ETHIOPIA: Tremor Growing Stronger & more – 9th Jan 2025

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 9th of January twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

People living in the central parts of the country were reeling from shock because of an earthquake measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale. Fortunately, no casualties or major injuries were reported. The tremor originally occurred in Awash, about two hundred and fifty kilometers away from, Addis Ababa, but residents in the capital reported that they felt the aftershock. There were similar activities in the area over the past few months, but they didn’t draw serious attention because their magnitude was low.

This week, a team from the government’s Disaster Risk Management Commission headed to the area to examine the situation and relocate residents who are potentially in danger. Experts say volcanic activity in the area caused these episodes.

Next up, The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission expressed its concern over the attacks against judges in the Amhara region, in the north-central part of the country, which have increased over the past two years. After receiving reports from various sources about the physical abuse against judges, The Commission said it started an investigation, which confirmed these reports.

The Commission provided an incident that occurred about a year ago as an example, where officers forced a judge out of the courthouse and attacked him. He suffered both mental and physical damage. The Commission also revealed that over thirty judges had been detained in the span of a year and a half to oppress them.

In other news, the government announced that Ethiopia’s bid to join the World Trade Organization (or WTO) is going well. Despite Ethiopia’s repeated and persistent attempts to join the Organization, the country is still not a member. The fifth round of negotiations will be held in Geneva, Switzerland, in two months and government officials are optimistic that it will be the last round before the country becomes a member. However, they are stressing that it won’t be smooth sailing if Ethiopia fails to combat smuggling and ensure compliance with global trade standards.

The country’s efforts to join the WTO go as far back as two decades. The previous round of negotiations was held in twenty twenty and saw other member states pose crucial questions to Ethiopia on foreign exchange regulations, industrial parks and investment policies.

Media outlets reported on Wednesday the 8th that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a letter reminding diplomats not to travel out of the capital before notifying the government. They revealed that the Minsitry requires members of the international community to submit a notification form to the Ministry before leaving the capital.

The Ministry has reported that sometimes certain diplomats directly deal with regional authorities - a practice that deviates from the Constitution, which grants the mandate of engaging in foreign affairs solely to the federal government.

The Ethiopian Industry Inputs Development Enterprise revealed that it had supplied goods worth over two and a half billion birr, which is almost twenty-one million US dollars. The Enterprise’s head said her office’s main goal is to strengthen the demand and supply chains. She said that in order to achieve this, the Enterprise has been supplying raw materials to manufacturers engaged in sectors that the government has prioritized. She added that the supplying was done at a reasonable price, contributing its share to getting inflation under control.

Private bank Oromia revealed in its annual report for the previous twenty twenty-three/twenty twenty-four fiscal year that its loan reserves have surpassed forty-three billion birr, which is three-hundred and forty million US dollars, adding that it lent more than a billion birr, which is eight million US dollars, in the previous fiscal year alone. Even though revenue surged by a billion birr compared to last year, the Bank’s CEO noted that this figure is below the Bank’s projections. He explained that they couldn't reach the target because they spent a significant amount on opening new branches. He also blamed supply chain disruptions and increasing prices.

Overall, the Bank had a good year with a pre-tax profit of a little over a billion birr. Italso announced that construction for its new headquarters near the Addis financial district is well underway, with a third of the project already completed.

The Bank is suffering from price increases along with almost everyone else. The latest hike is in gas prices. The Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration told the public on Tuesday the 7th, that a liter of regular gas would be sold for a hundred and one birr, and gasoil and kerosene for almost ninety-nine. Both figures are equivalent to around eighty US cents — not quite what people were expecting on Christmas day because this represents a significant increase (about ten percent).

To add insult to injury, this increase comes only two months after the Ministry’s decision to raise prices by another ten percent.

We’ve got more business news as Haile Gebre-Selassie, the athlete-turned-investor, inaugurated a resort in Jimma, a city in the Oromia region, on Thursday the 2nd. The resort is the tenth destination for Haile’s Hotels and Resorts across the country.

Speaking to the press on the inauguration, Haile revealed that his company will now shift its focus to expanding out of Ethiopia and towards east Africa - specifically Kenya, Zambia, Uganda and Rwanda. He highlighted that these destinations have a favorable investment climate and are tourist-friendly.

He stated that he would have wanted to invest in Somalia, had it not been for the political instability and security issues.

On that note about investors, the Tigray region’s Land and Mines Bureau head broke the news that his office had taken measures against twenty-four investors that were renting the land the region gave them to invest on, while some of them left the land vacant as they couldn’t begin operation. Measures ranged from written warnings to taking back the land the Bureau gave them. The government took back about five hundred hectares of land as part of these measures.

Bulcha Demeksa, a prominent figure in Ethiopia’s economics and politics, passed away on Monday the 6th at ninety-three years old. He served in various government and private posts, including deputy Minister of Finance, Ethiopia’s World Bank representative, member of Parliament, among other important positions. He additionally had a marked influence in the country’s politics, forming the Oromo Federalist Congress political party.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed commended Bulcha’s legacy. The PM said Bulcha served his country and Africa with all he had, strived for peace and unity, and spoke his mind firmly and sincerely.

Last week, we mentioned that Christmas in Ethiopia is celebrated on 7th of January because Ethiopia's Christians are mainly Orthodox. This year, on Tuesday the 7th, Christians celebrated Christ’s birth. As part of the celebrations, on the eve, the Ethiopian Janderebaw Generation Association, together with the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church, organized a remarkable event at the Bole Medhanealem Church in Addis. This program, named the Melody of Myriads, was held for the second time running on Christmas Eve. Tens of thousands of Christians headed to the Church to sing their praises to God.

To check out the event, follow the link to a YouTube video in the show notes.

Let’s end this episode by talking about someone who is about to draw the curtain on an illustrious career. Veteran musician Mahmoud Ahmed will perform for the last time on Saturday the 11th at the Millenium Hall in Addis. Mahmoud is known for his powerful vocals and soothing ballads. He was part of the golden-age of Ethiopia’s music industry.

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

Thanks for sticking around for this episode of the Rorshok Ethiopia update! Thank you for your support, shares, and feedback. Got ideas, suggestions, or just want to say hi? Just drop us a line at info@rorshok.com.

Here’s to another year of keeping you on the loop with what's going down in Ethiopia. Happy twenty twenty-five!

Ciao!