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Ethiopia: Donor Support for Economic Reforms Reached $9bn

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed poses with medal and diploma after receiving Nobel Peace Prize during ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2019. NTB Scanpix/Hakon Mosvold Larsen via REUTERS
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed poses with medal and diploma after receiving Nobel Peace Prize during ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2019. NTB Scanpix/Hakon Mosvold Larsen via REUTERS
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Ethiopia: Donor Support for Economic Reforms Reached $9bn

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed poses with medal and diploma after receiving Nobel Peace Prize during ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2019. NTB Scanpix/Hakon Mosvold Larsen via REUTERS
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed poses with medal and diploma after receiving Nobel Peace Prize during ceremony in Oslo City Hall, Norway December 10, 2019. NTB Scanpix/Hakon Mosvold Larsen via REUTERS

Ethiopia announced Friday that it had secured roughly $9 billion (8 billion euros) in outside financing for ambitious economic reforms which analysts say could underpin the country's delicate political transition.

According to Agence France Presse, the finance ministry said in a statement that development partners had pledged "well over" $3 billion for Ethiopia's "Home-Grown Economic Reform" agenda unveiled earlier this year. 

The statement said that comes on top of previous commitments of $3 billion from the World Bank and $2.9 billion from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Twitter that he was "very pleased" with the pledges, adding that they would go toward "macroeconomic, structural and sectoral reforms". 

Abiy, this year's Nobel Peace Prize laureate, clearly believes that breathing new life into Ethiopia's economy is crucial for his prospects in elections planned for next year, AFP said.

Failure to address problems like unemployment and a weakening currency would risk aggravating tensions in a country already grappling with mounting ethnic unrest and other security challenges.
 
Ethiopia is one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, but high GDP rates have been largely fueled by state spending and officials now want to stimulate private-sector growth. 

Abiy unveiled the "Homegrown Economic Reform" agenda to donors in September, describing it as "our bridge to prosperity". 

The plan is intended to address issues like high inflation, foreign exchange shortages and current account deficits. 

At the time, officials said it would require roughly $10 billion in external financing, and Abiy appealed to donors to "join us on this path". 

The IMF funding was announced this week. 

In a statement Wednesday, the lender said it had reached a "staff-level agreement" to provide $2.9 billion over three years to address challenges including "debt vulnerabilities". 

The support now has to be approved by the IMF's executive board. 

The finance ministry said Friday it expected to receive additional reform financing from United Nations agencies and the European Investment Bank.

Meanwhile, tens of thousands of Ethiopians lined the streets of Addis Ababa on Thursday to welcome Abiy upon his return from Norway where he accepted his Nobel Peace Prize.

Abiy said he accepted the award "on behalf of Ethiopians and Eritreans, especially those who made the ultimate sacrifice in the cause of peace."

Abiy was cited by the Norwegian Nobel Committee for "his decisive initiative to resolve the border conflict with neighbouring Eritrea" and his efforts for "peace and international cooperation." 

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World

Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
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Pope Leo Marks First Easter as Pontiff with Call for Hope Amid Global Conflicts

Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)
Pope Leo XIV presides over Easter Mass in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican, Sunday, April 5, 2026 (AP)

Pope Leo celebrated his first Easter Mass as pontiff with a call Sunday to exercise hope against “the violence of war that kills and destroys,” saying “we need this song of hope today” as conflicts spread around the world.

With the US-Israeli war on Iran in its second month and Russia’s ongoing campaign in Ukraine, Leo has repeatedly called for a halt in hostilities. In his Easter homily, the pope singled out those who wage war, abuse the weak and prioritize profits.

Leo, the first US-born pope, addressed the faithful from an open-air altar in St. Peter’s Square flanked with white roses, while the steps leading down to the piazza where the faithful gathered were filled with spring perennials, symbolically resonating with the pope’s message of hope.

The pontiff implored the faithful to keep their hope in the face of death, which lurks “in injustices, in partisan selfishness, in the oppression of the poor, in the lack of attention given to the most vulnerable.

“We see it in violence, in the wounds of the world, in the cry of pain that rises from every corner because of the abuses that crush the weakest among us, because of the idolatry of profit that plunders the earth’s resources, because of the violence of war that kills and destroys,” he said.

He quoted his predecessor Pope Francis in warning against falling into indifference in the face of “persistent injustice, evil, indifference and cruelty,” because “it is also true that in the midst of darkness, something new always springs to life and sooner or later produces fruit.”

He will later deliver the traditional “Urbi et Orbi” message — Latin for “to the city and the world.”

Christians in the Holy Land were marking a subdued Easter Traditional ceremonies at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, revered by Christians as the traditional site of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, were scaled back under an agreement with Israeli police. Authorities have put limits on the sizes of public gatherings due to ongoing missile attacks.

The restrictions also dampened the recent Muslim holy month of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr holiday, as well as the current weeklong Jewish festival of Passover. On Sunday, the Jewish priestly blessing at the Western Wall — normally attended by tens of thousands — was limited to just 50 people.

The restrictions have strained relations between Israeli authorities and Christian leaders. Police last week prevented two of the church’s top religious leaders, including Latin Patriarch Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from celebrating Palm Sunday at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

On Tuesday, the pope had expressed hope that the war could be finished before Easter.

World

France Condemns China’s Execution of a French Citizen Held on Death Row for 15 Years

A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
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France Condemns China’s Execution of a French Citizen Held on Death Row for 15 Years

A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)
A child holds a Chinese national flag near the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in Beijing, China, Friday, April 3, 2026. (AP)

France said China has executed a French citizen convicted of drug trafficking after keeping him on death row for more than 15 years. 

Chan Thao Phoumy, 62, was executed in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, despite French authorities’ clemency appeals, the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement late Saturday. It didn’t say when the sentence was carried out. A Chinese court sentenced him to death in 2010. 

The ministry’s statement expressed “consternation” and added: “We particularly regret that Mr. Chan’s defense did not have access to the final court hearing, which constitutes a violation of his rights.” 

“We extend our condolences to his family, whose grief we share,” it said. 

In a short statement Sunday that didn't mention Chan by name, the Chinese Embassy in Paris said that China “treats defendants of all nationalities equally, handles all cases impartially and strictly in accordance with the law.” 

France abolished the death penalty by act of parliament in 1981, and has become a vigorous campaigner against its use and for its abolition everywhere. 

China's use of executions — carried out by firing squads or lethal injections — is shrouded in secrecy but has long been extensive. Amnesty International says China is the world's lead executioner, believed to sentence and put to death thousands of people annually. 

World

Iran Internet Blackout Is Longest Nationwide Shutdown on Record, Says NetBlocks

Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
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Iran Internet Blackout Is Longest Nationwide Shutdown on Record, Says NetBlocks

Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)
Iranians pose for pictures as they celebrate Iranian Nature's Day on the thirteenth day of Nowruz (Persian New Year), in a park in Tehran, Iran, 02 April 2026. (EPA)

Iran's internet blackout, first imposed well over a month ago, is now the longest nationwide shutdown on record, according to the monitor NetBlocks.

"Iran's internet blackout is now the longest nation-scale internet shutdown on record in any country, exceeding all other comparable incidents in severity having entered its 37th consecutive day after 864 hours," NetBlocks said in a tweet.

In another tweet, the monitor noted some countries had experienced intermittent or regional-level shutdowns over longer periods, while North Korea had never been connected to the global internet at all.