Addis Ababa, July 13, 2018 (FBC) –At the invitation of Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed, Eritrean President Isaias Afeworki will arrive in Ethiopia tomorrow for a 3 days state visit.

The visit will strengthen the friendship and ties between the two countries, according to Office of The Prime Minister of Ethiopia.
“We thank HE President Isaias for honoring us with a visit & we welcome him warmly!” the Office said in a statement today.

Addis Ababa, July 12, 2018 (FBC) - The Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has declared a unilateral cease fire with the government of Ethiopia.

In a statement issued today, the Front said “the OLF had for years repeatedly called for a peaceful and negotiated settlement of political problems with Ethiopian government. We have also recently and repeatedly reiterating this call for peace talks.”
However, it said “the OLF’s call for peace did not get proper response for a long period of time.”
According to the Front, the recently Oromo Liberation Front higher delegation led by OLF Chairman meeting with the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Dr Abiy Ahmed is a step forward to resolve the existing political problem.
In order to accelerate the initiated peace talks to a successful conclusion, the Oromo Liberation Front has declared a unilateral cease fire, it said.
“The temporary declaration of cease fire will take us to the final declaration of bilateral cessation of hostilities once for all and conclusion of the conflict,” it stated.
According to the statement, the Oromo Liberation Front instructed its army, operating all over Oromia, to implement the temporary declaration of the cease fire.

Addis Ababa, July 12, 2018 (FBC) –The dollar exchange rate at the black market in Ethiopia has been declining since recently.

It is now nearly equaled with the exchange rate at the commercial banks of Ethiopia.
The exchange rate at the black market was 36 birr per one US dollars two weeks ago. However, it has declined to 28-30 birr per US dollars now.
The official exchange rate at commercial banks is 27.30 birr now.
People engaged in a black market trade do not know the reason why the exchange rate has declined at the present.
The instability occurred in the past, coupled with the low performing manufacturing sector, resulted in a severe foreign currency shortage in the country.
Though it is not a lasting solution for the problem, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pledged a total of 3 billion US dollars in aid and investments.
It pledged to deposit 1 billion US dollar in Ethiopia’s National Bank to ease the shortage.
Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed last week told the parliament that his government had injected new US dollars into the Ethiopian market.

Addis Ababa, July 12, 2018 (FBC) -Ethiopia has repatriated 3,000 citizens stranded in foreign lands during the last three months, a government official said on Wednesday.

The citizens were repatriated from the United Arab Emirates, Kenya, Djibouti, and Sudan, Ethiopian foreign ministry spokesman Meles Alem told local and foreign media.
Meles said since the administration of new Prime Minister Dr Abiy Ahmed came to office in April, efforts to protect the rights of Ethiopians living overseas has achieved notable successes in repatriating undocumented nationals residing in foreign countries.
Ahmed's reconciliatory gestures and efforts to build consensus during his 100 days in office has seen Ethiopians living in foreign countries return to their home country to be part of the reform process Ethiopia is currently undertaking, the spokesman said.
Despite a growing economy and public awareness campaigns by the Ethiopian government on the dangers of human trafficking, thousands of Ethiopians looking for better economic opportunities are trafficked annually to Middle Eastern, African and European destinations.
Many of the Ethiopian migrants face abuses by smugglers and other criminals, including sexual and physical violence, during transit to their final destinations.
Source: Xinhua

[Atlantic Council] The leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea on July 9 signed a declaration ending the state of war between the two countries.

[Fahamu] From the Horn to Southern Africa similar destabilisation efforts were met with condemnation over attacks on political rallies.

መቀመጫውን ኤርትራ ያደረገውና በአቶ ዳውድ ኢብሳ የሚመራው የኦሮሞ ነፃነት ግንባር አንዱ አንጃ በተለያዩ የኦሮሚያ አካባቢዎች ሲያደርግ የነበረውን የትጥቅ ትግል በጊዜያዊነት ማቆሙን ዛሬ አስታወቀ። በምዕራብ ኦሮሚያ ውስጥ ሰሞኑን በተፈፀመው ግድያና ሁከት ውስጥ እጁ እንደሌለበት ተናግሯል።