1) Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed is set to nominate new cabinet ministers in a reshuffle. Parliament said it would meet on Thursday to approve the new appointees. The cabinet reshuffle comes nearly two weeks after the country's long-serving Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Demeke Mekonnen resigned. Demeke also resigned as deputy chairman of the ruling Prosperity Party. He was immediately succeeded by Intelligence chief Temesgen Tiruneh. Demeke. He has not yet vacated his position as Deputy PM and Foreign minister, but is expected to be replaced on Thursday. Two weeks earlier, Wazema had reported that Abiy was planning to replace the Intelligence and Defence officials.
2) Five opposition parties have accused the Ethiopian government security forces of "killing" and "executing" more than 50 innocent people, including children, women, the elderly and the Orthodox Church clergy in Mere'awi town, West Gojjam zone, Amhara State, on January 29. The parties said the killings followed an armed clash between government troops and the Fano militia in the town. In a joint statement, the All-Ethiopia Unity Party, the Enat Party, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party, the One Ethiopia Democratic Party and the Amhara Ghionawi Movement, called for independent investigations into the "killings" and "executions". The parties also opposed the extension of the state of emergency declared by the Federal Government in Amhara six months ago, adding that the purpose of the war in the region and the extension of the decree for four months, was to "prolong the suffering of the region's population without accountability". They also called on the government to stop the war in the region and urged parliament to reconsider the extension of the decree.
3) The World Food Programme (WFP) announced Tuesday that it was ramping up efforts to provide food aid to 3 million people affected by conflict, drought and floods in Ethiopia. In a statement, WFP said it was "extremely concerned" about the food security in northern Ethiopia, adding that its workers were making efforts to provide food to millions in the first quarter of the year to prevent a "major humanitarian catastrophe". WFP has also warned that it will be forced to suspend food distributions to refugees in April 2024 if it does not receive an additional $142 million to replenish its stocks till June.
4) The Ethiopian Capital Markets Authority announced on Wednesday plans to start issuing licences to Capital Market Service Providers from next Monday. The authority's Director General, Brook Taye, said the Capital Markets Service Providers and Supervision Directive for licensing, had already been adopted. Brook also hinted that the Public Offer Directive that will foster transparency and investor protection and facilitate fairness and efficiency was being drafted. The authority also stated its plans to give permits to domestic and foreign investment banks for the first time.
5) Safaricom Ethiopia, the first foreign telco in the country, generated $117.5 million loans from the local financial market by the end of December, Kenya’s Business Daily reported on Wednesday. The report said the telco had, by June 2023, borrowed $95 million from the local financial market. According to the report, Safaricom Ethiopia, a subsidiary of the Kenya-based Safaricom, would use the loan to expand its services and operations. The telco earned $280,625 from its Mpesa mobile money service by the end of December 2023, it was revealed, while the number of new subscribers of the Mpesa service in Ethiopia had increased to 3.1 million. The telco was accessible to one third of the country's total population by the end of last December, the report added.
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