An Eritrean delegation led by President Isaias Afeworki will visit the Amhara regional state, said Nigusu Tilahun, head of the regional state’s communication affairs bureau.
A delegation led by speaker of the council of the regional state will also travel to Asmara soon, Nigusu said on Facebook.
A delegation from the regional state traveled to Asmara this week and met with representatives of the Amhara Democratic Forces Movement (ADFM).
After the meeting, the two sides signed a reconciliation agreement.
The agreement provides for the ADFM to pursue its political activities in Ethiopia through peaceful means.
Eritrea’s President to visit Amhara Regional State
Afreximbank releases half-year results, shows USD 343 million gross revenue
The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has released its unaudited financial statements for the half-year period ended 30 June 2018, showing gross revenue of $343 million. The figure represents a $21 million increase over the gross revenue for the same period in 2017.
The results, released by the Bank in Cairo today, attributed the higher gross revenue to a significant increase in fee income by 119 per cent while interest and similar income recorded a 2 per cent growth compared to prior year performance.
The Bank’s attributable earnings over the six months also amounted to $110 million, beating the budget by 34 per cent.
Annual Book Fair in Somalia
Thousands of book enthusiasts have thronged the annual Mogadishu Book Fair, which opened its doors to the public on Wednesday.
The three-day literary festival, which ends today, has brought together writers, scholars, authors, intellectuals, poets, musicians and other literary giants from Somalia and the diaspora.
More than 36 guests and twenty renowned poets from the Middle East, Asia, Europe, North America, the East and Horn of Africa region are attending the three-day festival.
About fifty (50) new titles are on display at the Book Fair, while more than two-thousand books on 178 different topics are being exhibited.
While officially opening the annual fair on Wednesday, Somalia’s Deputy Prime Minister Mr. Mahdi Guled Khadar, underscored the importance of inculcating a culture of reading in the country.
“Knowledge should be our guiding principle; we should use our minds creatively. Writing, reading and literary competitions, as well creative ideas, are a prerequisite for development,” said the Deputy Prime Minister.
For the first time in its history, the Mogadishu Book Fair has introduced a reading tent for children. At least 80-children are attending the fair and interacting with storytellers and writers of children’s books.
“I think this is going to be something great for the parents and children because ultimately what the Book Fair is all about is to promote literacy, reading not just for schooling purposes but reading for fun, reading for pleasure, promoting anything that is related to knowledge, scholarship and uniting authors and professors and poets and playwrights, Somalis and non-Somalis, giving them a chance to network, benefit from each other so that it will contribute, as I say every year, to the building of the new Somalia that will be better tomorrow than today,” said Mohamed Diini, the fair’s organizer.
Somali – Canadian novelist and journalist Hassan Gedi Santur is exhibiting at the fair for the first time. His anthology of short stories called ‘Mediterranean’ gives a look at the African migration crisis and the perilous journeys through the Mediterranean, in search of a better life abroad.
“As a writer I feel nothing is more important than writing and reading for the culture, for the civilization of a nation,” said Hassan.
“So instead of fighting and disagreeing with weapons; to be able to disagree and share perspectives through language, through ideas, I think is the basis of any thriving nation. I think this is going to go a long way to helping that and building a more prosperous democratic society,” he added.
A first time author Halima Hassan Tacshiir says the Book Fair has inspired her to write more. “This Book Fair has encouraged young people who were skeptics about writing, to start putting their ideas together and write a book,” remarked the young writer.
Renowned writer Dr. Shafie Sharif Mohamed described the Book Fair as a meeting hub of creatives. “Mogadishu Book Fair is the yearly meeting hub of Somali writers. This is the forum where people from all walks of life present their ideas and gets feedback from experts or people with more experience. It also gives Somali youth a chance to get to see thousands of books which are not available anywhere else. It is a good opportunity for the youth, as well as for the writers,” he said.
The fair is another demonstration of the atmosphere of peace and stability being enjoyed in Somalia, as a result of gains made on the security front. The presence of the AU troops in the Horn of Africa country has ensured progress in the security, political and socio-economic fronts.
The African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM), is committed to working with the Somali security forces, to spur growth and continue providing an environment where similar activities can take place. (AMISOM)
Belay Bekel Waya comes out with new short story collection
A new book called Kebashager Bashager, which literally means beyond what is beyond, by the young poet and author Belay Bekele Weya was released three weeks ago. The 144 page book included a series of short fiction stories and was named after a story based on a poem.
The author uses his unique perspective to develop characters and present his short stories in a continuous form while representing chapters with poems.
Belay is known for his social media activities which mainly focus on societal criticism. Eyehedu Metebek, which was published in 2014, was his first book which later was followed by Enkilf Eena Set, Afkemeleh Poem collection CD and Ke Setegna Adari Yetekoreje Saq. His next book called Yeshererit Kenef is already in the pipeline according to Belay.
The fulltime author, Belay, told Capital that he rewrote the book after he lost the original when his laptop was stolen. “We were planning to inaugurate the book at the reading for life exhibition but the print was delayed so we decided to do it at the National Theater in September,” said Belay.
Belay writes often about society and has praised Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed for his unifying agenda.
“The reason that I dedicated the book to him, among others, is that he enabled us to witness the change that we all have been fighting for,” said Belay.
Belay started using his full name, including his grandfather’s, regularly after he read that the legendary Shaka Bekele Weya, originally from Gurage area, defeated the Italian troops using modern military operations and patriotic acts.
“After I read the history of Shaka and when my father and grandfather’s name became the same as his is when I started using my name,” Belay told Capital.
In the coming Ethiopian year Belay is getting ready to release one poem collection called Yesererit Kinf.
“I am completing a fully fledged fiction which I hope to release in the coming year,” he said.
