Day: May 25, 2023

The Finance Ministerial meeting of the Horn of Africa Initiative (HoAI), held on the sidelines of the African Development Group Annual Meetings, has given great attention to the private sector agenda, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The ministerial meeting of the HoAI was held today in Egypt.

The meeting was led by Ahmed Shide, Ethiopia’s Finance Minister, and Marie-Laure Akin-Olugbade, the AfDB’s Vice President for regional integration, who was the co-chair and host for the meeting.

The meeting was convened in the presence of development partners, namely, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the European Union, and focused on the role of the private sector in the Horn of Africa.

The ministers reflected on the importance of engaging with private sector actors to attract additional investments for regional projects, especially those that promote green and sustainable development, considering the challenges of debt sustainability and the risk of constrained traditional concessional financing.

“We should strengthen collaborative actions to create an enabling environment for private sector investments in our region. When carefully managed, I believe it would not only boost our economic growth but also contribute to our peace and security,” said Minister Ahmed Shide.

In addition, Director of the Multilateral Cooperation Department at the Ministry of Finance and the current Head of the HoA Initiative Secretariat, Abebe Tadesse, gave an update on the preparation of a strategic roadmap to foster economic and social development in the borderlands of the HOA sub-region.

He emphasized the urgency of building up on existing regional initiatives by involving national and regional stakeholders across sectors and assessing the challenges and the most promising opportunities in borderlands for scaling up effective interventions with the support of partners.

At the meeting, the Ministers of Djibouti and Somalia signed a financing agreement with the African Development Bank to implement a transport corridor project which is key in connecting both countries as well as for regional integration in the Horn of Africa.

The project is in its first phase. Ethiopia’s Finance Minister Ahmed Shide expressed his gratitude to all the development partners who attended the meeting and asked them to provide more support by increasing their commitments to fund the HoAI’s pipelines.

The HoAI is a platform for dialogue and cooperation among member countries of finance ministers and three development partners, namely, the African Development Bank, the World Bank, and the European Union.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The African Union Commission (AUC) Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat has called for resisting all forms of Instrumentalisation among all member states and share a strong conviction to see a united African continent.

The 60th Anniversary celebration of OAU-AU is being observed at the headquarter of the African Union in Addis Ababa under the theme “Our Africa, Our Future.”

In his keynote address to the celebration, Chairperson of the AUC said that the African Union is observing its 60th Anniversary while many of its states are in crisis.

Those African states are prey to deadly internal conflicts, fueled by the unbridled quest for supreme power, with the corollary of significant loss of human life, the chairperson indicated.

“Beyond their political and social fragmentation, the significant elements of their natural heritage are destroyed, sometimes bloody pain when this tragic picture is compounded by other negative factors such as democratic declines, unconstitutional changes of government, violent extremists, uncontrolled spread and, the harmful effects of climate change among the reasons.”

Therefore, he believed that there are good reasons to pledge to celebrate the 60th anniversary that would help to build the Africa we want in the light of mediation in solidarity with our brothers and sisters.

There is indeed a need for reflection to courageously identify the root causes, he noted.

Mentioning the success of the OAU in its independence struggle and victory against apartheid, Mahamat spoke on the shadows of the continent which has been still facing.

“Despite the difficulties of all kinds, Africa remains characterized by its great capacity for resilience. It was able despite the alarmist forecasts at the time to hold firm in the face of the onset of COVID-19 pandemic,” he pointed out.

Nevertheless, better still exceeds the opportunity of COVID-19 mess for June 2023 to rethink its health strategy, in a concerted action by the heads of state and government of Africa, the chairperson noted.

He added that Africa is also witnessing significant economic progress and growing international role.

However, he stated that the classic factors of fragility, excruciating debt servicing, the fall in the price of raw materials have been added to the consequences of intensification of the hegemonic struggle between the big powers.

In this international context of confrontation of geopolitical interests, the renewal of each side threatens to transform Africa into a new strategic battleground, thereby recreating a new version of the Cold War, the chairperson underscored.

“That is very detrimental to the effectiveness of multilateralism on which global peace and security depends. This zero sum game where the gains of others would translate into losses for Africa.”

Therefore, Mahamat has called on the African countries to stand together in order to thwart any unwarranted pressure.

“We must resist all forms of instrumentalisation among the states taken individually and collectively by sharing the strong conviction that our future remains and will depend on the patient and muscle building of our unity.”

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

A three-day IGAD workshop on enhancing the capacity of regional criminal justice system in preventing and countering violent extremism opened in Shashemene today.

Opening the workshop, Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) Executive Secretary Workneh Gebeyehu said the authority is working for the prevalence of lasting peace and democracy in the region by making East African countries work together.

Intergovernmental Authority on Development Executive Secretary, Workneh Gebeyehu, said on the occasion that the purpose of the workshop is to share experiences and bridge the gap in implementing criminal justice system among member countries and building capacity.

This will enable the member countries to work closely in fighting terrorism, especially cross- border crimes, and in creating a zone not suitable for criminals, the executive secretary added.

As criminal justice system is related to civil liberties, focusing on the system will have a positive impact on building democratic system in the member countries, he stressed.

According to him, IGAD is working to support countries in East Africa in security, development of regional trade links, prevention of cross-border crimes, climate change, cross-border activities of citizens, and other key issues.

“It is great to see investigators, prosecutors and judges sit together to share experiences to enrich the criminal justice system. A strong independent criminal justice system is the pillar of any democracy,” IGAD Executive Secretary Workneh further noted.

Judges, prosecutors and police investigators from eight member countries are attending the workshop.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

African continent is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and its successor, the African Union today.

The 60th Anniversary celebration of OAU-AU is being observed under the theme “Our Africa, Our Future.”

It was on 25 May,1963, that 32 Heads of independent African States met in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia ,along with leaders from African liberation movements to craft a way forward for Africa’s complete independence from imperialism, colonialism and apartheid.

The outcome of the meeting was the creation of Africa’s first post-independence continental institution, the Organization of African Unity (OAU).

The OAU was formed as a manifestation of the pan-African vision for an Africa that was united, free and in control of its own destiny and this was solemnised in the OAU Charter which was adopted on May 25 Africa Day, 1963.

In 1999, the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the OAU decided convened an extraordinary session to expedite the process of economic and political integration in the continent.

On 9 September, 1999, the Heads of State and Government of the OAU issued a Declaration (The Sirte Declaration) calling for the establishment of an African Union.

In 2002 during the Durban Summit, the African Union (AU) was officially launched as the successor to the Organization of African Unity.

The celebration of the 60th anniversary is an opportunity to recognize the role and contribution of the founders of the continental organization and many other Africans on the continent and in the diaspora who have contributed greatly to the political liberation of the continent, and equally, to the socio-economic emancipation of Africa.

It is an opportunity to share the information, knowledge and best practices of the past and to encourage each other to take on the vision of the AU, as well as to drive the realization of the “Africa We Want”, under Agenda 2063.

It is also an opportune moment for the African Union to reflect on the spirit of pan-Africanism, which connects the past to the present and to the continent’s aspirations for the future.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency