Blinken, the immigration and finance ministers move a week in Ethiopia
Blinken worked out a two-day work schedule in Addis Ababa and left for Nigeria on Thursday on a tour international analysts say is aimed at countering Russian and Chinese influence in the region, after holding talks with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed over the Tigray peace deal. (north).
He also spoke with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Demeke Mekon, Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, Workneh Gebeyehu, and Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat.
Before his departure, the senior US official announced the delivery of $331 million in humanitarian aid, amid strengthening the African country’s relations with Moscow, and the latter’s intentions to expand existing cooperation.
Blinken’s visit coincided with that of China’s special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Xue Ping, who reiterated Beijing’s position that the safest path to resolving complex conflicts on the continent is in the hands of Africans.
On the other hand, the Ethiopian capital hosted the Regional Ministerial Forum on Migration, an event chaired for the fourth time by the national government and attended by representatives of 11 African countries and international agencies.
During the closing of the event the day before, Ethiopia was endorsed for another year as chair of the forum, which for a week was a space for discussion on protecting the human and labor rights of migrant workers and reviewing bilateral agreements.
IOM Regional Director for the East and Horn of Africa, Mohamed Abdiker, has commended Addis Ababa’s leadership in strengthening regional cooperation in the field of migration.
The efforts of the Ethiopian government to improve migration governance and to adopt a regulatory framework were also acknowledged by IOM Deputy Chief of Mission in Ethiopia Jian Zhao.
Under the theme “Aligning Labor Migration Policies in the East and Horn of Africa: A Unified Approach to Safe, Regular and Humane Labor Migration”, the Forum brought together ministers from Burundi, Djibouti, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.
In economic matters, analysis of current prospects in the region and growth prospects were some of the issues focused on discussions at the 55th Conference of African Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development (CoM2023).
According to the official website of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the meeting will run until March 21 under the theme “Promoting Recovery and Transformation in Africa to Reduce Inequalities and Vulnerabilities,” with representatives of member states and US entities. Nations system.
Economic growth in Africa will rise slightly to 3.9%, after falling to 3.6% last year, Adam El-Harika, director of the Department of Macroeconomics and Governance at the Economic Commission for Africa, said that governments need to coordinate monetary and fiscal policy.
He specified that in order to advance the sustainable development goals of the United Nations 2030 Agenda, macroeconomic fundamentals must also be improved and structural transformation deepened.
Change must go beyond the national level. Reforming the global financial architecture is key to accessing much-needed long-term financing with better credit terms from the multilateral development banks.”
Omani Rial / Nimr
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