for Ethiopia, Sudan, and South Sudan.
“The program has the potential to leverage over $1.5 billion in private sector investment,” she added.
The Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) just launched a new bilingual website (English/ Chinese), where all companies or persons interested in investing in Ethiopia will find essential information such as:
Foreign investors testimonials;
investment and tax incentives;
how to hire workforce in Ethiopia;
living in Ethiopia;
how to start a business;
land & property;
industrial parks;
amenities, logistics & infrastructure;
service providers;
… and much more.
Don’t miss this occasion to discover everything Ethiopia has to offer!
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed kicked off over the weekend what is meant to become a mission to plant four billion trees across the country.
The initiative, which is organized under the banner of the National Green Development program, is set to start during the rainy season.
“Over the past years Ethiopia’s forest coverage has decreased, and the initiative is set to mobilize national reforestation at 40 trees per head,” the PM’s office said in a social media post.
PM Abiy held discussions with the National Agri Transformation leaders in Adama city, in his home region of Oromia. He tasked participants – which included most high-profile government officials – on their role and responsibilities in modernizing the sector.
Ethiopia has, in recent years, have suffered from the negative impact of climate change, especially in relation to droughts in parts of the country. According to Ethiopia’s environment, forest and climate change Commission, the initiative will help to cover more than a million hectares of land with forest.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has called for unity during the togetherness and thanksgiving Iftar (fast-breaking) dinner held at the Millennium Hall yesterday.
Speaking at
the occasion, Abiy said: “The unity of Muslims is tantamount to the unity
of the whole country.”
“We
look good when we come together and unite,” he told thousands of Muslims
who gathered to attend the event.
Muslims
account for more than 34% of Ethiopia’s more than 100 million population. Since
coming to power in 2018, Abiy has allowed them to move ahead with a plan to
institute an elected Majlis (Supreme Council).
The iftar
was organized at Millennium Hall by the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme
Council to thank the prime minister for winning hearts of his Muslim country
people.
He further
pledged that the government would support the construction in Addis Ababa of a
grand mosque for Muslims to come together on events such as Eid al Adha and Eid
al Fitr.
He said the
mosque would symbolize the iconic Abyssinian Emperor Negashi who treated
companions of Prophet Muhammad well when they fled persecution in Mecca.
The Prime
Minister also said the government would provide the necessary support for the
establishment of an Islamic bank in Ethiopia.
The Sustainable Energy Fund for Africa (SEFA), managed by the African Development Bank has approved a $995,000 grant to support the rollout of a sustainable procurement framework for Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Ethiopia.
The SEFA grant is intended to “encourage private investments into hydropower projects through Ethiopia’s Renewable Energy Program.”
“It will strengthen the government’s capacity to undertake bankability and technical analysis including feasibility assessments of projects in the hydro priority pipeline.”
The grant also provides for environmental and social impact assessments, resettlement action plans, and preparation of bidding documents for hydro projects.
“A well-structured procurement framework is crucial in mobilizing the investments necessary to achieve universal energy access in Africa. The SEFA program will boost private IPPs participation, and spur investments into the Ethiopian hydropower sector,” said Wale Shonibare, the Bank’s acting Vice President for Power, Energy, Climate Change and Green Growth.
The program also complements the assistance provided by the Bank’s Institutional IPP/PPP Support Project, as well as the Bank-financed Mekele-Dallol and Semera-Afdera Power Supply for Industrial Development and Access Scale-up Project, Shonibare added.
Ethiopia has a vast but untapped renewable energy potential. Under a long-term development strategy, the government has outlined a National Electrification Program (NEP), targeting universal access by 2025 through a 65% on-grid, and 35% off grid combination. “The goal is to transform the country into a regional energy hub by 2030,” ADB said.
The Ethiopia Renewable Energy Program, supported by the SEFA grant, is in line with the country’s Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP II) 2015/16 – 2019/20 and with the NEP targets. It also aligns with the Bank’s Energy Sector Policy (2012), the New Deal on Energy for Africa, mainly focusing on “Renewable Energy” and “Early Stage Project Finance.”
Background
SEFA is a multi-donor facility established to unlock private sector investments in small to medium-sized clean energy projects in Africa through the following three components: grants to facilitate the preparation of renewable energy generation and energy efficiency projects towards bankability; equity investments to bridge the financing gap for renewable energy generation projects and; and support to public sector in improving the enabling environment for private investments in sustainable energy. SEFA is endowed with contributions from the Governments of Denmark, the United States, and the United Kingdom, and is hosted and managed by the Power, Energy, Climate and Green Growth Department of the African Development Bank.
EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini started on Monday 20 May a three-day tour to the countries of the Horn of Africa.
Earlier in the day, she arrived in the Somalian capital of Mogadishu, where she met with the country’s Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khayre, visited troops of EU Training Mission in Somalia and EUCAP Somalia personnel.
The High Representative will then move to Kenya, where she is due to meet President Uhuru Kenyatta and members of the government.
She will also meet with youth and civil society groups and inaugurate the new EU Delegation offices in Nairobi.
After that, Mrs. Mogherini will travel to Djibouti and Ethiopia. In Djibouti, she will meet with President Ismail Omar Guelleh, Foreign and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Executive Secretary Mahboub Maalim. After Djibouti, she will travel back to Brussels.
The EU is working actively to strengthen its partnership with the region which shares many common interests with the European Union, from tackling climate change to boosting investment, to better managing migration and creating opportunities for youth.
The EU is a key partner for the region in many areas, in particular security with the three Common Security and Defence Policy missions: EUNAVFOR Atalanta a maritime mission which fights piracy off the Somali coast, EUTM Somalia and EUCAP Somalia. The EU is also a key supporter of Intergovernmental Authority on Development, the regional body in the Horn of Africa.
The Council of Ministers in its 68th regular session held on May 18, 2019, approved the anti-terrorism draft law developed to prevent and control terrorism.
The new law was drafted by the Federal Attorney General office of Ethiopia to protect the peace and security of the people and the government from the threats of terrorism.
Moreover, it was developed to fill the gaps in the previous anti-terrorism proclamation No.652/2009.
After a detailed deliberation and with some amendments, the Council referred the draft law to the Parliament for approval.
The Council also sent the bill drafted by the Ministries of Revenue and Finance to amend the Value Added Tax proclamation to the Parliament for approval.
It also decided the agreements signed for gold, copper, and silver production between the Ministry of Mines and Energy and Tigray Resources Incorporate PLC to come into effect.
