Abiy Ahmed’s Regime Touted as BRICS ‘Champion’ as Bloc Backs WTO Bid, ICAO Seat and COP32
Chinese Embassy Chargé d’Affaires a.i. Sun Mingxi told reporters in Addis Ababa that Ethiopia was the “champion” of the recent New Delhi BRICS summit, as Abiy Ahmed’s Regime highlights diplomatic wins abroad while war and northern tensions continue at home.
Speaking on Thursday in remarks carried by Fana Media Corporation on September 18, Sun Mingxi linked the “champion” description to how widely Ethiopia’s priorities appeared in summit discussions among major emerging economies. The New Delhi Declaration, adopted at the 18th BRICS Leaders’ Summit on September 12 and 13, recorded support for three Ethiopian international goals that state media have treated as concrete diplomatic results.
According to Fana and ENA, BRICS members backed Ethiopia’s bid to join the World Trade Organization, welcomed Ethiopia’s candidacy for an additional seat on the International Civil Aviation Organization Council, and expressed support for Ethiopia’s presidency and hosting of COP32 in 2027. Fana notes that Ethiopia is the African Union’s sole endorsed African candidate for the additional ICAO Council seat set aside for underrepresented regions.
State messaging around the summit also featured Abiy Ahmed’s pitch on food security and wheat self-sufficiency, a BRICS grain exchange idea, digital and artificial intelligence cooperation, renewables, logistics including the Modjo dry port, and sea access framed as an economic need to be pursued through peaceful negotiation. Those themes were already partly covered in earlier reporting on Red Sea access remarks; the fresh element for this brief is the Chinese Embassy’s “champion” line together with the WTO, ICAO, and COP32 package in the New Delhi Declaration.
The Ethiopian federal government presents the package as proof that Addis Ababa can turn BRICS membership into trade, aviation, and climate diplomacy space. For Amhara readers, the same week still includes ENDF claims of mass surrenders on the Tekeze front and continued worry over Amhara civilian harm, so the diplomatic praise abroad sits beside unresolved security costs at home rather than replacing them.
Sources: Fana Media Corporation (Sep 18, 2026); Fana on New Delhi Declaration (Sep 14, 2026); ENA (Sep 14, 2026).