ETHIOPIA: BRICS & more – 30th May 2024

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 30th of May twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

Ethiopia officially became a member of the BRICS bloc of countries on the 1st of January. The Ethiopian government has been figuring out ways to best integrate the country with the bloc so it established the BRICS Plus Ministerial Steering Committee, which held its second meeting on Thursday the 23rd. Mamo Mihretu, the country’s BRICS representative, who is also the National Bank governor, presided over the meeting. The Committee's aim is to guide Ethiopia's participation in the group’s activities, and it also endorsed agreements and declarations in relation to the bloc.

Also on Thursday the 23rd, Taye Atske-Selassie, the Minister of Foreign Affairs Ambassador, went to Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh, and sat down with his counterpart Faisal bin Farhan to enhance economic and diplomatic relations. There was also talk of cooperation to ensure peace and security in the turbulent region of the Horn of Africa. Ambassador Taye also discussed investment with Hassan Moejeb Alhwaizy, the Chairman of Saudi's Chamber of Commerce, saying that the government has been introducing reforms to open the investment sector for foreign investment.

Up next, the government is working on The Corridor Development Project in Addis, which, according to the executive, will 'beautify' the city. Many sidewalks on most of the main roads have been demolished. However, the sidewalks right by the gates of the Russian, Kenyan, British, Ugandan, and Belgian embassies remain intact. There have been allegations saying that the embassies were against their destruction because they believe it encroaches upon their land. Still, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the government doesn't believe the embassies will refuse to cooperate as the project will benefit the diplomatic community, along with residents. The Ministry also said that it has set up a department that embassies can go to for support and to resolve disputes in relation to this, adding that the government hasn't had problems with the embassies so far.

Speaking of embassies, Dr. Sileshi Bekele, Ethiopia's Ambassador to the US, has allegedly submitted a resignation letter, and the executive has allowed him to leave his post. There are also allegations that the government has already prepared his replacement, the current ambassador to Saudi Arabia. Recall that Dr. Sileshi served in various government positions, including Minister of Water, when he advocated for Ethiopia's rights to use the Nile River to build the Ethiopian Grand Renaissance Dam. Media outlets allege that after his resignation as ambassador to the US, Dr. Sileshi will no longer serve the government and plans to work for private firms.

The Ministry of Justice has decided to drop corruption and money laundering charges against Abenet Gebre-Meskel, a renowned businessperson and former partner of billionaire Sheikh Ali Hussein Al-Amoudi. Abenet was in the process of defending himself before the Federal High Court when he fell ill. The Prime Minister’s Office put together a committee to consider the matter, and it eventually decided to dismiss the charges after finding that Abenet had to be sent abroad to follow his treatment.

In other news, Safaricom Ethiopia, the first and only private comprehensive telecommunications services provider, said it started receiving locally manufactured telecom towers by the company Woda Metal on Tursday the 23rd. Woda is the first local company to supply Safaricom Ethiopia with telecom towers. Safaricom had ordered sixty-eight and received thirteen in this first batch. Wim Vanhelleputte, Safaricom's CEO, said that Woda Metal has the largest galvanizing plant in East Africa and reasonable prices.

Moving on to some economic updates, Oromia Bank made the headlines. It invited media outlets to showcase its contribution to job creation and talked about the bank’s success. Its CEO said that the Oromia Bank has been a pioneer in the banking industry ever since it was founded fifteen years ago. He added that the company currently employs over eleven thousand people and has the lowest rate of non-performing loans in the country’s banking industry - that is one point five to two percent.

Private bank Nib was also in the news but for the wrong reasons. The bank announced that it fired over ten senior managers on Monday the 27th. These managers, who had been working in their posts for a long time, were let go because of the bank's downward spiral, which prompted an investigation by the National Bank. The former interim CEO, the Chief Customer and Operation Officer, and the Risk and Compliance Management Director have all been fired. The Bank is expected to hire new senior managers in the coming days.

Recall that Nib Bank's board members were all discharged recently and have been banned from working in any financial institution after the National Bank's investigation showed that they were responsible for the Bank's underperformance.

Since we mentioned the National Bank, it’s saying that even though there were plans to bring in over twenty billion birr or over three hundred and fifty million US dollars in gold sales by this time of the year, it has fallen short, only achieving sixty-seven percent of this target. The government attributes this sub-par performance to widespread contraband, which the executive has failed to control even after deploying a command post from the Armed Forces and the National Intelligence and Security Service. Gold producers in Ethiopia are classified as company and traditional miners and it was revealed that traditional miners have almost completely stopped providing the National Bank with gold, bringing in only a little over six hundred kilograms from the planned two thousand and three hundred. A few months ago, the government established a national mines development committee, which is drawing up a plan to combat contraband trade.

More on banks as The African Development Bank’s board of directors approved a grant of almost two and a half billion birr or forty-three million US dollars. The grant is set to benefit over eight thousand youth and women who own micro, small, and medium enterprises in the country..

The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church's Holy Synod began its plenary session on Wednesday the 29th. Father Mathias, the Church's Patriarch, opened the session with a speech saying that love for power, authority, and materialism have reigned in the outside world and within the Church. He lamented the external and internal challenges posed to the Church, adding that the Church has always been marred by various problems like corruption, instability, and the persecution of Christians in certian parts of the country. The plenary session is expected to address these issues.

The National Dialogue Commission, which was established over a year ago to come up with peaceful solutions to contentious problems, officially began dialogue on Wednesday the 29th all over the country. The Commission announced that, in order to foster the expression of ideas freely, it will grant immunity from any criminal charges in relation to what citizens express in the process of dialogue. Dialogue opened in the Addis chapter with over two thousand and five hundred participants. Members of the Commission say they’ve tried their best to have displaced peoples, religious representatives, and members of opposition parties participate in the process.

In some health news, The Food and Drugs Authority announced this week that it has banned the use of ulcer-treating medicine Ranitidine. In a letter dated Monday the 20th but only made public on Wednesday the 29th, the Authority said the drug contains the cancer-causing compound NDMA and shall not be used in Ethiopia. It said that it found that the drug was problematic after conducting studies and consultations with professionals and drug control authorities of various countries. However, other nations discovered this about five years ago.

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

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