Abiy Ahmed sets three priorities at Russia-Africa summit
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Fanamc
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed placed food security, energy supplies and skills transfer at the heart of Ethiopia’s development priorities. At the Russia-Africa summit, he called for agreements to be turned into concrete results during an address in Moscow, according to Fanamc.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed presented three priorities in Moscow on Thursday 29 October for cooperation between Ethiopia and Russia: food security and productivity, a reliable energy supply, and the transfer of skills and knowledge. He called on the third Russia-Africa summit to turn its decisions into concrete results, according to Fanamc.
Abiy Ahmed cited agricultural machinery and processing industries as areas of cooperation that could increase the productivity and value of Ethiopia’s harvests. He also highlighted the project for Ethiopia’s first nuclear power plant with Russia, intended to diversify an energy mix mainly based on hydropower, in compliance with the safety standards of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
The Ethiopian leader linked these priorities to national sovereignty, saying that independence gives the right to decide, while capabilities make it possible to implement those decisions. He also recalled more than a century of relations between Ethiopia and Russia, mentioning the Russian Red Cross mission that arrived after the Battle of Adwa in 1896 to treat wounded Ethiopians and translate a medical guide into Amharic.
His remarks came on the same day as the renewal in Moscow of the cooperation agreement between Fana and RT, the Ethiopian and Russian state media outlets, on 29 October.
