No Aid & more – 9th Nov 2023

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

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (or EHRC) revealed that it found out that neither the government nor other aid organizations provided humanitarian aid to people internally displaced because of clashes in three zones of the Oromia region. The EHRC further explained that it had talked to government officials who said that the executive had tried to send aid, mainly food, but recipients didn’t get it because of the instability in the area. Even the aid that reached recipients at the beginning of clashes wasn’t timely or accessible. The zones in question have been very unstable over the past few years as the Oromo Liberation Army (or OLA), a group the House of People’s Representatives officially deemed a terrorist organization, has been in conflict with the federal government.

The OLA was in the news again as the second round of peace talks between the army and the federal government kicked off in Tanzania’s capital Dar es Salaam, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel on Tuesday the 7th. The OLA’s commander Kumsa Diriba, better known as Jal Mero, who didn’t attend the first round of peace talks, went to Tanzania this time. Even though both parties said after the first round that there was significant progress, they couldn’t reach an agreement. Hopefully, the outcome of this round will be different. Ambassador Mike Hammer, the US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, is leading a delegation the US sent. The governments of Kenya and Norway are also mediating the talks.

The Oromia region is unfortunately not the only region in the country with security concerns. The government had been fighting with popular movement Fano for a few years now and aside from all the casualties and injuries of innocent people, concerns are also being raised over the safety of the rock-hewn Churches in the town Lalibela. The Churches date back to the twelfth and thirteenth centuries AD and the UN designated them world heritage sites in nineteen seventy-eight. Residents of the town told media outlets that the firing of heavy weapons concerning the conflict is sending shockwaves that are affecting the Churches. Although they were asked for comments, both federal and regional governments did not respond.

Moving on, Petr Fiala, Czech Republic’s Prime Minister, was in Addis last week. He arrived in the capital on Friday the 3rd for a two-day work visit, which is part of a week-long tour throughout Africa. On Saturday the 4th, PM Petr Fiala met with Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, and during the meeting, he said that even though Ethiopia and the Czech Republic have century-old ties, relations still need to be strengthened. He expressed his country’s willingness to deepen economic cooperation further, placing a special emphasis on the defense industry. PM Fiala then went to the Ethiopian Air Force Base located a few kilometers from Addis and met with Lieutenant General Yilma Merdassa, the head of the Air Force.

Next up, The National Electoral Board has been without a chairperson for a few months now as its former chairwoman, Birtukan Mideksa, resigned in July. The hunt to replace Birtukan is underway as Prime Minister Abiy named an eight-member recruiting committee. The committee’s preparation is well underway and it will soon issue a call to the public for nominations of potential candidates. The law says that the committee should prepare and submit a list to the Prime Minister. He will pick a nominee, and the House of People’s Representatives will vote on whether or not that person should become the board's chairperson.

The economy is not looking good as Fitch Ratings, a credit-rating firm, downgraded the country’s issuer default rating from a ‘CCC-’ to a ‘CC’ meaning that it now appears that the country will find it more difficult to discharge financial obligations or debts without defaulting. The company says the risk will only worsen if the country fails to secure more loans or grants from the International Monetary Fund and other sources. Recall that about two months ago, Moody, another world-renowned rating firm, had similarly downgraded Ethiopia’s credit rating.

Still on economic news. Ethiopia never had a stock market nor a regulating organ for the capital market until recently. The government established The Ethiopian Capital Market Authority as the regulating authority and the Ethiopian Security Exchange as a stock market, partially owned by the government. The Capital Market Authority recently announced that it has prepared a draft directive that fixes its prices for services like licenses and renewals.

One of the most exported and profitable cash crops that Ethiopia produces is a stimulant plant called Chat. Business people who wanted to export Chat had to obtain licenses from regional governments or city administrations. However, on Tuesday the 7th, the Minister of Trade and Regional Integration held a press release announcing that the Ministry would be the only entity empowered to give out licenses to export Chat. He explained that the license issuing process was affecting the amount of foreign currency the country should have brought in from exports and that it was facilitating contraband trade. All current license holders will have to apply to the Ministry for a new license by fulfilling five new eligibility requirements. In the previous budget year, Chat had brought in almost two hundred and fifty million US dollars - the fourth highest of any agricultural product, after spices, tea, and coffee.

Speaking of the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration, on Tuesday the 7th, it announced that retail gas prices will stay where they are for the rest of November and until early December.

More business news as Safaricom, the first and only private telecom services provider, announced on Thursday the 9th that it has registered over one million users on M-Pesa, its mobile money platform. The company rolled out M-Pesa in August and has since processed seventeen billion birr or three hundred million US dollars. The company’s CEO said that Safaricom’s total number of users has reached more than four million and that it is currently operating in twenty-two cities across Ethiopia.

In unrelated news, The National Accreditation Service’s Director told the newspaper Reporter that service providers that had a license to offer one service were advertising that they were providing services that they hadn’t been accredited to offer. He said that if these service providers continue advertising services they are not accredited to offer, they will be stripped of their existing licenses. The Director added that the Accreditation will have to work with the Broadcast Authority and that media and advertising companies must also take it upon themselves to verify whether or not service providers are fully accredited for the services they say they’ll provide in advertisements.

And to wrap up this edition, here is some sports news. The Ethiopian National Team nicknamed the Walya Antelopes, has been under an interim coach for a few months now as Wubetu Abate agreed with the Football Federation to leave the team as head coach back in April. On Friday, the 3rd, the Federation announced that it had appointed Gebre-Medhin Haile, Medhin Football Club’s manager. He will manage both teams, Medhin FC and the Wayla Antelopes, at least until the end of the current premier league season. The contract runs for a year, and Gebre-Medhin will be earning a reported two hundred and fifty thousand birr or about four thousand five hundred US dollars.

And that's it for this week!

Do you want to avoid having ads in these updates? Well, experts say that if you recommend us to everyone you know, then we won’t have to include ads in the shows. You see, the bigger the audience, the fewer the ads because we won’t need them to finance the show! So spread the word about these updates. Don’t blame us, it’s science.

We need to get the listeners' numbers up. Give us a hand!

Subscribe in any of the platforms you are listening to us in, Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google, Amazon, it would really help.

Ciao!