By Ebi Kesiena
On the sidelines of the Africa Human Capital Heads of State Summit in Tanzania, Sierra Leone’s President Dr Julius Maada Bio has held several bilateral meetings with Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia Mr. Demeke Mekonnen Hassen to promote cooperate programmes.
A statement distributed by APO Group on behalf of the Republic of the Sierra Leone State House on Friday, noted that President Bio also assured of Sierra Leone’s continued support and respect for her friendly relations with Ethiopia.
President Bio while congratulating the Deputy Prime Minister on the success of wheat production in Ethiopia, added that they had set a bright example of good practice that Sierra Leone could learn from, especially now that agriculture and food security were among the Big Five Manifesto priorities.
Also, Bio stated that owing the success of Ethiopia’s health insurance scheme, Sierra Leone could learn and duplicate the template as he proposed the expansion of the services of Ethiopian Airlines to Freetown.
On his part, Mr. Hassen who used the opportunity to congratulate President Bio on his reelection, in the recently held 2023 elections and also applauded Sierra Leone on its recent election to the non-permanent seat of United Nations Security Council, emphasising that the two successes were important for the West African nation.
On their flagship programmes, the Deputy Prime Minister said Ethiopia’s Green Legacy on climate change had seen 25 billion trees planted in the last 5 years, adding that there were also the ‘Basket of Abundance’ project, with each home engaging in agriculture and planting vegetables, the ‘Quality Education’ for the new generation and the successful Health Insurance programmes.
The two leaders however reflected on discussions they had in 2019 when the Deputy Prime Minister, Mr Hassen led a high-power delegation to Sierra Leone on a two-day working state visit on bilateral cooperation between the two countries.
