ETHIOPIA: TPLF controversy & more – 15th Aug 2024

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 15th of August twenty twenty-four. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

This week’s update begins with the TPLF saga which dominated headlines this past week. Members of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front, a large and prominent political party from the Tigray region, which currently controls the region’s interim administration, are divided.


And the reason for this is that half of the members don’t want the party’s general assembly to be held before the issue of the party’s legal status has been determined in accordance with the member’s demands through the National Election Board. But the other half went ahead with holding the general assembly on Tuesday the 13th with Debre-Tsion Gebre-Michael, the party’s chairman, at the forefront. However, Getachew Reda, Tigray’s current interim president and the party’s deputy chairman has spoken against this development and is not taking part in the assembly.




This controversy has been a long time coming. The National Election Board revoked the legal status of the party as it engaged in a violent struggle for power against the federal government. Previously, there was a law that stated that a party engaging in violence would have its license revoked and would not regain its legal status.


However, because of the Pretoria agreement that ended the war, the Board amended the law saying that if the party pledges to engage in politics peacefully, it can regain its legal status. But, the caveat is that the party will have to be re-registered, which didn’t sit well with some of the TPLF’s prominent figures, hence the feud.




The National Election Board is also not on board with the general assembly. It revealed on Monday the 12th that it will not grant recognition to the assembly because the TPLF did not comply with the Board’s rule that a general assembly can only be held after the Board is notified twenty-one days prior to it and must be held in the presence of observers from the Board.

We’ll now go from northern to western Ethiopia, as the Gambella region has a new president in Alemitu Umud. Alemitu was serving in the federal government at the Ministry of Women and Social Affairs when the region’s council voted her as president in an urgent meeting held on Thursday the 15th. The Council said Alemitu has a strong track record as a competent leader. Her predecessor was Umud Ujulu; he held the post for the last six years. Holding the office of president in the Gambella region is no picnic; the region has faced several security meltdowns over the years.




Moving on, the government recently decided to administer foreign exchange on a floating rate basis which means the market determines how much birr a foreign currency fetches. As of Wednesday the 14th, banks are buying one US dollar for about a hundred and four birr.


This development is ruffling some feathers. Importers also appear to be disgruntled because the Customs Commission announced this past week that goods that have already arrived at ports will have their tariffs paid based on the current market rate which is significantly higher than the amount importers thought they would pay originally. Importers told a local newspaper that they are in limbo because of this unexpected decision which will see them paying 30% more than what they originally thought they’d pay.

This development is sending shockwaves across institutions as the Confederation of Ethiopian Trade Unions called on the government to increase wages for employees of private entities. Recall that the government said it would increase the salary of government workers by up to 300% and that it has allocated over ninety billion birr, or almost nine hundred million US dollars. Also recall that the government has kept quiet concerning employees in the private sector.


The Confederation said the government should oblige private companies to increase wages because employees were having a hard time even before the reform and that the reform was set to aggravate inflation, thereby negatively affecting the standard of living of employees. The Employers Federation, on the other hand, said that although wages should be raised, the increase must be coupled with an increase in production and that without an equivalent increase in output, raises will not be feasible.

In news outside of the macroeconomic reform program, Ethiopian Airlines announced that it has awarded the contract for consulting on the new mega airport city to a consortium, which will be led by Dar Al-Handasah, an internationally renowned engineering firm.


The mega Airport city is going to be built forty kilometers south of Addis at a place called Abu-Sera. The Airline said when the airport is fully operational, it will have the capacity to host over a hundred million passengers a year. The first phase’s completion is slated for twenty twenty-nine. Sources say this project is set to cost the biggest airline in Africa about six billion US dollars or over six hundred billion birr.


However, the Airline has yet to find a loan to finance this project, with only a few lenders showing interest at the moment. The company’s CEO also said that about seventeen billion birr, or more than 160 million US dollars, has been allocated to pay off those expropriated from their land because of this project.


The government unveiled another ambitious project, this time in the capital city. The project is named the ‘Addis Tomorrow’ Economic Zone and features grand malls, residence units, water parks, and more. The government said it will work on this project in partnership with China Communications Construction Company, better known as CCCC. The project will be built on thirty-five hectares of land, with Prime Minister Abiy saying it will showcase the city's future vision.

The Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration announced that in the first two days of the week, Monday the 12th and Tuesday the 13th, over 1,500 retail stores were sealed shut, and hundreds of traders were detained because of unwarranted price increases. The measures were taken against people who were selling food and construction items. The Minister of Trade also revealed that more than 18,000 stores previously sealed were reopened after reaching an agreement.

In news from the summer Olympics, which ended this past Sunday the 11th, Ethiopia got a medal in the women’s marathon with Tigist Assefa coming in second and winning the silver medal in what was a close race between her and gold-medal winner Sifan Hassan, who currently runs for the Netherlands even though she is of Ethiopian descent.

Ethiopia also won gold via late sub Tamrat Tola in the men’s marathon. Not only did Tamrat bring home gold but he also set an Olympic record coming in at an impressive two hours six minutes and twenty-six seconds. Note that Tamrat set the Olympic record in the Paris course which experts say is more challenging than other marathon courses.


Tamrat went to Paris as a reserve athlete and only competed because his fellow Ethiopian, who was slated to run the marathon, was injured. He returned to his country to a hero’s welcome and was awarded seven million birr or 70,000 US dollars.

Tamrat’s coach also received an honorary welcome at the national palace and was gifted two million birr or 20,000 US dollars but when presented with the cheque, the coach refused to receive the award claiming that he deserved more for his efforts. A few days later, the coach apologized to the president and the public saying that he was emotional because coaches don’t get the recognition and admiration they deserve. Following his apology, the Ministry of Sports and Culture said the money that the coach refused to receive will be returned to the government’s coffers.



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

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