Ethiopia Orders Federal Employees to Work from Home to Mitigate Spread Of COVID-19 (March 24, 2020)

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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.

Ethiopia Proposes $150b Africa Global COVID-19 Emergency Financing Package (March 24, 2020)

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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 Starts Distributing Jack Ma’s Donations of Medical Supplies to African Nations (March 24, 2020)

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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.

Ethiopia, Germany Sign €100m Grant Agreement (March 23, 2020)

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Ethiopia and Germany have signed a grant agreement amounting to €100 million today.

The agreement was signed by Admasu Nebebe, State Minister of Finance and Mrs. Brita Wagner, Ambassador of Germany to Ethiopia.

Due to the current global coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, the signing was held via a virtual ceremony to ensure the WHO recommended social distancing.

The grant is to support the Ethiopia’s reform agenda for transition to a model of economic development strongly oriented on private sector development by improving the framework conditions for investments and for improved access to financial services for local and foreign private companies.

The funding will also be used for the second phase of the growth and competitiveness program and avail finance for the reform oriented expenditures through the budget support.

Ethiopia Closes Borders to Prevent Spread of COVID19 (March 23, 2020)

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Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed has announced the closure of all Ethiopia’s borders to prevent the spread of coronavirus (COVID19).

He said the National Defence Forces were ordered to halt as of today the movement of people along all borders, with the exception of incoming essential goods to the country.

The Prime Minister further said security sector will begin to reinforce measures taken by the government to cease large gatherings and maintain social distancing.

He also called on government institutions, including political parties, to adhere to social distancing and preventive measures when convening meetings.

The Prime Minister further urged government institutions to facilitate working from home options and public transport to cease overcrowding.

The government has also the allocated 5 billion birr to combat the spread of the virus, the Prime Minister indicated.

In a related development, the Ministry of Health said two Japanese nationals, who have tested positive for COVID-19 in Ethiopia, have left for their country.

The two Japanese are among the 11 confirmed cases in Ethiopia.

PM Dr Abiy Holds Talks With Italian PM (March 22, 2020)

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Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed last night held talks on the phone with Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte.

The Prime Minister expressed Ethiopia’s solidarity with the people of Italy in this difficult time.

“We shall overcome this together and united as a global community,” said Prime Minister Dr Abiy in a twitter post.

Italy announced 793 more deaths on Saturday, the second day in a row of the biggest day-to-day increase in the country’s four-week epidemic. The total number of deaths in Italy has now reached 4,825

World Bank Approves $500m in Grant, Credit to Ethiopia (March 21, 2020)

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The World Bank’s Board of Executive Directors on Thursday approved $500 million in grant and credit in continued support of Ethiopia’s homegrown reform agenda.

Of the total, $250 million is a grant and the remaining $250 million is credit, according to a press release issued by the bank.

The second Ethiopia growth and competitiveness development policy operation (DPO) is intended to accelerate Ethiopia’s economic growth and achieve its vision of becoming a lower-middle-income country.

This operation is the second of a series of DPOs and provides both financial and technical support to Ethiopia’s economic reforms.

The operation is designed to help Ethiopia revitalize the economy by broadening the role of the private sector and attaining a more sustainable development path.

Ethiopia, with support from the operation has continued the implementation of reforms in the energy sector to improve efficiency and cost recovery, while protecting the poor.

It has also established the new telecom regulator, Ethiopian communication authority, and launched the process of consultation and issuance of two licenses to new firms.

The country enabled private sector actors to provide value added services at dry ports, to continue enhancing the efficiency of the logistics sector, which is catalytic to growth and exports.

It also approved new investment and privatization proclamations, fostering competition and facilitating private sector participation in a number of sectors.

It removed distortions in the financial sector and introduced new government financing instruments, helping reduce direct cash advances from the central bank that were generating inflation.

The country also continued introducing regulation that allow for greater civil society organizations and citizen participation in the development process.

“This operation builds on the structural reforms initiated in 2018 and contributes to Ethiopia’s efforts to improve competitiveness, boost exports, generate jobs and accelerate inclusive growth,” said Miguel Eduardo Sanchez Martin, World Bank Task Team Leader for the Operation.

The second DPO focuses on three pillars: maximizing finance for development, improving the investment climate and developing the financial sector; and promoting transparency and accountability.

“The reforms implemented will help turn-around the electricity sector’s financial performance and support Ethiopia’s ambition to provide universal access to electricity,” said Mikul Bhatia, Senior Energy Specialist and Task Team Leader for the program.

Bold Standpoint Crucial to Ensure Fair Utilization of Nile River: Scholars (March 21, 2020)

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Ethiopians need to have a bold stance for fair and equitable utilization of the shared water resources of Nile River in their move to overcome poverty, scholars said.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, President of Addis Ababa University Professor Tasew Woldehan said Ethiopians are in need of electricity.

Researchers have proved that Ethiopia’s electricity demand is growing by 25 percent every year but the country has wide gap behind its much-needed power supply.

So, the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is a principal development project of Ethiopia to showcase its overwhelming efforts to combat poverty through electricity production from its water resources, he said.  

According to Professor Tasew, Ethiopia can not meet this huge demand without pursuing economic growth and industrial development using its intact resources. 

He noted that Egypt is tarnished for its sneaky and adamant stand on Nile River blowing hot and cold while it is creating perturbs on the process of the tripartite negotiation which was began in ‘good faith’ of Ethiopia and Sudan.

“We have to boldly show to the rest of the world that Ethiopians are committed to utilize our resources so as to overcome poverty,” Professor Tasew underlined.

“So, Ethiopians have to be stand together on the issue of GERD regardless of our differences,” he added.

President of Kotebe Metropolitan University, Doctor Brhanemeskel Tena said for his part that efforts which have been undertaken by the government to cut back the recent pressures from various parties are encouraging though it remains a lot.

He stated that Egypt is cracking to pressurize Ethiopia and trying to block every spot that can lead to a fair and equitable use of Nile waters.

“The recent move by Egyptian government is based on their gluttony interest. There is no legal or natural back ground to deny Ethiopia as the origin of Blue Nile or Abbay,” he stressed.

“So, if all Ethiopians all over the world could stand together, we can achieve what we want. This is not an issue of one party or two. This is a national issue”.

Brhanemeskel noted that along the government and the diplomatic community, Universities and other educational institutions have the responsibility to make the international community conscious the reality by and large the enigmatic policy of Egypt towards unfair Nile waters use.

Ethiopia temporarily suspended its participation in the U.S.-mediated negotiations over the filling and operation of the GERD demanding for fair negotiations.

In 2015, Ethiopia, Sudan, and Egypt agreed on a Declaration of Principles that stipulated an “equitable and reasonable” utilization of the Nile that will not cause “significant harm” to other riparian countries.

Further Explanation on COVID 19 National Ministerial Committee (March 21, 2020)

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COVID 19 National Ministerial Committee met on March 20, 2020 and announced the following measures in addition to the measures issued on March 16, 2020. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of FDRE would like to highlight measures that are of concern to the diplomatic & Int’l community resident in Ethiopia.

Scientific analysis by technical experts should be a base for cooperation in the Nile Basin, President Paul Kagame (March 16, 2020)

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H.E. President Sahle-Work exchanged views with the president of Rwanda, H.E. President Paul Kagame on Monday (March 16) in Kigali, on recent developments about the GERD talks.

In his remarks, H.E. President Paul Kagame underscored that cooperation among the Nile Basin countries should take into account the scientific analysis provided by technical experts.

As Egypt considers the Nile as a survival issue, it has to also acknowledge the natural rights of riparian countries to exploit the resource, Kagame added.

Noting that the Nile issue is an issue for all riparian countries, the Rwandan president called on to solve disputes over the river through Africa-based discussions and negotiation forums, adding that his country is committed to being part of the solution.

President Sahle-work for her part said Ethiopia has been committed to establishing the principle of reasonable and equitable water use among the Nile Basin countries.

Citing the Nile Basin Cooperative Framework Agreement (CFA), as an achievement that stems from Ethiopia’s commitment, the President underscored that Ethiopia has been working closely with the rest of the riparian countries.

Ethiopia has also been facilitating comprehensive engagements to address the concerns of the riparian countries since the inception of the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, President Sahle-work added.

She hoped the 2015 Agreement on Declaration of Principles that was signed in Khartoum between Ethiopia, Sudan and, Egypt would be implemented and prove Ethiopia’s stance that the Nile Basin can be a source of cooperation rather than conflict and misunderstanding.