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The weekly The Reporter is continuing to wage its campaign against the Saudi-Ethiopian magnate Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi; Even though the magazine is run by a former executive in the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF, the main part of the EPRDF in government in Addis Ababa), Amare Aregawi. The latter signed a virulent editorial in the magazine’s Amharic edition published on 11 February. He attacked the chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE), Bekalu Zeleke, whom he accused of penning a “servile letter” thanking the head of the Midroc Ethiopia group. In this epistle dated 4 February, Zekele heaped heavy praise on Al-Amoudi, presenting him as a “source of national pride” and a role model for millions of young Ethiopians. He moreover reaffirmed that the partnership between the CBE and Midroc stands on a solid basis.
This partnership had, however, been dealt a blow because Midroc built up arrears in repaying its Birrs 174 million (€ 12 million) loan from CBE. Last year, CBE – whose then chairman was subsequently sacked in November 2008 – complained to the Ethiopian government that Midroc had still not repaid its debt and that Al-Amoudi was ignoring the bank’s letters of reminder with disdain. The CBE then asked the government to intervene by authorising it to sell the Sheraton hotel owned by Midroc to cover the arrears. The government then asked the Midroc group to suggest a solution, when Al-Amoudi in person signed a document promising to repay the loan in full within three years. Which is what led to the above letter of thanks, more than a little obsequious, that the CBE chairman sent to the Saudi-Ethiopian magnate.
In his editorial entitled “Be Ethiopia Atmitubn” (“don’t ask us to abandon Ethiopia”), Aregawi criticises the CBE chairman’s change of heart. It was in the name of the nationalist idea of defending Ethiopian interests that The Reporter is waging its campaign against Al-Amoudi and the preferential treatment he gets from the Ethiopian authorities – which has already brought Aregawi some serious problems!
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