Ethiopia - The African Mirror

Feb

2024

Ethiopia intelligence head Temesgen approved as deputy prime minister

ETHIOPIA'S parliament approved the appointment of intelligence service chief Temesgen Tiruneh as deputy prime minister, replacing Demeke Mekonnen, who had served in the role for 11 years, the government said. In addition, parliament accepted the nomination of Taye Atske Selassie, a former ambassador to the United Nations, as foreign minister. Demeke has also served as foreign minister since 2020. Temesgen, who has coordinated the government's response to a conflict that broke out last year in the Amhara region, was elected in late January to succeed Demeke as a vice president of the ruling Prosperity Party. A vice president of the party typically…

Feb

2024

By The African Mirror

Ethiopian protest music: the songs of Hachalu Hundessa reveal the struggles of the Oromo people

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

THE Oromo are the largest ethno-national group in Ethiopia, accounting for over 40 million people or more than one-third of the population. However, they have been politically oppressed, economically exploited and culturally marginalised under successive Ethiopian regimes. Since the 1960s, the Oromo have sought self-determination through various forms of resistance, such as armed struggle under the banner of the Oromo Liberation Front. ASEBE REGASSA DEBELO, Senior research and teaching fellow, Department of Geography, University of Zurich Music has played a key role in the Oromo resistance movement. As is the case in many other societies – especially those where open…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia’s deputy PM Demeke to be replaced by spy chief Temesgen

NEWS

ETHIOPIA'S deputy prime minister Demeke Mekonnen, who has occupied the post for over 11 years under three successive prime ministers, will be replaced by spy chief Temesgen Tiruneh, a senior government official told Reuters on Friday. Temesgen was elected to succeed Demeke as a vice president of the ruling Prosperity Party, state-run media reported. A vice president of the party typically serves as deputy prime minister. Demeke has been a face of continuity during a turbulent period in Ethiopian politics. He was appointed to the post after the death of longtime prime minister Meles Zenawi in 2012 and survived a…

Jan

2024

By TIKSA NEGERI

Ethiopia’s Ethio Telecom posts 14% rise in half-year earnings

NEWS

ETHIOPIAN state-owned telecoms company Ethio Telecom posted a 14% rise in half-year profit helped by growth in its mobile phone-based financial service Telebirr. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose to 19.77 billion birr ($352 million) while revenue grew by 26% to 42.86 billion, CEO Frehiwot Tamiru said in a statement. Subscribers to Telebirr, launched in May 2021, grew to 41 million of its 74.6 million total subscribers, Frehiwot said while handling transactions worth 910.7 billion birrs. Ethio Telecom, a former monopoly, competes with Safaricom Ethiopia, which launched commercial mobile network services in October 2022 after winning the…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

President Sisi says Egypt will not allow any threat to Somalia or its security

NEWS

EGYPT will not allow any threat to Somalia, President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said after Ethiopia said it would consider recognising an independence claim by Somaliland in a deal that would give it access to a seaport. The remarks were the strongest yet made on the issue by Egypt, which already has frosty relations with Ethiopia, and were a sign that Cairo may get involved in a dispute that has raised fresh tensions in the volatile Horn of Africa. Somaliland declared independence from Somalia in 1991 but has not won recognition from any country. The port lease deal, which was agreed…

Jan

2024

By The African Mirror

AfDB to resume Ethiopia work after assurance on security, probe into funds

NEWS

The African Development Bank (AfDB) said that all its international staff would return to Ethiopia a month after it withdrew the employees following an assault on staff members by government security forces. The bank will resume normal operations in the country after receiving an assurance of security from the authorities, an AfDB statement said. In a meeting between AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed late last month Abiy issued an apology to AfDB and assured the bank and its staff of safety and security, the statement said. It added that the Ethiopian government had committed to cooperate on investigations…

Jan

2024

By ABDI SHEIKH and ABDIQANI HASSAN

Somalia rejects port deal between Ethiopia and Somaliland

NEWS

SOMALIA rejected a pact its breakaway region of Somaliland signed with Ethiopia allowing it to use a major port with access to the Red Sea in return for recognition as an independent state, saying the agreement had no legal force. Somalia, which views Somaliland as part of its territory, also summoned its ambassador to Ethiopia for deliberations over the agreement signed by Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and Somaliland leader Muse Bihi Abdi on Monday. The agreement would allow landlocked Ethiopia, which relies on neighbouring Djibouti for most of its maritime trade, to lease 20 km around the port of…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Fitch cuts Ethiopia’s Eurobond to ‘default’ after missed payment

BUSINESS

FITCH downgraded the rating on Ethiopia's only international government bond to "default" from "near default" after the East African country failed to make a $33 million coupon payment. Ethiopia became Africa's third default in as many years on Tuesday after it failed to make the payment on the $1 billion Eurobond. While the payment was due on December 11, a 14-day grace period clause meant it technically had until Tuesday to provide the money. The agency also lowered Ethiopia's long-term foreign currency rating to "RD" or restricted default, from "C". It does not assign outlooks to sovereigns rated "CCC+" or below. Ethiopia requested…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Sudan RSF leader visits Ethiopia in first public wartime tour

NEWS

THE leader of Sudan's paramilitary Rapid Support Forces visited Ethiopia where he said he discussed the need for a swift end to the war between the RSF and the Sudanese army, during the second leg of a rare publicly-announced foreign tour. RSF leader General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, whose whereabouts since the war began in mid-April were previously unknown, landed in Ethiopia's capital Addis Ababa after meeting Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni at his country home on Wednesday. Diplomatic efforts, including Saudi and U.S.-led talks in Jeddah, have made little visible progress towards halting the conflict in Sudan. The RSF has recently made military…

Dec

2023

By The African Mirror

Ethiopia becomes Africa’s latest sovereign default

BUSINESS

ETHIOPIA became Africa's third default in as many years after it failed to make a $33 million "coupon" payment on its only international government bond. Africa's second most populous country announced earlier this month that it intended to formally go into default, having been under severe financial strain in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and a two-year civil war that ended in November 2022. It had been supposed to make the payment on December 11, but technically had up until Tuesday to provide the money due to a 14-day 'grace period' clause written into the $1 billion bond. According…