Ethiopia has earned 478 million US dollars from the export of agricultural products in the first eight months of this fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
The country missed its target of earning 538 million US dollars by attaining only 72 percent of its plan, said the Ministry while presenting its 8-month performance report to the House of People’s Representatives (HPR).
Dr Eyasu Abrha, Minister of Agriculture and Natural Resources attributed the failure to the price drop seen on some products and tariffs imposed by some countries.
Oilseed and pulses were among the agricultural products exported to various countries.
Dr Abiy sworn in as Prime Minister of Ethiopia at a ceremony held at the House of People’s Representative (HPR) today In his acceptance speech, the new Prime Minister said that the power transition is the beginning of a new political era in the country.
The government needs to seize the opportunity to maintain the sustainability of the gains made in the past and make reform on sectors that need improvement, he said.
“Taking lessons from our mistakes, we should work to bring about political stability, build a better and united Ethiopia,” the new Prime Minister said.
He said efforts would be made to compensate the economic slowdown resulted from the political instability occurred in the country, even by working overtime.
He further pledged to prioritise, building democracy; enhancing unity in diversity; forging national consensus fighting corruption, improving quality of education and maintaining the rule of law.
He also expressed his readiness to work with Ethiopians abroad and political parties as well as resolve problems with the government of Eritrea.
Ethiopia, a seat of several international and continental agencies, will continue to cement its foreign policy that was founded on mutual benefit and equality, he added.
The new Prime Minister also thanked the outgoing Premier Hailemariam Desalegn for his decision to step down from his post to become part of a solution for the political instability occurred in the country and to be a model for others.
Dr Abiy took office today as Prime Minister following an oath-taking ceremony. The outgoing Prime Minister Hailemariam and other senior officials welcomed upon his arrival office.
Hailemariam wished success for the new Prime Minister and pledged to provide his unreserved support for him.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy on his part expressed gratitude for Hailemariam for his contribution.
According to the latest Africa Investment Index 2018 (AII) by Quantum Global Research Lab, an independent research arm of Quantum Global, Ethiopia is ranked among the top 10 most attractive investment destination in Africa in 2017.
Morocco ranks first on the Index, followed by Egypt and Algeria in the second and third places.
Botswana ranks 4th, Cote d’Ivoire 5th, South Africa 6th, Ethiopia 7th, Zambia 8th, Kenya 9th, and Senegal 10th.
The bottom 10 African countries in attracting FDI are Botswana, Central African Republic, Liberia, Somalia, Eritrea, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Sierra Leone, Guinea, Sao Tome and Principe as well as Zimbabwe
According to the Ethiopian Investment Commission, Ethiopia’s manufacturing industries and export-oriented sectors are attracting a significant number of FDIs.
The extensive infrastructural development and the all-around government’s support to investors were among the major factors contributed to better FDI flow to the country.
Various companies have also expressed their interest to invest about 2 billion US dollars in the country over the coming one year.
The House of People’s Representatives of Ethiopia (HPR) will appoint a Prime Minister of Ethiopia in a special session that will be held on Monday.
Based on Ethiopia’s Constitution, EPRDF, which has the majority seats in the Parliament, will present a candidate for the Premiership post.
The Parliament is expected to confirm the Premiership of the newly elected Chairperson of EPRDF, Dr Abiy Ahmed.
Dr Abiy will take office from the outgoing Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
Dr Abiy Ahmed was elected Chairperson of the EPRDF last Tuesday to replace the former Chairperson Hailemariam Desalegn who resigned on his own volition.
The International Organization for Migration (IOM) has launched an appeal for 88.5 million US dollars to help people in need of humanitarian assistance in Ethiopia.
The appeal covers IOM’s activities under the humanitarian community and government’s Ethiopia Humanitarian and Disaster Resilience Plan (HDRP), IOM’s assistance to Ethiopian migrant returnees from Saudi Arabia (KSA) and humanitarian support to refugees from neighbouring countries.
IOM’s appeal aims to support Ethiopians displaced throughout the country, Ethiopian migrant returnees South Sudanese and Somali refugees.
Under this appeal, IOM will also support the empowerment of young people and the strengthening of institutions in Ethiopia working on counter trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants.
Ethiopia currently hosts over 909,000 refugees. Of these registered refugees, more than 428,928 are South Sudanese and 254,274 are Somali.
If ratified by half and more than half of the signatory countries, AfCFTA will become one of the world’s largest trading blocs by creating a single market of up to 1.2 billion people and a collective Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of more than 2 trillion US dollars.
The trade pact is expected to spur economic growth, industrialization, improve infrastructure development and business diversification in the Continent.
“The agreement helps Ethiopia to attract more foreign direct investment (FDI),” Dr Berihu Assefa, a Senior Associate Researcher at the Ethiopian Development Research Institute (EDRI) told APA on Friday.
The AfCFTA would also have significant importance for Ethiopia’s ongoing economic transformation, the researcher added.
Zemedeneh Nigatu, Chairman of the US-based Fairfax Africa Fund, on his part noted that the agreement boosts the global competitiveness of Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector.
“It will bring immediate benefit for Ethiopia in the years to come once the country starts to add values on its agricultural products,” he added
Intra-African trade makes up only 16 percent of total trade in the continent, which is much more less than compared to other regions, such as Europe, which currently stands at 60 percent.
The continental free trade area, which is among the top priorities in the AU Agenda 2063, aims at tackling non-tariff barriers which hamper trade between African countries, such as long delays at the border.
The agreement commits countries to removing tariffs on 90 percent of goods.
The Council of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) today elected Dr Abiy Ahmed as Chairperson of the Front.
The Council decided Demeke Mekonnen to continue as Deputy Chairperson of EPRDF.
Dr Abiy was born in Jima zone, Oromia regional state and is the current Chairperson of the Oromo People Democratic Organization (OPDO).
He earned his first degree in Computer Engineering, MA in Transformational Leadership and Change, MBA in Management and Leadership as well as PhD in Peace and Security.
He served as Minister of Science and Technology, Director General of the Federal Science and Technology Center of Excellence, Deputy Director of the Information Network Security Agency (INSA).
He also served as head of Urban Development and Housing Bureau of the Oromia regional state with the rank of Deputy Chief Administrator.
He also served as a soldier in the Ethiopian National Defense Force where he received the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.
Ethiopa’s Netsanet Gudeta broke Kenya’s dominance in the World Half Marathon Championships by smashing the women’s only race world record in Valencia, Spain on Saturday.
Kenyan women had swept the medals at the previous two championships but Gudeta pushed on alone from 15 kilometers to win in a time of one hour, six minutes and 11 seconds.
The 27-year-old finished a comfortable 43 seconds ahead of Kenyan Joyciline Jepkosgei, who holds the overall world record of 1:04:51. Jepkosgei’s compatriot Pauline Kamulu came third.
The Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), the European Union (EU) and the Australian Development Agency (ADA) today signed a 42 million Euros agreement that will go towards IGAD’s peace and security programs in the Horn of Africa region.
The agreement is one of the many actions being funded by EU Emergency Fund for Africa, which was established to promote stability and address the root causes of irregular migration and displaced persons.
According to a joint statement issued by IGAD, EU and ADA in Addis Ababa today, the agreement also includes financing from the governments of Austria and Sweden.
The action which covers a four-year period from 2018-2022, will help IGAD to improve its conflict early warning system, become more skilled in mediation and to counter trans-national security threats.
It will also help IGAD and its partner countries in the region to improve the collection and distribution of early warning data, so that governments can take action in time to prevent conflicts.
Addis-Djibouti Railway, constructed in cooperation with Chinese companies
Over two months into its commercial operation, the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway has brought much cheer and optimism to Ethiopian passengers.
Alemu Mersha, a young businessman travelling from Addis Ababa to Ethiopia’s second largest city Dire Dawa, is one of the passengers aboard the train on Sunday, which he said is an “advantageous way to do business.”
The 756-km railway, which officially commenced its commercial operations for both passenger and freight services between the two countries in January, connects landlocked Ethiopia to its neighbouring Red Sea nation of Djibouti.
According to Mersha, the business is not as usual since the railway commenced its operations, both in terms of its affordability and time efficiency.
“There were times that I had to travel via airplane from Addis Ababa to Dire Dawa and vice versa whenever I had tasks at hand to accomplish within a short period of time,” said Mersha, complaining about the huge amount of money spent on the journeys.
The Ethiopia-Djibouti railway currently charges less than 25 U.S. dollars for a two-way passenger service from Addis Ababa to Dire Dawa, while an airplane service costs at least 130 U.S. dollars.
Alemayehu Leyew, another passenger who is experiencing his first rail travel to Djibouti with his wife for recreation purpose, said the rail travel is much more comfortable than he previously thought.
“This is my first time to use a rail service for transportation,” he said. “It feels great and it’s also comfortable.”
Leyew also urged to scale up the railway to connect other parts of the East African country.
“We need to scale up the rail transportation service into every corner of the country so as to speed up our country’s modernization process,” Leyew said.
Saliya Mehamed, an Ethiopian captain at the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway transportation service, told Xinhua on Sunday that the feedback from the passengers is “very positive so far.”
“Our customers are very happy and the number of customers is increasing very much,” she said.
The railway, contracted by two Chinese companies China Railway Group (CREC) and China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), is currently managed by a consortium of Chinese companies for a period of six years.
Wang Tao, Human Resource Department Head at the Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport share-company, told Xinhua that enabling local professionals to take over the railway transportation system is underway.
According to Wang, the railway service will be completely managed by locals within the coming few years as the knowledge transfer procedure is effectively underway.
Ethiopian professionals who are taking part in the knowledge transfer also said both theoretical and practical training are helping them become the pioneer rail transportation professionals in the East African country’s recent history.
“We are so glad to take this opportunity because it’s a new system for us,” said Saliya Mehamed, who envisaged to become a rail captain in the near future.
Ethiopia has also recently commended the electrified railway’s freight services, which has the capacity of transporting 106 containers in a single route.
According to the share-company, the railway has transported over 2,000 containers of commodities from the port to central Ethiopia during its first two months of operations.
According to Tilahun Kassa, director of Ethiopia-Djibouti Standard Gauge Rail Transport company, the linkage between the Djibouti port and Ethiopia’s Modjo dry port has shown early achievements and is expected to further expand Ethiopia’s export and international trading.
Ethiopia has earned 478 million US dollars from the export of agricultural products in the first eight months of this fiscal year, according to the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
Ethiopa’s Netsanet Gudeta broke Kenya’s dominance in the World Half Marathon Championships by smashing the women’s only race world record in Valencia, Spain on Saturday.
