Bereket Sisay (ENA) The Human Capital Heads of State Summit, held July 25-26 in Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania under the theme “Accelerating Africa’s Economic Growth: Boosting Youth Productivity by Improving Learning and Skills.” The summit, attended by more than 2,000 delegates from 44 African countries, including eight heads of state and government, vice presidents, prime ministers and ministers, concluded with major recommendations for fully harnessing the continent's human capital. Expanding access to education and increasing the involvement of international and regional financial institutions were suggested as essential to harness human resources. Greater synergy between government and private institutions was also recommended, along with the expansion of training facilities for the efficient management and use of natural resources. Since 2000, Africa has experienced sustained economic growth which has contributed significantly to improving the quality of life of its people. In particular, much progress has been made in transforming the agricultural sector - on which much of the population depends, developing manufacturing centers and industries, and modernizing the tourism sector as a major economic driver. Africa has achieved this by changing its development trajectory and reorienting itself towards mobilizing domestic resources, increasing development financing and attracting foreign direct investment. However, Africa continues to lag behind on key development indicators, as the progress made over the past two decades has not kept pace with the continent's growing population and needs. As a result, many African citizens remain trapped in poverty, and related problems continue to plague the continent in a vicious cycle. World Bank data shows that the poverty rate in Sub-Saharan Africa has not fallen fast enough to keep up with population growth in the region and close to 433 million Africans are estimated to live in extreme poverty in 2018 rising from 284 million in 1990. In addition, poverty and other compounding structural problems have forced the continent to fall short of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Rising food and energy prices caused by the ongoing war between Ukraine and Russia, coupled with the adverse effects of climate change, have hampered African efforts to achieve these goals. It also projected that at least 492 million people will remain in extreme poverty by 2030 if the necessary measures to accelerate progress towards the SDGs are not taken. These challenges seem baffling, given the continent's wealth of natural and human resources, which have the potential of transforming not only Africa, but the world. Africa is endowed with a variety of untapped natural resources such as arable land, water, minerals, oil and gas, which are important variables for sustainable development. In addition, Africa's population is young and growing rapidly: more than half of Africa's total population is under the age of 20, and according to the latest UN projections, this population size will double by 2050, with half of this population under the age of 25. However, this burgeoning young population holds both risk and opportunity for the continent. While human capital promises to be the key driver of Africa's growth, we shouldn't lose sight of the fact that rein in demographic pressures is an important measure to achieve balanced growth. Therefore, investing in and leveraging human capital is the only option in Africa to better avert the potential risks that come along with unregulated population growth. African governments need to build robust economies that can effectively absorb the current and coming labor force to continuously contribute to steady economic growth with productivity. Recent data from the World Bank shows that the current labor markets in Africa disfavors the young population, with youth accounting for 60% of the total unemployed population. Therefore, this reality needs to be reversed and young population should be mainstreamed in the labor market and be the catalyst for development and growth rather than a contributing factor to economic downturn. For this to happen, Africa in general and countries in particular need to invest in human capital, from the education sector to the labor market, in order to effectively harness the demographic dividend. High-quality education, with a focus on science, mathematics and engineering, must be further expanded to solve current problems and to fully exploit natural resources to transform people's lives. It is crucial to invest in practical knowledge and skills in order to have an innovative solution to better transform internal development capacity into a reality of tangible growth. Since human development is a capital-intensive project in itself, capital investment is crucial, and this calls for concerned bodies; governments and financial institutions to channel funds into the entire spectrum of human capital development. Such bold measures will inevitably push Africa's growth agenda to include youth as an important factor in economic development, with potential spillover effects on various sectors. In addition, Africa has long been on the margins of international economic globalization as a result of its internal low level of economic performance. This is obviously due to the inability of the continent to make full use of its human and natural resources to bring about a major transformation in the economic sector. Therefore, prioritizing human development and shifting towards full exploitation of natural resources is the only option for Africa. This will bring about significant economic development while paving the way for Africa to play an important role in global socio-economic development, thereby creating a better world.    

Bereket Sisay The 5th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union, Regional Economic Communities and Regional Mechanisms, held in Nairobi from 13 to 16 July, adopted a resolution aimed at accelerating the continent's integration, both politically and economically. In particular, due emphasis was placed on advancing the implementation of the African Union's long-awaited flagship project - the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) - which is crucial to achieving continental economic integration. With the entry into force of the AfCFTA in 2019, implementation has begun and member states have also commenced trade under the new AfCFTA initiatives. However, the implementation of the trade bloc has lagged behind, despite high expectations, due to the pandemic that rocked the entire continent, as well as the lack of agreement among African countries on the rules of engagement for some product lines and delays in ratification among member states. Nevertheless, a handful of countries that have met the legal criteria necessary to join the platform have already begun trading with each other on a wide range of goods, from agricultural products to manufactured goods. So far, countries such as Kenya, Rwanda and Ghana, Cameroon, Egypt, Mauritius, Tanzania and Tunisia have started trade under the African Free Trade Area. As part of this move, Cameroon and Tunisia started trading with each other just on Monday. This indicates that the implementation of the Free Trade Area is well on its way, but the pace needs to be accelerated to achieve Agenda 2063 Goal 1: A prosperous Africa based on inclusive growth and sustainable development. The AfCFTA could boost intra-African trade by around 33% and reduce the continent's trade deficit by 51%, according to official AU data, which shows that intra-African trade is currently low at just 14.4% of total African exports. Yet, a slew of challenges still on the way for full implementation of the initiative that need to be addressed as quickly as possible. Particularly, creating conducive environment for facilitating intra-Africa trade such as expanding infrastructural development and furthering other equally compelling facilities is a primary task. Africa has a huge bottleneck in terms of having critical infrastructure that ease business doing and potentially improve people’s lives. Deficiencies in transport connectivity infrastructure, particularly, cross-border road connectivity led to low level of trade among Africa countries. Therefore, African countries should increase investment in road infrastructure to develop intra-African trade facilities, including technological infrastructure. Air connectivity also needs to be improved as this mode of transportation is very fast and can handle large amounts of cargo at a time. In addition, the technological capacity of African member countries needs to be developed, starting with the expansion of Internet services, which could potentially facilitate e-commerce activities on the continent. To facilitate business and trade exchange in Africa, there are many infrastructure facilities that need to be put in order and therefore countries should mobilize their resources for infrastructure projects as it is capital intensive. In 2022, the African Development Bank report shows that Africa's infrastructure investment gap is estimated at more than $100 billion per year, affecting the living conditions of Africans and the continent's global competitiveness. Without the necessary infrastructure, Africa's free trade agreements will never be successful. In line with this, African countries need to remove all tariff-related barriers that can be an obstacle to realizing this grand agenda of trade connectivity. Non-tariff barriers such as lack of commitment to implement mutually agreed trade facilitation measures and lack of coordination and harmonization of trade activities are also hindering the integration process and these challenges need to be addressed as soon as possible. The political will of Member States to pursue and conclude the ongoing trade negotiations is of paramount importance in this regard. One of the major problems that has greatly affected the African business environment is the quality of products and this has forced African citizens to depend on import markets from other continents for so long. Moreover, there is a lack of production output from the manufacturing sectors as well as most of the traded items on the continent are agricultural products. Therefore, along with a gradual shift towards industrial products and meeting the large market demands of African citizens through bulky manufacturing outputs, quality products need to be given due emphasis. Quality problem is an elephant in the house issue for Africa business and can't be hash up this challenge by various reason, the only solution is to act on it in unison. In addition, African countries need to abolish visa requirements for African citizens to create a free movement of people that would potentially increase connectivity. The ideal of free movement of people, which began with the creation of the OAU and has evolved over time as a major agenda on the continent, but concrete progress has been registered on this frontier. Until the people of Africa can freely interact with each other and start being treated as people of the same continent, the integration activities can't go through a smooth process. Some countries have started to issue visas on arrival, while others allow African citizens to inter into their country without having a visa. This is an important step towards achieving integration and needs to be further strengthened in the future. In a nutshell, the African Free Trade Area has great potential to create new market opportunities for African small and medium enterprises, which will directly contribute to the creation of employment opportunities that would potentially improve people's lives. Thus, its implementation has now begun at infancy stages and need to be fast-tracked as the continent's other goals depend on it and the success over free trade will serve as a spring board to further push other successful story on the continent. Therefore, member countries should be fully committed politically and needs to push forward the implementation of the initiative as quickly as possible, otherwise delaying the implementation of the AfCFTA is a recipe for failure once again for the future of the continent. African countries has many times vowed for the African noble cause of integration and now is the time to walk the talk and realize this nobel agenda of the continent.        

BY SOLOMON DIBABA Speaking during tree planting campaign in Oromia region today, Awelu Abdi, Vice President of Oromia regional state remarked that nurturing the seedlings is as important as planting them. He added that the public need to nurture the planted trees in an organized manner to ensure a fruitful result thereby meeting the principal objectives of the National Green Legacy Initiative. Samplings that can be used for fodder for livestock have been planted. He noted that through the implementation of Green Legacy Initiative conducted in the region over the last four years, marked efforts have been made in reducing deforestation and promoting agricultural productivity. He stressed that in as much as we have cooperated in planting the seedlings; we need to make the necessary care for them. Planted trees must be protected from human and animal encroachment. Saada Abdurahiman, Spokesperson of Oromia Council said that apart from serving as a decisive tool for climate change mitigation, trees are living resources for the coming generation and it is incumbent upon the public to rally in millions to plant the seedlings. She added that the first round of the second phase of planting trees in the region has been successfully launched in all the zones and districts in the region. She also said that the successful implementation of the pervious program of tree planting has been instrumental in promoting environmental conservation schemes, enhancing agricultural production and productivity. According to her, planting trees have helped to rehabilitate the degraded ecosystem in the country and has fostered unity and love among the participants and the larger public. She hailed the relentless efforts made by the population in the region in joining hands in planting millions of trees from dawn to dusk. She also remarked that the population in the region should give all the necessary support for the ongoing summer voluntary services. In the same vein, Almaz Gezhu, Deputy Head of the Bureau of Agriculture of Amhara Region said that along with organizing the orderly system of planting millions of trees in a single day in the region, her bureau has encoded information on 1,900 tree planting sites in the region by using the latest technological innovations so that users can have access to any information regarding tree planting process in the region. She also said that the bureau has deployed professionals to record the number of participants in each site, the size of areas planted with trees and the number of trees planted by using computer aided software. She also said with the outcome of the tree planting consecutive campaigns conducted in the region, the intensity of soil salinity has been reduced by 23% and total forest coverage has stood 16%   Speaking on occasion of planting seedlings in Somali regional state, President of Somali Region, Mustafe Mohammed said that the trees planted will improve the balance of the ecosystem in the region, drought resistant and are economically viable. He said that it is necessary to improve the ecosystem in the region as a means to improve and resist the effects of climate change. The program we launched today of planting millions of trees in 12 hours is crucial for our survival and therefore we need to do everything to upgrade their sprouting rate by nurturing them in all sites in which trees are planted. Engineer Habtamu Etefa, Minister of Water and Energy on the occasion said that planting trees have been instrumental in rejuvenating water bodies. He mentioned the revival observed on El Bayahe Dam is a concrete example for this. Omoud Ojulu, President of Gambela Region stated that trees are of crucial importance to rehabilitate degraded area and ensure food security in the region. Apart from economic viability, trees, particularly fruit samplings planted in the region will help to enhance the Lemat Trufat (Banquet of food) campaign as has already witnessed in the region. He said that the entire population in the region has been mobilized to take part on the tree planting day long campaign.   Engineer Negash Wagesho, President of South West Region said that the Green Legacy Initiative will directly benefit community members and will add more value to the experience they have in tree planting in their respective communities. He said the population in the region has longer experience in benefiting from forest resources and the ongoing tree planting program will add more value to their pervious knowledge and benefits. He also mentioned that the Green Legacy Initiative should be further strengthened in the coming years. He added that there are a number of protected forests in the region and said the campaign will help to keep for the normalcy of rainfall seasons and pattern. He also said that apart from forest resources, community members in the region are benefiting from planting coffee trees to increase their income. He noted that efforts underway in the region will help to mitigate the devastating effects of climate change across the world. Tsegay Mamo, whip of the regional Government of South West Ethiopia Region, said that Ethiopia is contributing to the global efforts of reducing of the effects of climate change across the world. He said planting trees will help to improve soil fertility and retain soil moisture. He further said that planting trees is a means of promoting our livelihood and existence. He noted that planting millions of trees in 12 hours will reverse the image of the country which was known for famine and food shortage.   Desta Ledamo President of the Sidama Regional State said that planting trees will help to enhance our livelihood and said that the trees planted today will provide us with clean air, food and shelter. He encouraged the population in the region to do their best in planting millions of trees in a single day during this rainy season. Fathers of Gamo hailed the Green Legacy Initiative noting the efforts we are undertaking is to defeat poverty and destitution and pass on better life for our children and this must continue in a faster momentum. Dokele, one of the Gamo fathers said that the exemplary efforts we have made in promoting peace in the country must be repeated by planting trees in our communities. Bonke Dirgo who is also a Gamo Father said that the fathers are planting trees to help mitigate the effects of climate change and to enhance farming production and productivity. Planting trees is vital for peace making, reconciliation and promotion of friendship. He added, if we don’t maintain soil fertility today, we will endanger the livelihood of the coming generation.   Women across the country were in forefront in the tree planting campaign conducted for a day long in different parts of the country. Etenu Negussie, a resident in Sekota Town, Wagimira Special Administration said that planting trees is of vital importance for growth and development. She came to the tree planting site with her baby on her back to participate in the tree planting program in her village. She said it is our obligation as citizens to transfer healthy habitat for our children. Fantanesh Mengistu, who also planted seedlings in Sekota said apart from restoring the rugged landscape with trees in our area, planting trees is of vital importance for beautifying our towns. I will do my best to ensure that the trees I planted today will be transferred to my children and grand children to ensure their wellbeing. She also said that we need to establish viable recreational areas for our children. Ethiopia has made history by planting over 566 million tree seedlings today, 17 July, 2023, from dawn to dusk, breaking its own record, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced this evening. The premier congratulated Ethiopians who participated in planting the seedlings. The plan to plant 500 million seedlings from sun rise to sun set was exceeded by over 66 million, it was learned.   Millions of Ethiopians responded to the call of Prime Minister Abiy to make history again by planting half a billion seedlings across the nation starting from 6 am this morning.    

BY SOLOMON DIBABA On July 17, 2023, in response to the call made by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, millions of Ethiopians of all walks of life including government officials at all levels, the entire public including the youth, members of the defense forces, students in all the regional states of the country, children and toddlers, disable persons jogged to the plains and hillsides across the country without worry about rains trekked in all sites across the country. Ethiopians have traveled to their nearby mountainous or hillsides to pant seedlings from dawn to dusk in a single day with full determination. Mothers hauling their babies on their backs were seen grabbing seedlings rapped with plastic bags in their hands. Also, the elderly and religious fathers, businesspersons, local and foreign investors, members of the diplomatic missions based in Addis Ababa and representatives of the UN systems and other international and regional agencies representatives have joined in a record breaking campaign of planting 500 millions of trees today, contributing their share to the global mitigation efforts of climate change. Ethiopia has been hit by impacts of climate change. It is regrettable to recall that several decades back, about 40 per cent of the landmass of Ethiopia was reportedly covered by natural forest with lush hillsides and green plains. Excessive dependence on bio-fuel for firewood at household level, alarming deforestation and land clearing for agriculture, climate change induced drought and run off from the highlands of the country and its resulting effect of degraded lands on top of over grazing by livestock, have led to unprecedented desertification and loss of natural flora and fauna of the country. Ethiopians in the rural and urban areas heavily depended on bio-fuel resources with no effort to replace them. Right after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed assumed the top executive power four years ago, he launched the Green Legacy Initiative in 2019 to respond the mammoth challenge of climate change with tenacity. Of course, the issuance of Climate Change Resilient Green Economy Policy of Ethiopia and the ground breaking ceremony on the construction of GERD brought a gigantic change in the development policy of the country setting example for Africa and the rest of the world which is experiencing accelerated levels of global warming. The country had launched a large scale afforestation campaign across the nation with a view to accelerating the nation’s green economic development. Thanks to the this initiative, the nation has planted 25 billion seedlings over four years with an average sprouting rate of 80%. Similar to GERD, the Green Legacy Initiative has mobilized Ethiopians to restore their degraded landmass, mountains and hillsides with trees relevant to the ecology. We Ethiopians are now striving for a green culture to mitigate environmental degradation. Along with GERD, the Green Legacy Initiative symbolizes the unity among the people of Ethiopia and their determination to reverse the devastating effects of climate change not only by greening the country but also by ensuring the food security of the population through planting fruit plants across the country.  

BY SOLOMON DIBABA On July 17, 2023, Ethiopia will embark on record tree planting of 500 million trees nationwide in a single day, which would involve the entire citizenry, members of the diplomatic community, representatives of UN agencies, all foreign nationals on duty in Ethiopia, among others. Professor Eyasu Elias, State Minister of Agriculture told ENA that some 361, 415 hectares of land has been prepared to plant 500 million seedlings in a single day and 9,500 sites have been identified for planting the trees. According to World Bank report for 2023, 15.12% of Ethiopia’s landmass is covered by forests. It is important to recall that Ethiopian has been aggressive in planting trees for over two decades, particularly for the last five years. The impact of climate change is visible and catastrophic. To this effect, the world leaders have held numerous climate summits, despite empty pledges or outcomes. However, the Green Legacy Initiative of Ethiopia has transcended the numerous climate summits held thus far in a way that it has made practical steps by planting 25 billion of seedlings over the last four years. This is a significant contribution to the global effort of mitigating climate change. Hence, the Green Legacy initiative needs to be supported by the international community. Three conspicuous corollaries explain the initiative: first, it is locally-induced but unquestionably global in nature. Second, the green initiative is not only about planting trees every year, but it is a unique contribution to integrated and comprehensive national and global development undertakings. Third, Ethiopia’s National Green Legacy Initiative must be augmented by a global support for maximizing the global output for resilience against the impending catastrophes of climate change. Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative is a national undertaking in a sense that it is an offshoot of the Climate Change Resilient Green Economy Strategy that was launched in 2011 as viable alternative pathway to fossil fuel based economy which the country cannot afford. Although the green economy strategy is homegrown with clear objectives of developing a carbon free economy by 2030, it has a greater relevance for the less developed countries that are already victimized by the results of climate change and global warming. Ethiopia has been effective in addressing the major global challenge of climate change primarily with its own resources; human power included, that certainly entails huge financial expenditure. It is therefore incumbent upon all nations, particularly those who emit billion of tons of carbon dioxide into the earth’s atmosphere, to support Ethiopia’s single handed effort to ensure the common goal of carbon free world. Over the last four years, the nation has planted 25 billion of trees; the figure will rise to 30 billion including this year’s nationwide planting. Although the green initiative is demonstrated through tree planting, its outputs are invariably linked to the national food security initiative, environmental protection and promotion of public health and a practical tool for building peace and stability in the country through massive public participation and cross cultural integration as well as communication to ensure unity in diversity. The initiative is not a standalone agenda but is intrinsically linked with other development programs like Yelemat Trufat which focuses on national food security efforts and Ethiopia Tamirt (Let Ethiopia Produce Campaigns) and a number of current ecotourism projects, among others, in Gorgora, Wonchi and Koisha, which are financed through funds raised from dining events including Dine for Sheger, Dine for the Nation and Dine for Generation initiatives. The green initiative provides a favorable ecosystem for promoting bio-intensive community and household backyard gardening, enhancing household revenues. For instance, unemployed youth have seized the opportunity in developing rugged and degraded hillsides through planting seedlings, providing care and support and earn their livelihoods from the proceeds. On the other hand, the green initiative has already become part of Ethiopia’s climate diplomacy for promoting peace and friendship among African countries by replicating the best practices of the country to neighboring countries and Africa at large. Ethiopia is among the top countries that have embarked on the production of integrated carbon free energy sources, from the national resources such as hydropower, windfarms and geothermal resources. In terms of health benefits, trees provide life: clean air, and mitigate respiratory tract infections that are exacerbated by air pollution brought by emission of carbon into the air. The initiative would help to conserve indigenous herbal resources that could be used for treatment of various diseases and for medical research programs. Ethiopia’s green initiative contributes to the promotion of food forests, for instance, fruit trees which, in many ways, are highly recommended for health. Therefore, it must be stressed that with the prevalence of recurrent drought and flooding brought by the EL-Nino – La Nina configuration on climate change, Ethiopia and presumably the entire Horn of Africa have huge challenges at hand that they need to tackle. Investing on Ethiopia’s climate change mitigation projects ultimately benefits the entire world. Ethiopia has set a target to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases by 64 percent by 2030, the most ambitious plan to date presented to the United Nations Climate Change Conference. As noted earlier, the green initiative is a home grown climate change mitigation and adaptation mechanism which is closely linked with activities of environmental protection for the promotion of a successful watershed management structures in and around the major hydroelectric dams across the country including GERD. Countries that have pledged to support global climate change mitigation initiatives with 100 billion USD per annum need to translate their pledges into action and support countries like Ethiopia before the devastating effects of climate change will affect the flora and fauna as well as the population in all countries, developed and less developed. The world must take a swift action to rolling back the effects of climate change by keeping up their pledges and supporting the genuine efforts of Ethiopia to mitigate climate change catastrophes. The world has witnessed consequences of climate change, among others, rising sea levels, floods, extreme temperature and drying up of streams. Ethiopia’s green initiative plays its part to keep the planet earth safe and it deserves unreserved support.  

Green Legacy Initiative A Showcase for Global Climate Change Mitigation BY SOLOMON DIBABA Ethiopia’s multiple and integrated programs in mitigating the effects of climate change is a unique undertaking that interlocks economic, social and environmental programs of the nation. Ethiopia has embarked on Green Legacy Initiative by mobilizing over 20 million peoples during the span of four years. Over the last four years, some 25 billion seedlings including trees, fruit, and cattle feeds have been planted across the country. Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy and its offshoot, the Green Legacy Initiative as pioneered by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has, in view of this writer, four main characteristic features that are effectively linked and blended. First of all, the green legacy is a national initiative with measurable global impacts that would set an example not only for poor countries that are swinging in a vicious circle of poverty but also for the so called developed countries that are equally suffering from climate change induced global warming and its effects. Second, although the initiative has vivid global dimensions, Ethiopia is being forced to rely only on its own resources to help mitigate the most dangerous green house effects that are already shattering the global socio-economic fabric and the universal ecosystem. For instance, this year, according to the Steering Committee of the National Green Legacy Initiative, Ethiopia expends more than 20 USD for each tree seedlings and even more for food trees excluding the estimate cost for labor power. Third, the contributions which Ethiopia has made for mitigating the effects of global climate change, its pioneering initiatives in UNEP and the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and its efforts from COP1 to COP 27 are indeed enormous. In particular, the Green Legacy Initiative has been so outstanding. Compared to the contributions made thus far, the recognition and support provided to the initiative by those who had made the pledges for carbon financing is insignificant and not worth of the efforts. Ethiopia’s effort in reducing global carbon emission by its green initiative is a job well done. And at its best, this effort has to be provided with overall support; and at worst, appreciation has to be rendered to Ethiopia worth of the effort. This is not indeed about rhetoric; but a serious issue of human survival. Fourth, Ethiopia’s economy is predominantly agrarian, constituting more than 80% of the population. Other sectors such as tourism, manufacturing industries, health services, mining, infrastructure development and transport networks are not immune to climate change. Early warning and metrological findings have proved the aforementioned sectors are affected by climate change. The National Green Legacy serves as rocket booster to the development of various sectors of the national economy. Fifth, Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Initiative is not a standalone program. It is intrinsically linked with "Dine for the Nation", Dine for Sheger", "Dine for the Generation" projects which will have huge contribution to the national economy through tourism development, investment promotion in these eco-toursim projects and a host of other sectors. The practical experience gained in Ethiopia on mitigation of the effects of climate change and the ingenious initiative of Green Legacy needs to be replicated not only to the rest of Africa but also to all developing countries because they are the ones who are suffering from the brunt of manmade catastrophes of climate change. The climate change mitigation that Ethiopia has continued to undertake is a nationally organized program to rescue the fauna and flora of the country and its natural resources like water, vegetation and forest resources from extinction followed by gradual depletion. The development, conservation of natural resources including the indigenous bio-diversity are wealth of the country. Ethiopia is expending a huge amount of financial resources every year to plant trees that would serve as a sustainable asset for current and coming generations. This is the central ideas of the National Green Legacy Initiative that intends to plant some 6.5 billion trees across the country this year. Among other things, making its share to reduce the unabated concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere through the National Green Legacy Initiative, Ethiopia is contributing to the global reduction of carbon emission into the earth’s atmosphere. As for the international aid agencies and developed nations, although their relief aid is most welcome in the short run for the effects of climate change like drought, flooding, landslide and other climate change induced disasters through their emergency assistance, it is prudent for aid agencies and affluent nations to provide overall support for countries who are struggling to overcome the root causes of poverty. In fact, affluent nations are emitting billions of tons of carbon into the air, to which they are morally bound to support sustainable climate change mitigation programs that countries like Ethiopia are effectively undertaking. In his recent address to the G7 Conference that was conducted in Hiroshima, Japan, the UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres remarked that climate change is a practical problem in which enough support is to be provided for the developing countries which are the victims of climate change but contribute almost nothing to the global warming which unless stopped to the level of 1.5 degree Celsius could gallop to 2.8 degree Celsius at the end of the century. Ethiopia is contributing its part to avoid this dangerous effect of global warming and deserves to be supported. Although multi-lateral negotiations and agreements are very important, it is pointless to engage into a marathon of dialogues to no end as the effects of climate change are already threatening the survival of mankind. The exemplary role currently played by Ethiopia needs to be given due recognition as the saying credit where credit is due goes; it should also be promoted not only by the country but by all those who claim to be deeply concerned about the impending negative effects of climate change. And it is fitting to mention that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was awarded the Outstanding African Leadership Award by the American Academy of Achievement and the Global Hope Coalition in Washington DC, in recognition of his Green Legacy initiative, in December, 2022.Ethiopia will certainly remain to be a showcase for mitigating the adverse effects of climate change.  

BY STAFF WRITER Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has authored the third series of book entitled Generation Medemer. The first and second series of his books are: Philosophy and Paradigm of Medemer published in 2019 and the Principles and Practices of Medemer written two years later. This latest series, Generation Medemer, with focus on principles and personalities of Medemer is published in Amharic, Afan Oromo, and English languages. The book which once more proved that Prime Minister Abiy is a prolific writer with five books to his name. Particularly, the aforementioned three books have been written in the context of a daunting responsibility he shoulders as a leader of Ethiopia, pioneering a far-reaching national reform program in the unprecedented challenging situation following the war in the northern part of the country, internal and external conspiracy. Fascinatingly, he has managed to write these books in five years despite those difficulties. In latest book, Prime Minister Abiy has taken the initiative to show a generational description of Ethiopia, a country which boasts of history dating back to 3,000 years. The book gives a road map on how the Ethiopian current generation learns from mistakes and tries to improvise on their future. Apart from his previous books, this newest book of the prime minister takes a different stage at a more advanced age which is talking about the millennial generation to put Ethiopia in a position at a global stage. Thus, the book is a deliberation on how Ethiopia is positioned in Africa, in the Middle East, and globally in general. It also suggests how the coming generation needs to work, needs to think and needs to unify in order to strengthen Ethiopian position globally. Accordingly, the first part of Generation Medemer is dedicated to conception and chain of generations since the 19th century Ethiopia while part two deals with generation path and journey and the third part deals with the rising of the new Medemer Generation. In a recent presentation on the English version of the book which was introduced to the international community residing in Addis Ababa, one of the presenter outlined eight items that defined Medemer as synergy, alignment, synchronization of times, ages and era, symmetry of space and balance, alignment of functions, and many others. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed as a writer defined Medemer as “an idea that seeks to address the deficit in a new social, political, economic and foreign relations and orientations. Medemer encourages working together for a shared vision towards a mutually beneficial goal. It builds on past successes while striving to correct mistakes in the effort to create a more harmonious union. The book defines and delineates generations that the country has cruised through. Accordingly, five levels of generations in Ethiopia since the 19th century are identified, namely, the conservative patriotic generation, the dreamers generation, disillusioned generation, smart generation and the future Medemer generation to be established. The book identifies the conservative and patriotic generation, imbued with the spirit of victory at Adwa in 1896, is the first to experience modernity (elements of Western modernization). It was the first to have access to modern schools, hotels, cars, cinemas, airplanes and newspapers. That generation placed a premium on “Ethiopianness” and strove for unity and cooperation. It sought to emulate Japan which had successfully modernized while maintaining a balance and blending of its traditional values with the technological progress of Westernization. The Conservative generation sought “to preserve the culture, ethos spirits and patriotism and pride of Ethiopians and aspired to harmonize the modern with the traditional values.” According to Prime Minister Abiy’s latest book, the dreamer generation came into being in the middle of the 20th century and is sometimes referred to as “the children of the 1960s.” This generation was shaped by the expansion of modern education, mass media and broad exposure to foreign values and practice as well as revolutionary ideas. The student movement phenomenon was unique to this generation which steeped itself in Socialist Ideology and organized itself in revolutionary “study clubs.” It mimicked upheavals in Western higher education. Its principal aspiration was to see a democratic Ethiopia but got caught in a vicious cycle of violence which traumatized millions and led to mass exile and displacement of hundreds of thousands during the Red Terror of the Derge era. While the conservative generation was willing to blend tradition with modernity, the dreamer generation did not find much that is worthwhile in traditional values and wanted to fully uproot the existing reality and replace it with a new socialist culture and society. “The leading intellectual figures of the time seemed to believe the solution to all our problems could be derived from the thoughts of a few foreign individuals,”Abiy states. Generation Medemer also argues that the disillusioned (confused) generation came in the last three decades of the 20th century in the aftermath of the demise of the Derg and socialism. This generation witnessed the rise of the ethno-nationalist wing of the dreamer generation. It is disillusioned because of the demise of socialism and ruination of its sacrifices and the political confusion that engulfed the country. Due to its traumatic experience during the Red and White Terrors, this generation lost clear content of politics and disengaged from politics. The other generation is the smart generation, the millennial generation that has been raised on the politics of division. It is estranged from other generations, ignorant of the country’s complex history and is overwhelmed by bitterness and frustration. Its alienation stems from institutionalized politics of division and globalization which has enhanced the influence of foreign social/media to sow ignorance and confusion among members of this generation. Abiy conceives of the alienated generation demands what the country cannot provide and would rather migrate to foreign lands for an uncertain future than stay and strive to make things better at home. It asserts its rights but is clueless of the responsibilities attached to those rights. Its expectations are shaped by globalization. It suffers from a malaise of self-pity, hopelessness, and victimhood. It has limited critical thinking abilities and consumes disinformation on social media mindlessly. Its politics is characterized by extremism. The Generation Medeemer identifies five basic characteristic features of the current generation which is characterized by love of art and beauty, emotional intelligence, the need for trust as social capital, pursuit of excellence and mark of ethical integrity. The book explains intra-generational with the context of raising a new generation of Medemer, relating the existing generation with the newly emerging generation and transgenerational relations of aligning with generation across borders and boundaries to relate with the rest of the world. All in all, the latest series of book authored by Prime Minister Abiy puts a lot of emphasis on how Ethiopia could become a powerhouse in the world that could be considered as a paradigm shift. It has set a tone for the future, and for Ethiopia to be a superpower. And it's a very visionary text, which the coming generations understand, read and have an opinion, have a perspective. The principles of Medemer are not either confined to Ethiopia; they can be applied in universal context. Most certainly, it is a thought of Medemer or inclusiveness. Many scholars who read the book pointed out that the book establishes perspectives by drawing lessons from the past mistakes, rally together and understand each other.  

Ethiopia’s Elevation In Diplomacy Opening Investment Flow BY SOLOOMON DIBABA It is noted that the Agreement on the Permanent Cession of Hostilities signed between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and TPLF in Pretoria, South Africa on 2 November, 2022, has won Ethiopia not only a wider international acclamation but also elevated its stature in diplomacy. Following the bold decision of the government to sign the peace accord to resolve the conflict in the northern part of the country and its effective implementation afterwards, Ethiopia has evolved from strained diplomacy to new diplomatic heights. Moreover, the signing of the peace agreement has vividly demonstrated Ethiopia’s irreversible stand for peace in the country and the Horn of Africa, where some influential political figures in Africa have started urging Ethiopia to step up its usual positive role for the cause of Africa both in the sub-region and in the entire continent. Over the last couple of months, different high ranking executives of foreign countries, mostly from Europe, the USA, including the Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Peter Szijjarto, the Prime Minister of Italy, Georgia Meloni, Foreign Ministers of France and Germany, Catherine Colonna and Annalena Baerblock respectively, British Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, EU Special Representative for Human Rights, Eamon Gilmore, Deputy Prime Minister of Slovenia, Tanja Fajon, Vice President of the Republic of Colombia, Francia Elena Márquez Mina and a number of other officials across the world have visited Ethiopia and exchanged views on national and regional issues of common interest. During their discussions with both Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister, Demeke Mekonen, the officials expressed the appreciation of their respective governments on the successes achieved in bringing peace to the northern part of the country and on their strong desire to foster the existing bilateral relations and cooperation with Ethiopia. They also discussed with other government officials on how to boost bilateral relations, economic cooperation and the ongoing relief and rehabilitation programs in the northern part of the country. Although relative peace and stability is already ensured in the country, there is huge resource mobilization needs not only for relief and rehabilitation assistance in the war ravaged areas of the country but also to reinvigorate the reconstruction of destroyed infrastructure facilities and embark on investment opportunities based on the trust and mutual understanding between Ethiopia and its partners to revamp the socio-economic development endeavors. The imperatives of buttressing the dividends of peace with socio-economic development will help to ensure sustainable peace and development in the country in line with the Ten Years Perspective Plan which is now under implementation. FDI in the areas of the commanding heights of the economy including agriculture, mining, tourism development, manufacturing industries, energy and infrastructure development are of critical importance for peaceful and uninterrupted economic development for the country. Invest Ethiopia 2023 International Investment Forum held from April 26 to 28 here in Addis Ababa was also a big achievement. The forum aimed to obtain 3 billion USD in FDI for 2023 including 500 million USD soft commitments in the short run. Ethiopia has now become a major investment destination in Africa primarily because of the comparative advantage the country is providing. This includes, among other things, lucrative investment climate, growing economy, excellent climate and fertile soil, young and trainable labor force, access to global markets, improved economic infrastructure, competitive incentive package and government commitment. A number of foreign visitors who attended the forum told ENA that senior government officials had provided them with clear presentations about the investment potentials, impressing them about the potentials of country. In view of the diplomatic stature and its attendant results witnessed over the last couple of weeks, such trends can be multiplied by leaps and bounds in the future, calling for multifaceted preparations from public offices and service providing institutions. So, efforts must be intensified to sustain the results which country has registered following the peace agreement and its implementation. In the first place, Ethiopia’s foreign diplomatic missions abroad should conduct various forums for foreign investors, tourists and others to raise their awareness on the country’s investment potentials and the incentives offered by the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC). This could be done through online conferences in which potential investors can be invited to take part. Or, as Ethiopia is participating in international trade fairs, such occasions should be properly utilized to lure more FDI into the country. The initiatives started by EIC in providing one stop services for incoming investors should be promoted. Eco-tourism development projects are intensified with public resources, and many more projects are waiting for investors. Attracting FDI into the country needs swift provision of services for potential investors. By all standards, Ethiopia’s diplomacy is elevating with the resultant effect of investment flows. For many foreign investors, Ethiopia has become their choice from Africa. Of course, compared to other African countries, Ethiopia has a far better investment policy with attractive incentives. Potential investors, service delivery institutions and relevant actors need to exploit the comparative advantage at their disposal.  

BY A STAFF WRITER Horn of African, due to its strategic importance, has become an epicenter of competition for the global geopolitical actors. Following the growing interest of the superpowers in the Horn, many argue it may lead to greater development in the region or result in further instability. The Horn region has evidently been a safe haven for terrorists unless member states in the region, individually or collectively, are determined to halt any conflicts or attempts of destabilization from further aggravation. The prevalence of lawlessness and destabilization in Somalia some decades in the past created safe haven for terrorist groups, which posed danger on neighboring countries, including Ethiopia. Several terrorist attacks were carried out in the region. For instance, terrorist group known as Al-Shabaab, whose base is Somalia, carried out terrorist attacks in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and other countries in the region. It is public knowledge that last year Al-Shabab fighters tried to make the first huge cross border terrorist encroachment in Ethiopia through the borders of Somali region in the eastern part of the country. Nevertheless, the attack of the terrorist group was fully repulsed by the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), causing huge and humiliating defeat to the terrorist group. Terrorist forces in the Horn of Africa operate on national and regional context. For instance Al-Shabab and Al Qaida formed an alliance to operate not only in Somalia but also in the entire sub-region. Bombing of the US Embassy in Kenya and Tanzania conducted by Al- Shabab and on a mall in Nairobi vividly show that the fight against terrorism calls for regional and international collaboration. Africa Al-Shabab in particular used sea piracy, arms trafficking and contraband to finance and advance various missions of terrorism. Wherever the terrorist groups operate in the Horn of Africa, they were busy recruiting IDPs and refugees from other countries to beef up their forces. Terrorist groups in the Horn of Africa Al-Shabab in particular used sea piracy, arms trafficking and contraband to finance their various missions of terrorism. Wherever the terrorist groups operate in the Horn of Africa, they were busy recruiting IDPs and refugees from other countries to beef up their forces. Evidently, terrorist forces conduct criminal activities, such as drug trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking, corruption and others, with the intention of generating large amounts of profits for their individual leaders and the groups through money laundering. They also use relief supplies in drought affected Somalia as a tool for recruiting new blood of fighters. Terrorism in the region therefore is not limited to political activities but also conducts illicit trade, seriously affecting the economic activities of countries in the region and their quest for peaceful development. Nowadays, cyber terrorism, which is mostly characterized by a politically motivated attack has been posing a great danger and fear on the general public in the region. For instance, over the last three or four years, Ethiopia was a major target of fake information. Thousands of cyber-attacks which targeted various infrastructures of the country were successfully foiled by Information Network Security Agency (INSA). In view of multifaceted threats of terrorism, regional and international cooperation is very necessary to roll back the threats of terrorism in the region. Any political instability and conflicts wherever they occur in the region, should be resolved with ingenious wisdom and peaceful means. Countries in the region must draw lesson from what happened in Somalia: the fact that it hatched terrorist operatives because it was abandoned for protracted destabilization and conflicts. So, bringing together regional and international concerned bodies to durable peace and stability is critical. The cooperation should be firm with sustained international support and all means possible. In this regard, the ongoing conflict between the warring parties in Sudan certainly deserves urgent attention and peaceful resolution of the conflict as the chaotic war situation in the country could create a safe haven for the proliferation and expansion of international terrorism in Sudan as well as the entire Horn of Africa. Even this conflict might have the potential for being used as a stepping stone to expand into the rest of Africa. That is why Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, has consistently urged Sudanese parties to resolve their problem on round table discussion to avoid any level of intervention into the internal affairs of the country. Ethiopia can be now considered the best example in Africa on how to resolve devastating conflicts in a manner that is of crucial importance for the country as well as the peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. The effective implementation of the African Union (AU)-led Permanent Cessation of Hostilities signed between the Federal Government and the TPLF is the best example. Therefore, the international community, African Union (AU), and neighboring states have played essential roles in bringing stability particularly, to fight against terrorism in the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia, as one of the important East African nations in promoting peace, has played a major role in the multi-faceted fight against Al-Shabaab in the region.        

BY GETNET SHENKUTE In many countries, transitional justice mechanisms have become integral parts of their efforts to transition from an autocratic political order characterized by violence, division, and repression to the peaceful and democratic order. The utility of transitional justice has been at the centre of several African and Latin American countries. Most of them have been successful to account for and address human rights violations, ensure accountability, and reform and strengthen democratic institutions in order to lay the groundwork to sustain political stability and consolidate democracy. Moreover, transitional justice is imperative as a conflict transformation tool in the political landscape of severely divided and post-conflict societies like Ethiopia which the country has experienced in its entire history. The Ethiopian political elites have repeatedly been trying to resolve their differences not through reason but the barrel of guns and force, not through the civilized political approach, but through despotic ways and means. However, the outcome has not become what they dreamt of, but division, bloodshed, decline and poverty ensued. Predominantly, polarizations across ideology, ethnic origin, and political views among the Ethiopian elites, have cost the country dearly. Following unprecedented civil disobedience in 2016, the government which is leading the reform under the leadership of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed came to power. Nevertheless, the government was compelled to quell hundreds of conflicts within the first two years of its rule. Violence, arms trafficking, divisive speeches and moves presented imminent danger against Ethiopia. Despite those challenges, the government has strived to bring about the development that the people longed for, and continued working to solve the problems so that the country would not plunge into a bloody war. Of course, the Ethiopian state has been associated with conflicts, divisions and political turmoil for a long time. Over the last two years, Ethiopia also plunged into war, resulting in huge human and material losses. Due to the bold steps taken by the Ethiopian government to end the conflict in the northern part of the country, and reciprocated by TPLF, Permanent Cessation of Hostilities Agreement was signed between the Ethiopian Government and TPLF. Official debt of gratitude has been owed to relevant actors who contributed to restore peace in the northern part of the country. As a result of Ethiopian friends and the commitment of the government, the war in the northern part of the country has now come to an end, following the peace accord. Ethiopia has been reiterating that problems in Africa should be resolved by the African wisdom and principle. Of course, the principle of African solutions for African problems is a common position maintained by many African states. Hands stretched out in a spirit of “African solutions to African problems”, ushering in peace. Of course, Ethiopia’s peace agreement has been considered as a lesson to other neighboring countries and other African countries. In order to permanently consolidate peace that the Ethiopian people have started to enjoy, transitional justice is instrumental to heal the deep-rooted challenges of this country. Ethiopia, standing in a new political trajectory of post-conflict societies, has developed a transitional justice policy document and conducted numerous consultative workshops for enriching the policy and achieving sustainable peace, reconciliation, and justice. Since the beginning of the 2018 political transition in Ethiopia, deliberations on the need for transitional justice measures resurfaced. The government of Ethiopia has also acknowledged the need to prioritize transitional justice and attempts have been made to establish a transitional justice framework. The establishment of the Ethiopian Reconciliation Commission and the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission were cases in point. Taking lessons from these and building upon the provisions under Article 10 (3) of the Agreement for Lasting Peace through a Permanent Cessation of Hostilities, the Ministry of Justice has recently issued a draft policy document for a complementary transitional justice initiative. In his interview with the Ethiopian News Agency, earlier this month, Dr. Mareshet Tadesse, who is one of the Transitional Justice Working Group, under the auspices of the Ministry of Justice, underlined that Ethiopia really needs a comprehensive transitional justice policy that has to be implanted in a very genuine, independent and impartial process. For him, transitional justice is the only option to Ethiopia at this moment in time to properly confront its unaddressed and unprocessed past. The working group has prepared a “green paper” that has been released for public consultations and inputs, Mareshet indicated. In conclusion, Ethiopia, which has experienced conflicts, divisions and political turmoil in its history, has developed comprehensive transitional justice policy to heal past wrongs. The country strongly believes that transitional justice would help it overcome heaps of challenges which have been inherited from the past. In this regard, the country sees light at the end of the tunnel. It is high time that Ethiopians ended the vicious cycle of violence that ravaged the country for centuries. To this effect, the implementation of transitional justice policy is a panacea for addressing its past and moving forward. It is the conviction of this writer that transitional justice will properly help Ethiopia to confront and come to terms with its past, and the elites of this country should reach consensus to identify the root causes of our problems. Since Ethiopia’s unsettled past is not very much complicated compared to what some other countries have experienced, we really hope that Ethiopia’s cyclic violence will be closed, giving way to a new political culture which all Ethiopians aspire for.        

BY A STAFF WRITER In its Homegrown Economic Reform Agenda as a pathway to prosperity, notable investment promotion is one of the priorities in the structural transformation of the Ethiopian economy. More importantly, the government’s growth strategy calls for structural reforms designed to strengthen the private sector and increase investment as an approach to accelerate Ethiopian prosperity. The Homegrown Economic Reform Program which fundamentally intends to address macroeconomic imbalances and provides a foundation for growth led by the private sector, Ethiopia has recently been reinforcing the implementation of important reforms to flourish sector investment, in particular. As part of the endeavor to promote investment, the Ethiopian Investment Commission (EIC) has introduced a flagship event entitled: “Invest in Ethiopia” which helped to hold numerous consultations with various stakeholders. The events are showcasing different investment opportunities available in different parts of the country with a platform where success stories will be shared by successful investors in various sectors. Couple of days back the EIC announced that a flagship forum of Invest Ethiopia 2023 is taking from April 26- 28, 2023 at Skylight Hotel in Addis Ababa. The forum will attract about 600 new and existing investors from overseas and local ones along with high government officials, companies, chambers, policy makers and other stakeholders. Despite Ethiopia passing through horrendous conflicts and a two-year long war in the northern part of the country, FDI inflow into the country has remained a growth trajectory over the last five years. Ethiopia is highly anticipated to register an impressive growth trajectory. For instance, the IMF has recently predicted that Ethiopia will be the third largest economy in Africa surpassing Kenya by 2023. Ethiopa’s key investment areas clearly identified in the Ten Years Perspective Plan (2020-2030)—i.e. agriculture, manufacturing industries, mining and ICT,among others, are the opportunities which should be promoted at Invest Ethiopia 2023 Forum. The Strategy enumerated in Digital Ethiopia2025 incidentally focuses on similar digitalization of the national economy through the development of ICT systems across the country. The author of this article believes that these sectors are among the commanding heights of the Ethiopian economy. According to EIC’s 2021 report, Ethiopia has managed to lure FDI worth 4.9 billion USD, the biggest FDI in East Africa. It therefore stands to reason that the IMF has predicted a double digit growth of 13 percent, making Ethiopia one of the fastest growing economies in Africa. According to EIC, Invest Ethiopia targets 3 billion USD in FDI for 2023 including 500 million USD soft commitment successes in the short run. Ethiopia has now become a major investment destination in Africa primarily because of the comparative advantage the country is enjoying. According to global FDI Intelligence, in terms of agricultural development, Ethiopia ranked first in FDI’s latest assessment of the world’s 100 most competitive countries to set up a grain processing plant, followed by surprise contender Myanmar; Asian powerhouses China and India; and Ghana in west Africa. Despite the unprecedented media and information warfare against Ethiopia over the past years, the country has managed to register impressive results. Over the years, Ethiopia has intensified wheat cluster farming and has commenced exporting wheat in 2023. Moreover, the country is endowed with abundant natural resources of adequate farmland and favorable climatic conditions to produce and export avocado as a new food crop for investment. The manufacturing sector is another important economic sector that is already a focus area for investments. The country is striving to increase the share of the manufacturing sector from the current 5 percent of the GDP to 17 percent FDI. Public investments in the industrial parks are showing growth. This trend is truly imperative for enhancing investments in apparel, pharmaceuticals, ICT products and footwear and other commodities. Local investors tend to invest more in the service sector and are not ready to fully engage in the sector probably because it requires a huge amount of capital investments. ICT sector is another fast growing area of public and private investment in Ethiopia. Ethiopia launched its Digital Transformation Strategy 2025 in 2020. The strategy includes five priorities: implementation of a digital ID, digital payments, e-governance, e-commerce and cybersecurity. It is complemented by more specific strategies, such as the National Financial Inclusion Strategy and the National Bank of Ethiopia’s National Digital Payments Strategy, which aim to transform the payment ecosystem and support the building of a cash-lite and financially inclusive economy. All told, Ethiopia offers enormous potentials for investment. Parks development initiatives Prime Minister Abiy launched in Addis Ababa and across the country are also potential areas which will inspire investors to engage in tourism development. The author is optimistic that the Invest Ethiopia will definitely increase the flow of FDI in the country not only in the areas mentioned but also in other areas. The forum will also help Ethiopia to share its experiences and also learn from others.    

By Staff Writer For Christians across the globe, Easter is a colorful religious holiday. Every year, in memory of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, Christians in different parts of the world, including followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, celebrate the holiday in different ways. The day of Easter celebrations vary across the world. For instance, some Orthodox churches in Bulgaria and Greece follow the Gregorian calendar. Hence; celebrate Easter on the same day as western Christians. However, Orthodox Christians in Ethiopia, Serbia and Russia follow the Julian calendar; hence they celebrate on a different day. Among the followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, Easter is celebrated after marking the Lent season of fasting for 55 days. A week before Easter, Palm Sunday is colorfully marked among the members of the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church. Palm Sunday marks the triumphant entry of Jesus Christ into Jerusalem riding on a foal. It is celebrated a week from Easter Sunday in commemoration of Jesus’ symbolic entry into Jerusalem, cheered by a huge crowd of people waving palm tree branches and which depicted a warm welcome accorded to Jesus by a crowd of people who chanted, "Hosanna to the Son of David", and cried “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord" to honor him as their long-awaited Messiah and King. In Ethiopia, the faithful wear headbands made of palm leaves to remind them of the palm leaves that were laid before Jesus' path. The day leading up to Easter Sunday is called Himamat (suffering, pain and grief) and is marked on Good Friday. The followers of Christianity, particularly the Orthodox Church, congregate in churches and attend prayers and benedictions which are usually conducted by kneeling for worship to remember the suffering sustained by Jesus Christ on the cross. The dedicated faithful continues their worship and lent until late Holy Saturday. Lent is observed for 55 days in which they refrain from eating meat, dairy products and also refrain from alcohol and even sexual practices. Moreover, starting on Palm Sunday, the followers refrain from hugging and kissing each other in memory of the betrayal of Jesus Christ by Judas. In some parts of the countryside and rarely in towns, some followers walk in bare feet until late Good Friday. Maundy Thursday or Tselote Hamus is a day when Jesus Christ had the last supper with his disciples and washed their feet. Maundy refers to the command given by Christ at the last supper. He said, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Maundy Thursday also reveals the practice of ceremonial foot-washing to imitate Jesus, who washed his disciples’ feet before the Last Supper as a sign and example of humility and love. Nowadays, this day is celebrated by the followers through different traditions to remind them of the commandment of Christ and his humility. In Ethiopia, Tselote Hamus is marked by attending mass prayers at churches to remember the last supper, partaking in a washing of the feet ceremony, and honoring Christ’s humility. Bishops wash the feet of the clergy to remind the benevolent and exemplary work that Jesus Christ had washed the feet of his disciples, revealing His love. Moreover, special food such as delicious bread is prepared to eat at night, reminding us of the last supper of Jesus. Followers of the Orthodox faith prepare a mixture of boiled grains called Gulban. Some follow strict fasting and avoid food and drinks until late Saturday, the day Jesus believed to be risen. On Good Friday, the crucifixion of Jesus Christ is marked by the faithful, believing that he died for everyone. Some followers of Christianity pray in deep benediction and mourning in church, while others intercede in processions on the street. On this day, followers of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church go to church early in the morning and spend their time till early Friday night. During their vigil at church, people repeatedly bow and kneel down to feel the pain Jesus suffered, humble themselves in humility and request Jesus for forgiveness. The crowds prayed together throughout the day. Afterward, the people departed the church after being blessed by priests early Friday night. The following day is marked as Holy Saturday with earnest prayer at the churches under the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Churches and monasteries. Holy Saturday is a day when Jesus Christ rested in His grave. Right after his crucifixion, Jesus was laid in a tomb, and his body was there until he rose late Saturday night. On Saturday night, Ethiopians dressed in white traditional clothes, most of them in earnest fasting since Thursday, gather to attend church services until the bell is rung by priests heralding the rise of Jesus Christ around 3 AM on Saturday night. Afterward, the crowds go home to break their fast. Some people who do not attend the church service also break their fast after they hear the church bell. On Easter Sunday, the faithful of the Ethiopian Tewahedo Orthodox Church and other Christian denominations celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus with various festivities, food and drinks. In the afternoon, families pay visits to their kin, carrying food to their relatives and also to poor people. Easter is therefore marked in Ethiopia with strong hope among the people of Ethiopia for lasting peace and sustained development in the country. This year’s Easter, or locally known as Fasika in Ethiopia, is celebrated on the occasion on which Ethiopia has attained major success in the restoration of peace after two years of war in the northern part of the country after the AU-mediated Agreement on Permanent Cessation of Hostilities was signed between the Federal Government of Ethiopia and the TPLF.    

By Solomon D. It has been repeatedly reported that agriculture is the pace setter of the Ethiopian economy for about 50 years and probably beyond. This is obvious because agriculture employs close to 85 percent of the population while the sector constitutes about half of the nation’s GDP and close to 84 percent of exports. The nation has a potential of millions of hectares of arable land. According to ministry of agriculture, Ethiopia boosts 75 million hectares of arable land out of which only 16 millions of hectare has been cultivated. Currently, the sector has been given the utmost priority considering its contribution to the overall development of the country. Emphasis has also been given to enhancing productivity through various mechanisms. One of the mechanisms implemented over the past few years is cluster farming. Ethiopia has been intensifying the use of cluster farming since four years. This approach of agricultural development promotes productivity, engaging actively large number of farmers in the agriculture value chain. Due to the cluster farming, small-scale farmers have been able to increase their productivity of various crops including wheat, maize, and barley among others. For instance, the productivity of wheat farming has risen from 30 to 45 quintal per hectare, while corn has risen from 40 to 60 quintals per hectare. According to the report recently issued by the Ministry of Agriculture, Ethiopia has managed to cultivate and plant seeds on an average of 13.6 million hectares every year. About 45% of this is cultivated through cluster farming which involved 3.6 farm households during the reform period of 5 years. The Ministry is planning to increase household coverage to 14 million over the next several years. Due to cluster farming scheme, the nation has been registering encouraging achievements in terms of productivity. Summer wheat irrigation development program could be one of the achievements in this regard that has been implemented using cluster farming approach. Since the overall productivity of wheat has been drastically increasing, enabling the country to realize import substitution. Currently, the nation is able to cultivate more than 1 million hectares this summer alone. In line with the national program for import substitution of agricultural imports, Ethiopia launched a 3 years program in import substitution for imports on wheat. Accordingly in 2012 E.C, a pilot program was launched in which 20,000 hectares of land was cultivated for wheat production with an initial production of 700,000 quintal of wheat. The country has now also been registering encouraging results in the production of maize and rice too with a view to realizing import substitution in addition to ensuring food self-sufficiency. Ethiopia has the potential to harvest maize beyond its domestic demand. According to experts, the yield of maize in the country is very high and with further promotion of cluster farming, yield per hectare is expected to double over time. Since 90 percent of the 30 million households in Ethiopia are smallholder farmers, it is important to increase the productivity of the crop to help enhance food security in the country. In addition to its contribution to the nation’s food sufficiency efforts, maize is also big potential to boost the nation’s foreign trade if Ethiopia is able to harvest surplus production that could be sold to neighboring countries. Rice cultivation is also another encouraging achievement. The recent efforts being made to cultivate the crop in some parts of the country is bearing fruits. In 2021, Ethiopia had imported 5 million quintal of rice. However, it harvested more than 8 million quintal of rice from Amhara, Oromia and South Nations, Nationalities and Peoples’ regional states alone in 2022. According to World Data Atlas, a promising cultivation in rice paddy production has been achieved in Ethiopia. Given the potentials that Ethiopia possess in rice production, this could increase over the coming years heralding another round of success in import substitution on rice. The strategy on intensifying productivity through irrigation and other technologies has also changing the work culture of Ethiopian farmers particularly over the past four years as it has been helping the farmers to engage in farming activities throughout the year beyond the seasonal farming activities. Ethiopia has still a large amount of land that can be developed both through rain fed agriculture and irrigation. In an attempt to increase production and productivity in the agriculture sector, Prime Minister Abiy recently told the House of Peoples' Representatives that various agricultural inputs including 1.5 million quintals of select seeds was distributed to farmers along with 1.5 million liters of pesticides. It must be stressed that agriculture will remain an important economic sector determining the future progress of the country. Agricultural mechanization and further diversification of agricultural production especially in the areas of horticulture, apiary, fishery and production of various types of spices that are demanded in the world market could be a viable strategy to boost the national income of the country over time. Ethiopia’s agriculture could be crowned with bumper harvests over the coming years. The nation has proved this through its wheat development program being implemented across the nation. Ethiopia is no more wheat importer. Instead, it will become one of the leading exporters in Africa. A new chapter is heralding. The successes being registered in some of the crops should be replicated to other agricultural commodities to build the overall national economy of the country on strong foundation.

By Solomon D. The 1960s saw the first emergence of ecology based tourism in and around natural habitats that were of interests mainly for scientists in their research and not as such for tourism. Currently, eco-tourism is one of the fastest growing tourism sectors across the globe. It promotes tourism focusing on the development of natural heritages such as landscapes, mountains, rivers, lakes, caves, among others.   Though it has not yet been well developed, Ethiopia is immensely rich with this form of tourism. Wherever you go across the country, you come across with enormous natural gifts with powerful attractions. Spectacular chains of mountains, caves, lakes, rivers, dense forests and deep gorges are some of the natural wonders found in Ethiopia. These sites are also rich with various endemic animals, birds and plants. Ethiopia is also rich in various world heritages, culture, history and natural beauty elements. Despite their countless potential for economic growth by strengthening the tourism sector, most of the eco-tourist sites have not yet been adequately developed and utilized. It’s been only few years now since the sector has been given much important attention in Ethiopia. One of the major achievements that could be cited in this regard is “Dine for Ethiopia” initiative introduced by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed in 2020 to develop three eco-tourism sites in Wenchi, Gorgora and Koysha.   The projects, whose construction have been nearing completion, are believed to give impetus to strengthen the tourism sector of the country as they offer the untapped opportunity for investments in ecotourism. Endowed with natural assets, culture and history, Koysha, Gorgora and Wenchi projects will also enable decent work, livelihoods and return on investments for all stakeholders. Through the facilitation of basic infrastructure, multidimensional investments centered on tourism, recreation and hospitality are expected to catalyze the local economies and create many job opportunities, according to office of the prime minister. These three projects exhibit the link between Ethiopia’s Climate Resilient Green Economy Policy and the various projects which includes national greening strategies, ecotourism and researches in various spheres on nature based researches. Prime Minister Abiy has also recently announced a much bigger plan to develop eight additional ecotourism sites in different parts of the country under “Dine for Generation” initiative. The initiative will be launched at Geralta, in Tigray, Hayk, in Amhara, Jimma, in Oromia, as well as Arbaminch, Afar, Somali, Beninshangul Gumuz and South West Region of the country. These projects are only few of the most affordable projects at this time but more eco-tourism projects are expected to follow over the years.   Ecotourism is now the fastest growing tourism sector across the globe. According to a research, the global ecotourism market size was valued at USD 185.87 billion in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.2 percent from 2022 to 2030. The growth is mainly driven by the rising popularity of immersive travel, outdoor recreational activities, and solo traveling coupled with rapid urbanization. It is also been encouraged by tour companies and accommodation. Just imagine what Ethiopia can do in the sector with 11 more eco-tourism projects even at start up. Undoubtedly, given the current pace of the development of eco-tourism in the country, Ethiopia will certainly become one of the top eco-tourism destinations attracting millions of tourist across the world. The socio-economic and cultural benefits, that Ethiopia can obtain from developing eco-tourism spots across the country is huge. The writer would like to mention only few of them. As a nature based center of tourist attraction, eco-tourism renders an immense contribution to the conservation of the fauna and flora including herbs with immense medical value in the country in their own natural habitats keeping the balance of nature and making the respective areas of attraction more resilient to the devastating effects of climate change.   Ecotourism will also open up a new venture for foreign direct investment both for foreign nationals of Ethiopian origin as well as investors from other countries. Nonetheless, it also provides an opportunity for local investors to engage in the sector. At this period in time when the country is being challenges with lack of foreign currency earnings, as an important component of the tourism sector eco-tourism can siphon in millions of foreign exchange earnings for the country and will help to promote all branches of tourism including medical tourism. Among other things, eco-tourism spots provide huge resources for scientific research in botany, hydrology and other research areas in natural and physical sciences. Eco-tourism provides an excellent venue for cross cultural linkage between the people of Ethiopia and between tourists from around the world. This encourages the exchange of friendship between the people of Ethiopia and the rest of the world. On the other hand, such projects could help to reduce unemployment both in the rural and urban settings of the country by providing employment opportunities for the youth in and around the eco-tourism spots in the country. The sub-sector sets an excellent opportunity for local craftsmen and women who can make a replica of the artifacts in their respective areas and generate income for the betterment of their livelihood. This could help to boost gender based women empowerment. Across the world, eco-tourism project sites have helped to develop various types of sports activities like horse racing, golf, rowing clubs, mountain trekking, fishing for sports, various types of athletics tournaments. In addition access to spas in the project areas will help visitors to maintain their fitness and also obtain some traditional healing services.   No wonder that eco-tourism projects are of greater value to reconcile human beings and nature and provide practical centers for nature based general education linking theory with practice. Eco-tourism projects are expected to benefit local communities to improve their livelihood and have access to health, infrastructure facilities, and local marketing opportunities. Making eco-tourism projects more community based and participatory in their operations will provide sustained protection for the safety and security of the projects. On the other hand, eco-tourism projects provide excellent scenery for film production and will help to promote the sector which is still at its infant stage in Ethiopia. Ethiopian eco-tourism projects will provide excellent opportunities for research in sociology and anthropology and also in the areas of history and fine arts in those specific localities. In his recent visit to the Gorgora Ecotourism Project, Prime Minister Abiy was fascinated with the unique features of the project and noted that it is the first of its kind in the nation’s development endeavors. Ethiopia can develop the national parks across the country into eco-tourisim sites with additional beauty of the national wild life resources across the country.

BY SOLOOMON DIBABA Answering to the queries forwarded to him by the members of parliament at the 11th Regular Session of the HPR on the 28th of March 2023, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expounded the economic situations of the country over the last six months of the current Ethiopian fiscal year. Before dealing with the economic situations of the country, he briefly dwelt upon the global economic crisis that took place over the last 100 years, namely the Great Depression of 1929-1939, the 1929 Black Market Crash, and the 2000 Dotcom Bubble Crash that prevailed from March 2000 to October 2002 and the 2008 financial crisis which led to the crash on real estate investments and some giant global banks. He added that the world is in the threshold of the 5th level of global economic downturn with three basic indicators including the skyrocketing of debt and defaulting, drastic reduction on asset prices and continuous reduction in global income. He noted that massive downsizing of labor force specially in the IT area, crash of major western banks, hyperinflation up to 100% for instance in Argentina and huge expenditure on debt repayment. The Ethiopian economy is on a growth trajectory. However, the premier cautioned that as the Ethiopia’s economy is linked to the world economic situation, it will be invariably affected both by the negative and positive trends in the state of world economy. As it stands now, it is clear that the current economic situation in the world does not bring about favorable conditions for countries like Ethiopia, calling for devising home grown strategies that will enable the country to escape from global economic down turn. The Prime Minister quoted the current IMF World Outlook and indicated that the Russia-Ukraine War and the second round of COVID-19 have affected the economic development of 184 countries out of which 110 have faced 10% increase in the level of their inflation. He said all the above factors directly affect the pace of the economic development of Ethiopia as the country is linked to the dwindling rate of global economic growth from 6.1% in 2021 to 3.4% in 2022 and 2.9 in 2023% respectively. This according to the writer of this article is expected to be worse over several years. According to the premier, the only way out of this impending global and national economic disaster is to work much harder and improve the state of the national economy. The Prime minister elaborated that the major economic hurdles of the current economic development of the country include shortfalls in infrastructure, the alarming imbalance between supply and demand. Inflation that has been ever growing over the last two decades seriously affecting the livelihood of low income earning citizens, the disproportion between supply and demand and lack of linkage between produces and consumers, insufficient national income, war over the last two years, wide spread climate change induced drought, and rural-urban migration. Besides, rapid increases in the population of the country and the negative effects of world economic system have their own bearings on the economic challenges of the country. Ethiopia spends the lion’s share of its annual budget for poverty reduction and pro-poor projects. However, subsidies for fuel and fertilizer significantly consume the portions of the national budget. As the pace setter of the Ethiopian economy agriculture plays an important role in the national development of the country. A new chapter of history, where Ethiopia used to import 17 million quintals of wheat every year, earmarking more than 700 million USD to meet citizens basic bread consumption, has been closed. Ethiopia has commenced exporting wheat. This vision of wheat export has been attained through Prime Minister Abiy's arduous effort and determination in transforming Ethiopia from being a traditional wheat recipient to wheat supplier to foreign markets. In terms of tourism development, the premier announced that the 3rd flagship ‘Dine For Generation’ initiative, will be launched at Geralta, in Tigray, Hayk, in Amhara, Jimma, Oromia, as well as Arbaminch, in SNNP, and in Afar and Somali regions. Two other private investments will also be launched in Beninshan-Gul Gumuz and in South West Region. All told, Ethiopia needs to intensify its development and economic initiatives. This according to the premier is the only option to escape from the effects the global economic downturn.      

Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) conducted exclusive interview with H.E. Zhao Zhiyuan, Chinese Ambassador to Ethiopia, and discussed a wide range of bilateral and regional issues as well as issues of common concerns; the following are excerpts from the interview. Question: First, we would like to thank you for your willingness to have an interview with ENA, just to kick off, recently, an Ethiopian high-level delegation paid an official visit to China; how do you look at its importance in refreshing the bilateral relationship between these two countries? Amb Zhao Zhiyuan: We are very pleased to see the successful visit to China of the delegation led by H.E. Ahmed Shide, which has further advanced bilateral economic and trade relations. During the visit, the 10th Session of Economic, Scientific, technical Cooperation and Trade Joint Commission was held with the Ministry of Commerce. This is the first meeting of this kind between China and an African country in 2023, which fully reflects the good wishes of the two governments to deepen cooperation and common development. H.E. Ahmed Shide’s visit to China and the convening of the joint commission have injected new impetus to the relationship between the two countries, contributing to the building of China-Africa community with a shared future in the new era. During the visit, China and Ethiopia have achieved fruitful economic and trade cooperation results: （1）Bilateral field. China and Ethiopia had discussions on expanding cooperation in sectors such as trade, investment, development assistance, infrastructure construction, and debt treatment, and reached a series of consensus. The two sides signed a memorandum of understanding on the establishment of an investment and economic cooperation working group, which is of great significance for strengthening the construction of bilateral economic cooperation mechanisms and increasing policy support for economic and trade cooperation. （2）Attracting investment. The two sides conducted in-depth discussions on boosting Chinese investment in Ethiopia. Ethiopia has a vast market and huge development potential. Investment in key areas has always been an important part of the economic and trade cooperation between the two countries. The Chinese side stated that it will continue to encourage and support domestic enterprises to participate in investment in Ethiopia’s agriculture, tourism, medicine, energy, mining, telecommunications and other fields. During the Minister of Finance’s visit to China this time, an investment promotion meeting was held by the Ethiopian Embassy to actively promote investment opportunities in Ethiopia and hold discussions with Chinese-funded enterprises, which achieved good results. （3）Promoting trade. In recent years, the trade volume between China and Ethiopia has continued to increase, and the channels for Ethiopia to export coffee and other specialty products to China have been continuously smoothed, which has become a new highlight of China-Ethiopia economic and trade cooperation. During the meeting with H.E. Ahmed Shide, the Chinese side warmly welcomed the Ethiopian side to continue to actively participate in exhibition platforms such as the China International Import Expo, the Import and Export Fair, and the China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo, and at the same time make full use of the tariff-free treatment for 98 percent of products exported to China. China will work with Ethiopia to continuously optimize the trade structure between the two countries, and to develop measures to further facilitate the export of Ethiopian products to China. Question: Ethiopia and China have enjoyed good bilateral economic relations over the past decades. In light of this, what are you doing on your capacity and the embassy at large to diversify and further strengthen these partnerships in the years to come? Amb Zhao Zhiyuan: The Chinese Embassy in Ethiopia has been taking practical actions to attract more Chinese companies to invest in Ethiopia and help Ethiopia’s manufacturing industry take off. In the past six months, I have traveled to almost all the states and major cities in Ethiopia, focusing on the main local industrial parks and manufacturing enterprises to get a comprehensive understanding of the development of Ethiopia’s industry, and thinking about the paths and methods for Chinese enterprises to participate in developing Ethiopia’s manufacturing industry. The Chinese Embassy has also been advocating the advantages and potential of the Ethiopian market to Chinese companies, sharing market information in a timely manner, and actively coordinating relevant parties to help Chinese investors establish contact with the competent authorities in Ethiopia. We are also actively working with the Ethiopian side to jointly improve the business environment by holding business environment workshops to solve the difficulties encountered by enterprises in Ethiopia and attract more enterprises to invest in this country. The Chinese Embassy will continue to spare no effort to strengthen cooperation in the manufacturing industry between China and Ethiopia, and explore deeper cooperation in areas such as the construction of special economic zones. Question; China is making great strides in applying science and technology in multiple sectors as an important drive to its development; hence, what are some of the activities being carried out to facilitate sharing experience and knowledge transfer? Amb Zhao Zhiyuan: We are very pleased to see that Ethiopia has placed scientific and technological development in an important position in its national strategy in recent years, and we are also supporting Ethiopia’s scientific and technological development in our own way. The first is to strengthen cooperation in knowledge and skills. In 2022, the Ministry of Commerce of China enrolled 380 Ethiopian students in degree programs, and provided high-quality short-term capacity building programs for more than 2,000 students from various departments in Ethiopia, offering valuable opportunities for Ethiopian government officials and experts to learn advanced science and technology in China. In the future, we will also strengthen communication with relevant domestic and Ethiopian departments, optimize the capacity building programs to promote more effective transfer of advanced technology to Ethiopia. The second is to encourage high-tech enterprises to deeply engage in the Ethiopian market. Our enterprises in telecommunications, medicine, agriculture and other fields have gone into production and operation in Ethiopia for many years, which has not only promoted the economic development of Ethiopia, but also introduced advanced technology to the country. Next, we will also encourage more high-tech industries to invest in Ethiopia, so as to drive the development of science and technology through industrial development. The third is to focus on cultivating local high-tech enterprises in Ethiopia. Ethiopian enterprises are good at innovation, and many excellent start-ups have emerged. As long as we continue to pay attention and create an environment, I believe that the overall technological development has a promising future. Question: The conflict in the northern parts of Ethiopia has ended with a peace agreement. However, reconstructing these war-torn regions demand a huge amount of resources. In this respect, what is China doing to support the Ethiopian government in its effort to rehabilitate the regions? We welcome and appreciate the peace agreement reached by relevant parties under the auspices of the African Union. We hope that the peace agreement will be implemented smoothly and Ethiopia will restore prosperity and stability as soon as possible, and at the same time focus on economic and social construction. Ethiopia is the “anchor of stability” in the Horn of Africa. We believe that peace and stability in Ethiopia is also of great significance to the long-term stability of the region. China is willing to actively participate in Ethiopia’s post-war reconstruction and provide support to Ethiopia in the fields of humanitarian aid, health and education. At the same time, when the time is mature, we will actively promote investment and trade cooperation to help Ethiopia realize rapid economic and social development, and improve the living standards of the Ethiopian people. At present, I am closely following the situation in the north to make preparations for China’s participation in the reconstruction progress. Question: China recently released the concept paper for its Global Security Initiative; as a result, how will you collaborate with Ethiopia to maintain peace and security throughout the region of Horn of Africa? Amb Zhao Zhiyuan: Chinese president Xi Jinping proposed the Global Security Initiative (GSI) in 2022, which has received extensive endorsement. To maintain the peace and security in the Horn of Africa as a whole, China is ready to conduct cooperation to actively implement the Outlook on Peace and Development in the Horn of Africa on the basis of the GSI. Since China put forward the outlook, Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa Affairs of China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs has visited countries in the region for many times. China supported Ethiopia in the First China-Horn of Africa Peace, Good Governance and Development Conference, which was a resounding success, making great contributions to the peace and development of the region. Together with Ethiopia and other countries in the region, China will continue intra-regional dialogues, accelerate the revitalization of the region and support our African friends in an African solution to African problems. Based on respect for countries in the region, China will play a constructive role in properly handling hotspot issues and actively contribute China's solution and strength to the peace and security in the Horn of Africa.

  BY SOLOMON DIBABA Ethiopia and the United States have enjoyed warm government-to-government and people-to-people relations for well over a century. The ties have transcended the passage of time and the changes of governments and political systems in both countries. Formal Ethio-US relations date back to December 1903 following nine days of meetings in Ethiopia between the government of Ethiopia and Robert P. Skinner, an emissary of President Theodore Roosevelt. Ethiopia appreciated America’s commercial interest in Ethiopia, and that the United States did not possess colonial designs similar to those that were designed by colonial forces. Then, the talks which Ethiopia and the United States had held yielded a joint document known as the Treaty of Amity and Commerce. This agreement accorded Ethiopia Most Favored Nation status and eventually led to full diplomatic relations between the two countries. Over the past several decades, Ethiopia has remained a partner with the US in a battle against terrorism. It is to be recalled the US government and US based international NGOs have rendered immense contribution to roll back the 1984-85 food shortage crisis and recurrent drought that plagued the country. Given its geopolitical locations, Ethiopia has been a strong ally for the United States for many decades. Apart from government to government relations, people to people relations between the two countries have remained strong. Suffice to mention, the number of Ethiopian diaspora residing in the United States. Further, the two countries have enjoyed multiple development and economic cooperation for many decades.For instance, the Boeing and Ethiopian Airlines have demonstrated strong partnerships. Regarding development cooperation, since 1961, the USAID has continued to support various development programs including promotion of education, agricultural development programs including the US Peace Corp program for promoting cultural relations and expansion of modern education. The US provided support to Ethiopia in establishing Haramaya former Agricultural College and a number of agricultural colleges in Jimma, Bako and the College of Veterinary Medicine and Agriculture (then Debre Zeit Veterinary Science College) and a number of teachers training institutions across the country. Between 1953-1976, in line with the Mutual Defense Agreement Assistance, the US provided Ethiopia with defense armaments and trained military officers for the Ethiopian army and air force. Ethiopia shares a common interest with the US in ascertaining peace and stability in the Horn of Africa. The reform program that has been conducted in the country has been instrumental in further fostering the operational relations between the two countries in promoting democracy and good governance. Regular visits paid to Ethiopia by US officials including today’s visit by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken have enormous implications in forging relations between the two countries, in the areas of economic cooperation, security and upscaling a united action against terrorism in the Horn of Africa. Climate change induced drought has repeatedly become a major bottleneck for the economic development of countries in the Horn of Africa including Ethiopia. A number of countries of the Horn are still grappling with the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. Overall, the US can provide technological and economic development support in partnership with these countries. Ethiopia and the US need to engage in the areas of peace building in the Horn and the rest of Africa. The mutual support and partnership based economic relations between Ethiopia and the US need to be promoted for mutual benefits of both countries. Roughly speaking, more than 3 million Ethiopians and foreign nationals of Ethiopian origin constitute the diaspora population across the world and most of whom reside and work in the US, becoming a major force to further strengthen the relationship between Ethiopia and the US. Both Ethiopia and the US need to develop and exploit the positive influence that the Ethiopian diaspora could play in fostering the relationship between the two countries. Ethiopia is now hosting close to one million refugees from the neighboring countries and is providing protection in line with guiding principles and statutes of the UNHCR. On the other hand, the Ethiopian Government is actively working in rehabilitating hundreds of IDPs that were affected by the conflicts in various parts of the country. As a longstanding partner with Ethiopia, the US can support such efforts as it will help to promote sustained peace and stability in the country. Ethiopia unswervingly stands for peace and stability in the Horn of Africa and the US can effectively partner with the Government of Ethiopia in building sustained peace and stability to promote mutually beneficial interest of the two countries. The people to people relations between the two countries can be enhanced through public diplomacy between the peoples of both countries to further promote cross cultural exchanges that have developed between the two nations for over a century. The ongoing visit by the US Secretary of State to Ethiopia is therefore expected to enhance the relations between the two friendly countries based on mutual understanding, respect and cordial relations.      

BY SOLOMON DIBABA The Battle of Adwa on March 1, 1896 is a historic landmark in the history of the black population across the world, particularly in Africa. It ignited two important phenomenological incidents in Ethiopian and African history including the decolonization of African and the continental vision of Pan Africanism. The victory at the Battle of Adwa immediately resonated across the world in complete negation of the invincibility of the diplomatic, political and military prowess of colonialists. Ethiopia and Africa mark the victory at the Battle Adwa, in which Ethiopian peasants, artesian, women and many other volunteers from all walks of life and ethnicity marched in unison to repel Italian aggressors which received the blessings of the colonial powers in the Scramble for Africa in line with the resolutions of the Berlin Conference (1884-1885.). According to Professor Richard Pankhurst in his book “Reflections on the Battle of Adwa” the Ethiopian victory at the Battle of Adwa has remained a very important event in the shared recollection of the entire African people. It is the only secular episode in the whole history of Africa that has been celebrated for more than a century. . A phenomenon such as Adwa is a complex nexus of various historical processes with wide ranging but as yet not fully explored meanings. Adwa does not only reflect its time, but that it also transcends it, and that the aspirations and meanings that flow from it have been a powerful constitutive force in the rise and evolution of modern African Pan Africanism. Indeed, it is an event that awakened the hope for emancipation and the struggle against colonialism and racism among Africans in the colonies and in the Diaspora. Black people across the globe celebrate one historical asset that occurred 127 years ago in a small town in northern Ethiopia, Adwa. The Battle of Adwa was a rocket booster or a launching pad for the inception of Pan Africanism. This historic battle and the subsequent victory registered by irregular army of Ethiopia resonated across the world as the first victory against a colonial power ever to be won by an African country. History proves that the victory at the Battle of Adwa was not a victory only for Ethiopia. Although the Battle was fought in Ethiopia, the entire global community of people shares this outstanding victory against the colonial powers that was thought to be invincible. It must be noted that the founding fathers of the former OAU were certainly inspired by the loft goals of pan Africanism. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, who was undoubtedly one of Africa’s foremost freedom fighters, nationalists, writers, and thinkers, that influenced a generation of Pan-African nationalists and freedom fighters, and the founding member of the Organization of African. He foretold that “It is clear that we must find an African solution to our problems, and that this can only be found in African unity. Divided we are weak; united, Africa could become one of the greatest forces for good in the world.” Will Africa live up to these expectations? The current trend is in the right direction but certainly there are huge challenges ahead before the lofty goals of Pan Africanism are achieved. Today, the AU has creatively designed Agenda 2063, African Continental Free Trade Area and Pan African Parliament as well as peace and Security Council, African Court of Justice and Human Rights and a number of specialized committees who are tasked with fulfilling their duties in the context of the aspirations of Pan Africanism. Ethiopia was and is indeed a forerunner in promoting the loft goals of Pan Africanism and the decolonization of the African continent by supporting major African liberation fronts like ANC, SWAPO, SPLM, ZANU-PF who fought for their freedom from Apartheid, colonialism and neocolonialism. Moreover, in the sphere of integrating Africa from the perspectives of economic Pan Africanism, Ethiopia has already gone a long way in connecting Africa by aviation, railway line, road transport, telecommunication and supply of renewable hydro-electric power for the neighboring countries of Sudan, Kenya, Djibouti and possibly for Somalia and other East African countries. The aspirations of the victory at the Battle of Adwa needs to be implanted in the African youth who are expected to continue to light up the torch of Pan Africanism. The spirit of Adwa will certainly continue to reverberate in the current pan Africanist battle against abject poverty, climate change, unemployment, promotion of peace and security, food insecurity, inflation and the growing level of debt and debt servicing. In his latest message on his twitter account, Prime Minister Abiy wrote “Reinvigorating and re-calibrating Pan Africanism requires us to disrupt the status quo and leap into the future. Potentials need to change into products. Our mind needs to transform our lands. We need to create clean and green environment. PAN Africanism should flourish as an idea of cooperative integration, global competitiveness and peaceful coexistence ” Victory at the Battle of Adwa is indeed symbolic of how poor peasants defeated a colonial army equipped to the teeth only because they were united in purpose, goal to ensure their freedom and territorial integrity. The lesson from Adwa was loud and clear, united Africans can overcome any challenge as long as they are united.

By Staff Writer One of the key agenda of the 36th Regular Session of AU Heads of State and Government undoubtedly focus on the challenges of food insecurity and drought that African countries are facing. The Assembly is expected to come up with pertinent recommendations and resolutions regarding this. On the report issued in October 2022, the World Bank summarized the food insecurity situation in Africa notes: “As the impacts of climate change continue to intensify and global shocks upend business as usual, Sub-Saharan Africa is feeling the brunt of what has been coined “the perfect storm” – a food, fuel, and fertilizer crisis exacerbated by the war in Ukraine, scarring effects from the COVID-19 pandemic, soaring inflation, rising debt, and extreme weather.” The report added that while inflation levels urgently need to be tamed and the burden of debt made more sustainable, perhaps no priority is more pressing than addressing food insecurity to safeguard the calorie and nutrition needs of Africa’s one billion people and protect their human development. At least one in five Africans goes to bed hungry and an estimated 140 million people in Africa face acute food insecurity, according to the 2022 Global Report on Food Crises the 2022 Mid-Year Update. The Horn of Africa is suffering from persistent drought and countries that depend on Russia and Ukraine for wheat and sunflower oil imports have seen prices skyrocket out of reach of ordinary people. African leaders did not afford to be indifferent to the alarming food insecurity the continent is facing and have continued to step up medium and long range programs to meet the food needs of their people. In his opening remarks this morning at the 36th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the Union, Prime Minister of Ethiopia Abiy Ahmed said while the principle of African Solutions to African Problems is widely raised in the scope of conflict, it is imperative that we begin to extend this principle to a wide range of peace and security issues. Continental food security and food sovereignty is one such issue. Our continent is not only well able to feed itself, but can become a bread basket of the world. With 65 percent of the world’s remaining uncultivated arable land in our backyards, we need to critically assess why one third of the hungry people in the world are in our continent. Ethiopia has been working diligently to enhance agricultural productivity in the past four years. It has commenced an initiative that encourages small-holder farmers to farm in clusters that enable them to benefit from irrigation and mechanization. Abiy said Ethiopia’s ambition to begin exporting wheat this year has already materialized. It is a great achievement for Ethiopia. It is even greater achievement for the continent. Ethiopia is also undertaking a massive campaign to encourage both large- and small-scale poultry, dairy, livestock farming, as well as urban agriculture, through a national initiative called “Yelemat Tirfat ” - loosely translated as ‘bounty of the basket’. The main goal of the campaign was to increase export earnings, ensure food and nutritional insecurity and domestically substitute imported food by locally produced food products. Focus is also made on the production of poultry, honey, dairy and horticulture. Over the last four years, Ethiopia launched the National Green Legacy Initiative in which more than 20 billion trees were planted including fruit trees that could be used to add up to the national effort to ensure food security for citizens. The agriculture potential of Africa is immense. However it has not been exploited well. According to reports, the average African farm performs at only about 40% of its potential. And on present trends the continent will only produce 13% of its food needs by 2050. Yet African agriculture also has the greatest promise: a growing population, vibrant markets and half the world's uncultivated arable land. If the governments in the continent are committed enough to taping these natural resources, Africa is capable of ensuring food self-sufficiency and make use of the sector for economic development. Ethiopia’s Prime Minister affirmed leaders of the continent today that we are confident that we can strongly contribute to global food supplies through exports and otherwise. The 2023 Dakar Declaration on Food Sovereignty and Resilience rightly acknowledged the continental awakening that ‘it is time for Africa to feed itself and fully unlock its agriculture potential to feed the world. The premier called upon African Union and development partners to support in unleashing this potential.

BY SOLOMON DIBABA   The Top of FormThe The Tthe Government of Ethiopia and TPLF signed a peace agreement in South Africa on November 2, 2022 ending the two-year-long conflict in northern Ethiopia. It has helped to keep on track the reform program that was challenged by the two years’ war.   The African Union played a historic role in soliciting and coordinating a viable solution for the conflict after laboring for almost a year to design a permanent agreement that was duly agreed and accepted not only by the signatories but also by all international peace loving countries and global institutions.  The AU assigned a team composed of former heads of state and senior experts. The terms of the agreement which were carefully crafted by the team of facilitators were in tandem with Ethiopia’s steadfast position for peace without compromising the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the nation. According to Article 1 of the Agreement a permanent cessation of hostilities was agreed to create a conducive political and military favorable situation for disarming the TPLF, restoring peace through the total control of northern Ethiopia by the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), reinstating constitutional order that was disrupted during the war and conducting massive relief food supply, rehabilitation of destroyed service delivery institutions across Tigray, Amhara and Afar regions.   Today, the Ethiopian Government has fulfilled almost all of its obligations mentioned in the agreement as free flow of relief food is ensured; all power supply and telephone networks, most of water supply systems, banks and health service delivery networks are restored. Furthermore, the federal government has been exerting efforts with strong commitment to implementing the peace agreement.   Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Demeke Mekonnen told the foreign ministers of AU member states at the opening of the 42nd Ordinary Session of the Executive Council of African Union held in Addis Ababa this week that Ethiopia is redoubling effort to ensure the full implementation of the agreement pointing out that the implementation of the peace agreement is on course. “We have taken measures to restore services interrupted by the conflict. We are also working with African Union commission to support the work of monitoring and verification and compliance mechanism. This mechanism consists of a joint committee and a team of African experts. The team is now witnessing major development in the area of disarmament.''  Government structures at all levels will need to focus on the dividends of peace as the agreement closes this conflict peacefully. Moreover, various teams have been organized to expedite efforts of rehabilitation and reconstruction and to undergo public and diplomatic engagements. Similarly, the government has continued coordinating humanitarian agencies in providing humanitarian supplies to the Tigray region. UNOCHA, UNICEF WFP, International Red Cross and Red Crescent and a host of local and international NGOs have resumed operations in northern Ethiopia. Many lauded the peace deal and the commitment of both parties to silencing the guns and resetting Ethiopia on a path of peace. Ethiopians and fellow Africans wholeheartedly welcomed this outcome, expressing their pride that the peace process was led by the African Union (AU). AU Political Affairs, Peace and Security Commissioner Bankole Adeoye lauded the steady and great steps made by the Government of Ethiopia and TPLF in implementing the Pretoria peace agreement. The Commissioner said there are many lessons to learn from the Pretoria peace deal that the AU is ready to support and provide technical assistance to make sure peace prevails. “We have been working on the implementation and we are pleased with the steady and very great steps being made by the parties through demobilization, disarmament, re-integration and, of course, the monitoring of the peace agreement. We are very pleased also that the Ethiopian government has restored many of the services in the region. The people of Tigray will be benefiting peace dividend from this peace process.”   Many partner countries including the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and the European Union expressed their optimism and commitment to supporting the process. They have also pledged to stand ready to work alongside the Government of Ethiopia to support the recovery of conflict-affected areas. According to the Ministry of Finance, the resource needed to reconstruct the conflict-affected Regions (Tigray, Amhara and Afar) is estimated to be 20 billion US dollars. The Federal Government is determined to lead the effort to rebuild the region by expending the necessary finance for rehabilitation and development programs in the region.  The fact that the AU has successfully negotiated the peace talks in Ethiopia vividly indicate the fact that the AU has the necessary capacity and expertise to manage negotiations in the continent to end conflicts peacefully. Second the Agreement is the most conspicuous evidence that Africans are capable of resolving their own problems in the ways that suits them, that is the African way of resolving conflicts. Third, the whole process and steps employed in the process of the peace talks is a dress rehearsal for any similar conflicts that could flare up in the continent. The AU has proved that Africans can resolve their problems with no need for the interference of foreign countries in the name of mediation.   As the leaders of the country have repeatedly stressed, that Ethiopia is indebted to the AU for the wisdom, skill and patience that the continental organization has exhibited in taking the lion’s share in resolving the conflict that was ignited in northern Ethiopia.