Will Abiy Ahmed’s Bet on Ethiopia’s Political Future Pay Off?
The Nobel Peace Prize-winning prime minister has disbanded Africa’s largest political party in an effort to reinvent the country’s politics—but some powerful players stand to lose, and they won’t go quietly. The Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) was once Africa’s largest, and arguably most powerful, political party. It was also, thanks to its business interests, its richest. Since coming to power in 1991, the coalition party controlled each tier of gov
Erdogan says Somalia invited Turkey to explore for oil offshore
Turkish leader says Ankara will take steps in its operations in Somalia in line with the invitation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has said that Somalia invited Turkey to explore for oil in its waters, private national broadcaster NTV reported. Turkey has been a significant source of aid to Somalia following a famine in 2011. Turkish engineers have helped to build infrastructure in Somalia, businesses have invested in the country and Turkish officers have trained Som
Ethiopia's activist turned politician raises 'red flag' over proposed poll date
Jawar Mohammed, an influential political activist turned politician is among many Ethiopians reacting to the announcement of a date for elections slated for this year. According to him, many people have long suspected that the ruling party is by the August date seeking to leverage on incumbency to “lock out” opposition parties especially from reaching rural areas. A major concern of the August 16 date though provisional has been that Ethiopia’s rainy season falls in the month
OP:ED: GERD TALK STANDOFF AND ETHIOPIA’S NEED TO RALLY BEHIND “IT’S MY DAM”
Addis Abeba, January 14/2020 – Amidst what looks like a standoff following the 7th & last trilateral technical meeting between the water affairs ministers of Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the filling and operation of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) which ended without agreement it is becoming a matter of urgency that diplomatic cautiousness is badly required this time than ever before as Egypt’s changing interests of are becoming unbearable for Ethiopia to uphold. W
Ethiopian PM Abiy expects parliamentary election in May or June
CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Ethiopia will hold a parliamentary election in May or June despite security and logistic concerns, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Sunday. The election will be the first under Nobel Peace Laureate Abiy, who took office in April 2018 and launched political and economic reforms. His reform agenda has also stoked violence and highlighted ethnic divisions in the country of about 105 million people, and the election board said last June that the security si
Ethiopia asks South Africa to help to resolve dam dispute
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has accepted the task, saying that a solution was surely possible. Egyptian officials have occasionally threatened military action against the dam. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed on Sunday said he has asked South African President Cyril Ramaphosa to intervene in an ongoing dispute with Egypt and Sudan over Ethiopia's Renaissance Dam. The filling of the dam has been a source of tension between the Nile countries. Egypt and Sudan arg
Ethiopia, Egypt, Sudan talks on Nile dam fail
Egypt calls for filling of dam in 12-21 years which is unacceptable, says Ethiopia’s water minister ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia The fresh round of talks between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan on the water filling strategy and operation of the dam being built by Addis Ababa on the Nile ended inconclusively on Thursday. Any agreement in the fourth and last round of talks could not be reached, according to Ethiopian Minister of Water Seleshi Bekele who said, “Egypt comes up with a new matr
Who Will Win the Next Ethiopian Elections?
Ethiopia seems to be heading to hold the upcoming general elections in May 2020 on schedule. After various ethnic, regional and religious conflicts, the country went through in the last couple of years, many people had serious doubts about whether the country can and will hold safe and fair elections. Some still do. But it now looks more and more likely that there will be elections in May 2020, absent some new and dramatic developments in the next four months. Prime Minister
Somali forces kill 20 terrorists, liberate 7 villages
Operation comes on heels of al-Shabaab-claimed attack in Mogadishu which killed some 80 people MOGADISHU, Somalia Somali forces on Wednesday carried out an operation against the al-Qaeda-affiliated terror group al-Shabaab in southern Somali, killing 20 al-Shabaab terrorists and liberating seven villages, said an army commander. Osman Abdimalik Malim, a special forces (Danab) commander, told local media that Somali forces liberated the villages in the lower Shabelle province a
