· Addis Ababa’s relations with Washington reportedly is set to suffer a set back with the Trump administration’s decision to delay the development assistance to Ethiopia over the filling of the GERD.
· Media has come out strongly against the move alleging that the decision taken was intended to push Ethiopia into accepting a negotiated solution mooted by Egypt
Addis Ababa’s relations with Washington reportedly is set to suffer a set back with the Trump administration’s decision to delay the development assistance to Ethiopia over the filling of the new Grand Renaissance Dam (GERD). The Ethiopian media has come out strongly against the move alleging that the decision taken was intended to push Ethiopia into accepting a negotiated solution mooted by Egypt. The contention is about the timetable for filling the new dam and an agreement on how water from the dam will be shared between Ethiopia, Egypt and Sudan.
Ethiopian sources said that the announcement to suspend Ethiopia’s assistance was confirmed to reporters by officials at the State Department, while the decision came from the Treasury Department. The grievance is that it did not have adequate representation of the State Department and its Africa Bureau, which is led by a former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia.
The Grand Renaissance Dam has been a prestigious project in the Ethiopian government’s strategy to accelerate the country’s economic growth by enhancing Ethiopia’s electrical generation, improve agricultural production and lift millions of Ethiopians out of poverty. Therefore, it is unlikely that the Ethiopian government will toe the line and bow to the American political pressure on the dam.
The aid suspension could not have come at a worse time. Ethiopia, Africa’s second-most populous state and one of the fastest-growing economy in Africa is going through trying times politically and economically. For the past eighteen months, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had initiated a sensitive and complicated political transition of the country to boost its democratic potential. However, the evolution of the transition has now been thrown out of gear by civil unrest, political assassinations and a systematic closing of political space. Additionally, COVID 19 has unleased its own economic woes.
National elections that were scheduled for August 2020 were postponed because of the Pandemic. With the intense political unrest and economic decline, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s popularity and political control has declined. The prime minister who won a Nobel Peace prize for ending a long-running dispute with Eritrea – is struggling to mend relations between different leaders and ethnic groups in his own country.
