[From: A Week in the Horn of Africa, Oct. 14, 2011 issue.]

Prime Minister Meles visits Norway and Denmark

On Monday and Tuesday this week, Prime Minister Meles at the invitation of the Norwegian and Danish governments participated in two international green growth conferences in Oslo and Copenhagen. Others present included Kenyan Prime Minister, Raila Odinga.  In Oslo, the conference was held under the title, "Energy for all, financing access for the poor," and the Prime Minister outlined Ethiopia’s experience of public sector investment in infrastructure and the energy sector in particular. In his introductory statement, he also touched upon the importance of private sector financing in energy sector investment. He called upon the private sector to drop their unfounded notions of the risk of foreign companies investing in the developing world in this sector. On a panel discussion in which he also participated, the Prime Minster highlighted the pillars of Ethiopia’s plans for a green economy.  It was working to increase its clean renewable energy supplies five-fold in the next five years, and moving towards a target of zero carbon emissions by 2025. Ethiopia is a supporter of Norway’s newly launched Energy + initiative which is aimed at establishing a financing framework to provide widespread energy access for developing countries. Norwegian Prime Minister Stoltenberg said the initiative addresses the two main challenges of alleviating poverty and climate change – developing renewable energy sources would promote economic growth while also cutting carbon dioxide emissions.

In Copenhagen, on Tuesday October 11th, where Prime Minister Meles attended another international conference, the "Global Green Growth Forum," the emphasis was on spurring green growth by exploring, demonstrating and stimulating public-private sector collaboration. The Prime Minister outlined Ethiopia’s national action for green growth and once again spoke of the importance of the role of the public sector in achieving a green economy and the vital contribution that the private sector also provided. Green growth, he said, was not a matter of choice but a matter of necessity for Africa. Power provision was about ensuring social justice. Africa’s failure to achieve this as yet had been caused by the problems of finance, infrastructure and capacity. The two conferences drew attention to the fact that some 1.4 billion people around the world are devoid of electricity and another 2.7 billion use harmful traditional energy sources.

In both countries, Prime Minister Meles also met and held bilateral discussions with high-level officials of both governments.  In Oslo, the Prime Minister held meetings with the Norwegian Crown Prince, Prince Haakon, with Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and with the Environment and International Cooperation Minister, Eric Solheim.  He gave interviews to the Norwegian News Agency and the Aftenposten daily newspaper.  The Prime Minister also had a meeting with top officials of the YARA Company, a world renowned Norwegian company in fertilizer production, and held a round table discussion with a number of Norwegian companies involved in the energy sector.

In Copenhagen, Prime Minister Meles had an audience with the Queen of Denmark, Queen Margrethe II, and held bilateral discussions with the new Danish Prime Minister, Helle Thorning Schmidt, with Foreign Minister, Villy Sovndal, and with Christan Friis Bach, the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation.

It is anticipated that these bilateral encounters in both Oslo and Copenhagen will open new avenues of cooperation with both Norway and Denmark in the energy sector in particular and also in areas of environmental protection, as well as helping Ethiopia achieve the goal of having a green economy in the near future..

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