
Today’s guest is His Excellency Stian Christensen, Norway’s Ambassador to Ethiopia and Permanent Representative to the African Union.
Ambassador Christensen, a seasoned diplomat with postings in Turkey, Brussels, and Nairobi before assuming his role in Addis Ababa in 2022, shares insights into Norway’s multifaceted engagement with Ethiopia.
The discussion traces the origins of bilateral relations back to the wartime friendship between Emperor Haile Selassie and Norway’s King Haakon, through the humanitarian work of Norwegian NGOs in the 1970s, to today’s partnership focused on climate action, trade, and cultural exchange.
In this wide-ranging and exclusive interview, Ambassador Christensen reflects on the historical foundations that link Ethiopia and Norway, outlines the current priorities in bilateral cooperation, and highlights promising areas for future growth— from art exhibitions in Oslo to electric mobility in Addis Ababa.
His insights offer a window into how two nations—separated by geography but connected by values—are working together to build a more sustainable and peaceful future. Have a nice read!
How do you assess the current relationship and cooperation between the two nations?
I would say that we have excellent cooperation now. We have particularly strong cooperation with Ethiopia on climate and forestry, where we work with the Ministry of Planning, Ministry of Finance, and Ministry of Agriculture.
That has been a longstanding cooperation. We have been for a long time supporting the educational sector, working with the Ministry of Education. And we have a lot of other support on peace and humanitarian issues. And I would say also globally we cooperate, as we both share the same outlook, I believe, on the world and the importance of the multilateral system. Therefore, it’s a very mature, good relationship.
How do you see the Macro Economic Reform Ethiopia is implementing at the right time?
First, I would just commend the government for a very courageous and needed reform programme, which it is doing and it is clearly very committed to. So that is very good, and it’s clearly, as I said, a needed one. So full honors to the government for pushing this through.
But of course it also needs to be sustained. It’s important that the reforms are implemented and that the government continues its commitment to this agenda going forward.
How do cultural exchanges between the two nations support the relations more? I really believe that cultural exchange is one key aspect of our relations that builds this people-to-people understanding of each other and creates awareness of each other. Norwegians discover Ethiopia and Ethiopians can discover Norway through cultural exchanges. So it’s a very important dimension in any bilateral relationship.
We haven’t had the capacity here at the embassy to do a lot in that regard, but I would like to highlight that there was a private initiative by Nordic Black Theatre, who came last year to Ethiopia and had a great performance in the National Theatre, with a completely sold-out house and it was a great success. And it was a reminder of how important these can be and how much they are in demand, cultural exchanges.
More recently, I would also like to highlight a very interesting event, which was organized by Makush Art Gallery here in Addis, which is an art gallery that promotes young Ethiopian artists, primarily painters, led by Nathaniel Yohannes. And he himself wanted to bring Ethiopian artists to Oslo, and he organized, with some help from partners, including some support from the embassy, an eight-day exhibition of Ethiopian paintings in the centre of Oslo.
And it was incredibly successful. Many Norwegians came to not only view the paintings, but also to buy them. A lot of Norwegians purchased beautiful paintings, so a lot of Ethiopian art is now on the walls of many private houses in Norway. And that’s the type of thing that really opens the eyes of Norwegians to Ethiopia, and enables them to discover a country that, of course, is geographically far away.
How are Ethiopia and Norway working to enhance collaboration in development activities like clean energy?
We have a quite broad-based support through the Norwegian Agency for Development and through the embassy in different areas. The biggest support element, as I mentioned, is on climate and forestry, which is about reforestation, it’s about stopping deforestation, and it’s also about agriculture and climate-smart agriculture, which is agriculture in changing climates and under different environments. All these elements need to go hand-in-hand to make sure that the population growth can be sustained without threatening the forest. So that is, I would say, highlighted as the biggest element in our bilateral cooperation.
Norway supports Ethiopian efforts in forest conservation, as you said, like the REDD+, to reduce deforestation. Can you tell us more about this support? And how do you see the Ethiopian Green Legacy?
The Green Legacy Initiative is a great initiative, and of course what we do on climate and forestry is in support of the Green Legacy Initiative; it’s in support of the government’s own ambitious agenda. And we have been doing this since 2011, so it’s 14 years, and the reason why we do it is of course based on our belief in the importance of preserving the environment, but it’s also, and primarily because we see that the government of Ethiopia is committed to it, and we want to support the Ethiopian government’s own agenda.
What is very interesting, after having arrived here, is how I recognize that Ethiopia is a water tower for the Horn of Africa. The rivers in the highlands of Ethiopia, they flow down in all directions, to benefit Sudan, to benefit Egypt, to benefit Kenya, to benefit Somalia. So it is not just about the climate and the environment in Ethiopia. What the Ethiopian government is doing by focusing on the Green Legacy Initiative, focusing on smart agriculture, on reducing deforestation and on reforestation, it is about preserving and taking responsibility for the whole Horn of Africa. And I think that needs to be recognized as well, because if they were not to do that, it would impact far beyond the borders of Ethiopia. So this is very important, and this is why we work to support an agenda which is regional, and it is about peace, and it is about economic prosperity.
Can you mention what kind of items your country imports from Ethiopia?
It’s agricultural products mainly, cereals, even teff, and coffee and tea. So it’s the classic products. And the other way, there are investments in horticulture and flowers in Ethiopia, and there is, of course, an interest way beyond that. There could be interest in the energy field. And one area that I find particularly interesting is to explore, again, I haven’t really made enough headway on it, is the electric vehicle revolution that you are introducing here in Ethiopia, which is, again, very commendable, but where we have a lot of experience in Norway from our last years of also pushing the same EV agenda and trying to promote the sales of electric vehicles in Norway, and where I believe that there is experiences that we could share in order to support this agenda also in Ethiopia.
How do you think can Ethiopia and Norway further invigorate their ties?
I think the starting point, as I mentioned, the commercial ties, is an area where I would like to – and I try to have a close dialogue with Ethiopia on how we can expand cooperation and expand commercial ties, business, export, import. I think that is particularly the area where I would like to see more happening. There can be, of course, also other areas.
But the key to all of this is that we need to discover each other, as I said initially. The cultural exchanges lead to understanding and knowledge. And discovering each other only happens through contacts. And it can be at all levels. It can be at the political level, at the business level, at the level of tourists, or at the level of cultural exchanges or student exchanges. And all these contacts between citizens of Ethiopia and Norway, they spark an interest for more. And that’s where you have that curiosity and the fascination and the respect for the other, which generates more. So the bottom line or the key element is contact. And that is where I am very grateful to Ethiopian Airlines for their direct flights from Addis to Oslo and, of course, Oslo to Addis. And this is really one key element in bringing our peoples together and then creating that contact, which again should lead to more and more interaction on all levels to the benefit of all.
What kind of tourism attraction and how can the two countries support each other in this area?
Tourism is one good case where, as I said, we have the starting point of a direct flight, which is very positive. I think you mentioned on the Ethiopian side there is no shortage of things to show to tourists, both in terms of history, in terms of culture, in terms of beautiful landscapes. In Addis, of course, you have many monuments, you have many museums, but way beyond you have historical places like Lalibela, Gondar, and Aksum, of course. And when you go south or east to Harar, there’s so much to see in this country. And you have also a domestic flight network with Ethiopian, which is excellent.
Again, when it comes to Ethiopia, there are two challenges. One is, of course, the level of conflict, in some places. In addition, the other one, which I would like to see, is more private investment in tourism infrastructure, because I think there is a shortage of good tourism infrastructure in Ethiopia, which would be part of what would attract tourists to come. But everything is really in place because you have, as I said, the most incredible diverse country with so much to see, so you would need many, many vacations here to cover all the things that Ethiopia has to offer.
How can educational institutions in both countries collaborate to enhance mutual understanding and knowledge sharing?
We have quite a few cooperation programmes partly financed by the Norwegian Agency for Development and partly by the embassy. So there is quite a lot of cooperation between several academic institutions. Addis Ababa University will be one of them, and partner universities in Norway. We have Mekelle University, Hawasa University, working with a sister university in Oslo, or just outside Oslo. So there is a lot of that, and I really think that that is part of that.
Beyond the fact that you benefit from the academic and the scientific knowledge exchange, which is very important, it is also the people-to-people contact. And I always say that all the Ethiopians who have a PhD from a Norwegian university, they are also, of course, ambassadors of Norway, talking in Ethiopia about Norway and helping me in doing my job of promoting Norway. But equally, all those Norwegian academics who have been in contact with and who have either been here or had visiting scholars, they develop a fascination and a knowledge and understanding of Ethiopia. So this is a very key element in the contact that I was talking about earlier.
How do you view the cooperation between the European Union and the African Union at the current time?
I know you have the African Continental Free Trade Agreement, which is still a long way from being fully implemented. But I would really like to see the AU pushing that free trade agreement, integrating the African continent, because that is really for me the path to peace and economic prosperity, by linking the countries of this continent economically. And I think that is where they could be inspired by the example from the European Union and push forward, and I hope to see more of that going forward.
Ethiopia is selling electricity for Kenya, Djibouti and Sudan. And it is connected by roads with Kenya, and trains with Djibouti. How do you see such projects in creating regional integration, especially in what you call East African countries?
That is the key to success, because there really is so much benefit to all the countries of the Horn. And that is, of course, the origin of IGAD as well. Integrate economically, and you benefit economically, and the costs of conflict go up. Nobody is really, well, it is going to be much harder to contemplate conflict if you have a lot to lose because of the strong commercial ties.
So I think the issue of exporting energy is very important. Building proper infrastructure within and between these countries is absolutely important. But you also have to facilitate border control, or the border checkpoint, so that it is easy to travel across borders. It must be easy to bring goods across borders, so that you can export them easily. So there are lots of things that need to happen, but it is absolutely the right starting point. Integrate the Horn, and you will see economic benefit pushing out conflict.
Last year, Norway supported Ethiopia with $25 million for climate change initiatives. Do you have any specific figures to share regarding this support?
The figure you mentioned is correct. Last year, Norway provided approximately $25 million in support focused on climate and forestry-related efforts. However, if we look over the span of several years, our contributions have been significantly higher. We’ve also committed to providing a substantial amount of funding once Ethiopia becomes ready to engage in carbon trading by selling its carbon quotas. Overall, our annual support portfolio to Ethiopia is around $100 million.
Thank you very much.
Thank you
BY SAMARAY KAHSSAI
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD SATURDAY 5 JULY 2025