Russia and Ethiopia have agreed to step up cooperation by creating new conditions to promote investment and development, the Russian Federal Agency for Mineral Resources (Rosnedra) has announced.
According to the statement, participants paid special attention to the issues of financial and economic cooperation during the eighth meeting of the Russian-Ethiopian Intergovernmental Commission for Economic, Scientific and Technical Cooperation and Trade. The meeting was co-headed by Rosnedra chief Yevgeny Petrov and Ethiopia’s Minister of Innovation and Technology Belete Molla.
Energy was one of the most promising sectors of cooperation, in which the modernization of the Malka Wakana Hydroelectric Power Plant with the participation of Russian companies may become a pilot project. Malka Vakana was built in Ethiopia in 1988 by Soviet specialists.
The two delegations also expressed interest in developing cooperation in a number of other areas, including in the field of agriculture, healthcare, education, and information technology.
“The Ethiopian side has demonstrated a keen interest in geological survey and mineral development, including gold and battery metal mining and production of hydrocarbons,” the Russian agency said in a press release. ”The heads of Rosnedra institutes [...] made detailed presentations of the capacity of Russian geology, which led to agreements on systemic geological and mineral development cooperation involving Rosnedra and respective companies.”
Following the meeting of the intergovernmental commission, an agreement was signed between the Russian Red Cross and the Ethiopian Ministry of Health on the continuation of the functioning of the Russian hospital in Addis Ababa.
In addition, the text of an intergovernmental agreement on the establishment and operation of a joint Russian-Ethiopian center for biological research was agreed upon.
Finally, the two parties coincided on the need to expedite the coordination of draft bilateral documents for signing during the second Russia-Africa Summit that is set to take place in July 2023.
Chairperson of the Ethiopian part of the IGC, Minister Molla, said that Addis Ababa cherishes relations with Moscow and highlighted that the relations have stood the test of time. Ethiopia, he said, is ready to develop a dialogue with Russia on a reciprocal basis and is interested in giving new impetus to economic cooperation.
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