Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s (PhD), request to meet with the Ethiopian Diaspora community in Dallas at its big football event in July, was not approved. However, the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC is actively gathering thousands of Diaspora members to talk with the PM, Capital learned. Since PM Abiy took the position, the country has observed massive and unexpected changes that are very popular among Ethiopians inside and outside the country as well as the international community. The PM has met with a diverse array of community and social groups throughout the country during his first 90 days in office and has instigated political and social reforms.
The measures taken by his government have grabbed extra ordinary support for the PM, which included a rally last Saturday at the Meskel Square in Addis Ababa. Other events were held throughout Ethiopia and Washington DC, a major center for Ethiopian Diaspora. According to the information that Capital obtained from sources, the PM is expected to meet with an immense number of Ethiopian Diaspora in the near future. Recently the ruling party EPRDF announced the government would move to privatize some big enterprises and the Ethiopian Diaspora are expected to be the major players.
The PM has also called for the Diaspora to be part of the change in the country. This has included outlawed opposition members that he has invited for discussions about political reforms. Some of the opposition groups have already announced that they have accepted his invitation and entered the country. According to sources, the Ethiopian embassy in Washington DC is working to gather thousands at the meeting with the PM.
It is expected that the government would take new approaches with the role of Diaspora on the Ethiopian economy and investment, which the Diaspora would welcome as they have repeatedly asked for the government to make it easier to invest here.
Several sectors like the finance and telecom are the top areas that the Diaspora want to be open to them in order to participate.
For instance early this week the Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum organizer, Ethiopian American LLC, that hosted 11 events in Ethiopia and the US, announced that the agendas of its latest event will focus on opening up investment sectors to the Diaspora.
They said that the 12th edition of the annual Ethiopian Diaspora Business Forum will this year focus on what roles the Diaspora may have in the future socio-economic landscape of the changing Ethiopia.
The Forum that will be held on July 7 at the Marriott Marquis Hotel in Washington DC under the theme “The Future of Diaspora Investment in Ethiopia: Exploring the Role of the Diaspora and New Opportunities,” shall see the organized points that would be tabled for the PM at his meeting with the Diaspora.
The theme of the forum is timely and critically important for the Ethiopian Diaspora community which is keen to chart out what positive roles to play in the fast changing Ethiopian landscape and the future of its economy and the community, according to the organizers.
“Ethiopia is at a crossroad in many ways. The recent economic reforms announced by the Government of Ethiopia will significantly change the way the Ethiopian Diaspora will invest and work in Ethiopia,” Yohannes Assefa, Executive Director of the Forum and Managing Director of the Ethiopian American LLC said.
According to Yohannes, the Diaspora business community is eagerly awaiting to participate and support the process of liberalization in a thoughtful and prudent manner. “We are hopeful and encouraged by the proposed changes. We believe we can add value and contribute to the process while helping to avoid unintended challenges that could easily result from this process.”
In its statement Ethiopian American LLC sent to Capital, a range of new investment policies have been tabled for discussion, including the opening of specific sectors in the past closed for Diaspora investment in Ethiopia.
“The potential opening of the financial sector, media and telecom to Diaspora investments along with the ability of Diaspora professionals from the legal and other sectors to participate in Ethiopia’s economy is monumental,” the statement added. It says these changes will have huge impacts in the way the Diaspora will engage in Ethiopia’s economy in the near future.
Ethiopian American LLC stated that Abiy is scheduled to travel to Washington to engage the Ethiopian Diaspora in the US during which he is also expected to announce a new approach of his administration in relation to Diaspora engagement.
Meles Alem, Spokesperson of Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Capital that he does not have any information about the PM meeting with the Diaspora in the US.
PM to meet with DC Diaspora
Economists fear looming recession, calls for NBE restructure
During a recent panel discussion organized by the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce and Sectoral Association (AACCSA) at Hilton Hotel economic experts said unless significant reform takes place, including restructuring the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE), Ethiopia’s economic growth and progress will be hindered and a recession may occur.
Alemayehu Geda (Prof), Kebour Ghenna, Eyob Tesfaye (PhD), and Seid Nuru (PhD) expressed concerns about the country’s economic situation and the process being implemented to privatize state owned enterprises. Meanwhile, economists, Alemayehu and Seid questioned the validity of economic statistics the government has used to claim Ethiopia’s economy has been consistently growing by double digits.
During their presentation the two economists argued that there is little empirical evidence to suggest the country did in fact register double digit economic growth. For example the government claims that poverty has declined, but they pointed to data indicating that 60% to 70% of the Ethiopian population is currently living below the poverty line. This differs from the government’s data which says only 22 percent of the population lived below the poverty line in 2016.
The panelists expressed fears that growth would stagnate followed by a recession if reforms did not take place soon.
“First a common consensus [about economic policy] between the government and public has to be reached,” Seid Nuru (PhD), from the Ethiopian Economists Association, said.
Eyob Tesfaye (PhD), a former senior economic official and expert in international organization, said the (NBE) should be reformed.
“Policies have to be changed and the finance sector needs comprehensive restructuring,” he added.
He added that a person with experience in commercial banking must be hired at the central bank (NBE). “The duty of the central bank is different from business,” he argued.
Others who spoke at the event said the developmental economy has not done enough to boost exports, which have declined to 4.4 percent of the GDP from 5.5 percent in the past.
The developmental economy has been exclusive, unequal and featured unemployment.
Another concern, in addition to declining exports is a widening balance of payment gap; (the overall record of all economic transactions of a country compared with the rest of the world).
Unemployment also remains high in the country. The government estimates a rate of 25 percent but Alehayemu says that figure is much higher especially when underemployment is taken into account.
“No country has grown without the private sector playing an active role,” Eyob said. He went on to say that we need to work together to create a private sector that can change the country.
Kebour countered, however that the government needs to play a significant role in transforming the economy. He said youth need to come together and sacrifice to build the state as occurred in China. Privatization of public enterprises is not advantageous for the country, he argued.
Eyob recommended that the government float shares internationally, while at the same time having the public be the complete owners of the enterprise. This has been done successfully in other countries with large companies.
The panel also wants a stronger focus on professionalism in all sectors. This would greatly improve economic performance, they said.
Finally they were unhappy about the recent 15 percent devaluation of the birr. The government did this partially to improve export earnings but they argued that without a surplus and competitive output there is no positive effect of the devaluation other than increasing the price of import items, which contributes to inflation.
Kassa Kebede joins the movement in Addis
Kassa Kebede (PhD), foreign policy chief during the Mengistu Hailemariam administration arrived in Addis Ababa following the new Prime Minister call for reconciliation. Kassa was greeted at Bole International Airport by Minister Ahmed Shide, Head of Government Communications Affairs Office and other officials.
More students fail law exit exam
The rate of law students who failed their exit exams trended upward this year.
Capital spoke with representatives at several universities including the University of Gondar (UoG) which has 85 candidates. They had six students fail which is five higher than the past year.
Jigjiga had a whopping 58% of their students fail and Sodo had 25% failure. Four percent failed at Hawassa, and 3.3% at Mekele. Areas where there is unrest appear to have the highest failure rates.
The regular student’s failure ratio reached 3% last year with an increase of the cumulative mark achieved, according to Seid B Mohamed who is a researcher at the Higher Education Strategic Center (HESC). Also, 74% non-regular students failed which has been a concerning issue for the government.
There were a record number of candidates this year, 4,005 students registered to take the exam and 37 lecturers participated in the evaluation.
The exam was given at the beginning of May which is a month later than normal.
“We prepared our students to take the exam at the normal time but the Ministry of Education (MoE) convinced us to extend it,” said Abebe Assefa, Dean of School of Law at UoG and the Chairman of the National Law schools Consortium (MLSC).
Students Capital talked with agreed with Abebe.
“We went to the externship program prior to taking the exam, but previously every law student would start preparing after the end of their fourth year until they take the exam then they will go out for an externship,” said a student.
Also, another student said that the change of schedule also frustrated him. “We missed different classes whenever there are protests and that is not only for the last year but also for the previous three years”.
Tadesse Tilaye and Gemede Banata were at the compound of National Education Assessment and Examinations Agency (NEAEA) to seek if there is any way to re-evaluate their exam.
Tadesse rationalized that the current year’s exam was taken with a month delay and he believes that teachers evaluated the exam in a rush.
“There is no law which allows the re-evaluation, and we are just an executive of different manuals issued by MLSC,” said Yosef Abera, Director at the Agency.
But Abebe said there is no law which prohibits re-evaluation. “The manuals are silent”.
According to the manual issued by the consortium, which is a forum of every school of law deans, last year students which failed to get a passing mark will be able to take the test an unlimited number of times. Previously they were allowed to take it five times.
Seid argues that someone who spends five years in the University must not be sent out of the system because he failed to get a pass mark five times. He said the exam aimed to raise the competence of the students but not to boot out any candidate from the system.
“The decision is made by the deans, which represents the school,” Abebe said in agreement with Seid.
The HESC conducted research on the performance of the exam and concluded that it is meeting its plans. The research also reveals 76% of students who took the exam believe it is necessary.
The exam, which has been given for the past seven years, has four categories: Private, Public, Procedural and Miscellaneous, they review most of the material the students learn during their enrollment.
