UAE President Sheikh Mohamed in Ethiopia, meets PM Abiy Ahmed

Image credit: Twitter/MohamedBinZayed

President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan is in Ethiopia on an official visit to the country. The UAE President was received by the country’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed when he landed in the capital Addis Ababa.

President Sheikh Mohamed’s visit to the country is aimed at strengthening bilateral ties between Ethiopia and the UAE, reported state news agency WAM.

“I was pleased to meet Abiy Ahmed in Addis Ababa to discuss strengthening bilateral ties to serve the aspirations of our peoples through economic and sustainable initiatives,” Sheikh Mohamed wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.

“The UAE is committed to building bridges of co-operation that foster prosperity and stability for all.”

I was pleased to meet @AbiyAhmedAli in Addis Ababa to discuss strengthening bilateral ties to serve the aspirations of our peoples through economic and sustainable initiatives. The UAE is committed to building bridges of cooperation that foster prosperity and stability for all. pic.twitter.com/v1cVYKJzLW

— محمد بن زايد (@MohamedBinZayed) August 18, 2023

UAE-Ethiopia economic relations

The two leaders discussed regional and international developments and emphasised the importance of cooperation and effective partnerships.

Sheikh Mohamed emphasised the UAE’s keenness to further advance its relations with Ethiopia, in sectors such as agriculture, food security, energy, trade, investment, technology, and others.

He noted that Ethiopia is an important trading partner of the UAE in Africa, as the non-oil trade volume between the two countries reached $1.4bn in 2022, adding that both sides were working to increase this figure in the coming years.

The UAE and Ethiopia are also working to enhance economic exchange, especially given the promising investment opportunities between the two countries, in addition to collaboration in the field of renewable energy, particularly solar energy.

The two leaders witnessed the signing of bilateral MoUs and agreements related to developing bilateral relations.

The agreements covered a wide-range of sectors – climate change, advancing technology, developing government and modernisation, co-operation between the Abu Dhabi Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ethiopian Investment Authority, among others.

The bilateral meet resulted in a joint statement between the UAE and Ethiopia on climate action.

The UAE President extended an invitation to the Ethiopian Prime Minister to participate in the upcoming Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP28) to be hosted by the UAE later this year, reported WAM.

He commended Ethiopia’s commitment to advancing renewable energy, underscoring that it shares the UAE’s objective of attaining climate neutrality by 2050 and stimulating unprecedented economic growth and social development through climate innovation.

Read: The African continent: Where opportunities abound