Views: 0
Embassy Of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia
Right Tittle: H.E Etsegenet Bezabih Yimenu.Photo by Ronald Kabuubi/KMA Updates.
Ambassador Extraordinary & Plenipotentiary
I am the Ethiopian Ambassador to the Republic of Uganda and I am also accredited to Burundi, Seychelles, Union of Comoros and Central African Republic (CAR).
- Would you tell us your experience in Uganda?
My experience so far in Uganda is really interesting. I may start with what it has turned out for me. First of all, since the day I arrived in Uganda, I am super busy because there are events, regional handover meetings and also more activities to get engaged. That is the thing that I like about it. Not only that that’s all because of Pan-African nations of Uganda. The other thing, compared to my home country and the other countries which I have been previously posted to the diplomacy in Uganda is at a higher level. Because for me I don’t need to read any bigger articles or anything, I just follow what is on twitter and following important institutions gives me a good picture other than the former connection with institutions. So that is really one thing I like. That said, I want to say a few things about food. Always when one is away from home, you miss your country’s staple food. Here in Uganda since the vegetables or whatever products we buy from the country they are very organic and for me it feels exactly like home. Like in my house, I have a cook, we cook it in our way and it tastes the same as home. So, for me everything looks like home and feels really great. The other thing I just want to say a few things about the music and free people here.That is one more thing I really like about here. My neighbor whom I don’t know always entertains with music but apart from that I am a big fan of the ghetto kids since I was home. I know these kids from back in the years and I was following them and their recent achievement on the biggest world stage which is Britain’s Got Talent. To me, its is not only Uganda. They stood out for Africa and I hope one day, me and my secretaries here we shall host some event here to congratulate them that’s what I can say.
In terms of challenges, I am still new here. I have no challenges yet and I hope I won’t have any challenge in the future.
- From that experience, what stands out about Uganda? In other words, what are you likely to remember most about Uganda if you left today?
I think apart from work, the social life and what others call the vibe in this country, it feels really good every day. For me I feel like I am somewhere on vacation at home. Like my place here, as you see it is really beautiful and encourages me to do more and the people here are very friendly. Like at institutional level and also in the market, it feels super nice. It was my wish to get posted to African countries and it was in my deep interest and it all happened to be Uganda and I am very happy about that.
- Could you tell us about the existing bilateral relations between Uganda and Ethiopia?
The relationship between Uganda and Ethiopia is solid. It dates back to the exchange of visits, notably Emperor Haile Selassie’s visit to Uganda in the 1960s and also the next signing of the AU Agreement in 1967. Also following those foundations, the opening of the Ugandan embassy in Ethiopia was historical. The current relationship between the two countries is a profound, solid relationship and I am happy about that.
- What is the focus of your mission, this year in Uganda?
That is a very interesting question because we at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Ethiopia , we have the 4th Joint Ministerial Commission Meeting (JMC) which is going to happen in Addis Ababa next year. This is the perfect time to talk about the plans because we do our annual activities according to the score card which we receive from our Minister. Right, now I have already received what I am supposed to do in the next year. Mind you, we do have a different calendar. So in the Ethiopian calendar, this is like a week to the current fiscal year. So we are right on time to talk about next year’s plan.
First of all, in the political section, there will be exchange of visits by leaders. It can be high level or institutions, that’s where we are going to focus to further strengthen the relationship. In addition to that we do have a joint Ministerial Committee which is going to partner with Addis Ababa and I am going to work towards that so that it can happen in the next year. Next to that, I need follow up jobs. You know my predecessor Alemtsehay Meseret, she has done a really good job here as far as Ethio-Ugandan relationships are concerned. She already has created a conducive working environment for me so whatever she left here, I will promote and follow it. I have to take those and add in my own value and work towards selling our country to the world. Having said, I need to follow up all those signed agreements, those in the pipeline and any new agreements. Last but not least, I am going to work on Ethio-Uganda friendships so that is one of the biggest thing which was started and I have to pay big attention to that. I am going to focus on people-to-people relations. I already met Ministers like that of Foreign Affairs (Henry Oryem), State Minister, the Permanent Secretary and different people. Here I mean the twining of two or three cities it may not happen this year but in the next three years. It is one of the areas I really want to work on and also I cannot leave out my citizens in the diaspora here. We have a special program for our diaspora and citizens. Harnessing diplomacy for us is not an option, it is a must to do. Some of my friends here know, I am active on twitter and Facebook where I share and get information.
- Where do you see trade relations between Uganda and Ethiopia progressing in the next three years?
Before saying that, I want to say a thing about the current trade. I can say the trade is underutilized but has the potential to grow given the geographical location of the two countries. We didn’t do much to promote the trade between the two countries and this year and the next ones, we need to first of all to promote our business partners. It can be through institutions like the connecting the trade institutions or we can have business promotion events so that we can meet potential people who can invest or buy and also on the side we can have business to business meetings. As you know in Covid we didn’t do much, everything was limited to the virtual world but this time round, we have an opportunity to work more on that. And for myself and the team, we have already discussed. We don’t want to limit ourselves here in Kampala, we will go out to different districts and regions and as much as possible reach out to the majority so that we can better trade relations.
- Is it possible to list different Ethiopian Products that are exported to Uganda and as well as the products from Uganda that Ethiopia imports?
From Ethiopia to Uganda,there are products. Also, coffee Arabica originates from our homeland and we export to Uganda as a major product. We can also mention tea.
According to recent information,we have established industrial parks which export to Uganda. Ethiopia imports on a large-scale dairy product from Uganda, live chicken, sugar and then during covid we imported masks and related assortments.
- What Ethiopian products are currently being promoted in Uganda?
There are a few products which we need to promote, let it be textile or cotton. My predecessor told me that everywhere we go, everyone likes our wine. It is possible to promote Ethiopian wine. I might have some Leather Products, export Diapers to Uganda tasting in this area maybe some time soon.
- How many Ethiopians live in Uganda; can you talk a little more about this?
The number cannot be specific since we have not done so much about diaspora mapping but roughly it is estimated that about 5,000 Ethiopians live in different residences in Uganda and I can add another 500 being professionals. It is just a rough number but I just want to say these people are very strong community and this is also recognized by the Internal affairs of Uganda. And Uganda being a comfortable place to live, my people live very well, do businesses, making money and contributing in whatever way to the economy of Uganda. They are protected and living in a very good situation. In the past week, there was a big Ministerial Conference on refugees, it gave me a broader sense of how much comfortable Uganda is. Having said that, I can say the people here are doing good, happy and we are doing really great. Whenever we need them, they are there and support the country. The last time we had the African Day Celebrations, they stood out. Ethiopia’s contribution was super beautiful. This was courtesy of the embassy, the support of our community, diaspora we did a bigger job.
- Is there anything you want to add that you intend to do in the next three years as a mission?
As I said, I am here for a four-year posting so every four years we get out. At the end of my term, I really want to achieve a few things like the twinning of the cities. It can be like the municipalities, like I said people to people. Then the other thing to do with Ethio-Uganda friendship has already started and we are doing a good job and I would like to thank the Minister. I really want it to benefit not only Uganda and Ethiopia but I want it to be the voice of Africa and the region. I think promoting cultural diplomacy is important because for the bilateral relations whether I am working or not, already have a foundation. Also, tourism sector, maybe in hospitality
- Is there anything that you would like to feature in this decision that I have not asked which you can talk about?
Thank you so much for the opportunity and I just want to talk about the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam which is a flagship of Ethiopia’s development project. By now, almost everybody across the world is aware, not only in Africa because of the problem we have with other countries. It is not new information but I want you to highlight that it is a developmental project for Ethiopian people and poised at meeting electricity demands…Also the greening legacy initiative of Ethiopia which also contributes to global environment, mitigating climate change and creating jobs. It is initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office of Ethiopia and now is being promoted in other countries.
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (Q&A) SESSION
Ethiopian Ambassador on Visa free arrangements: About the immigration and visa process, as you know; it is always user reciprocity. So those countries you mentioned like Kenya and Uganda, I can say that reciprocity we have with Kenya and Uganda and let us say with America is all different. So it is not only Uganda paying to get a visa to Ethiopia, even myself with a diplomatic passport may be I didn’t but if I came here before this posting I would pay for a visa. The same applies to tourists and business people. But there is room to review this reciprocity again and work on that. Like what we do, what we have done and what we need to do in future. That will be one of the areas that we will need to work on. There are different departments in my embassy like Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Immigration and for that we need to consult our Immigration Department and Foreign Service if they can work together with their counterparts here and maybe come up with a solution.
GERD: The Grand Renaissance Dam is a developmental project which Ethiopia is aiming to create regional integration between other countries. Having said that, it arose because of electricity demand. It is not even about surplus electricity, let me put it in a simpler way. Who doesn’t want to have their supper in light? It should be noted that 60% of the population is not having electricity so that makes it very important for Ethiopia to have this developmental project. Let me say it again, the people especially the women taking care of the kitchen, in those places where there is no electricity, the burden lies on her to find firewood for cooking. First it is not abundant and secondly it has an impact on the environmental. Ethiopia believes in fair and equitable use of the Nile, that is the principle that Ethiopia always promotes. I am glad Ethiopia and Uganda share a similar stance and we are telling the rest of Countries to work together and complete the signing of all ratifying framework agreements.
I was lucky enough to present my copy of credentials to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He was kind and cooperative of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to get me a present. Because there was ATMIS and the TTC summit here, so before that I wasn’t able to be part with my Deputy Prime Minister, he was here at the time but he was so kind. I am looking forward to meeting the President so that I can travel to the countries I am accredited to.
For example, yesterday I was supposed to go to Burundi where I was invited for the diplomatic week plus the National Day. I didn’t go before presenting my credentials, I cannot present to Burundi. I am looking forward to that and I hope it’s going to happen soon.
Plans on promoting Pan-African Agenda: While we are here, let me start from the groups we have. We do have a group of African Ambassadors Association. We meet regularly every month to promote African agenda and also see what we can do in collaboration. For me it will be one of the areas which I will focus on through this group and also promotion of the IGAD agenda can be added there and any other activities touching the Africans. Definitely we have a plan.
Education exchange programs: When we are working overseas, each of the embassy has a core function to focus on. For example, our core focus is on bilateral business and a few with the public. Currently to my knowledge, there is an exchange in terms of defense and things we do in collaboration with IGAD. But specifically bringing students on Government programme from here to there and vice versa, I think we need to look at it for the future. But myself,I have a plan maybe which will be associated with one on Pan-Africanism. So I have been to a couple of Universities where some academicians and students were presenting their papers and holding discussions about Pan-Africanism…
On Trade again: We are going to do promotional events to promote trade. So we will go to different regions with our power pointers, we will explain the incentives and everything Ethiopia offers to Uganda and investors. Also we are already working with the Ethiopian chamber to link the two chambers so that can be one of the areas to promote trade and also companies through business to business engagements. I already explained that it is not going to be virtual. We will reach out to different potential investors and people who are selling products from Uganda to Ethiopia and vice versa. Then we will prepare a promotional event so that we reach out to a big number and get those interested let it be 10 or 15 that’s okay. We shall connect them to our home country.
- We have come to the end of the interview; we appreciate that you found time to engage with us.
Thank you very much, again I would like to thank you and all the friends of Ethiopia, my team here, diplomats. I am not doing this by myself, everyone is supporting me and also my daughters are not here right now but being a single mum and having those two kids is not easy but they are always there for me and supportive. Thank you everyone and thanks for having me.
The new Ethiopian Ambassador to Uganda H.E Etsegenet Bezabih Yimenu in an interview with the Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Uganda Dr. Sam Omara 26th June,2023.Photo by Ronald Kabuubi/KMA Updates.
The new Ethiopian Ambassador to Uganda H.E Etsegenet Bezabih Yimenu in an interview with the Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs-Uganda Dr. Sam Omara 26th June,2023.Photo by Ronald Kabuubi/KMA Updates.
