August 2, 2018

Following a successful tour of the United States Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has promised that a new consular office will be opened in Minneapolis to cater for the 19 thousand Ethiopians in Minnesota. This is according to borkena.com

Ethiopia is to open a consular office in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where tens of thousands of Ethiopians live, announced the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia. It is going to be the second consular office in the United States next to Los Angeles.

It was during the final destination of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s and his entourage trip to the United States in Minnesota that the opening of the consular office was announced. More than 19,000 Ethiopians and Ethiopian-American attended the meeting with Dr. Abiy Ahmed in Minnesota.

And the prime minister wants Ethiopians to use the consular office and support it. “Unlike before, this is going to be your own. It is your home,” he declared to the applause of the crowd. And he wants the office to serve as a symbol of Unity of Ethiopians in the city. The city is home to Ethiopians of diverse ethnic backgrounds. Apart from Abiy, Lemma Megersa, president of Oromo regional state, made a highly rated speech to the crowd which Ethiopians widely shared on social media.

There has been a complaint in the past that Ethiopian Embassy and consular offices in the United States and elsewhere were dominated by people loyal to TPLF which turned out to be a push factor for Ethiopians to avoid interaction with their own consular offices and embassies.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs, however, did not disclose as to when the consular office is opening.

culled from bokena.com