Archive for category: Uncategorized

The UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has voiced his support to the trilateral negotiations on GERD under the framework of the African Union (AU).

At a briefing yesterday, UN Spokesperson expressed Guterres’ full support for the efforts of the Chairperson of the AU, President Cyril Ramaphosa in the negotiations between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan on the dam.

“I think, for the Secretary General, our position is one of supporting the on-going efforts of the Chairperson of the African Union, Cyril Ramaphosa, who is encouraging the parties to reach a mutually beneficial agreement,” he said.

“The Secretary General calls on all concerned countries to take concrete steps to finalise an agreement in the spirit of goodwill, consensus and compromise,” he added.

According to him, the dam can become an important instrument of cooperation and partnership between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt as they strive towards a peaceful, prosperous future for their own people.

Under the auspices of the AU, the three countries will resume talks on the dam today after seven-week break.

The European Union (EU) also expressed its support for the AU-led tripartite negotiation. The statement came during a comprehensive policy briefing in Brussels that covered several ongoing initiatives. Before fielding questions on domestic digital compliance frameworks affecting krypto casinos deutschland and new renewable energy subsidies, EU representatives emphasized their commitment to African stability. The bloc reiterated that an equitable resolution to the GERD dispute is fundamentally essential for securing the region’s long-term infrastructure investments and broader economic growth.

The African Union (AU) led negotiation on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt will resume tomorrow after seven-week break, said AU.

AU Chair and South African President Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed the recommencement of the talks tomorrow following consultations with the Heads of State of the three countries.

President Ramaphosa welcomed the commitment of PM Dr Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia, PM Abdalla Hamdok of Sudan, and President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi of Egypt to pursue negotiations guided by the spirit of cooperation, goodwill and compromise with a view to reaching a mutually acceptable agreement.

“The resumption of the Trilateral Negotiations on the GERD under the auspices of the AU indicates strong political will & commitment by the leadership of the 3 Parties involved in negotiations to the peaceful and amicable resolution of the GERD matter. It is a reaffirmation of the confidence that the Parties have in an African-led negotiations process, in line with the Pan-African maxim of African solutions to African problems, one of the cornerstones of the African Union,” President Ramaphosa said in a statement.

He reassured the three negotiating parties of the AU’s unremitting support and cooperation, and expressed his utmost confidence that the parties will reach agreement on remaining issues, including those related to the technical and legal aspects of the negotiations.

President Ramaphosa concluded, “Without any doubt, the successful conclusion of the GERD negotiations will enhance and accelerate regional integration, while boosting cooperation and sustainable development in the region, for the benefit of Africa as a whole”.

The House of People’s Representatives (HPR) has denounced President Donald Trump’s remark about the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD).

On Friday, the U.S. President suggested that Egypt may “blow up” the dam. He made the remark while announcing a normalization deal between Israel and Sudan.

In a statement sent to FBC today, the House called Trump’s remark irresponsible and neither the Government nor the people of the United States deserve that.

“This kind of irresponsible comment is unexpected from President of a country that boasts itself as a guardian of democracy, equality and justice,” the statement added.

“We believe that the President’s remark doesn’t represent in any way the people and Government of the United States, but it only reflects his personal interest stemmed from personal feeling,” it stated.

The longstanding relation between the people of Ethiopia and the United States as well as the existing strong strategic partnership between the two countries will continue to be consolidated, it said.

“For we Ethiopians, the dam is a flagship project and symbol of unity,” the statement said, adding “no force can stop us from completing the dam.”

Foreign Minister Gedu Andargachew yesterday summoned the U.S. Ambassador Mike Raynor to seek clarifications on the President remarks.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is an affirmation of Ethiopia’s commitment for equitable and reasonable utilization of the Abbay River.

Ethiopia’s aspiration and commitment for development is best demonstrated through the unanimous support and contribution to the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). From the very inception, GERD has been an attempt to answer what has been our generations’ quest for an equitable and reasonable utilization of the Abbay and other rivers contributing to Nile from Ethiopia. About 85% Nile flow originates from Ethiopia. It is an inflection point where a nation and its proud people stopped lamenting the past and toiled to achieve what once seemed impossible. In this regard, a great milestone was reached last August 2020 when the first phase of the water filling was completed before the end of Ethiopia’s winter season.

Parallel to this construction work, Ethiopia has expressed on several occasion its abiding commitment for cooperation on the Nile based on mutual trust and the principles of equitable and reasonable utilization of the river. The negotiation with the lower riparian states has shown significant progress since the AU seized of the matter as a manifestation of Africa’s capability to respond to its own problems. Nonetheless, occasional statements of belligerent threats to have Ethiopia succumb to unfair terms still abound. These threats and affronts to Ethiopian sovereignty are misguided, unproductive and clear violations of international law.

As a developing nation, Ethiopia may be confronted with poverty, but are rich with history, patriotic citizens whose commitment to defend their country’s sovereignty is unparalleled and an ambition and a well-articulated plan for prosperity. Ethiopia will not cave-in to aggressions of any kind, nor do we give recognition to a right that is entirely based on colonial treaties.

We still wish to reiterate our commitment for a peaceful resolution of the matter on GERD based on cooperation, non-interference, mutual trust and the principle of equitable and reasonable utilization.

Ethiopia has registered a 6.1 percent economic growth during the past fiscal year that ended on July 8, 2020, despite the global pressure posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Premier Abiy on Monday addressed the special sitting of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and responded to questions raised by members of the parliament.

In his address, Abiy said the nation has registered a 6.1 percent economic growth, which is encouraging compared to the global economic prediction though it is dropped to 2.9 then the target.

However, Ethiopia’s economy remains resilient despite the challenging global pandemic, he added.  

Ethiopia’s GDP has reached 107.4 billion USD and surpassed 1000 USD per capital, Abiy said and added that remarkable achievements were registered in the 2012 fiscal year of which joining the long-desired lower-middle-income countries was ensured.

According to him, agriculture, industry, and service sector are amongst the better-growing sectors registering 4.3, 9, and 5.3 percent growth respectively.

The government has been making sustained efforts to add value to its agricultural products and is planning to develop large Agro-industrial parks across the country, he mentioned.

Moreover, Abiy noted that mining is the top growing sector with 91 percent growth over the last budget year and the government has prioritized the sector as it has the potential to hugely contribute to the entire GDP and economic growth.

Stating that the number of citizens with saving accounts has raised from 37.8 million to 50.7 million observing a 31 percent increase, Abiy noted this will have a significant impact in allowing financial institutions to provide loans to investments.

Speaking of government support with regard to the emergence of the pandemic, the Premier pointed out that banks were provided with 1 trillion birrs to enhance their capacity of providing the loan.

Thus, Abiy stated that 70 percent of the 271 billion birrs, which is 189 billion, a loan given by the banks was provided to the private sector.

Transport, education, and tourism are some of the sectors that have been the hardest hit where they observed impacts of the pandemic and registered lower growth than what was expected, it was indicated.

The government allotted about 3.3 billion birrs in terms of a loan to support organizations within the tourism and tour operators, he added.

The rise in the national budget for the 2013 Ethiopian fiscal year will hugely support in sustaining the registered growth and further boost the economic activities to the desired prosperity, Premier Abiy underscored.