Paying a high price for internet shutdowns
and the port story continued
Hi there,
I hope you had a great weekend.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to email and say some nice things about Sifter last week. To quote Priti Salian, who said it best in her newsletter Reframing Disability: ‘I can’t tell you how validating and uplifting your thoughts are in this lonely journey of putting together the newsletter’. Thanks guys!
If you’re interested in being more inclusive in your work and storytelling, I highly recommend following her substack. Last week’s edition had links to the 2024 Calendar of Disability Events and Activities, a disability-inclusive stock photography (‘intended to improve public, business, and media perceptions of disability’) as well as what she explains as emoji accessibility, which I wasn’t aware of until I read her post. Check it out here.
I’m Maya Misikir and you’re reading Sifter - your weekly update of the top five stories on Ethiopia.
Now, to the news.
Internet: losing major $$$
Internet shutdowns cost money. Back in 2020, during a country-wide internet blackout in Ethiopia, I went around speaking to entrepreneurs about how it was affecting their work and growth. It was bad; some e-commerce delivery businesses had come to a halt despite owners trying to find ways to work around it. The blackout then lasted about 3 weeks.
In 2023, internet shutdowns have continued in Ethiopia, and according to the latest report which tallied the economic cost of these outages, the country lost 1.59 billion U.S. dollars over the past year alone.
The Global Cost of Internet Shutdowns, a report by Top10VPN has 25 countries on its list and Ethiopia is second only to Russia.
The report calculates the ‘total economic impact of every major deliberate internet outage and social media shutdown’. Here’s an excerpt:
Access to Facebook, YouTube, Telegram and TikTok was restricted by authorities in Ethiopia due to religious tensions. The blocks were implemented in early February and would not be lifted until over five months later in July. Demand for VPN services peaked at 3,651% higher than average following the start of the restrictions.
Ethiopian authorities imposed an internet blackout in the northern region of Amhara in early August in response to escalating tensions with local militia. Although internet connectivity has been partially restored since November, restrictions in the region remain.
Go here for a look at the full report.
Infrastructure: the port story continued
Another week has gone by with a volley of updates following the recent agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland.
The agreement (Memorandum of Understanding) between the governments of Somaliland and Ethiopia has continued to cause waves not just in Somalia, but within Somaliland itself.
Last week, reports came out saying that Somaliland’s Defense Minister, Abdiqani Mohamud Ateye, had resigned from his position in protest of this agreement.
Here’s an excerpt from a story in the Associated Press:
“Ateye asserted that in an earlier meeting with Somaliland President Muse Bihi Abdi, he expressed his belief that stationing Ethiopian troops in Somaliland was fundamentally inappropriate.
He said he also argued that the proposed construction site for the Ethiopian marine force base rightfully belonged to his community, but that the president dismissed his concerns.”
The feelings about this new agreement are mixed according to the report which says that some people are out protesting it while others in cities like Burco, Somaliland have come together to show support.
IGAD, the Intergovernmental Authority on Development (a bloc made of eight member states, including Somalia and Ethiopia) has called a meeting this coming Thursday in Uganda on this issue, so all eyes will be on that, despite no official confirmation on whether Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed will be attending according to this story by The Reporter.
The president of Somalia is busy making visits in the meantime; he was in Eritrea last week and has a planned upcoming trip to Egypt; countries that have both ‘expressed support for Somalia in the wake of the port deal’ according to a story on The Guardian. On the same day that he warned to take “all necessary measures,” the army chiefs of Ethiopia and Somaliland were meeting in Addis Abeba to discuss, “possible ways to work together” according to this story on the BBC.
If you’re keen on a bit of background, you can go here and read the last edition where I break down the details of this agreement.
To get a better understanding of which maritime law may be relevant here, check out this story on The Conversation entitled, Ethiopia’s quest for access to the sea: success rests on good relations with its neighbours.
The full story on the events from Somaliland on the Associated Press here, and the latest response from Somalia on Bloomberg here.
Mining: Tigray’s gold is going somewhere
Ethiopia’s mining sector, especially as it relates to its gold export figures, has been on a steady decline over the past few years. Last year, in January, The Reporter ran a story saying this figure hit a three-year low, bringing in about 117 million U.S. dollars. Contraband trade is one major reason cited for this decline.
In Tigray (one of the highest gold-producing regions before the war) all the gold produced is now being sold off on the black market, according to the latest story by The Reporter, which says this comes to an estimated 100 million U.S. dollars.
Here’s an excerpt from the story:
“There are 100,000 artisanal miners active in the region, producing an estimated 20 quintals of gold annually, according to Fiseha Meresa, director of licensing and administration at the Tigray Land and Mining Bureau.
“However, the volume of gold being supplied to the central bank is zero. The production is all going to the black market,” Fiseha told The Reporter.”
Administrators in Tigray region say they are now in talks with the Central Bank to raise the buying price and convince miners to sell to an official collector instead.
The full story on The Reporter here.
Security: humanitarian worker killed in Tigray
An ambulance driver for the Ethiopian Red Cross Society (ERCS) was killed while on duty in Ethiopia’s Tigray region. The driver was shot by unknown armed assailants and died while being transported to a hospital in the regional capital, Mekelle, according to a statement by the organization on Facebook.
Here’s an excerpt from the story covered by Addis Standard:
“The ERCS strongly condemns repeated attacks on its staff, ambulances and property. “Such unlawful actions violate acceptable norms and the Geneva Convention protections undertaken by the Ethiopian government,” reads the statement put forward by the organization.
In light of this incident, the ERCS calls for a full investigation and justice…”
The full story on Addis Standard here and the statement from the organization, in Amharic, here.
Peace talks: possible third round with rebel group?
I’ve followed the past two rounds of (failed) peace talks between the Ethiopian government and rebel faction Oromo Liberation Army. The first one, in May, and the second in November, were both held in Tanzania. While hopes were high(er) for the second round, which had high-level representation on both sides, the talks ended, yet again, with no common grounds reached.
Last week, Ethiopian Minister of Peace, Binalf Andualem, said that these talks must continue, according to a report by Ethiopia Insider.
Responding to questions from parliamentarians in a session held last week Thursday, the Minister explained that the government believes the conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara regions can also be worked out through negotiations ‘without any further unnecessary sacrifices’, according to the same report.
The full story on Ethiopia Insider, in Amharic, here.
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