ETHIOPIA: Egypt’s Threats over Dam & more – 12th Sep 2024

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 12th of September twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

We start off this week’s episode with more news on the feud between Ethiopia and Egypt. Even though the countries were never friendly regional powers, their relations deteriorated when, about a decade ago, Ethiopia decided to build a massive dam on the Nile River. Despite holding negotiations, an agreement was never reached. Ethiopia still built the dam, and construction is almost complete.

According to the Ethiopian government, Egypt has repeatedly threatened to use force to resolve the matter — it has even threatened Ethiopia in a letter it sent to the UN Security Council last month. On Friday the 6th, Taye Atske-Selassie, Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs sent a letter to the UN Security Council asking the Council to take note of these threats.

Samuel Zbogar, this month’s president of the Security Council, confirmed that he had received Egypt’s letter but said that the Council will refrain from intervening in this matter as it is already being handled at the continental level.

More news from neighboring countries as Somaliland, an autonomous region in Somalia seeking statehood recognition, announced that a formal legal agreement following the Memorandum of Understanding signed with Ethiopia is imminent. On Wednesday the 11th, Somaliland’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called members of the diplomatic community and told them that a formal agreement that will allow Ethiopia access to the sea via Somaliland’s ports is edging ever closer. Ethiopia, on the other hand, didn’t make comments on this development, even though the incumbent Prosperity Party did recently say it has decided to go forward with reaching a practical agreement.

Somalia has persisted in condemning the deal — convinced that Ethiopia is encroaching on its sovereignty by dealing directly with Somaliland, a region Somalia considers its own.

Moving on, The South Korean government has agreed to provide two billion US dollars in finance through its Export-Import (EXIM) bank. The money will be used to fund eight projects in Ethiopia. The Ministry of Finance and the Bank reached this agreement after several rounds of consultations. The projects are set to be completed in the next two years. Media outlets asked South Korea’s ambassador to specify which projects will be funded under this agreement, but he refrained from naming any, explaining that the Ethiopian government alone has the right to reveal such information. However, he gave hints - the projects are on infrastructure development and building health centers.

On another note, the schism between the Tigray Interim Administration and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (or TPLF) continues. Even though the controversy began as a power struggle, now the two are also disagreeing about the Pretoria Agreement. Recall that the party and the federal government signed the deal in late twenty twenty-two, ending the civil war.

The TPLF says that the delegation was only dispatched to Pretoria to negotiate and sign a ceasefire deal and not to discuss the region's governance under the federal government. Getachew Reda, the president of the interim administration, who was also the lead negotiator, said the primary purpose of the deal was to end the war and that the negotiations weren’t about governance structure. Recall that Getachew used to be the TPLF’s vice chairman until he was voted out in the party’s most recent general assembly.

In some news on education, Addis Ababa Univeristy just revealed its new admission policy. Throughout its history, the University was under the control of the government, until last year when it was transformed into a self-governing institution. This means that the University will now implement its own academic policy, including admission.

Now, it will use a hybrid system where new students will be admitted on the basis of payment as well as merit. The university will select and admit students on its own; prospective students will have to apply and will only be admitted if they have better marks and are willing to pay the newly revised tuition fees. Previously, the government’s uniform placing system was used. Sudents who took the national university entrance exam were placed according to their preference and score.

Moving on, several opposition parties are accusing the Federal Housing Corporation of favoritism in allocating office units to other parties and entities — while refusing to rent office space to them. They said the National Electoral Board had already issued a support letter asking the Corporation to rent out units to the parties at a fair price but that the Corporation hasn’t complied for years now. What’s more is that private building owners have refused to rent out office space to parties fearing that they’ll be implicated in politics. The Federal Housing Corporation, on the other hand, said it isn’t discriminating in favor of parties, it just can’t supply units to all parties as there are too many, and that shortages have caused this problem.

Next, Sudan is currently in the midst of a civil war but that hasn’t stopped Ethiopian Airlines from launching another destination in Port Sudan, located along the Red Sea. This city land is a vital center of commerce in Sudan as well as East Africa. On Tuesday the 10th, Mesfin Tassew, the company’s CEO, announced that the carrier will be flying to Port Sudan every day starting from the 1st of October. He added that this daily flight will bridge cultures and economies. The carrier will fly to Port Sudan with its Boeing 737 Max aircraft. This addition brings the airline’s destinations in Africa to sixty-six.

Ethiopia didn’t do well in the Paris Olympics and many have been blaming the Ethiopian Olympic Committee for the lackluster results. The Committee and its president have been under increasing scrutiny and not only because of the results. There have been allegations that the Committee’s election process was seriously flawed. On Monday the 9th, legendary athlete Haile Gebre-Selassie, along with the Boxing and Tennis Federations, brought a suit suing the Athletics Federation, the Committee’s president and other representatives of the Committee. The plaintiffs asked for an injunction on the Committee’s election and subsequent decisions as well as freezing all of the Committee’s bank accounts. The Federal First Instance Court granted the injunction and added that the case will continue when Courts return from recess in a month.

More on sports news as Loza Abera, one of the best Ethiopian female football players, signed a contract with the US Super League side DC Power Football Club. Frederic Brillant, the team’s coach, said he is pleased to have this player and that the striker, who consistently scores goals, will be an asset in the final third of the pitch. At twenty-six, she’s already played at several teams both in Ethiopia and abroad. Most recently, she was playing for the W League team Virginia Marauders Football Club and was the team’s top scorer.

And finally, we would like to wish you a happy new year! If you’re confused, we understand, it’s only September. But because Ethiopia uses the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar, Wednesday the 11th was the first day of the first month of twenty seventeen. We wish you a prosperous twenty seventeen!

And that's it for this week!

Thanks for tuning into the Rorshok Ethiopia update. You can find us on your Spotify, Apple podcasts and all the other platforms as the Rorshok Ethiopia Update.

Ciao!