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The Trilateral Ministerial Technical Meeting on GERD Winds up Without Agreement

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The Trilateral Ministerial Technical Meeting on GERD Winds up Without Agreement A Week in the Horn 10.01.2020 News in Brief The Trilateral Ministerial Technical Meeting on GERD Winds up without Agreement Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Visits Guinea and Equatorial Guinea Troika Urges South Sudan Peace signatory Parties to finalize Sticky Issues Al-Shabaab’s Camp Simba Attack Africa and the African Union A specialized training of 300 Somali police officers backed by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), the EU and the UN kicked off on Tuesday (January 7). The trainees will form part of the Federal Darwish Police, a special tactics unit of the police tasked with securing the country.Augustine Magnus Kailie, AMISOM Police Commissioner, said such training was crucial in transforming the Somali Police Force (SPF) into a capable force that can protect the people of Somalia.Upon completion of the training, this police unit will be integrated into the Somali Police Force and deployed to all the Federal Member States of Somalia. The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) on Saturday (January 4) handed over an assortment of office equipment to enhance the operational efficiency of the HirShabelle State Police Force.The furniture handed over in Jowhar, will be distributed to the various police stations in Hiraan and Middle Shabelle regions. The United Nations Support Office in Somalia (UNSOS) has handed over medical equipment to a health facility operated by the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) in Mogadishu.The health facility located within the AMISOM Halane Base provides medical services to African Union troops and Somali Security Forces involved in joint operations to fight terrorists, as well as to Somali civilians.The UNSOS Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Roberts Onebunne handed over laboratory and theatre equipment on Monday (January 6) to enable the medical facility delivers improved services. Ethiopia The 7th and final Trilateral Ministerial Technical meeting of the Ministers of Water Affairs of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on GERD is concluded on Thursday (January 9). Although the meeting was expected to be concluded by reaching an understanding on outstanding issues relating to filling and operation of the GERD, including on the volume of minimum release from 1 GERD and cooperation during drought and prolonged drought, agreement is not reached on any of the issues. (See Article) Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Tuesday (January 7) headed to the Guinea Republic, in West Africa, for a one day official working visit. The Office of the Prime Minister announced on Wednesday that “The visit will contribute to strengthening relations between the two countries.” Upon arrival in the country, he was received by Guinea’s President Alpha Conde. The two sides signed an agreement “to activate the partnership in the areas of agriculture, tourism, mining, and energy.” President Alpha Conde made an official visit to Ethiopia in 2019. Dr.Abiy Ahmed also seized the opportunity of his visit to Guinea to meet with business people from Nigeria to discuss investment opportunities in Ethiopia.On Wednesday, Abiy wrapped up his visit to Guinea and headed to Equatorial Guinea where he was welcomed by the country’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo. Dr.Abiyheld a talk with the president regarding partnership agreements signed in Addis Ababa in 2019. Ethiopia’s election board announced on Wednesday (January 8) that it will be meeting with stakeholders, including political parties, within the next two weeks to discuss the schedule about the next general election. The meeting is intended to get feedback to refine the schedule. The board has already a draft schedule and time frame of the election. When the board meets with stakeholders in the next two weeks, it will be presenting the draft for discussion. And it is after that the board will pass a decision on matters related to the scheduleaccording to the Board’s Communication Affairs adviser – Solyana Shimeles. A financing agreement of US$305.7 million for the Rural Financial Intermediation Programme III (RUFIP III) was signed on Wednesday (January 8) by Gilbert F. Houngbo, President of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and Zenebu Tadesse Woldetsadik, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Agencies in Rome.RUFIP III will build on the lessons and experiences of the first two phases of the programme, and will scale up delivery of rural financial services tailored to the needs of the most vulnerable smallholder farmers, particularly women and young people. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been in a State visit to Guinea, Equatorial Guinea and South Africa as of Wednesday (January 8). He has concluded visiting Guinea and Equatorial Guinea and held fruitful discussions with the Heads of States of the two countries which resulted in the signing of Memorandum of Understanding that help boost relations. Prime Minister Abiy’s last leg of tour will be in South Africa, where he is expected to hold bilateral talks with South African President, Cyril Ramaphosa on ways of cementing relations between the two countries. (See article) Ethiopia forecasts economic growth will accelerate to 10.8% for the fiscal year ending in July underpinned by its reforms, from 9% in the previous year, according to the National Bank of Ethiopia annual report released on Tuesday (January 7). The NBE report indicated “The proper implementation of the recently launched Home Grown Economic Reform Program is expected to contribute toward developing a modern, vibrant, competitive and sound financial system.” 2 The Embassy of Ethiopia in Brussels participated in the HOBO Reizenannual tourism fair which took place in Leuven, a town located 30 km from Brussels. The tourism fair was organized by HOBO Reizen, a Belgian tour operator which includes Ethiopia in its tour packages. The one- day event attracted over 3,000 visitors. Among the tourist destinations displayed in the fair, a booth was separately arranged by the organizer to exhibit Ethiopia’s historical, cultural, and natural tourist attractions and provide information and explanations to the visitors. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia announced on Friday (January 3) that Ambassador Redwan Hussien has been appointed to be State Minister of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia as of 27 December, 2019. The Ambassador has been serving as Ethiopia’s Ambassador to Eritrea since July 2018. He has also served his country occupying various high level government positions including being a minister of communication and Ethiopia’s envoy to Ireland. Ethiopia’s parliament passed legislation on Thursday (January 9) aimed at curbing gun ownership after a surge in regional ethnic violence blamed on a proliferation of small arms in private hands. “There is a significant number of guns in our society since the previous government and the law will help us to formalize ownership,” lawmaker Tesfaye Daba told parliament during the passage of the bill. Ethiopia donated 10 tons of pharmaceutical drugs last week on Friday (January 3) to Victims of flooding in Somalia.Ethiopian Ambassador to Somalia Jamaludin Mustafa Omar delivered the drugs to Hiiraan region administrator in the presence of the president and house speaker of the regional state and the Ethiopian defense force members serving under the African Union Mission to Somalia (AMISOM). The Ethiopian ambassador said the Ethiopian people and Government would always be in presence when the Somali brothers and sisters are in need of a hand. On the occasion President of Hirshabelle regional state Mohamed Abdi Waare commended the donation and appreciated the Ethiopian soldiers under AMISOM for extending their hands to flood victims in the area in addition to carrying out the peace-building activities. Eritrea Senior Eritrean delegation comprising of Mr. Osman Saleh, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Presidential Advisor Mr. Yemane Gebreab and Mr. Hagos Gebrehiwet, head of Economic Affairs at the PFDJ, participated at the Ministerial Meeting of Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden convened in Riyadh. At the meeting hosted by King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia on Monday (6 January) Minister Osman Saleh reiterated Eritrea's position that the Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden shoulder primary responsibility for the security and development of the Red Sea. Minister Osman further stated that the objective must be to build an effective regional organization with requisite competence and capability. The Ministers that attended the meeting also signed the Charter of the Establishment of the Council of Arab and African Coastal States of the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden. The document will be presented to the Heads of State of the eight member states. 3 Minister of Information Mr. Yemane Gebremeskel met and held talks with the Saudi Minister of Media, Mr. Turki bin Abdullah Al-Shabanah on Tuesday (January 7), in Riyadh. The discussion between the two ministers was focused on scope and modalities of cooperation between the two Ministries in promoting multi-faceted investment and trade as well as security and development in the Red Sea. Djibouti State Councilor and Foreign Minister of China Wang Yi held talks with Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation Mahmoud Ali Youssouf on Thursday (January 9) in Djibouti City. Wang Yi spoke highly of the development of China-Djibouti relations, and said that China is a sincere, reliable and long-term partner of Djibouti. He also thanked Djibouti for its firm support on issues involving China's core interests and major concerns. Wang Yi said, China is willing to view relations with Djibouti from a strategic and long-term perspective, and deepen political mutual trust with Djibouti. Youssouf thanked China for its long-term selfless help and strong support to Djibouti. Youssouf said that Chinese Foreign Minister's first visit to Africa at the beginning of the year reflects China's friendship with African countries and Djibouti.
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