Decision by gov’t to sell stakes in Ethiopian Shipping Lines to a foreign firm draws fierce criticism

ESAT News (January 16, 2017)

The decision by the Ethiopian regime to sale shares of one of the nation’s treasures, the Ethiopian Shipping Lines, drew a scathing criticism from experts and opinion makers.

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn last week announced that his government will sell stakes in state owned enterprises to foreign companies to “ modernize” their operations.

It is not clear what percentage of the ESL shares would be sold to a Chinese company, which is also not named in the announcement.

Businessman and former president of the Chamber of Commerce, Kebour Ghenna Desta thinks the move by the government amounts to “disinheritance of future Ethiopians.” He wrote over the weekend that “national assets like the ESL are strategic investments for not just economic but security reasons as well.”

“Who can trust a government when its institutions that are meant to ensure economic prosperity and unity through sound policies fail to do so? Isn’t it this type of behavior that triggers more chaos and panic than poor governance?” Kebour wrote.

The Prime Minister admitted last week that the country has faced a serious foreign currency crunch. The Ethiopian regime has last week  put a 1.3 billion dollar bond for sale to mitigate its financial crises. It also allowed Middle Eastern countries to deposit their money in Ethiopian banks to alleviate the forex crunch.

But Kebour wonders why the regime sell ESL to alleviate its short term cash problems. “Why is Ethiopia being forced to sell off long-term cash cows for short-term cash?” He doubts if power and telecom sectors would be spared wonders “who reaps the commission from the ESL deal?”

Records show the Shipping Lines has been one of the highly profitable government enterprises. Employees have reportedly denounce the move and there is no guarantee that the jobs would not move overseas.

The Ethiopian Shipping Lines, now called the Ethiopian Shipping and Logistics Services Enterprise, was established in 1964 with a U.S. firm having 51% shares, which the government later bought back and assumed full ownership.