Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 7th of August twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

The Ethiopian Human Rights Commission told media outlets on Monday the 4th of August that the House of People’s Representatives hasn’t invited it to present an annual report this year, which might mean that the executive is not bothered by human rights issues. The Commission is known to put pressure on the government to be accountable for human rights violations and to protect citizens’ human rights. The executive and the Commission haven’t always seen eye-to-eye, and the Commission has previously accused the government of interfering in its operations.

Still, the commissioner said that, according to the House’s rules, all governmental institutions must present a report to the House at least once a year.

The House is in recess and is unlikely to hear the Commission’s report until it reopens in the upcoming new Ethiopian year.

The International Organization for Migration (or IOM) also released a report saying that from January to June over a hundred and seventy thousand Ethiopians have been displaced due to man-made and natural causes. About half of them had to leave their homes because of conflicts, with many being from the Oromia region, the largest region in the country.

The IOM also said that previously displaced people in various parts of the country have not returned to their homes and are living in makeshift and temporary shelters. The IOM said that going forward it is going to focus its efforts on supplying more shelters for the displaced, adding that it will work on collecting more donations.

Next up, after months of diplomatic tension Ethiopia has finally appointed a new ambassador to Somalia in Suleiman Dedefo. Suleiman, the new ambassador, attended a ceremony on Monday the 4th where he presented his credentials to Somalia’s Foreign Minister. The two countries went ten months without ambassadors..

Relations between the two nations soured early last year when Ethiopia struck a deal with Somaliland, a breakaway state which Somalia claims as its own. Ethiopia said then that it would grant recognition to Somaliland in return for a sea outlet. Even though Ethiopia has persisted in its efforts to obtain an outlet, it agreed to de-escalate tensions with Somalia in late twenty twenty-four.

In news from the Tigray region in northern Ethiopia, the region’s interim administration said it will not be able to pay backlogs of teachers’ salaries citing budgetary shortages. Just last week, the region’s Supreme Court had ordered the administration to pay the teachers. The Court had issued an order to freeze the administration’s account so that it would not be used for anything else before the teachers get their salaries.

Recently, however, the administration said it had issued a new rule prohibiting the Court from freezing the administration’s funds. The administration’s vice president said that paying the teachers’ salaries immediately will only worsen budget issues and create further complications.

On another note, importers say they’re paying unreasonable amounts to intermediaries that help them gain access to foreign currency. They say these middlemen are heavily influencing the foreign currency exchange market, as they pay these intermediaries a percentage on top of what they pay the banks.

They add that neither banks nor the government is trying to get the matter under control and in some instances, these brokers are also working for the banks. This not only affects importers but also the prices of imported products.

Mamo Mihretu, the governor of the National Bank, recently acknowledged that importers have to face numerous challenges, including long wait times to receive foreign currency.

In other news, Ethiopian Airlines presented its annual report in a press conference held on Tuesday the 5th where CEO Mesfin Tassew revealed that it brought in slightly less revenue than projected. He said that several aircraft have been grounded because engine manufacturers Pratt and Whitney Canada and Rolls-Royce haven’t delivered orders yet.

The CEO said that because some of the company’s aircraft are grounded, the airline hasn’t managed to capitalize on high demand for domestic flights. He added that the engine and spare parts suppliers have promised to deliver late this year or early next year. The carrier also announced that preparations to build a large airport just outside the capital, Addis Ababa, are almost over.

It is winter in Ethiopia, and heavy rain is causing floods in various parts of the country. Even though there were mild floods in Addis Ababa this season, one more severe hit the Ilu and Sebeta Hawas districts in the Oromia region this past weekend. The administrator of one of the districts said neighboring districts are at risk as well.

The flood damaged huge areas of farmland and displaced over five thousand, with many seeking shelter in school buildings. Livestock was also lost.

The winter season will continue for at least another month, and the Ethiopian Meteorology Institute says there are risks of more floods as heavy rainfalls are expected in most parts of the country.

The Ministry of Health observed World Cancer Day on Tuesday the 5th for the second time in Ethiopia. Officials from the Ministry said during the event that non-contagious diseases. including lung cancer. have reached an all-time high in the country.

They cited alcohol, cigarette use, increased processed foods consumption, a sedentary lifestyle, less exercise, less manual work, and the rise in urbanization as reasons why cases of these diseases have reached the highest they’ve ever been. The Ministry’s non-communicable diseases desk head said various government initiatives, including the bans on smoking in public spaces, have contributed to preventing cancer.

On another note, the amendment to the rules regulating civil society organizations, which has been strongly criticized for granting the government excessive powers, has been modified. There was a provision in the amendment that barred organizations from appealing to courts a government board decision to suspend them. The Ethiopian Civil Society Organizations’ Council said recently that the government has agreed to remove this provision.

The Council also said that the requirement in the draft amendment that made organizations report donations from abroad within fifteen days has changed; the drafters have agreed to extend the deadline to one year.

The Walia Ibex is a wild goat species common in the Semien Mountains in the Amhara region in northern Ethiopia. Conservationists are sounding the alarm as its population is fast declining. In the past decade, the number of Walias has plummeted by over fifty percent, with only two hundred and fifty mature Walias able to reproduce.

According to some organizations that monitor wildlife, this figure means the Walia species fulfills at least one criterion to be considered critically endangered. The number of Walias has fluctuated over the past four decades. Experts blame conflicts in the area for the recent population drop.

Meanwhile, Habesha Breweries, a share company that produces alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, is planning to get listed and traded on the Ethiopian Securities Exchange, the country’s first and only stock exchange. The company’s board chairman said that Habesha is going through a share sale registration process which the CBE Capital Investment Bank is handling.

According to a directive that the Capital Market Authority issued last year, companies like Habesha must register their shares with the Authority.

And for our final update, let’s talk about the taxi drivers who were promised new cars at a fair price over four years ago. These drivers own old models from the Russian car brand Lada. The government wants to phase them out and proposed a deal to facilitate duty-free imports of more modern vehicles.

However, some drivers who agreed and paid a down payment said they are yet to receive the cars they were promised. The company that agreed to import these vehicles said that it hasn’t managed to deliver mainly because it can’t import vehicles without a duty-free permit from the Addis Ababa Transport Bureau, which hasn’t issued these permits in over a year.

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

Did you know that we do lots of other updates? We’ve got non-country updates: The Arctic Ocean and Multilateral shows, and country updates, with a selection of nations from across the world.

Check the full list with the link in the show notes.

Ciao!