Injunction on EFFORT Companies Lifted & more –3rd Aug 2023

Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 3rd of August twenty twenty-three A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

In November twenty twenty-two, following the onset of the war between the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (or TPLF), the federal attorney general issued an injunction against twenty-one companies that the Endowment Fund for the Rehabilitation of Tigray (or EFFORT) controls. The government established EFFORT decades ago to help Tigray’s economy rehabilitate from drought and wars. The injunction was first issued because the prosecutor’s office suspected the companies of funding terrorism.

In late twenty twenty, the companies were temporarily under the control of Commercial Nominees, a government company. Ethiopian Insider, a local media outlet whose headquarters was burgled recently, reported that the Federal High Court lifted the injunction on Friday the 28th.

Since we talked about Tigray….

Mekelle University, the biggest university in this region, welcomed back its students after a two-year pause because of the war. The University is readmitting students who were supposed to graduate in thetwenty twenty twenty twenty-one academic year. Students that are not part of this graduating class are set to enter the university in mid-September.

Still in Tigray, an earthquake measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale, which had its epicenter around the Massawa Port of Eritrea, was felt in different cities of Tigray such as Mekelle, Adigrat, Adwa, and others. Thankfully, zone administrators said that there were no accidents, casualties or injuries related to the earthquake.

Now, let’s talk about the capital.

Addis Ababa is surrounded by the Oromia region. The capital had been on a growth spurt for the past decades taking over areas of the Oromia region. Previously, there were six cities under the Oromia region surrounding Addis but recently, the region’s council decided to merge all the cities and call the newly formed city ‘Sheger’. After the city’s creation, the regional government started demolishing houses saying that they had been built illegally— that is, without obtaining a permit from the municipality or without owning the rights to the land. This caused great grievances. Citizens whose houses were demolished submitted their grievances to the Institution of the Ombudsman. The Institution said that it had received more than a hundred thousand reports.

The Institution told the government of the region in a letter to respond to the grievances but the region didn’t. The Ombudsman has given the region a time limit to respond. If the region doesn’t respond and the time elapses, the Institution said it will take the matter to court.

In other news, ever since prominent politician Berhanu Nega became Minister of Education, he’s been busy making sweeping reforms. He has introduced the exit exam for all undergrad programs, put in place a stricter examination environment for the national university entrance exams, among other reforms. Late last week, the Ministry of Education announced another change. The Ministry sent a letter to all eligible government universities and private colleges, that starting from the upcoming academic year, there will be an admission test for applicants who wish to pursue their postgraduate studies.

The Ministry said it had found that most postgrad applicants aren’t taking an entrance test before being admitted. The Ministry has reminded government universities and private colleges to inform the Ministry about their postgrad courses until the 26th of August. The Ministry also revealed that the admission test is scheduled for late September to early October and certain exams of postgraduate courses will be held in the Addis Ababa University’s test center.

Ethiopia and the US have long-standing bilateral relations. The US Embassy in Addis is one of the largest US missions in Africa but over the past two years, it did not have an ambassador in Ethiopia but a Chargé d’Affaires, Tracey Ann Jacobson. Her stay saw the deterioration of relations between Ethiopia and the US, regarding the war in Tigray. In January this year, after the war ended and the two countries made amends, US President Joe Biden nominated Ervin Jose Massinga as ambassador to Ethiopia. On Thursday the 27th, the Senate confirmed Biden’s nomination.

More news on foreign relations as Ethiopia and South Africa agreed to strengthen their relations. South Africa’s Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor was in Addis and met with PM Abiy and his deputy, and Minister of Foreign Affairs Demeke Mekonnen. Pandor talked about the need to partner up in the field of science and tech. She also signed an extradition deal with Ethiopia’s Minister of Justice Dr. Gedion Timotewos signing on Ethiopia’s behalf.

Another important visitor went to Ethiopia…

The new president of the World Bank Ajay Banga was in Addis Ababa this week on Monday the 31st of July for a two-day work trip. He first met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed who said that the World Bank will be crucial to Ethiopia’s growth and that he expects robust financing. The organization and Ethiopia had recently signed a four hundred million US dollars financing agreement. The World Bank’s president also visited the Bole Lemi Industrial Park.

He then met with Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide who told the president about the home-grown economic agenda and requested the assistance of the organization in helping attain these goals. Next stop in Africa for Mr. Banga? Nigeria.

Moving on, all over rural Ethiopia, cases of kidnapping for ransom have increased. Recently, a senior citizen of Israel was kidnapped in the central Gondar zone of the Amhara region. According to reports, the kidnappers demanded a ransom that ranged from 1.5 to 2.5 million birr or twenty-five to forty-five thousand US dollars. Israel’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs then said that it had confirmed that the victim wasn’t actually kidnapped and the whole thing was just a hoax. Israel had also ceased efforts to have the victim released. Local police however didn’t stop looking for this man and found the victim and the lead perpetrator on Monday the 31st of July.

The remaining two accomplices haven’t been detained. The victim was reunited with his family in Gondar and is expected to fly to Israel.

In lighter news, The Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration makes an announcement concerning gas prices every month. The announcement of August’s prices came on Tuesday the 2nd. The Ministry said that there are no changes compared to last month and prices will stay the same until late August. This means that regular gas costs about a dollar and thirty cents per liter. The Ministry also said that it will change prices soon in relation to the international market.

Ethiopian Airlines is a giant in the aviation industry. It has numerous destinations across the world. Recently, Kenya’s Ministry of Transport revealed that it will allow Ethiopian Airlines to fly to Mombasa twice a week. Mombasa is a tourist hub in Kenya. The Ministry’s decision comes amid the opposition of Kenya Airways as this will surely stiffen competition. Alongside Ethiopian Airlines, FlyDubai was also allowed to operate more flights to Mombasa.

Speaking of state-owned profitable companies, Ethio Telecom revealed its plan for the upcoming fiscal year last week. The company’s CEO Frehiwot Tamiru said in her presentation that the company is set to rake in more than ninety billion birr or more than one and a half billion US dollars, a significantly higher mark compared to what the company managed in this past fiscal year. The company says it plans to do this by increasing its customer base by more than eight percent. The company currently has more than seventy million customers.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week! Thanks for joining us!

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Ciao!