ADDIS ABABA (FBC)-Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedu Andargachew, has held talks on phone with this Canadian counterpart François-Philippe Champagne.
In the talks held on May 6, 2020, the two discussed ways to reinforce the bilateral relation and international cooperation between the two countries.
The two sides agreed to strengthen their cooperation in the fight against the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Gedu said Ethiopia will work to give the age-old ties between the two counties a new height. The Foreign Minister also briefed Ethiopia’s COVID-19 containment efforts
The Ethiopia Herald May 8,2020
Sudan appoints first ambassador to the US in more than 20 years
Sudan has appointed its first ambassador to the United States, the first such envoy in more than 20 years.
Authorities in both countries had agreed to improve ties following the fall of longtime President Omar al-Bashir, who was overthrown by the military in April last year in the wake of mass protests seeking civilian rule, Aljazeera reported.
The foreign ministry of Sudan’s transitional government said on Monday it had chosen Nureldin Satti, a veteran diplomat, as ambassador in Washington, DC, and that US authorities had approved his nomination.
Satti served as Sudan’s ambassador to France in the 1990s and later worked with United Nations peacekeeping missions in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Rwanda.
A Department of State representative declined to provide any insight on plans to appoint a US ambassador to Sudan, saying there was no specific information on the timing but that the decision late last year to exchange ambassadors was “a historic step”.
In December, following a visit by Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok to Washington, DC, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the two countries would exchange ambassadors again after a 23-year absence.
The US diplomat would be nominated by President Donald Trump and needs to be confirmed by the country’s Senate.
Both countries had for almost a quarter of a century appointed only charges d’affaires, a diplomatic rank that heads an embassy in the absence of an official ambassador, to run their missions in Washington and Khartoum.
(Source: Aljazeera)
The Ethiopia Herald May 8,2020
Kenya, Somalia and Rwanda hit by deadly flooding
Flooding as a result of recent heavy rains has killed almost 200 people across Kenya, the government says.
The water has also washed away 8,000 acres of crops and some vital infrastructure.
In Rwanda more than 45 people have died and floods have killed 16 in Somalia. In Uganda high water levels have trapped an estimated 200 patients inside a hospital.
East African countries have also been hit by a locust invasion and Covid-19.
The authorities in Kenya have told people in some of the affected areas to move away from “potential danger”.
Meteorologists predict that the rains will continue throughout May, reports the BBC’s Patience Atuhaire in Uganda’s capital, Kampala.
(Source: BBC)
The Ethiopia Herald May 8,2020
Diaspora Trust Fund procures over 1 Mln. USD Worth COVID-19 Equipment, Supplies
ADDIS ABABA (ENA)- The Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund disclosed that it has procured Protective Personal Equipment (PPE) and related medical supplies worth 1.173 million USD to safeguard the well-being of frontline health personnel working to save lives across Ethiopia in the campaign against COVID-19.
According to ENA, the Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund (EDTF) said immediately after the establishment of the EDTF Emergency COVID-19 Mitigation window/subaccount on 4 April 2020, it formed an Implementation Committee to liaise with the ministries of health and finance regarding the items and supplies needed to combat the pandemic and undertake the required steps to secure the supplies.
The EDTF Implementation Committee managed to conduct an expedited international competitive solicitation which resulted in the procurement of the items and supplies listed below from SNS Global Pharma Corporation, it further stated.
EDTF Advisory Council Chairperson, Professor Alemayehu G. Mariam said Ethiopian Diaspora Trust Fund is doing everything possible to mitigate the COVID-19 pandemic impact in Ethiopia.
“We allocated USD 1 million initial start-up from the EDTF ongoing fund and mobilized an additional USD 130 thousand to-date under a new EDTF COVID-19 Mitigation subaccount,” he added.
The chairperson further stated that EDTF’s support will be used by the front-line healthcare staff in hospitals around the country, but targeting in particular those hospitals and health facilities in more disadvantaged areas.
Professor Alemayehu thanked “the Ethiopian Diaspora in 93 countries that continue to contribute to EDTF helping it finance critical needs of disadvantaged Ethiopians.”
Treasurer of the Advisory Council and Chairman of the EDTF Implementation Committee, Bisrat Aklilu noted that “during this crucial period when the global demand for medical items and supplies to combat COVID-19 far outstrips the available supply, thanks to the continued timely support of EDTF donors and the work of members of the EDTF IC.”
“We have managed to secure the items needed to combat COVID-19 competitively, in record time and in close consultation with Ministry of Health,” he added.
The Ethiopia Herald May 8,2020
Virus Drives South Africa Business Sentiment to 35-Year Low
South African business confidence slumped to all-time low in April showing the economic impact of the first month of a nationwide lockdown aimed at curbing the spread of the coronavirus pandemic.
A sentiment index compiled by the South African Chamber of Commerce and Industry fell to 77.8 from 89.9 the previous month, the business group said in a statement sent by text message Thursday. That’s the lowest since the index started in 1985 and even worse than the median estimate of 80 by three economists in a Bloomberg survey.
South Africa implemented one of the most severe lockdowns in the world from March 27. For five weeks, almost all activity expect essential services were shuttered and most citi zens were only allowed to leave their homes to buy food, seek medical care and collect welfare grants. It moved from the maximum disease-alert level 5 to a national level 4 on May 1, allowing the phased reopening of some businesses and industries, subject to strict precautions.
The group Business for South Africa, whose members include Sacci, Business Unity South Africa and Business Leadership South Africa, has urged the government to accelerate its phased approach to restarting the activity. The economy could contract by as much as 16.1% this year and shed more than 7 million jobs, depending on how long it takes to contain the coronavirus pandemic and for the economy to recover to the end of 2020, Treasury estimates showed.
The Ethiopia Herald May 8,2020
