Africa-Press – Ethiopia. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and French President Emmanuel Macron held extensive bilateral discussions at the National Palace in Addis Ababa, addressing several issues of mutual interest between Ethiopia and France.
The two sides also oversaw the exchange of several key cooperation agreements between the two countries, reflecting the growing bilateral relations and deepening partnership in sustainable development, energy, and digital transformation.
The signed agreements included a loan of 54.6 million euros to finance an integrated sustainable renewable energy and digitization program, aimed at supporting Ethiopia’s efforts to transition to green energy and enhance its digital development agenda.
The parties also exchanged a new framework and roadmap for a public-private partnership project to develop a geothermal power plant with a capacity of 150 megawatts, contributing to the expansion of renewable energy projects in Ethiopia and attracting private sector investments in geothermal energy.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed stated in a social media post that the discussions and agreements reflect the growing partnership between Ethiopia and France and the mutual commitment to advancing sustainable development pathways and enhancing bilateral cooperation.
These discussions come amid the growing Ethiopian-French relations, particularly in strategic sectors related to energy, infrastructure, and technology.
The two countries had previously signed an agreement in February for debt restructuring and a new financing program worth 81 million euros to support ongoing macroeconomic reforms in Ethiopia.
According to the Ethiopian Ministry of Finance, the French-Ethiopian partnership currently represents investments exceeding 600 million euros, with over 300 million euros allocated to the energy sector.
Since 2019, a cooperation agreement signed with Paris has organized training for Ethiopian soldiers by the French military. After being suspended in the early weeks of the Tigray War in late 2020, it was reactivated in early 2023 following the signing of the Pretoria peace agreement.
France aims to secure an ally in the Bab el-Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea and compete with Russia. In turn, the Ethiopian navy benefits from this agreement through security training provided by French military personnel either on-site or at sea aboard warships stationed in Toulon or Brest.
In recent months, tensions between Eritrea and Ethiopia, which seeks access to the sea via the Eritrean port of Assab, have steadily increased, making the outbreak of a new war between the neighbors a likely possibility.
