Hilton announced the signing of an agreement with Brighton Hotels and Business Plc. to open two properties in Ethiopia – DoubleTree by Hilton Adama and DoubleTree by Hilton Dire Dawa. The agreement marks the first internationally branded hotels in the two cities, reaffirming Hilton’s commitment to expanding its presence in Ethiopia with plans to reach eight trading properties across the country in the coming years.  Carlos Khneisser, vice president, Development, Middle East & Africa, Hilton said, “We are thrilled to partner with Brighton Hotels and Business Plc. to open two hotels in Ethiopia. These new additions in Adama and Dire Dawa will further strengthen our footprint across the country, perfectly complementing the soon-to-open DoubleTree by Hilton Addis Ababa Airport and currently trading Hilton Addis Ababa. We look forward to continuing our growth across Ethiopia and delivering reliable and friendly stays to business and leisure guests.”

TDB Group and the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) announced the extension of BADEA’s investment commitment in TDB’s African trade fund ESATF.

With an initial investment of USD 50 million in TDB’s African trade fund ESATF which has since then grown to USD 63 million, BADEA is extending its investment commitment in the fund for an additional period of 3 years.

To commemorate this occasion, a signing ceremony took place on the sidelines of the African Union’s 38^th Ordinary Session of the AU Summit on the 14^th of February 2025 in Addis Ababa. Managed by TDB’s asset management company ESATAL, a TDB Group subsidiary, ESATF is an open-ended investment fund which was set-up in 2019 to finance short- to medium-term trade transactions, particularly those involving small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) across Africa.

Ethiopia and Somalia have begun technical negotiations on implementing the Ankara Declaration, with the first round of discussions taking place in Ankara, Türkiye…The negotiations follow a meeting between Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timotheos, and Türkiye’s Deputy Foreign Minister, Burhanettin Duran, on 6 February 2025…The declaration outlines a four-month timeframe for technical negotiations on Ethiopia’s sea access…The agreement came after tensions escalated in early 2024 when Ethiopia signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Somaliland to lease 20 kilometers of coastline in exchange for recognizing Somaliland’s independence—an agreement Somalia called an “infringement on Somalia’s territorial sovereignty.” Following the Ankara Declaration, Somalia’s President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud traveled to Ethiopia on 11 January 2025, where he and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed agreed to restore full diplomatic ties. (Addis Standard)

The leaders of Ethiopia’s Tigray region have called for the full implementation of the Pretoria agreement that ended the conflict between Ethiopia’s federal government and the Tigray rebels in 2022. The bloc released a report about the agreement during the African Union Summit over the weekend in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. The two main leaders of Tigray, who also are political rivals, urged the AU to pay attention to the implementation of the agreement. The AU-brokered agreement, reached in November 2022, required the cessation of hostilities, return of internally displaced people, disarmament, expedition of humanitarian access, and restoration of services in the region. The agreement ended the two-year conflict and prompted the return of some social services…But the Tigray region’s leaders say there are outstanding issues. Some territories have not yet been returned by the federal government, and internally displaced people have not returned to disputed areas in Western Tigray. (VOA)