Ethiopian PM to jet in tomorrow for two-day state visit

Apart from promoting and strengthening diplomatic relations between the two countries, the visit also aims at strengthening cooperation in areas of trade, investment, education, culture, aviation, agriculture, livestock, illegal immigration control, defence and security.

In statement released yesterday, Minister for Foreign Affairs and East Africa Cooperation January Makamba said Tanzania and Ethiopia have a long and historical diplomatic relations that was established by founding President Julius Nyerere and Emperor Haile Selassie.

Makamba said the leaders worked side by side in the liberation movement of the African continent and are among the 32 founding leaders of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now African Union (AU).

He said apart from diplomatic cooperation, Tanzania and Ethiopia cooperate in the aviation sector whereby between 2016 and 2023, a total of 75 pilots and 25 engineers from Tanzania received training at different levels in Ethiopia.

“So, it is clear that this visit will open more doors for cooperation between Ethiopian Airlines and Air Tanzanian Company Limited,” he said.

He added that Tanzania and Ethiopia cooperate in the livestock and agriculture sectors, explaining that the two countries lead in Africa with the largest number of livestock and production of agricultural products such as coffee, tea, honey, vegetables and fruits.

“Through this visit, Tanzania and Ethiopia will strengthen cooperation in matters irrigation, the use of technology in agriculture and the use of quality seeds with guaranteed yield as well as research in the two areas,” he said.

Minister Makamba said the visit will enable Tanzania and Ethiopia to build capacity and share experience in energy production to meet the countries’ needs as well as producing commercial electricity to be sold to other countries through membership in the East African Electricity Exchange Community Power Pool.

In Education, Makamba said the visit will enable the two countries to exchange students and build capacity in preparation of curricula to give Tanzanians the opportunity to teach Kiswahili in Ethiopia.