Ringing the alarm bell across three regions
And another journalist behind bars
Hi,
I’m Maya Misikir, a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia and I write Sifter - this weekly newsletter where I curate the top 5 news stories in the country. As we come to the end of the newsletter’s first year (46 editions and 500 subscribers later!) I will send out a survey to find out what you would like to see more of in the coming year.
In the meantime, if you have ideas, tips, or feedback and want to share, please don’t hesitate to hit reply and let me know. I always write back.
Now, to the news.
Human rights: a grim report on three regions
Last week, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission released a report calling for an urgent response to the widespread human rights abuses across three regions in Ethiopia; Oromia, Amhara, and Benishangul-Gumuz. The report says that the attacks are ethnically motivated and happening at a large scale.
In Amhara region, in early November, these attacks took place in areas like Agew and West Gojam Zone. The attackers are identified as irregular Amhara militiamen and though the report says that the attacks were ethnically motivated it stops short of saying which ethnic groups were targeted. An unspecified number of people have died and the attackers have also demolished investment, it adds.
In Ethiopia’s Benishangul-Gumuz region, the attackers are identified as fighters from the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), and they targeted ethnically Benishangul and Oromo people, according to the report. Many villages were burnt down in the region during the attacks, and 17 people have died as a result.
In Oromia region, the attacks have a different pattern, with entire families targeted and killed in multiple parts of the Arsi Zone. In one incident, the report recounts an incident where the unidentified attackers shot 8 people from one family outside their home.
The Commissioner has called for a peaceful dialogue between warring factions, as has the President of the country. The President made this call for peaceful dialogue last week Saturday on the celebration of Nations, Nationalities, and People’s Day, a day set for celebrating ethnic diversity in the country.
The full report from the Commission in Amharic here and the story on Addis Standard in English here.
Press freedom: another journalist behind bars
There have been at least seven journalists who have been imprisoned since the state of emergency was declared back in August of this year. This is according to a report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), which follows up on press freedom and journalists’ safety across the world.
Last week, CPJ released a report on the arrest of another journalist, Belay Manaye, chief editor of Ethio News. Belay was taken away from his office area by plainclothes security personnel with no reasons given for his arrest.
Here’s an excerpt from the report:
“Belay Manaye has spent three weeks behind bars without any explanation from Ethiopian authorities. This sends a grave message to other Ethiopian journalists—that they can be deprived of their liberty at any time,” said CPJ’s sub-Saharan African Representative, Muthoki Mumo. “Authorities should unconditionally release Belay Manaye and stop arbitrarily detaining members of the press.”
The full report in English from CPJ here.
Finance: the headlines suggest something bad
Last week’s updates included one on the country’s foreign debt situation; primarily that the Ethiopian government had reached a deal with bilateral creditors for an extension of payment on the country’s debt (around 28 billion U.S. dollars).
The bilateral creditors in this case include members of the Paris Club: Austria, Denmark, France, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Sweden, South Africa, and Switzerland. This deal was reached a few months after Ethiopia reached a separate debt repayment extension deal with China, the country’s largest bilateral creditor.
But alas, Ethiopia has even more creditors; this time it’s the holders of the country’s one billion U.S. dollar Eurobond.
Who are the holders of this Eurobond? Commercial creditors who bought shares when Ethiopia put it up for sale in 2014 to be paid back in 10 years.
It’ll be 10 years in December 2024, when Ethiopia will have to pay the entire thing back. Until then, there’s a periodical interest payment of 33 million U.S. dollars.
The next re-payment of this interest was supposed to be made on December 11. The Ethiopian government has a 14-day grace period after this date before it is deemed in default.
Here’s an excerpt from Bloomberg on what government officials said about this upcoming payment:
“It advised the group of bondholders that it’s “not in a position to pay” the $33 million coupon because of the nation’s “fragile external position, with significantly lower foreign-exchange reserves, which inevitably impacts the Ministry of Finance’s ability to service imminent external borrowings,” according to the statement.”
Ethiopian government officials are planning to set up a meeting in the coming days to “set out a proposal it may launch related to the Eurobond,” according to the story.
For those of you curious to know why countries issue Eurobonds and what makes Eurobonds different from other multilateral loans, this article entitled, African governments have developed a taste for Eurobonds: why it’s dangerous, on The Conversation is a great start.
The full story in English on Bloomberg here and a breakdown on Wazema Radio in Amharic here.
Labour rights: domestic workers don’t have a day off
A group of labour rights representatives is pushing for a law that could offer more legal protection for domestic workers in the country.
The law in question is the International Labor Organization (ILO) convention on the rights and working conditions of domestic workers. This law, drafted in 2011, has yet to be ratified by Ethiopia and representatives from CETU (aka the Confederation of Ethiopian Labor Unions) are now pushing for this to happen.
What happens if this international convention gets ratified? Here’s an excerpt from the story:
Article 189 of the ILO convention from 2011 enshrines the rights of domestic workers and entitles them to benefits afforded to other laborers, such as a weekly day off, a regular, scheduled workweek, and social security.
Gezahegn Zerihun, advisor to the Confederation’s president, has told The Reporter that CETU is following up on the progress of government policies on domestic workers’ rights.
The full story on The Reporter here.
Banking: getting ready to open up the sector
Ethiopia’s law does not allow for any foreign companies in the banking sector, yet. This is set to change very soon. By July next year, the framework (“preparations for proclamations and other legal frameworks to open the sector”) is expected to be ready according to a story by Semafor.
Though the sector is opening up (5 licenses over the next 5 years), there are still limitations on how much ownership foreign companies can have. Here’s an excerpt on that from the story:
“Foreign institutions and individuals will only be allowed to acquire up to 30% of a local bank, which can then sell an additional 10% to another overseas buyer. The remaining 60% must remain under local shareholder ownership.”
The story talks about why this limited ownership has its drawbacks (with other East African countries allowing full acquisitions), why investing in Ethiopia may be tougher than ever now, and what this new international competition might do to the local players (“Size matters” says Amaha Bekele, a managing partner at Deloitte East Africa.)
The full piece on Semafor Africa here.
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