Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 9th of October twenty twenty-five. A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

For our first update of the week, let’s talk about the rising tensions between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Gideon Timotewos, the minister of foreign affairs, sent a letter to Antonio Guterres, the Secretary-General of the UN on Thursday the 2nd, accusing Eritrea and sub-groups of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (or TPLF) of collaborating to destabilize Ethiopia.

He said in the letter that the two have created an alliance named Tsimdo and that it was responsible for a recent attack against Ethiopia’s armed forces, adding that Eritrea and the TPLF are also preparing to start a war against Ethiopia. He also said that Eritrea is using Ethiopia’s ambitions of gaining an outlet to the Red Sea as an excuse, saying that it is worried Ethiopia might initiate an attack to forcefully get a hold of its coastline. He urged the international community to pressure Eritrea into stopping these provocations.

The TPLF was in the news again this week as it urged the National Election Board on Sunday the 5th to reinstate its legal personality and lift restrictions against its registration. The board canceled the party’s registration about four months ago. The party said this at an event it organized to discuss regional matters with thousands in attendance.

The TPLF said that the board’s restrictions violated the provisions of the Pretoria agreement, which the federal government and the TPLF signed to end a two-year-long war in twenty twenty-two. The board revoked the party’s registration earlier this year, saying the party didn’t comply with legal requirements, including the obligation to hold a general assembly.

From Tigray to Addis now, as members of the House of Federation, the upper house of Parliament, convened on Tuesday the 7th to discuss the funding that regions will receive from the federal government. Some members, mostly from newly formed regions, said the current budget allocation is unfair to these regions and should be revised.

Other members also talked about the importance of having an audit to monitor the use of funds that ministries have allocated to regions. They added that federal infrastructure projects underway in their regions have been delayed. They also said that the federal government is forcing the regions to pay compensation to residents affected by the executive’s infrastructural projects.

They also said federal infrastructure projects underway in their regions have been delayed and that the federal government is forcing the regions to pay compensation for those in their region that the federal government’s projects have affected.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed went to Nairobi, Kenya, Ethiopia’s neighbor to the south, and participated in the 24th leaders summit of the Common Market of Eastern and Southern Africa.

He gave a speech during the summit saying that digital transformation has presented a special opportunity to improve Africa’s economy, adding that his government has taken steps to develop digital infrastructure and citizens’ skills in digital technology.

Taye Atske-Selassie, the president and head of state, attended the Global Gateway Forum on Thursday the 9th and Friday the 10th, which the EU organizes to discuss projects it is funding all over the world.

On the sidelines of this forum, Ethiopia and the EU struck a strategic partnership agreement, which Taye Atske-Selassie and Ursula Von Der Leyen, the European Commission President, signed. The deal is set to build on previous EU support on various sectors such as digitalization, renewable energy, health and infrastructure.

In news outside politics, the public health institute of the Amhara region, in north central Ethiopia, said that there are around eight thousand reported cases of bites from dogs with rabies and over a hundred people have died. The institute said the disease is still spreading, with around two hundred new cases reported weekly.

A professional from the institute said if an infected person doesn’t get vaccine shots immediately, the disease can be fatal, adding that almost half of all deaths from the disease in the country are from the Amhara region. What’s worse is that the region doesn’t have enough funding to combat the disease’s spread, so many of those infected are resorting to traditional medicine.

Still in the Amhara region, residents of Woldiya city told media outlets that they’re having trouble accessing transportation services as the main transport service providers, bajajs (three-wheeled vehicles capable of seating up to six), have stopped operating in the city.

Bajaj services were suspended due to a confrontation between government forces and the popular youth movement Fano. Additionally, banking services also ceased following the clash. The banks that have reopened are strongly limiting the amount of withdrawals allowed. According to residents, some bajaj drivers have also been arrested because they violated the ban. Other essential services also remain unavailable.

According to a report by different UN and African Union organizations about progress on the twenty thirty sustainable development goals, Ethiopia ranked among the highest in Africa in ensuring women’s rights to property ownership, with seventy-three percent of women in Ethiopia having their property rights respected, which is significantly higher than the continental average.

However, the report also said that despite efforts to improve succession rules, Ethiopia still has issues with regulations that might limit women’s right to inherit. A legal professional weighed in on this matter, saying that although the country does not have specific rules that favor women, the laws in place recognize equal inheritance rights for men and women.

On Wednesday the 1st during celebrations of the International Day for Older Persons, the Senior Citizens and Pensioners National Association said that many senior citizens in the country are struggling to get by because of inflation and violations against their right to receive a pension.

The association’s vice president said there are about six and a half million senior citizens in the country and that many of them are facing various social and economic problems. He said only a small number are receiving a pension. He called on the government as well as citizens to carry out their responsibility of making sure that senior citizens receive the social and economic support that they’re entitled to.

In news about education, on Tuesday the 7th, the Ministry of Education announced the minimum score students have to get on their national entrance exam to be admitted to university directly. The ministry additionally revealed cut-off points for the remedial program, which would allow students who didn’t get the minimum required score to study the subjects on which they didn’t do well in the entrance exam. Once this is done, they can be admitted into the university. The ministry said over eighty thousand will join universities via this program.

Last month, the minister said that even though the remedial program will continue this year, it is a short-term plan until scores rebound, and that it won’t continue indefinitely.

In business news, the Ministry of Trade and Regional Integration said on Tuesday the 7th that Ethiopian Airlines will begin transporting goods to other African countries under the African Continental Free Trade Area agreement.

A state minister of trade said meat, fruit, vegetables and grains will be transported to three African countries, Kenya, Somalia and South Africa, under the framework, which reduces or completely waives tariffs. She also said that other products will begin to be exported by road. She added that the agreement provides new opportunities for producers and exporters as it can facilitate trade between Ethiopia and almost all countries on the continent.

And to close this edition, private bank Abyssinia said during its annual shareholders meeting that the city administration decided to take away the land it was given to build its headquarters on. The planned headquarters would have been the tallest building in the country.

The bank said the city repurposed the land for a transportation terminal. Some shareholders were very unhappy with this development.

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

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Ciao!