Everyone saw that coming
And 2023 highlights
Hi,
You’re reading Sifter, a newsletter written by me, Maya Misikir, a freelance reporter based in Addis Abeba, Ethiopia. You’ll be getting this newsletter every week, with the top 5 stories in Ethiopia.
In this week’s edition I have dedicated two spots to a look back at 2023 as we enter the extended holiday season. I say extended especially because between Christmas on the 25th of December, (Gregorian calender) New Year and Christmas as its celebrated in Ethiopia on January 7, I always end up in a sort of limbo state for the coming weeks.
The end of 2023 also marks the one year anniversary of this newsletter, so I’m asking all older subscribers to please take a minute and fill out my end-of-year survey (it’s only 3 questions).
and finally,
If you could add one thing to Sifter, what would it be? (Hit reply and let me know! I always write back.)
Now, to the news.
Politics: a (former) minister is in jail
Last week Monday, Ethiopian state (deputy) Minister of Peace, Taye Dendea received a letter relieving him of his duties. By evening, he had been taken from his home to prison on allegations that he was conspiring to stage a coup.
In the interval between these two events, the state minster posted a response on his Facebook page to the letter informing him that he had been removed from his position.
The more colorful parts of his Facebook post call out Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed as a ‘savage’ who doesn’t walk his talk.
Shortly after this, Taye was taken away by what Reuters reported as ‘dozens of uniformed and plainclothed police’.
The state minster had been very critical of the government in the weeks preceding this series of events according to a story by Addis Standard.
Here’s an excerpt from the piece:
“This comes in the backdrop of unprecedented recent media engagement and social media posts by Taye Dendea where he made stern remarks criticizing the PM Abiy led government.
In a facebook post on 06 December 2023, and subsequent interview with BBC’s Afaan Oromoo service Taye blamed the government for the failure of Dar es Salaam peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA).”
The Ethiopian Federal Police, on their part, said that they found heaps of incriminating evidence at his house when they came to arrest Taye including but not limited to a fugitive harbored in his home.
Taye is in prison, with no access to legal support, and with only occasional visits allowed from close family members according to a latest report.
The full story on Addis Standard here, on Reuters here and state minister’s Facebook post here.
Finance: what did you just call me?
The country’s credit rating has now moved one notch lower into ‘junk territory’ as reported by Reuters. How did we get here?
I have written on the issue of Ethiopia’s foreign debt over the past few weeks. In the last edition, which you’ll find here, I talked about the status of debt repayment extensions as it relates to the country’s multiple creditors.
While Ethiopia has managed to strike a deal with its bilateral creditors, this has yet to happen with the country’s commercial creditors (aka holders of the country’s one billion U.S. dollar Eurobond.)
Last week the Ethiopian government missed the date for a periodic interest repayment of 33 million U.S. dollars on its Eurobond. Here’s an excerpt from a story on The Reporter on why this happened:
“The Ministry of Finance claims its failure to service a USD 33 million Eurobond coupon this month is intentional, and not due to a shortage of foreign currency.
“Ethiopia’s decision to withhold the December coupon payment on its Eurobond… stems from the intention to treat all its external creditors equitably,” said State Minister for Finance Eyob Tekalign (PhD) during a one-hour meeting with more than 100 Eurobond investors on December 14.”
So, what about the credit rating then?
Ethiopia has just been downgraded to a ‘C’ (from yet another recent downgrade to ‘CC’ in early November). You can go to my pervious explainer here to get answers to questions like what a country’s credit rating is, who gives out these ratings and what a ‘C’ means (in case the word junk didn’t give it away.)
This rating may get even worse if the country will officialy be found in default, at the end of a 14-day grace period, according to the story.
But Ethiopia is far from being the only country facing debt distress; ‘about 60% of low-income countries are already in or at risk of debt distress’ according to this other story by Reuters which has highlights into the latest International Debt Report by the World Bank. ("Ethiopia is like a canary in the coal mine," says the World Bank’s chief economist quoted in the story).
The full story on The Reporter here, and on Reuters here.
Food: calling attention to critical shortages
About a month ago, I wrote an update about flash floods in five regions of Ethiopia. The floods followed the worst drought in the Horn of Africa in 40 years. Last week, a report came out detailing the possibility of critical levels of food insecurity across different regions of the country, some of which is result of the drought and following floods.
Part of this looming and severe food insecurity is due to the conflict in the country; in Tigray region, which has been in war for two years, the most affected communities will be those displaced from their homes (which are over a million people), according to the report. In Ethiopia’s Amhara region, the insecurity in the region means that it’s become difficult to move around, which in turn has made food expensive because there isn’t enough coming in.
The report touches on the many reasons that could lead to this severe food shortage. This is not just about how much food is produced, but also about the effects of the conflict on who can afford to get it.
Here's an excerpt from the report:
“In Amhara, ongoing conflict has had adverse effects on the circulation of cash, the movement of construction materials, and the creation of employment opportunities, resulting in lower-than-normal opportunities and income from this source. In Tigray, while the economy has marginally improved in the aftermath of conflict, income-earning opportunities remain limited, notably for poor and displaced households.”
The full report by the Famine Early Warning System Network, which provides analysis on food security across the world here and a story by Addis Standard based on the report here.
2023 highlights: some great Africans we should all know
Those of you who follow The Continent may have seen their final edition for 2023, where they featured some of the major highlights of the year on the African continent.
This edition centers a list of great people, “Africans of the Year”, and has recommendations for films, music, books, and photos (including the one I used in this edition) by fellow Africans.
One of the people featured is Julie Mehretu in a story entitled, ‘The kid from Addis who became global art royalty’. As many of you may already have read, Julie Mehretu, the Ethiopian-American painter who sold her painting, ‘Walkers With the Dawn and Morning,' for 10.7 million U.S. dollars, set a new world record for highest sale for an African artwork last month.
Also in this edition is an article entitled, ‘The Hero of Harrare’, which talks about Zimbabwean opposition member of parliament, Job “Wiwa” Sikhala, who despite being arrested over 60 times, ‘refuses to stay silent’ according to the story.
Here’s an excerpt that stood out to me from the piece:
“But his fate so far has shown that the Zimbabwean government needs a crash course in African political history. There is a fine balance between shutting down dissent and elevating one’s enemies to hero status.”
You can find the full edition here.
If you’re looking for great coverage on news on the African continent, I highly recommend you subscribe to The Continent by texting them on WhatsApp (Signal and Telegram) on +27738056068 , or email read@thecontinent.org.
2023 highlights: global edition
I’m finishing up this week’s newsletter with another round of recommendations from 2023, this one coming from Semafor. In this edition of one of their (many) newsletters called Flagship, Semafor dives into some of the publication’s (and readers’) best picks for books, podcasts, newsletters, music, TV and even best Indy video games.
Here’s an excerpt from their selection of the best podcasts of 2023:
“Empire. Featuring two historians who start out by digging into the details of the British empire in India, before training their gaze on empires the world over, the podcast is deep but accessible, Senior Editor Prashant Rao says.”
Go through the list here and save some favorites for some down time during the holiday.
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That’s all for this week. I’ll be back next week with more updates!
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