Ethiopia: Gov’t banks release more loans to dubious Tigrian investors in Gambella

ESAT News (January 31, 2017)

Ethiopian government banks have released additional loans to agricultural investors in Gambella despite findings by a government sponsored investigation that about 250 million dollars has been squandered by the investors.

Land grab in Gambella and the associated waste of millions of dollars in the name of development by Tigrayan investors have been the subject of controversy for a while. The scandal was further came into the spotlight last month when about 1000 agricultural investors, all from the Tigray, complained of lack of additional loans.

The government sponsored investigations found that only 76,000 hectares, of the total 630,000 have been developed and that of the total 623 investors who took land and loan, only 226 have actually bought agricultural machinery.

The investigation also found that 29 investors have just disappeared after collecting the loans.

The fact that all the investors in the recent scandal are all from the Tigray ethnic group, from which the ruling oligarchy hails from, was further proof of the rampant nepotism and corruption by the ruling party, according to close observers of the development.

The study by California-based Oakland Institute found five years ago that 75% of those who took land in Gambella were from Tigray. The findings have been corroborated by the association of the investors that claimed that complaints against them was just because they were coincidentally the majority operating in agribusiness in the region.