News in Brief

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed named the 2022 GIFA Laureate

Creating false balance between terrorists and legitimate Ethiopian government

Addis Ababa lauds South Sudan’s leaders’ commitment to peace

Africa and the African Union

Moussa Faki, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, stated on Sunday (September 11) that he received the US Special Envoy for the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Mike Hammer, at Africa House. The two sides agreed on the need for international partners to support the AU-led process with the parties to end the conflict in Ethiopia.

Also, AU Commission Chairperson, Moussa Faki, said on Saturday (September 10) that he received the AU High Representative for the Horn of Africa, President Olusegun Obasanjo, whose mandate has been extended. He reiterated my full confidence in him and encouraged his continued engagement with both parties and international actors to work towards peace and reconciliation in Ethiopia and the region.

A meeting of the Committee of the AUPSC as a preparation for the Annual Joint Consultative Meeting between the PSC and UNSC to take place on 13 – 14 October 2022.

Ethiopia

President Sahle-Work Zewde opened the Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Conference on Women and Youth in Trade last week on Monday (September 13), which is taking place in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania under the theme “Women and youth: The Engine of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)”.

On Wednesday, September 15, 2022, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed was named the 2022 Laureate of the Global Islamic Finance Award by the London-based “Edbiz International Advisors” for his outstanding contributions to the reform of Ethiopia’s finance sector. (See article)

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed received in his office on Thursday (September 15) Sheikh Faisal Bin Thani Al-Thani, Chief of Asia-Pacific and Africa Investments at the Qatar Investment Authority. The discussions revolved around exploring and expanding investments in Ethiopia.

An agreement among the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology, and Ethio-Telecom to advance government payment services was signed on Friday (September 09).

The Ethiopian Embassy in Belgium says it was dismayed by the statement issued on the 14th of September 2022 by the spokesperson of the European Union External Action Services (EEAS) on Thursday (September 15). The statement said that the spokesperson continuously chooses to ignore the blatant violations committed by the TPLF on various occasions, including that of opening the third round of conflict and abusing humanitarian aid and fuel to advance military escalation.

Long before the TPLF’s third phase of aggression on August 24, the Ethiopian government had repeatedly expressed concerns about the group’s ongoing drumming up of conflict. It has issued many warnings about the unlawful flow of local and foreign funds into the TPLF’s coffers and the diverting of fuel reserves and humanitarian aid to the combatants rather than the intended beneficiaries in the Tigray region. Unfortunately, a lot of media coverage about the conflict in northern Ethiopia is extremely problematic because they attempt to falsely equate both sides, creating the false impression that the legitimate Ethiopian government and the vocally belligerent TPLF group are equally responsible for the worrisome situation that exists today. (See article)

The Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Sports and the Embassy of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Ethiopia have signed cooperation agreement which enables both nations to closely work on culture and sports. The Ethiopian Minister of Culture and Sports, Kejela Merdasa, and Fahad Obaydallah Alhumaydani Almotairi (PhD), Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to Ethiopia, signed the agreement after discussing the long-standing relations between both countries and working together in the culture and sports sectors.

Industrial Parks Development Corporation—Ethiopia (IPDC) and Safaricom Ethiopia signed an investment agreement worth $60 million in the ICT Park, Addis Ababa. According to a statement from IPDC, the agreement grants Safaricom Ethiopia to invest $60,000,000 to modernize the telecommunications sector in Ethiopia. Sandokan Debebe, CEO of IPDC, and Anwar Soussa, CEO of Safaricom Ethiopia, signed the agreement.

The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) is a massive project that benefits not only Ethiopia but also countries in the region, former Nairobi Mayor Geo Akech said on Monday (September 10). The former mayor, who is also Kenya-Ethiopia Friends Chairperson, said the dam is an African project “we should come out and support.”

The Ethiopia-Algeria Ministerial Committee meeting is to be held in Addis Ababa this September. It is to be recalled that the Ministerial Committee meeting was scheduled after President Sahle-Work Zewde paid a visit to Algeria last month and discussed with officials of the country ways of enhancing relations between the two countries.

In a conversation with Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation, Librata Mulamula, the ambassador of Ethiopia to Tanzania, Shibru Mamo, explained on Monday (September 10) that the terrorist TPLF has re-started a war in the northern part of Ethiopia and begun invading the neighboring regions using a backward war strategy, employing human waves and using the youths as cannon fodder. Minister Librata Mulamula stated that the Ethiopian government’s effort to promote peace through the application of the continental maxim “African solution to African problems” is appropriate and commendable.

Ethiopia’s Defense Minister, Abraham Belay, as a special envoy of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, participated in the graduation of the first batch of unified forces in South Sudan on August 30, 2022.

In his speech, Abraham congratulated the parties to the 2018 Addis Ababa Agreement for demonstrating impressive compromise by reaching an agreement and laying out a roadmap, which the parties launched earlier this month, and that deserves to be recognized. The graduation of unified forces is a significant milestone in ascertaining sustainable peace in South Sudan. (See article)

Kenya

William Samoei Ruto has been sworn in as the fifth president of Kenya on Tuesday (September 13), while Rigathi Gachagua was sworn in as deputy president moments after Ruto took the oath, effectively taking over from Uhuru Kenyatta, who has served two terms. Ruto took the oath of office at a packed stadium in Kasarani, witnessed by over 20 heads of state.

On Tuesday (September 13), Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and his delegation attended the Inauguration of Kenya’s 5th President, William Samoei Ruto.

Somalia

The Somali National Army (SNA), backed by local militia dubbed Ma’awisley, killed more than 100 al-Shabab militants and liberated over 20 villages during security operations carried out in two regional states on Sunday, the government said.

Somalia’s President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, has said that the government forces and the countries that support them will target the territory held by the Al Shabab group. President Hasan, who was speaking at the closing of the Mogadishu meeting of the Somali leaders, said that the government forces would target al-Shabaab militias in central and southern Somalia.

South Sudan

South Sudan on Wednesday (September 07) commended China for the deepening bilateral relations in multiple areas of cooperation between the two countries. The Vice President and Chairperson of the Services cluster, Hussein Abdelbagi Akol said China plays significant roles in the delivery of services in the country. The Vice President made the remarks during a ceremony at which he awarded certificates of services to Chinese skilled workers and experts in various fields of services and areas.

South Sudan’s First Vice President, Riek Machar has commended the chairman of Sudan’s Sovereign Council, Gen Abdel Fattah Al-Burhan for breaking the deadlock on sharing the unified command structure. He was speaking at Tuesday’s graduation of 21,000 members of the necessary unified forces to form a unified national army, police and other security forces.

Sudan

Nine embassies in Sudan, along with the AU-IGAD-UNITAMS Tilateral Mechanism and the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), welcomed on Monday (September 12) the Sudanese Bar Association’s (SBA) publication of a draft transitional constitution framework document for Sudan. The Embassies of France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and the United States consider the document a serious and encouraging initiative, with the potential to achieve a broadly acceptable and inclusive civilian-led government that can put Sudan on a path to democracy and elections.

The Sudan Troika—Norway, the UK, and the U.S. have welcomed the statement by a number of Sudanese civilian and military stakeholders, reaffirming their commitment to a civilian-led government in the country’s transition to democracy. The three countries further urged strong women’s representation in the new government. It is reported that the Head of the Sudanese Sovereignty Council, General Abdelfattah El Burhan, announced in a televised speech on July 4, 2022, that the military would no longer participate in the dialogue facilitated by the AU-IGAD-UNITAMS Trilateral Mechanism.

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed named the 2022 GIFA Laureate

On Wednesday, September 15, 2022, Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed was named the 2022 Laureate of the Global Islamic Finance Award by the London-based “Edbiz International Advisors” for his outstanding contributions to the reform of Ethiopia’s finance sector.

The Global Islamic Finance Award (GIFA) was founded as part of an advocacy campaign for the Islamic banking and finance industry. Since 2011, it has been held annually with its top award presented to heads of state or government (or equivalent) for their leadership and advocacy roles in promoting Islamic banking and finance in their respective jurisdictions or globally. The winners of the prestigious GIFA award are recognized as GIFA Laureates.

Held for the second time in Africa, earlier in Cape Town and now in Djibouti, this year’s event attracted a number of ministers and deputies from the government of Djibouti, key players of the Islamic finance industry at the global level, governors of central banks, ambassadors and representatives of the diplomatic corps and international organizations, members of the Panel of Experts, as well as important personalities from different parts of the world.

The award ceremony was preceded by a vibrant panel discussion session that deliberated on crucial themes relating to Islamic finance and governance, technology, innovation, and the potential of Islamic finance to drive the development of Africa.

During the award, President Ismail Omar Guelleh, who was also host of the 2022 GIFA Award, made an opening remark, noting that Global Islamic Finance is another area where the two brotherly countries can further regional cooperation by attracting FDI to the region and using it as a tool for economic development and inclusive growth that benefits all. The President added, “It’s a particular source of satisfaction to him to be able to present the 2022 GIFA Award to Prime Minister Dr. Abiy Ahmed, as the Prime Minister’s wisdom will further develop the Islamic Banking and Finance Sector in the Region.”

In his acceptance speech, the Prime Minister noted that he felt overwhelmed by a sense of gratitude as he learned that previous laureates included President Ismail Omar Guelleh and President Cyril Ramaphosa. As Abiy noted, a key part of our economic reform agenda is Ethiopia’s effort to strengthen the financial markets.

In the last four years alone, Ethiopia’s banking sector nearly doubled in terms of total assets, deposits, loans, and branch outreach. The bank’s assets are now more than 2 trillion Ethiopian Birr, growing by an average of 25% every year, added the Prime Minister.

It is to be recalled that in 2019, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed made a commitment to Ethiopians to reform the financial sector to allow a full-fledged Islamic banking in the country. It was not merely rhetoric. The National Bank of Ethiopia immediately issued the necessary directive to translate the commitment into the necessary policy and legal changes.

Ethiopia’s policy reform created a favorable regulatory environment for the creation of full-fledged IFB banks and Islamic windows in nearly all of the conventional banks and financial institutions in Ethiopia.

The IFB market segment in Ethiopia now has close to 14 million customers. These financial institutions have mobilized close to 135 billion in deposits in a short period of time with the enabling support of the Sharia Advisory Committee and the necessary Sharia compliance certification for their products and services.

During his speech, the PM stressed, “Ethiopia’s financial sector reform will not stop here,” adding his government’s commitment to open the banking sector for foreign investment. He stressed that this will ensure the suitability of the country’s growth by ensuring increased credit and foreign currency availability to the productive economic sectors.

Prime Minister Abiy concluded his remarks by noting that his government is determined to bring the country firmly into the international marketplace for ideas, capital, technology, and talent.

Present among other high-ranking officials were the Speaker of the Federal Parliament of Ethiopia, Agegnehu Teshager; the Minister of Peace, Binalf Anduwalem; Ministers Adem Farah and Minister Teklewold Atnafu, in charge of Finance; and Ambassador Berhanu Tsegaye, Ethiopia’s ambassador to Djibouti.

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Creating false balance between terrorists and legitimate Ethiopian government

Long before the TPLF’s third phase of aggression on August 24, the Ethiopian government had repeatedly expressed concerns about the group’s ongoing drumming up of conflict. It has issued many warnings about the unlawful flow of local and foreign funds into the TPLF’s coffers and the diverting of fuel reserves and humanitarian aid to the combatants rather than the intended beneficiaries in the Tigray region.

Unfortunately, a lot of media coverage about the conflict in northern Ethiopia is extremely problematic because they attempt to falsely equate both sides, creating the false impression that the legitimate Ethiopian government and the vocally belligerent TPLF group are equally responsible for the worrisome situation that exists today.

This is dangerously false and contributes to a policy process that has been unable to address the most pressing issues in Africa. Such coverage also rewards the TPLF for its misdeeds by placing equal blame on Ethiopia’s government and thereby legitimizing the rebels’ ill-founded accusations. Such a perception of the “Federal Government-TPLF” conflict only serves the TPLF’s military apparatus and its terrorist allies across the nation.

Although western media reporting, “scholarly” articles, and inputs from “conflict analysts’ are largely far from providing the necessary historical and empirical background that is required to make sense of the current situation, this article briefly touches the “grievances” TPLF proclaims as victims while the party itself is guilty.

Lift the humanitarian siege is what the mainstream media usually parrots from TPLF’s talking points. There is not any sort of siege being imposed on Tigray. Tons of situation reports from humanitarian organizations indicated improved access to the region. Lifesaving aid is reaching hundreds of thousands of people in dire need thanks to the government’s humanitarian truce.

The United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced that the risk of famine in Ethiopia’s Tigray Region was averted as the truce helped the organization deliver essential food aid to millions of people in the region. Since the humanitarian truce in April, almost 4,000 truckloads have arrived in the Tigray region, with no organization facing blockade. The international community also expressed its appreciation for the progress made in ensuring more regular access for humanitarian assistance to communities in need, as well as the cooperation of the federal government and authorities in the Afar and Tigray regional states in facilitating the delivery of this assistance.

While both international partners and humanitarian organizations were encouraging the parties to continue to build on this momentum and advance to talks to achieve a sustainable end to the conflict, the TPLF once again restarted the war, citing the non-existent humanitarian blockade.

The OCHA Situation Report stated that humanitarian supplies for humanitarian operations had been steadily flowing in August until the deterioration of the security situation. The recent development caused 218 trucks carrying humanitarian supplies, including 196 trucks carrying fertilizers, to not make their way through the Semera-Mekelle route. This is a fact.

Despite all this evidence, the media and analysts opted to share TPLF’s humanitarian blockade saga in their attempt to create a false balance. It is dangerous to equally distribute blame while the factual evidence is stacked heavily on one side. If the media is to blame, they should be bold enough to point out that by launching another aggression; the TPLF is causing disruption of lifesaving assistance.

The issue of the immediate restoration of banking, telecom, and electric services in the Tigray Region is another way the mainstream media assigns blame to the federal government. The TPLF has persisted in spreading a false narrative that implies as if the problem of service restoration can easily be restored with an on-and-off button that is centrally located.

To facilitate the technical repair work on the ground to restore the services, the government has made it clear to its partners and the general public on numerous occasions that the security and administrative arrangements within the Tigray region need to be cleared and put in place. Therefore, in order to carry out such technical tasks on the ground, an operational and enabling environment is required. And for this environment to emerge, the two sides have to talk. At the very least, talks to end the fighting.

The media do not say a word about the fact that, at the moment, with a belligerent and illegally armed group that is operating at its own whim and refusing to accept peace talks, the required enabling and secure environment is lacking for the restoration of services.

In conclusion, it must be understood that no one is claiming the federal government to be a blameless party. Keeping in mind the TPLF’s third round of aggression, the problem remains equating minor failings of the peace-seeking federal government with the continuously aggressive and destructive rebel groups in the name of being rational. Anyone interested in the Ethiopian conflict needs to devote more time to understanding the conflict dynamics before inadvertently obfuscating the situation more than illuminating it.

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Addis Ababa lauds South Sudan’s leaders’ commitment to peace

Ethiopia’s Defense Minister, Abraham Belay, as an envoy of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, participated in the graduation of the first batch of unified forces in South Sudan on August 30, 2022.

In his speech, Abraham congratulated the parties to the 2018 Addis Ababa Agreement for demonstrating impressive compromise by reaching an agreement and laying out a roadmap, which the parties launched earlier this month, and that deserves to be recognized. The graduation of unified forces is a significant milestone in ascertaining sustainable peace in South Sudan.

Though it appears difficult from the vantage point of where we stand today, the government of Ethiopia is highly optimistic that today’s event marks a great leap forward in ending the transitional period, as outlined in the roadmap put forward by the South Sudanese parties unanimously, he said.

The Minister also reiterates Ethiopia’s desire as a long-time sisterly ally of South Sudan and its people, encourages the parties to the agreement and all other South Sudanese stakeholders to hold on to this momentum, which will definitely improve the lives of the people of South Sudan, and Ethiopia’s government will continue to support the full and timely implementation of the agreement.

During his visit to Juba, the minister met with Taban Deng Gai, the vice president in charge of the Infrastructure Cluster, to discuss bilateral issues for the two countries, regional issues, and the challenges Ethiopia faced from either the Tigray Peoples Liberation Front (TPLF) or its alliance.

Abraham briefs the vice president on the terrorism acts of the TPLF and its allies in the country. He also explained to the Vice President that the Ethiopian government and its people stand for peace. That is why the Ethiopian government named its delegation for negotiation since it declared its intentions to negotiate with the TPLF under the auspices of the African Union anywhere and without preconditions.

Vice President Taban Deng Gai appreciated Ethiopia’s initiative to solve its internal problems with the TPLF in order for the country to return to peace. He also pointed out that the war in Ethiopia is not only between the federal government and the TPLF but between Ethiopia and the enemies of Ethiopia and beyond. The vice president emphasized that the stability of Ethiopia is not only for its people alone but in the region at large and beyond.

The Defense Minister and Vice President also exchanged views on the status of the two countries related to road construction and electricity connections across the border. The Vice President stated that the completion of road construction between the two countries will facilitate the border trade and easily transport crude oil from South Sudan via Ethiopia to Djibouti and then to the oil world market. It will also solve security-related issues on the border, while connecting electric cities across the border will hasten the development of both countries.

The Minister also met with the national security advisor to President Salva Kiir Mayardit, Tut Gatluak, and exchanged views on the status related to the recent meeting of security organs of the two countries as a follow up. Tut Gatluak appreciated the Ethiopia delegation for attending the graduation of the unified force, which showed their support and solidarity with the people of South Sudan as they strive to overcome their challenges.

Abraham and Tut also exchange views on regional issues, particularly the border issue between Ethiopia and Sudan and trilateral negotiations (between Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan) related to the GERD. Tut emphasizes the importance of both countries resolving border issues and the GERD peacefully.

The Minister also pointed out that Ethiopia is ready to strengthen the existing relationship between the two sisterly countries and to solve the dispute on the border amicably and peacefully.

On the other hand, Abraham emphasized that Ethiopia is committed to the AU-led trilateral negotiations with Sudan and Egypt on the GERD. The third filling of the GERD has been completed pursuant to the 2015 Declaration of Principles signed with Sudan and Egypt, without causing significant harm to the downstream countries.