By Andrew MacDonald
Posted on Thursday, 19 November 2020 18:46
Human rights abuses will deter ESG-conscious investors at a time when Ethiopia’s President Abiy Ahmed is looking to drive his Homegrown Economic Reform agenda, which aims to transform the nation from an agrarian to an industrialised economy by 2030, says risk consultancy Verisk Maplecroft.
Ethiopian forces are marching towards Mekelle, the capital of the regional government of Tigray. As of Wednesday 18 November, President Abiy has said the operation in the Tigray region was entering its “final phase.”
This comes amidst reports of a mass killing of civilians in what “would amount to war crimes” if confirmed, warned UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet. Both sides accuse each other of the massacre committed on 9 November.
Bad timing for FDI
The timing of such events bodes badly for the Ethiopian government which has been eager to lure foreign direct investment flows (FDI) in the tens of billions of dollars through economic liberalisation, particularly privatisation.
Foreign investor sentiment in Ethiopia is almost certain to be muted if hostilities continue.
The government’s reform programme aims to leverage the economic momentum Ethiopia has achieved in recent years and one of these measures has included alleviating sustained foreign exchange shortages.
According to the Financial Times, Ethiopia’s foreign reserves stood at $3.1bn at the end of the fiscal year to July – enough to cover about two months of imports. Africa Insight Wake up to the essential with the Editor’s picks. Sign up Also receive offers from The Africa Report Also receive offers from The Africa Report’s partners
“Ethiopia only narrowly escapes being categorised as an extreme risk country in our Security Forces and Human Rights Index meaning the impact on local populations could be severe,” senior Africa analyst Ed Hobey-Hamsher at Verisk Maplecroft tells The Africa Report.
And looking ahead to 2021, the IMF expects economic growth in Ethiopia to clock at zero and with a comprehensive rollout of a COVID-19 vaccine to Africa not yet in sight, foreign investor sentiment in Ethiopia is almost certain to be muted if hostilities continue.
Worsening situation on the ground
On 14 November, the leaders of Tigray, the semi-autonomous federal state, claimed rocket attacks on two airports in a nearby state and as well as Eritrea’s capital. That in turn has added fuel to growing fears that the conflict could develop into a protracted civil war, drawing in its neighbouring nation.
So far, the conflict has killed hundreds and sent nearly 30,000 civilians to seek refuge in neighbouring Sudan.
Tensions have been boiling since Tigray’s governing party, the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) refused to join Abiy’s ruling Prosperity Party. When he came to power, Abiy curbed the historically strong influence of the TPLF after he dissolved the previous ruling coalition in 2018.
READ MORE Abiy Ahmed paddles Ethiopia’s Prosperity Party towards elections
Tigray also has substantial links to the Ethiopian military with soldiers currently serving in Ethiopia’s large contingent of peacekeepers to Somalia.
With the continent’s second largest population, Ethiopia is the dominant nation in the Horn of Africa. The United Nations, the African Union and others are concerned the fighting could spread to other parts of Ethiopia and destabilise a wider region already weakened by locust infestation and Islamist extremism.