First Independent Mena Newspaper
While China’s global competition has been a well-known fact, Beijing now signals an expansion of its ambitions in the Horn of Africa, as evidenced by Ethiopia’s recent acknowledgement that China has become the East African nation’s leading source of foreign direct investment, largest trading partner, and development financier. China plans to send more emergency food […]
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz heads Thursday May 4 to Ethiopia and Kenya, where talks will focus on reaffirming strategic alliances in the region, though the Sudan crisis is likely to dominate the talks. While Germany has been one of the biggest financial supporters of Ethiopia, the Tigray conflict significantly strained Addis Ababa’s relations with Berlin. […]
The size of Kenya’s economy will overtake that of Angola, Africa’s leading oil producer, this year even as Ethiopia stretches its lead, according to the projection presented in the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) latest World Economic Outlook. The IMF projects Angola’s gross domestic product (GDP) to shrink during the period, hence catapulting Kenya, whose economy […]
Scores of people have been killed in huge protests that have taken place in Ethiopia’s Amhara region for the past few days against the federal government’s plan to disarm regional paramilitary force. The plan by the Ethiopian government to disarm Amhara State’s volunteer civilian militia has sparked protests and deadly clashes in the northern part […]
Ethiopia intends to integrate all regional special forces either into the national army, or the federal or regional police, according to a government’s statement on Thursday, whereby the move will likely be perceived as an attempt to diminish the autonomy of individual regions. Ethiopia is organized in 10 regions that enjoy a degree of autonomy, […]
Home to the second most crypto-currency holders in the world, Africa is in urgent need for greater consumer protection and regulation of the crypto industry, experts say, which has been highlighted by the collapse of the world’s third largest crypto exchange FTX and subsequent plunge in the prices of major crypto assets, most notably Bitcoin. […]
China is importing more food products such as avocados, cashews, sesame seeds and chili peppers from Africa, after President Xi Jinping promised to increase non-resource imports from Africa and agriculture is emerging as the new focus of Beijing’s engagement with the continent. In the first two months of this year, Shanghai ports handled more than […]
The terrorist designation given to the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, or TPLF, will be removed, Ethiopian lawmakers decided in a special session Wednesday (22 March), but UN human rights experts have warned that violations committed during the armed conflict in Ethiopia’s Tigray region must still be investigated if long-term peace is to be achieved. Lawmakers […]
US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who has just wrapped up his visit to Ethiopia, is historically the first US secretary of state due to arrive in Nigeria this March 16, amid concerns over Sahel security and growing Russian and Chinese influence. Top diplomat Antony Blinken has embarked on his latest official trip to the […]
In their post-Covid recovery plans, East African countries are promoting niche products, such as cruise, adventure, culture and sports tourism, in emerging tourist markets such as China, in a strategy expected to spur growth in the sector. To reduce over-reliance on traditional source markets in Europe and the United States, East African countries are shifting […]