Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom held telephone conversation about the critical support Africa needs in combating COVID-19 yesterday.
During the phone call Abiy thanked Tedros and the team at WHO for their leadership in these times of hardship and the solidarity to support Ethiopia and Africa.
Global Economy to counter the pandemic amid forecasts of a deep recession.
US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin joined the emergency videoconference chaired by Saudi Arabia’s King Salman, who called for coordinated action while facing pressure to end an oil price war between Riyadh and Moscow that has roiled energy markets.
The talks come amid criticism that the G20 has been slow to address the COVID-19 pandemic, which has left more than 21,000 dead worldwide according to official data, and triggered financial shock waves as more than three billion people are locked down.
“We are strongly committed to presenting a united front against this common threat,” the leaders said in a joint statement after the summit.
“We are injecting over USD 5 trillion into the global economy, as part of targeted fiscal policy, economic measures, and guarantee schemes to counteract the social, economic and financial impacts of the pandemic.”
As concerns mount for poorer countries without access to capital markets or adequate health facilities, G20 leaders also pledged to work with bodies such as the International Monetary Fund to deploy a “robust” financial package to support developing nations.
“It is our responsibility to extend a helping hand to developing countries and (the) least developed countries to enable them to build their capacities and improve their infrastructure to overcome this crisis and its repercussions,” King Salman said.
Source: Economic Time
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has announced today the placement of 15 newly appointed ambassadors.
The following are lists of countries to which they are appointed:
1. Berhanu Tsegaye- Ambassador to Australia, Canberra
2. Yalem Tsegay- Ambassador to Cuba, Havana
3. Hirut Zemene- Ambassador to Belgium, Brussels
4. Markos Tekle- Ambassador to Egypt, Cairo
5. Bacha Gina – Ambassador to Morocco, Rabat
6. Yibeltal Aemero- Ambassador to Sudan, Khartoum
7. Mihretab Mulugeta – Ambassador to Eritrea, Asmara
8. Nebiat Getachew – Ambassador to Algeria, Algiers
9. Teferi Meles- Ambassador to UK, London
10. Adgo Amsaya- Deputy Chief of Mission in Sweden, Stockholm
11. Jemal Beker- Ethiopia’s Consul General in Bahrain, Manama
12. Abdu Yasin- Ethiopia’s Consul General in Saudi Arabia , Jeddah
13. Legese Geremew- Ethiopia’s Consul General in Canada, Ottawa
14. Mrs Eyerusalem Amdemariam- Ethiopia’s Consul General in Dubai, UAE
15. Shibru Mamo- Ethiopia’s Consul General in USA, Minnesota
It is to be recalled that the ambassadors were appointed by President Sahle-Work Zewde early this month.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has held phone conversation with Akinwumi Adesina, President of AfDB and Kristalina Georgieva, Managing Director of IMF.
The Prime Minister said on Twitter that “both reiterated their understanding of the continent’s unique needs.”
The Prime Minister thanked AfDB and IMF chiefs for expressing their institutional solidarity “as we work to overcome the impact of COVID19.”
“Such global challenges require collective leadership. Africa also requires support and adequate cushioning to circumvent the impact of this shock,” he added.
Prime Minister recently proposed a $150 billion emergency health financing and budgetary support from the World Bank to cope the economic impact of COVID-19.
For those that would like to donate cash to the National COVID19 Resource Mobilization initiative, here’s the full list of banks you can use.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has held phone conversations with IGAD Member States on ways to fight against coronavirus (COVID-19).
The discussions were held with leaders of Sudan, Somalia, Djibouti, Kenya and South Sudan.
The Prime Minister tweeted: “we agreed to work in a coordinated manner to respond to emerging challenges. Our regional integration goals need not be hampered if we align and lead with collective interests.”
He added “IGAD member countries as a regional bloc can play a key leadership role to curtail the spread of COVID-19 and to effectively address the economic hurdles that this virus poses.”
African Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) announced that it will provide a three-billion-US dollar credit facility to help African countries overcome the effects of the coronavirus (CO VID-19) pandemic.
The bank said in a statement released yesterday that the Pandemic Trade Impact Mitigation Facility will help support foreign exchange reserves and assist commodity exporters with declining revenues.
“Africa is exposed on many fronts, significant declines in tourism earnings, migrant remittances, commodity prices and disruption of manufacturing supply chains,” African Export Import Bank President Benedict Oromah was quoted as saying.
“A rapid and impactful financial response is required to avert a major crisis in Africa,” he added.
The Council of Ministers has passed decisions the federal government employees to work from home effective March 25, 2020 until further notification.
The measure has been taken to mitigate the spread of Coronavirus COVID-19, said the Council in a statement after holding an extraordinary session this morning.
“Employees who will work from home will be selected based on criteria to be set by each Ministry and communicated with their workforce,” the Council said in a statement.
During this period, employees working from home are expected to be accessible for tasks that require their contribution, the statement added.
The Council also announced the establishment of sub-committee, in addition to the COVID-19 Ministerial Committee, to coordinate efforts to address the pandemic.
The Council of Ministers, chaired by Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed, stressed adherence to all measures drawn by the federal government on COVID-19.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has called for coordinated response to tackle the potential threat of coronavirus (COVID-19) to the economies of African countries.
He submitted a proposal for consideration during the upcoming Extraordinary G-20 Leaders’ Summit, scheduled to take place on Thursday to discuss ways to mitigate the impact of coronavirus on global economy.
“COVID-19 poses an existential threat to the economies of African countries. Our economies, fragile and vulnerable even in the best of times, will face serious shocks following this crisis,” said the Prime Minister.
A dramatic decline in exports, disruption of global chains, and the sudden drying up of travel and tourism are sure to wreak havoc to Africa’s economies, he said.
These challenges, according to the Prime Minister, cannot be adequately addressed by policies and measures taken individually by any one country or group of countries. They require a globally coordinated response.
To safeguard the commendable progress registered in Africa against reversal induced by the pandemic, Ethiopia proposed an Africa global COVID-19 emergency financing package of $150 billion from the World Bank.
It also called for support to the World Health Organization (WHO) to strengthen public health delivery and emergency preparedness in Africa.
It further proposed all interest payment to government loans and part of the debt of low-income countries to be written off.
Ethiopia has started distributing medical supplies to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19).
The medical supplies were donated by Jack Ma Foundation through the initiative of Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
An Ethiopian Airlines cargo fleet carrying medical equipment, which included testing kits, masks, and medical use protective suits and face shields arrived in Khartoum, Sudan last night.
Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to Sudan, Shiferaw Jarso, handed over the medical supplies to Sudanese Health Minister, Akram Ali Al-Tom.
The country also sent out this morning the second shipment of medical equipment to South Africa, Burundi, Rwanda, Togo, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Nigeria and South Sudan.
The Ethiopia Airlines will distribute the medical supplies to other countries with subsequent freighter flights across Africa.
The Jack Ma, China’s richest man, and co-founder of the Alibaba online shopping platform, donated via his foundations, 20,000 test kits, 100,000 masks and 1,000 protective suits to each of the 54 African states.
An Ethiopian Airlines cargo flight from Guangzhou, China last Sunday arrived with 5.4 million face masks, 1.08 million testing kits, 40,000 sets of protective clothing and 60,000 protective face shields.