During his historic visit to the United States of America, Ethiopia’s prime minister, Abiy Ahmed was well received by the country’s vice president and top-ranked officials of global organizations in Washington DC over the weekend.
According to reports, the East African nation leader had a “productive discussion” on bilateral ties and a strong partnership with VP Mike Pence at the White House during his state visit. His next stop was a meeting Christine Lagarde, Managing Director, International Monetary Fund (IMF), at the organization’s headquarters in Washington. Christine Lagarde reiterated her support for the present administration in Ethiopia while commending the historic declaration of peace with Eritrea. She also pledges to support Ethiopia prime minister economic reforms.
While reacting to the turn of events after the meeting with Abiy Ahmed, she commended Abiy Ahmed for the role he played in restoring peace which signalled the end of a 20-year feud with Eritrea.
“I was very pleased to welcome Prime Minister Abiy to the IMF today. We had an engaging and productive meeting. I congratulated the Prime Minister on the Joint Declaration of Peace and Friendship recently signed with Eritrea, which will have a positive impact on the stability of the region. I also commended him for his recent policy announcements and his ambitious economic reform agenda,” Christine Lagarde said after the meeting in Washington DC, US.
“I reiterated the IMF’s commitment to work with the Ethiopian authorities to ensure that the economy achieves high rates of sustainable and inclusive growth to reduce poverty,” she added.
Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed started his 3-day visit to the US and was scheduled to visit Los Angeles, Washington DC, and the city of Minnesota where he engaged with the Ethiopia Diaspora Community.
Setting the pace
Since he assumed office after the resignation of his predecessor in April 2018, Abiy Ahmed is gradually changing the fortune of Ethiopia’s failing economy with the introduction of new policies. His emergence has brought renewed hope to the citizens after the unfortunate protests and events that marred the last administration.
With the country’s economy gaining strength, the future looks brighter under the present ruling government. Following recent measures to arrest all economic woes, myriads of citizens in the second most populous nation in Africa remain optimistic.
Despite the seismic activity, it went through early this year, Ethiopia assumed an unfamiliar role in May, becoming the fastest growing economy in Africa as IMF forecasts predict Ethiopia’s GDP will grow 8.5 percent in 2018. In June, United Arab Emirates pledged USD 3 billion in aid and investments after Abiy agreed to end dispute with Egypt over dam shortly after resuming office.
The financial aid includes USD 1 billion allocated for Ethiopia’s Central Bank to alleviate a severe foreign currency shortage which the administration is currently addressing.
Meanwhile, World Bank President, Dr Jim Young Kim has promised robust support for Ethiopia while meeting with the Prime Minister during his visit to the US.
Abiy’s decision to liberalize the economy has also seen Safaricom announce plans to expand its mobile money platform M-Pesa to Ethiopia.
With the stability the new president has brought to the country only a few months of taking the baton, he has been applauded by the international community. Recently, he was honoured with the highest medal in the UAE – Zayed Medal – by the Crown Prince Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
