The Delegation of German Industry and Commerce for Eastern Africa, through its service entity, AHK Services Eastern Africa Ltd. in cooperation with Renewables Academy (RENAC) AG held a consultative meeting with Ethiopian companies and respective business partners to a conference on energy efficiency and energy self supply in the Ethiopian industry.
Held on Tuesday 29 November 2022 at the Radisson Blu, the conference encouraged exchange on latest technology developments and business opportunities for the Ethiopian industry on the topics of energy efficiency and renewable energy self-sufficiency, between the German companies and Ethiopian stakeholders.
A set of renowned German solution providers presented and discuss their competitive edge in optimizing energy consumption and energy self-supply. Ethiopian stakeholders also got the opportunity for business to business (B2B)-networking with the German companies during and after the conference.
The days following the conference, the German companies were matched with interested Ethiopian companies and stakeholders for B2B meetings in order to assess their energy situation, ideally presenting solutions to optimize their energy consumption and energy self-supply.
Germany, Ethiopia link to optimize energy consumption, self-supply
Conflict, Climate Change drives millions of Ethiopian children out of school
Education Cannot Wait (ECW) and the Norwegian Minister of International Development visit Ethiopia to take stock of education needs in light of the country facing one of the worst humanitarian crises it has seen in decades due to compounding effects of conflict, climate change, malnutrition and displacement.
On their high-level joint mission, Anne BeatheTvinnereim, Norway’s Minister of International Development, Graham Lang, ECW Director of the High-Level Financing Conference and Chief of Education, Birgitte Lange, CEO of Save the Children Norway, and other partners met with children and adolescents impacted by the ongoing crises in the Oromia and Somali regions.
The number of out-of-school children in Ethiopia as a result of these emergencies has spiked from 3.1 million to 3.6 million in just the last six months, according to UNICEF. The recent conflict in Afar, Amhara and Tigray regions have displaced families from their homes. Similarly, the ongoing violence in parts of Oromia is causing further civilian displacement.
The worst drought in over four decades has made matters even worse with 24.1 million people affected, including 12.6 million children. Over 1 million people have been displaced by the drought in the Somali region alone. Across the country, 20 million people are in need of food assistance, according to the World Food Programme.
The delegation visited schools and communities benefitting from holistic education support funded by ECW and delivered in partnership with UNICEF, Save the Children Ethiopia, and local partners in support of the Government. In three years, the multi-year programme has reached over 250,000 vulnerable girls and boys with ‘whole-of-child’ interventions that include school-feeding, psychosocial support, teacher training, school materials, accelerated learning, gender transformative approaches, and the construction and rehabilitation of school facilities.
ECW has invested 55 million dollars in Ethiopia since 2017, with an additional 5 million dollars investment being finalized to further scale up education response to the drought.
City Admin imposes ban on property transfer
Addis Ababa City administration fully imposes the suspension of any property transfer in the capital.
A letter issued on December 8 by the city administration for city bureaus and sub cites now explicitly underlined that as of December 8 any transfer of property has been banned for an unspecified period.
The letter that was signed by Binyam Mikru, Cabinet Affairs Head at the Mayor’s Office, highlighted that in line with harmonizing and taking stringent measures on the illegal activities in the capital, the ban has been applied.
Recently, the city administration had applied different tactful instruments to control illegal activities particularly to land and related sectors.
For instance it had banned the service on land and land related issues on August last year which was lifted after a few months. Similarly it imposed the same measure at the beginning of the Ethiopian New Year particularly on the power of attorney similar to instances taken in previous years.
This time around the letter that was sent to 11 sub-cites and six city offices did not however explain at length what drove to this particular decision. It only highlighted that the decision was made to provide a positive impact and to take legal actions on illegal activities being conducted in the capital.
Regarding the suspension, it is stated that the ban to transfer was imposed on fixed assets but was not clear if it was for individuals or companies.
In the ban applied on September, the city administration suspended transfer of properties through individuals that have a power of attorney on behalf of the owners.
However, the ban was eased in October for those who are; disabled, unable to move because of illness, diasporas living abroad and companies that were represented by officials.
Prof. Stefan Dercon shares development angles at the ‘Chocolate & Coffee Talks’
The embassy of Belgium here in Ethiopia launched the first of a series of discussion events: ‘Chocolate & Coffee Talks’ with an aim of sharing expertise from world class scholars. This time around, discussions were held with the prominent economy and policy professor and author of ‘Gambling on Development’, Stefan Dercon, who was on an Addis Ababa visit.
At the session that gathered various local and foreign stakeholders he presented his book that discusses ‘Development with a Case Study of Ethiopia’.
At the discussions, Stefan articulated why some countries prosper while others fail. He also highlighted why others cannot be found in specific set of policies but rather in key development bargain of the elites.
