International
Ethiopia Racing to join WTO Membership in 2026
Ethiopia is actively engaging with the WTO to conclude its accession negotiations as early as 2026 and to implement its accession commitments.
In a statement, WTO confirms : “As Ethiopia prepares for its 5th Working Party meeting in 2025, the Steering Committee agreed on an accession roadmap which outlines steps and timelines for concluding the negotiations, currently envisaged for 2026.
” Ethiopia is not a member of the WTO though Ethiopia’s gradual accession to the WTO has been underway since 2003.
In August 2023, Ethiopian negotiators lined up a fifth working party meeting with WTO, tentatively set up for March or April 2024.
However, Ethiopia then paused the process for eight years, primarily over concerns about liberalising its banking and telecom sectors.
In June 2019, Ethiopia’s Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, reactivated the process and formed a national committee of ten members to resume the accession procedure.
A high-level delegation from Ethiopia led by Kassahun Gofe Balami, Minister of Trade and Regional Integration and Chief Negotiator for WTO Accession, visited the WTO on 5-11 December to prepare for the reactivation of the country’s accession Working Party in early 2025.
The visit marked Ethiopia’s strong re-engagement in the accession process five years after the last Working Party meeting in January 2020. The visit began with a meeting between Minister Kassahun Gofe Balami and WTO Deputy Director-General Xiangchen Zhang on 5 December 2024.
Minister Kassahun Gofe Balami reaffirmed Ethiopia’s strong commitment to restarting and accelerating its WTO accession.
He underscores the recent progress in Ethiopia’s domestic economic reforms. He further expressed gratitude for the technical support provided by the WTO Secretariat and emphasized his Government’s needs for continued capacity-building, as a least-developed country (LDC).
The Minister also participated in the 9th Working Party Meeting of Uzbekistan on 5–6 December 2024. In his intervention at the meeting, he highlighted that Ethiopia shares Uzbekistan’s steadfast commitment to joining the WTO and noted the contribution of WTO accession to the diversification and liberalization of acceding economies.
The visit included briefing sessions on WTO Accession, jointly delivered by the World Bank and the WTO Secretariat on 9–10 December 2024.
Members of Ethiopia’s Steering Committee addressed the economic impact of WTO membership, key provisions and obligations across WTO Agreements, and specific issues in Ethiopia’s multilateral and bilateral accession negotiations.
The delegation recognized the significant benefits of WTO accession, including increased trade predictability, access to WTO instruments, and increased attractiveness of Ethiopia’s economy for foreign direct investment.
Photo Caption: Members of the Steering Committee: Ambassador Mesganu Arga Moach, State Minister of Foreign Affairs and Deputy Chief Negotiator on WTO Accession; Yasmin Wohabrebbi Saeed, State Minister of Trade and Regional Integration; Eyob Tekalign Tolina, State Minister of Finance; Belayihun Yirga Kifile, State Minister of Justice; Debele Kabeta Hursa, Commissioner for Customs; Fikadu Digafie Huriso, Vice Governor of the National Bank of Ethiopia; and Zeleke Temesgen Boru, Commissioner for Investment.
International
Senegal scraps Akon’s $6bn Wakanda-inspired city project
Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.
• Akon
The government of Senegal has cancelled Akon’s $6 billion plan to build a futuristic “Akon City” on the country’s Atlantic coast, after years of inaction and missed payments by the Senegalese-American singer.
Bloomberg reports that the project, first announced in 2020, was pitched as a tech-driven smart city inspired by Marvel’s Wakanda and promised to transform the quiet village of Mbodiène into a modern hub powered by solar energy and Akon’s own cryptocurrency.
But five years later, the Senegalese government has reclaimed most of the 136 acres of land initially allocated to the singer, after construction failed to begin and financial commitments were not met.
“That project no longer exists,” Serigne Mamadou Mboup, head of Sapco-Senegal, the state agency responsible for developing coastal and tourism zones, told L’Agence de presse sénégalaise.”
Bloomberg reports on Wednesday that SAPCO said it would now pursue a scaled-down, state-backed tourism project in the same area, with a budget of 665 billion CFA francs (about $1.2 billion), largely sourced from private investors.
Akon will retain just 8 hectares of the original land allocation, which will be absorbed into the broader development.
Despite the setback, officials say the revised plan could generate up to 15,000 jobs in its first phase, offering long-awaited economic hope for Mbodiène residents.
International
Russian minister commits suicide after sack by Putin
Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
Russia’s former transport minister Roman Starovoyt killed himself Monday, July 7, 2025, hours after being officially dismissed by President Vladimir Putin.
The country’s Investigative Committee confirmed the incident via a statement on Monday.
Authorities said Starovoyt’s body was found in a Moscow suburb after the firing was announced, with “suicide” being considered the most likely cause of death.
Starovoyt, 53, served as Russia’s transport minister since May 2024.
He was previously the governor of the Kursk region, where Russia had battled a Ukrainian incursion.
The Investigative Committee said: “Today, the body of former Transport Minister Roman Starovoyt was found in his private car with a gunshot wound in the Odintsovo district.
“The main version (considered) is suicide.”
Russian state media and news agencies said Starovoyt shot himself.
It was not clear exactly when Starovoyt died.
(The Star.ng)
International
Trump threatens extra 10% tariff on nations siding with Brics
A deadline for countries to agree a tariff deal with the US had been set for 9 July but US officials now say they will begin on 1 August.
US President Donald Trump has warned that countries which side with the policies of the Brics alliance that go against US interests will be hit with an extra 10% tariff.
Trump has long criticised Brics, an organisation whose members include China, Russia and India, which was designed to boost countries’ international standing and challenge the US and western Europe.
“Any country aligning themselves with the Anti-American policies of BRICS, will be charged an ADDITIONAL 10% tariff.
There will be no exceptions to this policy,” Trump wrote on social media.
A deadline for countries to agree a tariff deal with the US had been set for 9 July but US officials now say they will begin on 1 August.
(BBC)
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