Thursday November 21, 2019
Ethiopian Defense Minister, Lemma Megersa, and UAE state minister for Defense Affairs, Mohammed Bin Ahmed signing the agreement. Credit : FBC
The economic and political influence of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been noticeably growing in the post-Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) Ethiopia.
And now is seemingly extending “cooperation” in the military area too.
Ethiopian government-affiliated Fana Broadcasting Corporation (FBC) reported on Wednesday that the two countries have reached an agreement to strengthen military cooperation.
The agreement was signed on the sidelines of the 16th Air show in Dubai, the source added.
Ethiopia’s minister for Defense, Lemma Megersa, former boss of Ethiopian prime minister and one of the key powerful figures in the country in the post TPLF era, and UAE state minister for Defense Affairs, Mohammed Bin Ahmed have signed the agreement.
Details of the agreement are not disclosed. What is known, based on FBC’s report, is that UAE sees the agreement as “part of its cooperation with the international community.”
UAE injected $US 1 billion soon after Abiy Ahmed became Prime Minister so as to ease what was then described as a “chronic foreign currency shortage.”
The Gulf country has secured a multi-billion dollars investment deal in the construction sector in Ethiopia in the aftermath of “political change” in the country.