Commentaries | Feb 09,2019
March 28 , 2020
Touted by the Americans, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has been the darling of the West. Never mind that the Middle Eastern emirs are behind his off the budget indulgence in paying for the passionate projects of his immediate surroundings.
It is very hard to say as much about the attitude toward him by many of the leaders in Africa, claims gossip. Some like Yoweri Museveni of Uganda may see him as a young man popping up in the scene but hyperactive above his pay grade, gossip says. Paul Kagame of Rwanda could have a bias against Abiy due to the development model he might have emulated from the late Meles Zenawi, to whom he had the greatest admiration, says gossip.
Abiy's bizarre design in Somalia, in complete contrast to the long-held foreign policy stances of successive leaders in Ethiopia, has obviously pitted him head-on with Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, says gossip. Abiy`s relationship with Somalia`s Mohamed A. Mohamed, aka Farmaajo, is mainly shaped by the latter's affinity with Eritrea's Issayas Afeworqi, according to gossip. It is interesting to note that among all the leaders Prime Minister Abiy had called last week to coordinate a regional response in the Horn of Africa, President Issayas was a notable absence, gossip disclosed.
While Muse Bihi Abdi of Somaliland is known to have anxiety over Abiy's policy toward Somalia in general, Djibouti`s Ismael O. Guelleh remains unforgiving to Ethiopia`s foreign policy infidelity with Eritrea behind his back, claims gossip. Abiy and his close aides in foreign policy circles are trying to court Sudan's rather unconsolidated leaders, including its interim Prime Minister, Abdalla Hamdok, says gossip. Farther north, his effort in cajoling Egypt`s President, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, appears to have backfired over sharp disagreements on the GERD, at a curious time when Egypt is entrenching its hold on the leaders of South Sudan, including its President, Salva Kiir, says gossip.
Despite his delicate relationships with these leaders, Ethiopia's Prime Minister is keen in pushing for a kind of regional togetherness that is closer than what the horde of leaders in the region is prepared for, according to gossip. Many of them seem to get along more out of diplomatic courtesy, unable to determine what to make of an idealist on hyper energy but driving solo, claims gossip.
Some of these initiatives, taken unilaterally, do not go down well among the circle of African leaders and their senior diplomats based in Addis Abeba, claims gossip. Abiy`s decision to insert the mantra of “Me`demer” in the banners put across the city during the AU Summit by heads of state - alongside or competing with AU`s core message of silencing guns - was a subject of ire but contained within the corridors of African diplomats, gossip recalled.
To the indignation of this circle, Ethiopia`s Prime Minister has taken upon himself the role of a spokesperson and a point man for the African continent, even though the AU has an elected chairman in the person of South Africa's Cyril Ramaphosa, gossip claims. His success in persuading China's billionaire, Jack Ma of Alibaba Group, to send desperately needed medical supplies to protect lives from the Coronavirus could have been appreciated across the continent, says gossip.
However, his decision to write an official letter to the G20 leaders on the continent`s behalf without first delegated by the AU summit was considered nothing but an act of gall, claims gossip. He asked for the generous support of 150 billion dollars to ward off the virus in the continent, an amount 50 billion dollars more than what Vera Songwe of UNECA suggested earlier, gossip disclosed. The world is certainly moving to a recession not seen since the Second World War; the global economy is to lose 2.7 trillion dollars. No less than 80 countries have their leaders made the same plea to the IMF for fiscal support. Abiy`s lone voice urging the world to not forget Africa at its own peril appears to remain a distant and faint cry, claims gossip.
PUBLISHED ON
Mar 28,2020 [ VOL
20 , NO
1039]
Commentaries | Feb 09,2019
Radar | Jul 25,2020
Viewpoints | Mar 02,2019
Sunday with Eden | Mar 23,2019
Fineline | Dec 14,2019
Fineline | May 11,2019
Fineline | Feb 09,2019
Addis Fortune | Sep 27,2020
Viewpoints | Nov 02,2019
View From Arada | May 04,2019
Fortune News | 41050 Views | Jul 18,2020
Fortune News | 34907 Views | Sep 01,2021
Photo Gallery | 26172 Views | May 06,2019
Photo Gallery | 24642 Views | Mar 17,2019
August 28 , 2021 . By HAWI DADHI
The streets of Addis Abeba are as varied as they are many, although too many of them have yet to be named. From the narrow alleyways of the...
August 7 , 2021
There are a few without an opinion on Ethiopia’s federal structure, which is arranged along lingo-cultu...
July 24 , 2021
There was an alarming increase in the price of Teffin August 2017. It suddenly skyrocketed from 2,000 Br...
June 26 , 2021 . By HAWI DADHI and SAMUEL BOGALE
This past Monday was the second time Belay Zerihun, a second-time voter, has had to stand in a long queue...
September 18 , 2021
It could be customary to wish well for the holiday seasons. If only the New Year cele...
September 10 , 2021
What dominates a customary display of festivities during Ethiopia`s New Year weeks is...
September 4 , 2021
Ethiopia has become a familiar topic at the United Nation’s Security Council, a pow...
August 28 , 2021
The Central Statistics Agency (CSA) finally has an easily navigatable and pleasant lo...
September 18 , 2021
The Millennium Hall on Africa Avenue, a popular destination for concerts, exhibitions and public gatherings, has returned to a scene that ha...
Ethiopia's access to a 1.5 billion dollar concessional loan facility availed by the International Monetar...
September 18 , 2021 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Thousands of workers employed by factories operating in the Hawassa Industrial Park are edging closer to...
September 18 , 2021 . By BERSABEH GEBRE
Authorities are set to introduce a new rule to enable businesses trading on the floor of the Ethiopia Com...
Put your comments here