Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed was present among the members of the House of Representatives on Thursday, October 31, 2024, to present his explanations that refer to the yearly opening address delivered by the President of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, Ambassador Taye Atske Selassie, to the joint session of the House of Peoples’ Representatives and the House of the Federation.
The address was a quick overview of the blueprint of what the government would be doing during the current fiscal year and what future plans it may have. The premier was present among the members of parliament not only to give explanations on the president’s blueprint but also to entertain queries about what the MPs say need his substantiation.
Various issues and topics were raised by the MPs, and very detailed questions were also presented to the prime minister. The major issues raised were first and foremost related to the economic situation of the country, the challenges that people face because of the cost of living and inflation, the issue of employment, and the efforts of the government to address this critical problem that is the risk of creating despair and distrust among citizens.
The MPs also raised issues of peace and security in the nation, particularly referring to the situation in certain notorious areas and pockets where citizens have the perception or belief that the control of the government forces seems to struggle, creating anxiety among peaceful citizens.
Issues of law and order and controversies among certain ethnic and identity issues, the challenges the nation is facing due to the government’s declared ambition and stance on seeking access to the sea, and the diplomatic rows that followed Ethiopia’s signing of an MOU with Somaliland were also raised and discussed.
The allegations that Ethiopia is encroaching on the sovereignty of a neighboring country and the alarm that has been falsely spread by forces that do not have any sympathy for Ethiopia and are not necessarily friends or allies were dismissed as baseless. The premier was asked to shed some light on the latest developments in this area.
The premier was also asked to substantiate what exactly were the motives behind the Corridor Development Projects that many have heard complaining that their lives and livelihoods have been negatively affected in earnest due to the demolition of their residences, albeit modestly.
The premier took a long time to address all these major issues on which clear explanation of principles and policies were needed so that there were no ambiguities nor blurred stances on what the government has planned to do going forward in the year and years to come as a fundamental ambition of its efforts. He went on to explain stressing that the international community and countries that have a stake in these issues need to be well-informed about dismissing false allegations and propaganda against Ethiopia.
In particular, many of the MPs presented questions to the premier on what the policies of his government were to fight against the currently high inflation rate successfully in the wake of the decision of the government to float the Ethiopian Birr and by weakening the value of the Ethiopian birr against the hard currencies with the implementation of the second phase of the Home Grown Economic Reforms as desired and advised by the IMF and the World Bank.
Furthermore, the MPs asked about how the government was engaging itself in its efforts to secure the peace that is lacking in particularly certain areas, such as the Amhara regional state and Oromia, and forcing citizens to endure all sorts of uncertainty and suffering that have resulted from the perceived insecurity and instability. They claimed that citizens were complaining about what they face being forced to endure the extremely dire conditions they are living in.
Questions were also posed regarding the problems relating to certain neighboring countries about the desire of Ethiopia to have some sort of access to the sea on the Red Sea peacefully and diplomatically, as was signed between Ethiopia and Somaliland last January. Some of the government’s diplomatic moves were also put into discussion by the MPs wanting to know the exact position or stance of the government on the emerging developments following the stance of the Republic of Somalia on the MOU signed between Somaliland and Ethiopia.
The premier presented a furry of statistical data to the MPs and the Ethiopian people about what the exact picture of the economy was justifying that the numbers did not lie and that the country is on the right track to come out of dependency and debt-ridden economy to a new beginning that would transform the nation.
He started by explaining that the issue of inflation was a huge international challenge that did not spare even the most advanced and developed economies rich with various policy options that do not necessarily apply to the poorer or growing economies such as Ethiopia. He stated that Ethiopia could decrease the rate of inflation to significant levels only by increasing production and employing the workforce of the nation to contribute to growth.
When there are gaps between demand and supply it is natural that prices rise very high and things become unaffordable for people who live on fixed pay such as civil servants who do not have any manners of facing the price hikes the premier noted. The fact that Ethiopia imports many goods from abroad such as particularly fuel, fertilizers, pharmaceutical products, and electronic gadgets contributes to the big imbalance of trade and this presents a challenge to the capacity of the economy to pay for the gap according to the premier.
The premier noted that among the measures taken to address this economic issue was one of earmarking a huge fund or budget to subsidize many imported goods that could otherwise become very burdensome to particularly low-income citizens. In this regard, he said the earmarked amount is equivalent to the entire budget of the country a few years ago. He cited safety net programs that are meant to help poor communities come out of their predicament due to price hikes that are unaffordable to them.
The premier insisted that most of the measures that are now being taken by his government were long overdue and should have been devised and implemented before things were allowed to reach present-day levels. His government has decided to take certain harsh measures to face the challenge with resolve and put a halt to what would happen otherwise if things were allowed to continue with the old policies that were unfit to address the fundamental problems of the growing economy. At a certain point, we are all forced to swallow bitter pills but the positive results will come in due time he pointed out.
Pretending that problems did not exist or dismissing reality would not help us continue with the current trajectory of our country. In this regard, the country’s trade deficit is also a major stumbling block for smooth growth because this presents a lack of foreign currency to pay for the imports which are critically needed in the country. Not everything can be substituted by homemade goods as some of these goods cannot now be produced at home.
That is why the country needs a lot of foreign currency that could be earned through foreign direct investment in the country by foreign governments and companies and other forms of income such as the export of goods from Ethiopia such as gold, coffee being among the most valuable ones for export. There are also others which are now being added to the list. Soon wheat, tea, oil seeds, fruits, and horticulture as well as services that Ethiopia exports will have a huge contribution to filling certain gaps in our economy.
Ethiopia will also increase its hydropower to be exported to neighboring countries in exchange for foreign currency, the expansion of the tourism sector in particular conference tourism.
The premier said that there has been significant growth in all these sectors and more is planned for the coming years but a lot more needs to be done without complacency, he added. A lot has been said about Ethiopia’s immense potential to attract tourists but certain preconditions need to be fulfilled, there is ground to increase the remittance by the diaspora but they should be convinced that the government is making the best out of it and not squander it to only enlarge its political base.
On the issue of good governance and corruption, the premier said that the state is not involved in any form of corruption but this does not mean that humans are totally free of certain malpractices, particularly in delivering well what is expected of them by citizens and that certain forms of illegalities such as nepotism were totally eliminated. However, the government the premier said, was committed to do all in its capacity to address similar hiccups. Investments can thrive only if the manner of doing business in the country is assisted by efficient and well-to-do bureaucrats and skilled manpower.
Regarding the case of employment, the premier said that there are plans to engage more than four million people in the current year, and about twenty percent of it is composed of employment abroad, not only in the Middle East but also in Europe, with skilled manpower to be legally recruited with the fulfillment of all the preconditions. The issue of cost of living and inflation is not simple to address fully and successfully, but the trends in the last couple of years are very encouraging, the premier remarked. Inflation does exist and continues to grow, but at a decreasing pace, and through time, our plan of keeping it within single digits could be realized if we work hard.
Part of the issue of economic growth and the plague of inflation is also addressed through the Corridor Development Project that is being executed not only in Addis Ababa, which by the way has attracted the admiration and appreciation of many, but also in several other regional cities such as Bahir Dar, Gondar, Jimma, Harar, etc. Changing cities and urban areas with the principles of what is being implemented in Addis Ababa will eventually change the way people live and hence make their lives better and prepare them to experience growth, prosperity, and a more decent life.
The premier said that prosperity could be attained by beginning to urbanize well, availing citizens’ decent housing and the entire necessary infrastructure to raise kids in a clean and healthy environment, and keeping the country green with the Green Legacy Initiative and its application. Already progress is being experienced in this regard, the premier told parliament, and more is in the pipeline, but the indispensable element in all this is the issue of peace, and he has again urged all armed forces who are trying to have their way through the use of force, and that could not be realized with how things stand now, he warned.
Abiy pointed out that our mentality of how to be involved in politics must be totally changed because the use of force cannot deliver what we want to achieve. These are outmoded ways of trying to address political issues, and the premier reiterated that only having discussions seated around a table would resolve all our outstanding issues of any kind, and in this regard, the formation of the National Dialogue Commission must be taken more seriously by all stakeholders from whichever political ideology or belief.
BY FITSUM GETACHEW
The Ethiopian Herald November 3/2024
