Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 14th of August twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

This past week, the state minister of plan and development said in a press conference that Ethiopia is planning to host the UN Climate Change Conference or COP. He said this during a press conference held to brief the media about preparations for the second African climate change conference, scheduled for early September.

Forty-five heads of government of African countries are set to take part in the conference, and Ethiopia is expected to spend seven billion birr, which is more than forty-five million US dollars. The twenty twenty-eight UN Conference will be held in Africa and the state minister said Ethiopia has the ability and willingness to host, adding that preparations to launch a bid are underway for the second-largest UN conference next to the General Assembly.

Speaking of the UN, Ethiopia’s Permanent Representative to the UN Office in Geneva, requested an extension for the deadline to remove anti-personnel land mines for the fourth time. Because the country is a party to the Ottawa Treaty, which aims to eliminate anti-personnel mines, it must take specific steps to demine and ensure clearance.

The office said it needs a deadline extension because the conflicts in the country and the lack of resources and data on the location of these mines have made it difficult to remove them. According to the office, mines are found all over Ethiopia, and the country needs an additional five years to comply with its obligations in the Ottawa Treaty.

More news from the UN as its office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs announced recently that it needs eighty billion birr, which is more than half a billion US dollars, to fund humanitarian aid in Ethiopia for the third quarter of twenty twenty-five alone. The office urged those concerned to meaningfully and directly participate in its efforts to help people who need aid.

The office said it will use these funds to support schools, help internally displaced people get back on their feet and prevent the spread of cholera, which has remained a concern and is expected to spread even more because of the rainy season that will continue for over a month.

Meanwhile, The National Dialogue Commission, which the government established to solve the country’s issues and address the concerns of different groups peacefully, said its commissioners will travel to various cities in foreign countries where there’s a significant number of Ethiopians to hear from the diaspora community about what they think are matters that the Commission should facilitate discussions about.

Starting next week, the Commissioners will head to Denver and Washington, D.C, and engage with the diaspora there for a week. They will also travel to Toronto, London, and Stockholm. The head commissioner said the commission has already completed the agenda collection phase in eleven regions and two cities in the country, with only the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia remaining.

On that note about Tigray, the media reported on Saturday the 9th that a regional task force formed to combat illegal mining seized over four hundred mining machines used to mine illegally. The task force, established late last year, said the region missed out on over seven billion birr, which is more than forty million US dollars, due to illegal mining and smuggling.

In addition to financial losses, the task force said illegal mining also damages the environment and results in pollution. Foreign nationals are reportedly involved in these operations that mainly mine gold in the region’s northwestern zone.

Talking about gold mining, reports came out on Monday the 11th that the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Ethiopian Investment Holdings, has invested in Akobo Minerals, a company based in Scandinavia, but that mines its gold in Ethiopia.

The investment marks the first time the fund invested in a foreign company, buying over seven percent stake for three million US dollars. The company is expected to use this amount to build a vertical shaft that is set to boost the company’s gold production from five to ten kilograms, to over fifty per month.

The state-owned corporation Ethiopian Electric Power (or EEP), which exports electricity to neighboring countries, announced last Thursday the 7th, at a press conference that it is reassessing the amount countries pay for the company’s electric power.

Its CEO said it is carrying out this revision upon request from the government, adding that it requires extensive studies and is expected to be completed sometime in this fiscal year, which recently began. He also said the EEP brought in almost a hundred and twenty million US dollars from exports alone and two hundred and twenty million US dollars from the power bills it charged data miners.

Last Monday the 11th, heavy rain mixed with snow damaged at least ten farms near Bishoftu in the Oromia region, in central Ethiopia. The companies that own these farms said that because of the extensive damage, they are facing significant financial losses, and work on these farms has stopped. The head of one company said the greenhouse, worth two million US dollars and made of metal and plastic, fell on the farm and damaged the farm’s produce.

The companies urged the government for its assistance, mainly through allowing the import of materials used to build greenhouses duty-free. After the mishap, a state minister of agriculture visited the farms and said a committee had been put together to assess the damage.

Shifting gears, at a recent Africa-China joint ministers council, China announced that it has decided to lift tariffs on imports from African countries. A spokesperson of Ethiopia’s Ministry of Trade said this decision will be subject to a deal China will sign with individual African countries and that Ethiopia will carefully assess the benefits and downsides of exporting its products to China tariff-free.

The spokesperson explained that although this development would benefit the country’s exports, it would also mean that Ethiopia would have to lower tariffs on Chinese imports, which could reduce government revenues.

In other news, recall that last year, the Ministry of Education suspended universities from giving honorary degrees to prevent universities from handing them out unjustifiably. According to the ministry, the universities were granting these degrees without proper investigation and showed favoritism in the process.

Now, the suspension has been lifted and the ministry issued a directive regulating the process of granting these honorary degrees. The new directive says universities will need to establish an eleven-person committee that tables nominees. The committee must include representatives from teachers’ associations and civil society organizations, among others.

Also, an honorary degree cannot be issued without the approval of the university’s senate board and the confirmation of the university’s president.

The Capital Market Authority’s Licensing and Monitoring Director said this past week at a training session for journalists about the capital market that it is reviewing the applications of eight companies to get their licenses. The companies applied for licenses that will allow them to participate in the investment banking and consultancy sectors.

The director refrained from saying the names of the applicants and when the authority will complete the review and communicate its decisions. However, the newspaper Reporter said that, according to its sources, banks Awash and Geda are among the applicants.

Closing this edition, recently, reports came out saying that on Tuesday the 5th the Federal Supreme Court ruled the removal of the general manager of the luxury estates developer company Country Club Developers. The case has gone on for over a year and it started when a part-owner of the company sued the general manager, who also owns fifty percent of the company.

The part owner who sued the manager said he hasn’t been presenting accurate financial reports and has delayed the construction of properties, affecting his and the company’s customers’ rights.

Even though the plaintiff originally asked the court to either dissolve the company or force the manager’s shares to be bought out, the Federal High Court decided that firing the manager from his position would be enough. The Supreme Court upheld this ruling following the manager’s appeal.

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

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