Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 15th of January twenty twenty-six. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

Kicking off this edition, the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission said it paid a visit to the Kilinto jail in the outskirts of Addis Ababa and found that it is holding more detainees than it has the capacity to, which has led to congestion. It also said facilities are worn out, the amount of money prisoners are allowed to have on them is not enough to cover their basic needs and that underage detainees aren’t held in separate quarters from adults.

The commission also reported positive developments including written notices that explain detainees’ rights and responsibilities and the availability of free legal services provided in collaboration with volunteers and civil society organizations.

The commission was in the news again as it held a forum last Friday the 9th for Federal First Instance Court judges who specialize in cases concerning children, women and family affairs. Participating judges said they’d like to see a separate bench in courts dedicated to victims of domestic violence, mainly women and children.

They also said they want an improved justice system that will ensure cases involving women and children progress at pace. They proposed increased witness protection and financial, health and psychological support for victims. The commission said it will keep monitoring the handling of women’s and children' s rights and give advice and recommendations to stakeholders to make changes.

In foreign affairs, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was in Djibouti on Sunday the 11th and had a meeting with Ismail Omar Guilleh, Djibouti’s President that, according to Abiy, focused on geopolitics, bilateral relations and regional stability.

He also visited the Doraleh Port, which serves as one of Ethiopia’s main gateways to the sea. PM Abiy’s trip comes just two weeks after Egypt and Djibouti signed several deals on energy and logistics, which Ethiopia is concerned about because it has had a feud with Egypt mainly over the Nile River.

Gideon Timotewos, The PM’s Foreign Minister, went to another neighboring country a few days after the PM’s trip to Djibouti. The foreign minister met with Salva Kiir Mayardit, South Sudan’s President on Wednesday the 14th.

They discussed bilateral and regional issues and emphasized the importance of economic cooperation. The ministry said the talks specifically focused on expanding road and energy connections between the two nations.

The Ministry of Labor and Skills released the fifth edition of its labor market intelligence report which revealed shocking statistics about registered businesses in the country. The report said over the past two years alone, over eighty percent of registered businesses had their licenses scrapped and that only about a hundred thousand businesses are registered at the Ministry of Trade.

The report said the steep decline doesn’t necessarily show that the economy is slowing down and that there are several other reasons for the drop, including lack of financing, rule changes and license revocations of inactive businesses. The ministry of labor is worried about the effect the shutdown of many businesses may have on employment rates.

While some companies are struggling and leaving the market, it appears others are growing, as Dachi, a food processing company, announced that it has started selling a variety of canned food to the local and foreign markets, which it said is a first for the country. The company held a press conference on Tuesday the 13th to announce the launch of its new products, a total of six varieties of beans grown, processed and packed locally.

The company said each can contains four hundred grams, which is almost a pound and that there are plans to increase the amount to three kilograms (six pounds) soon. It has also earmarked the United Arab Emirates as one of the destinations for its exports. The company’s representatives said that not only will this decrease the imports of canned beans, but also benefit farmers. They said they plan to expand operations by making another sizable investment of seven hundred million US dollars.

Next up, according to an internal memo that US media outlet Fox said it obtained, the US has plans to stop issuing immigrant visas to seventy-five countries, including Ethiopia.

Fox reported that the US State Department decided to reduce the number of immigrants who rely on government support. Prospective immigrants who won the Diversity Visa lottery will also be affected by the change. The decision doesn’t concern non-immigrant visas, such as student and tourist visas.

On another note, Ethiopia has become a destination that bitcoin miners think about when they plan on expanding their operations. Several miners have started working there because the government offers affordable electricity compared to other countries. Recently, the government said it would stop issuing permits to more miners because it wants to satisfy local demand for regular electricity consumption.

Despite this restriction, the nation has entered the list of the top 10 mining countries, measured in hash rate, a technical term used to measure productivity in cryptocurrency mining. According to reports, the growth came as a result of mining by companies that had already received permits. The supplier, the Ethiopian Electric Power, said it brought in over two hundred million US dollars and wants to surpass three hundred million by the end of the current fiscal year.

The Ministry of Urban and Infrastructure Development announced this past Tuesday the 13th that the Council of Ministers had approved the country’s first-ever housing development policy. According to the measure, the government will take a back seat in housing development and let the private sector build eighty percent of new homes.

It added that the remaining twenty percent that the government will build will be distributed among persons with disabilities, with low-income and senior citizens. The ministry also said the policy document focuses on solving longstanding problems such as land supply and finance shortages.

On a tragic note, an Ethiopian man and two Turkish individuals were the victims of a deadly attack that robbers from a pastoralist community launched on Monday the 12th in south western Ethiopia. Turkish media reported that one of the two Turkish nationals who passed away was a prominent businessman in the mining industry, who was reportedly in part responsible for opening up his country’s marble resource to the global market.

The two Turkish tourists were visiting the area with their Ethiopian driver when the perpetrators opened fire. The region’s communication bureau said a law enforcement operation has been launched.

In sports news, the massive Adey Ababa National Stadium under construction in the capital has passed the stadium standards evaluation of the International Federation of Association Football (or FIFA).

This is good news for the country, which is interested in hosting the next African Cup of Nations, the continent’s flagship football tournament. For over a year now, Ethiopia has not had a single stadium that met international standards and the national team was forced to play African and World Cup qualifiers matches abroad.

Wrapping up this edition, Famous streamer ishowSpeed was in Ethiopia this past week and said the visit was a success as it resulted in a significant increase in the number of his subscribers. An article written in English published on the local news outlet Addis Insight revisited what went on behind the scenes. The outlet said that the visit was not spontaneous as it might have looked like, with the streamer walking the streets with fans crowding and trailing him..

The trip’s organizer said his team worked quietly for over two months, coordinating security and sites. The Ministry of Tourism, the Addis Ababa Tourism Bureau and the Prime Minister’s Office were reportedly involved in the preparations. The outlet wrote that Ethiopia delivered an authentic experience and that the views and attention that the trip generated is expected to help the country’s tourism.

To check out the full article with the link in the show notes.

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

Quick question, is there a specific monopoly in Ethiopia you think is a big problem? Let us know at info@rorshok.com

Ciao!