Ethiopia knows full well that peace is the salient prerequisite for the continent especially for the volatile and conflicts-rocked East African Region. That is why its foreign policy is tailored in a fashion that forges amicable relationships with neighboring countries and beyond setting in mind common growth.
The significance of Ethiopia’s geopolitical positioning is paramount be it for East Africa or the world.That goes without saying.
Once Somalia’s peace was marred, for the country succumbed to statelessness. Utilizing the hotbed created for terrorism,Alshabab was raring its grotesque face in the Red Sea and its environs. The Sea had turned a spawning ground of pirates strangulating global sea transport. In taking the hustle out, Ethiopia, marked for being a votary of peace, volunteered.Scouring documents one could brush up one’s mind for the phenomena was not an unfolding in the distant past.
Against the above backdrop, the price Ethiopia paid on the altar of maintaining global peace sticks out as the saying goes “a friend in need is a friend indeed.” Aside from helping in stabilizing Somalia, it has immensely helped in ensuring the safety of the former’s people. True to its glorious peace maintaining record on the global arena, Ethiopia had dispatched its defense force to Somalia, South Sudan and Darfur, among others. The turnaround did obligate sacrifice.Especially the terrorist group Alshebab was emasculated. Devoid of a spine it was made as good as dead in east African region.
The relative tranquility that ensued following the peace restoring task has allowed countries of the region to turn their face towards development and affluence as well as to roll the ball of gigantic projects that could render their respective citizens beneficiaries of sustainable development.
Here, it suffices to mention the state of the win-win Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) built on a trans boundary river and which is nearing completion thanks to its collective security stance.The perks from the dam are extrapolated to go beyond Ethiopia’s perimeter and benefit Africa. The demand for Ethiopia-generated hydropower has made a spike shedding light on the fact that the country has succeeded in proving a prominent development ally.
Also parallel to the effort of achieving self-sufficiency in food, Ethiopia is striving to plow a vast array of fallow lands, modernizing farming techniques and utilizing modern technologies in a bid to troubleshoot the shortage of food in the region.
Interconnecting the region via road networks and telecommunication is also one of the tasks Ethiopia is passionately pursuing to spur the region’s march on the avenue of development.
Given the aforementioned facts, one could effortlessly tell Ethiopia’s worth-emulating exemplary role when it comes to collective peace, security, development, economy and regional issues.
Not only that, resilient Ethiopia is also a role-model in amicably resolving internal conflicts via dialogue as witnessed in the Pretoria agreement. For an enduring solution it is due to embrace a national dialogue. This could also make it a standard bearer.
To cross pollinate ideas on peace, security, development, taskforce exchange and regional issues PMs of different African countries have discussed with Ethiopian Higher Officials. Here, it suffices to mention the Libyan and Rwandan PMs. This indicates its diplomacy is going in tandem with set plan.
The fact that the 4th UN conference for development financing is to be held here in Ethiopia is heartwarming for it is in consonance with the aforementioned fact. Besides Ethiopia, specially, its capital Addis is becoming an ideal place for meeting ,conference and exhibitions and the like.
Ethiopia’s impact-creating role stands out. This push has a rippling effect to the benefit of common growth.
The Ethiopian herald April 28/2024
