Mekonnen and a high-level delegation arrived in Beijing on May 25 at the invitation of his Chinese counterpart Qin Gang, which runs until tomorrow. The agenda included the inauguration of the new embassy and residential building in Addis Ababa and various meetings with officials to strengthen cooperative relations.
Thus, the meeting with the director of the China International Development Cooperation Agency (Cidca), Luo Zhaohui, took place, during which the Ethiopian Vice Prime Minister praised the financial and other types of aid provided by the Asian country based on the principles of mutual benefit.
For his part, Zhaohui reminded that Ethiopia is not only a great partner but also an influential country in Africa that deserves the necessary support in areas such as agriculture, education and river development, among others. Cidca is a foreign aid organization to better coordinate and impact China’s aid programs.
Another important meeting was held last Thursday with China’s Vice President Han Zheng to discuss current cooperation between the two countries and interest in expanding the trade sector.
Mekonnen thanked the Asian giant for its strong support in restoring peace in Addis Ababa and expressed his government’s willingness to help implement Chinese initiatives, the local foreign ministry quoted as saying.
Zheng welcomed the African nation’s support for Beijing in safeguarding fundamental interests, saying they are willing to work together to build a high-quality Silk Road, expand practical cooperation and promote people-to-people exchanges.
Last Monday, the Ethiopian government rejected a resolution passed at the recent Arab States Summit on the Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD) expressing Egypt’s hostility to the water project.
This was echoed in a statement from the local foreign ministry, which expressed Addis Ababa’s dismay at the resolution, which it described as “an affront to the African Union and its member states, which are working towards an amicable negotiated settlement”. thing.” of GERD”.
The text recalled that in 2015 Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan signed the Declaration of Principles Agreement, which clearly defined the construction of the dam in parallel with negotiations on the guidelines and standards for the initial filling and operation of the dam.
She is confident that the League, particularly members of the African Union, will distance themselves from this resolution and avoid any misuse of this space by Egypt, which could result in a rupture in long-standing Afro-Arab friendship and historic ties.
On the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the AU on May 25, the President of the Commission of this political organization, Moussa Faki Mahamat, called for the confidence of the peoples of the continent and the pan-African spirit of the founding fathers of the African Union Organization for African Unity. (OUA), name since 1963.
Speaking in the Nelson Mandela Hall of the AU headquarters, Mahamat lamented that many member states are currently in crisis, wracked by deadly internal conflicts fueled by the unbridled pursuit of ultimate power, resulting in significant loss of life.
Other factors, he warned, such as unconstitutional changes in government, insecurity, the spread of terrorism, violent extremism and the impact of climate change are good reasons to hold a meditation in solidarity with those displaced or exiled as a result of the conflict.
“The imperative duty that solemnly challenges us today, in this international environment marked by receding identities and outbreaks of protectionism, is to bring real and dynamic content to this unity as we resolve to build the Africa we are want”, is the conclusion.
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