Ethiopia’s Embassy in Sudan Attacked & more – 5th Oct 2023

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 5th of October twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

There was an attack on Ethiopia’s embassy in Sudan.

Ethiopia’s neighbor to the west, Sudan, has been in a civil war since April. On Tuesday the 3rd of October, the BBC reported that Ethiopia’s embassy in Sudan’s capital Khartoum had been attacked that same day. The BBC said that although the attack damaged the embassy’s building and property, no one was injured. General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, the leader of one of the groups that are at war, took to Twitter to confirm the report. Dagalo blamed the Sudan army for the attack. Neither the Ethiopian government nor Sudan’s army have commented on the situation.

Back in Ethiopia…

If you tuned in to last week’s episode, you’ll remember that the Tigray region has planned to declare a region-wide mourning day. The mourning days will be observed from Friday the 13th and will end on Tuesday the 17th of October. According to the directive, during the mourning days, businesses that make noise like clubs and bars should be closed. Sporting activities, weddings, birthdays, Christenings and other celebrations won’t be allowed. Except for enterprises that provide essential services, all governmental and non-governmental institutions will be closed. Transgressors will be punished with a fine ranging from ten thousand to fifty thousand birr (that’s a penalty that goes from 108 to 900 US dollars.)

Let’s move on to the Somali region.

Over the past few years, on the border between the Oromia and the Somali regions, there have been sporadic episodes of violence between the respective law enforcement officers of the regions. The most recent episode came about two weeks ago on Tuesday the 19th of September.

Unfortunately, the officers clashed in an area where many internally displaced people took shelter. The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission went to the area and talked to the people, law enforcement of both regions, and medical professionals. The Commission’s deputy commissioner told the media that they found that at least six internally displaced individuals had been killed in crossfire while many more were injured. She added that the two regions must work in unison to resolve conflicts, ensure the security of the internally displaced peoples, compensate victims, and investigate and prosecute law officers responsible for what had happened.

In business news…

Currently, Ethiopia does not have a stock market. However, that might change soon. The Ethiopian Investment Holdings, which is a government-owned enterprise and a parent company of large state-owned corporations, is establishing the Ethiopian Securities Exchange Share Company (or ESX) . The Ethiopian Investment Holdings, along with four of its subsidiaries - Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics, Ethio Telecom, Ethiopian Insurance Corporation, and the Berhan ena Selam Printing Company -penned a deal that established the ESX. The Share Company announced on Tuesday the 3rd, its board of directors and chairman. The ESX won’t be wholly owned by the government. The Ethiopian Investment Holdings would hold only twenty-five percent of shares with the remaining seventy-five available for investors.

More news on government enterprises as Ethio Telecom’s CEO Frehiwot Tamiru was featured on the Choiseul 100 Africa list for her exemplary leadership efforts. Following the award, the company said in a statement that it is proud to have won this encouraging recognition as it works towards digital and financial inclusion.

Next up, Jutta Urpilainen, The European Union’s commissioner for international partnerships, went to Addis this week. On Tuesday the 3rd, she met with several top officials including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the African Union’s Commission Commissioner Moussa Faki Mahamat. She also signed a multi-sector grant agreement with Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide. The program is worth six hundred and fifty million euros or six hundred and eight million dollars and will support sustainable development, agriculture, and peace-building initiatives, among others.

Moving on, we told you that the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration had decided to increase gas prices In September after a few months in which there were no price changes. The Ministry announced on Friday the 29th of September that it will soar prices for the second month in a row. The Ministry explained that price hikes in the global market prompted this month’s change. Regular gas has increased by almost three birr, and now fuel costs seventy-eight birr or 1.4 US dollars a liter. Diesel price has also exhibited a three birr increase reaching almost eighty birr or 1.45 US dollars per liter. To put these numbers in perspective, exactly a year ago, regular gas went for fifty-seven birr or about a dollar per liter, and white diesel for almost sixty or a dollar and ten cents - that’s more than a twenty-five percent increase!

Ever wondered what the best vacation destinations in Ethiopia are? Well, one of them used to be Sodere, a resort about a hundred kilometers away from Addis. Sodere’s popularity has declined over the years. For decades, the resort used to be owned by the government but ten years ago, the executive decided to sell it. A private company went ahead and bought it, agreeing to pay thirty-five percent of the resort’s price upfront and the rest over five years. But the company still hasn’t paid in full. The Federal Supreme Court has recently decided that the resort will be sold in an auction scheduled for next week, on Thursday the 12th. The Court said the bid starts at sixty million birr or just a little over a million US dollars but the resort’s value is definitely higher than that and it is predicted that it will fetch a higher price at the auction.

Although football is beloved amongst Ethiopians, the country has a weak football league, underdeveloped sports infrastructure, and a national team that has brought consistently poor results in international competitions. But the Ethiopian Premier League, the country’s highest tier of footballing tournaments, kicked off this season’s campaign on Sunday the 1st of October. There were two games on opening day, newly promoted Commercial Bank FC vs. Adama FC, which ended in a draw, and Sidama Coffee vs. Ethiopian Coffee, the latter being one of the most popular teams in the league, which won one-nil. Because of infrastructure and transportation constraints, all matches are being held at the Adama Science and Tech University stadium for at least the first round.

Speaking of Ethiopian Coffee, the club renewed its sponsorship deal with Habesha Breweries on Monday the 2nd. The company was Ethiopian Coffee’s sponsor for over ten years and this new deal extends the sponsorship for another three years. As per the deal, Habesha Breweries will pay more than twenty million birr or almost four hundred thousand US dollars every year for the next three years. The club will get an additional ten million birr or a hundred and eighty thousand US dollars as a bonus if it manages to win the Ethiopian Premier League.

That’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

Did you enjoy this episode? If you like the show and want it to continue to be ad-free, we need your help. Spread the word, tell your group chats about how cool we are, message your friends and your family, tell your neighbor about all the interesting things you have been learning about Ethiopia.

Tag us and message us on social media at ethiopia@rorshok.com, @rorshokethiopia on Instagram, and Twitter @RorshokGeorgia or @ethiopia@rorshok.social on Mastodon.

Also, if you want and are able to, you are always welcome to financially support us with the link in the show notes.

Ciao!