ETHIOPIA: Pretoria Agreement & more – 14th Mar 2024

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 14th of March twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

It’s been one and a half years since the Tigray People’s Liberation Front and the Ethiopian federal government signed the Pretoria agreement which ended their two-year-long war.

Ever since the signing, both parties have been purporting to implement the deal. Some parts of the deal have been implemented, but others have not because of a lack of funds and unwillingness on both sides, among other reasons.

This week, on Monday the 11th, the African Union (or AU) called the first-ever strategic review meeting on the implementation of the agreement. Representatives from both the Federal government and the Tigray region’s interim administration attended the gathering.

The African Union’s Political Affairs Peace and Security Commission said that the meeting concerned issues such as humanitarian support, rehabilitation and construction. They expressed their commitment to seeing through the complete implementation of the pact. The African Union later said that both parties have agreed to consult regularly with each other through the framework of the AU so as to ensure the enforcement of the agreement.

Moving on, the Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions (or CELU) announced that it would write a letter to the Prime Minister again if the government didn’t adjust the minimum wage and reduce the tax rates applicable to workers. Recall that in late August last year a CELU delegation led by its president sat down with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his top officials to discuss CELU’s demands. The confederation’s vice president recently said that the PM delegated the issues to the Ministries of Justice, Finance and Labor. However, he said that the issues are yet to be resolved. He added that if the government doesn’t provide a satisfactory minimum wage and doesn’t mitigate the tax liabilities of workers soon, the Confederation will submit a letter to the PM asking for another meeting.

Next up, parts of the country are carved up into regions based on ethno-linguistic grounds. The ethnic division sometimes causes conflicts between neighboring regions in bordering areas. For instance, there’s a dispute on the border between the Somali and Afar regions. The conflict has dragged on for some time, and it has caused damage to property, and even casualties. That is why the Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council put together a joint committee that will mediate the dispute and resolve the fighting. On Friday the 8th the Council held a ceremony establishing the committee, and its president urged for peace. The joint committee has members from both the Afar and Somali regions as well as representatives from other entities.

There’s also another tragic conflict going on in the Amhara region between the government and the youth movement Fano. The head of the region’s peace and security bureau said that according to a survey they conducted, over the past months, the fighting has caused economic and social institutions in the region to lose property valued at more than fifteen billion birr or more than two hundred and fifty million US dollars. The head also accused Fano, which he calls an extremist organization, of the damages, and alleged that members of the youth movement have been stealing fertilizers the government imports using scarce foreign currency. He said that forces are cutting Fano’s plans short but he didn’t deny that peace hasn’t been ensured in the region.

In other news, The House of People's Representatives, in its seventeenth regular session on Thursday the 14th, has voted to lift the immunity of one of its members Christian Tadele. The House made the decision through a majority vote. Recall that the Minister of Justice proposed lifting Christian's immunity after he was accused of issuing commands to groups that were operating to derail the constitutional order.

Even though the majority voted in favor of stripping Christian of immunity, some house members had questions. One asked why was the lifting of his immunity relevant since he had been under custody for the past seven months. Another member said this voting procedure was hardly necessary since the prevailing state of emergency allows certain judicial procedures to be superseded.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that the Institute of Foreign Affairs and the UN Development Program agreed on Thursday the 14th to work together. Before the agreement, the director of the institute sat down with the UN Development Program's Ethiopia representative to discuss areas in which the two organizations could partner up. During the meeting, the representative said the program would like to work together with the institute on sustainable development.

In business news, the European Chamber of Commerce in Ethiopia organized a forum on Tuesday the 12th to discuss land accessibility in places other than industry parks to European investors. At the forum, current and prospective investors said that they were having a hard time accelerating business as land accessibility and bureaucracy were hampering progress. Participants talked about their long waits to acquire land rights, the increased demand for expropriation compensation, how corrupt officials at the region and district level unwarrantedly ask for money, among other challenges. Even though the forum organizers expected that representatives from the Ethiopian Investment Commission would attend the gathering, they didn’t show up. However, an official from the Commission admitted that criticisms raised during the forum were valid and that the issue of land is of serious concern to the Commission. He said that if it is not resolved, keeping investors will be a challenge, let alone attracting new ones.

Speaking of complaints and criticisms, many have been taking to social media to express their discontent regarding services at the Bole International Airport. People are complaining about the airport’s employees' treatment towards customers, with some alleging that workers aren’t professional or respectful. Ethiopian Airlines, which is the company that operates the airport, took to social media to say that it is going to investigate and resolve these complaints. The Airline said that it would take measures after the investigation is complete.

More on business as many prospective investors from Malta attended the first ever Malta-Ethiopia business forum at the Skylight Hotel in Addis on Tuesday the 12th. The forum focused on many sectors, such as the maritime, health, and aviation sectors. During the forum, Ethiopia’s state minister of foreign affairs, the Investment Commissioner and the Commercial Chamber’s president talked to representatives from Malta. The investment commissioner recalled that Ethiopia and Malta had recently signed numerous agreements during PM Abiy’s visit to the country and that Ethiopia is willing to expand on these commitments, which include maritime training.

And to close this edition, in a joint press release, the Addis Ababa University and the US Agency for International Development (or USAID) announced that they haven't been able to raise almost five billion birr or eighty-seven million US dollars required to combat tuberculosis (or TB). A consultant of the USAID said that Ethiopia is one of the thirty countries in the world that the World Health Organization says has a high rate of transmission of TB and HIV. He added that the country only has thirty percent of the funds it needs to fight against TB. The shortage of funds has been a growing trend over the past few years. What's more tragic is the rate of casualties. The consultant said that more than a hundred and fifty thousand people contract TB annually and sixty lose their lives every day.

And.. that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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