Health Ministry Greenlights General Elections

Sep 19 , 2020


The Ministry of Health has given approval for holding the general elections in accordance with strict safety precautions. Reported in the presence of 287 parliamentarians, Lia Tadesse (MD), minister of Health, stressed that the elections can be held with new regulations and directives in line with the pandemic and by implementing specific safety measures in areas with higher numbers of cases. The general election, which was set to be held on August 29, 2020, had been postponed due to the Novel Coronavirus (COVID-19). It was expected to be held nine months following a declaration by the Ministry of Health stating the virus as no longer a threat for conducting elections. Ethiopia has currently conducted close to 1.2 million COVID-19 tests, the third highest number on the continent. From the conducted tests, over 66,000 people have been confirmed to have the virus with 58pc of cases originating from Addis Abeba and higher percentages coming from Oromia, Tigray and Amhara regional states.  The general elections were originally set to be held on August 29, 2020, and election campaigns were scheduled from May 28 to August 24, 2020. The results of the election were also set to be announced between August 30 and September 8, 2020, accordingly.


Radar

Coffee Exports Bring in $1.5B in Third Quarter

Ethiopia has earned 1.5 billion dollars from coffee exports over the nine months of the fiscal year. The country had set a target to earn a little over a billion dollars by exporting 201,959tns of coffee during the same period. According to Adugna Debella (PhD), director general of the Ethiopian Coffee & Tea Authority, the export strategy continues to focus on major international markets, with the top 10 destinations, including Saudi Arabia, Germany, and the United States (SU), accounting...


Radar

Central Bank Holds Fourth Exchange Auction

The National Bank of Ethiopia(NBE) sold one dollar for 131.4961 birr in its recent auction. It was reported that 26 banks participated in this auction, which took place last week on Thursday. In a statement issued by the National Bank  following the auction, it was indicated that 70 million dollars was offered for the event. Subsequently, it was reported that 96 pc of the foreign exchange needs of the participating banks were met. In the previous auction, held 15 days ago, the bank had of...


Radar

City Registers 64,075 Births in Fiscal Year

The city has exceeded its birth registration target for the first nine months of the fiscal year, registering 64,075 children—71.15pc more than the set goal of 58,342. This success, with a registration coverage rate of 109.63pc, is largely attributed to the efficiency of the one-centre birth registration service system, which has been rolled out across health centres and courts. The total number of vital events registered, including births, adoptions, marriages, divorces, and deaths, reache...