Launch of the 10th Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa

Ethiopia: The 10th Tana High Level Forum on Security in Africa kicks off today (October 15), with the presence of Heads of State and Government, Ministers and high-level delegations from various countries.

HE Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, HE Abdelrahman Al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Government of Sudan, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister HE Demeke Mekonnen, Prime Minister of Somalia, HE Hamza Abdi Barre, and Amhara Regional President Yilkal Kefale, among other leaders, attended the Forum.

Hafsa Maalim, Forum Director and Tana Forum Moderator, acknowledged Ethiopia as the host country and the dignitaries.

In his opening remarks, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stressed the importance of building continental security resilience and local African solutions to emerging African problems.

Apart from other aspects that could potentially be reflected by counterparts attending the Forum, Prime Minister Abiy stressed that he would like to highlight three security areas that indeed require attention during the Forum’s deliberations. The Prime Minister said it is about governance of water, energy and data.

Today, he reiterated, Africa is vulnerable to climate change despite contributing the least to it. Bringing the challenges of citizens in this regard to the attention of the participants, Prime Minister Abiy noted that most Africans live in rural areas with rain-fed agriculture and that 1/3 of Africans suffer from water scarcity.

Putting Ethiopia’s efforts in this regard, he said, Ethiopia has embarked on realizing a wide range of alternatives to renewable energy. He further briefed Ethiopia’s efforts in hydropower, gas and commercial agriculture and energy export plans to neighboring countries.

Speaking of the country’s green legacy achievements, Ethiopia surpassed the target of planting 20 billion trees by planting 25 billion, with a survival rate of more than 70% of seedlings. He underlined that Ethiopia was implementing innovative solutions to address timely challenges and pointed to zero-emissions policies being developed.

He finally, among others, noted the need for data management and stressed that it should be in line with the African Agenda 2063. The Prime Minister also said that youth should be integrated into the efforts that the country is putting in place .

Abdelrahman Al-Burhan, President of the Transitional Government of Sudan; Hamza Abdi Barre, Somali Prime Minister; and Amhara Regional President Yilkal Kefale also delivered remarks. Uganda’s President Yoweri Museveni’s message was also conveyed to the Forum.