WHAT ETHIOPIAN ENTRY INTO BRICS MEANS FOR EAST AFRICA

BY GRACE MACHA IN ARUSHA

 The entry of Ethiopia into Brics is likely to spur increased trade and investment relations with the East African Community (EAC) bloc.

The Horn of Africa country, the second most populous in sub Saharan Africa, is currently one of the fastest growing economies in the continent.

The Ethiopian ambassador to Tanzania Mr. Shibru Mamo-Kedede said entry into Brics would have a positive change in the Horn of Africa and East Africa.

"It would serve as a catalyst for increased business relations. Ours is the continent's fastest growing economy which can have a trickle effect on the neighbours", he said in an interview at the weekend.

Conversely, he said,  Ethiopia remains a huge market for the EAC bloc with its 120 million population, 70 per cent of whom are youths.

Ethiopia, alongside Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iran, United Arab Emirates and Argentina were announced new members of Brics during a summit held in South Africa last week. 

The six states joined five Brics members; Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa which founded the group in 2001 to counter dominance of  western countries in the world economy.  

The Brics nations are also considered a geopolitical rival to the G7 of leading advanced economies in the world whose members are the US, UK, Japan, Germany, France, Canada, and Italy.

Prior to the entry of the new members, Brics encompassed 27 percent of the world's land surface and population. 

Five founder members of the bloc, doubled as members of  the superrich G20, which has a combined nominal GDP of $ 28 trillion or 27 percent of the gross world product. 

The five - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South also had a  total GDP (PPP) of around $ 56.6 trillion (32.5 percent) of global GDP( PPP and an estimated $4.46 trillion in combined foreign reserves.

Full membership of Ethiopia and five other new members of the bloc will take effect on January 1st, next year. 

The African continent will now have three countries on board; South Africa which is a founding member,  Ethiopia and Egypt, the second strongest economy in Africa.

The Ethiopian envoy said his country was proud to join Brics in that it has raised the country's stake in the continent's economic growth and geopolitical dynamics.

"Ethiopia is a non-colonised country,the cradle of mankind,the original home of coffee and the African Union seat ", he pointed out.

Mr. Mamo-Kedede said with the recent opening of the Grand Hydropower Dam on Ethiopia's Blue Nile, his country would export power to other states within the  EAC and Horn of Africa.

He acknowledged that trade and investment relations between his country and Tanzania were "minimal to say the least", but hinted he was seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

"We have strong relations with Tanzania. We will soon revive our joint ministerial commissions on different sectors to roll out our partnership", he pointed out.

He added that the  Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and Industry would soon reach out to its counterparts in Tanzania to seek ways to promote bilateral trade and investments.

"The business partnership should be in trade, exhibitions and investments. This is promising and I am seeing signs of a breakthrough", he explained.

The envoy went on;"The business partnership should be in trade, exhibitions and developing our economies. This is promising and I am seeing some prospects".

The ambassador expressed his appreciation to the Tanzania government for donating land for construction of its chancellery in Dodoma, saying construction would begin soon.

The economic relations between his country and Tanzania, he further added., would be boosted by recent decision by the two countries to waive visas for its nationals visiting the other state.

Tanzania's economic ties with Ethiopia can also be seen with the recently mulled cooperation in the aviation sector and support by the latter to Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL).

Ethiopian Airlines, the continent's largest, currently operates multiple flights a day to Tanzania's leading international airports at Dar es Salaam, Zanzibar and Kilimanjaro.