Salaam salaam from Islington! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 27th of November twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

The Marburg Virus has continued its spread and claimed the lives of more people over the past week. The minister of health confirmed that the virus has spread to Hawassa in south-central Ethiopia via an individual who went to the city from Jinka, in the Southern Ethiopia region, where the cases of infection were first discovered.

Twelve cases have been confirmed, and seven individuals have passed away so far. The Minister of Health said health workers are tracking individuals with whom patients had contact and are working to get the outbreak under control.

Less than a week after Malaysia’s Prime Minister visited Ethiopia, another PM from Southeast Asia dropped by. Lawrence Wong from Singapore arrived on Sunday the 23rd in Addis and PM Abiy gave him a warm welcome at the National Palace. PM Abiy said the trip was an important step in strengthening relations between the two countries.

On Tuesday the 25th, he said they had productive talks, adding that cooperation between the two countries is beneficial for Ethiopia because it is trying to quickly and sustainably grow its economy, which Singapore has done over the past few decades. The two leaders also signed a memorandum of understanding on carbon financing.

Just a few days before hosting Wong, PM Abiy was in South Africa to attend the G20 summit. The Minister of Plan and Development said the fact that Ethiopia was invited shows the country’s growing influence in Africa.

The minister of finance was also part of the prime delegation to the summit and he said that, aside from attending the summit, delegates held bilateral meetings with the leaders of different countries, including Germany, India, and South Africa. The delegates also held talks with heads of international organizations such as the UN, the IMF and the World Bank.

In more international affairs, Ethiopia was confirmed as the host of the COP32 UN climate change conference a few weeks ago. On Wednesday the 26th, the Prime Minister picked Gideon Timotewos, the minister of foreign affairs, as the conference’s president-designate.

Taye Dendea, the former state minister of peace, was again charged with three counts of political crimes on Monday the 24th. Recall that he had been charged with various political crimes and arrested almost two years ago, but was later acquitted. Authorities released him last year, but he was detained again after a few months.

Two weeks ago, the court acquitted him on two charges, but found him guilty on one: unauthorized possession of firearms. On that day, the court said it would sentence him on Monday the 24th. But on Monday prosecutors charged him again.

The new charges include spreading propaganda supporting armed rebel forces, slandering the country’s armed forces and the ruling Prosperity Party.

More news from courtrooms, as prosecutors filed corruption charges against former top government officials on Friday the 21st. They said that some former government officials bought low-quality fertilizers and arranged for their transportation without a contract, costing the government over five and a half billion birr, which is around thirty-five million US dollars.

The former CEO of the Agricultural Businesses Corporation, the former deputy CEO of the Shipping and Logistics Enterprise, and a top official from the Ministry of Agriculture are accused of being involved in the corruption case. Prosecutors explained that when buying fertilizers, suspects violated several directives and contracts for their own selfish gain.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration is preparing a directive that will require importers to report more data about the products they’ll be importing. The ministry said the directive will help ensure that imports are up to the country’s standards and won’t harm people’s health or property.

An official from the ministry said the government has been monitoring imports after they’ve arrived in the country but the new directive will require importers to give the ministry more information about the imports, including where the products were made, which company produced them and whether the products have certificates indicating that they fulfill international standards.

Virtual gambling is growing among young people, and Ethiopia is no exception. A recent article published on the news site, Addis Standard, tells the story of a student at the Addis Ababa University who is addicted to gambling online. He says the hope of winning it big on gambling sites sometimes has him staring at his phone for the entirety of his classes.

On top of taking away from his education, his psychological health and social life have taken a hit. He also said he’s using the allowances his family gives him to gamble online, on top of money he borrows from his friends on campus. Many others are reporting similar experiences of being consumed by gambling.

The Ethiopian Lottery Administration, the government office that regulates games of chance, said virtual gambling games, except sports betting, are not allowed. Its director admitted that these youths got addicted due to gaps in enforcement.

An official from the Ministry of Jobs said that his office has not only increased the number of destination countries it is sending workers to, but also has started to find jobs abroad for college graduates.

He added that job seekers should log on to the ministry’s online portal to find openings abroad and register. He reminded people that they should avoid and report unlicensed agents.

Reporter, one of the most famous newspapers in the country, revealed on Wednesday the 26th that the Immigration and Citizenship Services has paused its standard passport issuing service. The article said that it talked to citizens who wanted to get passports and that the service has been stopped. They added that they weren’t told why or when they could expect the service to resume.

The premium service, which costs up to five times more than the standard, is still available and users can expect their application to take from two to five days before they can receive their new passports. Reporter said it reached out to the Service’s director but didn’t get a reply.

In business news, Ethio Telecom and Awash Bank announced last Thursday the 20th that they are partnering up to provide financing to workers who receive their wages through either Awash Bank or Ethio Telecom’s mobile money app, Telebirr. They said they’ll give loans equivalent to up to six months of their customers’ salaries, with a one million birr limit, which is around six thousand US dollars. Borrowers will be required to pay back within sixteen months.

They also announced that they’ll be working together to provide smaller, short-term loans to their customers starting from five thousand birr, which is around thirty US dollars. Awash’s CEO said the new deal with Ethio Telecom will increase its loan accessibility. By the end of the previous fiscal year, the bank had provided loans worth more than two hundred billion birr, which is almost 1.5 billion US dollars.

More news in finance as a radio station reported earlier this week that a new share company will join the insurance sector as the nineteenth addition. The company, Standard Insurance, has already received a license from the National Bank, which regulates the insurance sector.

Standard Insurance will also have a registered capital of a little over three hundred million birr, which is around two million US dollars. Members of the Awach savings and credit cooperative society are its founders and the society is also its largest shareholder. Standard is expected to open its doors to customers in just two weeks.

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

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