the economy needs some fixing
and the latest updates on Amhara Region
Hi there,
My name is Maya Misikir. I am a freelance reporter and I run Sifter - a weekly newsletter that brings you the top 5 news items in Ethiopia. Last week’s edition was focused on breaking down the conflict in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region. If you’d like some context on that first, go here.
If you’re all caught up on that, here’s what’s been making headlines last week:
Finance: time to get serious
Some ‘stringent measures’ were passed last week by the National Bank of Ethiopia. One of which, according to a story by The Reporter, is limited lending by private banks.
What does this mean? The National Bank has limited credit growth to 14 percent annually. This means that banks are not allowed to keep increasing the money they lend out to grow by more than 14 percent every year.
Here’s an excerpt from the article which explains this:
“The move comes in the wake of massive loan disbursements by banks in the last fiscal year. Data shows that in the 12 months ending February 2023, banks disbursed a total of 382 billion birr in loans – a substantial increase from 209.6 billion birr in the same period a year earlier.”
This decision to limit the amount of money being given out is intended to address the inflation in the country. By limiting the amount of money given out as loans, the National Bank will limit the circulation of Birr out here, which is one reason behind the inflation in the country.
Another important decision passed by the National Bank last week was the increase in foreign currency retention to 40 percent. What this means, basically, is that exporters can now keep 40 percent of their foreign currency earnings. (They give up the rest to the National Bank and commercial banks and get it back in good old Birr.)
This retention rate used to be 20 percent. If that sounds bad, it’s because it was, as evidenced by articles like this: ‘Exporters Find New Forex Rules Bitter Pill to Swallow,’ ‘Central Bank 'Only Option' Leaves Exporters Fuming, ‘Exporters Bemoan ‘Stifling’ Forex Policy’.
Here's an excerpt from The Reporter on what’s behind this latest decision:
“The move aims to incentivize exporters and boost Ethiopia’s export competitiveness in international markets. The NBE believes the relaxed norm will promote higher exports.”
The full story on The Reporter here.
Security: we don’t know her (II)
It’s been more than 10 days since a state of emergency was declared in Ethiopia’s Amhara Region. Last Friday, the government gave its latest update on activities being carried out under this state of emergency; the arrest of 23 people suspected of engaging in illegal activities. Any other information circulating saying that more people have been arrested is just not true, added the report.
The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission, on the other hand, says there have been widespread arrests, as well as beatings and killings of civilians in Amhara Region.
Here’s an excerpt from the report:
“In Addis Ababa city administration, there has been widespread arrest of civilians who are of ethnic Amhara origin, as well as widespread detention of irregular migrants from Eritrean, some of whom might be seeking asylum status in Ethiopia.”
Over the past week, the federal government took control of two major towns in Amhara region – Gonder and Lalibela. But the fighting between federal troops and Amhara militia, Fano, has continued in smaller towns across the region.
Here’s an excerpt from a story I did for VOA on a drone strike that took place over the weekend:
The attack Sunday took place in the central town of Finote Selam, in the West Gojam Zone of Ethiopia’s Amhara region. A doctor at Finote Selam Hospital who spoke on the condition of anonymity said injured people started arriving around midday.
"There are many people who died at the site of the accident, but we do not have the exact numbers of that," he said. "But the ones who arrived here and passed away are around 26 people as of now.”
The full statement by the Commission is here.
Food: grain from the Black Sea
The Continent is back on again. This edition of the award-winning African publication talks about the impact of the war in Ukraine on Africa - what it means for food security.
Ukraine is one of the major suppliers of grains to the world but since the Russian invasion, the export routes through which this grain reaches its destination have not been usable.
The Black Sea Grain Initiative was a way to work through this; a deal brokered by Türkiye and the United Nations between Ukraine and Russia, it was supposed to ensure safe passage of grain from Ukraine, through the Black Sea, and to the rest of the world; Ethiopia is one of those destinations.
The deal was signed last year in July. But Russia decided against the extension last month, demanding for less sanctions. Part of the agreement for the safe passage of the grains was lifting sanctions against Russian grain and fertilizer exporters.
The Continent, along with seven other representatives of African media houses were invited to interview Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky in July.
Here is an excerpt from part of the coverage:
“It is his first interview with journalists from African publications since the war began, and a belated response to a foreign policy problem that has confused the Ukrainian government since the war began: why African countries, with some notable exceptions, have been so reluctant to take Ukraine’s side.”
Go here to read the stories they covered.
To get their regular editions, email Read@thecontinent.org with SUBSCRIBE in the subject or text NEWS at +27 73 805 6068.
Human rights: on the institution itself
A lot of my posts, especially as of late, mention the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission. I cite the Commission’s reports, statements, and press releases often. The work of the Commission details the state of human rights across the country, especially at times when there seems to be no other official recognition of certain events taking place.
This particular review I am sharing with you today is a reflection on the Commission, its work as a champion of human rights in the country, and its current role in the transitional justice process for rights violations that took place during the war in Tigray.
The article asks some questions: Can the Commission hold the government accountable as the local champion of justice? Is it guilty of over-reporting certain events and underreporting others? What of the man who’s heading the institutions?
Here’s an excerpt from the article:
“Even though the EHRC has recently undergone sweeping reforms and retains some potential in the form of human capital, it has made a large number of critical mistakes that should lead to its exclusion from investigations, or transitional justice processes, surrounding the Tigray war.
The EHRC’s missteps, and the resulting damage to its credibility, are significant enough that the Commission itself is going to have to go through another process of institutional and personnel reform before it is able to establish itself as a respectable national human rights institution.”
The full review here.
Law: mob justice
Homosexuality is a crime in Ethiopia, and the Addis Abeba City Administration put out a post reminding people of this fact and sharing a hotline for reporting. This came following weeks of social media campaigns on TikTok with people sharing the slogan, “I am against homosexuality.”
Last week, multiple media houses reported on a series of online harassment and real-life attacks against people suspected of being gay in Ethiopia.
Since Thursday, the city administration has stated that it is taking measures on venues where these acts are taking place.
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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.