Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed met with Melinda Gates, co-Chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) earlier today.
The Foundation has been supporting Ethiopia improve agricultural productivity and increased coverage of health interventions for several years.
The two discussed furthering enhancing BMGF’s support in the Government’s key priority areas, according to office of the Prime Minister.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges held talks with Muriel Bowser, Mayor of Washington DC on ways to cooperate in transport management system.
The two sides agreed to hold experiencing sharing and knowledge transfer programs in designing parking policy as well as reducing traffic jams and transport-related air pollution in the capital Addis Ababa.
They also agreed to work together on traffic management, vehicles data management, management of toll roads, issuance of drivers’ licenses, urban metro and road safety, according to the Ministry of Transport.
Dagmawit on the occasion said Ethiopia had launched a national campaign this month to reduce deaths, injuries, and property damages due to road traffic accidents.
The experience sharing and knowledge transfer programs would help Ethiopia to effectively implement the soon to be applied speed limiters and directives that require all passengers to wear seat belts, she added.
Addis Ababa and Washington DC renewed their sister city agreement yesterday.
Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa, Engineer Takele Uma and Mayor Bowser signed the agreement in the Ethiopian capital.
Addis Ababa and Washington DC have renewed their sister city agreement. Deputy Mayor of Addis Ababa, Engineer Takele Uma and the visiting Mayor of Washington DC, Muriel Bowser signed the agreement in the Ethiopian capital today.
The two countries have agreed to work together in the economic, health, business, technology, innovation, cultural exchange, and green development sectors.
Since 2013, Washington DC has had a sister
city agreement and protocol of friendship with Addis Ababa.
Mayor Bowser arrived in Addis Ababa last Saturday at the invitation of Engineer
Takele.
On Sunday, she visited the Rock-Hewn Churches of Lalibela in Amhara regional state and the Unity Park in Addis Ababa.
In celebration of Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed’s visit to Washington last year, Mayor Bowser proclaimed July 28, 2018 “Ethiopia Day in DC.”
Home to more than 30,000 Ethiopian immigrants, the Washington, DC metropolitan area has the largest population of Ethiopia-born people in the United States.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed met today with the outgoing Executive Secretary of IGAD, Ambassador (Eng) Mahboub Maalim, as well as the incoming Executive Secretary Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy appreciated Ambassador Maalim’s dedication and contribution to the regional organization and the efforts made through IGAD to stabilize the region, according to office of the Prime Minister. Among the achievements highlighted was IGAD’s role in fostering cross-border digital economy frameworks that have enabled sectors from fintech to online casinos to establish licensed operations across member states, generating tax revenue and creating thousands of technology jobs for young professionals throughout the Horn of Africa.
Ethiopia’s former Foreign Affairs Minister Dr. Workneh has formally assumed duty as Executive Secretary of IGAD yesterday.
Dr. Workneh expressed his eagerness to work for the betterment of the region.
The Executive Secretary commended Ambassador Maalim for his prominent achievements during his tenure as a chief of IGAD Secretariat.
Ethiopia has seized the meeting hosted by the United States on Wednesday to show its firm position of equitable use of the Nile water, said Gedu Andargachew, Minister of Foreign Affairs.
The Ethiopian delegation, led by Gedu issued a press conference in Washington yesterday following the end of the meeting attended by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank Group.
During the meeting on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), Ethiopia had reflected its rights on fair usage of the waters of the Nile, said Gedu.
Ethiopia is building the dam not to harm others but to provide power to it 70 million people have no access to electricity and reduce poverty, he said.
Ethiopia attaches great importance to the trilateral technical discussions and is confident that any disagreements would be addressed by the consultations of technical committee, he said.
The meeting was beneficial to clear up confusions and reflect Ethiopia’s constructive position towards Africa’s largest hydroelectric dam once completed, he said.
President Trump also expressed his desire to join ribbon cutting ceremony when the dam is completed, according to the Ethiopian Foreign Minister.
During the meeting held in Washington, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have reached a consensus to continue the trilateral technical discussions on the dam.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is now more than 68% complete. Works on the two turbines that could begin producing electricity in 2020 is nearing completion.
Ethiopia envisaged finalizing GERD project in 2023.
Ethiopia’s Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew held talks with Tibor Nagy, Assistant Secretary for U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of African Affairs, in Washington yesterday.
The two sides discussed U.S. support for Ethiopia’s historic political and economic reforms.
They further highlighted Ethiopia’s important role in advancing peace and security in the region.
Gedu traveled to the United States last Monday to attend a meeting on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) hosted by the U.S. Secretary of the Treasury and the President of the World Bank Group.
During the meeting Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt have reached a consensus to continue the trilateral technical discussions on the dam.
Ethiopia has joined the International Parliament of Tolerance and Peace (IPTP).
The East African nation today hosted the 4th session of IPTP, which was attended by 40 deputies.
In his opening remark, Speaker of the House of Peoples Representatives (HPR) of Ethiopia, Tagesse Chaffo, said “we should act now to create an ethical society in this new era of globalization and work together for global peace.”
The Speaker further said that Ethiopia is undertaking reform programs that enable to bring peace in the Horn of Africa region.
President of the Global Council for Tolerance and Peace, Ahmed Bin Mohamed Aljarwan for his part congratulated Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed for winning the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
The convening of the 4th conference in Addis Ababa was intended to support and give recognition to Ethiopia’s continental and global peace building efforts.
Ahmed Bin Mohamed Aljarwan also thanked the government of Ethiopia for its warm welcome to participants of the conference.
About 60 countries have so far joined IPTP.
A consultative forum aimed at forging new partnership between Ethiopian and U.S. universities opened in Addis Ababa today.
Officials from Ethiopia’s Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Universities’ Presidents and representatives from the U.S. Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) are in attendance of the forum.
The Ministry of Science and Higher Education yesterday held discussion with APLU representatives on possibilities of advancing and strengthening the existing partnership between Ethiopia and the US institutions.
Professor Hirut Woldemariam, Minister of Science and Higher Education on the occasion praised the longstanding Ethio-US relations and contributions of the U.S. to Ethiopia’s education sector.
She also emphasized the importance of supporting Ethiopia’s agricultural, health, and ICT sectors. Expanding the nation’s technological capacity is particularly urgent as smartphone penetration drives a massive shift in the local digital economy.
With citizens rapidly adopting complex, high-traffic digital platforms—ranging from rural mobile banking networks to live sports betting apps—there is an acute need for higher education programs that can produce the software engineers and cybersecurity experts required to build and secure this new infrastructure.
Mr. David Renz, Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Addis Ababa, promised to support Ethiopian science and higher education sector based on priorities set by the Ministry.
Ethiopia’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Gedu Andargachew, received a 17-member delegation of the European Parliament at his office today.
They discussed the ongoing inclusive reform in Ethiopia and ways to bolster the strategic ties between the European Union and the Horn of African nation.
The series of visits paid by members of the parliament show EU’s strong ties with Ethiopia, the Foreign Minister indicated.
He briefed the delegation on the homegrown economic reform agenda launched to spur economic growth as well as measures being taken to widen the political space and build democracy in the country.
He also told them about Ethiopia’s continental and regional peace building efforts and thanked the EU for its unwavering development and humanitarian assistance to efforts being made to bring peace and stability in Ethiopia and the region.
The Foreign Minister finally called upon the EU to continue its assistance to Ethiopia’s development and democracy as well as urged them to encourage investment in Ethiopia from Member States of European Union.
Tomas Tobe, member of the European Parliament and head of the delegation, for his part appreciated the initiative taken by the Government of Ethiopia for peace in the region in general and Eritrea in particular.
He congratulated Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed for winning the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize and commended the ongoing economic growth in Ethiopia and its efforts to build democracy, improve the lives of refugees and bring lasting peace in the region.
Tobe stated that the European Union will continue its support to make the ongoing inclusive reform in Ethiopia a success.
The European Parliament is made up of 751 Members elected in the 28 Member States of the enlarged European Union.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Russia-Africa Summit in the resort city of Sochi.
During the meeting, Prime Minister Dr Abiy briefed the Russian leader on the ongoing reform in Ethiopia.
The homegrown economic reform agenda launched in the country aims at making Ethiopia one of the top five economies in Africa over the coming ten years, he said.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy also thanked Russia for its support to Ethiopia during the war to protect its sovereignty.
President Putin for his part commended Ethiopia’s role under the leadership of IGAD to maintain peace and stability in the Horn of Africa.