Category: General

Ethiopia has registered better performance in the major macroeconomic indicators during the past nine months, according to Ministry of Planning and Development.

The performance registered in the major macroeconomic indicators during the stated period indicates that the 7.5 percent growth set for this Ethiopian fiscal year will be achieved, the ministry added.

The performance of this fiscal year is being evaluated in the presence of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed.

Planning and Development Minister Fitsum Assefa presented the performance report of the past nine months.

In her report, the minister pointed out that the performance in the months is better in many aspects.

Better result is recorded in major macroeconomic performances by withstanding the instability of the global market and shocks, she pointed out.

For instance, the minister said, Ethiopia obtained 2.6 billion US dollars from export during the past nine months.

This achievement is 71 percent of the plan and the agriculture sector takes the lion’s share of the export.

Fitsum stated that 897 million USD was obtained from coffee export in the period.

The country has also secured 3.65 billion USD from remittances by individuals, that is excluding non-governmental organizations, she added.

According to the minister, a remarkable job has also been done in replacing imported products; and wheat as well as malt have been fully substituted.

In particular, the substitution of malt has helped the country to save over 244 million USD.

Moreover, the minister said that 8 million quintals of rice was harvested in nine months, which hugely helped Ethiopia to reduce rice import by half.

Maximum efforts are also being intensified to substitute imports, including textiles, with other products, it was learned.

Speaking about job creation, the minister said 2.4 million jobs were created during the stated period.

Fitsum further stated that the federal government’s income has shown improvement as a total of 324 billion Birr was earned.

However, the minister acknowledged that contraband, price instability in the international market, and inflation in the country are the major bottlenecks for the macro economy.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Netherlands, which is one of the biggest investors in Ethiopia, will restart investment and development projects halted due to the war in the northern part of the country, Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker said.

The ambassador told ENA that Ethiopia is in much better situation at the moment and sincerely hopes that it will continue on the path of economic and democratic reform as well.

The European Union has decided two weeks ago at the council of ministers level to re-engage with Ethiopia.

“We already have very large development cooperation program with Ethiopia. In fact, Ethiopia is the largest recipient in the world of our development cooperation funds and we will restart that part of the project we had stopped because of the war, “Ambassador Bakker revealed.

According to him, the most important thing for the Netherlands to do is on agriculture, water, health, and restart the projects in those areas in the north.

However, he also pointed out that the one very exciting and big project at the moment is the Africa Improved Foods that announced to invest in Ethiopia at the investment forum held here recently in Addis Ababa.

New investment will of course come in the coming years and we also have regular projects in development cooperation, the ambassador stated.

“We are one of the biggest investors in Ethiopia. There are many Dutch companies, about 90 in Ethiopia, creating tens of thousands of jobs. Most of them are in horticulture, agriculture, flowers; but we have also big investments in food and beverages. Heineken and Bavaria NV (which bought stakes in Habesha Breweries) are especially big beer investors.”

Many companies that have invested here are actually exporting to Europe. So almost all of the flowers that are produced by Dutch companies are being exported to the Netherlands and finding the way into the rest of Europe and even further away, he elaborated.

That brings a lot of much needed forex to Ethiopia, and the Netherlands is actually the second largest export destination for Ethiopia worldwide. “We are very important partner for Ethiopia.”

Moreover, the Netherlands is Ethiopia’s second-largest export market as many Dutch flower growers are in Ethiopia.

The world’s largest rose farm, employing 13,000 workers, is found some 200 km from Addis Ababa, it was learned.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) has said that Direct Entry (DE) candidates seeking to gain admission to Nigerian universities will henceforth be required to sit for the UTME along with other candidates.

JAMB said that the new policy was to ensure that the DE candidates justify the possession of their A’level certificates.

This is disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja on Thursday by the board’s Head, Public Affairs and Protocol, Dr Fabian Benjamin, at the end of its management committee meeting.

He said the committee meeting was held to appraise the recent crisis witnessed in the conduct of the 2023 DE registration.

Benjamin said the policy change was also to holistically address all loopholes giving rise to abuses in the DE admission processes.

According to him, this policy is to be situated within the ambit of the board’s relentless efforts aimed at enhancing the growth of the nation’s education sector to promote transparency, accountability and good governance.

He said the development underscored the board’s commitment and determination towards changing the negative narrative of A’level admissions into higher institutions in Nigeria.

” The board has expressed its commitment to press ahead with its efforts to reposition the conduct of public examinations in Nigeria.

” The board stated that the seeming crisis was birthed by the implementation of some of its newly-adopted processes aimed at curbing infractions in the admission value chain given our national peculiarities.

”This policy is to be situated within the ambit of the Board’s relentless efforts aimed at enhancing the growth of the nation’s education sector as it would promote transparency, accountability and good governance,” he said.

He added that the board had again remitted N2 billion as its interim surplus for the 2023 operating year, saying more would be remitted as its operations for the years were completed.

He said this was in furtherance of the pledge by the Board Registrar, Prof. Is-haq Oloyede-led management, on assumption of duty to leverage on technology and discipline to manage the affairs of the board.

‘”Sinnce assuming office Prof. Oloyede-led management has remitted over N55 billion to the Federal Government coffers.

“This is far above the less than the N60 million remitted by the board in the 38 years of its existence prior to the appointment of Prof. Oloyede.

”On assumption of office of the current registrar, he had come up with a policy which holds that whatever would be done, must be on the table.

”This has changed the narratives such that JAMB now posts humongous returns to the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF).

”These returns were bolstered by the board’s expanded internal capacities for its operations achieved through direct execution of its processes and procedures, which instantly resulted in, for instance, a savings of N1.2 billion being paid annually to a service provider.

” It also reflects a downward review of the N1.2 billion being annually paid to another to about N400 million with the same old service provider. This in addition to the recovery of over N1.2 billion in both cash and estates in choice areas of Abuja in 2016,” he said.

Benjamin added that the steps had ensured that the board, which had remitted cumulatively in its 40 years of existence about N55 million to the national treasury, rendered N7.8 billion in the first year of the assumption of office of Oloyede.

He said it had also contributed over N27 billion directly into the national treasury.

”The remitted amount is without prejudice to the 30 per cent reduction in its application fee (N10.8 billion in four years since the reduction).

”Capital Fund (N11 pbillion including N6 billion, which is yet to be committed), Annual Awards/Grants to tertiary institutions for Capital Projects (N1 billion) and Special Staff Welfare Scheme (N2 billion). This would aggregate the cumulative surplus to about N54 billion over the last six years,” he added.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Ethiopia vows to further sustain Addis Ababa as a hub of international diplomacy as it celebrates the 60th anniversary of the African Union (AU), according to Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The 60th Anniversary celebrations of OAU-AU will start from May 25, 2023, under the theme “Our Africa, Our Future.”

All AU Member States are expected, among other things, to showcase major successes, milestones, challenges, and the way forward under Agenda 2063, it was indicated.

In his biweekly media briefing, Spokesperson of the ministry, Meles Alem said that preparations are being underway for the celebrations of the 60th Anniversary of the AU.

As Ethiopia is the founder of the OAU, now the AU, the 60th celebration of AU anniversary will open a big chapter for Ethiopia, he added.

“As Ethiopia celebrates the 60th anniversary of the AU, it vows to further strengthen its commitment to make Addis Ababa as a center of international diplomacy,” Meles underscored.

Elaborating Addis Ababa as the third largest diplomatic hub in the world, after New York and Geneva, he stressed that more needs to be done to make Addis Ababa a comfortable seat to international organizations.

Moreover, he elaborated that Ethiopia is moving from soft diplomacy to expanding diplomacy to cooperate with Latin American and Asian countries on expansion of bilateral ties.

The Vice President of Colombia, Francia Elena Márquez Mina, who arrived in Addis Ababa yesterday held discussion with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Demeke Mekonnen on ways of bolstering the relationship between the two countries.

A High-Level Ethiopian Delegation led by State Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mesganu Arga visited Pakistan to revitalize bilateral ties last week, according to spokesperson.

Commenting on the recent development in Sudan, Meles highlighted that Ethiopia has continued supporting Sudanese nationals fleeing the fighting.

Ethiopia believes the peace process should be Sudanese-owned to resolve the current problem, he added.

Source: Ethiopian News Agency

The Federal Government on Thursday gave the assurance that it would continue to support the advancement of the advertising industry in the country.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, made this known while inaugurating members of the Advertising Offences Tribunal in Abuja.

Mohammed said that the tribunal is empowered to entertain all matters of violations of the provisions of the Act, Code of Advertising Practice, Standard of Practice and other subsidiary legislations made pursuant to the Act.

He described the inauguration as a landmark, saying,” I have been informed by experts that this tribunal is the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

“The Federal Government will continue to support the advancement of the advertising industry, and will ensure that as a nation with remarkable characteristics, diverse ethnic, cultural and religious background, advertising, advertisement and marketing communications will be carried out with a level of decency as well as respect for cultural values and constitutional tenets,” he said.

The minister said that the Federal Government’s interest in boosting the role and mandate of the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria (ARCON) for effective regulation of advertising, advertisement and marketing communication was built on its awareness.

“The Nigeria advertising industry holds enormous potential to influence the nation’s economic growth, realising the contemporary regulatory shortcomings in the Advertising Practitioners (Registration, etc) Act CAP A7, L.F.N. 2004 due to lapse of time since its enactment in 1988.

“Also, the evolution of new media with its attendant capacities to foster business growth, create employment and change the social, cultural, and economic activities, the National Assembly proposes and passed a bill to repeal the Act and re-enact the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act.

“Consequently, President Muhammadu Buhari, assented the bill in July 2022, and gave life to the Advertising Regulatory Council of Nigeria Act No. 23 of 2022,” he explained.

Mohammed, however, said the Act took into cognisance the inadequacies of its predecessor and the need to protect consumers from illegal, untruthful, dishonest, indecent and distasteful advertising, advertisements and marketing communication directed at, or targeting the Nigerian market.

He stated that the council was vested with the power to regulate and control advertising in Nigeria in all aspects and ramifications.

“To ensure the success of the council in carrying out its statutory responsibilities, the Advertising Offences Tribunal was established by the Act.

“The tribunal is empowered to entertain all matters of violations of the provisions of the Act, the Code of Advertising Practice, Standard of Practice, and other subsidiary legislations made in pursuant to the Act,” he said.

Responding, the Chairperson of the Tribunal, Justice Cecilia Olatoregun, said the inauguration was a bold and very progressive step taken by the Federal Government.

Olatoregun also described the development as a major milestone in the history of regulating the advertising industry in the country.

She gave the assurance that the advertising industry would work with transparency and fairness that the industry deserved.

“We appreciate the trust placed on us and we are committed to driving the objectives of the new regulations.

“I also want to thank members of the public who have raised concern about the advertising practices. Your voices are critical in shaping the work that we do and what we hope to achieve.

“And I assure that we will listen and take progressive action,” she added.

The chairperson thanked the Federal Government and the minister for the confidence reposed on the newly inaugurated members of the tribunal.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dr Olalekan Fadolapo, the Director-General, ARCON, and other executives members of the council attended the programme.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Senators-elect and House of Representatives Members-elect of the 10th National Assembly have commended the National Assembly and the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS).

Their commendation followed the effective manner through which they conducted induction for the newly elected members of the assembly.

Some of the lawmakers disclosed this on on Thursday in Abuja in interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the sideline of the ongoing induction carried out by the National Assembly and NIDLS.

Rep. Clement Jimbo (APC-Akwa-Ibom) appreciated NILDS for organising the event saying that it has equipped them on the rudiments of legislation.

“I appreciate NILDS for putting the induction together; for giving us a lead; a pathway so that the moment we are inaugurated, we will find the right footing in the right place.

“It has equipped us with knowledge to legislate on policies of government and make government more functional as it should be,” he said.

On the zoning of presiding officers of the 10th Assembly by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Jimbo said “It’s one thing for the leadership of the party, the APC to zone the presiding officers to individuals or political zones.

“It is however, ultimately, left for the elected members, senators-elect to take the ultimate decision on the proclamation of the 10th Assembly by voting who they wish or desire to be their presiding officers.

“They can not compel everyone to tow the line of the party, you negotiate, you dialogue , you give the people reasons they should follow your candidate,” he said.

Rep. Mohammed Monguno (APC-Borno), now senator-elect, said that the philosophical cornerstone behind the training was to broaden the horizon of members and expose them to the nuances and nitty-gritty of legislation.

Rep. Agbedi Fredrick (PDP-Bayelsa) said that the induction was particularly meant for those who are new.

“They need this background, this introductory training programme to be able to understand the nuances of lawmaking, the nuances of parliament so they can have a good take off,” he said.

Senator-elect, Ede Dafinone (APC-Delta) said “the 10th Senate is going to hit the ground running.

“The feeling among members-elect is that we need to do things a little bit significantly in order to change the current trajectory of the country.

“There is a lot of talk about empowerment. I will work on motions and bills relating to my field, the accounting field. I hope to bring that expertise to bear in the 10th Senate,” he said.

He further said that the National Working Committee (NCW) of the APC had come up with some positions but at the end of the day, the different camps would lobby the members-elect.

“We will vote according to what is best for the assembly and the country based on ideas and inputs of various stakeholders but the voting will be independent so whatever is the case, the leadership will be determined by the members in chamber

“There are three candidates that are stepping up. It’s early days yet. There may still be more candidates that may step up, let’s look at the best to lead the senate,” Dafinone said.

Senator-elect Abubakar Ohere (APC-Kogi) said that the induction had been able to enhance his skills coming from an engineering background.

He said that he was fully prepared to take up the challenge by bringing in quality laws that would impact the lives of the people.

Rep. Ado Doguwa (APC-Kano) said that the training was an interesting engagement where “you have new members-elect coming to learn the rudiments of legislation.”

Doguwa who is the Majority Leader, House of Representatives, said that the induction provided a kind of stepping stone especially for the new members to be trained on the rudiments of law making.

“They have been taught some of their duties and responsibilities. This provides a very good opportunity for them to kickstart on their new job,” he said.

He also urged the 10th Assembly to replicate what the 9th assembly stood for with regards to the cordial relationship with the executive.

“As far as the relationship between the executive arm of government is concerned, we must work together to be able to provide good governance for the people,” he added.

The senator- elect from Zamfara Central, Ikira Bilbis (PDP-Zamfara) described the induction as educative, adding that it would assist some of the lawmakers to carry out their legislative duties.

Bilbis also said that the induction had revealed to the lawmakers the qualities to look out for in selection of legislative aides.

Source: News Agency of Nigeria

Almost 250,000 people in central Somalia have had to flee their homes after a river flooded the town of Beledweyne.

People had to shelter under trees after the Shabelle river burst its banks, meaning 99% of those living in the town and surrounding areas are now homeless, Hirshabelle State Interior Minister Abdirahmaan Dahir Gure told BBC Somali.

The UN is warning that the floodwaters could also hit Bulo Burde town, some 110 km (68 miles) away.

Climate change is believed to have played a large role. According to Somali government officials, heavy downpours in Somalia and upstream in the Ethiopian highlands triggered flash floods that washed away homes, crops, and livestock.

Somalia is just starting to recover from the worst drought in several decades after almost five successive rainy seasons failed, triggering a near-catastrophic humanitarian situation.

According to the UN, the rains are recharging water sources and helping vegetation to grow but it will take much more sustained rainfall to alleviate the impact of the recent drought.

However this increases the risk of flooding.

Source: BBC

Limited access to nutritious food has been a perennial problem for many in Somalia, and the country faces great challenges in sustaining improved nutrition for the most vulnerable. Increasingly frequent climate change related droughts and floods, locust infestations, the global COVID19 pandemic and persistent conflict have all resulted in Somalia having some of the highest rates of acute malnutrition and worst levels of micronutrient deficiencies in the world. In 2023, just under half of all children in Somalia (1.8 million children) are expected to be acutely malnourished, including close to half a million children who are likely to be severely malnourished. The cost of a nutritious diet is around USD 7 for a family of five, an inaccessible expense in a country where 69 percent of the population live on less than USD 2 per day. The high costs also reveal the impacts of rising and fluctuating global prices of commodities and high energy costs and inefficient local agrifood systems that all inhibit access to a nutritious diet.

Much of the humanitarian action for tackling malnutrition in Somalia has historically focused on treatment of cases. However, equal effort needs to be directed towards preventative nutrition with an aim of building the nutrition resilience of communities. ‘Nutrition resilience’ provides an opportunity of effecting sustainable, positive nutrition outcomes at the individual, community and country level in the face of shocks and stresses. This approach has been adopted by FAO in Somalia and is championed in our Global Action Plan on Child Wasting, in line with our mandate for ‘Better Nutrition’, ensuring sustainable and inclusive food security and nutrition for all.

The FAO Somalia nutrition strategy as mainstreamed across all interventions within the Country Programming Framework (2022-2025) is multi-pronged, addressing diversification of production and consumption of nutritious foods, social behaviour communication/training and food fortification to address micronutrients deficiency. In these interventions we’re working with women-led households as an entry point for overall improvement of household food security and nutrition. One example of FAO’s nutrition resilience at work in Somalia is the use of transitional cash transfers to break the recurrent cycle of vulnerable households falling back into acute food insecurity after emergency assistance programs. This is achieved by layering cash support with village group savings and loans, livelihood climate smart and nutrition dense inputs and nutrition training towards resilience building. Another example is a partnership with the World Food Programme on school meals to which we supported schools by providing fruits and vegetable seeds to ensure diversified access to these in their school meals. And in coastal communities we’re strengthening the fish value chain to improve local access to nutrient dense foods.

A visit to an outpatient centre in a displacement camp will tell you how far Somalia has to go to address the structural problems that perpetuate malnutrition. But I was encouraged by a recently launched FAO pilot project in Galmudug in central Somalia targeting vulnerable women at these centres for an intervention to improve their nutrition resilience through micro-gardens. Funded by the French Government, the pilot organized 800 primary caregivers into mother-to-mother support groups of 10 to 15 women, which are provided with inputs to start a micro-garden using locally available materials. The micro-garden is not only manageable but also highly productive compared to normal kitchen gardens as they have a high concentration of nutrients, minimal evaporation and efficiency of space. A diversity of nutrient rich crops is grown on different layers of locally available soil, fertilized with goat manure.

The approach promotes sustained recovery from malnutrition, prevention of relapse and protects nutrition resilience within drought-affected households, including displaced families. The benefits of this kind of intervention can be felt both during and after the project thanks to the incorporation of nutrition education combined with food-based approaches which all aim to prevent the (re)occurrence of malnutrition.

In this context, micro-gardens also make financial sense. They provide a cost-effective way to prevent the need for longer-term treatment of relapse cases which account for an estimated 15 percent of the acute malnutrition cases. The cost savings are even more apparent as a preventative nutrition approach for the whole family, with the cost per person is around USD 35 per year, compared with the average cost of USD 264 per child required for curative nutrition interventions to recover from acute malnutrition.

The micro-garden concept is now expanding as a tool for extension services at the community level. A kitchen gardening resource manual is being developed by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Irrigation to support the adoption of the approach that is both appropriate to the Somali context and empowers women to participate in strengthening nutrition and food security at the household level.

Ultimately, building nutrition resilience in Somalia requires a multi-sectoral collaboration at different levels, which involves strengthening food systems, improving access to healthcare, diversifying diets, and building social safety nets. By doing so, we can help to prevent malnutrition among the most vulnerable and ensure that individuals and communities are able to enjoy better nutrition and thrive even in the face of adversity.

Source: EMM/ FAO Organizational Chart