One of the armed factions in Ethiopia’s Tigray has rejected Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s call requesting the people to propose a leader who will be an interim president of the region for the next one year.
In a message Ahmed requested the people of Tigray to participate in the nomination of a new president, confirming the official departure of Getachew Reda as the interim president of the Tigray regional state.
In a statement issued late Wednesday one faction of the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) led by Debretsion Gebremichael argued that the PM’s move violates the Pretoria Cessation of Hostility Agreement (CoHA).
The faction said the Ethiopian government has persistently sought to unilaterally impose new terms on the CoHA, engaging in acts of sabotage that undermine peace and progress.
“The people of Tigray should have had an elected government by now. However, this has not materialized due to the Ethiopian government’s deliberate efforts to manufacture political crises in Tigray,” it said.
According to the statement, the Ethiopian government is escalating its activities in direct contravention of the CoHA which obliges all parties to refrain from any direct or indirect hostile actions targeting the other party.
“Rather than focusing on rehabilitating the people of Tigray, who have endured a genocidal war, the Ethiopian government has resorted to malicious acts such as blocking essential commodities like fuel from entering Tigray and halting life-saving activities,” said the faction, asserting that it rejects the call to nominate interim president for the Tigray region.
(APA NEWS)
Goodcarbon announces carbon and biodiversity project in Ethiopia
A major carbon and biodiversity project in Ethiopia has ‘established a new benchmark for the voluntary carbon market’, Berlin-based startup goodcarbon has said.
The project will see up to 7,000 hectares of African montane forest restored, and over the next 40 years, it is expected to sequester 2.3 million tonnes of CO₂, enhance biodiversity, and support over 300,000 local residents.
goodcarbon developed the project alongside the Menschen für Menschen Foundation, with support from the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ).
A key element of the project is its collaboration with local communities, with at least 50% of carbon credit revenues paid directly to local communities.
The reforested land will also help to improve biodiversity, creating habitats for endangered species that have been absent from the regions for decades, including over 200 bird species.
The initiative will be situated in southern and southwestern Ethiopia, specifically the Eastern Afromontane Biodiversity Hotspot, an area that has seen high population growth and poverty, putting pressure on natural resources.
It forms part of the goodcarbon Originals project portfolio, which aims to prioritise maximum transparency and biodiversity conservation in ecologically valuable areas, around a community-focused model.
“goodcarbon Originals require extensive preparation to ensure they have a lasting impact on biodiversity, nature, and climate,” commented David Diallo, co-founder and managing director of goodcarbon.
“We are thrilled to see the first of these projects officially launched in Ethiopia. This is just the beginning of our commitment to climate justice, with many more ambitious projects in development. Each one is designed to set new standards in community engagement, longevity, and benefits that extend far beyond carbon sequestration.”
Other initiatives associated with the project include sustainable livestock programmes to improve animal husbandry, the building of new wells to provide clean water access, the expansion of healthcare services and vaccination programmes, the construction of three school blocks, and support for micro and small enterprises.
“We can only call our work successful, if we genuinely reach the people in the villages,” added Yilma Taye, country representative for Menschen für Menschen in Ethiopia. “Collaboration between all stakeholders, as demonstrated in this project, is crucial.”
(Sustainability Online)
NBE Keeps Rates at 15%, Credit Cap at 18% in Prudent Stance
The central bank held its key interest rate at 15 percent on March 25, 2025, opting for continuity in its tight monetary stance as inflation cools but remains stubbornly above single-digit territory, the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) said after its Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) convened for its second meeting of the year.
The decision, endorsed by the NBE Board, reflects a delicate calibration: wrestling inflation—down to 15 percent in February from far higher levels last year—while preserving momentum in an economy buoyed by bumper harvests, export gains, and industrial revival, the NBE added.
Alongside the unchanged National Bank Rate (NBR), the MPC left an 18 percent ceiling on annual credit growth intact and preserved existing settings for reserve requirements and lending facilities.
Meeting under the mandate of the recently approved NBE Establishment Proclamation 1359/2025, the MPC sifted through a raft of data. Inflation’s retreat is palpable—food inflation has slumped to 14.6 percent from 31 percent a year ago.
Non-food inflation, at 15.6 percent, has ticked up slightly, nudged by exchange rate spillovers, but monthly price rises have softened, with February’s 0.5 percent increase marking a fourth straight month of calm.
Growth, meanwhile, is humming. The NBE’s Composite Index of Economic Activity points to resilience, powered by a strong ‘meher’ rainy season promising record crops, industrial output lifted by easing forex bottlenecks, and a services sector riding high on tourism and aviation. Exports—coffee and gold especially—are rising, aided by global prices near historic peaks.
Money supply, however, is racing ahead—broad money up 22.8 percent and base money soaring 42 percent by January—spurred by gold-driven forex inflows and a modest relaxation of credit curbs. Domestic credit growth, at 19.8 percent, holds steady. In the markets, real interest rates have turned positive, a first for Ethiopia: 364-day
Treasury bill yields hit 17.7 percent in February, up from 15.9 percent in December, while interbank rates settled at 16.7 percent, snug within the NBE’s 15 percent corridor. Interbank volumes swelled to 338.8 billion birr, a sign of deepening liquidity.
Banks are sound, with low bad loans and solid capital, though some face liquidity pinches from high loan-to-deposit ratios—a challenge eased by the NBE’s new lending facility.
Fiscal policy remains tight, with no deficit monetisation this year, aligning neatly with monetary goals. On the external front, a current account surplus has emerged, fuelled by exports, remittances, and capital flows tied to last July’s exchange rate shake-up, swelling forex reserves.
Globally, the IMF sees growth holding at 3.3 percent through 2026, with inflation dipping to 3.5 percent. But trade tensions loom, and while oil prices have slid nine percent since July, Ethiopia’s coffee and gold exports bask in high demand.
The MPC hailed inflation’s decline but cautioned it’s not yet tamed. “a disinflationary monetary policy stance remains appropriate and should remain in place until there is still further progress in reducing inflation,” it said, eyeing the gap to single-digit inflation and the risks of loose liquidity from forex gains.
The committee will reconvene in June.
(BirrMetrics)
Toyo Solar to double solar cell production capacity from Ethiopia factory to 4GW
Japanese cell and module manufacturer Toyo Solar plans to double its annual solar PV cell production capacity in Ethiopia, East Africa.
The company is working to secure a lease to build a second manufacturing plant in the city of Hawassa, alongside its existing 2GW manufacturing facility, at which it started pilot production of cells in February. Toyo announced the first phase of its Ethiopian expansion in October 2024, and expects to scale up work at its second factory in similarly short order, aiming to begin construction in April and start commercial operation in August.
The first cell facility required an investment of US$60 million, while the second will cost the manufacturer US$47 million, as the “existing infrastructure” in place at the first facility will help support the construction and operation of the second facility.
Toyo’s Ethiopian facilities will significantly expand the company’s manufacturing capacity. Between the start of cell manufacturing in October 2023 and the end of June 2024, the last quarter for which the company has published results, it shipped 1.3GW of cells. The company has already announced that its Ethiopian cells will be shipped to a module manufacturing facility in the US, which it plans to commission this year, and aims to build a separate cell manufacturing facility in the US in the first half of 2026.
“The global interest and orders we’ve received for our solar cell products, even before phase one is fully operational, confirm the strength of our strategic vision,” said Toyo chairman and CEO Junsei Ryu. “Given the global demand, we have decided to proceed with this additional capacity.”
Toyo’s plans to commission more cell and module manufacturing capacity in the US is notable, considering ongoing tensions between leading solar manufacturer China and the US, a major global market. President Trump raised tariffs on Chinese solar products to 60% earlier this year, further raising interest in domestic solar manufacturing.
More broadly, Solar Media head of research Finlay Colville said at last year’s PV CellTech USA conference that meaningful new US cell manufacturing capacity would be a “pivotal moment” in the global solar supply chain, as this would challenge China’s historic dominance of the sector.
(PV TECH)
HIV infections soar in post-war Tigray
Tigray was once considered a model in the fight against HIV. Years of awareness-raising efforts had brought the region’s HIV prevalence rate to 1.4 percent one of the lowest in Ethiopia.
Then, in 2020, war began between Ethiopia’s government, backed by neighboring Eritrea, and Tigray fighters.
Now, the average monthly positive rate has “increased considerably”, said Akberet Mengesha, the Anti-retroviral therapy Department Coordinator at the Ayder Refferal Hospital in Mekele, Tigray region.
Sexual violence was widespread in the two-year conflict, which also had mass killings, hunger and disease. As many as 10 percent of women and girls aged between 15 and 49 in the region of 6 million people were subject to sexual abuse, mostly rape and gang rape, according to a study published by BMJ Global Health in 2023.
At the same time, Tigray’s health system was systematically looted and destroyed, leaving only 17 percent of health centers functional, according to another study in the same journal.
According to a report done by the Tigray Regional Health Bureau in conjunction with the Ministry of Health and the World Health Organisation, 86 percent of health facilities in the region were “partially damaged”, and three percent were “completely damaged.” As a result, 90 percent of sexual violence survivors did not get timely medical support.
“Additionally, the risk of mother-to-child transmission, which had previously been declined to zero, has changed dramatically,” said Akberet, adding that the rise in diagnosis in children under two was “a direct result of interrupted access to crucial medications during the conflict.”
At the Ayder Refferal Hospital in Mekele, Tigray region, patients lined up to receive Anti-retroviral therapy medicines.
The Ayder Hospital Pharmacy Head Teame Aregay affirmed “the patient count is climbing, with new diagnoses reported every day.”
Today the HIV prevalence rate in Tigray is 3 percent more than double the prewar average, according to local health authorities and the United Nations. The rate among the region’s roughly one million displaced people is 5.5 percent Among sexual violence survivors, it is 8.6 percent.
Few condoms were available during the war, which saw Tigray cut off from the rest of Ethiopia. Today, some destitute displaced people engage in sex work to survive, another factor that health workers believe is contributing to the spike in HIV cases.
The Trump administration’s decision to kill 83 percent of US Agency for International Development programs globally is worsening the situation.
“Unfortunately, there is still a shortage of essential medications to address this growing crisis,” said Teame.
Ethiopia has already laid off 5,000 health workers who were hired with U.S. funds to combat HIV. Meanwhile, charities helping HIV patients receive treatment have received stop-work orders.
They include the Organization for Social Services, Health and Development, a national agency whose Tigray branch was testing people for HIV and giving HIV patients food and financial support.
(africanews)
