ETHIOPIA: A Drone Attack & more – 6th Feb 2025

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 6th of February twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

On Thursday the 30th, a drone attack from neighboring country Djibouti killed at least eight civilians and injured ten in the Afar region, in northeastern Ethiopia. Shortly after, the Djiboutian government admitted that it carried out the attack but that it was within its borders. Parties operating in the Afar region said this was an unacceptable attack, which violated Ethiopia’s sovereignty. In a joint statement, they said they would seek retaliation. They mentioned that this was not the first time that Djibouti attacked civilians in the Afar region, recalling that a similar incident took place last year.

The federal government has not commented on the matter yet but Djibouti said the attack was against terrorists and that there was collateral damage.

In news about Afar’s neighbor Tigray in northern Ethiopia, for eight months, there’s been a rift between the two dominant political forces of the region, the region’s interim administration with Getachew Reda at the helm and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (or TPLF), the region’s largest party with Debre-Tsion Gebre-Michael leading the group. Over the past few months, as disputes escalated, the federal government has been passive about the issue.

However, on Monday the 3rd, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said in a statement that Tigrayan elites have to resolve their differences peacefully and keep the best interests of Tigray’s people in mind. He noted that Tigray has remained a battlefield for a better part of the past century and people are still living in war rhetoric, fear and terror. Will this lead to government intervention?

On another note, the effect of US President Donald Trump’s sweeping measures is being felt all across the world, especially his decision to suspend foreign aid for ninety days. Ethiopia sits on top of the list of countries that receive the most foreign aid from the US. This suspension means food, education, health and other essential aid programs that depend on funding from the US have been halted.

For instance, the humanitarian organization Action Against Hunger has announced that it will scale back food assistance to refugees in the Gambella region in western Ethiopia.

Reports from the US indicate that the future of the the US Agency for International Development is in jeopardy. If it is disbanded and the US decides to cease providing aid to Ethiopia, millions needing urgent food, and medical attention will suffer.

In economic news, Ethiopian Investment Holdings, the government’s investment wing, has revealed that it will work towards covering the government’s budget deficit in the next five years. In the previous quarter alone, the sovereign wealth fund posted a dividend payment of almost six billion birr, which is almost forty-seven million US dollars. The government plans to increase this to fourteen billion birr, which is more than a hundred and ten million US dollars, by the end of the current fiscal year.

The plan to increase revenue will help reduce the need for external loans. Ethiopian Investment Holdings currently manages about thirty-four companies that the state owns, including the biggest telecom, banking and insurance service providers.

Last week, The International Monetary Fund (or IMF) said in a report that Ethiopia is on the right track. The report also highlighted a surge in terms of tax collection, saying there’s been a seventy percent increase in income tax collected compared to the same time last year. However, the main takeaway from the report is that by mid-twenty twenty-five the inflation rate will reach twenty-five percent. The IMF added that the inflation rate won’t drop to single digits until twenty twenty-eight, and that the value of the birr would drop. On the upside, revenue from imports has grown ninety-two percent while the annual inflation rate has fallen from nineteen to seventeen percent.

The report also said that the IMF was not satisfied with the bill re-establishing the National Bank. It pointed out that there is no article that prohibits acting ministers from being a member of the Bank’s board of directors, which, according to the IMF, increases the influence of the government over the Bank and mitigates its autonomy. However, the bill has already been approved by the House, so there’s only a very small chance that these concerns will be addressed.

The House of Peoples’ Representatives approved the draft general education proclamation on Thursday the 30th, but not without controversy. One of the biggest issues is that the bill indicates that depending on students’ and parents’ preference, students can attend courses teaching one of the federal languages. This is a heavily debated matter because, currently, the constitution says that there’s only one federal language - Amharic. Those who are not on board with the bill’s wording said it is speculating a constitutional amendment where there will be more federal languages.

Legal experts said that the bill’s provision predicting a constitutional amendment is not consistent with the mandates granted to the House; even though it can issue proclamations, it cannot do so on the basis of an amendment that is yet to materialize. On the other hand, House members supporting this provision said the government has already recognized languages that will be given federal designation.

Shifting gears, the Federal High Court ruled on a high-profile case involving infamous clergyman Belay Mekonnen. About nine months ago, Belay and his accomplices were arrested after a failed fraud attempt. The suspects tried to withdraw six million US dollars from the African Union’s bank account by issuing payment transfer orders.

After months of investigation, the Court found the defendants guilty and sentenced Belay to five years and his accomplices to three years in prison on Thursday the 30th of January, saying that they engaged in a coordinated and organized criminal act. The convicts will serve time in the Addis Ababa Correctional Facility. The months that they were in custody will be deducted from their sentences.

Tragic news now as Dr. Andualem Dagnie, a surgeon who was serving at the Tibebe Ghion Specialized Hospital in Bahir Dar, the capital of the Amhara region, was shot dead on Saturday the 1st of February. Andualem was a reputable surgeon who performed the hospital’s first-ever surgery and was working to improve the hospital’s surgical standards. The Bahir Dar University community along with the region’s residents has been in shock over Andualem’s death.

On Thursday the 6th, the University’s senate announced that it would rename the surgical ward of the Tibebe Ghion Hospital in his honor in addition to employing his wife, putting up a statue and launching a scholarship program to commemorate Dr. Andualem’s exemplary contributions to medicine. The motive behind his murder is yet to be revealed.

Finally, news from the diplomatic arena,.Ethiopia and the Czech Republic sealed deals to work together on the military industry and wildlife preservation. The agreements were signed in the Czech Republic. Ethiopia’s Minister of Tourism signed the memorandum of understanding on wildlife preservation with the Czech Republic’s Wildlife Preservation Institute. The Ministry pointed out that the agreement will help protect endangered wild animal species in Ethiopia through research-based support. Ethiopia will also receive technical, capacity-building support to protect and preserve wild animals.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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