Salaam salaam from BA! This is the Rorshok Ethiopia Update from the 18th of January twenty twenty-four A quick summary of what's going down in Ethiopia.

Tension is brewing between Ethiopia and Somalia after Ethiopia announced that it had struck an agreement with Somaliland to gain access to the Red Sea. The latest entity to comment on the development is the Arab League. What did it say? Well, it sided with Somalia and denounced the deal, with Ahmed Aboul Gheit, the head of the league, saying that the agreement is a blatant attack not only against Somalia but against Arab, African, and International principles.

Ethiopia’s government didn’t stay quiet over what the League said. The State Minister of Foreign Affairs took to Twitter on Thursday the 18th to say that Ethiopia rejects the league’s statement, saying that it was an attempt to interfere with the country's internal affairs and sovereignty. He also added that Ethiopia has ‘excellent’ bilateral relations with many Arab states and that the statement reflects the opinion of a few Arab countries that aren’t on good terms with Ethiopia.

Aside from the Arab League, local opposition party Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice weighed in on the issue. In a statement issued on Thursday the 18th, the party commended the memorandum of understanding signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland, dubbing it a bold diplomatic move that is consistent with international law. The party also said that, for several years, one of its policies was the acquisition of a seaport and that it considers it a matter of utmost importance.

This topic has been developing over the past few weeks and apparently caught the attention of the US, as the Department of State revealed that the US special envoy to the Horn of Africa, Ambassador Mike Hammer, will be heading to Kampala, Uganda and then to Addis. The purpose of his trip is closely related to this escalating issue. During his stay in Kampala, Hammer is expected to attend the extraordinary summit of the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, which was called to address this situation. Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, Somalia’s president, will be in Kampala for the meeting but Ethiopia won’t be represented. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that officials won’t be in Uganda because of overlapping schedules.

After Kampala, Ambassador Hammer will head north to Addis where he plans to meet African Union officials to discuss the civil war in Sudan. He is also set to meet local authorities to talk about progress on the implementation of the Pretoria agreement, which marked the end of a brutal two-year-long civil war.

In other news, on Monday the 15th, The Ministry of Innovation and Tech asked for the cancelation of its five hundred million birr or almost nine million US dollars debt. Why did they make such a request? Well, the Ministry was formed through a merger of two ministries back in twenty twenty, and after the merger was done, the newly formed ministry didn’t get any information about the debts.

Next up, on Sunday the 14th, the Ethiopian Citizens for Social Justice Party held an event where the members talked about education policy. In a speech during the event, the Ministry of Education and Professor Berhanu Nega, the party’s head, said that the measures taken in recent years created the belief that academic success can only be obtained through study and work and not cheating. He added that schools, as well as parents, have begun taking education seriously. He was asked during the event if there were differences between the ruling Prosperity Party and his party. He replied saying that there isn’t much difference and that his party agrees with the ruling party on this subject.

Moving on, it was a busy week for the second man in charge, Demeke Mekonnen, the deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs. He was in Davos, Switzerland, to attend the World Economic Forum. Aside from attending the forum, Demeke sat down with prominent figures including the forum’s president Borge Brende. In a press release, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that Demeke talked to Brende about the progress of Ethiopia’s economy, explaining that the government has been taking measures to sustain growth and increase the flow of investment. Brende, on the other hand, thanked the country for consistently participating in the forum and said that the forum is interested in further strengthening relations with Ethiopia.

Demeke also talked with Pakistan’s caretaker Prime Minister Anwar ul Haq Kakar at the forum. The two sat down to discuss ways to amp up bilateral relations in various sectors. Demeke recalled that Ethiopia had recently opened an embassy in Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, adding that the country is committed to strengthening relations. The caretaker Prime Minister said that Pakistan is interested in increasing trade and investment with Ethiopia.

On Thursday the 11th, The European Union announced that it had launched a three-year program worth more than forty-three million euros to improve the living conditions of internally displaced persons. The program includes regions where there are many displaced persons due to natural disasters and conflicts, such as Afar, Amhara, Benshangul-Gumuz, and Tigray. The funds for the program will be granted to the Organization for Migration, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, the Red Cross, and other governmental agencies.

The Ethiopian government owns several industrial parks across the country through the state-owned Industrial Parks Development Corporation. On Thursday, the 11th, the Corporation announced that executives of eleven domestic and foreign companies signed contracts with the CEO of the Corporation to set up manufacturing plants in the parks. The contracts include lease arrangements. In total, there are thirty thousand square meters of land. Out of the twelve industrial parks under the corporation, the newly onboarded investors are getting land in five with a combined capital of a hundred million US dollars. The Corporation said that these companies are set to engage in various sectors, including garments, agro-processing, pharmaceuticals, plastic recycling, and more. It predicts that these new plants will create five thousand jobs.

The Addis Ababa City administration trade bureau issued a last warning to all retail gas stations in the city. According to a survey it had conducted, the bureau said that illegal gas sales have increased in volume. The Bureau said that any retail gas station selling gas illegally outside the station using containers will be sealed and sued. The bureau additionally said that to sell gas in containers stations must obtain a letter from the bureau approving the sale. Illegally sold gas can go as high as eighty birr (over a dollar and forty cents) per liter while at gas stations, regular gas is going for a few cents over seventy-seven birr (over a dollar and thirty cents).

And to close this edition, the holiday season in Ethiopia is in full swing. Last week, it was Christmas, and this Saturday the 20th, Ethiopian Christians are going to celebrate the Epiphany of Jesus Christ. Even though the holiday is well celebrated everywhere in the country, Gondar city is known for hosting a very vibrant Timkat. The Gondar city administration said that it is expecting more than half a million guests to arrive in the town for the holiday. The city’s PR office said that preparations began early for this year’s celebrations and this week, Gondar is completely ready to host guests. The city responded to questions on security and safety, to which the PR head replied that if there were any safety concerns, the city wouldn’t have called for guests through the media, adding that the city is completely safe and there are no security risks.

Aaaaand that’s it for this week!

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Ciao!