Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 12th of February twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

News outlet The Economist came out with yet another article about Ethiopia. This one is about concerns over another war breaking out in the northern parts of the country. The newspaper called the possibility of conflict in the region a sequel, since it predicts that, if there’s going to be a war, it’s going to be between the federal government and the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (or TPLF), which fought against each other for two years earlier this decade.

The Economist also mentioned that there were violent incidents in recent weeks, which quickly died down. Even though Ethiopia has rejected requests for mediation from the African Union, the news outlet said both the TPLF and the government have enough reasons to avoid fighting, including the fact that the TPLF has been weakened because of the war and efforts to recover from its aftermath and that Prime Minister Abiy’s government has numerous enemies and might not be able to ward them off while fighting another all-out civil war.

Read the full article with the link in the show notes.

Many are also concerned that a civil war in Ethiopia might worsen East Africa’s stability as a whole and could tie in with the civil war in Sudan. According to Reuters, Ethiopia is involved in that conflict as well, hosting a training camp for Sudan’s Rapid Support Forces (or RSF), which are fighting against Sudan’s Armed Forces.

Reuters added that it has it on good authority that the camp is located in the remote parts of the Benishangul-Gumuz region in western Ethiopia along the Ethiopia-Sudan border. The British news agency also said the United Arab Emirates (UAE), which is widely believed to support the RSF, financed the construction of the camp.

The UAE has been an important ally to PM Abiy’s administration. But now it seems another country from the Middle East is looking to strengthen relations with Ethiopia as Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Minister headed to Addis Ababa on Wednesday the 11th just a week after his Ethiopian counterpart went to Saudi’s capital for a work trip.

Saudi Arabia’s foreign minister met with PM Abiy. The two reportedly discussed ways to strengthen bilateral relations and cooperation on regional and global issues. PM Abiy posted on his Twitter account that the talks were productive, while the Saudi’s foreign ministry said their discussions focused on regional security.

The general election is coming up later this year, and prominent politicians are making moves. Desalegn Chanie, who was a member of the opposition party National Movement of Amhara and who also managed to win a seat in Parliament in the previous general election, announced that he’s going to sit this one out.

He said that the government’s repression of people and organizations in the civic space has led him to believe that his efforts for positive change won’t make a difference.

Meanwhile, remember that the National Dialogue Commission was established four years ago to foster dialogue and help change the country’s politics for the better. However, it has been struggling to proceed according to plan, mainly because the interim administration in the Tigray region has not been welcoming. Commissioners appeared in Parliament to talk about the commission’s work over the past six months.

Members of Parliament said they want to see the dialogue phase begin as soon as possible while commissioners responded that without Tigray’s inclusion, it wouldn’t yield satisfactory results. The commission was supposed to be active until the end of last year, but the Parliament extended the deadline.

Next up, the National Bank introduced numerous changes to foreign currency regulation on Wednesday the 11th. It said it should strengthen the foreign currency exchange market. The bank said it has decided to lift customs document requirements and compulsory reporting for residents returning to Ethiopia carrying foreign currency notes. The bank said residents are now free to bring in any amount of cash in foreign currency.

The bank has also raised the minimum deposit requirement to 100 US dollars for Ethiopians opening a foreign currency savings account. It has also allied all commercial banks to issue payment cards valid internationally to customers with foreign currency accounts.

More on finance. Last week, news broke that the initial agreement between Ethiopia, which failed to pay back loans it took from a group of countries, and its creditors fell apart. Less than a week later, France, one of the creditors, announced an individual restructuring deal that will change the terms of the loan Ethiopia borrowed from the country.

Ethiopia's Minister of Finance and France's Minister Delegate for Europe and Foreign Affairs signed the deal in Addis Ababa. Aside from the restructuring, France also agreed to donate over eighty million euros toward the country's ongoing economic reform.

In other news, the Ministry of Education announced on Monday the 9th that it will administer the annual national university entrance exam digitally, marking the first time ever that the exam will not feature paper-based tests. Minister Berhanu Nega revealed this at a performance review meeting, where he also added that preparations are underway and that his office is holding talks with Ethio Telecom to make sure that an uninterrupted and stable internet connection will be available.

He urged regions and cities’ education bureaus to ensure that there will be an adequate supply of digital test-taking devices and to help students become familiar with the digital format.

More news on education as the ministry made another important announcement. It said it will hold consultations with stakeholders before implementing the University Service plan, which requires senior university students to spend a year teaching in high school before they’re allowed to graduate. The minister announced the plan almost a year ago and was convinced that it would go ahead regardless of students’ and parents’ opposition.

However, the ministry might eventually cancel these plans. Speaking earlier this week to the media, an official from the ministry said there’s a chance that they might be scrapped if the community, including students, opposes them. The upcoming consultations will be used to determine where stakeholders, including members of parliament, stand on the subject.

Addis Ababa is welcoming leaders from almost all African nations, as it always does at this time of the year, for the African Union (AU) Summit. Aside from African leaders, numerous other prominent individuals, including Giorgia Meloni, Italy's PM, are expected to attend.

The government has amped up security accordingly, banning motorcycles starting from Wednesday the 11th and until the end of the summit. It has also reminded residents to expect detours as many roads leading to the AU headquarters will be closed for a brief period.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced plans to establish an administrative tribunal to decide exclusively on environmental protection cases. An official from the agency said an establishing document has already been drafted and after consultations with stakeholders, the Council of Ministers is expected to approve the document, officially forming the tribunal.

The official added that, in drafting the document and preparing to establish the tribunal, the agency has looked to nations with similar institutions, such as Italy and countries in the Caribbean. He also said that the tribunal will help ensure that corporations exploit resources without harming the environment.

And to close this episode, Ethiopian Airlines held a press conference on Tuesday the 10th about the company’s mid-year performance. Mesfin Tassew, the CEO, said the carrier brought in almost four and a half billion US dollars in revenue in the past six months alone, a fourteen percent increase compared to last year. He added that the airline has transported more than ten million travellers in that time span as well, a figure that has also seen a significant hike compared to last year.

He also said the first phase of building the new airport, which is expected to be the largest on the continent, has begun. Following the acquisition of seven new aircraft, the airline’s fleet has reached one hundred and forty-seven.

Aaand that’s it for this week! Thank you for joining us!

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Ciao!