News in Brief FM Gedu holds bilateral phone conversations with Estonian, Chinese and Irish Counterparts Bureau of STC Meets to Support Continental Strategy on the COVID-19 Pandemic FAO calls for Investments in Preparedness and Anticipatory Actions against Locust Swarm African Union Opens COVID-19 Diagnostic Laboratory in Ethiopia UNHCR calls for Massive Humanitarian Action in Somalia Africa and the African Union Huawei Technologies, represented by its CEO of the Ethiopia Office has donated 10,000 surgical masks to the African Union Commission to support its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. KilengaNaftal, Ag. Director of the African Union Medical and Health Services…

News in Brief Ethiopia Participates in the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit on COVID-19 response A Pledge for Africa President Isaias Afwerki visits Ethiopia for a two-day Summit with PM Abiy Ahmed High-Level Meeting on Somalia calls for Continued Support to the Country   Africa and the African Union The Ministers in charge of Communication and ICT, met through Video conferencing on Tuesday (May 05) as the Bureau of the Specialized Technical Committee on Communication and ICT, organized by the African Union Commission (AUC) to consider strategies and actions to support the continental strategy on the COVID-19 pandemic. In a communiqué…

By Negus Kebede As the Novel Coronavirus (Covid-19) is gradually taking its awful roots in sub-Saharan Africa, vivid manifestations of economic trilemma seem to be densely looming on the horizon. Many economic analysts are raising the gravity of the matter as the continent is confronted with an uphill struggle of mobilizing resources to contain the pandemic, a pressing need to stimulate and keep afloat economic sectors and servicing onerous external debt. These profound anxieties around societal health and economic wellbeing in Africa and elsewhere in the world tend to gravitate towards the unforeseen devastation set off by the pandemic.  In…

News in Brief Why the Global Debt of Poor Nations Must Be Canceled The 3rd Meeting of the Bureau of the Assembly of the African Union Heads of State and Government on COVID 19 INTERPOL launches a three-year Support Program to AFRIPOL   Africa and the African Union In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), the African Union (AU) and the Government of Rwanda have decided to postpone by one year the second Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF2020) initially set to take place from 1 to 7 September 2020 in Kigali, Rwanda. This decision was endorsed by…

News in Brief IGAD Council of Ministers Discusses the Situation in South Sudan… …and Pending Issues need to be solved for Sustainable Peace in South Sudan, FM Gedu Says African Leaders Urge Private Sector to Partake in Continental Fight against COVID-19 AU Peace and Security Council Discusses Impact of COVID-19 on Peace and Security in Africa   Africa and the African Union A 71st extraordinary session of the IGAD Council of Ministers was held on Thursday (April 23) via video link to follow up on the progress of the implementation of the South Sudan peace agreement and the impact of…

News in Brief UN Chooses Addis Ababa as one of the Departure Points for “Solidarity Flights” against COVID-19 IGAD to establish Regional Ministerial Taskforce in fighting COVID-19 Highlights of the 3rd Video Briefing about Measures taken by Government against COVID-19   Africa and the African Union The Chairperson of the African Union (AU) Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat has condemned the decision of US President Donald Trump to halt its funding of the World Health Organization (WHO). Trump announced on Tuesday (April 14) that the United States will immediately halt all funding for the UN health agency. The Chairperson called the…

By Teshome Toga Chanaka* April 15, 2020 The outbreak of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) was significant in the calendar of Chinese as it coincided with the beginning of the new Chinese spring festival, with an estimated movement of over 60 million Chinese throughout the country. Since its startling outburst in Wuhan, China, towards the end of 2019, COVID-19 has now become a global pandemic. At the early stage of the spread of the virus not few wrongly perceived it as a predicament solely affecting China. The reluctance and the pretense of hesitancy not to take the matter seriously and lack of…

News in Brief   African Union Bureau of Heads of State and Government Hold Second Virtual Summit to Tackle COVID-19 IGAD Ministers of Health Call for Action to Combating COVID-19 Highlights of Government’s Video briefing about the Status of the COVID-19 Pandemic in Ethiopia Leaders Reaffirm Support to the WHO and its Leader   Africa and the African Union President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Africa, in his capacity as Chairperson of the African Union, convened the second teleconference of the Bureau of the African Union Heads of State and Government to track the progress of…

By Negus Kebede April 06, 2020 Reversal of Multilateralism? It is plain as the noses on our faces that the viral influence of the COVID-19 pandemic is evolving to be a colossal stress test for multilateralism, and engaging a reverse gear of multilateralism by some governments posing a jeopardy to pandemic response capacities of individual countries. The unfolding manifestations are global supply chain breakdowns with most nations hoarding medical supplies and implementing travel bans and airport border closures, prompting some to say globalization seems to be in a sorry state. At this point, it might look rather insensitive to gauge…

News in Brief Leaders of IGAD member States Vow to join hands to fight COVID-19 AU Calls for continental Coordinated Response to arrest the rapid spread of the COVID-19 Pandemic   Africa and the African Union   The Heads of State and Government of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) on Monday (March 30) convened an Extraordinary Summit via Video Conference to deliberate on a regional IGAD strategy to combat the spread of the Corona Virus (COVID-19) in the region. (See article) President Matamela Cyril Ramaphosa, President of the Republic of South Arica, in his capacity as Chairperson of the…