Day: May 30, 2023

With its enormous comparative advantages, Ethiopia is a perfect partner for development and investment in Africa, the American political-economic analyst Lawrence Freeman said.

Freeman, who is known for closely following Ethiopian affairs, told ENA that the two-year long war in the northern part of Ethiopia has come to an end and swept the way for development and investment to the east African nation.

More importantly, the relative peace that Ethiopia has been enjoying after the Pretoria accord has created a conducive environment to reinforce efforts on reconstruction, recovery and investment activities, the analyst noted.

Everybody is happy that the war is over, Freeman said, adding that there is now going to be a process of reconstruction that could be used as a means to expand the entire Ethiopian economy.

The European Union (EU) as well as its member countries and the United States have now been normalizing their bilateral ties with Ethiopia, a country considered a longstanding diplomatic partner of the West.

The American analyst further pointed out the need to enhance financial support and maximize investment beyond a geopolitical interest in Ethiopia.

The country has untapped potential for luring massive global investment in the areas of agriculture, manufacturing, and energy, among many other areas.

Mentioning the agricultural potential of Ethiopia as an example, he noted that most of the arable land is not cultivated.

“Most of the land in Ethiopia, what we call arable land that could be cultivated, is not being used. Only a tiny fraction of Ethiopia’s arable land is actually under cultivation. There are certain crops that are being grown. That has to expand and that itself can help relieve some of the poverty and hunger questions.”

According to him, the country could attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) from around the world since its agricultural potential is tremendously undeveloped.

He appreciated the recent success story of Ethiopia on wheat production and its export that started this year.

In this regard, Freeman believes that Ethiopia can play a crucial role for agricultural investment alone in Africa where the continent spends 45 billion USD for food import annually.

This analyst further noted that the country can also attract giant global energy companies and make contribution to the Horn of Africa and beyond.

Freeman also noted that Ethiopian Airline, the most advanced airline industry in the African continent, can serve as a manufacturing capability to build and repair engines by attracting investment

“We can begin to use some of that capability. We are talking about 10,000 of square feet of space you used in Ethiopian Airlines to maintain those planes. We can begin to use some of that capability and transform it into manufacturing capability of finished products and goods that Ethiopian would consume and would not have to buy from abroad.”

Finally, he stated that Ethiopia has built industrial parks that could be considered as comparative advantage to bring more investors.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The government of Ethiopia and its development partners have made large investments in social protection sector, which requires more investment, according to Director of Research at Economic Policy Research Institute, Michael Samson.

Samson has 37 years of experience working in social protection, and specializes in designing, implementing, monitoring and evaluating social protection strategies, systems, and programmes, with a particular emphasis on food security and nutrition.

Talking to ENA, he stated that the government of Ethiopia and its development partners have made large investment in the social protection sector.

He stated that social protection means many things, but at the core of which, is investment in food security, and nutrition.”

“It’s become one of the most important initiatives for inclusive growth in the country. But it requires more investment. It’s necessary that everybody who requires social protection have this investment and for that to happen it’s important for the government to see how vital this is for the country’s future economic growth and development,” according to expert.

Partners like the WFP, UNICEF and the World Bank have made significant investments with the government of Ethiopia to ensure food security and nutrition.

Moreover, he elaborated that the implementation of a comprehensive green economy policy and strategy is vital to realize the social protection system.

On other hand, Samson illustrated that nutrition is not just about having enough food. It is about having access to: safe water, sanitation, education and health, along with food security; all of which are important to improve nutritional outcomes.

These nutritional outcomes then derive what economists call cognitive capital, the ability to work effectively in a knowledge economy, he indicated.

He stressed that green economy is a smart economy, and this needs investment in nutrition and food security to drive the cognitive capital and enable everybody in Ethiopia to achieve this prosperity.

“A green initiative and a climate change mitigation strategy involves a complex interaction of investments. You need to invest in a new energy policy, a new industrial policy, really an entirely new development policy which creates enormous opportunities for the country to achieve greater prosperity,” he elaborated.

Recall a high-level national social protection conference was held last week under the theme “Social Protection for Nation Building in Ethiopia” with the objective to expand and improve social protection programs in the country.

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Demeke Mekonnen, African Union Commission, Deputy Commissioner, Monique Nsanzabaganwa and other high government officials, representatives of various partners and other pertinent stakeholders attended the conference.

The conference aimed at generating ideas and have a common understanding among stakeholders about the expansion and improvement of social protection programs and systems through collaboration among the government, non-governmental actors, private sectors and development partners.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The price of 50 ppm diesel will decrease by 80 cents per litre while 10 ppm will reduce with 60 cents per litre, effective 07 June 2023, the Ministry of Mines and Energy has announced.

In a statement issued Tuesday, the ministry said petrol prices at Walvis Bay will remain N.dollars 19.78 per litre while the price of diesel 50 ppm will become N.dollars 19.05 per litre and diesel 10 ppm will now cost N.dollars 19.25 per litre.

The statement further noted that a decision was taken to increase the road user charges for road maintenance and construction of new roads by 30 cents from 148 cents per litre to 178 cents per litre, effective 07 June 2023.

“Although the road user charges are increasing by 30 cents per litre, the ministry has made an equal adjustment in the opposite direction to the petrol basic price to keep the petrol prices unchanged and adjustments to the diesel basic price to cater for the increase in the road user charge,” it cited.

The ministry said the exchange rate figures for the period of 01 to 26 May 2023 indicate that the NAD has depreciated against the USD at N.dollars 18.9242 per USD as compared to N.dollars 18.1625 per USD at the end of April 2023.

“The ministry remains hopeful that the market will continue to be favourable, especially for net fuel importing countries (like Namibia) resulting in consumers paying less for fuel products at the pumps,” the statement said.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency