Eritrea Accused of Colluding with TPLF and Fano Militia

Delayed Implementation of Public Servants’ Salary Increment

Ethiopia FM Gediwon Timotiwos- FILE

• Eritrea Accused of Colluding with TPLF and Fano Militia
  Ethiopia’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Gedion Timotewos, has accused the Eritrean government of colluding with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) and the Fano militia to wage war against Ethiopia. Gedion stated that Eritrean and TPLF forces participated in a recent Fano offensive targeting Woldiya town in the North Wollo zone of Amhara region. He called on international organizations to pressure Eritrea to halt both direct and indirect hostile actions and to respect Ethiopia’s territorial integrity and sovereignty.

• Delayed Implementation of Public Servants’ Salary Increment
  Public servants told Wazema (this publication) that they did not receive the planned salary increment for September 2025, despite previous government announcements. The federal Civil Service Commission had stated that new salary scales would be implemented in September. Under the revised policy, the minimum salary was to increase from 4,760 to 6,000 birr, and the maximum salary from 21,492 to 39,000 birr, requiring an additional 160 billion birr in the government budget.

• IMF Highlights Ethiopia’s Tax Collection Gaps
  The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has identified Ethiopia as one of the sub-Saharan countries with the largest gaps between potential and actual tax collection. The IMF report notes that Ethiopia’s tax gap exceeds five percentage points of GDP, causing significant revenue losses. In response, the Ethiopian government has recently focused on domestic revenue mobilization, introducing tax reforms and strengthening revenue collection systems, though gaps remain substantial.

• Declining Donor Support Strains Refugee Response
  Teyiba Hassen, Director General of Ethiopia’s Refugees and Returnees Service (RRS), expressed concern over declining international support for Ethiopia’s refugee response. Speaking at the 76th Session of the UNHCR Executive Committee in Geneva, she noted that the country is hosting new arrivals from South Sudan without adequate funding. Hassen highlighted that the influx is putting severe pressure on Ethiopia’s public services, local infrastructure, and limited resources, describing 2025 as the most challenging year in recent memory for the refugee response due to the alarming decline in humanitarian funding.

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