News in Brief

TPLF’s Preconditions to peace talks are not positive gestures to end the conflict peacefully

Ethiopia aspires to be clean energy hub of Africa

Ethio Telecom to expand its services to regional market

Paving the way to COP27: African Regional Forum on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the SDGs

Africa and African Union

The Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, welcomes the signing of the Agreement on the Roadmap to a peaceful and democratic end to the transitional period in South Sudan by the Reconstituted Transitional Government of National Unity (R-TGoNU). The Chairperson, in a statement issued on Tuesday (August 09), further takes note of the decision by the leaders of the R-TGoNU to extend the current Transitional Period, which was expected to end on February 22, 2023, by twenty-four (24) months up to February 22, 2025, so as to complete the outstanding tasks in the peace agreement.

Olusegun Obasanjo, the African Union (AU) High Representative for the Horn of Africa and former President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, undertook an official visit to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on August 4, 2022. During the visit, the High Representative met with high-level Ethiopian government officials, UN, US, and EU special envoys to the Horn of Africa, among others. Following his briefing on the peace process to the AUPSC, the Envoys reiterated the centrality of having one peace process under the undisputed leadership role of the African Union and the High Representative and emphasized the need to scale up cooperation and coordination in support of the AU process.

Ethiopia

On Thursday (August 11), Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali and First Lady Zinash Tayachew, together with senior government officials, officiated over the start of power generation by the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s second turbine. Prime Minister Abiy congratulated all Ethiopians and expressed his heartfelt gratitude to those who are working tirelessly to bring this grand Ethiopian dream to realization. PM Abiy further emphasized that it is this generation’s responsibility to build the country on a solid foundation and pass it on to the next.

Ethiopia will not accept any parallel effort that replaces the African Union (AU) in the peace process to end the conflict in the northern part of the country, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. At a briefing to the media on Thursday (August 11), Foreign Affairs Spokesperson Meles Alem said the federal government remains committed to continuing the peace process initiated by the African Union. “The government’s position is to continue the peace effort initiated by the African Union. Any other similar effort is totally unacceptable,” he underscored.

Ethiopia’s efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict are vital for the country and the surrounding region. Ethiopia has consistently made several attempts to bring peace, but the TPLF has repeatedly rejected these efforts, playing with non-essential arguments. (See article)

Ethiopia is on course to become an African hub of clean energy as it unveiled a $40bn roadmap to build 71 power projects over the next ten years. The country has already become a light manufacturing powerhouse in Eastern Africa, with a growing number of countries purchasing power from it. Clean energy export is more than just a transaction. It is about reaffirming Ethiopia’s undying commitment to regional integration and a climate-friendly green economy. The Ethiopia-Kenya power purchase agreement is a step in this direction. (See article)

The Ethiopian telecom operator, Ethio-Telecom, has announced that it is planning service expansion to the Djibouti Telecom market, which is considered its first expansion to a foreign market, following its domestic success with the deployment of 5G services recently. (See article)

Recognizing the importance of narrowing the current gap in financial flows to address climate change in a holistic manner, the pioneering African Regional Forum titled “Towards COP27: African Regional Forum on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the SDGs” was held in Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from the 2nd to the 5th of August 2022. The African forum is part of a series of five regional forums in the run-up to COP27 led by the incoming Egyptian Presidency of COP27, the UN Five Regional Commissions, and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions. These forums bring together key stakeholders from the public and private sectors to catalyse additional private sector investment in climate mitigation and adaptation in line with the SDGs. (See article)

U.S. Ambassador-at-Large for Global Criminal Justice Beth Van Schaack and Ambassador Tracey Ann Jacobson met with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen and various other government officials in Ethiopia to better understand the systems of justice in Ethiopia. They also met with officials such as the President of the Supreme Court and the Minister of Justice, as well as the National Dialogue Commission and diverse stakeholders to discuss transitional justice in Ethiopia. This is Ambassador Van Schaack’s second trip to Africa since beginning her term as Ambassador-at-Large in March 2022.

Ethiopia’s Somali region is mobilizing against al-Shabab militants to prevent further incursions by the group. Ethiopia has now amassed troops along the border for possible military operations against al-Shabab. But the Somali region is also mobilizing community leaders, including religious scholars, women, and traditional elders. Business leaders have pledged funds and pastoralists have donated livestock to the security forces. The apparent goal is to resist the infiltration of al-Shabab’s ideology into the region.

The Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) announced 3.2 million euros in financing for the establishment of the Ethiopia-Djibouti One-Stop Border Post. In his capacity as State Minister of the Trade and Regional Integration Ministry, Kasahun Gofe discussed with Secretary General of COMESA, Chileshe Kapwepwe, various issues of mutual concern in Lusaka, Zambia. On the occasion, Chileshe Kapwepwe disclosed that COMESA has reached an agreement with the two countries to finance the Ethiopia-Djibouti One-Stop Border Post. She said COMESA will continue the budget based on future assessments of the project.

Dr. Ergogie Tesfaye, Minister of Women and Social Affairs of Ethiopia, received the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Distinguished Alumni Award at Delhi University on August 8 in the presence of Ambassador Tizita Mulugeta, President of ICCR, and other dignitaries.

Ethiopia and China discuss stepping up agricultural cooperation. On Friday (August 05), Ambassador Teshome Toga met with Ms. Lin Huifang, Deputy Director-General of the Chinese Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ (MARA) Foreign Economic Cooperation Center (FECC), to explore methods to further advance Ethiopia-China agricultural cooperation.

Somalia

Hassan S. Mohamud has concluded a four-day official visit to Uganda. The president was received on Tuesday (August 08) by his Ugandan host, Kaguta Museveni, at the State House, Entebbe. The two heads of state held official talks on various areas of common interest, reiterating the importance of deepening the strategic partnership between Somalia and Uganda.

Djibouti

Ethiopia and Djibouti showcased Green Economic Cooperation by planting about 190,000 seedlings over the past one and a half years. Preparation is underway to plant some 300,000 trees as of December this year under the umbrella of the Joint Task Force of the two countries.

Kenya

AU, COMESA, EAC, and IGAD host a joint Press Conference at Serena Hotel, Nairobi, on Wednesday (August 10) to release respective Preliminary Statements of AU-COMESA, EAC and IGAD Election Observation Missions to Kenya.

South Sudan

Salva Kiir Mayardit, President of the Republic of South Sudan, convened a meeting of the Presidency on Wednesday (August 10) to listen to a report from the National Transitional Committee (NTC), the Joint Defence Board (JDB), the Joint Transitional Security Committee (JTSC), and the Joint Military Ceasefire Commission (JMCC) on the summary of the Necessary Unified Forces at the Training Centers and preparations by these mechanisms towards their graduation.

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TPLF’s Preconditions to peace talks are not positive gestures to end the conflict peacefully

Ethiopia’s government demonstrated its most current commitment to a peaceful end of the conflict by declaring that it will negotiate with the TPLF without any preconditions, broadening the prospects for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in Ethiopia’s north. This isn’t the first time the administration has expressed such a determination to reach a peaceful resolution. Ever since the commencement of the conflict, the government has done everything possible to ensure the success of the peace agenda.

The government’s commitment to a peaceful resolution of the conflict has been demonstrated by significant confidence-building measures, including the release of detainees and prisoners of war, the establishment of the National Dialogue Commission, a humanitarian truce, and a declaration of ceasefire. The government has also been establishing measures to amicably settle conflicts with the TPLF and has increased humanitarian supply provision cooperation, which were praised by the African Union, European Union, and United States officials and high-level delegations who recently visited Ethiopia.

Ethiopia has promised to speed up the supply of humanitarian aid, including gasoline and cash, to the Tigray region. Since the humanitarian truce and ceasefire, significant improvements in humanitarian access and support have enabled aid agencies like WEP to deliver lifesaving goods to the Tigray region and other affected areas.

Essentially, the World Food Programme recommended bringing 2 million liters of fuel into the region on a monthly basis, and the government agreed. USAID provided 2 million liters of fuel into the region, which is totally utilized for secondary transport in the Tigray region.

In a BBC report on July 15, 2022, Adrian Van der Knapp, World Food Programs’ Country Director for Northern Ethiopia, was quoted as saying, “The World Food Program has announced it has managed to deliver essential food aid to millions of people in Ethiopia’s troubled Tigray region, averting the threat of famine.” Furthermore, since the resumption of aid convoys into the Tigray region in April, 4,765 trucks carrying supplies have entered the area, including more than 60 trucks from the UNHCR, according to the UNHCR’s most recent Ethiopia emergency situation update posted on Wednesday.

These are clear signs of a significant increase in humanitarian access and support, allowing aid organizations including the WEP to deliver lifesaving goods to the Tigray region and refuting accusations of aid obstruction and questions regarding unfettered humanitarian access to the region.

Unquestionably, Ethiopia’s efforts to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict are vital for the country and the surrounding region. Ethiopia has consistently made several attempts to bring peace, but the TPLF has repeatedly rejected these efforts, playing with non-essential arguments.

Many relevant parties, most notably the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, former President Olusegun Obasanjo, have been closely working with the various parties involved in the conflict as part of the peace process. Recently, US Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Mike Hammer met with TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael, as did European Union Special Representative for the Horn of Africa Annette Weber, and UN Under Secretary General and Special Envoy to the Horn of Africa Hanna Tetteh, as well as Canadian, Italian, and UK Ambassadors.

However, instead of working to pressure the TPLF to negotiate without preconditions, they resorted to issuing a one-sided statement—adopting the preconditions for peace negotiations demanded by the region’s rebels. Accordingly, the national security advisor, Ambassador Redwan Hussien, debriefed the international community, expressing Ethiopia’s government’s dismay at the course chosen by the team of envoys and ambassadors in handling the matter when in Mekele. He said they failed to press for unequivocal commitment to peace talks, opting for appeasement and meeting the other party’s preconditions.

Regarding the restoration of services, the Ambassador further stressed that the will of the government has been reaffirmed and preludes for that have been reiterated; i.e., creating enabling conditions and a semblance of peace by beginning the talks. Their joint statement rehashed the saga of “unfettered humanitarian access,” which has already been addressed. There is no limit on the number of flights; there is none on the number of trucks carrying aid. The issue of fuel has also been addressed and hailed by all.

In regards to peace talks, the bottom line is that the government’s position is to maintain the African Union’s peace efforts. Other parallel efforts are still not welcomed. The government of Ethiopia does not make the activation of basic services in the Tigray region a precondition for the negotiations, although serious deliberations are needed in this regard. In one way or the other, Ethiopia unwaveringly upholds the AU as the only channel and has been reiterated in no uncertain terms once again. The international community is encouraged to provide financial and technical support to the peace building process.

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Ethiopia aspires to be clean energy hub of Africa

Ethiopia is on course to become an African hub of clean energy as it unveiled a $40bn roadmap to build 71 power projects over the next ten years. The country has already become a light manufacturing powerhouse in Eastern Africa, with a growing number of countries purchasing power from it. Clean energy export is more than just a transaction. It is about reaffirming Ethiopia’s undying commitment to regional integration and a climate-friendly green economy. The Ethiopia-Kenya power purchase agreement is a step in this direction.

The Ethio-Kenya Power Purchase agreement

Last week, the Ethiopian Electric Power (EEP) and the Kenya Power and Lighting Company Plc (KPLC) signed a Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) for the sale and purchase of 200 MW of energy in the first phase of the power export, with an expected increase of power export to 400 MW in due course.

The CEOs of EEP and KPLC signed the PPA in the presence of the President of the Republic of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, and Ambassador (Dr.) Monica Juma, the Cabinet Secretary in the Ministry of Energy of the Republic of Kenya, and the State Minister of Finance of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Dr. Eyob Tekalign.

The Kenya-Ethiopia Electricity Highway Project, also known as the Eastern Electricity Highway Project, on which construction commenced in 2016, involved the construction of a 1,068km-long power transmission line from Ethiopia to Kenya, incorporating two AC/DC converter stations at both ends. The transmission line stretches 437km in Ethiopia and 631km in Kenya.

Interconnection with Ethiopia will ensure access to reliable and affordable energy to around 870,000 to 1.4 million Kenyan households, of which 18% will be located in rural areas.

The overall investment in the project was 1.26 billion USD. The World Bank provides a loan of $684m, while the African Development Bank and French Development Agency provide $338m and 118 million USD, respectively. The governments of Ethiopia and Kenya are funding $32 million and 88 million USD, respectively.

After trial transmission of power in a few weeks, full capacity power export is agreed to start in November, 2022.

The Implications of the Agreement

The project’s successful conclusion is a confirmation of the close bilateral ties between Ethiopia and Kenya. It is regarded as a diplomatic triumph that demonstrates how Ethiopia and Kenya’s long-standing relationship is entering a new milestone.

The alliance also demonstrates Ethiopia’s dedication to regional economic cooperation. Ethiopia has demonstrated exceptional leadership by greasing the wheels of regional cooperation. Trade and economic cooperation between nations ensures the development of Ethiopia and Africa.

In the long run, the transmission line will benefit countries in North, East, and Southern Africa by connecting the Southern Africa Power Pool and the Eastern African Power Pool all the way to Egypt and Sudan in the north.

Such endeavors will increase Ethiopia’s income significantly while also broadening the continent’s market base. It will be especially beneficial to Ethiopia’s goal of becoming an African hub for light manufacturing and its aspiration to join the middle-income group by 2025.

Environmental protection is a further implication. Ethiopia exports clean energy since its energy is produced using water, wind, geothermal energy, and biomass. This shows that Ethiopia’s position as a leading voice in Africa in international climate diplomacy is not merely an idea; it is a reality that has been established.

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Ethio Telecom to expand its services to regional market

The Ethiopian telecom operator, Ethio-Telecom, has announced that it is planning service expansion to the Djibouti Telecom market, which is considered its first expansion to a foreign market, following its domestic success with the deployment of 5G services recently.

Regarding the overall plan of regional market expansion and the vision of staying competitive in the industry, Ms. Frehiwot Tamiru, CEO of the telecom corporation, while speaking at a press briefing given at the end of last month (July 22) regarding its annual performance, announced, “Based on the re-amendment of the Ethio telecom establishment proclamation, we have been working to figure out priority areas to expand our business outside of Ethiopia and to stay competitive.” The CEO underlined that the corporation has finished all required studies and is ready to expand its telecom services market in the 2022/2023 fiscal year. In this regard, higher officials of Ethio telecom have paid a visit to Djibouti to assess the overall situation.

Ethio-Telecom Establishment (Amendment) Council of Ministers regulation No. 480/2021 allows Ethio telecom to participate in any equity investment both domestically and at international levels. Recalling the amendment of the Regulation of the Council of Ministers, Frehiwot stated, “One of our requests for the re-amendment of the establishment proclamation is to be able to start serving outside of Ethiopia,” even if the telecom operator hasn’t done any operations abroad.

Ethio-Telecom has announced that during the previous year, even if it was challenging for the industry as it was for other industries as well, the corporation garnered 61.3 billion birr in revenue, which is 87.6 percent of the target and an 8.5 percent increment from the previous budget year. It is mentioned that the main factor for Ethio Telecom’s under-performance in figures is the conflict in the northern part of Ethiopia and the destruction of infrastructure. The CEO noted that “given the current challenging environment in our country, this achievement can be considered remarkable.”

The launch of the 5G services recently was praised by the international community residing in Addis Ababa and was considered a milestone achievement for the corporation. “Ethio Telecom is currently engaged in various network expansion and telecom infrastructure capacity enhancement projects.”The rollout of 4G/LTE has been completed in 136 cities and pre-commercial 5G services have been launched in Addis Ababa, illustrating our achievements in the year.” She added, “Currently, we are running a total of 217 projects on infrastructure and system capacity expansions and enhancements aiming to boost network coverage.”

As one of the largest diplomatic hubs, Addis Ababa and the international community residing in the city will take advantage of the ultrafast speed of technology in their lives and daily diplomatic engagements.

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Paving the way to COP27: African Regional Forum on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the SDGs

Recognizing the importance of narrowing the current gap in financial flows to address climate change in a holistic manner, the pioneering African Regional Forum titled “Towards COP27: African Regional Forum on Climate Initiatives to Finance Climate Action and the SDGs” was held in Addis Ababa, the headquarters of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) from the 2nd to the 5th of August 2022.

The African forum is part of a series of five regional forums in the run-up to COP27 led by the incoming Egyptian Presidency of COP27, the UN Five Regional Commissions, and the UN Climate Change High-Level Champions. These forums bring together key stakeholders from the public and private sectors to catalyse additional private sector investment in climate mitigation and adaptation in line with the SDGs.

The uniqueness of the forum lies in creating a space to showcase both the success stories of private sector investments/projects in climate areas and a list of projects ready to be financed, as well as discussing the creation of an enabling environment as well as financial instruments and vehicles needed to mobilize private sector financing of climate action projects in African countries.

The forum brought together the project owners/developers (Members States, UNECA, AUC, IUCN, and others) and the financiers (banks, DFIs, philanthropic organisations) and some intermediaries. More than 140 investable and bankable climate positive impact projects were assessed and collated and shared; 19 projects (68% with a regional scope/impact) were presented in the forum in terms of their country/region impact, their climate impacts, their timeline, and the financing required. The projects were then discussed under six thematic sessions (just energy transition, food security, carbon credit market, digital transformations, blue economy, water & cities).

The forum also brought together African Group of Negotiators (AGN), lead negotiators, and UNFCCC focal points from across the continent to discuss key outstanding climate change negotiation issues and the most up-to-date information on the road to COP 27.

The plenary discussions brought together over 400 participants in person and online. The process of project preparation and building the narrative of champion projects in the African continent ready to be funded will continue until COP27.

Sameh Shoukry, Egyptian Minister for Foreign Affairs and COP27 President Designate, delivered a welcoming remark. Vera Songwe, Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, opened the forum and Ahmed Shide, Minster, Ministry of Finance of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, was also present to make a statement.

Africa’s COP27 President Designate, Sameh Shoukry, pointed out Africa’s COP vision. He said, “Egypt’s presidency vision is that COP 27 reflects our commitment to move from pledging to action as an implementation COP, where commitment becomes an effective implementation.”

Ethiopia’s Finance Minister, Ahmed Shide, highlights that Ethiopia is one of the most vulnerable countries to the impacts of climate shocks. Despite it’s insignificant (0.04 percent GHG) contribution, Ethiopia has been carrying the burden of undertaking various practical interventions, including pledging a 68.8% GHG emission reduction target by 2030, as a step to contribute to emission reduction and build adaptation capacity. Referring to OECD report, he indicated that climate finance flow to developing economies has never passed 20 percent of total climate finance. As the African COP approaches, he stated, “We really rely on developed countries to fulfill the committed 100 billion USD per year finance to developing countries from 2020 to 2024.” Reaffirming that the current global adaptation finance amounts to only a quarter of the total climate finance, he underlined the need to mobilize and increase climate finance flows for climate action and, in this regard, called on donor countries to double adaptation finance, including access to grants for adaptation and investment in loss and damage, as well as balance climate finance allocation between mitigation and adaptation (currently 80/20 per cent) to build adaptive capacity and reduce vulnerability. He further recalls the importance of scaling up support and addressing gaps in technology and capacity building. In addition to public finance, he also underlined the importance of catalyzing private sector investment in climate mitigation and adaptation in line with the SDGs.

Representatives of each African country planted trees in the ECA compound and were briefed about the Green Legacy Initiative (GLI), the flagship program of Ethiopia, which is also regarded as Ethiopia’s “green footprint” program, then visited the newly built science museum and finally attended a dinner reception prepared at Friendship Park. Both the tree planting program and the dinner reception were organised by the Ethiopian Environment Protection Authority in collaboration with the UNECA and in facilitation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.