Content: Viewpoint

For over half a century, the Ethiopian diaspora community have, from time to time, come together to help the motherland by all means possible. The first occasion I recall was during the drought in the 1970s. As a student at a University in California, I recall some fellow Ethiopians who joined with other American students […]

The tragic passing of Simegnew Bekele, chief engineer of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), has left many heartbroken and shell shocked. Such an incident having taken place in one of the most popular places in the city, Mesqel Square, has led to all sorts of speculations and assumptions about his death. It has led […]

I am getting the feeling of déjà vu these days. Politics in Ethiopia today resembles the Ethiopia of the mid-1970s. Then as now, the country was going through rapid changes. Admittedly, the change was more revolutionary than evolutionary, not to mention unprecedented. But still, there was as much, if not more, hope then as now. There […]

Four months back, I wrote that the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) deserves credit for understanding the public’s sentiment and choosing a leader amongst the reformist Team Lemma. That man, of course, is Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) who was selected to be chairman of the ruling party. Many of us wanted to give […]

Ethiopia is faced with the challenges of low standards of living, low productivity, massive unemployment and underemployment, food insecurity and income inequality.  One would think then that the government is playing an active role in promoting the development of the private sector as a means for addressing economic problems and thus bringing broad-based sustainable economic […]

The Executive Committee of the EPRDF has taken a bold step to privatise some of its most profitable enterprises: Ethiopian Airlines, Ethio-telecom, Ethiopian Electric Power, Ethiopian Shipping & Logistics Services Enterprise (ESLSE). The announcement was good news from the perspective of the international community, particularly the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), who […]

Ethiopia has gone through multiple regimes in its long history. Some of these are remembered for their military accomplishments and others for the modest but flawed economic developments they were able to achieve. However, not a single government has been able to guarantee individual rights or the equitable distribution of resources comprehensively. We have had […]

The present world is both simple and complex. It is simple because advanced communication technologies provide us with plenty of important ideas and information. It is complex because the astonishing technological changes are difficult to catch-up with. Under the current culture of media practice, although many are dependent on it, few understand its function. Partially […]

One of the prominent historians of Ethiopia, Bahru Zewde (PhD) in his book, “Society and State in Ethiopian History” calls Emperor Tewodros II the “first dreamer.” He holds that the Emperor felt great grief at the profound underdevelopment of his country. Although burning with a passion for modernising his country, Tewodros’s dream never took off […]

There is no better word than “regeneration” to articulate what is being observed for the first time in the 27-year old stay of the ruling coalition as the incumbent. It did not transpire out of the blue. Numerous phenomena, including a landmark mass movement back in 2005 on the streets of Addis Abeba, can be […]

The 1933 Montevideo Convention on the Rights & Duties of States affirms that recognition of a state is unconditional and irrevocable. Somaliland, however, has been lobbying the international community to be recognised as a separate state from Somalia for more than a quarter of a century. Its quest for recognition seems to have come to […]

We should be grateful for the rally that took place to support Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) on June 23 in Addis Abeba. It ought to matter little which side of the political fence one stands on. Whether one agrees with the theme of the rally or not, it is a significant step in the […]

There is an adage in Ethiopia that politics and electricity should be kept far away. This is a consequence of decades of political monopoly by single parties and lack of a political culture where the general public has been too passive in its engagement. Politics has rarely been free from perceptions of political repression and […]

It is not business as usual in Ethiopia these days. Things are changing in a fast and furious way. There is a sense of euphoria taking over a large portion of the population. There are dread and apprehension for some, fear and confusion for others. Interesting times are here. In the eternal words of Bob […]

The ‘No war-No peace’ situation between Ethiopia and Eritrea – pursued as the most preferred survival option by the regime in Asmara – is not tenable anymore. While Ethiopia has all along been consistent in its principled approach towards resolving outstanding issues with Eritrea, the latter’s continued rejection of dialogue, as well as its misguided […]

As in the misguided views that we are only using 10pc of our brain or one can see the Great Wall of China all the way from the moon, Ethiopia’s foreign currency problem has its urban myth. The recurrent forex crunch has its causes as well as more straightforward means of addressing the problem, but […]

In a democracy, the media can serve as an independent observer of government and society. Without it, citizens would remain uninformed about policies and government officials’ exercise of power. However, journalists are still jailed, and press freedoms are curtailed. Such actions are often justified in the name of preserving the national image or protecting against […]

Knowledge is the antidote to perils that arise out of ignorance, which are not the reasons behind poverty. Civilisations may have begun with the proper utilisation and dissemination of knowledge. And in the current era of digital revolution, modern means of learning have been significant instruments in creating wealth and development. Modern education, which has […]

Regarding a great many Ethiopians overseas and here at home, I am glad that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) has chosen the path of national unity as a means to heal the wounds inflicted by tested and failed divisive political rhetoric. I am not a politician, nor do I have an affiliation with EPRDF or […]

I have a friend whose views often contradict that of mine. It does not matter whether he is right or wrong, or that I am, but I often feel our differences frame the discourse taking place at the national scale. Today’s politics, of course, mostly revolves around Prime Minster Abiy Ahmed (PhD). This is not […]

Tomorrow, the Downfall of the Dergue, better known as Genibot 20, will be celebrated. It would have been 28 years since members of the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) came to power, first as part of the transitional government and then as a governing coalition. Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) will have been in […]

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed (PhD) is a passionate man who believes that we do not have to retreat to advance but advance to advance. It can be used as an exemplary strategy for success in leadership during growth. It is a powerful concept he has incorporated into how policymakers and business leaders must face up […]

Enat Bank was concocted by a group of people who had the idea of establishing a women-focused firm. This was not only because they were business women who knew first-hand the challenges faced by the gender to access finance. It was also because women are the emerging entrepreneurship powerhouse, consumer base, talent source and decision […]

In a country of such economic and demographic make-up such as Ethiopia’s, institutionalising of diverse activities is an essential catalyst to bring about accelerated prosperity and development. It is agreed by many that the education system, through its institutes, owes a lot to the successful trajectory of its graduates’ professional career. Though not the focal […]

Ethiopia is a remarkably young country and a veritable nation of students with a median age of around 18. Nearly 46 million Ethiopians (43.6pc) are 14 years or younger, and 67 million Ethiopians (65.5pc) are 24 years or younger, according to Index Mundi’s 2017 estimate. These numbers make it impossible to exaggerate the importance of […]