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Vol. 26 No. 1368 - November 26, 2022 ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA www.thereporterethiopia.com Price 20.00 Birr

Awash to raise 43bln birr equity in face of foreign competition Local banks rush to raise capital in the face of competition By Ashenafi Endale

industry in less than a year,

The management of Awash International Bank (AIB) plans to raise 43 billion birr in equity, as they get ready for foreign competition following the full liberalization of the banking

The management is proposing a decision to increase the bank’s paid-up capital to 55 billion birr. It is almost a fivefold increase from its current paid-up capital. The management will present the proposal to the shareholders at its

annual general assembly today, and if approved, it will be implemented over the next few years. The move will enable Awash to dwarf all commercial banks, including the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), whose capital stood at 40 billion birr

in its last report. The state bank is also undertaking a study to request for a capital raise from the Ethiopia Investment Holdings (EIH). Two years ago, Awash’s shareholders decided to double the bank’s paid-up capital to 12 billion birr by June 2023, which has already

AU concerned over Pretoria agreement implementation Obasanjo pledges a way out for ‘foreign troops’ in Tigray TPLF puts condition to disarm

been achieved. The decision to increase the bank’s paid-up capital, according to Tsehay Shiferaw, CEO of Awash, is related to the opening up of Ethiopia’s financial industry to foreign investors. Awash to raise . . . page 6

PARLIAMENT Parliament castigates state broadcaster for incompetency

By Ashenafi Endale

PAGE 3 The African Union highlevel panels that facilitated negotiations between the federal government and the Tigray Peoples’ Liberation Front (TPLF) are concerned about the implementation progress of the Pretoria and Nairobi agreements. The presence of “foreign troops” has become the Achilles heel for implementing the agreements, raising fears of a fourth round of war.

ELECTRICITIY EEP awaits ENDF takeover to resume electricity in Mekelle

On November 24, AU’s delegation team comprised of Olusegun Obasanjo,

PAGE 3

AU concerned. . . page 27

Forex trouble cause Franco Valuta share spike The scheme accounted for 40 percent of Ethiopia’s imports By Samuel Bogale

Imports made through the Franco Valuta scheme since April 2021 have accounted for more than 40 percent of

the entire import bill. It is a result of the government’s decision to address supply problems brought on by a lack of foreign exchange, which forced the implementation of the

scheme across sectors. Last month, the IMF reported that Ethiopia’s forex reserve is not even enough to cover four weeks of the country’s imports.

scheme have spiked since the government allowed certain items of necessity to be imported through the scheme as a solution to ease the inflation and shortage

Imports of items through the

Forex trouble. . . page 8

TRANSPORT Shipping Enterprise invests in local sea transport operations PAGE 5

2| EDITORIAL

The Reporter, November 26 2022 Vol. 26 No. 1368

Time for Eritrean troops to leave Ethiopia Ever since the federal government of Ethiopia and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) reached a surprise deal on November 2 in Pretoria in which they agreed to a permanent cessation of hostilities, hopes have been high that durable peace can prevail in Ethiopia. Ten days after the historic peace agreement was inked, senior commanders from the warring sides meeting in Nairobi signed a declaration fleshing out particular details addressing different aspects of the implementation of the peace deal. The parties agreed to facilitate unhindered humanitarian access to all in need of assistance in Tigray and neighboring regions and the unhindered movement of humanitarian aid workers; provide security guarantees for humanitarian aid workers and organizations as well as the protection of civilian; and establish a Joint Committee to elaborate on the modalities for the implementation of a comprehensive D i s a r m a m e n t , Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program. They also expressed their commitment to abide by the Pretoria agreement and the declaration. Although work on implementing the peace deal on the ground has begun, there remain a slew hurdles that could derail its success. One of these obstacles is the continued presence of Eritrean troops in some of the territories they occupy in Tigray. After months of denial from Ethiopia and Eritrea

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) admitted in March 2021 in a speech he gave to Parliament that Eritrean soldiers entered Tigray following the attack on federal arm camps based in the region by TPLF forces in November 2020, saying they crossed the border and entered the region out of concern of an attack by the TPLF on Eritrea. He told lawmakers that the Eritrean government had promised to withdraw its troops from Tigray once Ethiopia’s army was able to regain control of the border between the two countries, adding the commission of atrocities in the war was unacceptable regardless of whether they were perpetrated by the Ethiopian or Eritrean armies.

of the involvement of Eritrea in the deadly war in northern Ethiopia, it’s a settled norm under international law that the military force of a nation cannot operate in another sovereign country’s territory absent a formal invitation. This said a nation may be entitled to take preemptive action under limited circumstances where its sovereignty is under imminent threat. The Nairobi declaration provides that the disarmament of the heavy weapons of TPLF forces will be undertaken in tandem with the withdrawal of foreign and non-ENDF (Ethiopian National Defense Forces) forces. Though the declaration does not explicitly state which foreign forces it refers to, there can be no doubt that they hail from Eritrea.

The role Eritrea, which did not take part in the talks, can play in the implementation of the peace pact has engendered concerns that it could disrupt the peace process given its long-running enmity with the TPLF. Without dwelling on the legitimacy or otherwise

It’s not only Eritrea which may throw a spanner in the works during the implementation of the peace deal. After two years of horrific fighting in which hundreds of thousands of TPLF fighters

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died and several instances of sexual violence reportedly took place in Tigray, it’s plausible that a considerable number of TPLF combatants will be unwilling to surrender their arms. Emotions are still running high even after a truce was reached, making it difficult for them to accept what they see as a capitulation to the “enemy”. The ensuing refusal to abide by the terms of the agreement in spite of assurances by the TPLF’s top military commander that his fighters have been instructed to lay down their weapons within days may well wreck the deal. This is a prospect that TPLF needs to avert at all costs. As the ultimate defender of Ethiopia’s sovereignty, the federal government has the obligation to ensure that no foreign military force operates in its territory indefinitely even if it came to the country’s help in its hour of need. Now that concrete actions paving the way for the disarming and demobilization of TPLF militants have commenced, it is imperative to set in motion the withdrawal of Eritrean troops from Tigray. True, this will require a lot of work on the part of the Ethiopian government to convince its Eritrean counterpart that it’s capable of ensuring that the TPLF will not pose a security threat to Eritrea. If the peace deal Ethiopians have long craved for is to bear fruit there is no reason why troops Eritrean have to remain in Tigray. The sooner they leave the better. Graphic Designers Fasika Balcha Semenh Sisay Netsanet Yacob Head of Photography 1DKRP7HVID\H Photographers 7DPUDW*HWDFKHZ 0HVÀQ6RORPRQ Cartoonists (OLDV$UHGD Fasil W/giorgis Marketing Manager (QGDONDFKHZ