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☆ Facebook depends on local partners to flag hateful content. In Ethiopia, those partners say they were ignored.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-15 | by ( Tekendra Parmar | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +31 min

Trusted partners say warnings were ignoredInsider spoke with six current and former trusted partners from Ethiopia who said that Facebook routinely ignored their pleas to take down content that they deemed hateful or likely to incite violence. Some of the trusted partners declined to be named because they've faced death threats and fear for their own safety. Multiple trusted partners in Ethiopia said hate speech is still proliferating on the platform. Rafiq Copeland, a senior adviser at InterNews, one of Meta's longest-standing trusted partners globally, told Insider that the core complaints of trusted partners in Ethiopia have come up in other Rest of World countries. Even in Addis Ababa, it seemed that everyone knew about the Facebook posts, and many people now saw him as a traitor.

☆ Exclusive: Ethiopia seeking $2 billion under IMF program, sources say
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - Ethiopia is in talks with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to borrow at least $2 billion under a reform program, four sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. In this first debt analysis, the IMF calculated that Ethiopia is set to face a financing gap of at least $6 billion until 2026, according to two sources close to the negotiations. That would still leave a funding hole of roughly $4 billion over that period should the country succeed in securing the amount under discussion. Talks are still ongoing in Washington this week during the IMF and World Bank spring meetings. "The scope of the support for Ethiopia is yet not set in stone, both parts are still working on the debt sustainability analysis," one of the sources said.

☆ Aid group says two employees killed in Ethiopia's Amhara region
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, April 10 (Reuters) - Two Catholic Relief Services (CRS) workers were shot and killed on Sunday in Ethiopia's Amhara region, the charity said, amid violent anti-government protests triggered by a federal government decision to disband regional special forces units. Spokespeople for Ethiopia's federal government and for the Amhara regional government did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Residents in the town of Dessie reported large protests there on Monday, with young people blocking the roads and burning tyres. Amhara forces fought alongside the federal army in that conflict. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed says the integration of the regional special forces is needed to ensure national unity in a country with a long history of inter-ethnic conflict.

☆ Gunfire, protests in Ethiopia's Amhara over plan to disband regional force
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

ADDIS ABABA, April 9 (Reuters) - Gunfire was heard in at least two towns in Ethiopia's Amhara region on Sunday as thousands protested against a federal government order to integrate regional special forces into the police or national army, residents said. Spokespersons for Ethiopia's federal government and army and for the Amhara regional government could not be immediately reached for comment. In fact it was simply organising regional forces under federal security institutions, it quoted him as saying. Special forces and militias from Amhara fought in support of the federal army during its two-year war in the neighbouring Tigray region. They say the dissolution of their region's special forces would leave them vulnerable to attacks from Tigray and Oromiya.

☆ In southern Ethiopia, drought kills livestock amid fears of what comes next
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

[1/5] Roba Galgalo, 26, walks next to his emaciated cows at Kura Kalicha camp for the people internally displaced by drought near Das town, Oromiya region, Ethiopia March 7, 2023. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriKURA KALICHA, Ethiopia, April 6 (Reuters) - After three years of failed rains, the animals in the southern Ethiopian village of Kura Kalicha are dying. Like its neighbours Somalia and Kenya, southern Ethiopia is enduring the Horn of Africa's worst drought in decades. “Collectively, as communities they have run out of coping mechanisms,” said Kate Maldonado from international aid agency Mercy Corps, who recently visited southern Ethiopia's Somali region. The population across much of southern Ethiopia's lowlands relies overwhelmingly on its livestock, with diets supplemented by basic crops like maize.

☆ IMF team in Ethiopia for talks on new funding programme -Bloomberg News
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 27 (Reuters) - International Monetary Fund officials are in Ethiopia this week doing technical work to prepare for a potential IMF-supported program for the East African country, an IMF spokesperson said on Monday. This week's technical discussions follow ongoing discussions between the IMF and Ethiopian authorities on how to best address humanitarian and economic challenges, the spokesperson added. Bloomberg, which first reported the IMF visit, said officials from the global lender were expected to stay 10 days. Progress on the IMF program and Ethiopia's request for debt relief under the Group of 20 Common Framework had been stalled due in part to the conflict in Tigray. Reporting by Akanksha Khushi in Bengaluru and Andrea Shalal in Washington; Editing by Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Ethiopia scraps bid to end UN-ordered Tigray abuses probe early - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Emma Farge | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

GENEVA, March 23 (Reuters) - Ethiopia has dropped a draft motion that sought to bring an early end to a U.N. mandated investigative probe into the Tigray war, diplomats and observers told Reuters, after pressure from Western countries. The International Commission on Ethiopia, the only independent probe into the two-year conflict which pitted Ethiopia's army against forces in the northern Tigray region, has already found reasonable grounds to believe that all parties have committed war crimes. The U.S. also determined this week that all sides including the Ethiopian and Eritrean armies had committed war crimes - allegations they both reject. But five diplomats and human rights sources said Ethiopia had since backed off amid pressure. Ethiopia has opposed the investigation from the outset, calling it politically-motivated and trying to block its funding, preferring national accountability efforts.

WASHINGTON, March 20 (Reuters) - The United States has determined that all sides committed war crimes during the conflict in northern Ethiopia that killed tens of thousands of people, left hundreds of thousands facing hunger and displaced millions, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Monday. Members of the ENDF, Eritrean forces, and Amhara forces also committed crimes against humanity, Blinken told reporters, including murder, rape and other forms of sexual violence and persecution. Members of the Amhara forces committed the crime against humanity of deportation or forcible transfer and committed ethnic cleansing through their treatment of Tigrayans in western Tigray, Blinken said. "In terms of what happens next in Ethiopia, including what process they establish to provide for justice, for accountability, we'll see. The United States was outspoken in its criticism of alleged atrocities by Ethiopian forces and their allies from Eritrea and the Amhara region during the Tigray war.

☆ Ethiopia's Tigray region appoints new interim leader - Tigrai TV
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-18 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) fought Ethiopian forces and their allies in a war that killed tens of thousands of people. If Getachew's nomination, which was reported by the TPLF-controlled Tigrai TV, is approved by the federal government, he would replace TPLF leader Debretsion Gebremichael, who has led Tigray since 2018. It is not clear when the federal government might weigh in on Getachew's nomination or when the interim administration will be set up. The lack of an interim government has been hampering the humanitarian response across Tigray, where millions are in dire need of assistance, according to aid workers. During that visit, Blinken discussed with Getachew and Ethiopian officials the importance of setting up the interim administration.

☆ Analysis: Cash-strapped countries face IMF bailout delays as debt talks drag on
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-02 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +7 min

IMF funding is often the sole financial lifeline available to countries in a debt crunch, and key to unlocking other financing sources, with delays putting pressure on government finances, companies and populations. Though staff agreements can be reached without financing assurances, the IMF board needs them to approve the programme. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said on Wednesday the country is willing to "constructively" participate in solving debt problems of relevant countries under a multilateral framework. But Beijing has always emphasised all creditors should follow the principle of "joint action, fair burden" in debt settlements. Adding another layer of complexity to these debt talks, the Common Framework doesn't lay out precise rules on how a debt restructuring with bilateral creditors should work.

[1/3] An Ethiopian boy who fled the ongoing fighting in Tigray region, gestures in the Hamdayet village, in eastern Kassala state, Sudan December 15, 2020. The Ethiopian government's two-year conflict with forces in the northern Tigray region ended last November with thousands dead and millions uprooted. Though the Geneva-based U.N. Human Rights Council has never ended a probe before its mandate, Addis Ababa has circulated a draft version of a resolution calling for the Tigray inquiry to stop some six months early. AFRICAN OPPOSITIONThe war pitted the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) against federal troops, who were also backed by fighters from nearby Amhara region and Eritrea. Reporting by Emma Farge, Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber; Additional reporting by Dawit Endeshaw in Addis AbabaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

"There have been a number of approaches, but so far without getting any response" from the government, the source added. But progress has been complicated by a two-year civil war that broke out in November 2020, killing thousands of people and displacing millions. The international bond only makes up a small part of the country's total external government debt, which stood at $27.4 billion in the third quarter of last year, according to World Bank data. International bondholders have not formed a private creditors committee for the extension proposal because Ethiopia has continued to service the bond normally, two of the sources added. Recent filings show that Franklin Templeton Fixed Income Group and Allianz Global Investors U.S. LLC are some of the holders of the bond, according to EMAXX data.

☆ African countries are charged 'extortionate' rates on debt, U.N. chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"We need a new debt architecture that provides debt relief and restructuring to vulnerable countries," he said. "The global financial system routinely denies (developing countries) debt relief and concessional financing while charging extortionate interest rates." Governments on the continent, including Ethiopia, sought debt restructuring deals under an IMF programme to help them navigate the crisis, but conclusion of the process has been delayed. Others, which have not sought to restructure their debt, like Kenya, have seen their debt sustainability indicators worsen after the pandemic hit their finances. "African countries cannot... climb the development ladder with one hand tied behind their backs," he said.

☆ Debt-laden African countries charged 'extortionate' rates, U.N. chief says
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-18 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

ADDIS ABABA, Feb 18 (Reuters) - African countries are getting a raw deal from the international financial system which charges them "extortionate" interest rates, the U.N. chief said on Saturday, as he announced $250 million in crisis funding, including for famine risk on the continent. "The global financial system routinely denies (developing countries) debt relief and concessional financing while charging extortionate interest rates," he said. The coronavirus pandemic pushed many poor countries into debt distress as they were expected to continue servicing their obligations in spite of the massive shock to their finances. Public debt ratios in sub-Saharan Africa are at their highest in more than two decades, the International Monetary Fund said last year. "African countries cannot... climb the development ladder with one hand tied behind their backs," Guterres said.

☆ Ghana bilateral lenders in talks to form official creditor committee
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-13 | by ( Jorgelina Do Rosario | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Ghana's bilateral lenders are discussing the formation of an official creditor committee, a first step needed to engage in debt relief talks for the crisis-hit country, according to two sources with direct knowledge of the matter. The Paris Club of creditor nations has contacted other bilateral creditors, such as China, to engage on forming the committee and deciding who would chair it, one of the sources said. China is Ghana's single biggest bilateral creditor with $1.7 billion of debt, while Ghana owes $1.9 billion to Paris Club members, according to data from the International Institute of Finance. COMMON FRAMEWORK TALKSAn official creditor committee is a key step for Ghana to formally seek financing assurances from bilateral creditors stating they are willing to enter a debt rework process. Ghana has said it hopes for a rapid debt overhaul, though other countries undergoing common framework treatment have faced slow progress.

☆ Social media restricted in Ethiopia after church rift turns violent
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NAIROBI, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Access to social media platforms has been restricted in Ethiopia, Internet watchdog NetBlocks said, following violent protests sparked by a rift within the country's Orthodox Church. The protests broke out in the Oromiya region when three church officials declared themselves archbishops last month and set up their own governing body. At least 30 people have been killed in protests since Feb. 4, the church said in a statement on Thursday. The Ethiopian state has traditionally maintained close ties to the Orthodox Church, to which more than 40% of the population adheres. The Orthodox Church vowed in its statement that Sunday's protest would go ahead.

☆ Eritrea president says rights violations by Eritrean troops in Ethiopia "a fantasy"
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Ayenat Mersie | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

NAIROBI, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki said on Thursday that reports of Eritrean troops committing human rights violations during the conflict in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region were "a fantasy" and "misinformation". Eritrean troops fought alongside the Ethiopian military and allied militias in the bloody two-year conflict that pitted the Ethiopian government against rebellious forces in the northern region of Tigray. In November, the Ethiopia government and the Tigray forces signed an agreement to end the hostilities. During the war, Eritrean troops were accused by residents and human rights groups of various abuses, including the killing of hundreds of civilians in Axum during a 24-hour period in November 2020. At a news conference in Nairobi Afwerki called the allegations of human rights abuses by Eritrean troops "a fantasy of those who went to derail the peace process... a factory of fabricating misinformation."

☆ Ethiopian PM meets Tigray region leaders for first time since peace deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed attends his last campaign event ahead of Ethiopia's parliamentary and regional elections scheduled for June 21, in Jimma, Ethiopia, June 16, 2021. REUTERS/Tiksa Negeri/File PhotoADDIS ABABA, Feb 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed met senior leaders of the Tigray region forces on Friday for the first time since they signed a peace deal with the national government ending two years of war, the state-run broadcaster said. The Addis Ababa government and forces of the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) signed agreements in November to permanently cease hostilities, ending fighting that killed tens thousands and displaced millions. Friday's meeting was Abiy's first with senior administrators of the northern Tigray region since the fighting broke out. Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw; writing by George Obulutsa; editing by Mark HeinrichOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Lavrov shores up Eritrean support for Russia over Ukraine conflict
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-27 | by ( Duncan Miriri | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

NAIROBI, Jan 27 (Reuters) - Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki on Thursday on a tour of Africa to shore up support for Russia, focusing on the "dynamics of the war in Ukraine", Eritrea's information minister said. "We are thankful to Eritrean friends for their consistent support of Russian initiatives in the UN," Lavrov was quoted as saying by Russian state news agency TASS. The talks in Eritrea also explored ways of enhancing ties in energy, mining, information technology, education and health, Information Minister Yemane Meskel said on Twitter late on Thursday. "The sad fact is that Ukraine is both a pretext and victim of this policy," Osman said during the speech delivered in Massawa. There was no mention of the conflict in Ethiopia's Tigray region, where Eritrean troops fought alongside their Ethiopian federal counterparts against rebellious Tigrayan forces.

☆ U.S. safety board chair rebukes Ethiopia over Boeing 737 MAX report
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-25 | by ( David Shepardson | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

WASHINGTON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) on Tuesday faulted Ethiopia's final report into the March 2019 Boeing 737 MAX fatal crash and said investigators did not adequately address the performance of the flight crew. NTSB chair Jennifer Homendy said in an interview that Ethiopia's Aircraft Investigation Bureau (EAIB) had made errors in its report. "It's unprecedented -- under ICAO we get a right to review the report and to provide comment," Homendy said. The NTSB said the Ethiopian report's finding that aircraft electrical problems caused erroneous AOA output was "unsupported by evidence." The NTSB added that the Ethiopia report's finding that MCAS documentation for flight crews was "misleading since Boeing had provided the information to all 737 MAX operators four months before the Ethiopian Airlines crash."

☆ Eritrean troops seen leaving Ethiopian town of Shire
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-21 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Tigray war is believed to have resulted in tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of deaths and forced millions to flee their homes. Witnesses and an Ethiopian official reported last month that Eritrean soldiers were leaving Shire and two other major towns, but many ended up staying behind. A Shire resident said the Eritrean convoys were seen leaving the town from early in the morning until about 5 p.m. on Friday. All Eritrean troops in the town seemed to have left by Friday evening, he said. A second aid worker said hundreds of Eritrean vehicles had left Shire but that some soldiers remained in the town.

☆ Ethiopia deputy finmin: rumour of FX devaluation "completely unfounded"
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-19 | by ( Rachel Savage | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"There is widespread rumour that devaluation is in the making. loading"A sensible macro reform is always our agenda but there should not be any concern about mere devaluation." Ethiopia currently operates a managed exchange rate for the birr, allowing it to depreciate gradually against the dollar. In 2020, the IMF recommended moving to a market-clearing exchange rate regime, to deal with an overvalued currency and FX shortages. "So the exchange rate unification remains one important policy goal, but we are just doing it gradually."

☆ Ethio Telecom posts H1 growth in revenue, financial service subscribers
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-12 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

[1/2] Ethio Telecom employees serve a customer inside their call centre in the Bole neighborhood branch in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia July 29, 2022. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriADDIS ABABA, Jan 12 (Reuters) - Ethiopia's state-owned Ethio Telecom on Thursday reported a 20% rise in half-year revenue to 33.8 billion birr ($633 million). Subscribers to its mobile phone-based financial service Telebirr, launched in May 2021, grew to 27.2 million out of its 70 million total subscribers, CEO Frehiwot Tamiru told a news conference. That was up from 21.8 million Telebirr subscribers in June 2022. Efforts to attract investment have been hampered, however, by a two-year war in the northern Tigray region, which has killed tens of thousands and displaced millions.

☆ Africa should not be arena for international competition, says Chinese foreign minister
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-11 | by ( Dawit Endeshaw | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

[1/6] China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang addresses delegates at the inauguration of the new Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention headquarters, which China is building and equipping in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, January 11, 2023. REUTERS/Tiksa NegeriADDIS ABABA, Jan 11 (Reuters) - Africa should not be an arena for competition between world powers, China's Foreign Minister Qin Gang said on Wednesday, opening a new headquarters for a pan-African health body at the start of five-country Africa tour. "Africa should be a big stage for the international cooperation, not an arena for major countries competition," Qin said at a news conference with AU Commission chair Moussa Faki. A trusted aide of President Xi Jinping and former ambassador to the United States, Qin was appointed foreign minister last month. Paul Nantulya, a research associate at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, said the choice of countries reflected China's diversity of interests in Africa.

REUTERS/Francis KokorokoLONDON/ACCRA, Jan 10 (Reuters) - Ghana requested on Tuesday to restructure its bilateral debt under the common framework platform supported by the Group of 20 major economies, a source familiar with the situation told Reuters. Ghana's debt restructuring under the common framework aims to include non-Paris club members, such as China in debt relief talks. Reuters reported first on Thursday that Ghana was seeking debt treatment under the G20 programme. Some bondholders said Ghana opting to go down the common framework route put the prospect of a swift resolution further out of reach. "With the common framework and the poor track record on the timeline for that, it just makes things more uncertain," said Anders Faergemann, portfolio managers at PineBridge Investments.

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