Ethiopia's Addis Ababa bolsters 'sister city' ties with Washington DC

The Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, has moved to bolster its sister city ties with Washington DC, its counterpart in the United States.

Addis Ababa’s deputy mayor, Takele Uma Banti, on a visit to Washington, met with its mayor, Muriel Bowser, to discuss ways of boosting the ties which started in 2013.

“We discussed ways to strengthen Addis-DC #SisterCity agreement. We also explored new partnerships to advance the mutual benefits of our respective cities. I look forward to welcoming Mayor Bowser to Addis Ababa later this year,” Takele wrote on Twitter.

“Addis Ababa and Washington, DC share so much in common. They are both national and diplomatic capitals. They host foreign embassies and multilateral organizations. We can learn a lot from each other on issues ranging from tourism, metropolitan planning and transport management,” he added.

The mayor was received by the Ethiopian ambassador in DC, Fitsum Arega who sat through some meetings with Takele. The mayor announced that from Washington, his team was moving to Texas on a similar mission.

Sister cities or twin towns are a form of legal or social agreement between towns, cities, counties, oblasts, prefectures, provinces, regions, states, and even countries in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.

The Addis – DC agreement of six years back was signed by the respective mayors at the time: Addis Ababa’s Diriba Kuma and District of Columbia’s Vincent C. Gray. The original agreement was to last for five years subject to renewal.

The pact cuts across spheres such as, the cultural, economic development, public health, governance and sustainability. Other African cities aligned with DC are Accra (since 2006), Pretoria (since 2002, renewed in 2008, 2011) and Dakar (since 1980, renewed in 2006).

We had a great meeting with MayorBowser .
We discussed ways to strengthen Addis-DC #SisterCity agreement. We also explored new partnerships to advance the mutual benefits of our respective cities. I look forward to welcoming Mayor Bowser to Addis Ababa later this year. pic.twitter.com/3a5naixwK9

— Takele Uma Banti (TakeleUma) May 1, 2019