Ambassador Ayele Lire Jijamo, Ambassador-Designate of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, officially presented his copy letters to Jamaica’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Senator the Honourable Kamina Johnson-Smith.

Following this, Ambassador Jijamo presented his Credentials to Governor-General of Jamaica Sir Patrick Allen, at King’s House during the group presentation of credentials for new ambassadors to Jamaica. This event was part of Jamaica’s Annual Diplomatic Week, observed from March 10 to 14.

The annual Diplomatic Week 2025 was observed under the theme ‘Building Partnerships for a Sustainable Future’ to which Ambassador Ayele along with other resident and non-resident diplomats also received ministerial briefings, updates from the Bank of Jamaica, the Passport Immigration and Citizenship Agency, Tax Administration Jamaica and Jamaica Customs Agency. Additionally, Ambassador Ayele conducted bilateral meetings with Cabinet Ministers to discuss matters of importance for each country and attended the Governor General’s reception banquette during the Diplomatic Week activities.

Courtesy call with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade

Ambassador Ayele’s appointment to Jamaica aims to strengthen existing diplomatic relations and deepen the political, economic and cultural links between Ethiopia and Jamaica.  The Ambassador’s courtesy call with Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, Honourable Minister Kamina Johnson-Smith, focused on building cooperation in areas of trade, investments, education services and tourism in an effort to foster activities to enhance economic development.

Ambassador Ayele in response stated that he is committed to building upon the existing relationships and also to identifying new ways of forging a common vision for future cooperation and development. He further said that we must capitalize on pre-existing cultural, and diplomatic relations. Ambassador Ayele specifically mentioned the upcoming Africa Union/CARICOM Summit in Addis Ababa, from September 7, 2025 to address, inter alia, the issue of “Justice for African and people of African Descent through Reparations”, and advised that the government and people of Ethiopia are looking forward to hosting Jamaica and CARICOM leaders in Addis Ababa then.

Minister Johnson-Smith also observed that an Air Service Agreement with Ethiopia to provide connectivity with Jamaica and the Caribbean region is critical to the cost-effective and efficient movement of people and goods.

Courtesy call with Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport

The courtesy call with Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia ‘Babsy’ Grange and His Excellency Ayele focused on sports, culture, entertainment and gender cooperation between the two countries. Minister Grange shared that Ethiopia and Jamaica had a long history of cultural relations through people-to-people natural affiliations that predate the Pan African Movement and that we are “bound together through history, culture, Rastafari and reggae music.” Ambassador Ayele gave a commitment to cooperate in the areas of sports, culture, music and gender, while Minister Grange committed to providing technical support in track and field training, physical education teachers and coaches, particularly in the areas of track and field. There was mutual agreement on the way forward in the development of Ethiopia and Jamaica’s sporting and cultural relations. 

Courtesy call with Minister of Tourism 

His Excellency also held bilateral meetings with Minister Edmund Bartlett, OJ, CD, MP to advance bilateral and technical cooperation with Ethiopia, particularly in the areas of air connectivity, tourism, trade, investment and immigration issues. Minister Bartlett expressed the desire for Ethiopian Airlines to fly to the Caribbean region to connect the African Continent, and to transport goods and services to Jamaica and to the Caribbean at large.

Ambassador Ayele stated that Ethiopia can benefit from cooperating with Jamaica’s tourism sector as Jamaica is one of the top tourist destinations in the world, and Minister Bartlett assured the Ambassador that Jamaica would be happy to cooperate and provide technical support in this area.

Visit to Bob Marley Museum

During Ambassador Ayele’s visit to the Bob Marley Museum, he expressed appreciation for the love and admiration which Bob Marley, the Rastafarians, and Jamaicans at large, have for Ethiopia and the late Emperor Haile Selassie. He said that the love was visible throughout the Island and that it has helped to strengthen the closer affinity and positive sentiments between the people of both countries. He also thanked the Bob Marley Museum management for their hospitality and the amazing tour of the museum. 

Meeting with Jamaica Chamber of Commerce

The Ambassador also met with the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) CEO, Mr. Larry Watson and several of its members to discuss cooperation agreements and commercial business interests in areas of culture, trade, tourism, investment, agriculture and education. In response to the JCC members, Ambassador Ayele stated that “our relations so far has largely been the natural affiliation of people-to-people contact, however, we want to deepen our relations to include economic, investment and trade, as Jamaica is a very important partner for us in the Caribbean”.

The newly appointed Ethiopian non-resident ambassador to Jamaica is based in Havana, Cuba. During his visit to Jamaica, he was welcomed to the island by the Honorary Consul of Ethiopia in Jamaica, Mrs Yodit Hylton along with a contingent of ministers, and members of the diplomatic community. The ambassador’s engagement over the five-day period allowed him to gain a deeper understanding of the key priorities for the execution of his new role. Prior to his appointment as non-resident ambassador to Jamaica, Ambassador Ayele, served as ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia to the African Union and the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa. He has been a long-serving career diplomat in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia and served in various Ethiopian embassies in Brussels, Cairo, London and Abuja.

Ambassador Ayele was joined by Honorary Consul, Mrs Yodit Hylton, who has served the government and people of Ethiopia in Jamaica for the past fifteen years, as well as the Third Secretary, Mrs Emebet  Debash Yalew, from the Embassy of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia in Havana.