Ethiopia’s only way out is in really bad shape
and we're about to have M-PESA
Hi,
Welcome to Sifter - a newsletter that brings you five quick updates on what happened in Ethiopia every week. I thought this edition would be short and sweet, mainly because I’m swamped with other work and need to catch up on my sleep but the rabbit hole always gets the best of me. If you’re interested in any of the updates below and need more information, just hit reply and ask - I’ll write back!
Now, to the news.
Infrastructure: Ethiopia’s only way out is in really bad shape
I don’t know how many of you saw the Inside Story report on Al Jazeera last week, where host Adrian Finighan brought three guests to talk about how Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reportedly said that Ethiopia is set to secure direct access to a port peacefully or by force at a meeting with investors last week. A member of the Ethiopian parliament (Kemal Mahamoud) was present to refute these claims.
They discuss this claim at length; can Ethiopia afford another military conflict? No. Which border country is feasible for port development for Ethiopia – the Assab and Massawa Ports in Eritrea come in as strong contenders with relations between Ethiopia and Eritrea better than before though it requires rehabilitation work. The Port of Berbera in Somaliland is the closes in proximity but that would mean de facto recognition of Somaliland (which will not go down well with the African Union). Djibouti already has the logistics and relationships set up already, so negotiating port fees is the remaining (big) task at hand.
Finally, the host concludes the talks by asking if large-scale economic integration in the region is a pipedream. He knows we can hear him, right?
They also discuss the reported offer made by the Ethiopian government to Eritrea for a 30 percent stake in Ethiopian Airlines in exchange for direct access to its port.
Most of Ethiopia’s imports and exports pass through the port of Djibouti; more than 95 percent of the country’s trade. What is indisputable is the roads to this trade corridor are in ‘horrible shape’ according to a story covered by The Reporter. The story cites a recent survey released by the Ethiopian Logistics Sectoral Association, which says that poor road conditions have caused serious problems in the safety and health of drivers and are resulting in high vehicle maintenance costs.
The full video on Al Jazeera here and the story on The Reporter here.
Fintech: M-PESA is about to be a thing
I wrote an update in mid-May when Safaricom Ethiopia was granted the service license for its mobile payment, M-PESA. The service is now expected to roll out before the end of September according to a story by Addis Fortune. M-PESA has over 50 million subscribers across Africa. Ethiotelecom’s mobile money service, telebirr, has over 35 million just in Ethiopia, according to the company website. Making digital payments mandatory through telebirr, like fuel payments, has helped bump its user number by the millions.
Here’s an excerpt from the story on what a digital consultant said on this launch:
“Nurhassen sees the promise of increased national total deposits with the addition of a new operator in the country but equally recommends enhanced regulatory oversight. He emphasized the importance of enhancing the technical capacities of both the central bank and the Financial Intelligence Services (FIS) with greater financial digitization.”
We can collectively breathe again as we slowly but surely remove ourselves from the iron-tight grip that Ethiotelecom’s 128-year-old monopoly has had on us.
The full story on Addis Fortune here.
Human rights: the police answer to no one around here
There have been news reports coming out that the police are not following court orders when it comes to releasing arrested people. Last week, Human Rights Watch (HRW) shared a report demanding the release of seven members of the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), an opposition political party. The report talks about how these members were jailed purely for their political affiliation and have been in prison for more than three years, despite what it said, were, ‘multiple judicial orders directing their release.’
Here’s an excerpt from the report:
“Police authorities are making a mockery of Ethiopia’s justice system through the prolonged and cruel detention without charge of the Oromo opposition politicians,” said Laetitia Bader, deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch. “The Ethiopian government should immediately release them and ensure that wrongful detention is no longer used as a tool of political repression.”
Not only were they imprisoned but the police also withheld their whereabouts which constitutes as enforced disappearance. If you remember, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission released its own report in early June saying that enforced disappearances were on the rise in the country.
Enforced disappearances are ‘a serious violation of international human rights law, and a crime under international criminal law.’
I spoke to another opposition political party, the Oromo Federalist Congress, a few weeks ago, about how their members had also gone missing.
The full report by HRW here and my story for VOA here.
Security: Gurage zone needs intervention
Last Saturday, armed attackers ambushed travelers going to the local Saturday market in Gurage Zone, in an area known as Meskan Wereda. The story, covered by Addis Standard, says that seven people were killed in this attack. The violence in the area is because of border disputes between two districts in Gurage Zone: Meskan and Mareko. The two districts used to be one and since separation two decades ago have disputed over land.
The full story in English on Addis Standard here.
Education: universities re-opening in Tigray
Adigrat and Aksum University, two of the four public universities in Tigray Region are going to resume classes. After a two-year interruption because of the war, the universities are calling on students for registration according to a report by Addis Standard.
Primary and secondary education, which had been interrupted in Tigray for three years because of the impact of COVID-19 and the war, was re-stared in the region following the November peace deal.
The full story on Addis Standard here.
That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
In the meantime, you can help support my work by forwarding this email to friends and family who might benefit from keeping up with what’s going on.
Note: I go through all the major news outlets, newspapers, online publications, and will at times, include reports, notes on parliamentary sessions, and go through fact-checking websites as well. I try to provide links to both English and Amharic sources, and I usually time-stamp the video I link to unless I think the whole video is relevant.
‘bureaucratic spiteful belligerence’ to sum it up in three words.
A quarter of Ethiopia's economic woes emanates from the bureaucratic spiteful beligerence of the Ethiopian Customs Department and their horrendous and unreasonable tariffs; their excessive duties on a variety of merchanise, goods and as well as miscellaneous items they at random consfiscate, that should incur a modest - but proprortionate charge to all other nations. The Ethiopian "Gumbrouk" from his Majesty's time via Mengistu's Derg, to the present dubious incumbent of the PM's chair have all shied away from reforning the nasty behaviour of Ethiopia's Customs and Excise Department. If things were streamlined and the idiotic letters of credit disposed of, and the Birr reasonably floated against world currencies with free flow of forex then a more trusting business atmosphere of confidence would thus ensue.