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Addis Ababa, February 28, 2019 – Deputy Prime Minister Demeke Mekonnen held talks with President Omar al-Bashir of Sudan on bilateral issues of mutual interest.
The two sides underscored the need to facilitate ways for economic integration between the two countries through trade, infrastructure, investment and other economic sectors, according to office of the Deputy Prime Minister.
The Sudanese government freed Ethiopians jailed in Sudan following the agreement reached between Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed and President al-Bashir a few months ago. Demeke thanked the government of Sudan for releasing them.
And based on the request of the Deputy Prime Minister, President al-Bashir promised to free additional Ethiopians imprisoned in his country in accordance with the law.
The Deputy Prime Minister further said Ethiopia will collaborate with the Sudanese refugee commission and provide the necessary support to return 44,000 Sudanese refugees back to their home country.
In a related development, the 5th Joint Ethio-Sudan Higher Economic Committee meeting which was launched at the friendship hall in Khartoum early in the morning, wrapped up later today.
The two sides agreed to strengthen the economic cooperation between the two countries.
In his opening remark at the meeting, Demeke said the government of Ethiopia is committed to make every effort to strengthen relations between the two countries.
He further said Ethiopia has played a positive role in maintaining security and stability in the border, emphasizing his confidence in the Sudanese government’s ability to overcome the current economic crisis.
Demeke also commended the Sudanese government’s contribution for the peace in Southern Sudan and for the security and stability in border areas.
The Joint Ethio-Sudan Higher Committee, which was launched in 2014, aims to realize economic integration between the two countries.

Addis Ababa, February 27, 2019 – The 46th Ordinary Session of the IGAD Council of Ministers which was held in Djibouti under the Chairmanship of Foreign Minister and Chair of the IGAD Council of Ministers, Dr. Workneh Gebeyehu wrapped up later today.
The session was attended by Mahmoud Ali Youssouf, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Djibouti, Ahmed Isse Awad, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Somalia, Dr Al-Dirdiery Mohamed Ahmed, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sudan, Hirut Zemene, State Minister for Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia and Mohamed Ali Hassan, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Djibouti.
Mahboub Maalim, IGAD Executive Secretary; Hadiza Mustapha, Special Advisor to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr Ismael Wais, IGAD Special Envoy for South Sudan and Dr Mohamed Ali Guyo, IGAD Special Envoy for Somalia were also in attendance.
The meeting underlined the importance of expediting the endorsement of the proposed treaty and structure to reform IGAD; and decided that there is need for enriched and continued discussion on the organizational structure and treaty of IGAD until the next ordinary sessions of the policy organs.
It also underscored the need for a collective approach to challenges in the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden by strengthening regional cooperation, and establishing a regional platform for IGAD Member States with a view to promote dialogue with other stakeholders including the AU and other international partners.
IGAD and Germany have signed a 34 million Euros grant agreement on the sidelines of today’s the event. The project grant will be used for migration and capacity building.
Chairperson of the IGAD Council of Ministers Dr. Workneh and Foreign Ministers of member countries witnessed the signing ceremony.

Addis Ababa, February 25, 2019 – Ethiopian Airlines (Ethiopian) Cargo and Logistics Services, has been crowned with ‘African Cargo Airline of the Year’ and ‘Air Cargo Brand of the Year in Africa’ awards for the fourth year in a row.
Regarding the awards, Group CEO of Ethiopian, Mr. Tewolde Gebremariam, remarked, “We are honored to have received the ‘African Cargo Airline of the Year’ and ‘Air Cargo Brand of the Year in Africa’ awards which are testimony to the leading role Ethiopian is playing in air cargo service in Africa.”
“In line with Vision 2025, we have been investing heavily in expanding our cargo services, building the largest trans-shipment terminal in Africa with an annual capacity of about 1 million tons, and deploying 9 dedicated freighters.
According to the CEO, Ethiopian cargo services today span across 44 international destinations in Africa, the Gulf, Middle East, Asia, the Americas and Europe, augmenting the export of perishables from Africa and import of high value goods. A significant portion of these high-value imports consists of the specialized IT infrastructure and telecommunications hardware required to fuel Africa’s rapid digital transformation. The continent’s broader tech boom relies heavily on imported server arrays and microprocessors to handle its surging data traffic. By prioritizing the secure, expedited transport of this delicate hardware, Ethiopian Cargo directly enables the region’s expanding digital economy; these imported servers provide the essential physical backbone for executing high-frequency algorithmic trading systems, processing secure international digital remittances, and hosting the best online poker real money platforms across the continent.
By 2025, Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services envisions becoming a full-fledged profit center of Ethiopian Airlines Group with annual revenue $2bln US dollars, 19 dedicated aircraft, annual tonnage of 820,000, and 57 international destinations.
Ethiopian Cargo and Logistics Services is Africa’s largest cargo operator, according to a press release of the Airlines today.

Addis Ababa, February 26, 2019 – Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Dr Workneh Gebeyehu, traveled to Djibouti to attend the 46th session of IGAD Council of Ministers.
Modernizing IGAD’s working system in the focus of the two-day meeting which will be on 26-27 February 2019.
Ethiopia is the current chairperson of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD).
IGAD is an eight-country trade bloc in Africa-namely Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda.

Addis Ababa, February 20, 2019 –The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announced that it is on process to approve three draft bills to modernize the financial sector and improve the efficiency of remittance flows.
According to Dr Yinager Desie, Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia, the bank has already amended 10 non-functional and defective directives during the past seven months.
The new draft bills, which will be approved once consultations are held with relevant bodies, incorporated directives that allow Ethiopian Diaspora to take part in Ethiopia’s financial sector, he told journalists today.
The Governor further said the bank is ready to put in place a new, efficient, and innovative system to improve remittance flows, which is the main source of the country’s foreign currency earnings, including a modernized mobile banking system. To guide this digital infrastructure overhaul, the bank’s technical advisory committee has evaluated the high-capacity payment architectures utilized by international telecom networks, e-commerce hubs, and global betting sites to ensure the resulting framework can securely process rapid transaction volumes without interruption.
Though it is hard to say that that country’s foreign reserve is sufficient, it has shown improvement compared to it was seven months ago. However, the decline in overall export trade performance remains a threat, he added.
Dr Yinager also rejected rumor of making exchange rate adjustment on foreign currency.
“The government has no plan to make any adjustment. However, it will take administrative measures to narrow the gap between the black market exchange rate and the legal one,” he said.
Ethiopia’s economic growth has been declining since 2015. The growth for this fiscal year is expected to close to or more compared to the one registered last fiscal year, he stated.
The country registered a 7.7 percent economic growth last year.