Passionate about Africa. Conducting economic research on Emerging Markets in general and Africa in particular
@Helaba
. Traveling to various African countries.
"The situation in northern
#Ethiopia
will come to an end, peace will prevail. We will not continue fighting forever. I believe that in a short period of time, we will stand with our Tigrayan brothers for peace and development,"
@AbiyAhmedAli
said Thursday.
#Tigray
is a comparatively small region within
#Ethiopia
, but rich in
#natural_resources
. Tigray is the 2nd largest producer of
#sesame
seeds & the largest producer of
#gold
in 🇪🇹. To support the recovery of the economy, security must be restored quickly.
Only two days after
#Tigray
's government offered a ceasefire to
#Ethiopia
's federal government the chief executive officer of
#Mekelle
's Ayder Hospital confirms an air strike on Dimitsi Woyane TV station owned by Tigray's government.
During Abyei negotiations (April 6-13), Hamedti informed
#South_Sudan
presidential advisor Gatluak that he would start a war against 🇸🇩 army on April 15. On April 9, Gatluak warned his relatives in Khartoum that there would be war next Saturday. His family left
#Sudan
immediately
Central banks of
#Ethiopia
&
#Nigeria
swap $100 million in blocked funds. The currency deal involves swapping revenues of
@flyethiopian
from🇳🇬& of Dangote Cement in🇪🇹, as the companies struggled to repatriate profits amid forex shortages in both countries.
“Western Tigray, Southern Tigray as well as Tselemti which is part of Northwestern Tigray are not only under occupation, but also witnessing the continuation of genocidal crimes and displacement of civilians," says head of 🇪🇹
#Tigray
admin
@reda_getachew
.
#US
president
@JoeBiden
on Thursday terminated
#Ethiopia
’s eligibility for benefits under African Growth And Opportunity Act despite pleas from lawmakers to give 🇪🇹 more time to comply with AGOA criteria.
This is extremely rare.
@IMFnews
makes no GDP growth projection for
#Ethiopia
: "For 🇪🇹, projections for 2022–26 are omitted due to an unusually high degree of uncertainty."
#Afghanistan
,
#Lybia
&
#Syria
are the only other countries without data projections for the coming years.
#US
president
@JoeBiden
decides to continue the national emergency declared in Executive Order 14046 with respect to
#Ethiopia
. The executive order imposes
#sanctions
on certain persons with respect to the humanitarian and
#human_rights
crisis in Ethiopia.
I am surprised to meet so many
#Eritreans
here in
#Juba
. They own shops, factories, hotels, restaurants. Even
#South_Sudanese
tell me that Eritreans play an important role in the local economy.
Aid worker tells
@devex
that
#Ethiopia
's government attempts to "appear more amenable“ by allowing more flights into
#Tigray
. However, this is not enough, and other concessions - such as increased cash allowances into the region – have not materialized.
Deputy mayor of
#Addis_Ababa
calls on the city’s youth to take up
#arms
& join the fight against
#Tigray
's army. This follows a similar call made yesterday by the head of
#Amhara
’s government. The conflict in the north of
#Ethiopia
is spyring out of control.
“Other countries from distant continents install bases on the Red Sea & Indian Ocean. But when
#Ethiopia
tries to access the sea, the issue is suddenly a big deal. 🇪🇹 has been paying in blood for the peacekeeping missions in
#Somalia
and
#Sudan
," 🇪🇹 MFA.
“Hundreds of billions of birr will be needed [to rebuild the economy of
#Amhara
&
#Afar
]. The sources will be the 🇪🇹federal & regional govts, the private sector & the diaspora. The response from intl community is cold,” said an official close to the issue.
#US
#aid
to
#Ethiopia
suspended by the Trump administration will remain suspended. The reason for the suspension is no longer
#GERD
but the situation in
#Tigray
.
A very sensitive topic. The
#EU
is not directly funding gov. budgets due to the war. The question is to what extent 🇪🇺is indirectly freeing up resources in 🇪🇹ministries for military purposes. 🇪🇺funds projects in health & education totalling €81.5 million.
Ministry of Education , its Sectors and Ethiopian Public Universities have donated above 211 million Birr, for the victorious Ethiopian Defence Forces.
Despite earlier approval by
#US
gov.,
@DFCgov
might suspend financing of
@SafaricomPLC
’s
#Ethiopia
entry. DFC & 🇺🇸gov. “closely monitor the situation in
#Tigray
& will carefully consider its impact on any potential financing of the Vodafone consortium.”
Definitely so! If the people of
#Somaliland
decide freely to be independent, no outside power should interfere in Somaliland's sovereign affairs. Its neighbours and the entire international community have to respect this decision.
#Ethiopia
on the agenda of the next Oct. 17
#EU
foreign affairs council. This comes as
@Europarl_EN
adopted a new resolution on Oct. 6 calling for, amongst others, an immediate end to hostilities, sanctions against perpetrators of human rights violations.
#Ethiopian
government troops went door-to-door killing dozens of civilians last month in a town in the country’s
#Amhara
region, according to residents, who said the bloodshed took place after clashes with local militia.
#EU
special envoy to the
#HornOfAfrica
@EUSR_Weber
met
@SudanPMHamdok
yesterday during her first official visit to the region. She had planned to visit
#Ethiopia
too, but had to cancel the trip when she learned that no 🇪🇹 government official would be willing to meet her.
Tension is rising between Brussels and Addis Ababa. In the midst of intense dialogue, the
#EU
's new special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber (
@EUSR_Weber
), is still waiting to meet with the Ethiopian autoritites.
#Ethiopia
#EU
also calls on
#Eritrea
to withdraw its troops from
#Tigray
. So far 🇪🇷 has denied the presence of its troops in
#Ethiopia
.
#EU
expresses support for work of
@EthioHRC
. Internat.
#media
must have access to Tigray & local journalists must be protected.
Peace talks between
#Ethiopia
and
#Tigray
have been extended because of “the challenge of fully communicating with all their units to stop fighting.” Meanwhile Tigray remains without aid eight days after Ethiopian authorities vowed to lift their blockade.
Some quotes from
@AbiyAhmedAli
' speech
@NobelPrize
award ceremony 11 months ago. Funny from today's perspective:
War is the epitome of hell. I know because I have been there and back.
War makes for bitter men.
I believe that peace is an affair of heart.
Acting
@WHO
Director is much criticized inside & outside of
#Ethiopia
. However, nobody can deny that
@DrTedros
produced outstanding results as Minister
@FmoHealth
b/w 2005-12:
▶️creation of 3500 health centers
▶️creation of 30 medical schools
▶️+38000 health workers for rural🇪🇹
A few details on
@MoP_Ethiopia
recent visit to
#Germany
:
▶️🇩🇪acts in line with
#EU
& currently withholds €100m of "reform financing" to 🇪🇹
▶️disbursement depends on steps taken by 🇪🇹gov. to resolve
#Tigray
crisis
▶️🇩🇪demands immediate ceasefire
▶️humanitarian cooperation goes on
Worried about "Western Analysts" commenting on
#Ethiopia
's
#Tigray
conflict? Here's an excellent interview of 🇪🇹 journalist
@TsedaleLemma
to
#Germany
's
@taz_news
: "There are verified reports of concerted efforts targeting ethnic Tigrayans"
How does
#Ethiopia
finance the war? In April
@AbiyAhmedAli
pledged to spend $1.6bn (1.6% of GDP) COVID19 response plan.
@IMFnews
says “In practice, much less has been spent to date.” Use of these funds in
#Tigray
conflict would be against DSSI commitment:
War in
#Ethiopia
's
#Tigray
region severely damaged
#infrastructure
. Interim administration says it is difficult to provide citizens with clean
#water
. Furthermore, water resource management offices have been looted.
Special forces from
#Ethiopia
's
#Amhara
region launched an attack on the disputed
#Al_Fashaga
area.
#Sudan
's army was able to repel the attack. Since the beginning of the war in Sudan, 🇸🇩 army has been monitoring movements of 🇪🇹 forces along the border.
@martinplaut
Hi Martin, I read some of your highly interesting tweets about payments made by Ethiopia to Eritrea & Eritrean soldiers. Could you please add to which reports/sources you refer? I wonder where all of a sudden Ethiopia got this money from. The financial situation is very tense.
#Amhara
’s Fano militia group, which has been fighting
#Tigray
forces alongside the Ethiopian federal forces and allied Eritrean troops, admitted committing widespread atrocities in
#Ethiopia
’s Tigray region, a video seen by
@SudanTribune_EN
shows.
@AbiyAhmedAli
I suppose European members of
#UNSC
would argue it's not an internal affair because:
- Eritrea allowed Ethiopian troops to retreat to its territory & later launch attacks from Erit. territory
- TPLF troops fired rockets at Asmara
- tens of thousands of refugees destabilize Sudan
4 German cities with twin cities in
#Ethiopia
appeal to
#Germany
’s Chancellor Angela Merkel to rally support for sending
@UN
peacekeeping troops to
#Ethiopia
because of the ongoing
#Tigray
conflict.
@RegSprecher
did not comment on this at today's press briefing.
(1/2) Vier Monate Konflikt in
#Tigray
, #Äthiopien. Das heißt vier Monate Zerstörung, soziales Elend und eine diffuse Nachrichtenlage. Die
@StadtLeipzig
#Gotha
,
#Vaterstetten
und
#Witten
haben Partnerstädte in Äthiopien.Unsere Partnerstadt
#Mekelle
liegt in der Krisenregion Tigray.
Many of
#Ethiopia
's
#donors
make their financial support dependent on full humanitarian access to
#Tigray
. Secretary-General
@NRC_Norway
said in a webinar today that there is still "zero access" to western & central Tigray.
#EU
envoy
@Haavisto
says
#Ethiopia
's criticism will not affect his work. “Obviously they (🇪🇹) defend their own views. Currently being prepared is a
@UN
report on
#human_rights
& presumably, over the summer we will learn more about the extent of violations"
"The
#EU
will present a resolution at the
@UN_HRC
renewing the mandate of the Intl. Commission of Human Rights Experts on
#Ethiopia
to allow for further comprehensive, independent and transparent investigations and accountability mechanisms"
@JosepBorrellF
Sources say
#Ethiopia
hasn't received a satisfactory response
@IMFNews
to request for immediate assistance. Despite worsening military situation, Tigray has leverage in peace talks. No result = no financial aid, debt restructuring & more economic pressure.
A few days ago
#Ethiopia
granted
@UN
access to
#Tigray
. Humanitarian workers in the region told
@Reuters
today that there is still a shortage of basic commodities. Some U.N. staff in
#Mekelle
have faced harassment from security forces.
The Regional Agriculture Bureau in
#Ethiopia
's
#Tigray
region says 52% of the region's agricultural land is still occupied by
#Eritrean
and
#Amhara
forces. Therefore, only 37% of the planned harvest was realized during the past six months.
#Border_conflict
: Deadly clashes between
#Sudan
's army &
#Ethiopia
's army supported by Eritrean troops &
#Amhara
militias in
#Al_Fashaga
. 21 Sudanese soldiers were killed & at least 30 injured. 🇪🇹 troops had penetrated 17 km into 🇸🇩 territory this morning.
@eimanId
@realJohndoe20
The conference is only a few hours. All 105 members of Sudan's delegation won't even have time to speak. Maybe the others just go for sightseeing, shopping & a little tourism. I lived in Paris for 2 years. It is really worth a visit.
#Germany
's Federal Administrative Court rules that refugees from
#Eritrea
must obtain a travel document from 🇩🇪 authorities. They must no longer be forced to obtain papers from 🇪🇷embassy beforehand, for which they must submit a "declaration of repentance."
@CohenOnAfrica
I see these claims frequently but wonder how can a region of 6m ppl resist over a year against 100m in the rest of the country? Only because some ten thousand TPLF cadres forced them to do so? We must admit there is immense support for TPLF even among ordinary Tigrayans.
@KjetilTronvoll
@PMEthiopia
At first I thought this was a new fake account, but you are really back. I'm very happy about that. The Horn cannot do without your expertise!
#EU
foreign affairs council meeting takes place tomorrow.
@Haavisto
reports to the council about his trip to
#Sudan
&
#Ethiopia
. Based on the report the council decides what action to take. Closed-door meeting, web press conference 5:15pm Brussels time.
Since
#Burkina_Faso
broke diplomatic relations with
#Taiwan
in May 2018, in
#Africa
only
#Eswatini
has had diplomatic relations with Taiwan. As of this week, another African country,
#Somaliland
established diplomatic ties with Taiwan.
#Kenya
will buy power from
#Ethiopia
at 6.5 US cents per kilowatt for the next five years before it can be allowed to renegotiate. Kenya had signed a 25-year deal with its neighbor to start importing
#electricity
from next month.
#Tigray
's interim administration wants the intl. community to be involved in investigating human rights violations in northern
#Ethiopia
. Aside from the presence of
#Eritrean
and
#Amhara
forces in certain areas of Tigray, much of the region is at peace.
Due to
#corona
all countries impose major travel restrictions. For more than 3 months I did not to travel to
#Africa
. As I get nostalgic about past trips, I want to share some souvenirs with you. Here are some impressions from
#Hargeisa
(April 2018), Republic of
#Somaliland
.
Eritrean authorities have intensified military mobilisation. "As many ignored the call-up, the round-up has been intensified," a source said.
#Eritrea
has sent troops to help
#Ethiopia
's government against forces from its northern
#Tigray
region.
The government of
#Tigray
is ready to abide by an immediate cessation of hostilities and calls on the international community to "press the
#Ethiopian
government to come to the negotiating table."
Good news for
#Sudan
! Next Monday, June 28,
@IMFnews
executive board is expected to take a decision about the
#HIPC
decision point (
#debt_relief
). A great success for the reform policy of Prime Minister
@SudanPMHamdok
!
Tigrayan forces are fully withdrawing from the neighbouring region of
#Afar
in
#Ethiopia
,
@reda_getachew
told Reuters on Monday, saying that he hoped this meant desperately needed food aid could finally reach famine-hit
#Tigray
.
#Germany
’s new govt on 🇪🇹: “In view of the relatively stable current situation in
#Ethiopia
, the federal govt sees the beginning of a new political process in the country.” 🇩🇪 govt hopes “if necessary, to expand development cooperation & humanitarian aid”
#Tigray
’s president Debretsion vows to treat Ethiopian
#prisoners
of war according to international laws saying “we are committed to keep them well”. They will be released after a short time. Only those involved in war crimes will be kept. Via:
@AP
I see
@flyethiopian
already points out new forex regulations. The laws of
#Ethiopia
must be respected, but if a gov. cannot afford the exchange rate and forces people to exchange $1 for 52 birr while any trader on the street would give 100, it is kind of stealing from the people.
#EU
special representative
@EUSR_Weber
, who is in contact with
#Tigray
's gov. "through regular and frequent phone calls," says "the uncompromising position of
#Eritrea
’s leadership complicates the options of the GoE."
"When I was a minister, senior officials obfuscated and lied, and tried to omit any mention of rape by the government and Eritrean forces from the official investigation. The government focused on propaganda," writes
#Ethiopia
's former minister
@1_filsan
.
#Ethiopia
's
#Amhara
region reveals damage suffered during the
#civil_war
: property destroyed 292 billion birr ($5.6 billion), 240,236 people killed or injured.
New
#exodus
in
#Ethiopia
’s
#Tigray
region. This time not due to the fighting but to regional forces & militia from neighboring
#Amhara
seeking to settle decades-old land dispute. The disputed lands equal to about a quarter of Tigray.
#Ethiopia
says accusations brought forward by
@WHO
director
@DrTedros
are baseless. A
@WHOEthiopia
request to deliver 95 MT of medicines and medical supplies to
#Tigray
from March 21 to April 20 has been approved by the federal authorities.
Despite international pressure,
#Ethiopia
will not allow foreign independent investigation into
#massacres
that happened during the
#Tigray
"Law enforcement operation"
Since Thursday peace talks b/w
#Ethiopia
&
#Tigray
are taking place in
#Djibouti
. Points to be discussed are still the same: withdrawal of
#Eritrean
troops, fate of western Tigray, lifting of siege. Sources say the negotiations could last several days.
Peace is looming in northern
#Ethiopia
. A politician in
#Addis_Ababa
, who asked not to be named, says it's possible that phone, electricity, banking and other services could be restored in war-ravaged
#Tigray
in the next few weeks.
Despite not being observer of the peace negotiations,
#EU
put a lot of pressure on
#Ethiopia
says
@RedwanHussien
, especially 1 country that he refused to name. We shouldn't forget,
#Ireland
's efforts for human rights made a decisive contribution to peace.
#Somalia
is prepared to go to war to stop
#Ethiopia
recognising the breakaway territory of
#Somaliland
and building a port there, a senior adviser to Somalia’s president has said. "We are ready for a war if
@AbiyAhmedAli
wants a war.”
At
@UN
#Security_Council
today,
@UNReliefChief
said „Unfortunately, I must say that neither the UN nor any of the humanitarian agencies we work with have seen proof of Eritrean withdrawl.“ Adding that „the conflict is not over & things are not improving.“
#Ethiopia
's ambassador
@TayeAtske
urges
#UNSC
members to safeguard the sovereignty of the country. 🇪🇹 security forces can station and operate from any part of the country "including all areas in
#Tigray
state."
As many of you liked the pictures of my trip to
#Somaliland
, I will share with you some more impressions. Attached, you see a beautiful view of the city of
#Hargeisa
as well as the large camel market. Thank you Hargeisa for this exciting experience!
@DrTedros
: “I am running out of diplomatic language for the deliberate targeting of civilians in
#Tigray
,
#Ethiopia
. I urge the intl. community & media to give this crisis the attention it deserves. There is a very narrow window now to prevent
#genocide
in Tigray.” (video 7:25)
#Ethiopia
Human Rights Experts Commission: "The conflict in
#Tigray
has not ended, with
#Eritrean
troops &
#Amhara
militias engaging in ongoing violations. 🇪🇹gov. has failed to effectively investigate violations & has initiated a flawed transitional justice consultation process."
#Ethiopia
's government vows to carry out "the necessary preparations and will coordinate with the relevant humanitarian agencies to provide humanitarian aid" in the cities captured by 🇪🇹 army in
#Tigray
(Shire, Alamata, Korem).
#Ethiopia
's state media accuse
#EU
of sharing information from TPLF-facebook accounts, thus siding with
#Tigray
's government in the civil war. However, a few minutes ago, the EU clarified that its account was hacked. Everything is just fine.
#Trade
bureau closes hundreds of nightclubs, hotels & businesses in
#Addis_Ababa
for playing music that humiliates the
#Ethiopian
National Defense Force (ENDF) and for stampeding on the 🇪🇹 national flag. Some of them are suspected of financing
#TPLF
.
On Saturday, many Ethiopians (and a few Germans) took to the streets in
#Germany
's financial capital
#Frankfurt
to demonstrate for peace in
#Ethiopia
without hatred and ethnic differences. 🇩🇪 is one of the largest donors. In 2019, 🇩🇪 pledged €352.5m.
Obasanjo seems to have been surprised by the question when humanitarian access to
#Ethiopia
's
#Tigray
region will be implemented. His reply: "It should have begun.“ Parties agreed that it will happen "with immediate effect.“
The
#US
urges
#Eritrea
's government to return National Service to 18 months as stipulated by Eritrean law (Proclamation of National Service 11/199) instead of "forcing them [Eritrean citizens] to serve for indefinite or otherwise arbitrary periods."