The Vice President of Colombia, Francia Márquez, and the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, met today in Addis Ababa to address the strengthening of “bilateral ties” and “explore opportunities for collaboration”, within the framework of the tour of the Colombian leader for Africa.
“It is a pleasure to welcome Francia Márquez, Vice President of Colombia, to Ethiopia,” said Abiy, winner of the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize, through his Twitter social network account.
“Our two countries will work to strengthen bilateral ties and explore opportunities for collaboration in various areas,” added the president, who heads the executive branch in Ethiopia.
Before speaking with the prime minister, Márquez, who arrived in Ethiopia on Wednesday, also held meetings that same day with the country’s president, Sahle-Work Zewde, and her deputy prime minister, Demeke Mekonnen.
“(Sahle-Work) assured that his country is committed to cooperation with Colombia, mainly on issues of peace, agriculture, education and trade,” Márquez said Thursday via Twitter.
Likewise, the vice president “celebrated” that the African country “has given its approval for the opening of the Colombian embassy in Ethiopia”, which would be the fourth in Africa, along with those of Kenya, South Africa and Ghana.
“Both countries know the cost of the conflict and we know that the silencing of the weapons is only the beginning of a new reconciliation process that leads our nations to build the prosperity they deserve,” Sahle-Work said, according to the “number two” of the Colombian Executive.
Ethiopia, Africa’s second most populous country and the headquarters of the African Union (AU), ended a two-year war with rebels in its northern region of Tigrah last November through a peace deal signed by both sides in South Africa. .
Márquez closes today in the Ethiopian capital the tour that he undertook on the 10th and which has also taken him to South Africa and Kenya, in order to strengthen political, economic, commercial and cultural relations with Africa.
Among other commitments, the vice president plans to meet also this Thursday with leaders of the AU.
The visit is the highest level of the Colombian Government in 26 years to that continent, with which the Andean country’s diplomatic and commercial relations have been scarce until now.
Márquez, the first Afro-Colombian to reach the vice presidency of her country, stated last month in the Colombian Senate that the trip to Africa is part of a strategy to have “an unprecedented rapprochement with this continent”, in which she seeks to increase the presence of Colombia with the opening of new embassies.