Ethiopia Lost $16.5 Billion to Illegal Smuggling of Cash

Last week police in Ethiopia conducted a high-profile corruption sweep in Addis Ababa, the biggest of its type in the Capital in more than ten years, arresting 13 people, including a Minister and his deputy in charge of the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority. But how big is corruption in Ethiopia on the global scale? We placed a phone call to the Washington, D.C office of Global Financial Integrity (GFI), which tracks illicit financial...

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Fisheries Authority concerned by Ethiopian dam

Head of the Fisheries Authority Amani Ismail has warned of the threat posed to Egypt by the construction of a dam in Ethiopia. Writing on the authority’s official website, Ismail said: “There is no longer room for doubt that Egypt is facing a real disaster in the coming months.” She said that the impending disaster is a result of the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation Mohamed Baha’a El-Din’s recognition of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) project. Ismail highlighted that the GERD will change the course of the Blue Nile,...

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Oromo: OSA Appeals To UN Secretary General

The Oromo Studies Association has written an appeal to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on land grabbing in Oromia. Below is an artyicle published by Gadaa: His Excellency Mr. Ban Ki-moon, Secretary-General    Your Excellency Ki-moon: I am writing on behalf of the Oromo Studies Association (OSA), a scholarly organization established by Oromo and non-Oromo scholars to promote studies on and relevant to the Oromo people. We are gravely concerned that the Tigrayan-led minority Ethiopian government continues forcefully...

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Ethiopia enlists help of forest communities to reverse deforestation

Despite taking years to establish the first projects, growth in forest cover and increasing incomes for the communities involved have enabled bigger schemes to begin. When the Ethiopian government realised that outright bans on cutting down trees failed to stop deforestation, it instead turned to a strategy based on enlisting the help of forest communities. The first participatory forest management (PFM) schemes were piloted 15 years ago. Based on signs of success, PFM is being rolled out in larger areas. A particularly ambitious scheme...

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Tilahun Regassa of Ethiopia wins Rotterdam Marathon ahead of teammate Getu Feleke

Tilahun Regassa led an Ethiopian 1-2 finish at the Rotterdam Marathon on Sunday, breaking away with 3 miles left. He won the title in just his second marathon, finishing in 2 hours, 5 minutes and 38 seconds. That was 11 seconds slower than his personal best set in Chicago last year. Regassa ran away from a leading pack of four runners around the 20-mile mark and finished blowing kisses to the crowd down the final straight in this port city. Regassa’s countryman Getu Feleke was second for the second straight year in 2:06.45. Sammy Kitwara...

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Tullow falls on Ethiopian setback

PETER FLANAGAN – 16 APRIL 2013 SHARES in Tullow Oil plummeted yesterday as the company said drilling at a well in Ethiopia had been delayed. In a statement, Tullow said it had experienced "stability" issues at its Sabisa-1 well in Ethiopia. As a result drilling at the well had been delayed until the end of May – two months later than planned. "Hydrocarbon indications. . . have been recorded whilst drilling, but hole instability issues have required the drilling of a sidetrack to comprehensively log and sample these zones of interest,"...

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Ethiopia ready to censor, crackdown on Internet, radio and TV

ADDIS ABABA: Worries are abounding in Ethiopia that the government is preparing to pass new legislation that would censor almost all forms of media, both traditional and new. The new draft law is reportedly being prepared by a steering committee constituting the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority, Ethiopian Ministry of Communications & Information Technology and Information Network Security Agency. The Ethiopia Radio & Television Agency is also participating in the drafting process of the new law. Activists and journalists and...

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