Category: Finance

Addis Ababa: Ethiopia’s request for accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) is promising, according to Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration.

Briefing chairpersons of Standing Committee of the House of People’s Representatives today, Trade and Regional Integration State Minister Kassahun Gofe said accession to the World Trade Organization will enable Ethiopia to expand its global trade relations.

According to him, the accession process did not progress well due to various reasons although negotiations to join WTO has been going on for many years.

Due to the attention given by the current government, however, the process has been showing promising results since last year.

The briefing is aimed at seeking support from the House to solve the obstacles that may arise, the ministry pointed out.

Recall that Ethiopia initially placed a formal request for accession to the WTO 20 years ago; but progress faltered following a halt in the quest for accession.

Negotiations resumed in 2020.

During the 4
th WTO meeting in that year, member countries unanimously voiced support for Ethiopia’s bid, it was learned.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Addis Ababa: Members of the second generation Ethiopian Diaspora have pledged to contribute to development beyond knowing the culture and history of their country.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed held yesterday an Iftar program for the second generation members of the diaspora currently in Ethiopia.

Members of the second generation diaspora who were born in different Arab countries and also others that came to spend Ramadan at home participated in the Iftar program.

Members of diaspora approached by the Ethiopian News Agency stated that the Iftar program showed the solidarity of Ethiopians.

They added that they have realized the rapid development of Ethiopia beyond knowing the history and culture of their country.

Abdela Ibrahim from Saudi Arabia said that the Iftar program gave him the opportunity to get to know members of the second generation Ethiopian diaspora from different parts of the world.

According to him, since most of the development works in Ethiopia take the youth into consideration members of t
he second generation should actively participate in development.

Hanan Awol, who was born and raised in Saudi Arabia but now settled in Ethiopia, stated that the development works being carried out in Ethiopia transcend the present generation and are focused on the future.

Therefore, it is necessary to cooperate in the works underway in order to change the country, she noted.

Saladin Abdu, who came from Canada to spend the fasting month of Ramadan, said that he was able to realize the disparity between the misinformation spread on social media and the reality on the ground.

He advised members of the second generation diaspora living in different countries to come and see the current changes in the country.

Faris Ali, who was born and raised in Yemen, said Ethiopia has business and tourism potential suitable for the diaspora that have to exploit the potential.

Hudeten Salih and Hanan Awol, who were born and raised in Saudi Arabia, revealed on their part that they are promoting Ethiopia’s history, culture
and development potential in the Arabic language by using social media.

Foreign Affairs State Minister Birtukan Ayano said on her part that many members of the second generation diaspora have come to their homeland following the call of PM Abiy Ahmed.

She said the call would be implemented in three rounds, and the second chapter is under execution.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew Plant diversity and conservation researchers stressed the paramount importance of Enset’s resilience to ensure Ethiopia’s food security and combat future climate impact challenges.

Enset, which is also known as Ethiopian banana or false banana has remarkable versatility, drought resistance, and disease tolerance.

It is a staple source of nutrition for more than 20 million people in Ethiopia.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, Research Leader in Trait Diversity and Function at Royal Botanic Gardens Kew James Borrell said that Ethiopia is one of the most remarkable countries for its agro biodiversity and crop diversity as well as linguistic and cultural diversity.

Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, has been working for more than 40 years researching enset crop, particularly in the aspects of drought and climate resilience, he said, and added ‘Enset is globally unique; Ethiopia should be so proud of this remarkable crop that was domesticated in the country,’ he added.

‘Enset is very unus
ual and you can harvest it at any time of the year. You can store and you can buffer seasonal food security. So, (if) we particularly think under climate change, enset has a very important role to play. But, perhaps, historically it has been a little bit under researched. And we feel very grateful to have the opportunity to work together with many organizations in Ethiopia, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, Addis Ababa University (AAU), Gulele Botanical Garden to work together to understand the unique crop,’ the researcher explained.

According to him, the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew has been undertaking researches over the past eight years to map the distribution of enset and its drought resilience.

‘We are also sequencing many hundreds of varieties of enset with AAU to understand diversity within that amusing diversity of more than 1,500 different types of enset plant. Within this diversity are varieties that will be tolerant of future climate change. We are working to try and describe that diversity… so t
hat Ethiopia can meet the challenges of climate change,’ Borrell noted.

Sophie Richards, who specialized in conservation, biodiversity analysis, GIS, and extinction risk at the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, said on her part that Ethiopia is endowed with crop diversity and different types of enset.

Stating that both researchers have visited 300 farms and spoke with farmers; she pointed out the invaluable role played by Ethiopian farmers in agro biodiversity conservation.

‘Many of the small holder farmers in Ethiopia have been providing an incredible service by maintaining high diversity enset on their farms without reward, without benefit and it is a huge service for the country to adapt climate change in the future and provide resilience and food security,’ she elaborated.

Researchers anticipate that with a high yield and resilience to long periods of drought, enset could be a climate-smart crop for the future.

‘One project we are working on at the moment is to help smallholder farmers conserve this diversi
ty. So we have been working with them to understand which of the enset landraces are rare and help them improve their rarity status; so they can continue to maintain for long-term and they can pass on more diverse enset to the next generation,’ she emphasized.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Africa Center for Excellence for Water Management and the College of Natural and Computational Science at Addis Ababa University held a workshop today in connection with the World Water Day 2024 observed under the theme “Leveraging Water for Peace”.

Speaking at the opening of the workshop, Addis Ababa University Research Office Director Professor Tadesse Fetahi said that more than 3 billion people worldwide depend on water that crosses national borders.

Yet out of the 153 countries sharing trans-boundary rivers, lakes, and groundwater reserves with their neighboring countries, only 24 have operational cooperation arrangements, he added.

‘Cross border cooperation on water is essential, particularly in Africa where 90 percent of water falls with catchment areas which cross national borders and could become sources of conflict if not settled,’ the director elaborated.

There is immense value to manage water effectively across borders, the professor said, adding that this requires measurement, information
sharing, and trust in using shared resources.

According to him, peaceful cooperation around water can flow to all sectors by working together to balance everyone’s human rights needs and water can be a stabilizing force and catalyst for sustainable development.

Professor Tadesse further stated that tackling the specific water challenges faced by African countries requires not only increased investment in infrastructure facilities but also strong capacity in proper water development and management.

For his part, Associate Professor of political science and international relations Yacob Arsano underlined the need to properly handle water not only at personal and local levels but at political level and pay attention to cooperation.

In that sense, we can have national water governance, regional water governance, transboundary water governance as well as global water governance regimes, he added.

‘Because of this water is mismanaged in countries, while water is protected in other countries. That does not work
. It has to be protected and managed in a system of arrangement throughout the basins.’

As an instance, he cited the current challenges faced in the Nile Basin.

‘If we want to keep peace, we have to have really proper and fair, well managed and governed water. If we want prosperity, then we have to deal with water and engage ourselves to mitigate scarcity,’ the associate professor underlined.

Natural and Computational Science College Dean Professor Tileye Feyissa said on his part that it is imperative to solve problems with water aspects in a way that benefits all parties and enables access to it.

Globally, more than 2 billion people do not have access to safe water, which is the worst in Africa.

Therefore, ‘we have to work in collaboration to overcome such challenges to ensure access to water and sanitation to benefit communities. In addition, we have to work together to devise a system to use shared resources in win-win approach.’

Resources are limited, but the human population, particularly in Africa
, is growing at a fast rate, the professor noted, adding that it is important to manage resources that meet the demands of ever growing populations.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Ethiopia will continue exerting efforts to ensure equitable use of water both at national and continental levels, according to Ministry of Water and Energy.

Addressing the annual World Water Day today, Mamusha Hailu, a representative of Ministry of Water and Energy said the theme of World Water Day 2024 is “Water for Peace.”

Water is very important for keeping peace in the world, he noted, adding that conflicts between groups or countries could arise when people don’t have enough water.

Therefore, the representative said that using water equally and fairly for energy, transportation and other purposes is of paramount importance.

According to him, Ethiopia is working to ensure sustainable and equitable use of water resources at continental and national levels.

He pointed out that the country has played a significant role in using water resources on equality and equity at continental level, including in the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam.

‘If we work together on water issues, we can help keep peace. So,
World Water Day-2024 wants everyone to know that working together on water issues is a big step towards peace keeping and rebuilding,’ Mamusha said.

At national level, the ministry is establishing a National Integrated Water Resources Management Program (IWRM) that takes the lead in coordinating integrated water resources management activities.

The representative stressed that there is a clear relationship between Integrated Water Resources Management and peace.

By supporting the relevant stakeholders to jointly develop IWRM for their areas, conflicts related to water and water infrastructure could be minimized and resilience to climate change enhanced.

Presenting a paper on “water for peace and prosperity,” Integrated Water Resources Management Team Coordinator Bizuneh Asfaw highlighted causes of water related conflicts.

He said water related conflicts have increased by threefold in Asia, Africa and Latin America over the past two decades.

The team leader underscored that integrated water resources ma
nagement is cornerstone for water governance and ensuring peace and security.

‘Integrated Water Resources Management plays a pivotal role in securing peace and brings prosperity for our planet in general. It promotes integration that we lack, alignment we lack, harmonization and coordination among different sectors and actors,’ Bizuneh elaborated.

Ethiopia is a country endowed with substantial resources, providing huge opportunity for development.

More than 75 percent of the country’s water resources, with the exception of Awash, Omo, Gibe and the Rift Valley Lakes Basin, flow across the borders and are shared with neighboring countries.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Ministry of Finance consulted with a Chinese high-level delegation on the new economic cooperation between the two countries, especially on Belt and Road Initiative key projects.

The head of the Chinese delegation team Xu Jianping, Director General of the National Development and Reform Commission stated on the Ethio-China economic cooperation which has been given special attention by the Chinese Government.

The director general recommended the establishment of the two countries’ working group mechanism so that the team can play an important role to improve the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative key projects.

The State Ministry of Finance, Semereta Sewasew said on her part that the cooperation of the two countries has reached its highest level ‘All-Weather Strategic Partnership.’

The state minister noted that both sides should explore and fully utilize their comparative strengths to promote and further improve this mutually beneficial cooperation.

Finally, an agreement has been reached b
y both sides to work together to promote the key projects, in the areas of road, railway, agriculture, and other development areas to be considered in the coming Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meeting and an agreement to be reached for signature.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency