BRICS Summit Endorses Ethiopia’s Entry in to the Group
The South African city of Johannesburg hosted the 15th BRICS Summit from 22 to 24 August 2023. Leaders of Member States including Chinese President Xi Jinping, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva attended the Summit while Russian President Vladmir Putin was represented by Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
Ethiopia was among the six countries that were invited to join the bloc. The others were Argentina, Egypt, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia. The Summit has unequivocally endorsed the Ethiopia’s entry into the Group, while its full membership will commence on 01 January 2024.
The inclusion of Ethiopia into the BRICS family holds the immense potential to reshape geopolitical and economic landscapes. On top of this, Ethiopia highly appreciates the strong leadership and continued commitment of BRICS founding countries to build a perennial bridge between the bloc and Africa in trade, investment and infrastructure development.
Inarguably, BRICS is an indispensable forum to advance the interests and augment the voices of developing countries in a fair, inclusive and balanced manner. Ethiopia as an ardent advocate of effective multilateralism and Pan-Africanism, shares the core values of the group.
Welcoming the decision, Prime Minister Abiy said, Ethiopia stands ready to cooperate with all members for an inclusive and prosperous global order. In joining hands with the BRICS, the Premiere noted, Ethiopia aspires to build the bloc to champion understanding and work towards a shared future that benefits all.
In his acceptance speech, Prime Minister Abiy Stated “A reformed multilateralism entails inclusivity, cooperation and diversity of voices and interests. By amplifying voices from various corners of the globe, we can collaboratively work for an equitable and peaceful world.”
On the same tone Government Communication Services of the FDRE added that, the bloc’s development bank is an alternative to the existing international financial institutions. “This is a very important issue in terms of mitigating the shortage of foreign currency sustainably. Since the prospect of commercial, cultural and political ties between the BRICS member countries are at an advanced level, Ethiopia’s admission to the bloc will further increase its diplomatic influence.”
The Group was formed in 2009 by Brazil, Russia, India and China and South Africa joined the bloc one year later. BRICS represents around 42% of the world’s population, contributes more than a quarter of the global GDP and shares 18% the global trade.
Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates have also joined BRICS.
Prime Minister Abiy Conferred with Chinese President and Indian Prime Minister on the sidelines on the 15th BRICS Summit
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) conferred with President Xi jinping of China and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the BRICS Summit that was held from in Johannesburg, South Africa from 22-24 August 2023.
Prime Minister Abiy and President Xi held their bilateral meetings on the 23rd of August accompanied by their respective delegation. Following the conclusion of the bilateral talks Prime Minister Abiy said in his tweeter message
Ethiopia is grateful for the immense support that China has provided over the years. The Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership between our two countries is a strong basis for mutual growth and development in many areas. I reiterated to President Xi Jinping our continued commitment to strengthening Ethiopia- China relations.
Similarly, Office of the Prime Minister also stated Ahead of the BRICS-Africa Outreach & BRICS Plus meeting, Prime Minister Abiy met with Chinese President Xi Jinping in a bilateral meeting. The two leaders expressed mutual interest in strengthening relations and commitment to partnership in multilateral platforms.
On his part, President Xi Jinping expressed admiration for the Prime Minister’s leadership in spearheading national development and indicated that China will suspend payments on debt maturing in the period 2023/2024 as part of the common framework agreement. President Xi Jinping also vowed to support progress in peace and development endeavors’, in the areas of reconstruction as well as in enhancing investments and trade ties.
In addition, Premiere Abiy has also met with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on 24 August 2023. Prime Minister Abiy touted the age-old relationship between Ethiopia and India as he stated on his tweeter messages;
“Ethiopia-India contemporary relations span seven decades while the historic ties between our countries date back to 2000 years of recorded history. In our fruitful bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, we have agreed to strengthen political and economic cooperation in key areas of mutual interest.”
Later on, the day, Office of the Prime Minister stated that the two leaders have agreed to strengthen political and economic cooperation between Ethiopia and India, and expressed their mutual commitment to further deepening bilateral relations.
Ministry of Tourism Stated work in Progress to get 6 Eco-Tourism Destinations Registered by UNWTO
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Tourism (MoT) stated that the necessary process has begun for six eco-tourism destinations to be recognized by the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO).
The Ministry’s Public Relations department told local media that activities are in progress to utilize natural resources in various areas of Ethiopia for tourism.
Accordingly, the department stated that the Ministry of Tourism is working to make new eco-tourism destinations as additional tourist attractions in the country.
The Ministry added that that research and data garnering activities have been carried out to identify potential eco-tourism destinations in various areas across Ethiopia, while also stating that the necessary data regarding the potential eco- tourism destinations has been sent to the UNWTO.
Oromia, Amhara, South Ethiopia, and Central Ethiopia regions are said to be the prospective areas for the projects. It is to be recalled that Choke Mount Eco- village and Wonchi were recognized as eco-tourism destinations by the UN World Tourism Organization in the last fiscal year.
EMBASSY WARNS AGAINST FRAUDULENT WEBSITES OFFERING ONLINE VISA SERVICES
The Ethiopian Government has launched an online visa application system to simplify and expedite the process of obtaining a visa for Ethiopia. However, the Embassy has recently become aware of some fraudulent websites that mimic the official e- Visa website and mislead applicants into believing that they are applying through the official channels.
The Ethiopian Government has not entered into any agreement with the owners of these websites, and therefore visa applications submitted or payments made through these websites will not be accepted.
The official website for the Ethiopian Online Visa service is https:/www.evisa.gov.et/ and no other website should be used for visa applications. Applicants are urged to submit their visa applications through the official e- Visa website only.
Please note that the following websites are not affiliated with the Ethiopian Government and should not be used for visa applications:
, or any others.
To avoid any complications or delays in obtaining your visa for Ethiopia, the Embassy urges all applicants to submit their visa applications through the official e- Visa website only.
