DODGY BUSINESS, CORRUPTION, SLAVERY: WHAT’S BEHIND THE MARTYR OF THE OROMO PEOPLE

On 17 October 2020 / Dossier The Truly Powerful, IBI World UK, Industry / Leave a comment

Four months (June 29, 2020) have passed since the murder of the most famous Ethiopian singer Hachalu Hundessa[1]. He was only 34 years old, he was the “voice of the Oromo people“[2], the largest ethnic group in Ethiopia, but subjugated by the Abyssinians and therefore exploited and marginalized[3]. Hundessa sang of the uprising, “Don’t wait for outside help, a dream that won’t come true. Get up, prepare your horse and fight, you are the one close to the palace”[4]. He was arrested in 2003 when he was only 17 and served four years in prison[5]. “Malaan Jira”[6] (“What kind of life do I have”) is his hymn to the secession from Ethiopia[7], which Hundessa wrote during those years in prison and which made him famous throughout Africa after it has been released[8].

On the day of the funeral, the protest of the population exploded: the government expected nothing else – the special forces intervened, shot, beat and arrested dozens of people[9]. The reaction of the common people and the Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) has been desperate and brutal – because it was only two years ago that the OLF signed a peace treaty with the government of Addis Ababa and that the Abyssinians had promised peace and prosperity[10]. Cars were set on fire, government offices destroyed and police stoned[11]. The government’s reaction was atrocious[12]: dozens of people have died every day for the past four months and the violence has not subsided[13] – also because OLF supporters have been targeted for a year and murdered, while their perpetrators have never been identified[14]. The only consequence: Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed postponed the elections, which should have taken place in August 2020, indefinitely[15].

Oromo’s treasure

Oromo protesters in the days after Hachalu Hundessa’s death

Paradoxically, Abiy Ahmed is the first Oromo to achieve the highest position of leadership in the State[16]. In the early years of his tenure he earned a reputation as a man of integrity, an opponent of corruption and a proponent of integration, so that in 2019 he received the Nobel Peace Prize[17]. But soon after, his true tyrant face became visible[18]. Although the Derg dictatorship was defeated over 30 years ago (1987), due to the collapse of the Soviet Union, which supported it economically and militarily[19], along with the parties that later came to power (EPRDF , EPLF, PFSJ[20]), the massacre and torture continue, whatever the religious, ethnic or political reasons could be – as emerged from an in-depth study carried out by an American NGO in 2009[21] – with the sole goal to control any possible resistance, to build an irreplaceable and inviolable economic oligarchy and to bring out the local populations of their country (who are the most fertile, the most mineral-rich and the most developed in Ethiopia). They expel more than 1.4 million Oromos and illegally confiscate their wealth[22].

These are invaluable treasures: in a drought-ravaged country, there are the mineral water springs (Oromic: Hora) of Sanqallee, Amboo, Weessoo, Gur’uu Fadii, Bilandoo and Baaduu[23]. These are generous and of a unique quality by African standards, so that they play a role of religious holiness in the tradition of the local population, which for thousands of years has given relief to millions of inhabitants, whole herds of animals, thirst through these springs. It feeds coffee, grain and tobacco plantations and warms up in winter because they have a high thermal value[24].

In the years of the Derg dictatorship, these sources were merged into a single State-owned company, which was privatized at the end of the regime to Ambo Mineral SC, which at the continental level became the source of water for the production of beer and Coca-Cola[25] – and was for the eternity stolen from the Oromo people, who have since suffered from a terrible drought[26].

With the disappearance of drinking water, another thousand-year-old tradition of the Oromo people was interrupted: that of coffee, the world consumption of which originated here, and not in Brazil or Arabia[27], as is often assumed[28] – and that since for at least 500 years it has not only played a fundamental role for nutrition and the economic balance of the region, but also played a religious[29] and cultural role[30]. A role that was taken away by the forced nationalization of the marketing of the products of individual farmers in the years of the Derg regime[31], and which, subsequently, due to the fact that coffee has being seen as an openly anti-government tradition[32], this led to massive expropriations and deportations – and put the whole product in the hands of multinational coffee companies whose monopoly position has only been countered in recent years by the activities of humanitarian and sustainable trade organizations[33].

By the way, the international trading of Ethiopian coffee is in the hands of multinational companies such as Starbuck, Cooper, Forest or Square One[34], and only since 2013, on the initiative of a young entrepreneur, Israel Degfa, son of a farmer from the Guji region[35], founder of Kerchanshe Trading PLC, that in just seven years he became the largest coffee exporter in Ethiopia, there’s a chance for recreating the conditions for a re-appropriation of coffee’s production and sales by the Oromo People[36]. Moreover, in addition to gaining control of coffee production, the Ethiopian State nationalized another gift of nature in the Oromo region – and focused it on a single business (eliminating farmers who previously made a living from its cultivation): the tobacco[37].

The last great treasure is oil, discovered by the Soviet Union in the 1980s[38] and then under the control of the Malaysian multinational Petronas[39] and several Chinese companies like Poly-GCL during the years of the Derg regime. In recent months, Poly-GCL has signed new contracts with the government for the use of oil fields and shipping concessions, covering thousands of square kilometers[40]. Petronas’ exploitation of the oil fields has been for decades the excuse for further harassment, torture, massacres and deportations of the Oromo people[41].

These crimes were covered up by the fact that Petronas avoided repeating the mistakes made in Sudan during this century. A mistake that showed the world the cruelty of this multinational[42]: Petronas hid its activity behind the facade of an apparently Ethiopian company, SouthWest Holding[43].

The omnipresence of Tewodros Ashenafi

Tewodros Ashenafi

In order to demonstrate their diversity with the Derg regime, Ethiopian government leaders have gone to great lengths over the past 25 years to show the world that they have solved the problem of forced nationalization with liberal privatizations, but at the same time (mostly by the use of force) to keep control of the land wealth of the Oromo region[44]. As we have seen in the case of the rose market[45], Ethiopian leaders use people they trust to manage strategic sectors of the country’s productive economy[46]. And their favorite steward is undoubtedly Tewodros Ashenafi, who received and administered all the treasures of the Oromo people.

Tewodros Ashenafi was born in Addis Ababa on August 26, 1969 and rose to fame when the government asked him to privatize the country’s largest State-owned company, NTS (National Tobacco Enterprise), for which Ashenafi paid $ 1.4 billion dollars – a bunch of money of unknown origin^[47]. Known as a model student, he grew up in England and immigrated to the United States on a scholarship at the age of 12^[48]. In America, he attended the best schools^[49] and graduated from Columbia University in New York with his high school diploma in economics under the guidance of Nobel laureate Edmund Phelps, who is widely regarded as the father of the Euro^[50]. Upon completion of this course, he enrolled in Harvard Kennedy School’s exclusive Owner-President-Management (OPM) program, graduating in 2010 at the age of 41^[51].

During those long academic years, Ashenafi was the first African elected to lead one of the chapters of the most exclusive Fraternity of American Students^[52] (Beta Theta Pi), known as a breeding ground for politicians and powerful figures, and has strict secrecy laws and “mutual support among Confreres”. It is also known for dozens of cases of rape and alcohol and drug abuse linked to brutality[53]. Thanks to these connections, Ashenafi quickly became one of the guest speakers at the Davos International Forum^[54], was able to accredit his company (SouthWest Energy Ltd. Hong Kong) as full members of the forum^[55], and became the main lobbyist for the current Ethiopian government^[56].

He was not chosen by chance: during his studies, Ashenafi made a career in the international relations division of Merrill Lynch & Co., for whose clients he invested in emerging markets^[57]. Since 2011, he has served on the board of trustees of billionaire and conservative politician Ross Perot Jr.’s^[58] EastWest Institute (EWI) – an institute that deals with strategic issues in politics, economics and the military^[59]. For this reason, he met politicians, businessmen, generals and lobbyists from the United States, the European Union and the Russian Federation work at EWI^[60]. Over the years, his presence in international organizations has grown^[61]: in 2013, Ashenafi was elected the first African^[62] to the International Advisory Council (ICC) of the Atlantic Council – one of the most powerful organizations in the world, which exerts a strong pressure on the military balance and the commercial cooperation in the planet^[63], and is indeed the long hand of the American political and industrial power^[64].

The international career and the CIRSD scandal

The path of the money paid to corrupt the leaders of the CIRSD

Among the various organizations of which he becomes director, Tewodros Ashenafi is a member of the Executive Committee of the Center for International Relations and Sustainable Development (CIRSD)^[65], created in 2012 by the former Serbian Minister of Foreign Affairs and former President of the General Assembly of United Nations, Vuk Jeremić^[66]. In 2017, the Serbian founder and some members of the Executive Committee were overwhelmed by a financial scandal: there were $ 7.5 million paid by various international companies into the bank account of Vuk Jeremić PR Agencija za Konsalting Belgrade^[67] – a sole proprietorship by Jeremić[68]. The Company has received $ 120,000 from the Embassy of Qatar to the United Nations and $ 200,000 from the Embassy of Qatar in Berlin^[69]. During the investigation, it emerged that Jeremić’s father, Mihajlo Misko Jeremic, who was a senior official at the state oil company (Jugopetrol) before the implosion of Yugoslavia, had also illegally enriched himself and included his son in his own business^[70].

But he wasn’t the only one to take bribes. In November 2017, the FBI arrested CIRSD treasurer, former Hong Kong Prime Minister Patrick Ho Chi-Ping^[71], and another CIRSD advisory board member, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, one of the most powerful politicians in Senegal. The latter mediated for the payment of bribes amounting to 2.9 million dollars to the Chinese oil industry CEFC China Energy in order to obtain user licenses in Chad and Uganda[72], still in alliance with Vuk Jeremić^[73].

The Chinese government intervenes to block the extension of the criminal investigation to other members of the CIRSD executive, imposing a minimum sentence on Ho (36 months in prison and a fine of $ 400,000 instead of the 20 years for which he should have been convicted^[74]), who was appointed deputy secretary general of the CEFC China Energy Foundation^[75] before the process was completed – which also went bankrupt in March 2020[76] after being caught red-handed in several other corruption cases[77].

Ho’s trial is only touching the surface, and although he and Jeremić have said they only received $ 5 million and spent it to organize an international think tank on behalf of CEFC^[78], other facts emerged during the trial, mentioning other members of the CIRSD executive who were also former presidents of the United Nations General Assembly (such as Tewodros Ashenafi); their names have been kept secret by the American courts because they helped prove the allegations against Ho with their testimony^[79]. Jeremić himself got out of it without a scratch – though his reputation is completely shattered^[80] – and even managed to maintain his position on the CIRSD executive^[81].

Return to Ethiopia and building of an economic empire

SouthWest Group’s oil wells in Ethiopia

Thanks to his international connections, all governments that followed Derg’s dictatorship[82] knocked on Tewodros Ashenafi’s door to privatize[83] and help restart agriculture, fully electrify the country, repair and revitalize services – to begin mainly such as the availability of drinking water, the availability of heating and the elimination of waste^[84]. Ashenafi did not do it for free. To find money, he turned to the international banking system and in 2016 founded an equity company^[85], Cepheus Growth Capital Partners, which is registered in Mauritius (a tax haven) and has an office in Addis Ababa^[86].

Cepheus invests in the most promising Ethiopian companies, finances them through international banks and guarantees them a complete service: foreign trade offices, legal, logistics and customs assistance^[87], creation of a common investment fund for Ethiopian companies (Cepheus Growth Capital Fund Ltd. Port Louis), based on manufacturing industry, on agri-food and services^[88]. At the head of the fund, two experienced bankers with in-depth knowledge of the market and of political power (Kassahun Kebede and Berhane Demissie^[89]). Behind it are English (CDC Group PLC London^[90]) and Norwegian (Norfund AS Oslo^[91]) development support agencies, as well as the EIB European Investment Bank of Luxembourg^[92].

With those financiers behind him, Ashenafi instantly becomes his country’s most powerful businessman^[93], especially after winning an exclusive oil and gas supply contract with Malaysian company Petronas^[94]. With this contract, Ashenafi (2003) founded Southwest Holdings Ltd Addis Ababa, of which he is chairman and majority shareholder^[95]. With the proceeds of this stake in the oil trade, Ashenafi founded SouthWest Development PLC Addis Ababa (which provides advice and bridging finance for restructuring and privatization investments on the African continent^[96]), then SouthWest Energy (HK) Ltd. Hong Kong and SouthWest Technologies Ltd. Addis Ababa which, along with IBM, opened what is currently the largest IT data center in North East Africa^[97].

The success of the SouthWest group, which continues to grow through its expansion into logistics, catering, real estate and hospitality^[98], convinces Ashenafi to lay the groundwork to make the business group a political benchmark for Ethiopia: this is how the SouthWest Foundation was born^[99], which in turn funds a charity, the Tewodros Ashenafi Foundation, which, starting in summer 2020, has built a shelter for more than 2000 children on the streets in the huge slum of Akaki Kality Sub City^[100].

A house of cards built on beer

Ethiopian beer brands, manufactured and marketed by Ashenafi and the SABMiller group

After the agreement with Petronas, Southwest Holdings signs an agreement with the Anglo-South African group SABMiller^[101], which is the second largest brewer in the world[102] and one of the largest producers and distributors of Coca-Cola on the planet[103]. In 2015, after being acquired by AB InBev Group, SABMiller became a division of the largest multinational beverage group to date[104]. SABMiller and Southwest continue to jointly control the Coca-Cola, beer and now spirits business in Ethiopia^[105].

It is now the turn of the mineral water oligopoly: Ambo Mineral Water SC (also known as Ambo Tsebel)^[106] has been bottling, since 1930, water from the Ambo Sekele mineral spring, 130 km from Addis Ababa – the ethnic and religious center of the Oromo region. The company was nationalized by the Derg regime in 1974^[107], but the new Ethiopian government transferred ownership to SABMiller (51%) and Tewodros Ashenafi (16%) in 2008^[108]. The new ownership diversifies products, improves their quality, builds the distribution and retail system from scratch^[109]. Ambo Tsebel also grows outside the borders of Ethiopia.

In 2016, the state’s 33% package was sold for $ 19.7 million to a new company – Ambo International Holding Ltd. Port Louis, Mauritius, which is also buying out the stake in SABMiller, suddenly controls 84% of the Ethiopian mineral water company – worth at least $ 60 million^[110]. It is not known who owns the new holding company, it is only assumed that Ashenafi is behind it, and this is creating discontent among the population and in political circles in Addis Ababa^[111].

On June 16, 2017, the Ethiopian Business Practices and Consumer Protection Authority filed a criminal complaint against the East African Bottling Company, a subsidiary of SABCO (South African Bottling Company), which controls the rights on the Coca-Cola brand in Ethiopia, and against businessman Nigussie Hailu^[112]. The criminal complaint is also extended against Ambo Mineral Water, which is accused of carrying out an illegal merger^[113] without notifying the authorities and of creating a de facto monopoly in violation of antitrust laws^[114].

The case ends with a small fine. It is then determined that behind the new investment in Mauritius, there is in fact a joint venture agreement between SABMiller, the Coca-Cola company, SABCO (via East African Bottling) and Ashenafi. A new big company was founded, the CCBA (Coca-Cola Beverages Africa), which now really owns the entire Ethiopian market and is now expanding across the entire African continent^[115].

The scandal is enormous, also because it goes unpunished. Tewodros Ashenafi’s new partner is no stranger: being along 14 years in prison, Nigussie Hailu is involved in one of the biggest corruption cases in Ethiopia’s history, in which the Minister of Defense of Ethiopia Tamrat Layne^[116] and the minority shareholders of East African Bottling were involved^[117]. Nigussie was convicted because, after receiving a commercial loan of $ 16 million from Saudi-billionaire Sheikh Mohammed Hussein al Amoudi (1999), he used the money elsewhere: 1,000 tons of contraband coffee for $ 4.2 million dollars^[118], plus an unspecified amount of bribes to obtain commercial and real estate concessions and licenses (in violation of the law on public procurement) from the government^[119] and finally, with his wife Shadia Nadim, their son Hussein Abdella and their partner Munir Duri (and with SABCO), to illegally purchase the aforementioned East African Bottling SC^[120].

The Supreme Court ruling came in 2000: in addition to the 14-year prison sentence, Nigussie has to return $ 4.2 million to the Ethiopian government, plus the $ 16 million he owes anyway to Mr. Al-Amoudi – although in this one case he can relax as the Saudi businessman has now been arrested and convicted of fraud and corruption (he paid bribes to officials to smuggle the 1000 tons of coffee) and is in prison until the half of the next decade^[121]. In the conviction against Nigussie, the Addis Ababa Court added an obligation to return the value of the shares of East African Bottling: 556,324 dollars from Nigussie, 6.44 million dollars from Hussein Abdala and 9 million dollars by Shadia^[122].

In 2007, Al-Amoudi recovered his money by seizing two Swiss bank accounts belonging to the Nigussie family, as well as the proceeds from the sale of shares of the East African bottling which were still in the hands of the Ethiopian family – two friends of Al-Amoudi were the buyers^[123]. Ashenafi came out clean, because the Addis Ababa prosecutor decided, for unknown reasons, not to prosecute him, even though there was clear evidence that Ambo Mineral Water had participated in this “three-card game” – so Ambo has taken over East African Bottling’s trademarks and patents since the end of the process and even used its employees^[124]. In January 2018, Ambo (hence Ashenafi) along with the Nigussie family and SABCO appealed^[125] and received a surprising decision: the first-degree sentence was illegal, the process must be repeated^[126] – and the end word has not yet been written in this matter.

The problems are not over. During an inspection of the Ambo, Coca-Cola and Pepsi filling plants in the towns of Dire Dawa, Hawassa and Ambo, inspectors from the Ministry of Health discovered such a hygiene situation that they immediately ordered the closing of factories^[127]. The buildings are owned by MOHA Soft Drinks Industry SC and East African Bottling SC and are losing $ 1.35 million annually due to foreclosure of the property^[128]. East African Bottling has been accused, among other things, of increasing the assembly line to five times production by investing $ 20 million, neglecting even the smallest safety measure for workers^[129]. After very costly structural interventions, the three factories received a new production license in January 2017^[130].

Mineral water, cigarettes, petroleum

The brands of cigarettes produced and marketed by NTE, which controls more than 40% of the Ethiopian tobacco market

These problems do not slow down Tewodros Ashenafi’s entrepreneurial career. He founded SouthWest Development PLC, which in barely a year became a de facto the monopoly in the service sector for the Ethiopian oil industry^[131]. It is not limited to this activity: the other companies of Ashenafi and its partners being accused by the courts and therefore in difficulty, SouthWest Development, in collaboration with SABMiller^[132], opens the first alcohol factory in the country, CAPTS Beverages SC Addis Ababa, which can produce 10,000 liters of alcohol per hour in its factories and has invested nearly two million dollars there^[133]. CAPTS launches Black Lion (a blend of whiskey, vodka, gin, ouzo and cream) which is an instant hit across Africa and even in the United States^[134].

With the product from CAPTS, Southwest Development is opening a joint venture with a number of Chinese companies called Africa Energy Services, which provides drilling support services in Ethiopia^[135]. The control of this new company will pass to an offshore holding company, SouthWest Energy (HK) Ltd. Hong Kong (founded in April 2005)^[136], owned by its holding company called SouthWest Energy (BVI) Ltd. Tortola (British Virgin Islands)^[137] – whose shareholders are unknown. The name of the president is: Tewodros Ashenafi^[138]. Despite the total lack of transparency, the Tortola company was the first in history to receive an Ethiopian oil production license^[139]: 46,000 km² of territorial waters in the Ogaden and Gambella basins^[140].

It is not going very well. In March 2007, Ashenafi and a director of Petronas, Mohamad Bin Mohd Aris, flew in a small Cessna 206 on an inspection trip to the SouthWest and Petronas wells^[141]. The plane crashes (for reasons still unknown) and the manager of Petronas dies. Consequence of the accident: In September 2010, Petronas sold its drilling company in Ethiopia, Carigali Overseas Sdn Bhd Kuala Lumpur, to Ashenafi, making SouthWest the country’s largest oil company^[142].

In 2013, Ashenafi received a loan of $ 50 million to expand the SouthWest^[143] operating area and has already announced that it will raise an additional $ 100 million to also create a monopoly in this sector^[144] and expand its business of operation in the territorial waters of Somaliland^[145]. Today, the Ashenafi Group is one of Africa’s largest oil traders^[146] and plans to build an oil pipeline to transport oil and gas from Djibouti to Ethiopia^[147].

In July 2016, Tewodros Ashenafi negotiated the privatization of 40% of NTE National Tobacco Enterprise Ethiopia SC – a block of shares that will be sold to JTI Japan Tobacco Inc. Tokyo for USD 10 million^[148]. In return for his help as a lobbyist^[149], Ashenafi was appointed director of National Tobacco^[150]. The Ethiopian company sells the country’s most popular brand of cigarettes (Nyala) through exclusive contracts, employs 1,200 factory workers and nearly 11,000 tobacco growers, split between smallholders and five large industrial companies (Robi, Billate, Hawassa, Wolayta and East Shoa)^[151]. A year later, Japan Tobacco bought another block of shares for $ 1 billion^[152], so JTI now controls 71% of NTE^[153].

The collapse of the house of cards

Ashenafi receives the Honorary Consul post from Guatemalan Foreign Minister Carlos Raúl Morales Moscoso

At this point Tewodros Ashenafi gets a little bit cocky: he moves to Singapore^[154], where he founded a number of financial companies (Long River Holdings Pte. Ltd. Singapore, SW Trustees Private Ltd. Singapore^[155], Sino Africa Energy Services (BVI) Ltd. Tortola, NS Prosperity Trustees Pte. Ltd., Paramount Secretarial Services Ltd. Hong Kong^[156]). In turn, all of these companies raised funds from their customers and are now bankrupt, sued by creditors[157]. And further: Wikileaks publishes old US intelligence reports that were copied by a private spy company (Stratfor). According to some of these documents, SouthWest Holding, located in Ogaden, would have made oil contracts possible thanks to political and financial compromises with the rebel army which controlled this geographic area at the time[158].

In 2010, Tewodros Ashenafi was appointed Guatemalan Honorary Consul to Ethiopia: a post that reports to the Guatemalan Embassy in London^[159]. He has a partner in this role: The Guatemalan Ambassador to London, Acisclo Valladares Molina, who chose Ashenafi and gave him a diplomatic passport^[160]. This ambassador has a controversial history. He and his son, former Guatemalan Minister of Economy Acisclo Valladares Urruela, are involved in an investigation into drug trafficking in Florida that has reportedly earned the former minister $ 9.5 million over five years[161]. At the same time, Urruela was accused of corruption by a United Nations organization, the CICIG (Comisión Internacional contra la Impunidad en Guatemala)[162]: When an arrest warrant was issued against him, Acisclo Valladares Urruela fled Guatemala[163].

Why in the world such a deal? This is quite a surprising decision as Guatemala has only one sector in which it works with Ethiopia (although there have recently been contacts for possible trade and industrial cooperation[164]), namely: smuggling coffee[165] – one of the specialties of one of Ashenafi’s business partners^[166]. It’s getting more and more explosive: a 2016 study by two international NGOs (the Sahan Foundation and IGAD-Security Sector Program) found that the slave trade between refugees from Ethiopia and Eritrea takes place in the Arab Emirates United and Guatemala – and the spot in Addis Ababa is ruled by a certain Awet Kidane[167], whose relative was the judge in a lawsuit against Ashenafi for an illegal merger in the Ethiopian drinks sector^[168]. Many Ethiopians and Eritreans sold as slaves in Guatemala later become soldiers of the horrific local organized crime gangs that operate in various states across the United States[169].

As far as we know, there is no evidence of Tewodros Ashenafi’s involvement, directly or indirectly, in this crime, which would deserve to be tried and condemned by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for anyone who has committed it, but this is a perfect example for the extreme consequences of the political strategy of the Ethiopian governments after the Derg years. This is not a direct legal responsibility, but a serious political responsibility, one with tragic consequences.

Although Ethiopia as a whole continues to grow economically, the humiliation, deportation and marginalization of entire sections of the population, as inalienable rights are an obstacle to the business objectives of this narrow oligarchy of people who are moved by the thirst for power – and not even behind hide behind ideological or religious reasons – is a sword of Damocles for possible peace and prosperity of a country tormented by centuries of war and misery. And the only thing known about Damocles is that sooner or later the sword must fall, with terrible consequences.

[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53233531

[2] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/30/world/africa/ethiopia-hachalu-hundessa-dead.html

[3] https://minorityrights.org/2020/07/22/ethnic-cleansing-oromia/

[4] https://teloorma.home.blog/2019/03/26/maalan-jiraa/

[5] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-53233531

[6] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wv3he6CGF3E

[7] http://www.oromoliberationfront.org/OLFMission.htm

[8] https://www.opride.com/longform/opride-oromo-person-year-2017-haacaaluu-hundeessaa/

[9] https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/aug/03/how-a-musicians-death-unleashed-violence-and-death-in-ethiopia

[10] https://www.africanews.com/2018/08/07/ethiopia-govt-agrees-peace-deal-with-ex-terror-group-based-in-eritrea/

[11] https://www.ethiopiaobserver.com/2020/07/03/addis-ababa-on-the-aftermath-of-assassination-of-singer-haacaaluu/ ; https://allafrica.com/stories/202008200173.html

[12] https://edition.cnn.com/2020/07/02/africa/ethiopian-singer-buried-protests-intl/index.html ; https://www.economist.com/middle-east-and-africa/2020/07/05/a-musicians-murder-sparks-mayhem-in-ethiopia

[13] https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/8/death-toll-in-ethiopia-violence-over-singers-killing-hits-239

[14] https://www.aa.com.tr/en/africa/ethiopia-up-to-80-killed-in-recent-violence-in-oromia/1631291#

[15] https://allafrica.com/view/group/main/main/id/00075016.html

[16] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-44586187

[17] http://www.vita.it/it/article/2019/10/11/il-nobel-per-la-pace-2019-alletiope-abiy-ahmed-ali-una-speranza-per-la/152942/

[18] https://www.politico.eu/article/the-shine-comes-off-ethiopias-pm-abiy-ahmed/

[19] Paul Henze, “Layers of Time: A History of Ethiopia“, Palgrave Macmillan, London 2000

[20] https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

[21] Laura Provinzino, Anne Lockner, Michele Garnett-McKenzie, “Human Rights in Ethiopia: through the eyes of the Oromo diaspora”, The Advocates for Human Rights, Minneapolis (Minnesota) 2009, pages 13-14 – see in https://www.theadvocatesforhumanrights.org/uploads/oromo_report_2009_b_w_2.pdf: “The Ethiopian government built on its predecessor’s infrastructure of repression. Respondents for this report denounced torture of dissidents by the current regime, including extreme physical violence and psychological torture. Sexual violence has also been reported. In addition, extrajudicial executions, arbitrary arrests, prolonged detention and detention in inappropriate prison conditions continued, according to reports from the EPRDF. Basic due process protections, including the notification of charges against defendants, are absent and the judiciary faces pressure from the government. The state surveillance apparatus erected under the Derg continues to involve restrictions on the rights of Ethiopians to freedom of association, privacy, movement and property. Alleged ties to the OLF can serve as a justification for arrest, detention, dismissal, expulsion or property confiscation. The government continues to monitor Ethiopians and conduct surveillance through neighborhood associations, or kebeles, which were established by the Dergand and served as the state’s local security apparatus. The perception that all communications by telephone, post or email are monitored by the government is nearly universal. New restrictions have been imposed on the foreign financing of non-governmental organizations (…). Another impact of the Ethiopian government’s ethnic federalism policies was the relocation of the Oromo farmers. The belief has been reported that relocation programs have benefited the populations of Tigray and Amhara economically at the expense of the Oromo. Forced relocation has also strained resources in the Oromo region, resulting in denial of the right to adequate housing, water, food and health care”.

[22] https://reliefweb.int/report/ethiopia/ethiopia-tops-global-list-highest-internal-displacement-2018

[23] Milkessa Edae, Workineh Dirribsa, Terefe Mitiku, “Hora and Cattle Owners of Maccaa Oromo in Ethiopia: An Analysis from Folkloric Perspective”, International Journal for Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding”, volume 4, issue 4, Department of Oromo Folklore and Literature of the College of Social Science and Humanities at Jimma University, Jimma (Ethiopia) 2017, pages 39-52 – see https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.18415%2Fijmmu.v4i4.87

[24] Milkessa Edae, Workineh Dirribsa, Terefe Mitiku, “Hora and Cattle Owners of Maccaa Oromo in Ethiopia: An Analysis from Folkloric Perspective”, International Journal for Multicultural and Multireligious Understanding”, volume 4, issue 4, Department of Oromo Folklore and Literature of the College of Social Science and Humanities at Jimma University, Jimma (Ethiopia) 2017, pages 39-52 – see https://www.readcube.com/articles/10.18415%2Fijmmu.v4i4.87

[25] https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052748704458204576073833410410942 ; https://web.archive.org/web/20150903044018/ ; http://www.thereporterethiopia.com/index.php/news-headlines/item/2835-coca-cola-ambo-water-to-be-under-one-umbrella

[26] https://unpo.org/article/11000

[27] Merid W. Aregay, “The early history of Ethiopia’s Coffee trade and the rise of Shawa”, in “The Journal of African history”, volume 29, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 1988, pages 19-25

[28] https://www.lavazza.it/it/chi-siamo/training-center/coffee-experience/etiopia.html

[29] Ujulu Tesso Benti, “Oromo Indigenous Religion and Oromo Christianity: Contradictory or Compatible? A Comparative Religious Study from a Theological Perspective”, Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim (Niedersachsen, Germania) 2018, Chapter 5.11.1, “Buna Qalaa – Coffee Ritual”, pages 268-270

[30] Janet Yedes, Robbin Clamons, Amal Osman, “Buna: Oromo Women gathering for Coffee”, in “Journal for Contemporary Ethnography”, volume 33, issue 6, SAGE Publishing, Thousand Oaks (California) 2004

[31] Keiichiro Matsumura, “Changes beyond the State institutions: Socialist Policies and Land tenure in a Coffee-growing Village, Southwestern Ethiopia”, in “Nilo-Ethiopian Studies”, volume 8/9, Japan Association for Nilo-Ethiopian Studies, Kyoto 2003, pages 13-34 – see in http://www.cc.okayama-u.ac.jp/~kmatsu/Changes%20beyond%20the%20State%20Institution.pdf

[32] Dahay Daniel, “The Comforts of Coffee: The Role of the Coffee Ceremony in Ethiopians’ Efforts to Cope with Social Upheaval during the Derg Regime (1974-1991)”, Thesis in Arts’ History at the Carleton University, Ottawa 2016: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/319423915_The_Comforts_of_Coffee_The_Role_of_the_Coffee_Ceremony_in_Ethiopians%27_Efforts_to_Cope_with_Social_Upheaval_during_the_Derg_Regime_1974-1991

[33] Endalkachew Lelisa Duressa, “Land Tenure, Labor Allocation and Life of Coffee Farmers in Coffee Producing Areas: The Case of Jimma and Limmu Awrajas since 20^th Century”, in “Research on Humanities and Social Sciences”, volume 8, issue 7, Department of History and Heritage Management at the College of Social Science and Humanities of the Bule Hora University, Bule Hora (Ethiopia) 2018 – see https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/234676279.pdf

[34] https://allaboutethio.com/coffee-production-in-ethiopia-10-best-ethiopian-coffee-distributors-companies.html

[35] https://www.hasbean.co.uk/products/ethiopia-ana-sora-n

[36] https://www.kerchanshe.com/company-profile

[37] https://www.jti.com/news-views/newsroom/jt-acquires-40-ethiopias-nte

^[37] https://www.thereporterethiopia.com/content/japan-tobacco-pays-usd-510-mln-acquire-stake-national-tobacco, https://www.africatrendy.com/top-15-richest-ethiopians-their-successful-companies-in-2019/2/ ; https://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/tewodros-ashenafi ; https://www.jti.com/africa/ethiopia ; https://www.iarbafrica.com/en/fr/news-list/244-japan-tobacco-seals-510-million-monopoly-shares-deal-in-ethiopia

[38] https://www.belex.com/en/news/ethiopia-and-the-discovery-of-gas-and-oil-in-ogaden/

[39] https://www.refworld.org/docid/48abdd6c2f.html

[40] https://www.nazret.com/2018/06/27/ethiopia-to-start-extracting-crude-oil/

[41] https://www.reuters.com/article/ozatp-ethiopia-oil-gas-20100902-idAFJOE6810PD20100902

[42] https://unpaiddebt.org/unpaid-debt-report/

[43] https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf ; https://www.weforum.org/organizations/southwest-holdings

[44] https://africasacountry.com/2020/09/the-violence-in-ethiopia ; https://addisstandard.com/analysis-oromia-reeling-from-state-violence-after-security-forces-kill-injure-a-staggering-number-of-protesters/ ; https://www.theelephant.info/features/2020/08/14/the-fracturing-of-the-oromo-and-the-return-of-the-law-and-order-state-in-ethiopia/

[45] https://www.glistatigenerali.com/agricoltura_commercio/il-caso-karuturi-la-crisi-delle-rose-recide-le-speranze-di-milioni-di-persone/

[46] Asafa Jalata, Harwood Schaffer, “The Ethiopian State: Authoritarianism, Violence and Clandestine Genocide”, in “The Journal of Pan-African Studies”, volume 3, issue 6, University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Tennessee) 2010, pages 160-189

^[47] https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf

^[48] https://www.ethiosports.com/2014/06/21/southwest-holdings-expands-its-investments/

^[49] https://et.linkedin.com/in/tewodros-ashenafi-aaa600b

^[50] https://www.ethiosports.com/2014/06/21/southwest-holdings-expands-its-investments/

^[51] https://et.linkedin.com/in/tewodros-ashenafi-aaa600b

^[52] https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf

[53] https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/the-most-out-of-control-fraternities-in-america-76664/ ; http://thetartan.org/2013/4/1/news/fourtharticle ; https://www.buzzfeed.com/hillaryreinsberg/the-strange-history-of-wesleyan-universitys-rape ; https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2014/03/the-dark-power-of-fraternities/357580/

^[54] https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf

^[55] https://www.eastwest.ngo/idea/ewi-director-tewodros-ashenafi-discusses-ethiopias-future

^[56] https://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/tewodros-ashenafi

^[57] https://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/tewodros-ashenafi

^[58] https://www.eastwest.ngo/people/board/position

^[59] EWI Russian Regional Investor, an annual Report that collects mail main political and economic events of Russia, key economic stories and business deals of each region, on-the-ground reports of regional correspondents, analysis of main economic activities: see https://ethz.ch/content/dam/ethz/special-interest/gess/cis/center-for-securities-studies/resources/docs/RussianRegionalReport_2001.pdf

^[60] https://www.eastwest.ngo/

^[61] https://et.linkedin.com/in/tewodros-ashenafi-aaa600b

^[62] https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf

^[63] https://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/tewodros-ashenafi

^[64] https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/about/international-advisory-board/

^[65] https://www.cirsd.org/en/about-us/mission

^[66] https://www.cirsd.org/en/leadership/president

^[67] https://www.anti.media/istrazivanja/dosije/jeremic/ , https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/

[68] https://www.dnb.com/business-directory/company-profiles.vuk_jeremic_pr_agencija_za_konsalting_beograd.108dbd7acb81f22cae040ee8d1a4d11f.html

^[69] https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/

^[70] https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/

^[71] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3088112/jailed-ex-hong-kong-official-patrick-ho-set-be, https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/

[72] https://www.jeuneafrique.com/494889/politique/soupconne-de-corruption-lancien-ministre-senegalais-cheikh-tidiane-gadio-a-ete-arrete-aux-etats-unis/ ; https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3088112/jailed-ex-hong-kong-official-patrick-ho-set-be

^[73] https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/

^[74] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3003231/disgraced-hong-kong-official-patrick-ho-gets-3-year, https://edition.cnn.com/2019/03/25/asia/patrick-ho-sentencing-intl/index.html

^[75] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3088112/jailed-ex-hong-kong-official-patrick-ho-set-be, https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/3088464/back-hong-kong-after-serving-us-prison-term-bribery-very

[76] https://www.caixinglobal.com/2020-04-25/fallen-energy-conglomerate-cefc-declared-bankrupt-101547143.html

[77] https://www.caixinglobal.com/2019-04-09/citic-advances-deal-to-buy-czech-assets-of-cefc-101401817.html ; https://www.scmp.com/business/companies/article/2135238/china-detain-cefc-founder-ye-jianming-stocks ; https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-cefc-probe/chinas-cefc-chairman-investigated-for-suspected-economic-crimes-source-idUSKCN1GD3O9

^[78] https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/ ; https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3088112/jailed-ex-hong-kong-official-patrick-ho-set-be

^[79] https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/3088112/jailed-ex-hong-kong-official-patrick-ho-set-be

^[80] https://www.anti.media/en/istrazivanja/files/jeremic/

^[81] https://www.cirsd.org/en/leadership/president

[82] The three Prime Ministers are: MELES Zenawi (2000-2012), HAILEMARIAM Desalegn (2012-2018), ABIY Ahmed Ali (2018-still in charge) – see https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

[83] See: Economy overview in https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/et.html

^[84] https://www.cnbcafrica.com/videos/2019/09/05/entrepreneur-ashenafi-on-why-ethiopia-is-potentially-the-fastest-growing-economy-currently/; https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf

^[85] https://cepheuscapital.com/our-people/#technical-advisory-board

^[86] https://www.eastwest.ngo/profile/tewodros-ashenafi

^[87] https://cepheuscapital.com/

^[88] https://www.avca-africa.org/media/1436/avca-member-interview-cepheus-growth-capital-partners.pdf

^[89] https://www.eib.org/en/products/equity/funds/cepheus-ethiopia-sme-fund

^[90] https://www.cdcgroup.com/en/about/our-company/

^[91] https://www.norfund.no/about-norfund/

^[92] https://www.norfund.no/app/uploads/2020/03/Cepheus-press-release-Jan-31-2018.pdf

^[93] https://www.ethiosports.com/2014/06/21/southwest-holdings-expands-its-investments/

^[94] https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/FA-2019-ETHIOPIA-36pags-FORBES-vok_FORBES_Sept2019lr.pdf