Africa’s Seat at BRICS, G-20 Point to a New World Order: Ethiopian Ambassador

The expansion of the BRICS grouping to include Ethiopia as well as India’s push to make 55-nation African Union (AU) as a permanent G-20 member at the upcoming New Delhi summit are indicative of a “new world order”, the Ethiopian Ambassador to New Delhi has told Sputnik India in an interview.

Demeka Atnafu Ambulo, the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Addis Ababa to New Delhi, said that Ethiopia “fully backed” India’s G-20 agenda, which he noted was focussed on “raising concerns” of the Global South.

“We are immensely grateful to the Indian presidency of G-20 for becoming the voice of the Global South. We fully back the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) targets, reforms of the multilateral and global financial organizations and debt restructuring of the developing nations among others,” Ambulo stated.

He added that the African countries were expecting progress in debt restructuring talks at the upcoming G-20 Summit, which will also be attended by the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

Significantly, the diplomat also expressed concerns over the “huge food security” problem and fertilizer shortages in African nations, which will be on the agenda at the upcoming G-20 Summit.

New Delhi has said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally lobbied the G-20 leaders for a permanent seat for the African Union in the G-20.

"African Union’s G-20 membership will be reflective of changing global realities and make it more inclusive and representative,” the envoy underscored.

Addis Ababa is the headquarters of the African Union.

Ambulo said that the global order has undergone many changes since the end of the Cold War, which should be reflected in the “realities on the ground”.

The diplomat underlined that bringing the African Union into the G-20 fold would mean giving representation to 55 countries that constituted the pan-African nation.

“It would mean representation for nearly 1.4 billion Africans,” the ambassador emphasized.

‘BRICS Membership Brings Great Opportunities for Ethiopia’

The Ethiopian Ambassador expressed confidence that the BRICS membership would bring significant economic, political and security benefits for the African nation.

“Becoming a BRICS member gives us a platform to highlight concerns of the Global South. It would give us the opportunity to advocate for a more inclusive global order,” Ambulo said.

Besides, Ethiopia, BRICS also inducted Egypt as a new member at the recent summit in Johannesburg. South Africa had become a BRICS member in 2010.

The envoy reckoned that being a BRICS member would help Ethiopia in attracting greater foreign investments, enable capacity-building, technology transfers as well as help with other economic and social benefits.

“We are already the second-largest African economy (after South Africa) and the fastest-growing economy on the continent,” he added.

The African diplomat underlined that the country has played a significant role in global peace and stability and in the anti-colonial struggles of the Global South.

“We are also a significant contributor to global peace and stability, being the biggest troop contributor to UN peacekeeping missions,” Ambulo noted.

He highlighted Ethiopia’s proud legacy of having never been “colonized” by a foreign power and its support for the anti-colonial struggle of other African countries.

Ambulo recalled that both anti-Apartheid icon and Nobel Peace laureate Nelson Mandela as well as former Zimbabwean revolutionary Robert Mugabe had got their “training” in Ethiopia.

He also recalled that Ethiopia had been a founding member of the League of Nations (precursor to the UN), the African Union, the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) as well as the United Nations (UN).

‘Want Concerns of Both Russia and Ukraine to Be Weighed’

Ambulo said that African countries wanted to see an end to the conflict in Ukraine through the means of “dialogue and diplomacy”.

“We want concerns of both the countries to be weighed equally,” the Ethiopian diplomat said.

Africa’s Infrastructure Development Ranks High in India’s Priorities: Ex-Envoy

28 August 2023, 16:33

Africa’s Seat at BRICS, G-20 Point to New World Order: Ethiopian Envoy to India

‘BRICS Membership Brings Great Opportunities for Ethiopia’

‘Want Concerns of Both Russia and Ukraine to Be Weighed’