ETHIOPIA: Eritrean Forces Urged to Leave & more – 6th Mar 2025

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

Let’s begin this episode with news on foreign affairs. The EU and the UN are not only concerned about the presence of foreign military forces in Ukraine, but also in Ethiopia. In the fifty-eighth session of the UN’s Human Rights Council, the EU urged Eritrean forces in the country to leave immediately.

The Union also called for an independent investigation of rights abuses in northern Ethiopia. The UN’s Commissioner of Human Rights also reiterated these requests, saying Eritrean forces are violating provisions of the Pretoria agreement, which ended a two-year-long war between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, in which Eritrean forces also participated.

Even though the Ethiopian and Eritrean governments have improved relations over the years, recently, tensions have been rising, with allegations that Eritrea is sowing seeds for another war in northern Ethiopia.

Still on foreign relations, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a press conference on Friday the 28th of February, in which Ethiopia’s commitment to gaining access to a sea outlet was reiterated. The Ministry’s spokesperson said the country and Somalia have agreed to cooperate on various strategic matters, but that this doesn’t mean that Ethiopia has withdrawn its request for access to the sea. He added that the government will exert diplomatic efforts to achieve this and wants to gain a sea outlet through neighboring countries on a give-and-take basis.

He also briefed the public on plans to repatriate Ethiopians who were victims of human trafficking, smuggled to Myanmar, suffering from abuse and exploitations, urging the public to refrain from immigrating via illegal means.

In more news on cooperation with other countries, the Ethiopian Transportation Employers Federation revealed last Thursday the 27th of February that it is preparing to import five thousand, fifth generation Russian dry and liquid cargo vehicles. It said it has been conducting a study to confirm whether they would be compatible with Ethiopia’s landscape.

The Federation also said that Ethiopian and Russian banks had struck a deal to provide loans of up to eighty to ninety percent of the vehicles’ prices. The Federation acknowledged that the deal benefited from Ethiopia’s membership in the BRICS+ bloc of countries. However, the importation was put into question since about ten years ago, similar vehicles were imported from Russia and they weren’t able to withstand Ethiopia’s landscape. There were also concerns over pricing and the availability of spare parts.

In internal affairs, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission announced on Monday the 3rd of March that the Authority for Civil Society Organizations had lifted restrictions and suspensions against four civil society organizations, including the Center for the Advancement of Rights and Democracy. The Commission said it contributed to this development by engaging with the Authority and other government offices, urging them to lift the suspension.

The government said they were barred because they were not operating independently and that they were not working to carry out their stated purposes, deviating from their founding objectives.

Two of the four organizations were originally suspended in November last year and a month later, their suspensions were lifted, but not for long. A few weeks later, they were suspended again, this time, together with two more organizations.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed spent the week visiting various manufacturing plants with his deputy and the administrator of the Oromia region. On Wednesday the 6th, he went to the Homicho ammunition manufacturing facility. After the visit, the PM said the country has not only been able to cover local demand but also export to foreign countries, adding that Ethiopia sold thirty million US dollars worth of ammunition in the past three months alone.

That same day, he visited a beverage production plant. During his visit, he was briefed about the progress of preparing the factory for production; builders expect the plant to begin operations within three weeks.

Let’s pivot to some business news now as Ethio Telecom, a state-owned telecom service provider, announced that in the past three months alone, it has managed to land over fifty million people as users of its Tele-birr mobile banking solution, transacting three and a half trillion birr, which is almost twenty-seven billion US dollars, in the process. The company also revealed seven new digital solutions tailored to the education, agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

For instance, one of them helps monitor livestock, their health, distinguishing features and location. The CEO said this will enable farmers to easily take out loans and purchase insurance policies.

Ethio Telecom and most of the other state-owned enterprises are under the Ethiopian Investment Holdings (or EIH), the country’s sovereign wealth fund. The EIH held a joint press conference with Ethiopian Electric Utility to announce a plan to eliminate power disruptions completely.

The CEOs of both entities said they would use other countries' approaches that were successful as inspiration. The CEOs provided practical solutions, like clearing trees that damage or interfere with power distribution lines. They said they’ll also crack down on theft and vandalism of electric power infrastructure.

Power outages have been a long-standing issue, not only in the country’s outskirts, but also in the capital Addis Ababa. People have been constantly reporting blackouts for years.

The Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, the biggest bank in the country, announced on Tuesday the 4th that it will increase its interest rates. The Bank said that most of its loans will be subjected to rate increases of up to four percent. Agriculture and condominium residential home loans will remain subsidized; in fact, medium and long-term agricultural loan rates have been reduced by one percent.

The Bank explained the rate increase in a statement, saying its interest rates were below the market rates, which affected its profits. The bank needs to bring in more revenue to cover the costs of attracting new customers and collecting deposits.

The new rate will take effect on Friday the 7th of March.

Next up, on Sunday the 2nd, the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration announced that gasoline prices will not be increased for the next month. Recall that almost every month, the Ministry says whether there will be petrol price increases. This is the second consecutive month that prices will remain the same after a significant hike in January, when prices jumped by over ten percent

. At least until next month, a liter of regular gas will retail for about a hundred and one birr and fifty cents, which is almost eighty US cents. Many people believe that gas prices are very high right now. However, the Ministry insists that they’re low because they are subsidizing them and that people should expect significant increases going forward.

Wrapping up this edition with more business news- The Addis Chamber of Commerce and the Kenyan Association of Manufacturers revealed in an event organized in the capital on Monday the 3rd, that Ethiopia’s earnings from exports to Kenya have plummeted. The Addis Chamber recalled that Ethiopia earned over two hundred and seventy million US dollars in twenty eighteen alone, which is in stark contrast to the sixty five million US dollars in twenty twenty-four. The Chamber noted that the trade balance between the two countries has swayed in favor of Kenya over recent years.

Kenya’s ambassador in Addis also spoke during the event, saying that despite their proximity and longstanding relations, the annual trade volume between the countries remains very low. He called on Kenyans to go and invest in Ethiopia, highlighting that the government’s macroeconomic reforms have created a favorable environment for investment.

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

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Ciao!