Large-scale investment initiatives in the tiny country in the Horn of Africa are increasing Saudi Arabia’s footprint there.
The Saudi Ajyal Petroleum and Energy Company laid a cornerstone for the $12.7 billion refinery project in Djibouti Damerjog International Park (DDIP), south of the country’s capital, earlier this week with the presence of Abdoulkader Kamil Mohamed, the Prime Minister of Djibouti.
An agreement to create Saudi Logistics City in the Djibouti port free zone was reached earlier this month by a group of Saudi businessmen.
In Djibouti, a new refinery project of 300 hectares will be established at the Damarjog logistics region. It has a capacity of 300,000 barrels per day.
Aldossary Group, a Saudi business with investments in a number of industries, is the parent firm of Ajyal Petroleum and Energy firm.
The project’s principal consultant is Anaplasi Consulting Engineers SA, which is situated in Athens, Greece.
Refinery plants, according to Djibouti Port and Free Zones Authority, would greatly strengthen the local economy by promoting skill development and creating jobs in the nation.
It is projected that the refinery project would generate about 10,000 direct employment.
After the Assab refinery, which began operations in 1967 under the reign of Emperor Hailesilassie and has been suspended since 1997 by the newly independent Eritrean government, the refinery will be the second in the region.
DDIP is set to play a pivotal role in our economic growth and industrial expansion at both the regional and continental levels through the African Continental Free Trade Area.
In the coming years, the DDIP for heavy industry is projected to expand significantly in the sectors of energy, steel, cement, livestock, and LNG.
Using Djibouti port’s strategic location as an entry point into Africa and a major hub for trade and business dealings on the continent as well as internationally, the Saudi Logistics City seeks to act as a hub for importing Saudi goods and exporting them to the African continent.
The logistics free zone would occupy 120,000 square meters in its initial phase.
The logistics city’s operations are covered under the 92-year lease. This city will provide a platform for Saudi enterprises, an ongoing exposition, and a commercial exchange area complete with warehouses and other amenities.
Ethiopia has initiated a nuclear science and technology center aimed at leveraging the sector for peaceful purposes, including electricity generation. This new center will be sustainably managed to ensure long-term benefits.
As a member of the African Regional Cooperation Agreement for the Development of Nuclear Science and Technology Research (AFRA), Ethiopia is set to enhance its utilization of nuclear technology. This announcement was made by the Minister of Innovation and Technology at the 35th meeting of the AFRA Technical Working Group, which has been taking place in Addis Ababa over the past four days. During this meeting, African member states discussed their advancements and challenges in the field of nuclear science and technology.
Established in April 1990, AFRA is an intergovernmental agreement among African member states designed to bolster the continent’s contributions to socioeconomic development through nuclear science and technology, with an annual budget of €10 million. It provides a framework for member states to enhance cooperation through programs and projects that address their shared interests.
Despite being one of the founding member states, Ethiopia has not fully benefited from the nuclear science and technology sector. To address this, the country is currently working on 29 cooperative projects in the field.
Nigeria has chaired the Nuclear Science Cooperation for African Nations for the past year, and Ethiopia will take over the chairmanship of the 35th AFRA Technology Work Loans Summit for the next year. Nuclear science in Ethiopia is utilized across various sectors, including health, agriculture, education, electricity, industry, and space science research.
The government and private sectors are undertaking various measures to guarantee the safety of agricultural commodity exports subject to stringent rules and regulations from receiving countries.
According to the horticulture industry, Ethiopian exporters and producers are in danger due to new regulations imposed by international regulatory authorities.
As a result, the government and industry participants are working hard to ensure that Ethiopian agricultural products, the main source of hard currency for the nation, continue to be exported.
Empowering the inspection facility prior to export is one of the most recent efforts toward this goal.
At a ceremony held on Thursday, June 27, at the Ethiopian Horticulture Producer and Exporters Association (EHPEA) head office, the Ethiopian Agricultural Authority (EAA) received several phytosanitary inspection tools.
The equipment has been supplied to protect the safety of export goods, according to Tewodros Zewdie, Executive Director of EHPEA, in order to professionalize the inspection branch at Bole International Airport, the final point of departure for agricultural export products.
Tewodros said, “We have given over quarantine equipment, which our members financed, in accordance with the authority’s request. This will increase EAA’s capacity and boost export competitiveness.”
EHPEA claims that during the last two years, the association has collaborated with the government in several areas to guarantee the competitiveness of Ethiopia’s horticultural sector.
In order to maintain the sector’s competitiveness after the European Union Commission’s actions against the False Codling Moth (FCM), EHPEA and EAA have implemented several efforts, including five awareness-raising events.
Over 20,000 people have received training on the identification and management of FCM, and a national protocol has been developed in this area.
Tewodros stated, “The interception has decreased to eight in 2023 from 23 in 2022 because of this initiative. Since the requirement is zero tolerance, more efforts should be accelerated on a similar basis.”
“Our association, in collaboration with the farms and EAA, has successfully resolved Xylella fastidiosa bacterium cases that pose a challenge to cutting farms’ business,” he noted.
“Phytosanitary measures are essential to the horticultural industry’s competitiveness, and new EU regulations require more work in this area to guarantee the sector’s export,” he continued.
Global trade has become extremely difficult in the current situation due to tight emerging laws, according to Wondale Habtamu, Deputy Director of EAA and Head of the Ethiopian National Plant Protection Organizations (NPPO). “Most people know the European regulations, which are a subset of the International Plant Protection Convention (IPPC), the intergovernmental treaty that aims to protect the world’s plants, agricultural products, and natural resources from plant pests,” Wondale said.
The IPPC develops, adopts, and promotes the application of International Phytosanitary Measures (ISPMs) as the main tool to safeguard global food security, facilitate safe trade, and protect the environment.
“We have problems with FCM pests in relation to flower production and export,” he stated.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) conducted research that designated FCM as a quarantine pest for the continent, meaning that agricultural products imported into Europe need to be closely inspected.
He praised the fact that “the interception in Ethiopia has significantly declined in this budget year due to EHPEA’s intensive work with growers, while interceptions have remained static or drastically increased in other African countries.”
The Deputy Director General claims that only 25% of export commodities from Ethiopia and Kenya are inspected compared to 100% in South Africa, Rwanda, and Uganda.
When the inspection rate climbs, it indicates that producers and exporters who bear the inspection costs would have to pay more.
The association and producers provided intensive training, which is credited with Ethiopia’s success since “training 20,000 farm employees is not an easy task.”
In addition, he mentioned that a number of projects had been completed, such as creating a protocol and submitting it to the UN and EU.
According to Wondale, “EHPEA and its members have now filled the gap in empowering the inspection effort at Bole International Airport, and the operational standards at the inspection site have also been developed with the association’s support.”
“When Xylella fastidiosa became an issue, the association supported the Xylella molecular test that was delivered to the EU,” he remembered, highlighting the association’s high level of engagement for the sector’s development.
According to him, the authority’s operations at Bole International Airport heavily depend on the instruments that the growers provided through their association.
“Since an error at Bole could damage the nation’s reputation, these capacity-boosting instruments will increase the accuracy of the inspection,” he said to Capital.
He continued, saying that “it will also enhance Ethiopia’s competitiveness” and that “it will give the European regulators an idea that Ethiopia is working strongly at every juncture point to maintain the safety of export items.”
“To maintain our reputation with the recipient countries, we are now rejecting export items that do not pass the inspection at Bole Airport before they fail at the destination.”
Experts in the field argue that Ethiopia’s interests will not have room in EU or other international legislation due to these safety cases being dynamic.”For example, the FCM pest has no effect in Ethiopia, but it will alter plant morphology when it travels to Europe. As a result, the EU will not negotiate on the matter because it would impact their biodiversity. Therefore, we have recognized the situation and established guidelines for how we will carry on with the trade,” they stated.
Wondale adds, “As a result, we have created a protocol and offer technical assistance to both commercial farms and small-scale farmers.” The government is also working with its European allies on a few of the EU’s Acts.
For example, the Forest Act failed to take into account the fact that Ethiopia grows its Arabica coffee inside forests or under tree cover; similarly, the Chemical Act has to take into account the climatic situation of tropical areas.
He gave Ethiopian elites advice on international treaties, regulations, and decrees that they should be aware of and follow for the good of their nation.
The Bole inspection facility, which was formerly involved in physical examination, has been modernized to offer technology-based services that meet international standards.
EAA administers about 50 inspection sites located across the country.
The French government has expressed its intention to continue supporting Ethiopia’s economic reforms and the upcoming International Monetary Fund (IMF) agreement, reaffirming its solidarity with the East African nation.
During an event organized by the French Embassy in Ethiopia, French Ambassador to Ethiopia Remi Marechaux stated that the French government has backed the previous IMF agreement and the economic reforms launched in 2019. “We intend to do so in the soon-to-be-agreed, soon-to-be signed IMF agreement. So we intend to continue supporting this economic reform through the engagement of the French government agency,” Marechaux said.
The event celebrated the induction of the French Business Association in Ethiopia (CAFE) into the prestigious CCI France International (CCI FI France Ethiopia) network.
Ambassador Marechaux highlighted the long-standing economic relationship between France and Ethiopia, dating back to the late 19th century when France was the first country to initiate rail development in the region. He noted that the French economic presence in Ethiopia today is diversified, encompassing sectors such as the food industry, transport, entertainment, and the energy sector.
“The first chamber was fueled by France’s diverse activities in the region, this included of course the railway sector, but it goes beyond the railway sector, and its members were active in industry, culture, trade and telecommunication. But also in services such as restaurants, printing, and even a movie,” the ambassador stated.
The ambassador expressed confidence in the future activities of the newly established CCI FI France Ethiopia network, which currently consists of 11 companies, including industry leaders such as Meridien, Total, and Castel.
The French government’s reaffirmation of its support for Ethiopia’s economic reforms and the upcoming IMF agreement comes at a critical time, as the country continues to navigate the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic and other economic headwinds.
