Ethiopia to Open Up Telecoms, Airline to Foreign Investors

• Government calls for stake sales in state-owned enterprises
• Wireless operators including MTN, Vodacom likely to bid

By Nizar Manek and John Bowker, 6 June 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia is opening the state-owned telecommunications company and airline to foreign investors for the first time, a move that indicates new Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is more receptive to outside interests in Africa’s second-most populous nation.
Ethiopia will sell minority stakes to foreign and domestic investors in state monopolies such as Ethio Telecom and Ethiopian Airlines Enterprise, the continent’s biggest airline, as well as Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise, the state-run Ethiopian News Agency said late Tuesday, citing the ruling Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front.
(313 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-05/ethiopia-moves-to-open-telecoms-airline-to-foreign-investors

Ethiopia to Implement Stalled Eritrea Peace Deal After 18 Years

• New prime minister has indicated he’ll open political space
• Parties to meet today after agreement on changing legislation

By Nizar Manek, 5 June 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia will implement a peace deal signed at the turn of the century with Eritrea after the country’s new prime minister undertook two months ago to normalize relations with its neighboring long-time foe.
The Horn of Africa nation’s highest governing body announced the decision on Eritrea on Tuesday, 18 years after the countries signed a peace accord in the Algerian capital to end a border war that took place from 1998 to 2000 and claimed thousands of casualties. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed pledged in April that the country will “resolve problems” with Eritrea, which gained independence from Ethiopia in 1993.
(197 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-05/ethiopia-to-implement-stalled-eritrea-peace-deal-after-18-years

Ethiopian Armyworm Corn Infestation May Intensify, Ministry Says

• About a quarter of corn-planted land has been infested
• Pest has spread to all but 10 of Africa’s 54 nations: FAO

By Nizar Manek, 4 June 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Fall armyworms infested a quarter of irrigated Ethiopian land planted with corn since October and this may intensify if rains stop and temperatures rise, the Agriculture Ministry said.
The Horn of Africa country has shared a strategy with farmers and plant-production experts and is carrying out interventions and field research to fight the pest that infested 87,000 hectares (215,000 acres) of corn, Zebdios Selato, plant healthcare director at Ethiopia’s agriculture ministry, said by phone.
(289 words -- Bloomberg Terminal only)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/OHTESG6S972O

Landlocked Ethiopia Plans to Build Navy, Prime Minister Says

By Nizar Manek, 2 June 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Landlocked Ethiopia is planning to build a navy, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said during a briefing of the heads of the country’s National Defense Force.
“Following the efforts made to build capacity of our national defense, we built one of the stronger ground and air forces in Africa,” the ruling party-funded Fana Broadcasting Corp. reported Abiy as saying on Friday. “We should build our naval force capacity in the future.”
(214 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-02/landlocked-ethiopia-plans-to-build-navy-prime-minister-says

Ethiopia Approves Draft Law to Lift Six-Month State of Emergency

By Nizar Manek, 2 June 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia approved a draft law to lift the state of emergency that was introduced after former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn resigned following years of protests by government opponents.
The nation’s Council of Ministers approved the law to lift the six-month state of emergency, the ruling party-funded Fana Broadcasting Corp. reported. The law will now be sent to parliament, the House of People’s Representatives, for consideration.
(190 words -- Bloomberg Terminal only)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/OHTESG6S972O

Ethiopia to Amend Anti-Terror Laws in Political Thaw

• New prime minister has indicated he’ll open political space
• Parties to meet today after agreement on changing legislation

By Nizar Manek, 31 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia’s government plans to amend parts of the nation’s anti-terror law as the high court dropped terrorism charges against the heads of two U.S.-based opposition groups.
The Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front and other political parties will meet Wednesday after agreeing to alter unspecified articles of the law, Fana Broadcasting Corp. reported. The chief of staff for Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Twitter that a draft amnesty law is being prepared, without giving further details.
(258  words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-30/ethiopia-to-amend-anti-terror-laws-as-charges-on-critics-dropped

Ethiopia Shakes Up Board at Military-Affiliated Corporation

• Ex-leader Meles Zenawi’s widow named among seven board members
• MeTEC has had crucial role in African nation’s planned economy

By Nizar Manek, 31  May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia’s prime minister reshuffled the board at a military-industrial conglomerate that’s played a crucial role in projects to develop Africa’s fastest-growing economy.
The changes at Metals & Engineering Corp. include appointing the industry minister as chairman and former premier Meles Zenawi’s widow to the seven-member board. The moves, detailed by company spokesman Michael Desta, come after Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed vowed to curb what he called “favoritism” in business toward the security forces.
(351 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-06-01/ethiopia-shakes-up-board-at-military-affiliated-corporation

Ethiopia Appoints Meles’s Widow to Military Conglomerate’s Board

By Nizar Manek, 31 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
The widow of Ethiopia’s former prime minister, Meles Zenawi, was appointed to the board of the Horn of Africa country’s military-industrial conglomerate Metals & Engineering Corp.
Azeb Mesfin said she was appointed to MeTEC earlier this month, confirming a May 24 report by the closely-held Addis Fortune newspaper. She was one of five members of the central committee of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front, one of the ruling party’s four wings, who was removed in November following an internal evaluation because “they had done things that disqualified them to serve as TPLF central committee members,” according to the party.
(166 words -- Bloomberg Terminal only)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/OHTESG6S972O

Ethiopia to Reissue International Bid for Tantalum Ventures

By Nizar Manek, 31 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia will reissue an international tender to widen bidding for a jointly built manufacturing plant to process tantalum in the restive Oromia region, according to the Public Enterprises Ministry.
* Factory production has been halted but will resume in “near future,” ministry spokesman Wondefrash Assefa says, declining to identify existing bidders interested in developing the plant.
(122 words -- Bloomberg Terminal only)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/OHTESG6S972O

Ethiopia Lobbies for Release of Billionaire in Saudi Arabia

By Nizar Manek, 20 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said he’s “sure” Ethiopian-born Saudi billionaire Mohammed Al Amoudi will be released and returned to Ethiopia “soon” following discussions with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to state media.
“One of the reasons we went to Saudi Arabia was to ask the Saudi government to release Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi,” the state-owned Ethiopian News Agency reported, citing Abiy.
(184 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-20/ethiopia-lobbies-for-release-of-billionaire-in-saudi-arabia

Gold fever

Africa Confidential Vol 58 No 8 | 18 May 2018
ETHIOPIA/SAUDI ARABIA
The ruling Ethiopian Peoples' Revolutionary Democratic Front's favourite billionaire, the Ethiopian-Saudi Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi, seems to have disappeared from favour in Addis Ababa as surely as he has done from public view. Six months after his detention – and de facto disappearance – in Riyadh in Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman's crackdown on corruption, the government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has suspended the licence of Al Amoudi's gold-mining company Mohammed International Development & Research Organisation Companies (MIDROC) to export gold alloy to Switzerland. The move follows allegations of massive pollution.
(289 words)
https://www.africa-confidential.com/article-preview/id/12328/Gold_fever

Ethiopia Probes Killing of Dangote Cement Country Manager

• More subtantive talks are expected to take place ‘soon’
• New prime minister has indicated he’ll open political space

By Nizar Manek, 17  May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopian authorities are investigating the murder of the country manager of Dangote Cement Plc, the manufacturer owned by Africa’s richest man, and two other staff.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead Deep Kamra, his secretary and his driver on Wednesday, Tariku Alemayehu, deputy manager for sales and marketing in Ethiopia, said by phone. The killings took place in broad daylight near Dangote’s factory in Mugher, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Addis Ababa, the capital, Group Executive Director Edwin Devakumar said by email from Lagos, Nigeria, where Dangote’s head office is based.
(473 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-17/ethiopia-probes-death-of-dangote-country-manager-two-others

Clashes in Disputed Somali Oil Region Leave Five People Dead

• Fighting erupted after troop buildup in region since January
• Puntland, Somaliland dispute border that crosses oil-rich area

By Mohammed Omar Ahmed and Nizar Manek, 15 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Fighting erupted between forces from Somalia’s semi-autonomous regions of Puntland and Somaliland in a disputed area where oil concessions have been awarded.
The clashes broke out near the village of Tukarak on Tuesday morning, Puntland Information Minister Abdi Hersi Ali said by phone from Garowe, the capital. At least five Puntland soldiers died and 20 others were wounded in the battle, while the Somaliland forces suffered 20 casualties, Colonel Abdi Hassan Ali, a Puntland army official, said by phone.
(242 words -- Bloomberg Terminal only)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/terminal/OHTESG6S972O

Ethiopia in Talks With Exiled Group, Signaling Rapprochement

• More subtantive talks are expected to take place ‘soon’
• New prime minister has indicated he’ll open political space

By Nizar Manek, 15 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Ethiopia’s government began talks with the exiled Oromo Democratic Front, signaling the start of a broader engagement with the opposition group.
A “high-level” government delegation met ODF officials May 11 and May 12 to discuss reforms being implemented by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, the group said in a statement Sunday, without disclosing the location of the talks. An ODF delegation will travel to Ethiopia “soon for more substantive talks,” it said.
(374 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-14/ethiopia-starts-talks-with-exiled-group-signaling-rapprochement

Protesters Demand Ethiopia Cancel Billionaire's Gold License

• Demonstrators say pollution caused illness, livestock deaths
• Government extended mining license for a decade last month

By Nizar Manek, 8 May 2018
(Bloomberg) --
Protesters in Ethiopia’s restive Oromia region demanded the government withdraw a gold-mining permit from a company owned by Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi because of alleged pollution.
Demonstrators have blockaded roads in Shakiso, 358 kilometers (222 miles) south of the capital, Addis Ababa, since April 30 to press their demand that Mohammed International Development & Research Organization Companies’ license to mine the metal be canceled, said Addisu Bullalla, a spokesman for the opposition Oromo Federalist Congress. Protests have spread to the towns of Ginchi and Nekemte in western Oromia, he said.
(480 words)
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-07/protesters-demand-ethiopia-cancel-billionaire-s-gold-mine-permit