Episode 184

ETHIOPIA: Journalist Detained & more – 12th June 2025

Treasury bond sales, next year’s budget, a Kenyan bank in talks to operate in Ethiopia, an Armenian delegation in the country, the income tax, and much more!

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Transcript

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

Let’s start off with news from Parliament. The House of Peoples’ Representatives approved the disaster risk management bill which re-establishes the disaster risk management commission as a standalone executive agency accountable to the Prime Minister. Workers will be happy to hear that the drafters decided to remove a part of the bill that obligates them to contribute to the country’s emergency fund.

They decided to take it out after considering the pressure it would put on workers, who are also struggling with inflation and increased costs of living. However, they might still contribute to the fund indirectly because the bill requires state-owned enterprises and private companies to chip in, which critics say they’ll cover by raising prices for customers.

Meanwhile, government forces continue to detain journalists, with the most recent one being Tesfalem Weldeyes, the founder and editor-in-chief of online outlet Ethiopia Insider.

On Sunday the 8th, officers in civilian clothes arrested him on suspicion of attempting to incite violence. A couple of days later, he was brought before a federal court in Addis Ababa, which granted him bail for fifteen thousand birr, which is around a hundred US dollars. Despite the court’s ruling and the posting of bail, Tesfalem remains in custody.

This is not his first run-in with the government. Police detained him about four years ago but he was released later. About a decade ago, prosecutors charged him with terrorism, although he was eventually acquitted.

Speaking of the police, they’d also taken custody of the headquarters of the opposition party, the Oromo Liberation Front, in Addis Ababa about five years ago after they raided the office following requests for security from unidentified members of the party. The party had said that it didn’t understand why taking custody was necessary. On Monday the 9th, reports came out that police handed over the headquarters back to the party.

The National Election Board and the Parties’ Joint Council brokered the handover. The party thanked them for their efforts. Aside from having its headquarters taken, officers also placed the party’s chairman under house arrest, which is why the party hasn’t been very active over the past few years. The chairman was released in August last year. According to the party’s PR officer, the party is getting back on its feet and plans to open hundreds of offices all over the country.

The current twenty twenty-four/twenty twenty-five fiscal year is nearing its end, so it’s time for the executive to present its budget plan for the upcoming fiscal year, which Ahmed Shide, the Minister of Finance, delivered on Tuesday the 9th.

He proposed the highest budget ever for a fiscal year, almost two trillion birr, which is almost thirteen billion US dollars. He explained that almost a third will be used to pay back debt. According to the plan, about seven percent will be allocated to education. Subsidies for regions will also take a fair share, although, interestingly, Addis Ababa, the capital, has not been included in the list even though the city has been receiving funds over the years just like the regions. House members will vote on the budget by next month.

The CEO of the Ethiopian Securities Exchange said that the Exchange would start brokering treasury bond sales.

He added that treasury bonds are profitable investments, posting a return of sixteen percent on average. He called on the diaspora to invest in bonds, saying that he hopes twenty percent of all investors in the capital market system will be foreign investors in the next five years.

Down south in the Sidama region, its council voted unanimously on Thursday the 12th to lift the immunity of Alemayehu Timotewos, the region’s peace and security bureau head and member of the ruling party’s central committee.

His immunity was lifted following suspicions of corruption, involvement in contraband trade, drug and arms trafficking, and an attempt to overthrow the regional government, among other crimes.

Shifting gears, the African Finance Corporation came out with its annual report on the continent’s infrastructure. According to the document, Ethiopian Airlines dominates Africa’s cargo market with a commanding thirty-five percent market share. The Corporation added that the country’s export volume has benefited from the Airline’s reach.

Ethiopian Airlines currently boasts around sixty cargo destinations across the world with about half of them in Africa. Even though it currently has sixteen planes in its cargo fleet, there are plans to double this number in the next ten years.

Aside from the Airline, the report also said Ethiopia has become the largest producer of wheat among sub-Saharan countries.

On another note, on Monday, the 9th, at a forum organized by the Ministry of Finance, the Confederation of Labor Unions urged the government to reduce the income tax that wage earners pay.

The bill, upon approval, will introduce a new minimum threshold to exempt low-wage earners from paying the income tax. Currently, only those earning below six hundred birr, which is four US dollars, are exempt. However, in the new bill, workers earning up to two thousand birr, which is thirteen US dollars, would be spared.

In foreign relations, Vahan Kostanyan, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Armenia, led a delegation to Addis and on Monday the 9th, which sat down to discuss bilateral relations with officials from Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Ethiopia’s State Minister of Foreign Affairs said the two countries have had deep social and diplomatic ties, adding that Ethiopia wants to elevate this to cooperation in various fields like tech, trade, and tourism. This is only the first round of consultations and Ethiopia’s Foreign Ministry officials agreed to head to Armenia for the second round.

The next day, the deputy minister met with Ethiopia’s President Taye Atske-Selassie and brought him a message from Vahagn Khachaturyan, the Armenian President, but it wasn’t disclosed.

Media outlets reported on Wednesday the 11th that sources from the National Bank told them that the Kenya Commercial Bank, one of the largest banks in Kenya, has opened talks to launch operations in Ethiopia.

The Bank’s CEO has also confirmed that it is preparing to operate in the country. The Bank has discussed its entry with officials of Ethiopia’s National Bank, the banks’ regulator. Recall that six months ago, Parliament approved a bill that allows foreign banks to open their branches or purchase shares in local banks.

Kegna Brewery, one of five companies part of Oromia’s economic revolution, unveiled its main product, Kegna Beer, on Saturday the 7th. The Oromia region’s vice president was present during the launch and said that the five major companies in the region have been successful, despite some pressures.

The company’s chairman said they spent almost forty billion birr, which is two hundred and fifty million US dollars to build the brewery. He added that the factory uses German technology and can produce a billion bottles annually.

Let’s end this episode with a story that’s making the rounds on social media. Gelete Burka, the renowned long-distance runner, told the media that even though she’s managed to purchase numerous properties from the money she’s made as a professional athlete, she could only keep one because her ex-husband, whom she gave power of attorney, sold the rest of them without her consent.

Even though she brought the case to court, they decided in favor of her ex-husband. She also said she has been receiving threats warning her not to talk to the media. Following her interviews, her ex-husband’s family said they haven’t been able to get a hold of him and they’ve heard that he’s been detained.

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

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