S'pore to open embassy in Ethiopia, 3rd in Africa

Singapore will establish an embassy in Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, Prime Minister Lawrence Wong announced on Nov. 24, 2025.

This will make it Singapore's third embassy on the African continent, along with those in Egypt and South Africa, and the first in East Africa.

It is PM Wong's first bilateral visit to the African continent.

PM Wong: Sign of Singapore's commitment to partnership with Ethiopia

Speaking at a joint press conference with Ethiopia's Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, PM Wong said the embassy is a "tangible demonstration" of Singapore's commitment to its partnership with Ethiopia, and its belief in the East African country's strategic importance and potential.

The embassy will also enable Singapore to enhance its ties and deepen understanding with Africa as a whole, and better engage the African Union, he noted.

The headquarters of the African Union is located in Addis Ababa.

PM Wong highlighted:

"I have shared these plans with Prime Minister Abiy earlier today and look forward to the support of your government as we move ahead on these plans."

PM Wong is currently in Ethiopia on an official visit from Nov. 23-25.

Launch of SAPLINGS package

The joint press conference also saw PM Wong announce the launch of the Singapore-Africa Partnership Leading to Growth and Sustainability (SAPLINGS) package.

Under this package, African officers will be offered customised study visits to Singapore as well as executive education programmes and postgraduate scholarships in Singapore universities.

This will enable the officers to learn about the aspects of Singapore's development journey which are most relevant to their respective countries, PM Wong said.

He added:

"I encourage our Ethiopian friends and African partners to full maximise and make use of this SAPLINGS package, and I hope that you will gain useful experiences, and make many new friends in Singapore."

Two MOUs signed

PM Wong's visit to Ethiopia also saw two memorandums of understanding (MOUs) signed between both countries for skills development and carbon credits.

PM Wong pointed out that under the MOU for carbon credits, Singapore and Ethiopia will deepen collaboration in sustainability so that both countries can help each other meet their respective climate targets.

The Prime Minister also noted that Ethiopia is hosting COP32 — an endeavour which is fully supported by Singapore.

He said:

"[B]oth Prime Minister Abiy and I agreed that there is still much more that Ethiopia and Singapore can do together. There is clear potential to grow our bilateral cooperation...As hubs in our respective parts of the world, Singapore and Ethiopia can catalyse more trade and investment flows between Southeast Asia and Africa."

Top photo via Abiy Ahmed Ali/Facebook