By: Biruk Haregu (PhD student in Public Policy and Political Economy, and a Pre-Doctoral Fellow at...

During the past 5 years, Abiy’s approach to economic policy— Abiynomics— has demonstrably proven to be non-strategic, misaligned, confused, and socioeconomically ruinous.  First, the principal strategic error is the abrupt shift in economic policy from the robust industrial parks policy that aimed to develop and strengthen manufacturing and industry in Ethiopia, to Abiy’s hodgepodge initiatives spanning cosmetic construction projects, agricultural initiatives, and mass privatization…

On October 3rd, 2023, the European Union (EU) dithered and officially backed the dictatorship of Abiy Ahmed in Ethiopia.  No matter what preconditions were put forth by the continental body, it is now clear that EU has turned its back on citizens seeking justice and accountability over the horrific two-year long civil war in Northern Ethiopia, and the ongoing civil war that Abiy is waging against the Amhara.  More broadly, the EU’s decision is a grave disservice to Ethiopians across the country.

Unfortunately, Abiy is the only Nobel Prize for Peace laureate that is not a peace maker. Indeed, his intransigence and maniacal reliance on military force is leading to further gross human rights violations and impending humanitarian catastrophe once more.  More broadly, while injuries in the form of war crimes, ethnic cleansing, and genocide mount in Ethiopia at the hands of Abiy; benefits for the lives, livelihoods and well-being of citizens are nowhere to be found. 

For close and discerning observers of Ethiopian politics, it is increasingly evident that Abiy’s principal objective is power consolidation through the complete disarmament and demobilization of the Amhara regional forces and by extension the Amhara region— a force and region that he fears is a threat to his authoritarian inclinations.  Unsurprisingly, the haphazard and unjust policy decree has been met with a widespread popular resistance movement and insurgency throughout the Amhara region.  Amharas view the deployment of federal forces into the region as an attempt to subjugate the people and the region to the whims of Abiy and his Oromo Prosperity Party; while at the same time, exposing the region and its people to security threats emanating from other armed groups, namely the TPLF, Oromo special forces, and Oromo Liberation Army.

By way of introduction, the writers of this letter were members of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s Economic Advisory Council, until our resignation. One of us was Deputy Global Manager of the ICP that is housed in the World Bank and cosponsored by many international agencies including the IMF. We write with a reasonably sufficient knowledge of the Ethiopian Government and your institutions.