“Today, I have the honor to officially welcome the President of Brazil, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, on his state visit to Ethiopia. During our talks, we have addressed various bilateral and multilateral issues, reflecting the depth of our relationship,” Ahmed wrote on his X account.

He explained that as Addis Ababa, joins the ranks of the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) group, he eagerly anticipates a strengthened collaboration with the South American nation, “considering our meeting as a fundamental step towards forging a strong partnership.”

Ethiopia, along with Argentina, Egypt, Iran, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, has been a full member of the economic group since January 1.

During the 15th BRICS Summit, held last August in Johannesburg, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced the acceptance of these memberships.

Earlier, Lula visited the Adwa Victory Memorial Museum in Addis Ababa, accompanied by the Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide and the mayor of the Ethiopian capital, Adanech Abiebie, the administration of this city revealed.

The South American leader arrived last night from Egypt for an official state visit and was received at Bole International Airport by the Ethiopian Foreign Minister, Taye Aske-Selassie.

Lula’s work agenda includes his participation as a guest at the 37th Summit of Heads of State and Government of the African Union, to be held on February 17 and 18 under the theme “Educating for the 21st century: Building resilient education systems to increase access to inclusive, quality and relevant learning in Africa”.

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