From left: Getaches Reda, President of Tigray regional state interim administration, and PM Abiy Ahmed, pictured in Addis Abeba at an event recognizing stakeholders who played roles in ending the two years war. Photo: PMO

Addis Abeba – In marking six months since the signing of the Cessation of Hostilities Agreement (COHA) between the Government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) in Pretoria on 02 November last year, the U.S. commends the parties for the significant progress on COHA implementation but said “complete withdrawal of Eritrean and non-federal forces from the Tigray Region,” key to achieving sustainable peace.

It also said it welcomed the beginning of talks in Tanzania, announced by Prime Minister Abiy, between the government of Ethiopia and members of the Oromo Liberation Army and “encourages all parties to negotiate in good faith toward a mutually acceptable resolution.”

In a statement attributed to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, the U.S. said the November agreement “began a process of peace and recovery that continues today,” but in addition to the complete withdrawal of Eritrean and non-federal forces, “a credible transitional justice process, including accountability for those responsible for human rights violations and abuses, will be key to achieving sustainable peace in northern Ethiopia.”

In march this year, the U.S. had determined that members of the Ethiopian National Defense Forces, Eritrean Forces and Amhara forces have committed “crimes against humanity” in the Tigray region, whereas all sides have committed “war crimes” during Ethiopia’s two years war that started in Tigray and spread to Amhara and Afar regions.

Multiple reports showed that Eritrean forces have committed atrocities against Tigrayan civilians since the start of the war, which has also been documented by human rights organizations, including the state backed Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), highlighting “grave human rights violations and an attack against civilians in Axum city, Tigray region.

Although the Nairobi Declaration of the Executive Plan stated that “disarmament of heavy weapons will be done concurrently with the withdrawal of foreign and non-ENDF forces from Tigray, the whole Western Tigray and parts of Southern Tigray remained occupied by the Amhara forces, whereas Eritrean forces remained in parts of North-Western and Eastern Tigray where they are accused of continued atrocity crimes.

Today’s statement by the State Department also urged the “continued follow-through, including by deploying additional monitors for the protection of civilians and conducting an effective disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration process.”

The AU’s Joint Committee for monitoring and implementation of the had held its inaugural meeting at the AU headquarters in Addis Abeba on 10 February this year, but there has not been an official report published on the details of the implementation available to the wider public.

On talks in Tanzania

Commenting for the first time since the announcement of the ongoing talks in Tanzania between the federal government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), the U.S. said it welcomed the beginning of the talks “and encourages all parties to negotiate in good faith toward a mutually acceptable resolution.”

Although, both the government of Ethiopia and the OLA have so far remained tight-lipped on the progress of the talks so far, Addis Standard reported last week that the two sides have so far engaged in multiple discussions on preliminary topics.

Among the topics of the various talks confirmed to have taken place include discussions on modalities and rules of engagement to pave ways for broader negotiations, according to two sources who are familiar with the matter. One source described the atmosphere as “encouraging.” There has been no further information about the ongoing the talks.

Both sides made the move to resolve the war that has gripped the Oromia region for nearly five years and destroyed countless lives and caused immeasurable destruction in the region, after calls for peace began gaining momentum, including from lawmakers representing Oromia regional state and the US government to end the war through peace negotiations. AS

The 4th of May marks 20 years since the death of a painter of Ethiopian and Armenian descent, Alexander “Skunder” Boghossian. He died on May 4 at Howard University Hospital in Washington DC. Skunder was one of Ethiopia’s best-known contemporary artists and his work was exhibited internationally. For several decades, his art and style have defined modern Ethiopian painting. He was the recipient of many awards in Europe, Africa, and the United States, and was the first Ethiopian artist to have his work purchased by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. On the anniversary of his death, here we provide a brief highlight of Skunder Boghossian’s life and legacy.

Born in Addis Ababa in 1937 to an Ethiopian mother and an Armenian father, Kosrof Boghossian, who was a colonel in the Imperial Body Guard of Haile Selassie, Skunder spent his childhood in Addis Ababa and his young adulthood in London, studying at Saint Martin’s School and Slade School of Fine Arts and in Paris studying and teaching at Grande Chaumière.

The artist’s real name was Eskunder (Alexander) Boghossian, but he used the shortened form of the name, Skunder, which became his name.

Although the artist who died two decades ago taught at the School of Fine Arts in Addis Ababa for only three years (1966–1969), he exercised an immense influence both on his peers and younger generations of artists. According to the Dictionary of African Biography (2012) edited by Henry Louis Gates and Emmanuel Akyeampong, Skunder “enjoyed experimenting with a variety of materials and techniques and had in common with his Surrealist colleagues an interest in the subconscious mind, dreams, hallucinations, and creative flights of fancy occasioned by intentionally orchestrated “accidents” on the canvas or other painting surface.”

The New York Times described his work as combining “European media like oil paint, crayon and ink with bark and animal skins.” “Often hallucinatory in quality and filled with intricately detailed figures and patterning, his work was influenced by Paul Klee, Max Ernst and the Cuban artist Wifredo Lam, but more strongly by Coptic and West African art,” the Times said in its May 18, 2003 obituary of the artist.

One of the most heartfelt tributes came from Elizabeth W. Giorgis, the former director of the Institute of Ethiopian Studies and the dean of the College of Performing and Visual Art of Addis Ababa University. In her seminal book Modernist Art in Ethiopia, she renders a personal journey of discovery with this artistic figure.

I remember the first time I met Skunder in 1996, when I presumptuously made an unsolicited visit to his studio space (which was also his home) in Washington DC. Music was blaring and the sweet aroma of Ethiopian incense besieged the air. We listened to Ethiopian Orthodox chants (teslote etan) at first, followed by Coltrane and music from Mali. Strangely enough, the selections seemed to correspond as complementing melodies, an impression Skunder reinforced by attributing the connections of each number to every other one. For him, the cohesion between the jazz lyrics of the African American, the melodious chant of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, and the rhythmic tune of the singer from Mali were all part of a natural reality. Each contained the other. He told me then that all his works were a “perpetual celebration of the varieties of blackness.

By Molla Mitiku @MollaAyenew

Addis Abeba – The Educational Bureau of Tigray has announced that students have started getting back to schools since 01 May 2023 in different parts of the region. Authorities had earlier scheduled classes to start around mid-April but due to complex and multilayered problems that occurred as a consequence of the devastating war, the plan didn’t dome to an effect.

Kiros Gu’ush (PhD), interim head of the bureau, told Addis Standard that in the capital Mekelle, all private schools have already started teaching learning activities; whereas, only 58 public schools have begun teaching as the remaining 21 schools are still hosting Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs).

According to the bureau head, nearly 400 schools in Western, Southern and North Eastern parts of the region have once again remained closed as the areas are still under the occupation of Eritrean and Amhara forces.

In Southern Tigray, of the total 368 schools, classes have resumed in 174 schools whereas the rest 182 schools located in areas like Alamata, Korem and the environs which have been occupied by the Amhara forces remain closed, Kiros said.

He added that all 199 schools which are found in Western Tigray and some schools in Irob district which shares a border with Eritrea and still remain under the occupation of Eritrean forces have not started teaching at the moment.

The delay in returning the IDPs who are still sheltered in schools and lack of total withdrawal of Eritrean and the non-ENDF forces from the region according to the Pretoria peace agreement remained an obstacle to the resumption of education as planned, the bureau head noted.

He said in addition to the 21 schools in Mekelle, 2 schools in Michew and 1 school in Mehoni are currently harboring IDPs.  There are other schools in Tembien, Shire, Adigrat, Irob and other parts of Tigray which are serving as shelters for people displaced mainly from Southern and Western Tigray during the war, he added.

In other parts of the region under the control of the interim administration however, despite “poor condition of school facilities due to the partial and complete destruction of schools during the war”, students are progressively returning to schools, Kiros said.

The Bureau head disclosed that “rising special needs students and teachers, reduction of number of parents who could feed their children, the partial or complete destruction of schools and the entire collapse of the regional economy due to the devastating war” have become impediments to return students who account for nearly 30% of the total population in the region to schools.

Kiros said efforts are underway to put in place some arrangements for students who used to go to schools that were totally damaged during the war, and to move the IDPs currently sheltered in schools to other places. 

He added that “the bureau has planned to apply an accelerated teaching method in order to compensate for the elapsed time, dividing one year into four periods, and teach two years of education in one year”.

He admitted that the regional interim administration alone cannot resolve the issues, and urged both the federal government and the international community to support the region in making its education system functional.

Education has been halted in the Tigray region for the past three consecutive years due to COVID-19 and later the two years war between the federal government and the Tigrayan forces.

On 13 April, Save the Children said about 2.3 million children remain out of school in northern Ethiopia despite last November’s peace agreement ending two years of conflict with reconstruction of damaged buildings yet to commence.

In an analysis published on April 10 Addis Standard highlighted outstanding issues halting the resumption of schools in Tigray region among which the issue of about 55,000 teachers whose whereabouts and current status were unknown because of the war was one. AS

Arrivals waiting for services at Metema (Photo:OCHA Ethiopia/Woretaw Chekol)

Addis Abeba – The UN said that as 05 May more than 12,000 people have arrived in Ethiopia from Sudan via the border town of Metema in West Gondar Zone of Amhara Region since 21 April.

According to a report by OCHA, more than 1,000 daily arrivals have been recorded over the past three weeks, with 1,113 people arriving at the border town on 04 May. 

Ethiopians account for more than 50 per cent of the arrival on Thursday while other nationalities included Sudanese, Eritreans, Somalians, Americans, Syrians, Ghanaians and others in descending numerical order, the report added.

“Most foreign nationals, after securing relevant visas, have left the border area and gone to either their respective countries/destinations or to settle in Ethiopia. Similarly, Ethiopian returnees are also moving to their places of origin within the country,” the report noted, adding that, “the majority of those who remain at the border, however, require emergency humanitarian assistance”.

Hot food, drinking water and latrines, emergency shelter, adequate health and protection services are among the primary needs according to the report. 

“Currently, essential and life-saving drugs and medicines in health facilities are lacking. There are also limitations in referral services to hospitals, and mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS) at border entry points,” the report said. 

OCHA said scaling up the health emergency interventions against identified needs is essential to avoid worsening of the situation and prevent communicable and non-communicable diseases.

On 29 April Addis Standard reported that Ethiopian refugees who fled the brutal war in Tigray in early November 2020 and are sheltered in two refugee camps in Tunaydbah and Um Rakuba in Eastern Sudan, are “in danger” following the outbreak of militarized violence in Sudan on 15 April and aid workers’ evacuations.

Two days earlier, the Ethiopian embassy in Khartoum said that it relocated its staff including the ambassador to its consulate office in Gadaref region and has been assisting Ethiopian nationals trapped in Sudan from there. AS

A Federal police vehicle at Bole International Airport in Addis Abeba. Photo: Federal Police

Addis Abeba – Ethiopian Security and Intelligence taskforce says it has detained activist and journalist Gobeze Sisay, who was listed among a dozen “wanted” individuals who the government says were suspected of committing “terrorism” related offenses.

The government claims Gobeze was collaborating with “extremist forces to dismantle the constitutional order in the Amhara region.”

On Sunday, 30 April, the government said it had detained 47 individuals suspected of being “organized covertly and have committed terrorism-related offenses.”

Among the detainees were journalists who were already detained over the past few weeks. The taskforce claimed some of the detainees were “apprehended with several individual and group weapons, bombs and incendiary explosives as well as satellite communication devices and laptops” containing various information.

Gobeze’s name was listed 11 individuals wanted by the security, including opposition politician Lidetu Ayalew and a group of media personalities from the Youtube based Ethio-360 media, based in the US. The government said it was seeking cooperation from the Interpol and was working with governments of foreign countries where the individuals were said to be based at, and to have them extradited.

In a statement sent to state media tonight, the taskforce said Gobeze was detained after he has “escaped” Ethiopia and “was about to cross to another country after entering Djibouti.”

Gobeze Sisay had previously faced criminal charges on allegations of “spreading false rumor” and disclosing the federal army’s battlefield locations “to the enemy and the public” after appearing on a Twitter Space hosted by an account called “Amhara Perspective.” But he was released by the Federal Supreme Court, which had upheld a previous ruling by the federal high court to release him on bail.

He is now facing new allegations of collaborating with “extremist forces to dismantle the constitutional order in the Amhara region.” AS

Addis Ababa, May 9, 2013 (Walta) – Ethiopia-Pakistan Business Forum, aiming to foster commercial and investment ties,  is opened today in Karachi.

State Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Ambassador Mesganu Arga, on the forum, stated that Ethiopia has been working diligently over the past five years to strengthen its diplomatic and trade relations with Pakistan.

He stated that the Ethiopian Government is working towards increasing trade volume between Ethiopia and Pakistan.

Up on the importance of Ethiopian Airlines’ resumption of direct flights to Karachi, Chief Executive of Trade and Development Authority of Pakistan (TDAP), Muhammad Zubair Motiwala, stated,” Ethiopian Airlines flights to Karachi will give Pakistan a chance to improve its relations with Africa in addition to Ethiopia”.

He underlined that Ethiopia is key to Pakistan’s relations with Africa.

The forum is attended by senior government representatives from various institutions as well as members of the business community.

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Plans to hold elections in Tigray next Ethiopian year signal progress in consolidating stability despite obstacles to transforming the region’s politics. 

The National Election Board of Ethiopia (NEBE) plans to hold elections in Tigray region pursuant to last November’s peace deal that ended large-scale fighting between the federal government and Tigray forces. 

NEBE Deputy Wubishet Ayale made the announcement on 10 May when he provided an update to a parliamentary committee on the board’s work in recent months, mentioning issues that have caused election delays in some areas.

According to Wubishet, NEBE is planning to hold a remedial election in areas where the 2021 general election was not conducted due to several reasons, including in Tigray due to the war. The vote is expected to take place next Ethiopian year, meaning between 11 September 2023 and 10 September 2024.

NEBE’s decision to hold elections comes months after the establishment of the Tigray Interim Regional Administration (IRA) and appointment of Getachew Reda as the region’s president on 23 March.

A successful poll would mark another step away from the constitutional dispute that led to war in Tigray and towards implementation of the Pretoria Agreement, as it would mark a return to a fully constitutional regional government. 

Administrative Hurdles

NEBE is likely to face logistical challenges, financial constraints, and security concerns due to lingering effects from the conflict. 

Ensuring voter registration, distributing electoral materials, training electoral staff, and establishing polling stations may prove difficult in a region affected by widespread displacement, infrastructure damage, and insecurity.

Additionally, NEBE will have to deal with the issue of disputed areas in Western Tigray that are under the control of Amhara and Eritrean forces.

The fact that the IRA was established only two months ago exacerbates the administrative challenges. 

The Tigray People’s Liberation Front-led IRA may face significant hurdles in establishing its structures in all areas of Tigray due to the two-year war that weakened the local administrative setup and because it no longer controls parts of its territory.

Legitimacy Deficit

Given the limited time for preparation and the weakened institutional capacity as a result of the war, other opposition parties from Tigray may encounter difficulties in ensuring their voices are heard.

Moreover, these parties could face opposition from the IRA, which is controlled by TPLF. It is unclear whether federal and regional authorities will allow free and fair elections to be held. 

At the same time, Tigray’s population, still recovering from the war’s devastating effects and dealing with the conflict’s trauma, is more internally divided than ever and may have other priorities than a competitive democratic process. 

In addition to reestablishing trust in political actors, for the voters, fully engaging in this process requires healing and reconciliation measures that have not yet been implemented.

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Notably, transitional justice has not been addressed, leaving parts of the populace and opposition parties dubious about whether elections can help address the region’s political quagmire in the absence of accountability.

Tigray has been severely impacted by human rights violations and abuses that occurred during the two-year war. TPLF leaders, though, may use accountability as a bargaining chip in negotiations with Addis Ababa.

Election’s Significance

Holding new elections in Tigray was a central aspect of the peace agreement reached in November, as a constitutional dispute over Tigray’s last election was the immediate spark of the civil war that engulfed the region for over two years.  

Tensions increased in late 2019 between the sparring federal government and TPLF when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attempted to merge the four constituent parties of the ruling EPRDF coalition (and five allied regional parties) into his own Prosperity Party. 

The EPRDF’s founding member, the TPLF, resisted the merger and the feud escalated in mid-2020 when Tigray made plans to hold a regional council election, which the federal government declared illegal based on its decision to postpone all elections amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Despite the federal government’s rejection, Tigray’s government went ahead with the poll in September 2020, saying it was a constitutional necessity, and TPLF secured an overwhelming majority. After the two governments subsequently deemed each other illegal, the path to conflict was set.

The federal government said the war started when TPLF-commanded forces attacked federal military bases on 3 November 2020 while Tigray’s leaders said they faced imminent federal military intervention to remove them and so launched a preemptive strike.

The conflict, which was also fought in Afar and Amhara regions, lasted until 3 November 2022 and killed an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 people. It involved several parties warring against the TPLF, including the federal military, Eritrean troops, Amhara forces, and those from other regions. During the war, Tigray’s opponents largely blocked trade, aid, and services to the region’s approximately six-million people.

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Main Image: Tigray woman voting during the Tigray regional election; September 2020.

Published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

Born in 1965 in Addis Abeba, Myriam Tadessé has lived in Paris since 1978. An actress and stage director, she has taught theatre and dance, written and directed documentaries, and published an account of her life titled L’instant d’un regard focusing on her childhood experiences in revolutionary Ethiopia.

Since 2017 she decided to devote herself to writing and has published a book Blind Spot, a memoir exploring the realities of being a mixed or biracial French citizen. “What the French word métis—which translates to “half-breed” or “mixed-race”—hides is how central the notion of race actually is in a society that claims to repudiate it, says the publisher’s description of the book. “The French film and theater world, in which Tadessé has made her career, appears unable to confront the individuality of the performers. They are required to correspond to categories—often based on race—that don’t allow for biracial identities. This classification not only contradicts France’s asserted ideals but also views as anomalies those who defy ethno-racial assumptions,” the description reads. Read the excerpt below.

April 1978. A young girl stands, ramrod straight in front of unfamiliar faces. They observe her in silence. ‘Let me introduce your new classmate.’ The principal’s voice reaches her from a distance behind her heart banging in her head. Whispers, some stifled laughter. It’s her coat, they must be laughing at the ugliness of this chequered thing that compresses her. She feels ridiculous, old-fashioned, held in. If only she could take it off, go sit with the others. Not be exposed to their mocking gaze. She’s scared, sweats from shyness, feels trapped in this room with its piss-yellow walls. There are bars on the windows, how horrid those bars, is this a prison or what, and the teacher, she’s dry and insipid, everyone looks drab, even the students, they all have the same greyish face, just like the windows looking out onto a grey that’s not even grey, a lack of colour everywhere, from floor to ceiling to the entrance gate, the street, all colorless. ‘She’s from Ethiopia,’ it feels weird to her to hear this word coming from the outside, when she always heard it inside her, in Amharic, and now it sounds like a foreign country, an abstract, distant entity, a lesson in geography, size-population-climate, an all-consuming over-there that defines it as away-from-here, but here, who is it? What does she know of countries, she doesn’t come from Ethiopia, she had to leave it, she comes from a family, a house, a city, a past torn to shreds. France, she doesn’t know either, Paris, yes, her grandmother and her aunt, yes, the imitation lace oilcloth on the table, macaroni with grated gruyere cheese, the Disney films she’d go to see on Christmas with her mother, the bouts of bronchitis because she was sure to catch a cold after a museum visit, the yellow of Van Gogh. Here, it was holiday time, a short stay, passing through, and now . . . Now it’s over. She can go sit down. Darkness.

Her   first   class   at   lycée   Jules-Ferry, Paris, eighteenth arrondissement, Place de Clichy Métro station. It’s snowing. Bell rings. The other students leap up, laugh, call out to one another, she stays seated. A boy pops up in front of her, a globe in his arms, thumps it down on her desk, puts Africa right under her nose and orders: ‘Show me! Where’s Ethiopia?’ Short, brown hair, the surly look of the very shy, but eyes sparkling with curiosity. She complies. He stares at the point with such concentration that she feels like he’s actually travelling across the country. Satisfied, he picks up the globe and disappears as suddenly as he’d appeared. Darkness.

The silent melancholy of a young girl in the spring light and the beginning of a friendship on the steps of the school. Fog.

Paris starts at the cinema. A beaming moon winks at me, a cloud turns into a razor blade and slices an eyeball, a Pierrot frantically calls his beloved as she’s swallowed up by the carnival crowd. I’m   submerged   in   a   stream   of   marvelous, terrifying, uncanny images. An unsuspected world opens up to me, calls me, sweeps me away. I want to be among them, to stay with these bold, fanciful characters, who play with their lives as if they were tossing balls in a juggling act. Light. The old man with a bald round head sitting next to me smiles at me. ‘It’s Marcel Carné,’ whispers my mother who came with me for this tribute to Méliès. My first evening outsince we came to Paris a few months ago. I owe it to a thoughtful lneighbour of my aunt, the grandson of Méliès. Champagne, petits fours and shows of respect. At thirteen, I may be young, but I know the misery hidden behind the decorative lights. This may even be the first characteristic of my métissage. This ability to see under the surface of people from here or there, being as I am part of here and there. Of both continents, social classes, worlds, time frames at once, I have a twofold gaze. Who knows, on that evening, for instance, and who cares, how the great Méliès’s grandson lives? People greet him, congratulate him for his precious contribution to the evening, he looks proud, happy, and yet . . . . What I see is the sadness in his eyes, the insecurity of an operetta singer from another time, another age, that no one listens to anymore, which is what leads him to have to walk through my aunt’s apartment every evening, when he’s not on the road, to get to his ‘maid’s room’, reiterating how sorry he is for the inconvenience. In the thick fog of those first months through which I move like a robot, it is to this gentle, shy, old man, with his beige overcoat and plaid scarf, that I owe my first dream of cinema and my first glimmer of hope. Ever since I’m here, living at my aunt’s, 58 rue Caulaincourt, not on holiday, not passing through on my way to Addis Ababa, but waiting to find a place to live, because there will be no going back, everything has become alien and distant to me. I’m somewhere else. An elsewhere of experience rather than of geography. The split caused by a revolution that shook up the course of my life and my outlook on the world around me.

From the book “Blind Spot” by Myriam Tadessé.Copyright © 08/25/2021. Published by Seagull. All rights reserved.

By: Zelalem Demissie

Addis Ababa, May 15, 2013 (Walta) – For a very long time in memory, Egypt has been the principal hegemon state in the Nile Basin, exploiting the Nile’s water as it will.

Egyptians often refer to an unfounded identity based on a 4th-century legend that claimed Egypt to be the gift of the Nile. Besides, Egypt has for centuries aggressively pursued a policy of controlling the Nile while doing everything in its power to prohibit upstream countries from utilizing the Nile’s waters.

It even tried military means to control the river in its entirety. Notably, in the 19th century, Egypt went to the extent of attempting to annex the sources of the Blue Nile and incorporating Ethiopia under its rule. To the dismay of the Egyptians, all the military maneuvers ended in humiliating defeats at the hands of the Ethiopians.

Egypt’s policy towards the Nile, however, remained unaltered. Apparently, successive ‘agreements’, especially colonial ones, provided Egypt with absolute rights to utilize the waters while prohibiting upstream countries from doing so. These agreements, in addition, enabled Egypt to effectively maintain what it calls a ‘historic right’.

This status quo remained unchallenged until Ethiopia, which contributes 86% of the Nile’s waters, announced that it had decided to construct Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), on the Blue Nile, writes Mahemud Tekuya, a law expert at McGeorge School of Law, USA.

The fact is, even before Ethiopia’s announcement of its decision to construct a dam on the Blue Nile (Abay), Egypt considered Ethiopia a threat that needed to remain in perpetual misery and discord. Expectedly, Egypt outright opposed the project, declaring that it would significantly affect their interests.

Ethiopia did not begin a significant Nile project until 2011, which seems to have encouraged Egypt’s denial.

Such is the case when more than 60 percent of Ethiopians still live without electricity, while Egyptians enjoy 100 percent access to electricity.

The Nile River influences how Egyptian foreign policy decision-makers think, given that 95% of their population lives outside the basin. Generally, Egyptian foreign policy is based on securing the majority of the Nile River using any available alternative, regardless of whether it was suggested by the British or any other party, say Segni and Zerihun, Ethiopian Nile experts.

Even so, “since the project began, the Ethiopian government has been transparent in declaring the technical aspects of the construction. Assurance was also given to the upper riparian states that the project, essentially a non-consumptive one, would cause no significant harm. In this regard, a tripartite committee has been deliberating on the project at various levels since 2012”, wrote Drs. Samuel Berhanu and Yohannes Eneyew for the Australian Institute of International Affairs.

This is unprecedented for Ethiopia to be at the same time the net contributor of the Nile waters and, to heed Egypt’s demands, a downstream country with zero contribution. It is an astounding paradox. In the majority of cases involving trans-boundary Rivers, writes Gashaw Ayferam for the Horn Africa Insight (2020), upstream countries are hydro-hegemons; they mostly disregard the needs of downstream countries and utilize any amount of water they deem necessary for their own cause.

This has been the case with Turkey controlling the Tigris and Euphrates; Syria or Iraq are not the hegemons.

It was China that built as many and as large hydropower stations on the Mekong River—not Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia, or just Vietnam.

By the same token, the U.S. does what it wants on the Colorado River, not Mexico.

Be that as it may, it does not discourage Egypt, a downstream country that enjoys hydrohegemony regardless of its zero contribution, from viewing the GERD as an existential security threat.

In fact, Egypt doubled down, along with feet-dragging and smokescreen negotiations, on the alternative strategies it employed for centuries to discourage Ethiopia from realizing the GERD project.

Hoping to continue with its complete control of the Nile waters, it carried on making threats to use force, engaged countless hours in activities that undermined the sovereignty of riparian states, especially Ethiopia, to prevent it from spending its resources on harnessing the Blue Nile, and more.

This entails one of Egypt’s long-held strategies: the securitization of the Nile waters. For Egypt, any planned project, such as that of the GERD, is an existential security threat. In other words, fueled by its ‘Natural Right’ political rhetoric and deep-seated sense of entitlement to solely monopolize the water resource, any project on the Nile for Egypt is perceived as a national-security threat.

Securitization is about how a securitizing actor frames a problem of normal politics to legitimize an extraordinary measure it contemplates taking against a socially constructed threat. And by framing the GERD as an existential water-security threat, Egypt aims to perpetuate a ‘no-dam-construction’ sanction against Ethiopia indefinitely, writes Gashaw.

Nonetheless, many argue that the securitization of the Nile River by Egypt is more of a political process than one of survival. For instance, discussed in Segni and Zerihun’s piece was the fact that agriculture, which takes 86% of the available water, accounts for only 14% of Egypt’s GDP, and Egypt imports 50% of its food consumption annually.

That is why, at each stage of the negotiations so far, Egyptian negotiators have emphasized that Egypt’s water security constitutes a “red line that cannot be crossed.” To this end, in addition to blatant verbal threats against Ethiopia, Egypt has gone so far as to pursue what it called a “charm offensive” throughout Nile riparian countries.

A case in point is that, following the overthrow of Sudan’s longtime ruler, Omar Al-Bashir, in 2019, Egypt exploited the troubled transitional government in Sudan and had it turn against the interests of Ethiopia and, worse, the interests of the Sudanese people.

Following, particularly the start of GERD filling in 2020, Egypt has been speaking with two mouths: one using its own and two using that of Sudan. The two countries even had a ‘synchronized’ rejection of what they labeled ‘Ethiopia’s unilateral filling of the GERD’.

In an apparent move to pressurize Ethiopia and at a time when Ethiopia was dealing with its internal security issues, Egypt and Sudan jointly conducted massive military exercises round after round. These exercises and drills even had lexicons: “Nile Eagles-1” and “Nile Eagles-2,” as well as the “Guardians of the Nile” joint military drills.

In the meantime, the Egyptian grand plan of executing its plans through Sudan has, it seems, already faced setbacks as Sudan is currently at war with itself.

On top of its maneuvers in Sudan, Egypt went on to sign military, intelligence, and economic cooperation agreements with countries such as Burundi, Kenya, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda, all Nile riparian countries. This is a natural course of action between independent and sovereign nations, and the signings are not illegal. But intentions matter in establishing cooperation of this nature. It definitely matters to Ethiopia. The issue of the GERD and the Nile has now become, therefore, as much a security matter for Ethiopia as it is for Egypt.

Of course, there was time when Egyptian diplomatic establishment thought they had won a big prize upon signing a defense cooperation pact with Kenya. Surely, they must have thought they could exploit the almost nonexistent water dispute between Ethiopia and Kenya.

The epitome of Egyptian greed, especially after the start of GERD filling, was its futuristic, sinister plan to lobby Djibouti into chocking Ethiopia, a landlocked country that relies almost entirely on Djibouti for its imports and exports. In the first visit by an Egyptian sitting president since 1977, El-Sisi traveled to Djibouti to ‘discuss the GERD dispute’, according to Egyptian media outlets. Ironic!

Egypt’s securitization of the Nile waters illustrates its negotiation strategy of win-lose, not win-win. Egypt will never be ready to give even a ‘drop of water’. We would like to remind readers that Egypt is the source of zero percent of the Nile’s waters.

Addis Ababa, May 17, 2023 (Walta) – The four-times winners of the African best Airline award, Ethiopian Airlines, launched a direct flight to Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta City last night, making its US destination six.

Speaking at the inaugural ceremony at Skylight Hotel, Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO, Mesfin Tasew, indicated “We will be using the ultra-modern Boeing 787 aircraft in this route providing all the comfort the current technology offers to the passengers.”

The CEO in his inaugural speech said that the airline flies to Atlanta four times a week with the goal of making it daily eventually. The flight will increase the number of flights per week in the US to 28.

American Embassy charge de’ affair in Addis Ababa, Ambassador Tracy Ann Jacobson, on the occasion, said that this new flight to Atlanta emphasizes the history of the relationship between Ethiopian and American aviation.

She pointed out that the new flight to Atlanta which connects the two aviation hubs, could bring people together, and develop people-to-people relations throughout North amerce and Africa.

On the significance of the commencement of the direct flight to Atlanta, Addis Ababa City administration Mayor, Adanech Abebie, said, “The direct passenger flight channels enhanced flow of people, businesses, tourism, technologies and ideas among others.”

Mayor of Atlanta, Andre Dickson on his part said that since Ethiopian Airlines flies to 38 destinations across Africa, this new flight brings together Georgia and the African continent.

He said, “Another mutual benefit comes from the connections among the people, among the businesses, among the cultures of both these countries.”

The airline started flying to Karachi, in Pakistan a week ago, it will start a new flight to Copenhagen, Norway on May 22. It will also commence a direct flight from Abidjan to New York by the end of May.

By Tewodros Sahile

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Ethiopia’s proposed national transitional justice mechanism cannot succeed in bringing about justice to victims, but any international process faces massive barriers.

Since Abiy Ahmed’s rise to power in 2018, Ethiopia’s human rights situation has deteriorated from bad to worse, and virtually nothing has been done to hold the perpetrators accountable.

As a way forward after the Pretoria Agreement was signed by the federal government and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) last November, Ethiopian domestic law – which is the basis for the transitional justice mechanisms vaguely outlined in the Pretoria Agreement – is unsuited to achieving accountability.

The reasons why a national transitional justice and accountability plan should be rejected include: (1) the government’s intent to hide crimes could result in selective accountability; (2) the impracticality of prosecuting Eritrean forces using Ethiopian criminal laws; (3) questions over the impartiality of national courts; (4) the potential of a state-owned justice system shielding government authorities from accountability, and; (5) gaps in the criminal law of Ethiopia.

The difficult truth is that, although internationally-led transitional justice and accountability would risk undermining the peace process in the immediate term, such mechanisms are the only way to address the legacy of impunity and deter future atrocities.

Widespread Abuses

Ethiopia’s catastrophe is driven by extreme polarization, years of conflict, government security forces’ abuses, and attacks by insurgents across the country.

Serious and widespread human rights violations in recent years have arguably constituted war crimes, crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, and even genocide.

The scale of the devastation is vast.

The sites of horrific massacres and mass graves dot the country. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people have been killed, disabled, raped, displaced, and lost their property and loved ones. Some minorities, such as the Qimant, have faced threats to their survival as a group.

Federal authorities are directly or indirectly responsible for many of these crimes, while others have been committed by armed groups operating in Tigray, Oromia, Amhara, and elsewhere.

Divisive, and inflammatory hate speech by government officials, including Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, helped drive various ethnic-based conflicts. Some of this hate speech, particularly targeting Tigrayans, is reminiscent of the language used during the Rwandan genocide, with political leaders comparing the TPLF to “viruses” and a “cancer” that needed to be eradicated during a period when virtually all Tigrayans were suspected of being part of or supporting the TPLF-led armed resistance.

The federal government has also spent vast amounts of taxpayers’ funds fighting its own people rather than developing the country and its economy. It even invited foreign Eritrean forces to fight its citizens and stood by as they committed unspeakable brutalities against Tigrayans.

After two years of deadly war in Tigray, a fragile peace deal was signed by the warring parties in Pretoria last November. While the Pretoria Agreement was critical in silencing the guns in the north, it cannot change the tragic reality of the crimes already committed.

Moreover, armed conflicts of varying magnitude persist in various locations, including in Amhara and Oromia regions.

Many of the federal forces fighting in Tigray were redeployed to Oromia – where a more low-level but nonetheless brutal war has been raging since 2019 – after the conclusion of the Tigray conflict. Violence has generally abated somewhat in recent months, and peace talks were initiated between the rebel Oromo Liberation Army and the federal government.

Instability in Amhara is spiraling and threatens to produce another sustained insurgency. The wartime partnership between Amhara nationalists and the federal government against Tigray has crumbled, destabilizing the region as the two former allies turn on each other.

Silencing Dissent

Amid this turbulence, federal authorities have shown no willingness to punish those responsible for abuses and have instead sought to undermine any form of investigation and bury the truth.

The common practice of governments past and present in Ethiopia has included the torture and detainment of opposition party members, journalists, activists, critics, and writers. Many are held without charges and are arbitrarily detained without court hearings for long periods.

The last few years in particular have been marked by the government’s use of violence to silence dissent, notably in Tigray, Oromia, and Amhara. Arbitrary arrests and detention justified through anti-terrorism legislation have been used to crush anti-government protests.

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The federal government has repeatedly silenced dissent through violence and hiding documentation of its crimes, repeatedly shutting down telecommunications, switching off the internet, and expelling, arresting, and deporting foreign journalists.

For example, journalists from the New York Times and The Economist were expelled, a reporter from Associated Press was arrested, and the International Crisis Group’s senior analyst was deported. Meanwhile, there are few avenues for private media in Ethiopia and all state-owned media funded by taxpayer dollars serve as government mouthpieces.

In addition, human rights organizations were prevented from accessing Tigray and federal authorities tried to shut down the AU Commission of Inquiry and UN panel of experts. The only investigation that was allowed involved the UN working in tandem with Ethiopia’s state-funded Human Rights Commission on Tigray, and still many crime scenes were not visited across the region.

Justice Denied

There are several bottlenecks to achieving justice in Ethiopia. For instance, Eritrean involvement in the Tigray conflict was particularly brutal, but it’s impractical to try and bring Eritrean leaders and forces to justice using Ethiopian criminal law.

The impartiality of Ethiopian courts is also doubtful, as they repeatedly intervene in cases to support the authorities. Under pressure from political figures, courts have withdrawn cases and freed those who suspected of serious crimes.

It seems an unrealistic dream to fully realize justice and accountability for atrocity crimes in Ethiopia when the rule of law is undermined and authorities act above the law.

The Ethiopian government is clearly trying to devise a state-owned transitional justice mechanism to shield itself from external accountability for atrocity crimes. This modality opens the door for selective accountability to exempt high-ranking authorities.

It would be a mistake to think government officials will effectively prosecute themselves and those who acted on their behalf.

What’s more, this poorly defined state-owned transitional justice plan focuses only on atrocity crimes committed in the northern part of Ethiopia while neglecting mounting crimes across the country, particularly in Oromia.

Legal Gaps

Gaps in Ethiopia’s Criminal Code present another serious obstacle. While it criminalizes genocide and war crimes, specific mention of crimes against humanity is absent.

The code’s Articles 270–280 criminalize crimes committed in the context of armed conflicts, such as murder and sexual assault. But it doesn’t recognize crimes that did not occur during armed conflict that still amount to crimes against humanity.

Likewise, forced displacement of people is not recognized even as a standalone crime under Ethiopian criminal law.

This raises serious questions about how the perpetrators of these crimes can be prosecuted as there appears to be no possibility of trying such crimes as crimes against humanity. It’s possible the courts plan to prosecute these acts as ordinary, separate crimes that do not reflect the scale of the atrocities and fail to send an effective deterrent message.

Reinforcement Needed

The U.S. Secretary of State recently argued that “those in positions of command must be held accountable” for atrocity crimes. Yet meanwhile it has begun to normalize bilateral relations and embrace officials for making peace, including Prime Minister Abiy.

To avoid further crises in Ethiopia, the government should allow an external process of justice to proceed, including accountability for the crimes it committed.

Disappointingly, the UN Human Rights Council and European Union (EU) acknowledged the state-owned plan for transitional justice and accountability as the way forward. As such, the international community failed to prevent the numerous crimes committed across the country and is now seemingly abandoning the pursuit of effective justice procedures.

This raises the question of why the international community is so reluctant to launch an external process to achieve justice and accountability in Ethiopia.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) route would be complex as Ethiopia and Eritrea are not party to the Rome Statute. However, the ICC issued an arrest warrant for President Vladimir Putin for serious crimes perpetrated in Ukraine even though Russia is not a state party to the Rome Statute. The ICC should therefore apply the same procedure to Ethiopia and Eritrea.

Way Forward

Given the many national and international obstacles, achieving justice for atrocity crimes committed in Ethiopia looks impossible. However, unless an effective deterrent is sent to actors committing atrocity crimes, regimes across the world may be further emboldened.

Probing atrocity crimes alone is not a success unless there is justice and accountability. The lack of punishment for past violations haunts the present in Ethiopia and they will continue unless deterred.

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This is the author’s viewpoint. However, Ethiopia Insight will correct clear factual errors.

Published under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International licence. You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

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Bridging the gap between OLA disarmament and a transitional government has become harder after hostilities flared again.

Despite recent talks between the Ethiopian government and the Oromo Liberation Army (OLA), escalating violence in Oromia has cast doubt on the prospects for peace.

Less than two weeks after the government and OLA completed their first round of discussions in Zanzibar, residents in Oromia accused government forces of burning houses belonging to individuals suspected of sheltering OLA fighters. Days later, the OLA accused the government of launching an “all-out offensive”.

According to OLA, they inflicted significant losses after government forces attacked them in various locales where they held sway, including East Shewa, West Shewa, West Arsi, West Hararghe, Horo Guduru, and in southern Oromia.

Reports of large-scale government offensives and the OLA advancing into towns and freeing political prisoners demonstrate that peace talks have thus far failed to halt hostilities.

This has raised concerns among some in Oromia that the government is not sincere in its stated intention to continue talks. The resumption of intense fighting suggests an end to the conflict may not be imminent.

“The government is losing on many fronts and I don’t think the second round of talks will take place in the near future,” a gloomy Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) official in Oromia told Ethiopia Insight on 18 May.

Rebel Call

The Zanzibar talks began on 24 April and concluded on 3 May without a truce or a schedule for subsequent meetings. Some residents, Oromo activists, and politicians are advocating for the recommencement of the negotiations.

But their call was followed on 17 May by OLA accusing the government of new attacks to increase its leverage in the talks. According to the OLA, government tactics included killing civilians, burning homes, and forcing farmers to supply food for their troops and drafting them into local militias.

“This move starkly contradicts the understanding that de-escalation should be prioritized during negotiation processes,” OLA said.

OLA called for the international community to condemn the regime’s attempts to control negotiations through force. It said the Oromo movement could not be coerced into accepting a subpar political settlement and that a deal needed to respect “the aspirations and sacrifices” made by Oromos.

However, Taye Dendea, a State Minister of Peace, said in an interview that he’s not aware of the reported recent fighting. He added that he held a meeting in his parliamentary constituency in North Shoa Zone where attendees said they wanted to see peace.

Trust Issues

It now appears unlikely a second round of talks will occur soon with the allegations of government offensives fostering more mistrust, exacerbated by the official silence on the matter.

“The trust level is too low as well. The 2018 Asmara ‘agreement’ left a bad memory,” said an Oromo analyst in Addis Ababa, referring to the peace deal that saw the OLF re-enter the fold of Ethiopian politics.

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The recent disclosure of a report by the Ethiopian Policy Studies Institute (PSI) proposing constitutional amendments that may erode self-determination rights has heightened tensions as it raises concerns for OLA leaders that the negotiations may merely serve to divert from the government’s hidden agenda.The PSI was formed in 2018 by merging two existing government think tanks.

Oromos have experienced historical oppression and discrimination, causing widespread opposition to the central government. OLF, the flagbearer of Oromo nationalism, has been fighting for Oromo self-determination since 1973.

Incompatible Demands

Though both sides said the first round of negotiations were positive, the government wasn’t willing to accede to OLA’s demand for a transitional administration in Oromia. OLA leaders say forming a transitional government is necessary to ensure fair elections and Oromo self-determination.

Given the fragility of his coalition, Abiy may consider a transitional government risky, as Oromia is a key constituency and power-sharing would weaken the regional hold of his Prosperity Party there.

Conversely, OLA will not be keen to accept the continued presence of the 170 Prosperity Party members from Oromia in the federal parliament as this would leave the ruling party in control of its fate.

In that scenario, even if the OLA ran Oromia, the federal government could still exert control by, for example, by stifling the region’s funding, declaring a state of emergency, or continuing to deploy national troops to the region.

Security Dilemma 

Another key sticking point, OLA leaders reject government calls for its disarmament before a political agreement is reached.

The Oromo analyst Ethiopia Insight interviewed worries that the parties are too far apart. “The government is so adamant on sticking  to its position, and OLA is not ready for immediate disarmament,” he said.

OLA split from the OLF in 2019 when commanders opposed disarmament plans and other aspects of how the formerly exiled OLF’s return to Ethiopia was handled after signing a peace deal in Asmara with Prime Minister Abiy in 2018.

Since then, OLA has been waging an insurgency, often employing hit-and-run tactics, while government forces have waged a brutal counterinsurgency.

Officials accuse OLA of committing a slew of atrocities against mainly Amhara residents of Oromia, a charge OLA leaders deny. The Washington Post reported on 21 May that some attacks on Amharas have been carried out by a rival militia led by Fekade Abdissa.

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Transitional justice is a process that a country or people go through to move from a repressive regime to a better one, move from conflict and crisis to lasting peace, or secure the country’s future through the establishment of lasting peace and reconciliation after human rights violations. As a process, it is a form of justice that takes time and requires care.

There are many ways to achieve transitional justice, such as by prosecuting the perpetrators, granting amnesty when necessary, making the facts plain and detailed, etc. One or more of them can be implemented as the circumstance demands. Hence, one of the things that exists and is expected during transitional justice is the victims’ right to reparation.

Due to the war in northern Ethiopia, substantial human and material damage has been caused in the regions that were direct victims. Public service facilities, infrastructure, and individuals’ properties were looted and destroyed. Even animals have been intentionally killed, possibly the first time in the history of the world that animals have been intentionally killed in a conflict. Additionally; women were raped, families were separated, and many crimes were committed that are obscene to see and hear, showing a disconnect in the social fabric between people in the regions where the conflict took place. In addition, millions of citizens have been displaced from their homes and are forced to survive on aid by begging for help.

Many hoped that the Pretoria agreement between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF, which was on a terrorist list, would bring about sustainable peace. In the meantime, the following questions remain: Will the TPLF and its leaders not be legally responsible for the material and human destruction they caused during the war? Shouldn’t they pay reparations to the victims? Shouldn’t the government rehabilitate citizens injured in war? What plan does the government have to compensate victims of war? Can there be lasting peace without helping injured citizens recover and get back to their lives?

According to international standards of transitional justice and the experiences of other countries, one of the conditions that must be met for the successful transitional justice process is enforcing the right to reparation of citizens affected by conflict. For example, the 2005 United Nations document states that citizens affected by conflict have the right to fair reparation, and Articles 64-66 of the African Union Transitional Justice Policy state that citizens who are victims of conflict are entitled to reparation.

At the beginning of the war in northern Ethiopia, the Northern Command of the Ethiopian Defense Forces was attacked. At that time, completely inhuman acts were committed against the army. Soldiers were slaughtered, and female soldiers were subjected to heinous acts like getting their breasts chopped off. Their families were killed, children were left without guardians, wives without husbands. Agreement made between the government and the TPLF without justice and reparation for the atrocities committed against members of the Defense Forces is ineffective.

After the war began, people were profiled and massacred based on their ethnic identity in Mykadra (where genocide is thought to have been committed), Chiena, Galikoma, and other places. It would be challenging to bring about lasting peace without holding the parties responsible for all the allegedly committed offenses, providing proper reparation for victims, and allowing them to return to their normal lives.

Although non-governmental bodies, individuals, groups, etc. may also participate in the process, the duty to make reparations to citizens is primarily the responsibility and obligation of the government. The government may not be able to compensate for all the damage done to the citizens, especially when there is great destruction, but the government has to show the public that it’s indeed working to make things right.

Although many things should be fulfilled in reparation, the following must be fulfilled. These reparations may include prosecution of offenders, cessation/assurance of non-repetition, restitution and repatriation, satisfaction, and rehabilitation.

First, an independent investigation should be conducted to determine the nature and extent of the damage. The findings of the inquiry should be presented and recognized as they are. If the findings reveal that the government’s failure is the reason for some damages and criminal acts, the government should acknowledge its fault and issue a public apology, for it is a psychological form of reparation. The government should also hold those responsible (officials) legally liable, as it is one form of compensation for the victims.

Citizens whose properties were destroyed should have them replaced or rebuilt. Simmilarly, others whose properties were stolen should have them returned, replaced or compensated. Those who were raped and abused must get justice, free medical services, and psycho-social support; while destroyed and damaged infrastructure should be rebuilt and repaired.

Public utilities such as water, electricity, and gas as well as health facilities and factories should be restored.

Religious institutions such as churches and mosques have been looted by TPLF soldiers and turned into arms caches, and damaged by attacks by heavy weapon. Priests were killed, monks were raped, and other obscene crimes against religious institutions were committed. Therefore, in the interest of reconciliation and lasting peace, religious institutions and followers should be publicly apologized to and appropriately compensated.

TPLF soldiers raided the Amhara and Afar regions, looting and destroying health facilities, schools, and others. Museums were also robbed. The government has the responsibility to take measures to locate all the stolen properties and return them to the two regions as a form of restitution.

Citizens displaced from their villages must be supported to return to their homes. Moreover, the government should not only make reparations to the victims but also guarantee that the crimes and abuses committed against them will not be repeated. Because transitional justice is the promise of “never again.”

Citizens who have suffered injuries should be provided with free or affordable medical services. Others who have suffered injuries due to the conflict, such as rape, loss of families, and related reasons, should be given free psycho-social support.

Citizens whose education was interrupted due to the conflict should be allowed to return to school for free.

Citizens affected by the conflict should be provided with job opportunities to cover the cost of their daily allowance to enable them to start earning a living.

Citizens who have suffered serious and permanent physical injuries should be admitted to a physical rehabilitation centre.

In addition to the regular annual budget, subsidies should also be provided to help the regions that have suffered heavily because of the war.

In the process of reparation, the government should support people in the different regions equally. Therefore, supporting one region and people preferentially will understandably create complaints and resentment instead of bringing lasting peace, which might  lead the country into another round of conflict, so the government should be cautious.

As international laws and practices show, when it comes to making reparation to citizens who have been injured in a conflict, parties involved in the conflict and who caused the damage can/should be made to participate in the process of compensating the injured parties. Hence, as the government works towards ensuring reconciliation and lasting peace, they must take into consideration that the TPLF also has to make reparation to the injured regions and citizens and participate in the rehabilitation process.

Despite what has been said, bringing the officials who are responsible for all the crimes and atrocities committed by the TPLF forces to justice is one of the most important ways to make reparation for the people and injured citizens. Because transitional justice cannot only be achieved only by providing material reparation to the victims but also by providing justice. Therefore, when it comes to transitional justice, the government must consider bringing TPLF officials to justice who are suspected of committing crimes under Ethiopian and international criminal laws.

If Ethiopia wants to go through a successful transitional justice process, the reconciliation of TPLF and the ruling Prosperity Party is not enough. The reconciliation of the two groups and the absence of gunfire in Amhara, Afar, and Tigray regions alone may not bring lasting peace. Instead, citizens across the nation should also be protected. Those who killed people in cold blood, destroyed property, and displaced people in Benishangul region should be brought to justice and the citizens who were harmed by them should be supported and returned to their homes.

The government should immediately stop the  displacement and death of citizens in the Oromia by the rebel group called OLA (Shene) and other organized individuals and group. Every year in North Shoa, a concerted attack is carried out on the people, and cities are destroyed like in the case of Ataye town and the surrounding area. Moreover, kidnapping of people in various places in East Shewa, killing them after receiving the ransom, eviction, ethnic cleansing, and other horrendous crimes are still taking place. In addition, interference by government bodies and other groups in religious institutions should be stopped completely to avert further damage that needs reparation.

The government of Ethiopia also has to make sure that leaders of the TPLF, who declared that they would not hesitate to go down to hell to dismember Ethiopia, be brought to justice. Hence, if it fails to do so under the pretext of bringing lasting peace and disregarding rule of law, lasting and sustainable peace cannot be achieved. In this respect, officials of Ethiopia, before letting allegedly suspected culprits escape, should consider fulfilling legal and other conditions like consultation with the people and the victims, as required by the AU transitional justice policy and other international laws.

Although in the current legal framework of Ethiopia there is no law governing the conditions for citizens who have been injured in a conflict to get appropriate reparation, in view of international law and practices, the government should help victims to the extent that the country’s capacity allows and coordinate with other bodies, to return them to their normal lives.

To go through a successful transitional justice process, the justice and reparation for the crimes committed by the TPLF leaders, its army and OLA (Shene), should be applied in the same way to the crimes committed and damages caused to the citizens in the Tigray region by the Ethiopian Defense Forces and other armed individuals and groups.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

The Debate on Self-Sufficiency Before Export

Ethiopia has had one administration after another campaigning for food self-sufficiency. No single administration in the past several decades has been able to achieve it. When Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D.) first announced his administration’s plan to export wheat, citizens briefly indulged in the idea that the country had achieved self-sufficiency and was able to put food on the table. To the contrary, the news of wheat exports has been overshadowed by the millions of citizens who are in dire need of food assistance. In this article, EBR’s Bamlak Fekadu explores the paradox of a nation that sells wheat to aid agencies that donate it back to its own citizens.

Ethiopia launched its first wheat export program in mid-February with the first round of production from the Bale Zone in the Regional State of Oromia.  Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (Ph.D.), Shimelis Abdisa, President of the Regional State of Oromia, and Ahmed Shide, Ethiopian Minister of Finance, were proudly present at the announcement, among other officials.

The announcement of the first batch of exports came four months after the plan to export wheat was made public in Tuli Guled District in the Regional State of Somali. It’s vital to note that it’s been three years since Dr. Abiy’s administration started a campaign for the mass production of wheat, adding a third cropping season by utilizing small and large-scale irrigation schemes as well as a cluster farming approach to effectively utilize agricultural machinery and equipment beginning with land preparation and ending with harvest.

The crawling effort of Ethiopia has borne exportable fruit by increasing its wheat cultivation area from 50,000 hectares in 2018 to 167,000 hectares in 2021 to as much as 405,000 hectares in 2022, helping the nation halt wheat imports. The government is now expected to step up its export bid and has already secured contracts with six countries, including neighboring Sudan and Kenya, keen to buy Ethiopian wheat.

Following the first shipment of 1.2 million quintals of wheat to the international market, the PM officially launched the start of Ethiopia’s wheat export with these remarks: “We have fulfilled what we promised our people, and today we have made Ethiopia’s wheat export dream a reality.” Abiy Ahmed’s administration aims to develop 5.2 million tons of wheat from the arable 1.3 million hectares to reach the neighboring countries. In recent months, international organizations have warned that around 350 million Africans face food insecurity, with 20 million children threatened by hunger and thirst in the drought-hit Horn of Africa region.

A month after the PM disclosed to Sputnik News that Ethiopia was preparing to supply USD 200 million worth of wheat to non-governmental organizations, including the UN World Food Programme (WFP), and announcing that the country had already signed a contract to export 300,000 tons of wheat to six countries, including Kenya and Sudan, the Minister of Communication Services, Legesse Tulu (Ph.D.), announced that the WFP and the World Bank are buying wheat from Ethiopia in foreign currency to feed citizens who are suffering from food shortages within Ethiopia.

In his briefing, Dr. Legesse stated that WFP bought 35,000 metric tons of wheat, while the World Bank bought 127,000 metric tons domestically from Cooperative Unions in foreign currency to support drought affected parts in east African countries.

Contrary to the government’s wheat export hype and hoopla, international humanitarian organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC) are warning of a severe crisis in Ethiopia. Drought and violence have left 28 million people in need, with over 1.7 million Ethiopians facing starvation in the Borena Zone, and over 3 million cattle reportedly dying as a result of the drought.

Similarly, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) published a drought situation update on March 10 that shows that 6.85 million livestock have died since late 2021, over 4 million people are currently living in drought-affected areas, and 11 million of them are estimated to be food insecure. OCHA also stressed that 13 million people require immediate life-saving relief and are seeking USD 2.05 billion in funding.

By July 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture projects that wheat production will reach a record high of 160 million quintals, which is predicted to provide the country with much-needed relief by saving between USD 700 million and USD 1 billion a year from importing wheat.

The International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA), along with the African Development Bank’s Technologies for African Agricultural Transformation (TAAT) project, helped promote an irrigated wheat project initiative to produce irrigated wheat to enable Ethiopia to work toward becoming the region’s breadbasket.

The TAAT project, launched in 2018, is an important part of the Bank’s 2016–2025 Feed Africa Plan, which aims to lessen food insecurity in Africa. The TAAT initiative aims to boost agricultural output in the continent by offering improved, climate-smart, high-grain yielding, better grain quality, water use efficient, and heat-tolerant wheat varieties able to grow on arid Ethiopian lowlands. The bank lauded the giant strides recorded under TAAT’s 1st phase, and has galvanized the investment of more than USD 800 million in agricultural value chain projects in 21 African countries including Ethiopia and neighboring countries such as Sudan and Eritrea.

The initiative has revolutionized Ethiopia’s agricultural policies, which have been heavily dependent upon crop production during the short rainy season, known as the Belg rains, from February to May, followed by the long rainy season of winter, known as the Meher, which is between June and mid-September. TAAT offers new and better seeds that could make Ethiopia self-sufficient within five years. In the past two years alone, TAAT organizers have bulked up supplies of five improved types of wheat seed and set up 20,000 hectares of irrigated farmland used by about 28,000 smallholder farmers in the country’s lowlands.

The irrigation-based wheat planting campaign was regarded as part of the effort to achieve food self-sufficiency in the country often hit by climate change-induced drought by cultivating the crop throughout the year. Ethiopian farmers cultivated 2.3 million hectares of wheat in 2021–2022, yielding 25 million quintals of grain—a notable achievement for a country without a long history of irrigated wheat production. The campaign, which supports smallholders pooling resources to purchase inputs, has increased the cultivation area to 1.3 million hectares from 400,000 hectares in 2022. The current fiscal year’s campaign, unveiled last year in October, plans to produce more than 52 million quintals of wheat through irrigation to harvest 4 metric tons per hectare.

Ethiopia’s Ten-Year Development Plan (2021-2030) places a strong emphasis on sustainable and top-notch agricultural initiatives as its national strategy to foster economic growth and provide national food security. Its 13 ongoing irrigation projects, which cover a total command area of more than 400,000 hectares, are funded mostly by irrigation investment. Irrigation investment, which is the main part of the plan, receives the majority of the total USD 582 million budget.

The summer wheat irrigation strategy that has been developed, introduced, and implemented in all parts of Ethiopia is a good start but its goal to reach self-sufficiency in wheat success has yet to be accomplished and remains questionable.

According to Fekadu Kassa, an irrigation engineer with three decades of experience, expanding irrigated and mechanized commercial wheat farming in the lowlands is necessary to meet the set targets for increasing production and achieving self-sufficiency, while also attempting to replace imports. The average smallholder’s land size is 0.5 hectares. With the cluster farming scheme and irrigation projects, they can significantly increase productivity by tripling their arable land to 1.5 hectares and harvesting across three farming seasons.

“Wheat is now grown in the lowlands of Ethiopia, a completely new area, due to heat-tolerant varieties and small and medium irrigation projects,” Fekadu says. Ethiopia’s irrigation practices date back to the time of King Lailibela, despite the expensive cost of building irrigation dams. Experts contend that, with the right direction, enhancing the traditional building irrigation methods may also be able to reduce costs and increase output.

The method would substitute commercial imports and foreign food aid with home production, saving millions of dollars and restoring national dignity. Yet, the implementation has violated investors’ rights in some lower locations, such as in the Regional State of Afar where officials have been witnessed pushing agricultural investors to harvest wheat against their will. Ethiopia’s wheat output has jumped by about 70 Pct this past decade but has failed to keep pace with rising demand.

“Ethiopia imports wheat and pasta for millions of dollars despite its rising wheat yield and output,” Fekadu notes. “Discussions on wheat exports may unnecessarily draw attention away from the most crucial goal of self-sufficiency.”

Agriculture is a key sector in Ethiopia, employing approximately 73Pct of the workforce and contributing 35Pct of the country’s GDP. It also contributes 70Pct of the export commodity. Wheat is an essential food security crop in Ethiopia. Currently, the country’s 6 million families produce only 5.52 million tons on 2 million hectares. Because of the expanding urban population and changes in food culture, such as increased consumption of bread, cookies, pasta, noodles, and porridge, there is a considerable imbalance between wheat production and supply. Ethiopia’s yearly wheat demand is estimated to be around 7 million tons.

On the last days of February, the government introduced a new directive that compels farmers in wheat growing areas to supply their wheat production to cooperative unions at a lower price than they usually sell it for. The new directive requires farmers to surrender their wheat to cooperative unions for ETB 3,200 per quintal for those in the Regional State of Amhara and for ETB 3,500 per quintal for those in the Regional State of Oromia, leaving many farmers and millers distressed.

The selling price cap set by the federal government aimed at stabilizing inflationary pressure, however, it left farmers displeased, as they perceived it as inconsiderate and unfair. Consequently, some farmers seem to hide yields and have been forced to engage themselves in smuggling their own product to sell at a price they prefer. The directive, which was introduced to secure exportable wheat, warns of punishment for those who hide their own products.

The latest game of cat and mouse between farmers and the government has also impacted mill factories and the market for flour. Consequently, the market has set a new trend of wheat smuggling into the black market. Wheat has now become a contraband item that no one can purchase or sell. The government’s plan to export wheat is affecting flour milling factories and manufacturers of related products. Disgruntled flour and pasta manufacturers complained that they have faced a critical shortage of wheat supply since the Ethiopian government started exporting wheat.

Currently, there are more than 600 small and large flour mills in Ethiopia, with a total production capacity of between 3 and 4.2 million tons of wheat flour a year, according to the World Bank. It is estimated that a third of these mills are located in and around the country’s capital, Addis Ababa. Due to a lack of wheat, the Ethiopian Milling Association (EMA) believes that its affiliate members are only functioning at 20 Pct to 30 Pct of their installed capacities, compared to an average national milling capacity of 50Pct.

The lack of wheat supplies to their plants is causing concern among EMA members. The association, which has over 220 member factories, typically utilizes its funds to purchase wheat from various states of the nation, such as Bale, Awash, Arsi and Gojam, depending on the season and type of wheat needed. As a result, the capital Addis Ababa and the Regional State of Oromia’s flour, biscuit, and pasta manufacturers are severely short on wheat. Currently, factories are running out of inputs, and some are halting their operations, while others are striving to buy wheat on the black market. Apart from the price hike witnessed on bread, the problem has also put pressure on the price of a kilo of macaroni, which has risen from ETB 40 to ETB 90, and the price of pasta rose by ETB 20 within a month, reaching ETB 70.

Recently, mill factories and others affected by the latest development have organized a committee to appeal before the Federal Food, Beverage, and Pharmaceutical Industry Development Institute. They hope to lobby the government to prioritize the local market and demand.

Flour manufacturers were told that they would get the wheat through Unions. Then 12 entrepreneurs were selected and allowed to enter into business. However, flour manufacturers have not been able to get wheat,” says an operation manager at a mill in Adama, Oromia. Wheat growers in the Bale and Arsi zones, which are both known for their fertile land and high wheat production, had hoped to receive a premium price for their product. To their dismay, the Regional State of Oromia compelled the farmers to only sell their produce to unions and cooperatives at a lower price.

“It is unreasonable to require us to sell a quintal of wheat for ETB 3,200 when the cost of a quintal of fertilizer has risen to ETB 4,500,” a farmer in the Arsi Zone told EBR on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals from the authorities. “We were warned against selling our wheat to dealers and that any farmer who keeps more than ten quintals of wheat at home will be detained.”

When a quintal of fertilizer was sold for ETB 1,500, he and his partners were selling a quintal of wheat for ETB 4,000. A quintal of wheat in the producing localities has been sold at a price of four to five thousand birr. However, in Addis, the price has reached as high as ETB 7,000. The government has collected 1.3 million quintals of wheat for export from the State of Oromia. A grain trader in Asela, the capital town of the Arsi Zone in the State of Oromia, told EBR that they were warned against buying wheat from farmers.

“If we are observed transporting wheat from the Arsi and Bale zones, we will be arbitrarily detained and interrogated,” the trader stated.

Daniel Fikadu, an attorney of law specializing in business law, sees measures of the government as a paradox.  He argues that the directive is just anti-competition trade practice and goes against fair allocation and distribution.

“The government’s ambitious plans violate national and sub-regional laws and regulations, including the COMESA Competition Regulation and international consumer protection laws and recommendations,” Daniel told EBR.

The government needs to concentrate on proper control so that traders do not improperly store goods or sell contraband, according to Daniel. The best solution to the problem is to let farmers sell their products to other regions and cities of Ethiopia that they believe will benefit them unconditionally and without control.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

Eng. Belachew Chekene [PhD] Co-Founder, Wegenfund

Belachew Chekene (PhD) is a licensed chartered engineer with over 20 years of diversified academic and business expertise. He earned his BSc in Chemical Engineering at Addis Ababa University, followed by an MSc at Leeds University in the UK and a PhD from the University of Huddersfield, also in the UK.
Belachew has collaborated closely with cutting-edge industries while working in prestigious research facilities, and has published more than 45 articles in prestigious journals and conferences. He has held positions as a technical advisor for modeling, data validation, data management, and system development at UK’s major auto and power system companies. In Ethiopia, Belachew is the founder of Ethiopia International Professional Support for Abay (EIPSA), which is a volunteer professional association that has been working on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) since June 2013 with more than 270 professionals across the world.
Belachew and his business partner, Million Ajebe, from the UK, were behind Wegenfund – a platform Ethiopians are using to raise funds. In this interview with EBR’s Lidya Tesfaye, Belachew talks about how it started, and how the technology is shaping the long-standing culture of support among Ethiopians.6

Tell us how Wegenfund came about.

We once organized a campaign to raise funds for GERD. When we began encouraging people to donate to the dam, it didn’t take long for us and other colleagues to realize that there was no simple or convenient way to do so. That motivated me to act. In association with United Ethiopia for Peace and Reconciliation in the UK, we unveiled a temporary fundraising application, #itismydam, developed by  EagleLion System Technology. The software was successful in creating convenience for individuals to make donations for GERD.

Soon after we launched that, a question was brought up about the platform and how it should not be restricted to fundraising for the GERD, but should be built as a permanent system so that people can serve charitable organizations in Ethiopia.

We have seen the technology, how it works, and what we need, including the payment gateway system. Accordingly, the idea of developing Wegenfund emerged. We setup Wegen Technology Solutions in Addis Ababa and developed Wegenfund in six months’ time. It was very challenging, especially as we were abroad. However, we built a successful crowd funding platform for both local and international donations.

So, generally, Wegenfund is an Ethiopian-based donation platform that enables charitable organizations and religious institutions to campaign and raise funds globally. It is one of the products of Wegen Technology Solutions PLC. It was launched on December 30, 2021, and was founded and created by myself and co-founder and lead developer Million Ajebe. We are really delighted to have created a technological solution for crowd funding in our country.

Ethiopians are used to raising money to support one another. What impact did technology have?

The fact is, Ethiopians have always helped one another. The society is used to raising money and donating, even through informal organizations like “Edir” and “Mahiber”. Especially in the rural area where I grew up, I remember how society provided the required resources, like providing wood and sticks to rebuild a house or purchasing an ox for a farmer who faced unforeseen challenges. In the metropolitan region, for instance, in Merkato, if a businessperson experiences a disaster at work, if the business is damaged, torched, or robbed, the community will pitch in to help him or her rebuild. People contribute money to a coworker who is having problems at his job. This culture has existed within us all along. Charitable organizations are established that provide such a service throughout the rest of the world, where such ways of supporting one another have already existed in Ethiopia.

Fundraising is important because it assists individuals or nonprofit organizations that are experiencing difficulties in overcoming challenges and in rebuilding what has been lost.

Fundraising used to be limited to a specific area and to a select group of individuals who knew one another personally. But now that technology has advanced, I can donate to charities and raise money without having to travel to Addis Ababa. Thanks to technology, I can hear your issues from anywhere in the world and offer assistance. That has been the case for other fundraising events that we have seen. The technology enabled individuals to donate to charitable causes and raise money for people they have never met in person, from anywhere in the world.

How does digital literacy affect technology-based fundraising in Ethiopia?

Let me take you back to two years earlier. Back then, it was difficult to do what we are doing now. Four main problems existed. One is that there was no payment gateway system that could facilitate payments. That means a person who wants to buy a product online cannot make a payment because there is no online payment gateway system. The other problem was that the Ethiopian financial system had no integration with the international financial system, besides direct bank transfers.

The third issue was the accessibility of technological infrastructure, especially internet access. Internet access two years ago was very limited. Of course, now, with the service that Ethio Telecom and Safaricom are providing, the accessibility of the internet has been enhanced. But still, in comparison with the demand, we are far from full access.

The fourth problem was an accumulation of the above three. As a society, we are just learning how to use technology, so some may still find it difficult to make payments online. These problems were there two or three years ago, but now there is a huge difference and positive change. Payment systems like VISA and Mastercard have been introduced. Different online payment gateways like Chapa, Arfipay, Kacha have also been introduced locally.

But the problem that remains is that each bank is setting up its own payment gateway, and there is no central system that enables them to work together. That means if you have a card from Awash Bank, you cannot make a payment for a transaction processed through the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia. That is because banks are not yet integrated.

If you ask me what I wish would happen in the future, it would be for the banks to cooperate and work on common payment processes so that customers can get any service with any bank card. I am hoping the National Bank of Ethiopia will push the banks towards that. But for now, it remains a problem.

The success of technologies like Wegenfund is dependent on the development of financial technology and internet accessibility.

We have heard that there are more than 100 different fundraising causes registered on the Wegenfund platform. What were the criteria for cause selection, and which cause has earned the most funds so far?

We are not the ones who select the causes. Currently, the customers or users of Wegenfund are four kinds of groups: the first are charitable organizations. These are the ones that are registered with the Authority of Civil Society Organizations and have a license. They came to us and had their organization as well as their cause registered. The second is religious organizations, both Islamic and Christian. They [religious institutions] are not obliged to be registered as charitable organizations, as they are also legal entities. The third is an individual person. Anyone with a letter of approval from the medical board of directors to go abroad for medical purposes or who has been referred to local hospitals can register. The fourth is one that we launched last Thursday, March 9, 2023, which is crowdfunding for startup businesses, through which entrepreneurs bring their business ideas and raise funds.

When they come to fundraise on the Wegenfund platform, there is an online registration system, where they are requested to submit all the necessary documents. We will then review the documents, and, if the request is accepted, we will send the documents to the banks that we work with. It is after this process that they are given the final approval. Then they can create a fundraising campaign for the cause they chose, which can be promoted to people who will donate.

As I have said earlier, it is those groups that create the cause, not us. A charity can create more than one cause. That is why we have about 100 causes, but only 47 registered organizations as of March 13, 2023. There are many different types of causes. Funds have been raised for orphans in the war-torn areas of the country, for an elders’ association that looks into sustainable sources of income for the elderly like Mekedonia, and for people with medical issues.  Of all those, the highest amount of funds was raised for two causes: for Mekedonia by comedian Eshetu and for the Wag Hemra Archdiocese’s war affected area, both of which raised almost one million dollars.

Moreover, since last year, we have been working on integrating our system with a local payment gateway so that anyone in Ethiopia can be part of the fundraising using our system. Now people can make payments through the payment gateway Chapa, and through Telebirr, Awash Bank, Wegagen Bank, Amole, and CBE Birr.

Tell us about the recently launched crowdfunding program for startup businesses. What convinced you to start this?

Donating and giving to a charitable organization is giving to those who cannot help themselves and who are facing problems, it is more of a humanitarian act when you give to people in need of help. But besides that, a country develops when people become entrepreneurs and work hard. That is a gap that Wegenfund wants to address. As the saying goes, it is better to teach a man how to fish  than feed him/her a fish each day.

In general, there are four ways to crowdfund for startup businesses. One is donation. Through donations, you can donate to a business idea that you like or that you believe will bring about a change that many can benefit from, without expecting anything in return. The second is reward. Through this option, you will help the business that is on its way to being established and get something back, in kind. For instance, if a person wants to publish a book, he or she might come to us and register through his or her publisher. Then the author will introduce his or her book with some details and advertise the idea for fundraising to those who can “buy” an unpublished book. And when the book gets published, the author will give a signed copy to those who took part in the fundraising.

The third is credit. You do not have to go to banks when you need credit, myself or any other person can give you that peer-to-peer (P2P) loan. With the loan, you will do your business and repay with a certain amount of interest. The fourth and biggest is equity. We believe that this one can bring a radical change to our country’s business startups. Through this option, the startups or business owners will bring their idea and advertise it on the Wegenfund platform. After which different investors and stakeholders will buy shares. Then, they will receive dividends based on their investment once the business is launched and starts making profits.

Due to the credit and equity options requiring tax and other legal processes, it’s the first two (donations and rewards) that are currently available on the Wegenfund platform.

If you ask me what the significance is, many people have noble ideas, but they face different challenges while implementing those ideas due to financial limitations.  Banks request collateral. People with business ideas can come to Wegenfund, and Wegenfund will help them raise the funds they need.

People are familiar with GoFundMe and a few other crowdfunding platforms. What makes Wegenfund more convenient?

There are two reasons. First, platforms like “GoFundMe” and “JustGiving” are not available in Ethiopia that serves charities. When you open the GoFundMe website and try to fundraise for a cause, it will say the system is not available in your country. GoFundMe is only available in 19 countries across the world. To raise funds and to create a cause for Ethiopia, the person must be in America or in one of those European countries where the system is available. Otherwise, you cannot register because the system requires your address, bank details, and identity as a whole. So. there is no platform in Ethiopia that provides such a service. Therefore, there is no competition in the first place.

Some people create a cause and fundraise, engaging people living abroad, which can be a  hassle. They will manage to collect the donations, but when they try to send the money to Ethiopia for the purpose intended, it is not an easy process. The system works when the fund is being raised, but after that, especially if the money is a lot, it will ask too many questions. It will ask where the money is going to be spent, exactly which international organization put the fund to the intended objective, and more. For instance, two years back, more than USD 3.5 million was raised by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church followers living in America, for people in Shashemene. But after that, the question was how and where to send the money. The Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church development and Inter-Church Aid Commission, had to transfer the money to the commission, and the commission distributed it to the people in need in Shashemene. But if the commission had not written a letter to GoFundMe, it wouldn’t have released the funds.

Previously, the main platform used to raise funds for Mekedonia was GoFundMe. Since Mekedonia is a charitable organization already registered in America, it was easy for them to pass through those processes. However, for other charitable organizations, it’s difficult. Wegenfund is the first crowdfunding platform in Ethiopia. So now, you can be anywhere in Ethiopia and register your charitable organization, create a cause, and fundraise. The money will enter the Ethiopian financial system the moment it is donated, and you will immediately be able to get the money in your account. This makes Wegenfund convenient.

The other issue is that it takes 15 to 45 days for GoFundMe to disburse the money raised. It may sometimes take up to 90 days. But during that time, if information, data, or any document requested is not presented, GoFundMe will give the money to other charitable organizations with a similar objective. Numerous funds have been raised for Ethiopia for various causes; however, GoFundMe distributed them for other causes. But through Wegenfund, based on the emergency of the need, it might only take as long as two days.

On another note, whether it’s a small or large amount, it helps collect foreign currency. There is no assurance that money given through GoFundMe will arrive in hard currencies like the US dollar, British pound, or European Euro. But every penny that is raised through Wegenfund will directly get into the system of the National Bank of Ethiopia. Therefore, we can earn foreign currency without any waste.

We can mention technological empowerment. If you recall, during the war in the northern part of Ethiopia, social media accounts supposedly supporting the betterment of Ethiopia were shut down, while those opposing peace were supposedly promoted and given more authority. Fundraising activities during those days used to be biased. With Wegenfund, fundraising is independent and helps achieve self-sufficiency for Ethiopians.

GoFundMe charges about 2.9Pct for the service it provides. There is also a bank transfer fee when the funds are transferred to Ethiopia. On Wegenfund, there are transaction and administration charges, but they are low compared to GoFundMe. And there is no bank transfer fee at all.

We, as Wegenfund, do not see our financial gain, rather, the way I see it, we are bringing technological empowerment to our country. We did all the work from beginning to end. And by enhancing and developing what we have now, we can introduce more technological empowerment to Ethiopians.

What feedback have you received from charitable organizations, religious institutions, and individuals?

There are about 3,000 charitable organizations that are registered with the Ethiopian Authority of Civil Society Organizations. We have the data for all of them and have reached out to them to introduce Wegenfund. We have also given trainings about how funds are raised. A few of them registered after that, and some of them wanted to wait and see. Those who saw our system and our presentation were short on words to express their appreciation. Some of them did not believe that it was true; they registered to test it, and when they received money through Wegenfund, it built their confidence, and they are now fully using it.

Even with the introduction of Wegenfund and the technology, many have not registered, for many reasons. For now, in one year, about 49 charitable organizations and religious institutions have registered and are raising funds. We will continue advertising it and giving training.

We have more than 120 million people in Ethiopia, of which about 67 million have mobile phones. If at least 10Pct of them donate one birr a day, it means we can raise ETB 6.7 million for charity daily. Using this system, a businessman in Moyale or a pastoralist in Afar can easily donate to his brother and sister in Borena. They may not be able to send goats or teff, but using the system, they can donate to a cause. We are working to make Wegenfund the “GoFundMe” of Ethiopia. We believe and are hopeful that it will come true.

What challenges have you faced so far, and what are the hopes that you are looking forward to?

We can see this in two ways. As a technological product, we are in a very good position because the system is reliable. Our system has not failed once since the launch. The system has been assessed and certified by the Ethiopian Information Network Security Administration (INSA), and it is a verified platform. We have now integrated it with local financial institutions, and everything is going well in terms of the technological aspects.

On the other side, there are some challenges regarding integration with a third party and assessing the different required support for crowd funding for startup businesses. There are about 3,000 organizations, but only 48 of them are registered on Wegenfund. Reaching the rest and creating awareness has been a challenge. Of course, in the coming days, we hope to register most of them. The other challenge is the payment processers, which I described earlier.

Technologically, in one year, we have refined Wefenfund. Wegenfund will be used across Ethiopia, and we also plan to expand to other African countries. And in no time, we will launch a massive product that can bring about a huge change in the financial flow of the country. Last year was a productive year for our company. But that does not mean there were no challenges; be we are working through them.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

As Government Unplugs Support System Too Early

Globally, no other industry has been hit as hard by the COVID pandemic as the hospitality industry has. With severe restrictions on travel, hotels shutting down, and tourist attractions deserted, the world has experienced the first disaster of its kind in decades. In Ethiopia, the hospitality industry experienced a double blow from the pandemic and a series of security challenges nationwide. As if the series of security challenges were not enough, the country plunged into war in 2020, affecting famous tourist attractions such as Lalibela and Al Nejashi Mosque. Even though the government showed a gesture of goodwill to support the industry through tax related incentives, tourism remains too broken to revive after brief painkiller measures, write EBR’s Addisu Deresse and Eden Teshome.

Timket is an Ethiopian and Eritrean Orthodox Tewahedo Church celebration of Epiphany. It is observed on January 19 (or January 20 in a leap year), which corresponds to the 11th day of the month of Tir in the Ge’ez calendar.

The Tabot is a replica of the Ark of the Covenant that may be seen on every Ethiopian altar (similar to the Western altar stone) and is carried in procession on the head of the priest during Timkat rituals, lovingly wrapped in fine cloth. The Tabot, which is otherwise hardly observed by laypeople, symbolizes the coming of Jesus as the Messiah to the River Jordan for baptism. Early in the morning (around 2 a.m.), the Tabot is held next to a stream or pool. When daylight arrives, the surrounding body of water is blessed, and sprinkled on the attendees. Some of them then immerse themselves in the water to repeat their baptismal vows symbolically. The celebration, however, does not end there.

Inscribed on the Representative List of Humanity by UNESCO in December 2019, Timket is one of the most significant Ethiopian intangible cultural heritages. Since recently, it has become one of the most important tourism sites and has helped bring together local tourists during celebrations.

On January 19, 2023, Timkat was celebrated across Ethiopia. One city in particular, however, had the most fun. Gondar city in the Regional State of Amhara is said to have attracted 1.5 million visitors for the celebration, mainly local tourists from other parts of the country. Recently, Timket has been presenting Gondar with this bonanza of tourists.

“There weren’t enough lodgings to accommodate all the tourists,” Enyew Abebe, a resident of the city and one who participated in the celebrations, told EBR. “Some local residents let tourists stay at their home while other locals mobilized contributions to prepare tents to host visitors.”

It would be a severe mistake, however, to assume that the recent tourist bonanza in the city of Gondar tells the whole story of the industry. The truth of the matter is that the tourism industry is in a dilemma and remains broken due to various challenges, new and old.

Young people and women make up the majority of the labor force in the tourism industry. In terms of gender, men make up 70 Pct of the workforce, with women making up the remaining 30 Pct. The industry employs roughly 1.5 million people. This includes everything from luxury hotels and high-end amenities to budget-friendly service providers and classic Ethiopian coffee shops. In Ethiopia, small and medium-sized businesses account for more than 60 Pct of the tourism industry. For trekking and other adventure-based tourism activities, some individuals even rent mules. Most significantly, there are many kinds of handmade goods inspired by Ethiopia’s rich tradition and culture, sold in the numerous gift shops. These shops are primarily owned and run by young people and women.

“Given the size of the industry, COVID-19 has had a significant impact,” says Tewodros Derbew, strategic team leader and coordinator at the Ministry of Tourism. The COVID pandemic severely hurt tourism on both the supply and demand sides. It had an international impact and affected the source markets of Europe, America, and Asia. Prior to the pandemic, the tourism industry brought in more than USD 3 billion in 2019, but there has been a 72 Pct reduction since the start of the pandemic, with the number of tourists decreasing by 74 Pct. The impact on the industry caused an unprecedented economic impact.

In general, the tourism industry’s contribution to employment and GDP has decreased significantly due to the massive job losses, the threat of hundreds of thousands of jobs, the loss of foreign exchange and tourism revenues, the serious inhibition of tourism investment, skill migration to other industries, investment migration, and other factors.

Ethiopian tourism was also severely impacted by the war in Northern Ethiopia between the federal government and Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) that broke out in 2020, adding insult to injury. These two phenomena have had a significant impact on tourism, yet there is light at the end of the tunnel. The government is making efforts to resurrect the industry and is striving to protect newly generated jobs in the industry. Promising initiatives have been introduced to rehabilitate the industry and ensure its resilience.

The rehabilitation plan, which was implemented for three months, was created by the Ministry of Tourism and concentrated on boosting domestic tourism until foreign tourism picked back up. Access to low interest loans was the first action the government took. This made it easier for hotels and other similar businesses to retain their workers, amidst the uncertainty. While there was material and financial help, especially for vulnerable areas, the support was less than anticipated due to the government’s capacity constraints. Special measures were taken to safeguard people from physical and mental challenges.

Despite this early support by the government, both the support and the understanding appear to be fading away well before the industry revives from the most significant setbacks it recently faced. The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development is drafting a bill that does not include businesses in the tourism industry in the list of those businesses that will entertain a value added tax exception privilege. The draft bill had industry players and the chamber furious.

Business owners think it is too early to unplug the support system from the tourism industry, which is yet to revive from the scars left by COVID and the conflict. “The sector has to recover first before collecting any kind of tax,” Andinet Feleke, President of the Ethiopian Tour Operators Association (ETOA), told EBR in a recent interview.

Business owners present various arguments about why the industry should be back on the list of industries to entertain VAT exemption privileges. Registered enterprises in the industry might not have all of their expenses documented with receipts. Consider a hotel that must provide its guests with delectable meals, even though there are significant costs associated with producing the meal, not all of them are accounted for in a way that allows them to be subtracted from sales.

Let’s consider a tour company that takes tourists all across the nation. A tour of the nation’s diverse attractions subjects the operator to a range of fees, including transportation costs and payments to tourist destinations. The majority of these companies that provide the services are not included in the country’s tax brackets, so they don’t give the operator any receipts. Hence, none of these costs can be deducted from sales.

For tour companies, the costs don’t stop here. Even before a visitor lands in Ethiopia, fees to bring them here are incurred. To attract travelers, a tour operator must participate in numerous promotional activities with significant costs, which are often paid in dollars, for everything from paying the agencies that coordinate these promotional efforts to the costs of attending these events abroad.

The fact of the matter is that these operators frequently have to deal with the difficulty of finding the requisite amount of dollars to cover these costs. What’s worse, there is no defined process in place for the tax authorities to account for these expenses. The challenge posed by the new draft bill was well highlighted on a panel entitled “The Challenges and Opportunities of Tour Operators in Ethiopia.” The panel, conducted on December 27, 2022, was organized by the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association.

“The irregularity in the definition and practice of the tax implementation has been affecting the efficiency of the sector,” said Yohannes Woldegebriel, director of the Arbitration Institute at the Chamber.

Other developing countries have various packages to support the tourism sector. Some of these packages were introduced after the unprecedented impact of the pandemic on the sector, while other countries consider the privileges permanently to boost the potential of the industry.

In Barbados, an eastern Caribbean island and an independent British Commonwealth nation, businesses in the tourism sector pay a 7.5 Pct VAT while the national rate is 15 Pct. In Montenegro, a Balkan country with rugged mountains, medieval villages, and a narrow strip of beaches along its Adriatic coastline, VAT for the tourism sector remains at 7 Pct against the national rate of 17 Pct. In neighboring Kenya, tourism pays a 14 Pct VAT while the rest of the business sector pays a 16 Pct.

 According to the Ministry of Tourism, Ethiopia’s tourism industry is beginning to show indications of revival following the signing of the peace accord between the government and TPLF. Selamawit Dawit, the State Minister for Tourism, says that one of the industries adversely impacted by the conflict in the country’s north is tourism. The State Minister added that maintaining peace is essential for the growth of the tourism industry. As a result, she said, the peace accord has started a new chapter for the industry.

As a service sector, tourism services are particularly important in enhancing a nation’s reputation and also in promoting economic growth and development. In 2017, more than 933,000 visitors came to Ethiopia, a slight increase over the 870,000 that came in 2016.  However, that figure sharply dropped, and during the same third quarter of 2020, a total of 46,540 visitors visited Ethiopia. However, during the same time in 2021, this number rapidly increased to 118,972. Unfortunately, these improvements are inadequate to help Ethiopia achieve its objective of becoming a major tourist destination in Africa.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

Andinet Feleke President, Ethiopian Tour Operators Association

Andinet Feleke, born and raised in Addis Ababa, had an upbringing typical of the city during. Starting from her early schooling at the Indian National School, she was known to be self-reliant. Andinet received a bachelor’s degree from Haramaya University, continued her education in the tourism industry, and then joined the University of South Africa, where she obtained a master’s degree in Business Leadership. Her first job was as a tour operating office, where she discovered her passion and potential for tourism. Along with her late husband, she founded Jacaranda Tour and Travel PLC in 2003, which is currently one of the top tour operating companies based in the capital. In addition, Andinet is the woman behind the opulent Gondar Hills Resort, which is perched on the highest mountain of the historical city of Gondar, overlooking the famed castles.

Andinet joined the board of the Ethiopian Tour Operators Association in 2015, and has been serving as the president since 2018. The association has 276 members and has been the representative of private sector tour operators on different platforms. This association is one of the major players in the tourism sector and has a significant impact on how the sector develops, by actively promoting Ethiopia as a tourist destination and advocating for the development of the sector.

In this interview with EBR’s Addisu Deresse, Andinet talks about women in business, the challenges of the tourism sector, and its recovery following the severe impact of COVID-19 and conflicts, among other issues.

What do you think are the challenges facing women in business? What should women do to curb those challenges?

The experience of a woman who grew up and lives in urban society may not be reflective of the challenges facing all women across the nation. But my personal thought is that the main challenge is within our internal perception more than the external challenge that comes with stereotypes. The fear of failure, not taking risks, and unsupportive life companions are some of the challenges I feel predominantly affect women’s success.

When it comes to business, most of my challenges are also faced by my male friends in the same and different sectors, so I don’t see much difference. I am not sure what ‘gender’ we give our bureaucracy, but that’s the common challenge we face among all entrepreneurs.

You are a family woman, a businesswoman, an entrepreneur, and the president of an association. How do you balance all these responsibilities and ensure success?

I think the different responsibilities help you balance your life. My children are always my top priority, but spending as much time with them as I would like has not always been possible. I try to compensate for it with quality time. Regarding my business, one thing I love about being your own boss is that no one can fire you for making a mistake, so you have all the freedom to make lots of mistakes and learn from them. That is why I love it. Regarding serving the association, I am passionate about the tourism sector, and I see so much untapped potential. So by serving the association, I take it as a chance to contribute to the sector’s growth, through which we as a company will also grow and help the sector flourish at the same time.

You are the owner of Gondar Hills Resort and Jacaranda Tour and Travel. How did you choose the sector when you first decided to become an entrepreneur in Ethiopia?

It was not really a life’s calling at the beginning or anything like that. I always wanted to be a lawyer, rather. But back then, if one passed the college entrance exam, the only choice was to study in the department to which you were assigned. After graduating, my husband, who was then my friend, proposed that I join him in the company he had established. We dissolved one and created a PLC, which I have been running as the general manager ever since.

It is usually said that Ethiopia has rich tourism potential, but has not fully realized that potential. What are the major obstacles hindering the country from benefiting from that potential?

Yes, it’s a very rich and diverse country with abundant tourist attractions. But attraction cannot be a product by itself. We have to develop it, market it, manage it, and work on its sustainability. It’s a sector that can serve as a significant source of foreign currency. For countries like Kenya, it has been one of their main economic pillars for years. And they succeeded in benefiting from it because they managed the whole ecosystem of the sector very well. They and other countries with a well-developed tourism sector have clearly positioned their product for the market segment they want to attract and aligned their policy, strategy, and execution plan accordingly by deploying the right resources. If you take our company as a small example, the main reason we decided to vertically integrate to develop upmarket properties was to fill the gap for our clients. In this process, we secured 100 Pct of our imports for the project with the foreign currency we generated from the tour company. This is just one very tiny reference to show that if we exert the right effort, it can surely serve to make a significant contribution to the forex shortage we have as a nation, but of course, it needs a well-planned effort.

The COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on almost all businesses in the tourism industry. How do you explain the challenges it posed to your line of business? How did you cope with those challenges?

To help the sector sustain itself, three associations— the AA Hotel Owners Association, the Hotel Federation, and our association, the Ethiopian Tour Operators Association (ETOA)—had worked on getting approval for a soft loan with low interest, mainly because the government had a directive not to lay off any employees. It was a loan with better interest compared to the commercial rate but still with interest nonetheless, but it provided temporary relief. The loan was only for one year, with a promise of extension, but this did not happen. Rather, there was a stand that the sector had recovered, so financial institutions had to force tour operators to settle the loan in a very short period of time. Though all attempts with the National Bank and a few other private banks failed, Zemen Bank offered a bailout for the sector. When the pandemic hit, they took the initiative to reduce the interest rate. Next, they gave us a very flexible and attractive package to help tour operators sustain themselves. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank Zemen Bank for supporting the recovery of our sector and entrepreneurs in the industry.

After the pandemic, instability in the country has also severely challenged the country’s tourism sector. How did that impact your businesses? How did you cope with the challenges?

The sectoral reforms had really given hope to the sector. Having a standalone ministry, including the sector as one of the economic pillars, the shift to economic pillars, and the mega investments in some market segments are all positives. On the other hand, during this time when the sector was hit hard by the pandemic and the civil war, we have seen that restructuring alone would not guarantee the recovery of the sector. We have seen that the Ministry has limited back-end support in order to bring change to the industry, mainly in leisure tourism. I say this because most of the joint efforts we made to save players across the value chain didn’t succeed.

Same for us, we had to make several adjustments in the resort, downsize the tour company, and halt all other projects. But since we still had to pay employees, cash flow was a huge challenge during both crises. Therefore, we had to use all kinds of innovative and traditional methods, including liquidating, downsizing, and diversifying, in order to sustain the company.

I believe the way financial institutions and government officials managed the crisis was a very big lesson. Also, I am sure future collaborations and building the confidence of the private sector for future investments will require a significant effort.

As someone who is engaged as a tour operator, tell us about what a tour operator has to do to attract tourists to the country. What are the challenges to attracting tourists to Ethiopia?

Tour operators’ task starts way before tourists come to the country. We mainly work with established companies like us throughout the world. We create customized packages, attend different trade fairs worldwide to promote these packages, and invite all potential buyers to Ethiopia at our expense for familiarization trips. We then convince these companies to sell Ethiopia as a tourist destination. Then, when tourists come, we handle the whole ground arrangement, from entry to departure. We generate an income and distribute it to the vast service providers such as hotels, guides, air, land, and water transporters, attraction sites, scouts, cooks, etc. So, managing this vast value chain is a huge responsibility. If one thing goes wrong, the whole thing goes wrong.  With such a huge gap in supply and demand among service providers and varied skills across the value chain, it’s a very challenging task.

The country’s historic sites and religious festivals are the usual tourism products Ethiopia has been selling for many years. Why are we not developing new tourism products? What is the challenge around that?

Some of the main problems are lack of expertise in product development for a targeted market segment, lack of resources, and lack of commitment. Of course, as a nation, our competitive advantage for leisure tourism is our history and authentic culture because, if you take the Safari Beach Holiday and other known African products, our competing countries have better and more well-managed products. And so, Ethiopia is like an exotic destination for the leisure tourism market. However, there is a huge opportunity to develop new products and add them to the traditional products, which gives a chance for visitors to extend their stay in Ethiopia. If we take all the national parks, such as Bale National Park, Omo National Park, and others, if they are well managed, they can definitely compete with those in other African countries. But it has to be developed and managed in the right way.

A new draft policy stipulates that tourism should not be among the sectors that enjoy VAT privileges. What is your take on that?

The VAT issue had been a longstanding concern in the sector, mainly for two reasons. One, the country will not be competitive, and there is no level playing field for tour operators. The tour operation license does not force all tour operators to register for VAT, so there are registered ones, unregistered ones, and briefcase operators, and yet we are all selling the same third-party products. On top of this, the majority of the tour components we use are VAT exempt and we pay for those eligible for VAT through our suppliers and don’t claim it back. As a simple example, if you check the entrance fee for Unity Park online, it says USD 50. If the tourist comes through a legal tour operator, we should charge USD 50 + 15 Pct and since the park doesn’t give us a VAT receipt, we can’t claim it back. So almost all the payments we make are of this type. We are expected to collect consumer tax, which we can’t collect back, and if we just add the margin on the tourists, the package price will be high, and ultimately, the legal tour operators will be out of competition.

We had been requesting the government to fix this for years, and we had been promised that it would be done in the coming revision. However, the government has issued a draft VAT amendment with no response to the sector’s demand. We recently had a consultative meeting with the Ministry of Finance regarding the draft regulation, where we discussed all the challenges. I’ve learned that there are similar challenges in other sectors, though the degree and complexity in our case are very high. Regulations are set knowing that the practice is different due to poor law enforcement. I was wondering why we can’t draft the regulations based on the practice until there is reasonable law enforcement.  Why should legal operators suffer due to the government’s failure to enforce the law? In this way, illegals will flourish and legal operators will gradually vanish.

I have also learned that there are different definitions for the same term for different purposes. Our policy clearly states that tourism is a service export, but it was explained that for tax purposes it is not. However, and most importantly, we’ve come to the common understanding that we need to recover first before we pay taxes. We need to be able to sell the country as a tourist destination. Foreign companies selling Ethiopia have no special attachment to Ethiopia except for doing business, so they have to believe they’ll make money to offer it as a destination. If they don’t make money and if the country is not competitive, they have no interest in putting us back on the travel map. When setting a package cost, peace and security, plus the level of every service, matter: from our pre-arrival visa service to the airport experience and all other inland services. The fact is, for the service we provide, we are a very expensive destination, and this is continuously increasing with what seems like no control, and no one seems to care. We have been in a civil war where most of our major attractions are still in the red zone, and most embassies have put up travel alerts on Ethiopia, which will make insurance coverage difficult and expensive. So, pushing to recover amid all this is not easy.

We are asking the government to see other countries’ experiences, especially the amendments they made after COVID. Kenya has exempted tour operators from VAT, and with a significant income from the sector,  there will be no reason to do this unless exempting the sector outweighs the levy. At this stage, we want all tour operators to come through the formal channel, promote the sector with confidence, and help the recovery without fear of the usual tax allegations with authorities. Once the sector recovers, the government can study the pros and cons and revise the regulation. But first, let’s do what it takes to help the sector recover.

Tourism is also a huge tool in terms of global diplomacy, impacting the global image of countries in good or bad ways. Do you think it is understood with that level of significance? What more should be done?

We accommodate all kinds of travelers, including potential investors, leisure travelers, and so many others. Hence, it’s a sector that helps to build positive national branding, which is important to leverage. On the several trade fairs we participate in, we are promoting not only the tourism but also what the country offers in general. If there had been better cross sectoral planning, I believe a lot more could have been achieved.

As the president of the ETOA, what have been the biggest challenges and achievements as an association and as an individual?

As an association, I can say our members have played the most crucial role in putting Ethiopia on the travel map. Through all the ups and downs, we strived to push and promote. We played a key role in the establishment of a tourism board that is composed of key stakeholders such as Ethiopian Airlines, Ethiopia Immigration Services, the Federal Police, the Ethiopian Investment Commission, etc., and helped with proactive and reactive solutions. Our main challenge as an association was and still is to convince decision makers how the sector, and especially the leisure market, operates. The frequent turnover of leaders in the sector has dragged our efforts backward.  And recently, COVID and the civil war have reduced the source of income for the association, limiting our scope of engagement. Lack of coordination among stakeholders is also a challenge that will have a negative impact on the recovery process. In general, when you say a sector has not developed, it also applies to both public and private players. So, some of the challenges are also the lack of a collective vision and exerting equal effort to change things. Sometimes there’s a tendency to see only the short term. From the sectoral leadership perspective, there is a long-standing trend of very limited commitment to work with associations. We had been pointing out the sectoral challenges and possible solutions for years, but most things have not changed. And talking about the same problem for years is frustrating for the private sector.

What is your hope for the tourism sector? Do you think it will survive the severe impacts of the pandemic and the political instability? What should be done to get the tourism sector back on its feet? What more should be done so that tourism could get even bigger and help the country benefit from its full potential?

Tourism is a very resilient sector, as has been proven during the different crises that have occurred worldwide. There are also countries that operate tourism amid crises. Just before COVID started, we had seen the highest level of interest ever, which probably would have continued if the war hadn’t started. So, I am very optimistic about the potential of its recovery.  But I am concerned about the disintegrated efforts and lack of coordination among stakeholders, including the Ministry of Tourism. Just to give you one example, recently immigration significantly raised the price for entry visas, and no one, including the Ministry, had the information. It’s also time for stopover tourism to be promoted, and packages have  already been offered. No one knows when we are going to resume the visa upon arrival. If you take countries like Kenya, such a decision will neither come out as a surprise nor get approved without prior consultation with stakeholders.

The Tourism Board, which was dissolved after the reform, had been composed of these stakeholders, and its purpose was to avoid such issues. The other concern I have is the vacuum on the supply side that occurred due to COVID and the war. We had been insisting that there is no recovery without the supply side, so some sort of support has to be given to revive the different service providers. The other concern is the price escalation, unless we have regulatory intervention to halt the price increase across the value chain, we can’t be competitive as a country. In general, a lot of resources, both money and time, had been invested to put Ethiopia on the travel map and promote its traditional historical and cultural sites, which served as our main competitive advantage. So, it’s very important to maintain these sites and leverage them while adding new products. I also strongly believe that we need to recognize the reality on the ground and come up with a realistic plan that can be executed. We can’t say to the world that we are open for tourism and have no way of tracking the safety of travelers. We need to set a clear direction on our product offering, market segment, marketing strategy, essential investment, and most importantly, ensuring the safety of travelers.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

Although commercial banks have shown significant progress over the years in terms of accessibility, volume of transactions, and technology, they still fall short when it comes to financial inclusion. These financial institutions are accused of focusing only on mobilizing savings and sharing the same pie of the market rather than expanding the scope of their services and financial products. Recently, however, the Ethiopian financial sector is witnessing a vital role being played by Savings and Credit Cooperatives (SACCOs) particularly in the area of financial inclusion. With a better legal framework, digitalization, and managerial experience, these institutions can play an even bigger role in helping Ethiopia’s development journey, writes EBR’s Bamlak Fekadu.

Firaol Samuel, 29, from the southwest fringes of Addis Ababa’s Ayer Tena district, was eating lunch near Bole Rwanda outside a pleasant coffee shop on a muggy, bright day back in January. The welcoming and popular coffee shop had no seats available. Firaol is a driver for a ride-hailing company. When he brings clients to the Bole neighborhood, he frequently stops by the inviting coffee shop, which he chooses due to the reasonable prices of the food. Firaol graduated with a degree in survey engineering from Dire Dawa University in 2018, but was unable to find employment.

Seeing his parents’ frustration after a few months of fruitless job searching, he made a decision to launch a ride-hailing business. His parents accepted the idea, sold their spare house at Adama, a town 100 kilometers from the capital, and bought him a Toyota Corolla, 1986 model, for ETB 267,000. The car model, however, was ineligible for registration with ride-hailing services. So he was forced to change the vehicle to the blue and white taxis, more commonly known as ‘Lada’.

While working as a Lada taxi driver, he joined associations formed to buy new vehicles, and was looking for alternatives to upgrading his car to make it eligible for ride-hailing services. He had hoped that the mayor’s office, under the direction of the then mayor, Takele Uma, would make it easier to import and assemble cars.

“The association requires members to make monthly deposits of at least ETB 7,000, and at the same time I was searching for a bank that can lend me money to buy a car, to no avail,” Firaol said. The excise tax bill was changed in 2020, charging up to 500 Pct on imported cars, which caused the price of well-known cars like the Toyota Vitz to rise from ETB 650,000 to as high as ETB 1 million by the time he was seeking a loan from a financial institution. “I was in desperation at the time I heard about Awach and similar SACCOs that provide auto financing,” he said. After consulting with his parents, he sold his car for ETB 215,000 and deposited more than 80 Pct for more than six months in a SACCO at Kolfe Keranyo District.

“The SACCO in my district offered me a little over double the amount I deposited with a due date of five years, which allowed me to buy a Lifan 520 car for ETB 415,000,” he told EBR. Further cuts on fuel subsidies, which exclude ride-hailing service providers, and the spike in the price of spare parts pushed him to search for a new fuel-saving car. Recently, Firaol repaid his debt earlier than the due date and is optimistic that he can get a better loan to buy a new car with his good credit scores. “Access to collateral-free credit for small and medium businesses is what makes these institutions more accessible than commercial banks,” he explains.

Recently, the ex-governor of the central bank, Yenager Dessie (PhD), revealed that only about six million of the country’s 110 million population have access to credit from banks and microfinance institutions (MFIs), which have the lowest performance rates at 5.45 Pct. According to Yenager, as of present, there are approximately 350,000 commercial bank borrowers concentrated in our capital, making up only 0.318 Pct of the 100 million people.

According to a recent study by USAID, because Addis Ababa is the center of the country’s business activity, in 2020, 69 Pct of loans will have originated there. Addis Ababa also has the most bank borrowers; the city has 38 Pct of all bank borrowers, and these borrowers account for 69 Pct of all outstanding bank loans. The value of collateral attached to secured bank loans is typically two times the loan’s original value. Ethiopia has embarked on a financial inclusion strategy to promote access and use of a range of accessible and affordable financial products regulated by financial institutions for all individuals and enterprises. The strategy includes innovative and convenient channels to promote economic growth, poverty reduction, and financial stability by 2025.

The strategy identified six factors hindering financial inclusion, including insufficient funds to save (78 Pct), distance to financial institutions (12 Pct), cost of service (2 Pct), documentation cost (1 Pct), trust (1 Pct), and religious reasons (1 Pct). As specified in Article 2(9) of the Banking (Amended) Proclamation No. 1159/2019, financial institutions are classified as insurance companies, banks, MFIs, capital goods financing companies, reinsurers, micro-insurance providers, postal savings institutions, money transfer institutions, digital financial service providers, and other institutions as determined by the NBE.

Under this regulation, SACCOs are not considered formal financial institutions, even though they are the ones that primarily serve micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and ordinary households in Ethiopia. A World Bank study conducted two years ago uncovered that almost two-thirds of the Ethiopian population is unbanked. A financial inclusion study from the World Bank also shows credit unions and interest-free banking are relatively unknown across the country and have registered higher usage among rural adults than their urban counterparts.

SACCOs are user-owned financial institutions that offer both savings and credit services to their members. SACCOs are an integral part of the financial system by which communities are mobilized to engage in productive activities like those of EQUB (social-based saving and credit system) accustomed in the nation’s tradition to generate income, create employment opportunities, and stimulate the economy of a well-defined area, thereby improving livelihood.

Lack of access to effective and formal financial markets is a severe constraint that prevents low-income households from improving their living standards, which leads to persistent poverty. As of 2022, Ethiopia has 113 union SACCOs, and two federation SACCOs, with a total membership of 6.9 million. Data from the Federal Cooperative Commission (FCC) shows that about 46Pct of the total members are women. The total savings of SACCO’s shares was around ETB 37 billion, of which Addis Ababa took the majority share of ETB 13.5 billion, followed by Oromia with ETB 9.4 billion, and Amhara with ETB 5.2 billion.

Although the majority of Ethiopians live and work in rural areas, most rural dwellers have no access to financial products. As a result, many Ethiopians are members of SACCOs as their primary option for to get access to credit. Birhanu Dufera, director of financial cooperatives at the federal Cooperative Commission, stated that starting in 2002, the central bank has been monitoring SACCOs.

“Currently, our commission is striving to have the central bank consider these cooperatives as financial institutions since they are playing a vital role in fostering financial inclusion,” Birhanu told EBR. The cooperatives do not have a geography-based business model and are willing to serve any client anywhere in Ethiopia with the same credit products as long as they meet the necessary business, technical, and legal requirements. On the other hand, MFIs, whose number rose to 43 during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year, showed 16 Pct growth, reaching ETB 28.3 billion, exhibiting a lag of ETB 6 billion compared to SACCO’s performance. Despite the fact that SACCOs present an opportunity for increasing outreach and the quality of service offered to low-income households and MSMEs, Birhanu observes several weaknesses that limit their potential.

He emphasized “governance” as the primary issue in cooperatives because they are typically run by committees made up of members who lack effective leadership abilities and organizational structure. With the exception of a few, Birhanu observes that automation and digitization are challenges that are faced by most cooperatives. “Financial capacity that satisfies demand is foremost a challenge that stirrs mismatch,” he told EBR. Among successful SACCOs, Awach, loosely translated as “profitable”, is one that is gaining popularity in urban areas for its financial products. The 15-year-old Awach has over 100,000 members and raised ETB 2.3 billion during the last fiscal year, disbursing ETB 1.6 billion to some six thousand members through its 23 branch offices. It is currently the only cooperative that installs the core banking system.

Awach started providing service with ETB 12,064 in 2007 and has created job opportunities for 254 citizens, as well as MSME borrowers. Its popularity started to grow due to its auto financing, which captured many interested in engaging in ride hailing services. Through the establishment of Awach Insurance and the acquisition of over ETB 100 million through a floated share, Awach plans to address financial inclusion beyond credit and saving. “Our company channels its credit products for personal and business use,” Awach’s communication officer, Simret Mulugeta, says. “Perhaps the product for auto financing has increased appeal.” Awach’s credit products include housing, auto financing for personal and business use, and social financing as much as ETB 600,000, which includes financing for education, medical purposes, and weddings, among others. To be eligible for a loan, members must save 25 Pct of their monthly demand for six months. For instance, borrowers for personal vehicles can obtain as much as ETB 1.5 million and up to ETB 2.5 million for business vehicles.

“We also provide finance for housing as high as ETB 3 million, as well as urban agriculture businesses like poultry with rates ranging from 15.5 Pct to 13 Pct,” Simret told EBR. Getu, whose middle name is withheld upon request, is an expert in financial economics. He has been a financial manager at a renowned MFI for over a decade. He has taken a closer look at these cooperatives, and how both MFIs and SACCOs serve MSMEs and households.

He argues that these institutions should be considered financial institutions according to the law. In this case, if the central bank acts as a regulator, treating these cooperatives the way it regulates banks, insurance companies, and MFIs, it could push them to halt their operations. “SACCOs and MFIs are essential and significant tools to achieve the two strategies, including the national digital payment strategy (NDPS), if sufficient attention is given,” said Getu. These institutions provide various types of savings, including compulsory savings, voluntary savings, fixed-time savings, and sharia-compliant services. “Banks are more concerned with mobilizing deposits than financing households,” the expert said. According to Getu, these cooperatives are capable of building a saving culture, facilitating credit with a fair interest rate, and improving the socio-economic conditions of members and other people by equipping them with entrepreneurship and business development skills through training. The establishment of cooperative credit unions and savings cooperatives in Ethiopia began in 1964 and was pioneered by the employees of Ethiopian Airlines. About a decade later, there were 28 such institutions with over 6,000 members. Half a century after its inception, the number of unions has grown to 14,000 with an aggregate capital of ETB 5.2 billion.

The cooperatives operating in the Silte Zone of the State of Southern Nations and Nationalities were the first to introduce these Sharia-compliant services two years ago as part of a pilot program. Almost two dozen cooperatives under Nur Savings & Credit Union, which comprises 142 cooperatives, are among those currently offering interest-free services in the Silte Zone.

Their efforts, however, have been stalled due to a huge gap in awareness in the community, according to Fikadu Tadesse, General Manager of Nur. “Financial services are not equally available to all members of society,” he said. “These services will allow low-income members to participate in the market.” He recommends that the regulator commission and the central bank discuss the authorization and adoption of digital financial services (DFS) like mobile wallets.

From table banking to credit unions, SACCOs sector in Africa is rapidly digitizing to bring financial inclusion to all SACCO members. Members of SACCOs in Kenya, Rwanda, and Uganda’s far-flung areas are now able to transact without needing to visit a physical branch. “Thus, facilitating the adoption of DFS with the rising number of mobile subscribers could be significant,” he remarks.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

Ethiopia is working hard to tackle the many difficulties that its people are experiencing. Conflicts, evictions, and displacements are now common topics in Ethiopian news. These issues pose a significant impact on an already struggling economy. In response to these extraordinary challenges and their consequences, people and organizations are uniting to mobilize resources. Ethiopia has seen a wide range of fundraising strategies, from individuals and groups that collect items for vulnerable communities, to digital platforms that mobilize financial resources from around the world. In this piece, EBR’s Lidya Tesfaye examines the expanding practice of charity fundraising.

Eshetu Melese, better known by his YouTube handle as comedian Eshetu, is a well-known Ethiopian who, during the first week of March, raised more than USD 1.6 million in just over 24 hours. Famous musicians participated in a crowdfunding effort that was managed through the world’s number crowdfunding platform, GoFundMe. The goal of the fundraising effort was to support Mekedonia Charity Homes, a home for the elderly and mentally disabled.

Yared Shumete, an activist who participated in Eshetu’s campaign and is best known for his fight to have ethnic information deleted from identification cards, has been running a separate campaign. His goal was to generate money and in-kind donations for the Borena drought victims in the Oromia Regional State. Later, Yared’s campaign was disallowed by the State’s authorities.

After the ban, Yared announced the start of a new initiative for people who had been internally displaced, this time located in Debre Birhan, in the Regional State of Amhara. The goal of Yared’s most recent humanitarian effort, named “Zemecha Derash,” is to aid individuals who have fled the Regional State of Oromia. During the first week of March 2023, EBR met Fikirte Deginet (name changed upon request) at the Red Cross headquarters at a fundraiser for the drought in Borena.

“I am here to help people who are in trouble,” Fikirte told EBR.  “I would rather point my finger at the government only after I have done my part.”

Fikirte believes the government’s delayed response to problems is the cause of the numerous philanthropic groups and individuals engaged in fundraising. Fikirte claims that her participation in the activity is not just for her own gratification, but also because she feels it’s her responsibility.

“The one thing that gives us hope for the children of this nation is helping one another,” Fikirte argues.

Ethiopians are being forced to endure awful experiences one after the other, with individuals and organizations attempting to help communities deal with these extraordinary hardships. Their efforts have saved both personal lives and jobs, despite the fact that they are not centralized and hence difficult to account for. The life of Tsinat Tesfaye, a single mother of two, was saved by a charitable act. Two years ago, Tsinat experienced a fire catastrophe that resulted in the loss of her home and business, causing damage totaling ETB 1,500,000. After the loss she endured, only her neighbors came to her aid.

“This shop is yours as much as it is mine,” she said firmly, showing her small shop to EBR. “I was able to send my children to school thanks to the support of my neighbors.”

Tsinat claims she does not have a complete record of everyone who has ever intervened to save her when she was at her lowest point. Yet, she feels that she owes everyone a debt of gratitude because her community—not the government—came to her rescue.

Fundraising for charity is not new for Ethiopians. However, as the nation has experienced unprecedented challenges in recent years, the practice has become more organized. Technology is also contributing significantly to its growth.

Hannan Mahmud is one of the founders of Babul Heir Charitable Organization, an organization that provides meals for more than 4,000 people daily. The organization was established by her and her 16 friends. They raised money for the charity by selling the jewelry that was given to them as wedding gifts, and some of them contributed supplies and even items that belonged to their deceased relatives.

Hanan believes that charity brings justice, creates affection among people, and brings them together. In Hannan’s opinion, who also serves as the organization’s manager, doing good for others not only benefits the recipient directly but also benefits society and the nation as a whole. It also has significant social and spiritual benefits.

“As long as people are keen to help each other, everyone has something to give,” Hanan told EBR.

Ethiopia has witnessed different fundraising methods, from bank transfers to platforms like WegenFund (an Ethiopian-based donation platform), that have helped manage donations from across the world. For more than 22 years, the Wegene Ethiopian Foundation (WEF), a nonprofit and non-governmental organization, has provided assistance to the impoverished people of Ethiopian families by tackling three critical aspects of poverty: housing, family, instability, and education. With resources generated in their newfound homeland, the United States, the founding board of directors encouraged Ethiopians in the Diaspora to give back to their country.

“We are not the ones who select the causes,” says Dr. Belachew Chekene, co-founder and director of WegenFund, talking to EBR about the more than 100 causes the organization is currently mobilizing resources for.

Four groups can create a cause and mobilize resources on the WEF platform: civil society organizations, individuals, religious institutions, and startups.

In Ethiopia, generosity and kindness have long been the binding forces between neighbors. The biggest emphasis is placed on its social value. Numerous studies have confirmed the positive effects of generosity on society. They even go so far as to say that acts of kindness and voluntarism have a part in the economy. And in some nations, they even bear a heavy burden for the whole nation.

There is some research that relates the rise of inequality to the rise of philanthropy and how the latter can play its fair share in closing the ever-widening gap between the rich and the poor. According to research by Kevin Laskowski published on the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), as the wealth accumulated by the rich increases, the possibility of huge sums of giveaways also increases, part of which can create great opportunities for the less fortunate.

According to studies from Boston College’s John Havens and Paul Schervish, between 1998 and 2052, almost USD 6 trillion of a USD 41 trillion intergenerational wealth transfer will go to charity. The number of American grantmaking foundations climbed by more than half, the value of all foundation assets rose by a third, and the amount of grants given out more than doubled in the ten years that followed that projection. The expansion of philanthropy extends beyond foundations. Donor-advised funds, other giving vehicles, and contributions to them all have seen significant growth. New hybrid organizations, such as low-profit limited liability companies (L3Cs) and benefit corporations, are also garnering attention.

Anteneh Girum, an economist, seems to agree in part with the positive role of philanthropy. He also acknowledges the wrong perception surrounding charitable organizations and their potential to channel significant support to areas that would take decades for the government to address.

“In reality, charitable activities play a vital role in the economic sector of a nation,” Anteneh told EBR. “Charitable organizations can have a positive impact on the lives of citizens and share the huge burden of a country by building hospitals, schools, and orphanages.”

Anteneh underscores the work of Mekedonia and how it is supporting more than 7,000 people. Abebech Gobena Charity, an orphanage, raised tens of thousands of kids, which would have taken decades for the country’s economy to address fully. These citizens, who were supported and given a better opportunity, will in turn contribute to the economy, according to Anteneh.

According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), USD 4 billion is needed to provide assistance for Ethiopia in 2023. OCHA acknowledges how difficult and almost impossible it will be to get assistance for such an amount in just a year. Different reports mentioned that in the Southern Omo region of Ethiopia, more than 14,000 cattle died due to drought, and more than 337 million people are facing food shortages.

In the Somali Region, as a result of the drought, thousands of people are displaced. As a whole, around 20 million people are waiting for aid throughout the nation. The cost of humanitarian aid increased by USD 142 million, reaching USD 674.3 million compared to last year. And out of the amount of humanitarian support that is required for 2023, only USD 22.8 million was raised, which is only 11Pct.

Following that, the Red Cross, collaborating with different volunteers, has called for fundraising and support. The support is not only in cash but also in-kind, with an aim to raise around ETB 206.3 million, especially for the States of Oromia and Somali.

“My business would have never been back in operation without the social support I received from my neighbors,” Tsinat told EBR.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116

Providing Beauty to Urbanites

Walking on the streets of Addis Ababa, it would not take long to notice mini flower marketplaces. These marketplaces are now increasing in number in almost all districts of the capital as the tradition of using indoor and outdoor flowers to decorate residences has grown. At the various corners of the capital, it has become big business to grow and sell indoor plants. As a result of the community’s expanding change in attitude towards aesthetics, members of the society have started to purchase and use them at a premium price to adorn their homes. In this article, EBR’s Tirualem Asmare looks into the flourishing flower business that is bringing beauty and livelihoods to homes in the capital.

Bilen Tefera is a 29-year-old businesswoman who owns and operates her own business in Megenagna, Yeka District. When EBR interacted with her, she was carrying a variety of indoor plants on the automobile, intended for home décor.

“I adore real flowers and plants, and having them in my house makes me very happy,” Bilen told EBR. “Flowers make us happy, relieve our tension, enhance the beauty of the home, and provide us with oxygen.”

Bilen was just returning from the Town of Bishoftu in the Regional State of Oromia, where she bought the flowers. She shares that her home already has a wide variety of indoor and outdoor plants, but she wanted more. “One cannot get enough of these beauties,” Bilen says joyfully.

For ETB 30,000, she purchased 10 different house plants. Despite having a range of prices, the most expensive is ETB 5,000. She claims that although house plants are expensive, they are also incredibly lovely.

“I cannot wait to see what my residence will look like after I plant these,” Bilen told EBR.

Getachew Atinawu, a 26-year-old man from the Summit neighborhood in Bole District, makes a living by cultivating and selling house plants. He stated that the slim likelihood of finding employment after graduation was what prompted him to pursue a floral business. In 2018, he formed a micro and small business called Getachew and Zemede landscaping with just ETB 30,000 in startup capital.

“The work is incredibly rewarding, and for three years it was quite cool,” Getachew told EBR. “We provide a wide range of options, and each one has a distinct price.”

ETB 20 is the lowest price, and ETB 3,000 is the highest. Most of Getachew’s clients use plants to decorate their residences. Most clients purchase the products at an average price of between ETB 350 and ETB 80, depending on the area. Elsewhere, house plants can be purchased elsewhere for up to ETB 8,000.

“The society’s attitude seems to be changing with time,” Getachew says. “These days, a customer will visit and ask about the price, and they won’t be shocked at the price increase.”

Due to the current state of the nation and the decline in construction, businesses such as Getachew appear to be slowing down. When business is good; they could sell ETB 8,000 worth of flowers per day. In addition to the money they make from sales, they were able to make more money by decorating people’s homes.

Getachew shares that when they first began the job; the area where his business is located was filthy and smelled horrible as it also served as a marketplace for sheep and goats. But today it is much more appealing, with the whole place smelling like flowers. Getachew’s business was recently at risk when he was told to evacuate his place of work, and there seems to be no hope for a replacement location. With the business being the only source of livelihood for Getachew and his colleagues, the future still looks bleak following the news of the evacuation.

“I’ve been working in this business for four years now,” says Yitbarek Molla, a 25-year-old man engaged in the same line of business. “I started this job because I was unable to find a job in the field I graduated in.”

Yitbarek and his colleagues initially formed an association before moving to separate areas. Yitbarek now works in the Kirkos District.

“It amazes me to know how much has changed when it comes to aesthetics and the love for flowers,” Yitbarek says. “I have customers who come here and look at the flowers as if they are looking at the child they love the most.”

He sells both indoor and outdoor plants for the home. While plants kept inside the home don’t require sunshine, outdoor plants do. 75 Pct of clients purchase outdoor plants to spruce up their yards, according to Yitbarek.

‘’We sell from ETB 3,000 to ETB 4,000 worth of flowers per day, and on days when business is good, we sell up to ETB 10,000,” Yitbarek told EBR.

According to studies, indoor plants not only add beauty to your home but may also improve your health and wellbeing. There are several ways houseplants might enhance indoor air quality, as plants absorb carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and emit oxygen, they also produce water vapor through transpiration and vapor transpiration, which increases humidity.

Indoor plants lower stress levels, and having plants in your home or workplace can help you feel more relaxed. Studies have shown that working in an area with plants can also help reduce both physiological and psychological stress.

Taking care of plants can be a therapeutic exercise. Indoor gardening has also shown to be beneficial for those who are experiencing signs of a mental illness. Horticultural therapy has been utilized by researchers to improve well-being in patients with depression, anxiety, dementia, and other diseases.

Indoor plants do, however, have some drawbacks. These include maintenance needs, insect problems, and occasionally toxicity. Indoor plants that are neglected are more likely to get pest infestations, including scale, mealybugs, aphids, and spider mites. Although they are difficult to notice with the unaided eye, spider mites, which are linked to arachnids rather than other insects, produce obvious webs. People should also be careful when bringing indoor plants into their home if they have dogs or cats, because many common indoor plants are poisonous to animals.

Little insects like aphids, mealybugs, and scale insects emit a sticky fluid called honeydew that draws black sooty mold. Any of these pests can cause leaf yellowing, leaf drop, and, in extreme situations, stunted plant growth because they feed on plant sap. Giving your indoor plants enough hydration, light, and fertilizer is the best way to prevent these infestations, as is making sure the pots drain effectively.

EBR 11th Year • April 2023 • No. 116