Ethiopia-EU Talks: Ethiopia’s State Minister of Finance Semereta Sewasew met EU Commissioner Jozef Síkela to expand the strategic partnership, with focus on trade, investment, development finance, and sectors like renewable energy, manufacturing, agro-processing, logistics, and digital transformation. Digital Infrastructure: Ethio Telecom and Inspur Software Technology explored a strategic partnership aligned with “Next Horizon: Digital & Beyond 2028,” aiming to speed up Ethiopia’s digital transformation through AI-ready data centers, cloud platforms, and high-performance computing. National Dialogue: Ethiopia’s National Dialogue Conference began under the Ethiopian National Dialogue Commission, bringing together regions, religious groups, civil society, youth, and more than 4,000 participants to discuss identity, state structure, cohesion, corruption, institutions, rights, and reconciliation. Music Spotlight: South Sudanese artist Single Dee earned a second AFRIMMA nomination, competing in Best Male East Africa Artist alongside Ethiopia’s Lij Michael. Arts & Film: Ethiopian-born filmmaker Haile Gerima reflected on how “Sankofa” helped build the Sankofa Video, Books & Cafe cultural hub. Fashion/Design: RLSD Africa 2026 unveiled its Top 15 leather design finalists from across Africa.