Ethiopia Officially Inaugurates Embassy in Pakistan

The Ethiopian Embassy in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan was officially inaugurated today in the presence of Ambassadors and diplomatic community based in Islamabad.

Ambassador Mesganu Arga, State Minister of Foreign Affairs and Hina Rabbani Khar, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan cut the inauguration rebbon of the embassy.

In his remarks, Ambassador Mesganu said the opening of the Ethiopian Embassy in Islamabad marks a new history in the diplomatic, political, economic and social cooperation between the two countries.

He also noted that the embassy has achieved remarkable progress in short period in advancing bilateral cooperation in a number of fields.

According to Ambassador Mesganu, apart from bilateral relations, Ethiopia considers Pakistan as a strategic partner in international issues such as climate change, immigration, security and terrorism.

Minister of State for Foreign Affairs of Pakistan, Hina Rabbani Khar mentioned that Ethiopia and Pakistan have common economic and development challenges that demand the cooperation of the two countries to address the problems.

The State Minister also stressed that the opening of Ethiopian embassy in Islamabad will have a vital role in enhancing Pakistan’s relation with Africa.

Ethiopia’s Ambassador in Pakistan, Jemal Baker on his part said the establishment of the embassy in Islamabad shows the Government of Ethiopia’s keen interests to deepening ties with Pakistan.

The Ambassador also extends his appreciation to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan for its unreserved support to realize the opening of the embassy of Ethiopia.

Ethiopia and Pakistan established bilateral diplomatic relations in the 1950s, according to Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

African Development Bank Working with Ethiopia to Strengthen Agricultural Sector: AfDB Official

The African Development Bank Group said that it is working in partnership with the government of Ethiopia to help the country’s agricultural development efforts being carried out to realizing food self-sufficiency.

In an exclusive interview with ENA, African Development Bank Group, Deputy Director General, East Africa Region office, and country Director in Ethiopia, Abdul B. Kamara lauded Ethiopia’s effort being made to accelerate the development of agricultural sector.

He said the efforts is really amazing and “in fact it is inspirational the achievement that Ethiopia has recorded in the past 5 years, especially in wheat production.”

Stressing the need for Agriculture to be brought at the front in the continental level as well as it requires leadership at the top, the Deputy Director General appreciated Ethiopia in this regard for the government has been giving the utmost priority to the development of sector over the past years through various policies and programs including the current homegrown economic reform program.

In all of these programs, agriculture has always been at the front and supporting systems have always been created, he indicated.

African Development Bank has been working in partnership with Ethiopia over the past 10 years in various areas including in infrastructures, energy, roads and agriculture focusing on drought resilience sustainable livelihood in the Agri- industrial parks, he noted.

Furthermore, since 2018 the partnership between AfDB and Ethiopia focused on the agricultural sector in collaboration with other various stakeholders, he underscored.

The Deputy Director General stressed the need for not only Ethiopia but also Africans as whole to exert many efforts to ensure food self-sufficiency by utilizing the huge potential that exists in the continent.

”In the case of Ethiopia, we found out the problem of wheat through study, which is heat. Therefore, we engaged with the international institutions to produce heat tolerance varieties and provided 60,000 tons of ‘’Heat Tolerant Varieties’.”

The size of farmland covered with wheat irrigation development in 2018 was 5,000 hectares, he said, however, currently 1.3 million hectares of land is cultivated with wheat crop, which is inspirational to others and exemplary that needs to be replicated on the continent.

Stressing the need for African countries to exert efforts to strengthen their agriculture sector by drawing lessons from Ethiopia he noted some countries are already visiting Ethiopia to share experience.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Atlanta Mayor Leading Economic, Cultural Trip to Addis Ababa

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens is leading a trip to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, to foster economic and cultural relations between the two cities, according to roughdraftatlanta.com

“Atlanta and Addis Ababa are two global cities with important cultural and economic ties,” Dickens said in a statement. “I am excited to deepen those ties through direct commercial air service, which will open more doors for business, tourism and cultural relations.

Just as Atlanta will serve as a gateway to the Americas, Addis Ababa will give Atlantans an added gateway to all of Africa.

Dickens will return to Atlanta on Ethiopian Airline’s inaugural direct flight between Addis Ababa and Atlanta, marking Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport’s second carrier with direct flights between Atlanta and cities in Africa.

I look forward to spending time with leaders and community members in Addis Ababa to share Atlanta’s story and learn from our counterparts.” Over the course of the trip, Atlanta officials will meet with leaders in government, business, educational institutions and cultural organizations, the statement said.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Efforts Well Underway to Boost Ethio-Pakistan Bilateral Relations: Foreign Affairs State Minister

Ethiopian Foreign Affairs State Minister, Ambassador Misganu Arga, stated that efforts are well underway to boost Ethio- Pakistan bilateral relationship.

Ethiopian Airlines has resumed flights to Karachi, Pakistan this week after 20 years of interruption.

The resumption of Ethiopian Airlines to Karachi is expected to play great role in the overall cooperation of the two countries particularly to strengthen economic ties.

During the inauguration of the flight, Ethiopian government and business, high level delegation led by the State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Misganu Arga has visited Pakistan.

The trade and investment forum of the two countries was held in Karachi and has created a great impetus to strengthen the cooperation between the two countries.

State Minister of Foreign Minister, Ambassador Misganu Arga told ENA that the comprehensive cooperation between Ethiopia and Pakistan is growing.

The resumption of Ethiopian Airlines flights to Karachi will strengthen economic diplomacy of the two countries by facilitating trade and investment ties., ambassador Misganu indicated.

He said Ethiopia is very much interested to increase the diversity of exports to Pakistan while Pakistan’s potential in the manufacturing sector is good opportunity for Ethiopia.

Ethiopia is currently working focusing on increasing export goods and foreign direct investment, he said, adding that Pakistani investors can benefit from this opportunity.

Ambassador Misganu further stated that in various fields efforts are well underway to further boost the bilateral relations of Ethiopia and Pakistan.

Special economic zones and industrial parks being established in Ethiopia will create good opportunities for Pakistani investors, he elaborated.

Pakistani Trade Development Authority Chairman, Zubair Motiwalla on his part said that Pakistan is committed to strengthening its diplomatic, trade and investment relations with Ethiopia.

As Ethiopia is also working with the same position, we are committed to move the comprehensive cooperation of the two countries to the next phase, he said.

At the business forum held in Karachi, Pakistan, an agreement was signed between the chambers of commerce of the two countries to strengthen trade and investment.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

Champions league: Onana making history with Inter

Andre Onana has set a record as the first Inter Milan goalkeeper to have seven clean sheets in a single UEFA Champions League campaign.

The Cameroonian and team Inter keeper, defeated home rivals AC Milan 2-0 to take the lead after the first match of their two-legged UCL semi-final. The second leg comes up on May 16.

Inter Milan’s outing on Wednesday counted as Andre Onana’s 11th Champions League game this season with a total of 44 saves.

The 27-year-old has immensely impressed fans in 37 games across all competitions for Inter. He has 8 clean sheets in 22 matches for the Serie A club in the local championship.

It should be noted that Onana has spent barely ten months with the club. He was signed on free transfer from Ajax last summer where his goalkeeping equally received much praise.

Andre Onana resigned from the Cameroon national team in December 2022 during the World Cup in Qatar. His departure happened after a misunderstanding with head coach Rigobert Song.

There have been calls for the goalkeeper’s return although he is yet to react.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

South West Regional Assembly donates equipment to hospital units

The South West Regional Assembly has this May 10th, donated a consignment of medical equipments and supplies to hospitals in the region.

This initiative which is in partnership with Medshare International is aimed at assisting the needy and those who cannot afford to pay for their treatment when sick.

According to the President of the South West Regional Assembly Bakoma Zaccheus Elango, Medshare International made a donation of a 40 feet container of medical supplies and medical equipment.

“We went to the U.S. in September last year and came back with two 40 feet containers. Our partners Medshare made a donation of a 40 feet container of medical equipment. One of our sisters in the diaspora equally offered us another 40 feet container of supplies and medical equipment free of charge,” he said.

“Our partners want to know what have become of the donations. So today we will donate and report back to them indicating that we have distributed to the needy communities and tell them what they have been used for. We have identified our 29 health units which we will distribute to,” he added.

The President has therefore encouraged and begged on the medical staff to collaborate with them when tangible information is needed especially on the needs of the hospital so as to be able to get assistance from partners.

Going by the Regional Delegate of Public Health in the South West, Dr Eko Eko Flibert medical supplies and medical equipment are not for sale, they are to be used for the needy population who cannot afford to pay for their treatment.

“Please we are not giving you to go and sell, we are giving you to go and use for the needy. There will be persons who will not be able to pay for anything. Use those commodities for them, it will help us to solve a lot of problems especially reduce the rate of maternal mortality,” he stated.

The Regional Delegate also highlighted that this donation is coming right on time as the Minister of Public health is embarking on a tour for the universal health coverage.

It should be noted that their partner MedShare is a national non-profit organization that recovers surplus medical supplies and equipment from the United States hospitals and manufacturers and redistributes them to needy hospitals in developing countries.

Source: Cameroon News Agency

The hippo allegedly bit him on the chest, while the sister and her baby were rescued by a passerby.

A 26-year-old man died in the Rundu State Hospital yesterday after he was attacked by a hippo.

The incident occurred at Shitemo village in the Kavango East Region around 09h00 on Tuesday and the deceased has been identified as Likuwa Kudumo.

The Namibian Police said it is alleged that Kudumo and his sister were on their way to collect firewood when the hippo attacked the canoe they were in.

The hippo allegedly bit him on the chest, while the sister and her baby were rescued by a passerby.

Kudumo’s next of kin have been informed and police investigations into the matter continue.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency