On 5-11 May 2019, an Ethiopian High Level Delegation went to Emilia-Romagna (Italy) on a field mission organized by UNIDO, FAO, AICS Addis Ababa in collaboration with the Ethiopian Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Trade and Industry and the Embassy of Italy in Ethiopia. The mission was hosted by the Emilia-Romagna regional Government and its Development Agency Attrattività, ricerca e territorio dell'Emilia-Romagna (ART-ER) S.C.p.A. MACFRUT also contributed to the organization of part of the mission, inviting the Ethiopian State Minister of Agriculture and the State Minister of Ministry of Trade and Industry to join a round table called “Italy and Africa: building a renewed partnership for horticultural and agro-industrial development.”

The main output of the visit was the declaration of interest from the Government of Ethiopia, AICS, UNIDO, and FAO to involve Emilia-Romagna Region and ART-ER in the design and implementation of projects related to agro-industrial development in Ethiopia, with direct and/or indirect partnership mechanisms. The Italian successful agro-industrial model based on the territorial inter-linkage of its value chain actors from producers to consumers and promoted by Emilia-Romagna Region was indeed highly appreciated by the Delegation.

As part of the mission, the Delegation also attended the 36^th edition of the international fair MACFRUT in Rimini on 8-9 May 2019.  This year the fair hosted a stand of Ethiopian producers thanks to a sponsor of AICS of 10,000 Euro for a 60 m² stand, and the support of the Italian Trade Agency, which organized training courses in Ethiopia to prepare Ethiopian exhibitors on how to do business in an international context.

The Italian Vice-minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Emanuela Del Re, officially inaugurated the event, and the dedicated African pavilion, expressing d the strong interest of Italy in increasing its presence in Africa, also through development interventions and action the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation.

As a remark of the importance given from our Government to the partnership with Ethiopian Institutions, our the Vice-Minister started her visit of the Africa Pavillion cutting the ribbon at the Ethiopia Stand, together with the Regional Minister of Agriculture of Emilia-Romagna, ICE, AICS,  the two State Ministers of Ethiopia and the Ambassador of Ethiopia in Italy.

Ministers from different countries of Subsaharan Africa attended the round table “Italy and Africa: building a renewed partnership for horticultural and agro-industrial development”: Congo DRC, Somalia, Angola, Mozambique and Ethiopia. The Ethiopian ministers briefed the audience on challenges and opportunities of Agriculture and Agro-industrialisation.

On 15-17 May 2019, the first expo of International cooperation took place at Fiera di Roma, in Rome. Admasu Nebebe, State Minister at the Ministry of Finance and Economic Cooperation of Ethiopia, talked about the investment opportunities in Ethiopia in the panel on “Country Focus: Sustainable Development Investments and Opportunities”.

Click here to download the presentation.

On 25 May 2019 we inaugurated the water schemes in Fiche and Gebre Guracha, Oromia at the presence of the State Minister of the Ministry for Water, Irrigation and Electricity of Ethiopia, Dr. Negash, and of the Vice-President of Oromia Region, Dr. Ahmad Tusa.

The realization of the water schemes is one of the outcomes of the bilateral program “Support to the WaSH sector in urban areas”, co-finances by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, the French Development Agency and the European Investment Bank. The program aims to improve the access to safe water small and medium towns of Ethiopia with 2000 up to 10000 inhabitants for the construction and rehabilitation of infrastructures and donations for capacity-building activities at both federal level and at the level of the Town Water Supply Offices.

The program continues and finances other 45 Town Water Supply Offices reaching a total of 1.200.000 beneficiaries in Ethiopia.

A meeting to present a policy paper concerning Italy’s support to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tubercolosis and Malaria was held on 25 June at the Senate of the Italian Republic in the presence of Peter Sands, Executive Director of the Global Fund, in view of the next replenishment of the Fund expected on October 2019.

At the meeting the Senator Alessandro Alfieri talked about the recent mission in Ethiopia organized last May by Network Italiano Salute Globale and AIDOS, together with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation and the Global Fund.

The staff of the Addis Ababa Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation had the chance to present the projects funded by the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation in the country and the activities supported by the Global Fund to the Senator and the Deputies visiting Ethiopia with him, Yana Ehm and Simona Suriano.

Italy is the ninth major public donor to the Global Fund.

The Italian Government has granted one million Euros to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in support of the protection and assistance needs of ethnic Afar Eritrean refugees in Ethiopia. The funds, made available through the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation will be utilized to improve the living conditions of Eritrean Refugees and host communities in Afar Regional State.

Read the full press release.

On 19-21 June 2019, the Italian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, H.E. Emanuela Del Re, and the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Luca Maestripieri, visited Ethiopia. Ethiopia is one of the priority country for the Italian Cooperation which has been present in the country for over 40 years.

The visit was an opportunity for the Director to meet the staff of AICS Addis Ababa and learn more about its activities, especially in view of the new Country Framework 2020-22.

During the mission, the Director participated together with the Vice Minister Del Re in two key events for the promotion of the development of Ethiopia: the seventh Annual Conference of RES4Africa (Renewable Energy Solutions for Africa) which took place in Addis Ababa, and the “Ethio-Italian Business Forum” organized by the Embassy of Italy in Ethiopia and the local office of ICE. At the RES4Africa conference, the Director highlighted the commitment of the Agency in the field of energy.

The Director had also the chance to meet the Head of Cooperation at the European Union Delegation in Ethiopia, Erik Habers, and the representatives of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) operating in the Country. Moreover, he took part in the inauguration of the exhibition “A Passage to Eritrea and Ethiopia” curated by the photographer Antonio Politano, which took place at the Italian Cultural Institute in Addis Ababa in the presence of the Vice Minister Del Re and the Ambassador of Italy to Ethiopia, Arturo Luzzi.

During the mission, the Director of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Luca Maestripieri, visited the Ethio-International Footwear Cluster Cooperative Society (EIFCCOS), one of the six successful cluster models in Ethiopia benefiting from the project ‘Phase 2 of the Technical Assistance for the Up-Grading of the Ethiopian Leather and Leather Products Industry’ financed by Agenzia Italiana per la Cooperazione allo Sviluppo and implemented by UNIDO - United Nations Industrial Development Organization.

In addition, he visited the Hitsas refugee camp in Tigray, Ethiopia, where this AICS Addis Ababa finances the project "Resilience and Integration in favour of Eritrean refugees and host communities in Shire area, Ethiopia" AID 11223 implemented by VIS Volontariato in collaboration with VIS Volontariato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo CCM Comitato Collaborazione Medica CISP Sviluppo dei Popoli and HELVETAS.

On 6-11 May 2019, the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation (AICS) – Addis Ababa Office welcome two journalists, Laura Aprati, author of the program “Uno Mattina” broadcasted every morning on the Italian State Television Rai Uno, and Marco Bova, who collaborates with the Agenzia Giornalistica Italia (AGI).

The objective of the visit was to learn more about the commitment of this Agency to the development of the country by visiting the places where the AICS-funded projects are implemented, and by meeting the beneficiaries of the activities carried out thanks to the financial support of this Agency.

Following the press visit, a video about some of the project funded by AICS, and seen by the journalists, was broadcasted on the Italian State Television Rai Uno during the program “Uno Mattina” at the presence of Sergio Pagano, Vice Director-General for the Development Coopetation at the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, and Pietro Piccinetti, CEO and Managing Direct at Fiera di Roma, where the first expo of international cooperation took place on 15-17 May 2019, and in which this office participated.

On 13 May 2019 the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation – Addis Ababa Office inaugurated the common production line for footwear of EIFCCOS – one of the six successful cluster model in Ethiopia which has benefitted of the support of the project ‘Phase 2 of the Technical Assistance for the Up-Grading of the Ethiopian Leather and Leather Products Industry’ operating in Addis Ababa. The project, financed by AICS, and implemented by (UNIDO) in partnership with the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, the Leather Industry Development Institute (LIDI), the Federal Small and Medium Manufacturing Industry Development Agency (FeSMMIDA), so far has:

• helped 400 smes;
• employed about 3800 people

and will now let 170 SMEs use 30 high-quality machines thus improving and increasing the production of leather shoes.

Read UNIDO's newsletter to learn more.

The Italian Agency for Development Cooperation – Addis Ababa Office handed over laboratory equipment worth 70,000 Euro to the Ethiopian Public Health Institute on 2 April. The laboratory equipment, one amino acid analyzer and one fat analyzer, was purchased by the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) through the financial support of the Italian Government, under the first phase of the Moringa Value Chain Development initiative implemented in the Southern Nations Nationalities and Peoples’ Region (SNNP) of Ethiopia, and aims at strengthening the capacity of the Institute’s laboratory to contribute to the attainment of the long term nutritional objectives of the Country.

Click here to read the article appeared on the Ethiopian News Agency.

On 13 March 2019, the Head of the Addis Ababa Office of the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, Mr. Tiberio Chiari, attended the inauguration ceremony of the medical supplies and drugs to the Shashamene General Hospital in Shashamane on behalf of the Ambassador of Italy to Ethiopia, Arturo Luzzi. The medical supplies and drugs worth 37 million Euro were donated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of the Republic of Italy.