While the 33rd African Union Summit is held in Addis Ababa, the Republic of Djibouti reaffirms its ambition, already announced at the end of 2016, to sit as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council for the 2021 -2022 period. Five of the ten non-permanent members of the Security Council will be elected at the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly to be held in June 2020 in New York. Africa is required by statute to be entrusted with one of these five seats and, according to the tradition of regional rotation adopted by the African Union, it is East Africa’s turn to apply.
In this context, Djibouti is formally challenging the process carried out within the African Union which led to Kenya’s competing nomination. This process took place in violation of the rules and traditions of the organization. Djibouti points out that the texts provide that, in the event of multiple candidacies or lack of consensus, states are chosen according to two principles: that of last rotation and that of frequency. In both cases, Djibouti’s candidacy should have prevailed. Djibouti served on the Security Council for the last time in 1993-1994 and Kenya in 1997-1998. In addition, Djibouti has served only one term in its entire history (1993-1994) while Kenya has served two terms (1977-1978 and 1997-1998).
Djibouti reaffirms its unconditional support for African unity, but also firmly reiterates that the rules democratically adopted between the States of the African Union must apply to all. These rules and traditions essentially guarantee the stability and transparency of the African nomination processes within the United Nations.
Djibouti’s candidacy is fundamentally African and free. Because of its history, Djibouti recognizes both the virtues and the requirements of independence. Because of its history, Djibouti offers an opening towards a plurality of leading economic and strategic partners for the continent, from China to the United States, Europe, and the countries bordering the Red Sea. Due to its unique location at the crossroads of major commercial, political, and diplomatic currents, the Republic of Djibouti holds its neutrality as a cardinal value. It has learned how to reconcile interests that sometimes diverge. Finally, it represents a unique platform in terms of dialogue, mediation, and peaceful conflict resolution.
Djibouti has repeatedly demonstrated its determination and its ability to coordinate strategic efforts for the pacification of the Horn of Africa. The country is actively engaged in the fight against terrorism and in securing maritime trade in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait. Djibouti has also been resolutely involved in the fight against piracy and the protection of refugees by hosting a number of support structures on its soil. In addition to participating in numerous peacekeeping missions under the UN flag, since the early 1990s the country has been engaged in the process of dialogue and peace in Somalia with the deployment of troops through AMISOM (African Union Mission in Somalia).

The Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU) held celebrations at its primary data center located in Addis Ababa to officially inaugurate the new SAP ERP system.
The celebration, which marked the official go live of the SAP system, heralded a new era of efficiency and accountability in the EEU’s billing and reporting capability. It is another step in the ongoing commitment of the Ethiopian government to improve the overall economics and service of the electricity supply industry. The sector has been reviewing its operations across the board to identify opportunities to improve in areas such billing and collections, private investment in generation, capacity building and tariff management.
The EEU operates in a highly complex environment and serves customers in cities across all eleven regional states. It faced challenges in delivering services efficiently while also maintaining full visibility and accountability across all its systems. SAP ERP and SAP CRM were selected by EEU to streamline processes and provide real time visibility. The new system also enables EEU to quickly identify any issues and resolve them promptly, to ensure top class customer support.
“SAP is committed to helping companies run better,” said Pedro Guerreiro, Managing Director for SAP Central Africa. In his address at the opening event, he spoke about the need for partnership and working together across private and public sector. “By smartly leveraging technology, EEU is taking steps to become an intelligent enterprise, able to thrive in the digital age and able to offer its valued customers an enhanced customer experience. We look forward to our ongoing partnership to ensure EEU remains not only the pride of Ethiopia, but a role model for other organizations contributing to economic growth in Ethiopia and the Continent”.

Ethiopians earned a total of 7 medals, including two gold, during the first Pan-African Special Olympics held from January 23 to 30 in Cairo, Egypt.
Ethiopia earned two gold, one silver and four bronze medals in the competition.
The Special Olympics consists of individuals with Intellectual Disabilities which is held for the first time and representatives from Ethiopia participated. The Ethiopian National Association of Peoples with Intellectual Disability has sent the team from its members and it was led by two assistants and 4 competitors.
The team has returned to the country on February 1 and a welcoming and awarding ceremony was held on February 2 at the premises of the Association in Addis Ababa. On the ceremony Deborah Foundation has awarded 50 thousands birr to Gold medalist, 40 thousands to Silver medalist, 30 thousands to Bronze medalist and 20 thousands to the team members.
The Ethiopian Olympic Committee has also granted awards in money to the medalists and team members.

Africa’s economies are growing strongly, but growth alone cannot meet the needs of the continent’s poorest citizens, because “nobody eats GDP,” the African Development Bank’s President, Akinwumi Adesina, said as he unveiled the Bank’s flagship economic report on Thursday.
The 2020 African Economic Outlook (AEO) showed that the continent’s economies are growing well, higher than the global average. The report projected a steady rise in growth in Africa from 3.4% in 2019 to 3.9% in 2020 and 4.1% in 2021.
According to the report, these figures do not tell the whole story. Across the continent, the poor are not seeing enough of the benefits of robust growth. Relatively few African countries posted significant declines in extreme poverty and inequality, which remain higher than in other regions of the world.
Inclusive growth occurred in only 18 of 48 African countries with data, the report revealed.
According to Adesina “Growth must be visible. Growth must be equitable. Growth must be felt in the lives of people.”
The theme of the 2020 Africa Economic Outlook report, Developing Africa’s workforce for the future, calls for swift action to address human capital development in African countries, where inclusive growth has been held back by a mismatch between young workers’ skills and the needs of employers.
The Bank’s flagship report states that increased investments in education is key as well as progressive universalism in education spending—setting high priorities for the poor and disadvantaged and focusing on basic education first where social returns are highest. Its recommendations include improving access to education in remote areas, incentives such as free uniforms and text books, banning child labour and improving teaching standards.
To better match skills with job opportunities, the report recommends that governments need to develop a demand-driven education system in tune with rapidly emerging jobs in the private sector, including software engineers, marketing specialists and data analysts, the report says.
“Africa is blessed with resources, but its future lies in its people…education is the great equaliser. Only by developing our workforce will we make a dent in poverty, close the income gap between rich and poor, and adopt new technologies to create jobs in knowledge-intensive sectors,” said Hanan Morsy, Director of the Macroeconomic Policy, Forecasting and Research Department at the Bank.