Podcasts about tplf

Eritrea söker vägarna bort från total isolering, eller? Martin Schibbye berättar för Rasmus Canbäck och Brit Stakston om hur landets president Isaias Afwerkis retorik verkar förändras. Nu verkar det som att landet närmar sig sina forna rivaler TPLF i Etiopien. Dessutom har Blankspots Turkietgranskning fått stort genomslag. Hur hanterar en liten redaktion när kammaråklagaren anklagar dem för att vara en del av en påverkansoperation? På andra sidan Atlanten skaver det i Elon Musks och Donald Trumps bromance, men frågan är inte huruvida om Musk lämnat Vita huset eller inte för alltid utan vad han tar med sig och vad han lämnat kvar.

Eritrea söker vägarna bort från total isolering, eller? Martin Schibbye berättar för Rasmus Canbäck och Brit Stakston om hur landets president Isaias Afwerkis retorik verkar förändras. Nu verkar det som att landet närmar sig sina forna rivaler TPLF i Etiopien. Dessutom har Blankspots Turkietgranskning fått stort genomslag. Hur hanterar en liten redaktion när kammaråklagaren anklagar dem för att vara en del av en påverkansoperation? På andra sidan Atlanten skaver det i Elon Musks och Donald Trumps bromance, men frågan är inte huruvida om Musk lämnat Vita huset eller inte för alltid utan vad han tar med sig och vad han lämnat kvar.

Dimanche 20 avril, les festivités de Pâques battent leur plein en Éthiopie. Mais celles-ci ont en fait commencé il y a quelques jours déjà. La veille du Vendredi Saint en effet, tous les chrétiens orthodoxes préparent le Gulban, un plat traditionnel qui ne se mange que pendant les fêtes pascales. Période durant laquelle la prière a aussi une très grande place. RFI a suivi les préparatifs dans la cuisine de Daba, à Addis-Abeba. De notre correspondante à Addis-Abeba, Marlène PanaraDans sa cuisine, Daba, grand foulard blanc sur la tête, mélange à la main les grains de blés et les pois qui ont séché au soleil depuis plusieurs jours. D'un geste, elle les plonge dans l'eau bouillante. Le Gulban est en préparation. « On met juste de l'eau, du blé et des pois. On ne rajoute aucune épice. Ma grand-mère et mon arrière-grand-mère le préparaient déjà comme ça. On le mange ensuite l'après-midi, quand c'est froid », explique-t-elle.Comme des millions d'Éthiopiens, tous les ans, à la veille du Vendredi Saint, cette vieille dame de 75 ans prépare cette spécialité des fêtes de Pâques. C'est un plat volontairement simple, symbole du dénuement de Jésus-Christ. « Je me lève tôt pour cuisiner, cette recette me prend une heure. Cela fait partie de nos traditions », raconte-t-elle.Le jeûne végétarien qui précède Pâques, et la prière font aussi partie des coutumes de cette fête, l'une des plus importantes de l'année pour les chrétiens orthodoxes d'Éthiopie. Daba, elle, prie chaque matin. « On se prosterne au moins 200 ou 300 fois. Je prie pour moi d'abord, pour mes enfants ensuite, puis pour toute ma famille. Et enfin pour tous les Éthiopiens. Pour ceux qui sont pauvres, pour ceux qui sont malades, qu'ils puissent retrouver la santé. Je prie pour qu'ils vivent en paix », espère-t-elle.Malgré la fin de la guerre au Tigré en novembre 2022, la région connaît un regain de tension. La lutte politique qui oppose deux factions du parti de ce territoire du Nord, le TPLF, fait craindre la reprise d'un conflit. Des violences frappent aussi la région Amhara, au nord d'Addis-Abeba. Dans ce contexte, les fêtes de Pâques offrent un répit bienvenu. « Toutes les personnes qui vivent en Éthiopie veulent vivre en paix. Nous devons être bons, et de bons amis. On essaye d'appliquer les 10 commandements, mais parfois, c'est difficile, car nous ne sommes que des êtres humains », estime-t-elle.En Éthiopie, environ 40 % de la population, soit 46 millions de personnes, est orthodoxe. L'islam est la seconde religion du pays, et regroupe 33 % des habitants. À lire aussiÉthiopie: l'entrée au gouvernement de Getachew Reda risque d'accentuer les divisions dans le Tigré À lire aussiÉthiopie: au Tigré, une Pâque orthodoxe entre fête, tristesse et deuil

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin and his guest, Jeff Strege, Senior Director for Risk Management at Academy Sports + Outdoors, explore what led Jeff to risk management, and the path that led to Academy Sports + Outdoors within the sporting goods and outdoor retail space. Jeff comments on his work building out the ERM framework at Academy to improve claims management, employee safety, and liability prevention. Jeff shares his approach to workers' compensation and Academy Sports + Outdoors's goal to help the workers recover and return to work. In addition to career insights, they discuss Jeff's upcoming panel participation in HUB's webinar on April 17th, “From Defense to Prevention: Strengthening Your Liability Risk Management Approach,” covering topics such as third-party litigation funding and its impact on the industry.   Listen to Jeff's wisdom, born from experience, on managing your risk career. Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS and RIMScast. [:14] Registration is open for RISKWORLD 2025. Engage Today and Embrace Tomorrow with RIMS, from May 4th through May 7th in Chicago, Illinois. Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD. [:25] After you register, visit your App Store, search for RIMS Events, and download the RIMS Events App. Select RISKWORLD 2025, load the show onto your phone, and start building your RISKWORLD itinerary! [:41] About this episode of RIMScast. Our guest is former RIMS Houston Chapter President, Jeff Strege. We will talk about his career and how ERM continues to play a pivotal role today. [1:08] RIMS-CRMP Workshops! As part of RIMS's continuing strategic partnership with Purima, we have a two-day course coming up on April 22nd and 23rd. Links to these courses can be found through the Certification page of RIMS.org and this episode's show notes. [1:28] Virtual Workshops! On June 12th, Pat Saporito will host “Managing Data for ERM” and will return on June 26th to present the very popular new course, “Generative AI for Risk Management”. [1:45] A link to the full schedule of virtual workshops can be found on the RIMS.org/education and RIMS.org/education/online-learning pages. A link is also in this episode's show notes. [1:56] RISKWORLD registration is open. Engage Today and Embrace Tomorrow, from May 4th through 7th in Chicago. Register at RIMS.org/RISKWORLD. Also, remember that there will be lots of pre-conference workshops being held in Chicago just ahead of RISKWORLD. [2:14] These courses include “Applying and Integrating ERM,” “Captives as an Alternate Risk Financing Technique,” “Contractual Risk Transfer,” “Fundamentals of Insurance,” “Fundamentals of Risk Management,” RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep, and more! The links are in the show notes. [2:33] The Spencer Educational Foundation is having a Flash Sale for sponsorships at RISKWORLD! Sponsorship pricing has been reduced for the Spencer-CNA Pickleball Social on Saturday, May 3rd, and the Spencer-Gallagher Golf Tournament on Sunday, May 4th. [2:51] Sponsorships are still available for the Spencer-Sedgwick 5K Fun Run on Tuesday, May 6th. Visit Spencered.org/riskworld2025 to learn about these opportunities and more. Also, reach out to Spencer's Executive Director Megan Miller at MMiller@Spencered.org. [3:13] Our guest today is Jeff Strege. He is the Senior Director for Risk Management at Academy Sports + Outdoors. Academy is one of the U.S.'s largest sporting goods and outdoor stores with 301 locations across 21 states, as of March 2025. [3:33] Jeff is also a long-time RIMS member. He's the former president of the RIMS Houston Chapter and is a RIMS-CRMP holder. [3:41] In addition to his outstanding resume, Jeff will be lending his insight to the RIMS Webinar on April 17th, presented by HUB in their Ready for Tomorrow series. It's called “From Defense to Prevention: Strengthening Your Liability Risk Management Approach.” A link is in the notes. [4:01] In today's RIMScast interview, we will discuss how ERM has played a role in his career and how he manages risk in so many locations at the Academy. We will get a preview of his upcoming appearance on the Hub webinar and his thoughts on third-party litigation funding and its impact. [4:27] Interview! Jeff Strege, welcome to RIMScast! [4:45] As a Houstonian, Jeff grew up with Academy Sports + Outdoors. He's a long-term customer. In September 2020, Jeff promoted himself from customer to team member, although he still is an avid customer of Academy. [5:07] As the Academy brand is so well-known and beloved in Texas, Jeff has had the Risk Director role on his radar for many years. He had told his wife many times that if that role ever opened up at Academy, he would want to talk to them. In mid-2020, it did, and here he is! [5:29] Academy has 301 stores across 21 states as of March 7, 2025, and is headquartered in Katy, Texas, a Western suburb of Houston. Jeff graduated from Katy High School. [6:23] Academy Sports + Outdoors sells fun. They say “Have fun out there.” The items Academy sells are intended to help people be outdoors and active. Academy does a lot of work around product safety with manufacturers and suppliers, making sure they're sourcing safe products. [6:45] Academy Sports + Outdoors sells firearms and ammunition. Its goal is to be the most responsible retailer of those items in the country. [7:13] Academy Sports is responsible for following the laws of 21 states. Jeff has worked for national, multi-national, and global organizations, so he has worked with similar requirements. [7:48] Jeff worked for Sysco twice, first in the 90s and then in 2016 in a risk role similar to his current role at Academy Sports. Sysco went on a growth initiative while Jeff was there the second time and it was fun to be part of that but he couldn't pass up the opening at Academy. [8:23] Academy Sports + Outdoors has a risk department of 10 who report to Jeff. Jeff oversees the Enterprise Risk Management framework, the Insurance and Data Analytic functions, the Safety functions, and the Claim Management functions. [8:50] Jeff has three direct reports and they have functional contributors who are assigned to and report to them. Jeff's management style is to find the best possible people he can find. He's not a micro-manager. All of his staff are solid professionals who are good at what they do. [9:14] That allows Jeff to focus on strategy and executing strategic objectives while the staff keeps things working from day to day. Jeff reports to the General Counsel. In other companies, Jeff has reported to the General Counsel, HR, Treasury, or Finance. [9:42] Risk can logically report up a variety of chains to the leadership of an organization, as it touches so many aspects of the business. [10:22] Relative to firearms sales, Academy Sports has a compliance team to manage the process. They do an outstanding job. [10:39] When Jeff arrived at Academy Sports, one of his charges was to mature the ERM framework across the various organizational functions. Having the opportunity to work on that made Jeff a student of the business, which is one of the Academy's values. [11:09] Coming into the business, Jeff was fortunate to receive a safety culture already well-entrenched in the distribution centers. That team has been retooled over the years and continues to evolve as it trains and supports the operators in safe practices in their work. [11:45] Academy workers' compensation goal is to help team members recover so they can come back to work. They take a deliberate approach to working with them so they get the treatment they need, their benefits are paid timely, and their questions are answered. [12:11] Academy made a TPA change a couple of years ago that's given them more proactive tools. Both safety and claims are processes that Academy Sports continues to fine-tune. [12:25] The foundational strategy is “safety first.” If you're talking about managing claims but not about safety, there's a miss there, in terms of managing risk. [13:01] Plug Time! During this interview, we discuss the RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2025, held from August 4th through the 6th in San Antonio, Texas, at the Henry  B. Gonzalez Convention Center. That's where we held RISKWORLD 2018. [13:22] The day of this episode's release, April 15th, is the day registration opens for the RIMS Texas Regional Conference. You can get the Advance Rate from now through May 16th, 2025. A link is in this episode's show notes. You can also visit the events page of RIMS.org to register. [13:43] If you will be in the Dallas/Fort Worth area on April 17th, be sure to stop by Lonestar Park for DFW RIMS's 7th Annual Night at the Races. It will be a blast! Guest, Member, and Student tickets are available. Visit DFWRIMS.org and the link in this episode's show notes. [14:12] Let's Return to My Interview with Former RIMS Houston Chapter President Jeff Strege! [14:32] Jeff arrived at Academy Sports on Monday, September 28, 2020, and the company executed its Initial Public Offering on Friday, October 2nd, 2020. In preparing for the IPO, the company had built an ERM framework that helped inform the prospectus for investors. [14:59] When Jeff joined, he was charged with taking the framework foundation and building upon it to round out how Academy Sports views risk, scopes it, and manages it across the organization. It was a fascinating process. [15:21] He's gotten to know many good, smart people who are driving aspects of the business. [15:28] Every year, Academy Sports looks at ways to enhance the framework, to make sure it's as meaningful and informative to the leadership team and board as it can be. [15:54] The framework looks at ISO standards but most of it is inward-focused within the business of Academy Sports. What's going on in the world? How do we prevent or prepare for it? Should something occur, what strategies do we have to respond, react to, and recover from it? [16:39] Before the recent tariffs were passed, the risk team had discussed tariffs generically. Tariffs appear as subsidiary risks in a few places within the framework. Nobody in an organization can control what government leaders do. [17:22] In a way, sporting goods is a seasonal industry. Academy Sports + Outdoors sells a variety of different things and operates in a variety of climates. There's a holiday season and there are gift-giving holidays. The seasons for outdoor activities differ depending on location. [17:54] In Texas, Jeff grills and fishes year-round. It's different in a Northern climate with four distinct seasons. Hunting seasons are specifically defined. The things Academy Sports sells peak at different times of the year and the peaks sort of offset themselves. [18:25] The Academy Sports merchandising teams are diligent and deliberate in how they plan for cycling products for the seasons. [18:44] Holiday is the big season. In that, Academy Sports is like other retailers. Back-to-school time is also important. [18:57] The backyard grilling is Jeff's favorite section of the store. When he goes into the store with his wife he has to look at some grills. Jeff also works out and runs so there are several aspects of the store that he shops. [19:16] Academy sells location-specific licensed apparel. In Academy Sports + Outdoors in Houston, there is gear for the Astros, Texans, and Rockets. [19:49] From the standpoint of team member safety, Jeff refers to OSHA. Also, some states have more stringent safety requirements. Jeff's safety team drives consistency of practices and training across the footprint of the 21 states where Academy Sports + Outdoors operates. [20:36] Most of Jeff's work is done in Houston but his team gets out in the field periodically on a schedule. Jeff likes to go into the stores and distribution centers. That's where the business occurs. The work at Corporate supports the people who serve and interact with customers. [21:10] RIMS Webinars! Following the success of their recent webinar, HUB International returns for the next installment of their Ready for Tomorrow Series, “From Defense to Prevention: Strengthening Your Liability Risk Management Approach”. That session will be on April 17th. [21:29] Today's guest, Jeff Strege, is a panelist in that session! He's going to talk about it a little bit right after the break. [21:38] On April 24th, RiskConnect returns to deliver “Better Together: The Marriage of Insurable Risk and Business Continuity”. [21:45] Zurich's webinar, “Understanding Third Party Litigation Funding” was rescheduled to May 1st at 1:00 p.m. Eastern. If you were already registered for the original date, you are now registered for the May 1st session with Zurich. [22:09] On May 22nd, GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company, presents their newest session, “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny”. [22:22] More webinars will be announced soon and added to the RIMS.org/webinars page. Go there to register. Registration is complimentary for RIMS members. [22:33] Let's Return to my Interview with Jeff Strege! [22:46] Jeff will be joining RIMS on the HUB webinar about third-party litigation funding (TPLF) on April 17th, two days after the airing of this episode. Third-party litigation funding is a major issue for RIMS and the profession. [23:08] Academy Sports + Outdoors sees TPLF from time to time in litigated matters, but not often. The HUB webinar is largely focused on rising litigation costs and the rising value of litigated matters. Third-party funding is a driving force of that rise. [23:35] When there's a funding mechanism behind the damages claim by a plaintiff, there are interest obligations with that mechanism, which can be stiff. It does inflate the value of some matters. [24:13] Once Academy Sports + Outdoors learns third-party funding is present in a litigated matter, that's in the front of mind as they evaluate and proceed with trying to conclude the case. [24:32] In the HUB webinar on April 17th, Jeff will be discussing the client's experience, not only with TPFL but also around social engineering. There is a good panel put together for this discussion with varied perspectives that will offer a well-rounded conversation. [24:55] Panelist Bob Tyson of Tyson & Mendes, a defense lawyer in California, has creative approaches to managing and negotiating litigated cases. Panelist John Ferguson, Head of Excess Casualty at Zurich Insurance, brings an insurer's perspective to the webinar. [25:29] Panelist Carol Murphy of HUB is one of the best brokers Jeff has worked with. Jeff is looking forward to sharing the stage with this group, talking about managing claims litigation, prevention, and pre-litigation management. Safety is critical. Jeff will bring that up. [26:02] The link to the webinar is in the show notes. Register today! Registration is complimentary for RIMS members! You'll hear this webinar live with Jeff Strege of Academy Sports, Fred Ferguson of Zurich, Bob Tyson of Tyson & Mendes, and Carol Murphy of HUB. [26:34] Jeff has been involved with RIMS since the mid-1990s when he was with Sysco Foods for the first time and was elevated to the risk management role there. Starting with Houston, Jeff has been involved in various chapters in various capacities. [27:07] RIMS has been an important part of Jeff's career. He's gained solid relationships through RIMS that have yielded business relationships and relationships where he's been able to help others and be helped by them. RIMS will be very important to him as long as he works in risk. [27:51] Jeff was President of RIMS Houston for two years, until January of 2024. He serves on the board as Past President. [28:12] Having moved around the country and having held different roles, Jeff has met risk professionals from many areas. He says RIMS has high-quality chapters all over the country. The four Texas RIMS chapters have a lot of positive energy. [28:47] The chapters are working together with Justin's team in New York to host the first-ever Texas RIMS Regional Conference this August. Jeff is on the planning committee and he's excited about it. [29:04] The RIMS Texas Regional Conference will be held from August 4th through the 6th at the Henry B. Gonzalez Convention Center in San Antonio, on the River Walk, the site of RISKWORLD 2018. San Antonio is Jeff's favorite city in Texas. It's a wonderful host city. [29:30] There is a link in the show notes to the RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2025. Registration will open the week of the airing of this episode! [29:49] Jeff is a RIMS-CRMP holder. He earned that certification in November of 2019. He was excited to see RIMS introduce the certification. What he likes about CRMP is its governance focus. [30:23] Jeff had been doing risk management for a long time. The CRMP website has good sample test questions on it. He decided to work through the test questions several times. Then went and took the exam and scored pretty well, largely based on his experience. [30:48] Jeff says his ERM work over the years was helpful. The RIMS-CRMP is a good designation. Jeff appreciates that RIMS gives CRMP holders opportunities to network. He will continue to carry the designation as long as he is working. [31:09] Mos recertification points are CE-related. Jeff relies heavily on the Houston chapter's offerings and the sessions and seminars at RIMS functions. He appreciates the flexibility in terms of what qualifies, such as participation in broker-sponsored industry education. [31:50] Developing and delivering educational content is a favorite of Jeff's. He has served as Risk Manager in Residence (now Risk Manager on Campus). Jeff tells every risk manager it's amazing and they need to do it at least once. Jeff enjoys education and is always learning. [32:24] Jeff shares his advice for risk professionals. As Boomers in the industry start to retire, it's important to help the industry recruit, train, and young talent. It's a passion of Jeff's. [32:52] There are a few things Jeff would tell young professionals. One is you are the CEO of your career. Your career is your responsibility. Don't wait for a leader to bring opportunities or promotions to you. Be a student of your craft and trade. Set goals with plans to achieve them. [33:20] Jeff has managed his career that way by making strategic moves when it made sense for him to do so. He has no regrets. You're the CEO of your career, all in. Don't wait for others to act on your behalf. Whatever it is, be a student of your craft and seek opportunities to learn. [33:45] Grow your knowledge base, your experience, and your network. Jeff has benefited from RIMS in having a network of people who lean on each other and learn from each other. It's a wonderful thing! [33:58] Be a student of your business, wherever it is. Make connections within it. Seek out mentorships to learn on a broad basis what the business does and what its objectives are. You position yourself more visibly to add more value and to grow. [34:29] Jeff Strege, you have been such an inspiration today. I appreciate you so much for joining us here on RIMScast and being so giving with your time and wisdom! I look forward to seeing you at the first-ever Texas Regional 2025, August 4th through 6th in San Antonio! [34:48] Special thanks again to Jeff Strege for joining us here today on RIMScast! I look forward to seeing him at many RIMS events, including the first-ever RIMS Texas Regional Conference 2025, which will be held from August 4th through the 6th in San Antonio, Texas. [35:05] Register today through the link in this episode's show notes. [35:12] Plug Time! You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in the show notes. [35:37] RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [35:56] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [36:13] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [36:29] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. [36:43] Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [36:50] Thank you all for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Links: RISKWORLD 2025 — May 4‒7 | Register today! Download the RIMS Events app! Spencer's RISKWORLD Events — Register or Sponsor! RIMS Texas Regional 2025 – August 3‒5 | Advance registration rates are now open. DFW RIMS - 7th Annual Night at the Races / Lone Star Park – April 17, 2025 RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Risk Management magazine RIMS Now The Strategic and Enterprise Risk Center Spencer Educational Foundation — General Grants 2026 — Application Dates Announcement: RIMS and The Institute for Internal Auditors' Strategic Alliance on Education Nominations for the Donald M. Stuart Award [Canada] RIMS Webinars: RIMS.org/Webinars “Ready for Tomorrow? From Defense to Prevention: Strengthening Your Liability Risk Management Approach” | Sponsored by Hub International | April 17, 2025 “Better Together: The Marriage of Insurable Risk and Business Continuity” | Sponsored by Riskonnect | April 24, 2025 “Understanding Third Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich | May 1, 2025 “Asset Valuations in 2025: Managing Tariffs, Inflation, and Rising Insurance Scrutiny” | Sponsored by GRC, a TÜV SÜD Company | May 22, 2025   Upcoming RIMS-CRMP Prep Virtual Workshops: RIMS-CRMP Exam Prep with PARIMA | April 22‒23 Full RIMS-CRMP Prep Course Schedule   Upcoming Virtual Workshops: “Managing Data for ERM” | June 12 | Instructor: Pat Saporito  “Generative AI for Risk Management” | June 26 | Instructor: Pat Saporito See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “Maintaining an Award-Winning ERM Program with Michael Zuraw” “Scenario Planning with the RIMS SERMC” “ERMotivation with Carrie Frandsen, RIMS-CRMP” “Risk Quantification Through Value-Based Frameworks” “Applying ERM Theory with Elise Farnham” “On Risk Appetite and Tolerance”   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “Understanding Third-Party Litigation Funding” | Sponsored by Zurich (New!) “What Risk Managers Can Learn From School Shootings” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog (New!) “Simplifying the Challenges of OSHA Recordkeeping” | Sponsored by Medcor “Risk Management in a Changing World: A Deep Dive into AXA's 2024 Future Risks Report” | Sponsored by AXA XL “How Insurance Builds Resilience Against An Active Assailant Attack” | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog “Third-Party and Cyber Risk Management Tips” | Sponsored by Alliant “RMIS Innovation with Archer” | Sponsored by Archer “Navigating Commercial Property Risks with Captives” | Sponsored by Zurich “Breaking Down Silos: AXA XL's New Approach to Casualty Insurance” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Weathering Today's Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RISK PAC | RIMS Advocacy RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center RIMS-CRMP Stories — Featuring RIMS President Kristen Peed!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model®   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org, and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guest: Jeff Strege, MBA, ARM, RIMS-CRMP, Sr. Director, Risk Management, Academy Sports + Outdoors   Production and engineering provided by Podfly.  

Daniel Chapo reconhece dificuldades no pagamento de horas extraordinárias a funcionários públicos. Professores moçambicanos ameaçam com nova greve. Vítimas da guerra de Tigray pedem justiça na Alemanha. Learning by Ear -Aprender de Ouvido.

What do you think of the audio versions of articles, read by an AI-generated voice, that we've been featuring on this podcast feed of late? Our publisher wants your comments. Listen to the episode to find out where to send your thoughts. In this briefing, originally published March 27, 2025, Fred Harter looks at the potential for fresh conflict in Ethiopia. Ethiopia, Eritrea and Tigray Are Back on a War Footing ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia—A political crisis in Ethiopia's war-battered Tigray escalated dramatically in March, bringing armed men out onto the streets and raising fears of a fresh conflict in the still-fragile region. At its heart is a power struggle between Debretsion Gebremichael, chairman of the dominant Tigray People's Liberation Front, or TPLF, party, and Getachew Reda, Tigray's interim regional president and Debretsion's deputy in the TPLF. But in the background lurks a potentially more explosive dynamic: the escalating rivalry between Ethiopia's federal government and Eritrea, which united in the war against Tigray in 2020-2022 but fell out over the peace deal that ended it. More than two years later, tensions between the two are spiking over Ethiopia's quest to end its status as the world's most-populous landlocked country. ... Listen to hear the rest, or read it here: https://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/ethiopia-eritrea-tigray-war/  

War is looming once again in Tigray, a northern region of Ethiopia near the border with Eritrea. Political disputes are fragmenting the regional government and sparking warnings of a new crisis. Tigray has not yet recovered from a devastating war that ended in 2022. With aid cuts now worsening hunger and uncertainty, is it on the brink of another catastrophic conflict? In this episode: Samuel Getachew (@GetachewSS), Journalist Episode credits: This episode was produced by Chloe K. Li, Sonia Bhagat, Sarí el-Khalili, with Phillip Lanos, Spencer Cline, Khaled Soltan, Hanah Shokeir, Melanie Marich, Remas Alhawari, and our guest host, Kevin Hirten. It was edited by Noor Wazwaz. Our sound designer is Alex Roldan. Our video editors are Hisham Abu Salah and Mohannad al-Melhemm. Alexandra Locke is The Take’s executive producer. Ney Alvarez is Al Jazeera’s head of audio. Connect with us: @AJEPodcasts on Instagram, X, Facebook, Threads and YouTube

Kurfii tana gubbaatti, jaal Dhugoomsaan : Sochii ABO woyta DARGUn jigu Jalqabumarraa kaasee TPLF wojjin wolitti gufatuun eegalamuusaa Hogganni gariin mootummaa Cehumsaa keessaa qooda fudhachuuf Shaggaritti ol-bobbahuu Waajira fulaa iddoo garagaraatti banachuu Filmaata gandaa gaggeefame wolitti bu'iinsi woyyaanee wojjin babballachuufi waajjiraaleen ABO cufamuu Koreen "liason" warra Eritiraa, warra Woyaane wojjin bakkayyuutti ijaaramu isaa Filmaata biyaaleessaan duraa humna gama mooratti galchuu Dirqamaan gama Godina Kibbaatti bobbahuusaa ABOn filmaataa fii mootummaa Cehumsaa keessaa bahuu Humni mooraa gad-dhiisee bahuu Mootummaa cehumsaa baanaan humni diinaa isaan adamsuu fii seenaa dheertu baayyeen nuun qooddata Dhihaadhaa!

Welcome to RIMScast. Your host is Justin Smulison, Business Content Manager at RIMS, the Risk and Insurance Management Society.   Justin Smulison interviews RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs Mark Prysock about the RIMS Advocacy, the RIMS Legislative Summit being postponed to Q1 2025 to work with a fresh Congress and Administration. Mark covers a few of the important legislative issues potentially affecting RIMS and RIMS members, including the Tomorrow's Workforce Act, the negative impact of increasing the tax burden on 501(c)(6) non-profit organizations like RIMS, and the national security issues at stake if nothing is done to make third party litigation funding transparent. Listen for information and inspiration to get more involved in RIMS Advocacy.   Key Takeaways: [:01] About RIMS. [:15] About this episode. Justin introduces return guest Mark Prysock, RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs. [:42] Events! We've got the DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event happening on September 19th in Irving, Texas. Learn more about that event in Episode 299, which features an interview with the Texas State Office of Risk Management. [1:00] Also on September 19th is the RIMS Chicago Chapter's Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024. Register at ChicagolandRiskForum.org. [1:09] Registration opened for the RIMS Canada Conference 2024 which will be held from October 6th through the 9th in Vancouver. Visit RIMSCanadaConference.ca to register. [1:21] Registration is also open for the RIMS Western Regional, which will be held from September 29th through October 1st at the Sun River Resort in Oregon. Register at RIMSWesternRegional.com. [1:35] We want you to join us in Boston on November 18th and 19th for the RIMS ERM Conference 2024. The agenda is live. The keynote will be announced soon. We want to see you there! A link is on this page. [1:50] All RIMS regional conference information can be found on the Events page at RIMS.org. [1:57] If you want to present a session at RISKWORLD 2025 in Chicago, you are in luck! The deadline to submit your session has been extended to Monday, September 9th, 2024. A link is in this episode's notes. [2:12] We will be bringing out Mark Prysock in just a moment but before we get started, let's talk RIMS Webinars! All RIMS Webinars registration pages are available through RIMS.org/webinars. [2:26] On September 5th, Merrill Herzog makes their RIMS Webinars debut with the Role of Insurance in Building Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack. [2:35] On September 19th, Origami Risk returns to deliver Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage. On September 26th, Archer returns to explore The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches. Webinars for October are also available. [2:52] Justin jumped ahead a little bit, though. On September 12th, HUB International returns to deliver the third part of their Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [3:07] Justin is delighted to be joined by the moderator for that session, the Chief Marketing Officer for Canada at HUB International, Linda Regner Dykeman. Justin welcomes Linda to RIMScast and introduces the upcoming global webinar on staying agile that Linda will host. [3:38] The webinar will be at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time on September 12th. Linda says they will be discussing current market trends and challenges. The industry has been able to produce some very strong profits over the last few years. [3:52] The market needed correction after many years of unprofitability driven by weather events in the property line where rates seemed to be unsustainable. Casualty also had its issues, particularly with Directors and Officers Liability. [4:10] As a result of the profitability the industry was able to achieve over the last few years, most carriers have become more competitive in growing their books of business. This competition is not being seen in all lines, segments, or geographies. [4:27] Some catastrophe-prone zones such as BC and Alberta have not seen the same level of competition across the board. As the market transitions from a hard market to a competitive environment, there is some unusual and inconsistent behavior. [4:44] Carriers in Canada are being more flexible with their appetite. London is looking to grow significantly over the next couple of years with goals of hitting $100 billion by 2025. Add to that NGAs who are seeing their market share change as local carriers become more competitive. [5:02] As we transition out of what was considered to be a hard market, we see a lot of inconsistency in this market. [5:11] Add to this the supply chain issues, which are not what they once were, the economy is flat with spending, once normalized for an increase in population, it reflects that of a market in a recession. [5:25] We, as brokers, are finding competitive solutions to protect our clients. We have to pivot and swerve to discover the right opportunities. [5:37] We had a significant rain event in Toronto, followed by one of the worst wildfires Jasper has ever seen, seemingly a once-in-a-hundred-year event; weather catastrophes are more severe and more frequent. [5:50] How is this going to change the availability of capacity and pricing? Time will tell, as insurers try to figure out if their pricing models included the right loadings for these events. [6:12] Being informed by what is happening in the market; the trends, the opportunities, what's available, and partnering with the right broker, will help a risk manager make an informed decision, appropriate for their business. [6:34] The panelists have decades of experience and expertise across North America. They work with clients, markets, and other experts and bring a much broader perspective and experience to this session. [6:49] Steve Pottle is the risk manager on the panel. He's been omnipresent in RIMS Canada for years. He's a former RIMS VP and is currently the Director for Risk and Safety Services at Thompson Rivers University. Justin says he's one of the best and Linda agrees. [7:20] Linda will moderate. She'll ask the panelists questions HUB International has received from its clients, based on what they are seeing happening in the environment around them. She would also like the audience to pose some questions. Audience participation is encouraged. [7:44] Justin thanks Linda Regner Dykeman of HUB International, and will see her again on September 12th, 2024 for the third installment of HUB's Ready for Tomorrow series, Pivot and Swerve: Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics. [8:02] Interview! Justin introduces Mark Prysock, RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs. Mark will provide a RIMS Advocacy update and talk about the legislative issues on RIMS's radar and the status of the next RIMS legislative summit. Mark, welcome to RIMScast! [8:36] Mark Prysock is the hardest-working lawyer that Justin knows. Justin wants him to be on RIMScast weekly. Mark says he will try to be on at least once a quarter. [9:13] The Legislative Summit has been postponed to Q1 2025 as the time Congress has left in 2024 is focused on passing continuing resolutions to keep the government open. It's not an ideal time for RIMS to come to D.C. with their legislative priorities. [10:07] Q1 2025 will be great for RIMS to go to D.C. to talk about RIMS's priorities. The new Congress will be seated with new Committee Chairs and Ranking Members. There will be a new administration, so a lot of new Executive Branch jobs will have been filled. [10:46] In Q4 2024, RIMS Advocacy will announce to RIMS members the date for the Legislative Summit of Q1 2025. It will be live, in person, on Capitol Hill, similar to the 2023 event. [11:03] RIMS Advocacy hopes to set up educational sessions on Wednesday in the U.S. Chamber of Commerce building, with a reception Wednesday evening with a fund-raising event for RISKPAC. On Thursday, everyone will descend on Capitol Hill and lobby RIMS's issues. [11:46] RISKPAC has been going to a lot of fund-raising events for key members of Congress who sit on committees with jurisdiction over legislative issues that matter to RIMS. They focus on the Chairs, Ranking Members, and other committee members. [12:15] RISKPAC has had some good one-on-one time with members of Congress and their key staff members to talk about RIMS's issues. [12:31] Greg McKenna is the Chair of the RISKPAC Trustees Committee. He supports everything RIMS is doing on the legislative front and knows that RISKPAC plays a vital role in helping RIMS accomplish those legislative objectives. Greg has been a RIMScast guest. [13:20] Mark discusses some association-specific issues. RIMS is working in a coalition with ASAE on the Tomorrow's Workforce Act. That legislation would liberalize 529 College Savings Plans to allow individuals to use them for post-secondary training and credentialing. [14:21] The funds could be used for licenses and professional certifications like the RIMS-CRMP, for example. This is a successful bi-partisan, bi-cameral issue that has made good progress through the House. RISKPAC hopes something will get done by the end of 2024. [14:53] If the Tomorrow's Workforce Act doesn't pass this year, RISKPAC will pursue it aggressively in the next session of Congress. [15:05] The next issue is that Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate seem to believe that 501(c)(6) organizations like RIMS should be paying more taxes than they currently pay. The idea is to start taxing non-profits on their net income. [16:16] A lot of associations like RIMS would be significantly negatively impacted if that happened. It would have an impact on a lot of organizations' abilities to offer programs to their members and in other ways. [16:41] RIMS will participate actively with another ASAE coalition to educate members of Congress about why non-profits should remain untaxed. That is going to be an aggressive effort that is kicking off now and into 2025. [17:08] Both houses of Congress have working groups figuring out the approach to this issue. When the new Congress is seated, we may see some legislative proposals. The association community thinks it is extremely important to ramp up an educational campaign now. [17:36] RIMS has members who are part of not-for-profits or associations and they should be paying close attention to our developments and progress here. It's another reason RIMS members should join the Legislative Summit in 2025, to learn more about this sort of issue. [18:09] One more quick break! The Spencer Educational Foundation's goal is to help build a talent pipeline of risk management and insurance professionals. That is achieved, in part, by a collaboration with risk management and insurance educators across the U.S. and Canada. [18:26] Whether you want to apply for a grant, participate in the Risk Manager on Campus program, or just learn more about Spencer, visit SpencerEd.org. [18:37] On September 12th, 2024, we look forward to seeing you at the Spencer Funding Their Future Gala at The Cipriani 42nd Street in New York City. Our recent guest from Episode 293, Lilian Vanvieldt-Gray, will be our honoree. [18:53] Lilian is the Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer at Alliant Insurance Services and she will be honored for her valuable contributions to supporting the future of risk management and insurance. [19:10] That was a great episode, so after you finish this one, please go back and listen to Episode 293. [19:16] Let's Conclude Our Interview! RIMS CEO Gary LaBranche was the RIMScast guest on Episode 300. An item that was discussed on Gary's risk radar is third-party litigation funding (TPLF). Mark Prysock dives deeper into TPLF and what it means to RIMS members. [20:21] TPLF is when third parties, such as hedge funds, private equity groups, or sovereign funds, invest in litigation with the idea that the litigation has a positive result, such as a settlement or payout, and the investor will get a nice return. [20:47] The problem with TPLF is that right now, it is not in any way transparent. Judges and opposing parties often have no idea who is funding litigation. RIMS's focus has been on foreign entities' involvement in litigation. [21:24] There is real concern about having foreign funds invest in litigation because it presents both national security concerns and economic concerns. If a foreign fund invests in litigation against a defense contractor, there is a risk of economic damage to the defense contractor. [21:54] In some cases, foreign funds would see documents that are part of the discovery and litigation process, which could include highly confidential information. This is a matter of growing concern. Key individuals in Congress recognize that something has to be done here. [22:22] What we've seen so far have been a couple of legislative proposals that focus on disclosure. Any third parties that would stand to benefit financially from any sort of contingency relationship in litigation would have to be disclosed to the judge and all parties to the case. [22:47] If there is a litigation funding agreement, that agreement would need to be shared with the court. Mark does not think we will have much success in stopping TPLF domestically. [23:10] RIMS's focus will be on the aspect of foreign manipulation of our courts and the extent to which foreign funds might be behind significant and very expensive litigation here in the U.S. [23:45] Mark believes RIMS Advocacy will try to find ways to work with its friends in the insurance industry on this issue. Mark cites Chubb Limited's Chairman and CEO Evan Greenberg's keynote address at RISKWORLD 2024. [24:03] Evan Greenberg mentioned TPLF as a significant problem from the industry's perspective but not one the industry can take the lead in addressing. It's an opportunity for RIMS to step forward and put together a coalition to work on this issue with the insurance community. [24:37] Key members of the House and Senate are focused on this issue. That offers RIMS Advocacy a good place to start, working with them, their committee staff, and other members of Congress who would be willing to get behind and support some changes. [25:04] Foreign funds from sanctioned nations that we don't want infiltrating the U.S. judicial system may be participating in TPLF. [25:44] Justin hopes we make great progress in the next six months and that the Legislative Summit will have gone on as scheduled. Justin will keep members and listeners apprised of the date. Mark will come back to RIMScast in six months. [26:15] Justin thanks Mark for joining us here on RIMScast. [26:22] Special thanks again to my friend, Mark Prysock, RIMS General Counsel and VP of External Affairs. For more information about RIMS's public policy efforts, visit RIMS.org/advocacy and we will keep you updated on the RIMS Legislative Summit 2025. [26:44] It's RIMS plug time! The RIMS App is available to RIMS members exclusively. Go to the App Store and download the RIMS App with all sorts of RIMS resources and coverage. It's different from the RIMS Events App. Everyone loves the RIMS App! [27:18] You can sponsor a RIMScast episode for this, our weekly show, or a dedicated episode. Links to sponsored episodes are in our show notes. RIMScast has a global audience of risk and insurance professionals, legal professionals, students, business leaders, C-Suite executives, and more. Let's collaborate and help you reach them! Contact pd@rims.org for more information. [28:00] Become a RIMS member and get access to the tools, thought leadership, and network you need to succeed. Visit RIMS.org/membership or email membershipdept@RIMS.org for more information. [28:17] Risk Knowledge is the RIMS searchable content library that provides relevant information for today's risk professionals. Materials include RIMS executive reports, survey findings, contributed articles, industry research, benchmarking data, and more. [28:32] For the best reporting on the profession of risk management, read Risk Management Magazine at RMMagazine.com. It is written and published by the best minds in risk management. Justin Smulison is the Business Content Manager at RIMS. You can email Justin at Content@RIMS.org. [28:53] Thank you for your continued support and engagement on social media channels! We appreciate all your kind words. Listen every week! Stay safe!   Mentioned in this Episode: RIMS Advocacy RISKWORLD 2025 will be in Chicago! May 4‒7 | Last Call For Submissions Sept. 9! DFW RIMS 2024 Fall Conference and Spa Event | Sept 19‒20 Chicagoland Risk Forum 2024 — Presented by RIMS Chicago Chapter — Sept. 19, 2024 RIMS Western Regional — Sept 29‒Oct 1, Oregon | Registration is open! RIMS Canada Conference 2024 — Oct. 6‒9 | Registration is open! Spencer Educational Foundation — Funding Their Future Gala 2024 | Sept. 12, 2024 RIMS ERM Conference 2024 will be in Boston, MA Nov. 18‒19 | Register Now RIMS DEI Council RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RIMS Strategic & Enterprise Risk Center NEW FOR MEMBERS! RIMS Mobile App RISK PAC   RIMS Webinars: Role of Insurance in Building Resilience Against an Active Assailant Attack | Sponsored by Merrill Herzog | Sept. 5, 2024 HUB Ready for Tomorrow Series: Pivot and Swerve — Staying Agile During Shifting Market Dynamics | Sept. 12, 2024 Leveraging Integrated Risk Management For Strategic Advantage | Sponsored by Origami Risk | Sept. 19, 2024 The Future of RMIS: Beyond Traditional Approaches | Sponsored by Archer | Sept. 26, 2024 Mastering ERM: Leveraging Internal and External Risk Factors for Strategic Advantage | Sponsored by Diligent | Oct. 3, 2024 RIMS.org/Webinars   Upcoming Virtual Workshops: Fundamentals of Insurance | Oct 9‒10, 2024 See the full calendar of RIMS Virtual Workshops RIMS-CRMP Prep Workshops   Related RIMScast Episodes: “300th Episode Spectacular with RIMS CEO Gary LaBranche” “Legal and Risk Trends with Katherine Henry” “RIMS Public Policy and Advocacy 2023” “Public Policy Goals with CIAB President Joel Wood” (2023) “Keeping Up With RISK PAC” (2022)   Sponsored RIMScast Episodes: “Weathering Today's Property Claims Management Challenges” | Sponsored by AXA XL (New!) “Storm Prep 2024: The Growing Impact of Convective Storms and Hail” | Sponsored by Global Risk Consultants, a TÜV SÜD Company (New!) “Partnering Against Cyberrisk” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Harnessing the Power of Data and Analytics for Effective Risk Management” | Sponsored by Marsh “Accident Prevention — The Winning Formula For Construction and Insurance” | Sponsored by Otoos “Platinum Protection: Underwriting and Risk Engineering's Role in Protecting Commercial Properties” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Elevating RMIS — The Archer Way” | Sponsored by Archer “Alliant's P&C Outlook For 2024” | Sponsored by Alliant “Why Subrogation is the New Arbitration” | Sponsored by Fleet Response “Cyclone Season: Proactive Preparation for Loss Minimization” | Sponsored by Prudent Insurance Brokers Ltd. “Subrogation and the Competitive Advantage” | Sponsored by Fleet Response “Cyberrisk Outlook 2023” | Sponsored by Alliant “Chemical Industry: How To Succeed Amid Emerging Risks and a Challenging Market” | Sponsored by TÜV SÜD “Insuring the Future of the Environment” | Sponsored by AXA XL “Insights into the Gig Economy and its Contractors” | Sponsored by Zurich “The Importance of Disaster Planning Relationships” | Sponsored by ServiceMaster   RIMS Publications, Content, and Links: RIMS Membership — Whether you are a new member or need to transition, be a part of the global risk management community! RIMS Virtual Workshops On-Demand Webinars RIMS-Certified Risk Management Professional (RIMS-CRMP) RIMS-CRMP Stories — New interviews featuring DFW RIMS President Emily Casso Ford!   RIMS Events, Education, and Services: RIMS Risk Maturity Model® RIMS Events App Apple | Google Play   Sponsor RIMScast: Contact sales@rims.org or pd@rims.org for more information.   Want to Learn More? Keep up with the podcast on RIMS.org and listen on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.   Have a question or suggestion? Email: Content@rims.org.   Join the Conversation! Follow @RIMSorg on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.   About our guests: Mark Prysock, General Counsel at RIMS, Inc. Linda Regner Dykeman of Hub International, Chief Marketing Officer for Canada Tweetables (Edited For Social Media Use): Q1 2025 would be great for RIMS to go to D.C. to talk about legislative priorities. The new Congress will be seated with new committee chairs and ranking members. There will be a new administration, so a lot of new Executive Branch jobs will have been filled. — Mark Prysock   RIMS is working in a coalition with ASAE on the Tomorrow's Workforce Act. That legislation would liberalize 529 College Savings Plans to allow individuals to use them for post-secondary training and credentialing. — Mark Prysock   Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate seem to believe that 501(c)(6) organizations like RIMS should be paying more taxes than they currently pay. They are suggesting taxing non-profits on their net income. — Mark Prysock   There is real concern about having foreign funds invest in litigation because it presents both national security and economic concerns. If a foreign fund invests in litigation against a defense contractor, there is a risk of economic damage to the contractor. — Mark Prysock  

Will Africa's past experience with health emergencies help in tackling the Mpox outbreak?Could a rift within Ethiopia's TPLF party derail the Pretoria peace agreement?And was a landslide at a rubbish dump in the Ugandan capital that killed at least 30 people preventable?Presenter: Audrey Brown Producers: Joseph Keen, Charles Gitonga and Nyasha Michelle Technical Producer: Chris Ablakwa Senior Producer: Paul Bakibinga Editors:Alice Muthengi and Andre LombArd

C'est un invité exclusif sur RFI ce matin. Debretsion Gebremichael était le chef de l'autorité tigréenne durant la guerre civile qui a opposé, de 2020 à 2022, le Tigré, région du Nord de l'Éthiopie, et le pouvoir fédéral d'Addis-Abeba allié à l'Erythrée voisine et aux régions éthiopiennes Amharas et autres. Une guerre civile sanglante. L'Union africaine a parlé d'au moins 600 000 morts. De nombreux observateurs soupçonnent aussi un génocide. L'accord de paix de Pretoria a mis fin au conflit en novembre 2022. Mais les défis sont immenses. Des centaines de milliers de déplacés ne sont toujours pas rentrés. Le Tigré est toujours en partie occupé. Debretsion Gebremichael est aujourd'hui le chef du TPLF, le principal parti au Tigré. Il répond à notre envoyé spécial. RFI : presque deux ans après l'accord de paix où en est son application ? Les progrès ont l'air très lents.Debretsion Gebremichael : Oui. Cet accord a été signé depuis bientôt deux ans. L'exécution est très lente...Au début il y avait des progrès. Les services publics avaient été relancés. Les communications, l'électricité, le transport, les financements du gouvernement. Tout le monde était heureux. On avançait. Et le plus important, c'est qu'il n'y avait plus de combat. Même si la paix n'était pas installée dans tout le Tigré, la plus grande partie du territoire était sous le contrôle de notre gouvernement…Mais le plus important est qu'il n'y avait plus de combats, plus de tueries, plus de destructions, plus de bombardements. Donc c'était très positif…Mais après un temps, les progrès ont ralenti. Le plus gros problème, c'est la présence au Tigré de génocidaires. Ils ne sont pas partis. Il y a eu Pretoria, accord auquel s'est rajouté la déclaration de Nairobi il y a quelques mois. Il était prévu qu'une fois la remise de nos armes lourdes terminée, le retrait des troupes serait réalisé en même temps.À lire aussiÉthiopie: les habitants de Dowhan, au Tigré, sous la menace constante de l'armée érythréenneEnsuite il était prévu le retour des déplacés chez eux, et la mise en place d'une véritable administration intérimaire…Or le retrait et le retour des déplacés auraient dû être faits l'an dernier. On a plus d'un an de retard. Et en attendant, les gens meurent par manque d'aide humanitaire, de soins, ils sont encore psychologiquement très touchés, alors que dans les zones encore occupées, le génocide continue… Donc les souffrances des Tigréens et du Tigré continuent. Nous sommes toujours à l'agonie.Oui au départ c'était très positif, il y avait un grand espoir que la paix soit complète, que les groupes armés allaient se retirer, que les déplacés rentrent et que la réhabilitation suive, etc. Donc aujourd'hui notre sentiment est mitigé sur l'application de l'accord…Pourquoi selon vous cet accord met tant de temps à être appliqué ? Certains parlent d'un manque de volonté politique.Absolument. Parce que l'accord dit bien que la responsabilité de ces étapes largement retardées repose sur le gouvernement fédéral…C'est Addis Abéba qui doit réaliser le retrait des forces Amharas et Erythréennes. Les Amharas font partie du gouvernement. Les Erythréens font partie d'une alliance avec le pouvoir fédéral, donc c'est lui qui est responsable, c'est lui qui doit dire aux Erythréens et aux Amharas de rentrer chez eux.Pensez-vous que cette inaction est volontaire de la part d'Addis Abéba, comme si le pouvoir fédéral voulait s'en prendre de nouveau au Tigré ? Ou bien est-ce de la simple lenteur administrative par exemple ?Il y aura toujours des problèmes administratifs dans l'application de l'accord. Mais là ça va plus loin. C'est un choix politique. S'il y avait de la bonne volonté, ça aurait pu être fait. Un retard est possible, mais quand le retard atteint plus d'un an, on va au-delà du problème administratif.On note le manque criant d'aide humanitaire alors que les besoins sont énormes. Pensez-vous que la communauté internationale a oublié le Tigré et est accaparée par d'autres crises ?Nous savons que le monde est en crise. L'Ukraine, Gaza, crise après crise c'est la réalité d'aujourd'hui. Quant au Tigré, ce que nous avons obtenu pour aider à la reconstruction est une infime partie de ce qui a été donné à l'Ukraine.Ce qui compte c'est l'attention qu'obtient une crise, pas son ampleur. Et c'est le cas pour le Tigré où je vois un manque de volonté politique. Quand la guerre était en cours, la communauté internationale surveillait de près. Le Conseil de Sécurité était très occupé avec ce conflit. Mais dès qu'un semblant de paix est arrivé, l'attention s'est portée ailleurs, nous n'étions plus une priorité. Et aujourd'hui il y a un manque de bonne volonté. Le gouvernement fédéral ne pousse pas non plus… Donc c'est une combinaison des deux…Quelles mesures urgentes doivent être prises pour permettre le retour des déplacés ? Et qui devrait sécuriser les zones de leur retour ? L'armée fédérale ? Les forces tigréennes ?Là-dessus, les vues sont différentes. Pour nous, la sécurité doit être assurée par nos forces. La responsabilité globale doit être donnée à l'administration provisoire du Tigré et son armée si nécessaire…Pour nous c'est prévu dans la constitution. Dans la page 1 de l'accord de paix il est dit que toutes les résolutions doivent être en accord avec la constitution. Donc là-dessus, le texte fondamental dit bien que c'est le Tigré qui gère sa sécurité…Mais le pouvoir fédéral a un point de vue différent. Il dit que la sécurité dépend de lui. Mais pour nous c'est clair, le Tigré doit être responsable de la sécurité sur son sol.L'accord prévoyait que les combattants tigréens remettent toutes leurs armes et s'intègrent dans un programme de DDR. Il y a quelques mois, les autorités régionales avaient annoncé que 250 000 hommes détenaient toujours des armes. Certains pourraient accuser les Tigréens d'un manque de volontéNon nous n'avons pas de manque de volonté concernant la démobilisation de nos hommes. Ça fait partie de l'accord…Mais on ne peut pas analyser le DDR seul. D'abord il faut un retrait total des forces qui occupent le Tigré. Or ce n'est pas encore le cas. Le DDR ne peut pas être fait avant cela…Sur les armes, nous avons rendu les plus lourdes. Ça a même été fait plus tôt qu'attendu. Nous avons agi vite en espérant que le retrait se ferait également rapidement. Mais ça n'a pas été le cas. Donc dans ce cas vous ne pouvez pas avoir de DDR. Sans retrait total, pas de DDR… Et dans les faits, nous avons démobilisé nous-mêmes. En dehors du processus formel de DDR. Puisque nous n'avons plus besoin d'autant de combattants. Plus de 100 000 hommes sont rentrés chez eux. Ensuite il y a des problèmes logistiques et autres qui représentent un énorme poids pour nous. Or nous ne recevons pas assez de soutien d'Addis Abéba alors qu'un soutien logistique était prévu. Jusqu'à ce que le DDR commence.Nous ne disons pas que nous allons redéployer nos forces, non. Nous avons accepté de les démobiliser. Mais d'abord, le retrait doit être complet.Donc le DDR n'aura pas lieu tant que les Amharas et les Erythréens seront encore au Tigré ?Oui. Ça ne peut pas se faire. Et même après leur retrait, il faut un certain temps. Un DDR ne se réalise pas en un jour. Redéployer plus de 200 000 combattants demande des milliards d'investissement, il faut des programmes, des formations, tellement d'étapes sont nécessaires. Donc il faudra du temps. Nous sommes d'accord avec le principe de DDR. Mais il se fera après le retrait complet…Il faudra aussi examiner la question de la sécurité sur le terrain. On ne peut pas renvoyer tout le monde chez soi. Nous ne savons pas encore combien, mais nous aurons besoin d'hommes pour sécuriser le territoire.Mais ça se fera selon l'accord signé avec Addis Abéba et peut-être avec l'aide de l'Union Africaine. Ce sera dans le cadre d'un accord international. Donc nous sommes prêts, nous sommes mobilisés, mais il faut que ces conditions soient remplies.Le problème c'est que l'Erythrée n'est pas signataire de l'accord de Pretoria. Or ses soldats occupent toujours le Nord du Tigré, disant que cette zone leur appartient.Ils ne sont pas signataires, mais ce sont les alliés du gouvernement fédéral. Donc c'est une responsabilité d'Addis Abéba. Parce que c'est à son invitation que les Erythréens sont intervenus…Donc c'est au pouvoir central de leur dire de partir. Mais comme ce sont leurs alliés, Addis reste silencieux. A cause du poids du passé, ils sont silencieux. Nous devons pousser le pouvoir central, qui doit pousser les Erythréens à se retirer…La commission génocide dit que tous les criminels doivent être jugés. Y compris le président Erythréen Issaias Afeworki et le Premier ministre éthiopien Abiy Ahmed, avec qui vous avez signé la paix. Doivent-ils passer devant la justice ?Les auteurs doivent être tenus pour responsables. Cela peut concerner le Premier ministre, le président érythréen. Cela dépendra de qui est responsable de quoi…Donc les poursuites peuvent concerner n'importe qui. Moi je ne peux pas dire qui a commis tel ou tel crime. Cela doit être déterminé par une mission internationale. Mais mon avis est que oui, ils doivent être poursuivis, car ce sont les leaders, ce sont les donneurs d'ordre.Ces investigations doivent-elles inclure les TDF ? Car beaucoup accusent les forces tigréennes d'avoir aussi commis des crimes notamment en région Afar mais pas seulement.Selon moi les TDF ne peuvent pas se rendre coupable d'un génocide. Car les TDF sont le produit d'un génocide. Les TDF sont du côté des victimes, pour protéger les Tigréens des génocidaires. Je suis un de leurs leaders et nous n'avons eu aucune intention d'attaquer qui que ce soit, Amharas ou autres. Non.C'est vrai je ne peux pas exclure des incidents puisque nous nous battions en région Afar et Amhara. Mais je ne peux pas croire qu'on ait commis des actes de génocide. Cependant nous sommes ouverts à toute enquête et nous verrons le résultat.Et si la justice vous met en cause personnellement, en tant que leader, est-ce que vous collaborerez ?Absolument. Je suis prêt. Je répondrai à toute enquête.Pensez-vous qu'après tout ce qui s'est passé, les Tigréens sont prêts à faire la paix avec les Amharas, avec les Erythréens et autres ?Vous savez je parle en tant que leader, mais je connais aussi l'intérêt de mon peuple. La paix est la priorité pour nous. Il faut la paix avec tout le monde. Que ce soit au niveau des populations que des politiques. Et d'ailleurs ce sont parfois les gens qui veulent davantage la paix que les politiques qui ont parfois leurs propres intérêts.Mais politiquement il pourrait y avoir des obstacles avec les atrocités et le génocide commis, par l'armée érythréenne et l'armée éthiopienne…Mais entre population il n'y a aucun problème, elles veulent vivre en paix avec tout le monde.Est-ce qu'une indépendance du Tigré est quelque chose d'inconcevable aujourd'hui ?Je ne l'écarterais pas totalement. Pour y arriver en tout cas il faut un référendum, en accord avec la constitution. Elle donne ce droit. Du moment qu'il est établi que les Tigréens veulent un référendum. C'est stipulé dans le texte. Donc je ne peux pas dire que ça n'arrivera jamais, mais ça devra suivre le processus constitutionnel...À lire aussiÉthiopie: dans le Tigré, la crise alimentaire empire depuis la suspension du Programme alimentaire mondial*************************************************************************► Aujourd'hui, vous entendrez en exclusivité : un reportage Afrique à Dowhan, dernière localité du Nord vivant sous la menace constate des soldats Erythréens ; dans nos journaux, un sujet sur le retour de l'Anthrax, des décennies après la disparition de la maladie au Tigré.

Content warning for discussion of genocide, torture, mutilation, rape, and slavery Hey, Hi, Hello, this is the History Wizard and welcome back for Day 15 of Have a Day w/ The History Wizard. Thank you to everyone who tuned in for Day 14 last week, and especially thank you to everyone who rated and/or reviewed the podcast. I hope you all learned something last week and I hope the same for this week. This week marks the 6th part of our mini series of currently ongoing genocides and humanitarian crises. Episode 2 was on Palestine, Episode 11 was on Congo, episode 12 was on Sudan, episode 13 was on Xinjiang, episode 14 was on Rakhine State, and today's episode will cover the genocide that is ongoing in Tigray in Ethiopia. Let's see what the Alchemist's Table has in store for us this time. Today's libation is called Memories of Summer. Muddle some mint and strawberries in the bottom of your shaker, add .5 oz of simple syrup, 2 oz of gunpowder gin, stir well for about 30 seconds before double straining over ice and topping with lemonade. Garnish with a sprig of fresh mint and enjoy. Now it's time for everyone's favorite part, it's time for the historical context. Tigray is both the northernmost regional state in Ethiopia, as well as an ethnicity. Tigray is known as the birthplace of Ethiopian civilization and their motto is “There is no mountain we would not climb.” That's fucking badass. When the Scramble for Africa began at the end of the 19th century CE barely 10% of africa was under EUropean colonial control, and by the time World War 1 broke out more than 90% of the country had been colonized, with only Liberia and Ethiopia remaining free states. While Ethiopia remained under its own sovereign control, this was in large part because they willingly allied themselves with Great Britain. In fact many Ethiopian troops fought on the side of Britain during the Mahdist War in Sudan that we discussed on Day 12. Part of Ethiopia's independence also came from their alliances with Italy. King Menelik II of Ethiopia signed the Treaty of Wuchale with Italy in 1889. This treaty guaranteed Ethiopian sovereignty as long as Italy could control areas north of Ethiopia's currently held territory (in areas that are now the nation of Eritrea) and in return Ethiopia would receive arms and munitions and Menelik would have Italian support as emperor. Menelik would remain emperor from 1889 until his death in 1913. Though, it is worth noting that Etiopia was only able to maintain its sovereignty because of their victory during the Italo-Ethiopian War that ran from January 1895 until October 1896. The beginning of Menelik's rule was marked by severe tragedy though as it coincided with the 1890s African rinderpest epizootic. Which is a very fancy way of saying that disease killed 90% of Ethiopia's cattle and that this, combined with a drought caused by reduced rainfall killed about 1/3rd of the country's population. The virus, known as Rinderpest, is potentially thought to have been introduced into Eritrea in 1887 by Indian cattle brought by the Italians for their campaign against Somalia. Lack of rainfall from as early as 16 November 1888 led to famine in all but southernmost provinces; locusts and caterpillar infestations destroy crops in Akele Guzay, Begemder, Shewa, and around Harar. Conditions worsened with a typhus epidemic, a major smallpox epidemic (1889–90), and cholera outbreaks (1889–92). Making the beginning of Melenik's rule really fucking bad. Near the end of his life Melenik was filled with with concern over issues of succession. He hadn't yet picked an heir and if he died without one his nation would descend into civil war and would become ripe for the picking for European colonial powers. He would eventually settle on one of his grandchildren Lij Iyasu, as his heir. Iyasu would only reign for about 3 years before being deposed on charges of converting to Islam. Ethiopia had been a Christian kingdom since King Ezana of the Aksumite Empire adopted Christianity as the official religion in the 4th century CE. There's no definitive proof that Iyasu converted to Islam at any point in his life, but there was enough “proof” that everyone felt comfortable stipping him of authority and giving it to Haile Selassie. He served as the Regent for Empress Zedwditu from 1916 until her death in 1930, and after her death served as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 until he was deposed in 1974 by the Derg following the 1973 oil crisis. Derg or Dergue is Amharic (a Semitic language descended from Ge'ez, which is the liturgical language of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. It translates as committee or council. Now, Ethiopia would fall under partial Italian control during the 1930s as part of the Second Italo-Ethiopian War between Fascist Italy and Ethiopia, and while Italy would have some successes during this war, they'd never attain full control over Ethiopia, making Ethiopia the only African nation to not ever fall under colonial control. Some would argue that Liberia would fall under that umbrella as well, but considering that Liberia, as a nation, was artificially created by the US as a place for freed slaves to return to, I don't think it qualifies. Haile Selassie as the emperor of Ethiopia would be one of the founding members of the United Nations. Haile Selassie's rule ended on 12 September 1974, when he was deposed by the Derg, a committee made up of military and police officers. After the execution of 60 former government and military officials, the new Provisional Military Administrative Council abolished the monarchy in March 1975 and established Ethiopia as a Marxist-Leninist state. The abolition of feudalism, increased literacy, nationalization, and sweeping land reform including the resettlement and villagization from the Ethiopian Highlands became priorities. Mengistu Haile Mariam would become the ruler of Ethiopia following the fall of Haile Selassie until in May 1991, the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) forces advanced on Addis Ababa from all sides, and Mengistu fled the country with 50 family and Derg members. He was granted asylum in Zimbabwe as an official guest of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe. Now the period of Derg rule is also known as the Ethiopian Civil War. It lasted from 1974 until 1991. The Derg in its attempt to introduce full-fledged socialist ideals, fulfilled its main slogan of "Land to the Tiller", by redistributing land in Ethiopia that once belonged to landlords to the peasants tilling the land. Although this was made to seem like a fair and just redistribution, the mismanagement, corruption, and general hostility to the Derg's violent and harsh rule coupled with the draining effects of constant warfare, separatist guerrilla movements in Eritrea and Tigray, resulted in a drastic decline in general productivity of food and cash crops. Although Ethiopia is often prone to chronic droughts, no one was prepared for the scale of drought and the 1983–1985 famine that struck the country in the mid-1980s, in which 400,000–590,000 people are estimated to have died.  Hundreds of thousands fled economic misery, conscription and political repression, and went to live in neighboring countries and all over the Western world, creating an Ethiopian diaspora community for the first time in its history. Insurrections against the Derg's rule sprang up with ferocity, particularly in the northern regions of Tigray and Eritrea which sought independence and in some regions in the Ogaden. The Ethiopian Civil War left at least 1.4 million people dead, with 1 million related to famine and the remainder from violence and conflicts, which is one third of population.  In July 1991, the EPRDF convened a National Conference to establish the Transitional Government of Ethiopia composed of an 87-member Council of Representatives and guided by a national charter that functioned as a transitional constitution. In 1994, a new constitution was written that established a parliamentary republic with a bicameral legislature and a judicial system. Mengistu's authoritarian military regime faced organized opposition for all of its fourteen years of rule. Opposition groups including the Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Party (EPRP), a rival Marxist–Leninist group, and the Tigray-based Ethiopian People's Revolutionary Democratic Front, a coalition of ethnic democratic forces, led armed resistance to the Derg in a conflict known as the Ethiopian Civil War. The Derg used violence, commonly enacted through military campaigns, to suppress dissidents. In 1976, the Derg instigated the Qey Shibir (Ethiopian Red Terror), a violent political repression campaign targeting the EPRP.  Under Mengistu's leadership, the Derg did not only rely on state personnel to carry out the Qey Shibir; it also armed militias and civilian supporters and granted "genuine revolutionaries and patriots" impunity, further localizing state violence.  The Qey Shibir resulted in 50,000 fatalities.  In addition, many victims of the Qey Shibir were subjected to torture, exile, and sexual assault. The Qey Shibir and the 1983-1985 famine, an event partly created and exacerbated by the government's military policies, increased popular support for the EPRDF, which successfully overthrew Mengistu's regime in 1991. As we entered the 21st century ethnic tensions began to increase between the people of northern Ethiopia, specifically in the Tigray region and the rest of the nation.  Data from the Minorities at Risk (MAR) project were used by Charles E. Riddle to study the degrees of discrimination by the dominant Amharas against the non-dominant ethnic groups in Ethiopia from 1950 to 1992, during the later reign of Emperor Haile Selassie and that of Mengistu Haile Mariam of the Derg. Amharas dominated during the Haile Selassie epoch.  Systematic discrimination against Afars occurred throughout the period. Tigrayans were initially culturally assimilated with the Amharas, speaking Amharic, and suffered little discrimination. Under the Haile Selassie government, the Oromo language was legally banned from education, public speaking and use in administration. During the Haile Selassie regime, the Harari people were persecuted. The imperial forces ordered the confiscation of Harari property and mass arrests of Harari men, as a result an estimated 10,000 Hararis fled their homeland in 1948. The Derg culturally rejected the Tigrayans, who decreased their usage of Amharic, reverting to Tigrinya, and discrimination against the Tigrayans became strong. Eritreans, treated by MAR and Riddle as an ethnic group, and Somalis were strongly discriminated against throughout the period. The Oromos were initially strongly discriminated against, but adopted Amharic as their official language when the Derg came to power, and discrimination against them dropped. Both the Haile Selassie and the Derg governments relocated numerous Amharas into southern Ethiopia where they served in government administration, courts, church and even in school, where Oromo texts were eliminated and replaced by Amharic. In the aftermath of the Ogaden War during the 70s, Hararis, Somalis and Oromo Muslims were targeted by the Derg Government. This leads us to needing to talk about the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front. The Tigray People's Liberation Front, also called the Tigrayan People's Liberation Front, is a left-wing ethnic nationalist, paramilitary group, and the former ruling party of Ethiopia. The TPLF was in charge of Ethiopia from the time the Derg was overthrown in 1991 until 2018. Now it's finally time to get to the beginnings of the Tigray Wart and the Tigray genocide. To do that we need to discuss the 2020 Tigray regional election. As we stated previously, Tigray is a regional state of Ethiopia, and in 2020 Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia postponed the 2020 general election over concerns of COVID 19. Tigray decided to hold their elections anyway, regardless of the proclamation made by Ahmed. Their election was considered illegal by the Ethiopian federal government. The TPLF won 98.2 percent of the vote. After years of increased tensions and hostilities between the TPLF and the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea, fighting began when TPLF forces attacked the Northern Command headquarters of the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside a number of other bases in Tigray. The ENDF counterattacked from the south – while Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) began launching attacks from the north – which Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed described as a "law enforcement operation". The war officially ended in November 2022. On 2 November 2022, the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan leaders signed a peace accord, with the African Union as a mediator, and agreed on "orderly, smooth and coordinated disarmament". The agreement was made effective the next day on 3 November, marking the two-year anniversary of the war. As part of this process, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointed TPLF's Getachew Reda as head of the Interim Regional Administration of Tigray, and the Ethiopian parliament removed the TPLF from its terrorism list. But where does the Tigray Genocide come into play? Why are we talking about this civil war in this podcast? Let's get into it. Issued on Tuesday, June 4th  by the United States-based New Lines Institute, aa 120-page draft quotes multiple, widespread and credible independent reports that Ethiopian forces and their allies carried out “acts constituting the crime of genocide” during the conflict, which ran between 2020-22. The authors call for Ethiopia to be brought before the International Court of Justice. In a report issued in September 2023, the United Nations said war crimes and crimes against humanity were still being committed nearly a year after government and Tigrayan regional forces agreed to end the fighting. It says the Ethiopian National Defense Force (ENDF), alongside the allied Eritrean Defence Forces (EDF) and assorted regional militia “possessed the intent to destroy Tigrayans as an ethnic group”. At least four acts constituting the crime of genocide are noted in the report: killing Tigrayans, causing serious bodily or mental harm, deliberately inflicting conditions of life upon Tigrayans calculated to bring about their destruction, and imposing measures intended to prevent births among Tigrayans. Additionally, the finger is pointed at social media posts made by “certain individuals” that constitute public incitement to genocide. Ethiopia, which has been accused of seeking to prevent international scrutiny, has repeatedly denied that its forces carried out war crimes during the conflict. Eritrea has claimed such accusations against it are defamatory. However, the new report, which took two years to compile and features the contribution of dozens of legal experts, backs up the findings of the UN by stating that there is “reasonable basis to believe” that the countries are responsible for war crimes and/or crimes against humanity. In conclusion, the authors call on the international community to put pressure on Ethiopia via bilateral relations, as well as bringing the country before the ICJ. The war had a devastating impact on the healthcare system of Tigray; of the 853 health facilities in the region, 86% were at least partially damaged; 232 of them were left "completely unusable", and 28 were destroyed entirely. It also led to a higher rate of maternal and infant mortality in the Tigray Region. In a study funded by UNFPA Ethiopia and UNICEF Ethiopia, it was estimated that maternal mortality rates had increased from 186 deaths per 100,000 people pre-war to 840 deaths per 100,000 people post-war. According to Tigrayan health official Tsegay Gidey, 81% of mothers in the Seharti Samre woreda had birth defects, and 32 newborn infants had died between January–June 2023. Although the war largely came to a halt after the peace agreement was signed, Eritrea continues to occupy parts of Tigray as of mid-2023. The EDF has been responsible for the deaths of thousands of people in northern Ethiopia since November 2022; from 17 to 25 November alone, Eritrea was reported to have destroyed 241 houses and killed at least 111 people. by 30 December, it was estimated that Eritrean and Amhara forces killed 3,700 since the signing of the peace deal. The Tigray Health Bureau noted that 852 cases of rape and sexual assault were reported between November and December 2022; according to aid workers and interviews with survivors, most of these were committed by Eritrean forces. As of January 2023, over half of Irob district was occupied by Eritrea. Irob advocacy groups and former residents have described it as a "de-facto annexation" of the area. A religious Irob leader told The Guardian in August 2023 that Eritrea was blocking off international aid to the area, and lamented that "there has been no improvement for us since the peace."  In January 2024, Human Rights Watch reported that authorities and regional forces were still forcibly expelling Tigrayans from their homes in the Western Tigray Zone, which is largely inaccessible to humanitarian agencies. Additionally, nearly 40% of the Tigrayan population is suffering from extreme food shortages, a situation made worse by the World Food Program's suspension of aid deliveries in May 2023. All the available evidence points to a continued genocide against the Tigray people from the governments of Ethiopia and Eritrea as they as systematically denied food, water and access to medical care.  The Tigray Genocide is often described as “The War The World Forgot”, and based on the West's general attitude towards Africa this feels right. Especially when I account for the fact that I, a genocide studies scholar didn't even know about the Tigray Genocide until 2024. I account this a failure on my part, but also on the part of the global mainstream media that this never even came across any of the news websites I frequent, nor the social media websites I, more often, get reputable news from. That's it for this week folks. No new reviews, so let's get right into the outro. Have a Day! w/ The History Wizard is brought to you by me, The History Wizard. If you want to see/hear more of me you can find me on Tiktok @thehistorywizard or on Instagram @the_history_wizard. Please remember to rate, review, and subscribe to Have a Day! On your pod catcher of choice. The more you do, the more people will be able to listen and learn along with you. Thank you  for sticking around until the end and, as always, Have a Day, and Free Tigray.          

“The government has been reacting very strongly to the possibility of famine and they're dismissing it, but they are admitting there is drought and that millions of people are being affected.”It's just over a year since the Ethiopian government signed a peace deal with the Tigray People's Liberation Front – to end the brutal civil war in the north of the country.The ‘Pretoria agreement' saw the TPLF agreeing to disarm, in return for the reopening of Tigray, to allow in desperately needed food aid.During the war hundreds of thousands of people are reported to have died – many from starvation. But now, international aid agencies are warning that people there are again in desperate need of food. And throughout the last year there have been outbreaks of violence in other regions in Ethiopia: Amhara, Afar, and Oromia. So what's happening in Tigray and Ethiopia? Alan @Kasujja speaks to the BBC's Kalkidan Yibeltal.

Join us on a journey through the historical background and geopolitical intricacies that have shaped the complicated relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea. Uncover whether their recent alliance against the TPLF can overcome past grievances or if it is merely a temporary détente. Check out our sister podcast the Mystery of Everything Coffee Collab With The Lore Lodge COFFEE Travel to Peru with me here Travel to Italy With Me here Bonus episodes as well as ad-free episodes on Patreon. Find us on Instagram. Join us on Discord. Submit your relatives on our website Podcast Youtube Channel Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Three news stories summarized & contextualized by analytic journalist Colin Wright.UK medicines regulator approves gene therapy for two blood disordersSummary: The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency has approved a CRISPR-based treatment called Casgevy which edits the genes that cause two common blood disorders, sickle cell anemia and beta thalassemia, and which in clinical trials seemingly cured almost all the patients who participated.Context: This is the first CRISPR-based, faulty gene-editing treatment to be approved by a regulator, and that approval could impact the around 15,000 people in the UK who have sickle cell and the 1,000-ish people who have beta thalassemia; in clinical trials, 28 of the 29 sickle cell patients suffered no major pain episodes for at least a year after treatment, and 39 of the 42 participating beta thalassemia patients did not need red blood cell transfusions for at least a year following their treatment; this is still a wild west sort of therapy, so patients will be watched closely and everyone's on guard for potential, unexpected long-term consequences associated with editing genes in this way, but if the successes we've seen in clinical trials so far continue, it's likely this treatment will be approved in more jurisdictions in the near-future and that more treatments based on the same general principle, using CRISPR and CRISPR-like tools to edit patients' genes to address health issues, will be forthcoming.—The GuardianOne Sentence News is a reader-supported publication. To support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.US to resume food aid across Ethiopia next monthSummary: The US Agency for International Development has said that it will start sending food aid to Ethiopia again beginning in December, after halting such shipments in June due to their interception by, reportedly, regional governments and military groups.Context: This aid will be sent on a one-year, trial basis, now that the agency has implemented reforms meant to prevent the theft of goods meant for non-military civilians by the very groups causing much of their suffering; Ethiopia has been plagued by conflict in recent years, much of that conflict the result of a revolt by the TPLF against the central government, which led to widespread violence and starvation across the country—that conflict mostly ended in November of 2022, and the TPLF began disarming in early 2023.—ReutersFrance issues 'historic' arrest warrant for Syria's AssadSummary: In what's being called an historic move, the French government has issued an international arrest warrant for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for his alleged complicity in crimes against humanity and war crimes.Context: Assad has been accused of using chemical weapons, including sarin gas, against his own people in 2013 when the ongoing Syrian civil war was just getting started; three other arrest warrants were also issued by the French government against Assad's brother, the head of Syria's elite military unit, and two Syrian generals; this theoretically puts heightened pressure on Assad, though it's unclear whether this will have any practical impact on him in the foreseeable future, as the principle this type of warrant is based on, universal jurisdiction, allows national governments to claim jurisdiction beyond their borders, but has never been successfully applied to the current leader of a sovereign nation.—Al-MonitorThis week's inflation data continues to be heralded as a cause for celebration across economic circles, and has triggered a huge surge in stock investment, capping a long slump in the same.—Axios2,786 megahertzSize of spectrum the Biden administration is studying to see if it should be reallocated for wireless broadband purposes.These bands show promise for use-cases ranging from next-generation satellite (space-to-space) and autonomous/unmanned vehicle communications, to more conventional utilities for defense-related or consumer-grade wireless broadband networks.The US government is taking its time, though, as previous reallocations of spectrum have led to interference issues and public battles between industries, like the ongoing conflict between the airline industry and wireless carriers over the deployment of 5G.—Ars TechnicaTrust Click Get full access to One Sentence News at onesentencenews.substack.com/subscribe

The outlook on lasting peace in Ethiopia has been grim since the cessation of active hostilities in November of last year. A peace agreement between the Tigray's People Liberation Front, or the TPLF, and the Federal Government in Ethiopia has led to significant political concessions from the Tigrayans but ultimately falls short of resolving the underlying tensions. In this episode we explain how the mode of transactional politics has come to dominate the dynamics inside Ethiopia under the current Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. We contrast the current political crisis with previous episodes of social unrest and violent change such as the Ethiopian Revolution of 1974. We argue that the ongoing marketisation of political institutions undermines not only the legitimacy of the peace agreement, but the overall monopoly on violence of the state. Featuring Alex de Waal, Executive Director of the World Peace Foundation (WPF) and Research Director at the Conflict Research Programme at the LSE, and M

On Daybreak Africa: Ethiopian experts applaud developments in the Horn of Africa nation that have witnessed lawmakers de-listing the Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) as a terrorist organization and Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed appointing the head of the former rival organization, Getachew Reda to lead the region's interim administration. Plus, Malawi's President Lazarus Chakwera Wednesday appealed for additional humanitarian assistance for victims of Cyclone Freddy. For this and more, stay tuned to Daybreak Africa!

Nouvelle étape dans le processus de paix en Éthiopie avec le retrait par le Parlement du Front de Libération du Peuple du Tigré (TPLF), parti des autorités rebelles de cette région du nord éthiopien, de la liste des entités terroristes. Il s'agit d'une avancée majeure dans l'application de l'accord de paix conclu en novembre 2022 qui a permis de mettre fin à deux ans de conflit entre le TPLF et le gouvernement fédéral. 

Eritrea's President Isaias Afwerki has said that the United States supported the Tigray People's Liberation Front or TPLF in its 2-year war with the Government in Addis. In a long interview, he claimed the US pressed the peace deal to prevent the Tigrayans being defeated. Also, Ghanaian pensioners protest outside the Ministry of Finance offices, saying the Government shouldn't make them destitute. Plus, we hear why countries on the continent are now THE destination for African tourists who prefer the attractions closer to home than elsewhere. Those stories and more in this podcast with Bola Mosuro.

Today we're bringing you a bonus episode on Ethiopia and Eritrea from Crisis Group's The Horn podcast.The contemporary rivalry between Eritrea and Tigray goes back several decades. After an almost-17-year-long civil war starting in the mid-1970s, the Eritrean EPLF and Tigrayan TPLF jointly defeated Ethiopia's Derg regime in 1991, resulting in Eritrea's independence and the TPLF taking power in Ethiopia. Despite their joint achievement, their already-complicated relations soon started to sour. A growing power struggle, as well as unresolved territorial disputes between the two sides, led to a deadly border war lasting from 1998 to 2000. Meanwhile, an increasingly repressive Eritrean regime found itself regionally and globally isolated. A new administration in Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed signed a peace agreement with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in 2018, formally ending the border war. However, this rapprochement between Addis Ababa and Asmara also appeared to pave the way for Ethiopia's civil war, with Eritrea allying with Ethiopia's federal government in the war against Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia that started in 2020.In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Michael Woldemariam, associate professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, to take a deep dive into the long and tumultuous relationship between Eritrea and Tigray to understand Eritrea's motives and objectives in the Ethiopian conflict. They talk about the origins of the relations between the EPLF and the TPLF and their shared struggle against Ethiopia's Derg regime from the 1970s to 1991. They unpack how relations between the two sides soured in a struggle for power and authority, culminating in the deadly border clashes starting in 1998. They also discuss how Eritrean President Afwerki's motivations in the conflict in northern Ethiopia have shifted over time. Finally, they talk about how to navigate Eritrea's role while trying to end the conflict in Tigray. Please note that this episode was recorded before the 2 November truce agreement between Ethiopia's federal government and Tigray's leaders.For more in-depth analysis on Ethiopia and Eritrea, make sure to check out our Horn of Africa regional page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Depuis plus d'un mois, dans le nord de l'Éthiopie, les combats ont cessé entre le Front de libération du peuple du Tigré (TPLF) et l'armée fédérale depuis la signature le 3 novembre dernier d'accords de paix à Pretoria, en Afrique du Sud. La semaine dernière, les rebelles ont affirmé avoir désengagé 65 % de leurs combattants des lignes de front. La trêve reste pourtant très fragile alors que les accords de paix n'ont pas réglé un problème de taille : l'avenir de la région du Wolkait. Cette province située à l'ouest du Tigré est aujourd'hui occupée par les forces spéciales et les milices Fanno venues de la région Amhara qui souhaitent annexer cette région très fertile. Le Wolkait a été le théâtre depuis deux ans d'un nettoyage ethnique, selon les rapports de Human Rights Watch et d'Amnesty International. De nombreux habitants de l'ouest du Tigré ont trouvé refuge au Soudan voisin. Pour eux, le Wolkait est une pomme de discorde qui pourrait bien faire vaciller le fragile édifice de paix. De notre envoyé spécial dans le camp d'El-Hashaba, De nombreux paysans ont été surpris par la guerre alors qu'ils travaillaient dans leurs champs. Parmi eux, certains riches investisseurs agricoles qui ont traversé la frontière soudanaise avec leurs tracteurs. Gebremariam Twalda possédait 150 hectares de sésame à Barakhet, au sud de Humera. « J'avais 25 tonnes de sésame tout juste récoltées dans mes hangars. Tout a été pillé. Mes terres sont aujourd'hui entre les mains des milices Amhara. Leur plan, c'était de nous rayer de la carte pour contrôler nos terres. Lorsque les milices Fanno ont envahi la région, les Amhara qui vivaient avec nous, nous ont dénoncé : "Lui c'est un Tigréen, lui c'est un Amhara". Ensuite, ils n'avaient plus qu'à nous tuer, sur les routes, maison par maison et jusque dans nos fermes. » Selon de nombreux témoignages, des milliers de prisonniers Tigréens ont été convoyés en bus hors de la région du Wolkait, vers le centre du Tigré. Après le nettoyage ethnique, un changement démographique est à l'œuvre, affirme Negeste Zaro. « À Rawyan, là où j'habitais, les seules personnes qui sont restées sont des gens moitié Amhara et moitié Tigréens, ou d'autres de l'ethnie du Wolkait. Tous les jeunes et les vieux Tigréens ont été emprisonnés par les occupants ou bien ont été déplacés. Les filles, elles, ont été violées ou bien forcées à se marier avec les Amhara. » Une région au cœur de revendications nationalistes Selon les accords signés à Pretoria, les forces non fédérales sont censées se retirer du territoire tigréen. Devant le Parlement, le Premier ministre Abiy Ahmed a déclaré que la question du Wolkait serait réglée en accord avec la Constitution de 1995, rappelle Haftom Tesfay, membre de l'administration des camps de réfugiés dirigée par le TPLF. « Selon la Constitution, le problème de Wolkait n'est pas un problème, car historiquement, la région appartient au Tigré. Mais dès les premiers mois de la guerre, ils ont installé de nombreux colons Amhara et leur ont donné des maisons. Les investisseurs Amhara et les milices ont commencé à cultiver nos terres. À l'origine, c'est une guerre économique. Une guerre pour le sésame. Les élites Amhara et les exportateurs de sésame voyaient le potentiel économique du Wolkait. Alors, en répandant des discours de haine à travers leurs médias, les élites Amhara ont transformé cette guerre économique en guerre ethnique. » Le gouvernement régional Amhara a salué la trêve signée à Pretoria, sans commenter le futur de ce territoire annexé. Le Wolkait est au cœur des revendications nationalistes des politiciens Amhara qui revendiquent un droit historique sur la région. Un référendum pourrait être organisé, mais d'après de nombreux observateurs, il est peu probable que ces milices se retirent pacifiquement de l'ouest du Tigré.

In the news media, war receives more attention than peace. But some wars get more attention than others. From November 2020 to November 2022, a civil war bloodier than Russia's war in Ukraine was fought in Tigray, a region in northern Ethiopia. Hundreds of thousands of lives were lost, and millions were displaced. Yet depending on where you get your news, you may have heard very little about it. One reason for the shortage of coverage was the communications blackout in Tigray. Ethiopia's government shut down internet and phone communications across the region, and barred journalists from entering war zones. But that didn't stop our guest. Freelance journalist Lucy Kassa investigated some of the worst atrocities of the conflict, including those carried out by all sides. Her reporting helped show the world that Ethiopian troops' actions inside Tigray amounted to an ethnic cleansing campaign. Her articles have been published in major international outlets, including The Guardian, Al Jazeera, and the LA Times. While a peace deal was signed in November, Lucy continues to investigate reports of human rights violations in Tigray. She spoke with host Jamil Simon about how she verifies accounts, how she approaches interviewing survivors of sexual violence, what she sees as her role in the conflict, and what it will take for real peace to hold. Follow Lucy Kassa on Twitter: @berhe_lucy. Read Lucy's report for Al Jazeera. “‘A Tigrayan womb should never give birth': Rape in Tigray,” awarded a 2022 Amnesty International Media AwardRead Lucy's account of the raiding of her apartment in 2021 by Ethiopian government agents Learn more about the Tigray conflictStart Here from Al Jazeera: The Conflict in Ethiopia“How a new ‘Great War of Africa' is raging under the cover of a media blackout,” by Will Brown, Lucy Kassa, and Zecharias Zelalem for The Telegraph“Tigray forces in Ethiopia say 65% of fighters have left frontline,” by Al Jazeera Making Peace Visible is a project of War Stories Peace Stories. Our mission is to bring journalists and peacebuilders together to re-imagine the way the news media covers peace and conflict, and to facilitate expanded coverage of global peace and reconciliation efforts. Join the conversation on Twitter @warstoriespeace and on LinkedIn at War Stories Peace Stories.Making Peace Visible is hosted by Jamil Simon, and produced by Andrea Muraskin. Music in this episode by Podington Bear, Zero V, Doyeq, Meavy Boy, and Bill Vortex.

Listen to the Sun. Dec. 4, 2022 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. This episode features our PANW report with dispatches on the quest by the Ethiopian government to transform the peace agreement signed with the TPLF in Pretoria and Nairobi into a lasting stability; a flash flood in South Africa has killed numerous people attending a church service; Burkina Faso recently banned the state media in France from broadcasting inside the West African state; and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) held a meeting today in Abuja, Federal Republic of Nigeria. In the second hour we look back at a press conference held in the United States during the 1991 visit of martyred South African revolutionary Chris Hani. Finally, we review the level of police repression in the U.S. during 1969 from Los Angeles to Chicago which culminated in the assassinations of Fred Hampton and Mark Clark fifty-three years ago.

One of the most costly conflicts of the 21st century may be over. Representatives of the Ethiopian government and Tigrayan rebels signed a peace agreement earlier this month. After two years of war, and perhaps half a million civilian deaths, Tigrayan forces are to give up their weapons; the Ethiopian army will take control of Tigray; and aid should begin to reach millions of desperate people. Stephen Sackur speaks to Getachew Reda, who signed the deal on behalf of the Tigray People's Liberation Front. Was this in effect the TPLF's surrender?

Leaders from the Great Lakes region agree a ceasefire between the government of the DRC and M23. Also, Getachew Reda from the TPLF on the agreement they signed to end the war with Ethiopia. Plus, will this year's budget kick-start Ghana's stuttering economy?

The contemporary rivalry between Eritrea and Tigray goes back several decades. After an almost-17-year-long civil war starting in the mid-1970s, the Eritrean EPLF and Tigrayan TPLF jointly defeated Ethiopia's Derg regime in 1991, resulting in Eritrea's independence and the TPLF taking power in Ethiopia. Despite their joint achievement, their already-complicated relations soon started to sour. A growing power struggle, as well as unresolved territorial disputes between the two sides, led to a deadly border war lasting from 1998 to 2000. Meanwhile, an increasingly repressive Eritrean regime found itself regionally and globally isolated. A new administration in Ethiopia under Abiy Ahmed signed a peace agreement with Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki in 2018, formally ending the border war. However, this rapprochement between Addis Ababa and Asmara also appeared to pave the way for Ethiopia's civil war, with Eritrea allying with Ethiopia's federal government in the war against Tigrayan forces in northern Ethiopia that started in 2020.In this episode of The Horn, Alan is joined by Michael Woldemariam, associate professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, to take a deep dive into the long and tumultuous relationship between Eritrea and Tigray to understand Eritrea's motives and objectives in the Ethiopian conflict. They talk about the origins of the relations between the EPLF and the TPLF and their shared struggle against Ethiopia's Derg regime from the 1970s to 1991. They unpack how relations between the two sides soured in a struggle for power and authority, culminating in the deadly border clashes starting in 1998. They also discuss how Eritrean President Afwerki's motivations in the conflict in northern Ethiopia have shifted over time. Finally, they talk about how to navigate Eritrea's role while trying to end the conflict in Tigray. Please note that this episode was recorded before the 2 November truce agreement between Ethiopia's federal government and Tigray's leaders.For more in-depth analysis on Ethiopia and Eritrea, make sure to check out our Horn of Africa regional page. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Listen to the Sun. Nov. 6, 2022 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The program features our PANW report with dispatches on the United Nations Climate Summit (COP27) which has begun in Egypt; a military camp in Somalia has been attacked leaving at least five people dead; Cameroon President Paul Biya is commemorating 40 years in office; and Italy is refusing to take in migrants at a port inside the country. In the second hour we will look in detail at the recently signed peace agreement between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF in South Africa. Later we explore the issues surrounding the East African peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Finally, we look at the COP27 Summit which has opened in Egypt.

It's two years since the conflict started in Ethiopia. The war has taken it's toll on people in the affected areas with tens of thousands of people dead. And the World Health Organisation estimates 90% of people in the Tigray region are in need of food aid. This week, negotiators from the opposing TPLF and government forces signed a ceasefire agreement. A disarmament plan and commitment to restore service to Tigray have also been agreed. So, is there hope for peace in Ethiopia? #AfricaDaily

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow #Ethiopia: US State and Homeland throw a lifeline to the TPLF & What is to be done? Gregory Copley, Defense & Foreign Affairs https://www.dhs.gov/news/2022/10/21/dhs-designates-ethiopia-temporary-protected-status-18-months

We look at the impact on local communities and the environment, as a fresh round of fires is causing problems on Africa's highest peak, Mount Kilimanjaro. The current blaze started on Friday, near one of the mountain's most popular climbing routes. Plus, we speak to the head of Uganda's medical association, as more Ebola infections are reported in the capital Kampala. Health workers fear this could be the start of a national outbreak. And we're in South Africa as negotiations take place between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF, in a bid to bring the country's devastating two-year war to an end.

Listen to the Sun. Oct. 23, 2022 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The program features our PANW report with dispatches on the mass demonstrations which took place inside Ethiopia in support of the central government ahead of the African Union-brokered talks scheduled to begin this week between the administration of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and the TPLF in South Africa; the anniversary of the military coup in the Republic of Sudan has highlighted the continuing internal crisis; there were attacks at a hotel in southern Somalia where casualties have been reported; and floods are still taking place in West Africa amid concerns about the impact of climate change. In the second hour we listen to an address made earlier today by South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on the recently-released state capture commission study. The People's Republic of China was the scene of the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC). In the final hour we look back on the 56th anniversary of the founding of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense in the Bay Area of California in Oct. 1966.

Listen to the Sat. Oct. 22, 2022 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. This episode features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the escalating conflict between the Russian Federation and Ukraine; the 20th Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has issued a statement on the outcomes of its deliberations; peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF are scheduled to begin next week in the Republic of South Africa; and demonstrations have already begun in the Republic of Sudan to acknowledge widespread opposition to the first anniversary of the most recent military coup. In the second hour we review the recent state visit by the leader of the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, President Brahim Ghali to South Africa for high-level talks with his counterpart President Cyril Ramaphosa. In the final hour we listen to the most recent briefing of the Africa section of the World Health Organization (WHO) on the current status of the continent.

My guest on this episode is Stefan Dercon - author of the recently published and most excellent book ‘Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose'. Development scholars have produced many explanations for why some countries did better than others after the Second World War. Factors like geography, quality or type of institutions, foreign aid, and protective trade policies, have been argued as what explains this divergence in national prosperity between countries. Dercon's contribution will no doubt be plugged into this long-running debate - and in my opinion, he comes closest to having a ‘‘first principles'' explanation than anyone I have read on the subject. Other theories leave you with nagging questions - Where do good institutions come from? Are countries condemned by their histories? Why do some countries use foreign aid better? Why are some countries with rich geographic endowments doing worse? Why does protective trade lead some countries toward becoming industrial exporting giants, and some others into a macroeconomic crisis?Dercon argues that countries that have done better do so by working out a ‘development bargain'. This comes about when the people with power and influence (elites) in a country find a cooperative agreement (bargain) to consciously pursue economic development and national enrichment. Development bargains are not simple, they are often messy. And elites are not a bunch of altruistic do-gooders. Rather, through many complicated networks of intra-elite competitions and cooperation, they decide to gamble on the future by betting that economic development will deliver the biggest win. Dercon does not claim to have found the holy grail of development - and there are still many questions to be answered. But his argument does lead to one inevitable conclusion. Countries and their people will have to figure out what works for them and how that delivers prosperity.Stefan Dercon is Professor of Economic Policy at the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University. He was the Chief Economist of the UK's Department of International Development (DFID).TranscriptTobi; Was your experience really what inspired you to write the book?Stefan; Well, you know, what inspired me definitely is just the contrast that I've had in terms of things I do. Because I've been an academic for a long time, I have more than 30 years writing and studying and, you know, I was one of these academics who like to, as one sometimes puts it, you know, like, likes to get mud on their feet, you know, mud on their boots. I used to work mostly on rural households and in most countries, these are amongst the poorest people, and you just get to know what's going on there. I have a policy interest, and I was just lucky 10 years ago, a bit more than that, I got a job as a Chief Economist in the UK aid agency, and it's just that contrast of having had the chance and the opportunity to get involved on the policy side, on meeting all the more senior people...and it's just that contrast between still enjoying being surrounded by people and what they do and understands livelihoods of poorer people, combined with being in the policy space, I felt like, you know, I have a unique perspective that I wanted to communicate. And it was just a quest to communicate, actually. If anything, I wanted just to tell more of these stories because I think, from all sides, we tend to misunderstand a lot of what's going on and how things work in practice. And that's definitely the case on the academic side. We're so far sometimes from reality that I wanted to tell that story a bit more.Tobi; And I mean, after you wrote the book, and after publication, I presume from some of the feedback that your book is actually quite successful. I gave so many copies away, right, I can't even count. I think at some point, I temporarily bought out Roving Heights' entire stock. So how has the reception been generally?Stefan; I mean, look, what you just told me makes it much more worthwhile than if white kids in Oxford are buying the book. So what I'm really pleased with is that it appealed to a much broader group of people. And actually, you know, if I'm really honest, I hadn't expected that people like you or I was in Bangladesh last week that young people there would actually appreciate the book, you know, that you would actually get people that think about these problems in these countries are actually interested in it. And I'm very pleased that people find it both worthwhile to read and quite interesting. Of course, I get some academics. One story last week in Bangladesh, I had a question, you know, how Lenin fitted in my book. Now, I had to struggle with the answer of how Vladimir Lenin would actually fit into the book and thinking, you know, that's an academic typically responding to, you know... I don't know, I'm not a deep theoretician but it was written out of a kind of pragmatic sense of what can I learn from economics and politics that actually is worthwhile communicating. So it's well received. And if I'm really honest, I don't mind that there are pdf copies circulating as well and things like that. Actually, as long as it's read, you know, you write a book, not because you want the highest sales, but you actually want it to be read, and that actually makes it really interesting that people seem to be able to relate to it. Another group that, actually, I found really interesting that can relate to it is people that are either civil servants working in governments like - in yours, as well as maybe aid officials and International World Bank officials, IMF officials, who actually find it helpful as well. You know, and there's usually a huge bridge between them, there's a huge gap between how in Washington when we think about these things, or in London or in Abuja, and so that's pleasing as well. You know, I don't give a solution to the things but I think I touched on something of where a big part of the problem of development lies is that actually, we are, unfortunately, in quite a few countries, still with governments that fundamentally are backed by elites that don't really want to make the progress and do the hard work. And that's an unfortunate message. But at the same time, you have other countries that are surprising countries that make the progress. And so clearly, there is a lesson there that it's not simply like the problem is simple. Actually, the problem is to some extent, simple. It's about, fundamentally, do you want to actually make it work, make this progress work? And I think that echoes with quite a lot of people - the frustration that many of us have, that some countries seem to be stuck and not making enough progress and we need to be willing to call it out for what it is that it's not entirely the fault of those people who are in control, but they could do far more for the better than they actually do.Tobi; For the purpose of making the conversation practical and accessible, in the spirit of the book itself, I'm going to be asking you some very simple... and what I consider to be fundamental questions for the benefit of the audience and people that probably have not read the book. So there have been so many other books on development that have also been quite as popular as yours, Why Nations Fail comes to mind, and so many others, The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs, some of which you actually reviewed in the opening chapters of the book. And at the heart of most of them is some kind of fundamental concept that then defines how the body of work itself or the central idea itself works, whether it's institutions, or culture, or industrial policy, or whatever. For your book, you talked a lot about the development bargain, what is the development bargain? And how does it work?Stefan; So the way I look at any country in the world, and I mean, any country, rich or poor country is that one way or another, there is a group of people, which I call for convenience, ''the elite.'' It's not like a pejorative title or a title to applaud them, but simply as a descriptive title. The group of people, in politics, civil service, in business definitely, maybe the military, maybe even civil society, key universities, public intellectuals, I talk about the group that I refer to as the elite, these are the people that have power, or they have influenced one way or another, that can be quite broad. Now in every society, I think it's that group that tends to determine what politics and the economy will look like, what the direction of a country will look like, in any society. And I call that underlying idea [as] they have essentially a form of an elite bargain, a bargain between the different people, they don't have to agree on everything, but to have some kind of an agreement that this is the principle by which, you know, my country will be run in politics and in the economy. Now we could have lots of these elite bargains. We could have an elite bargain that, for example, is based on: if I happen to have power, then everything that I'll do is to reward the people that brought me to power. I'll give them jobs in government. I'll give them maybe contracts, I'll do something, you know, technically, we call this Clientelist. You could have another one where he's saying, Look, no, we're going to run this country, totally, where everybody gets an equal right or equal opportunity, and in a particular way. And so you could have political systems that are around this. Now you could have all these things coming together. You could have also regimes that basically say, Well, the main purpose for us is to keep us as a small group in power, you know, he could have a particular way of doing it. Or indeed, to make sure we use it entirely to steal anything we can get and we'll actually put it in our own pockets, you could have a kleptocracy. You could have lots of these different things, you know, you could have different societies. Now, what I mean by development bargain, is actually fundamentally where that underlying elite bargain values, the underlying idea is that we want to grow our economy, and we want to do this in quite an inclusive way. We want to have developmental outcomes as well. And we make this a key part of the elite bargain. So basically, I define a development bargain as an elite bargain - the deals that we have in running our economy and our politics, that fundamentally, one big way we will judge it is that when we make progress in the growth of the economy, and also in development for the broader population, and I call that the development bargain. And I want to actually go a step further and say if you don't have this, you will never see growth and development in your country. You could have leaders talk about it. They could make big development plans, but if underlying all this there is not a fundamental commitment by all these key players that actually it's worthwhile doing, we're not going to achieve it. And maybe I'll make a quick difference here with say, how does that difference...(now, you mentioned Why Nations Fail.) Now, that underlying elite bargain, of course, the nature of your rule of law, your property rights, all these things, they clearly will matter to some extent, but Why Nations Fail puts this entirely into kind of some historical process. And a lot of people that talk about getting institutions right, they say, Well, you need to get institutions right before you can develop, and they seem to come from a long historical process. In my concept of elite bargain, I would actually emphasize [that] even if your country is not perfect in these institutions, even if there's still some corruption left, even if there are still some issues with the political system, even with the legal system, we actually have countries that can make progress if, fundamentally, that commitment is there amongst the elite. So you don't have to wait until perfection starts before you can start to develop. And that actually [means that] I want to put much more power into the hands... sorry, agency is the better word, I put much more agency in those who at the moment are in control of the state. History may not be favourable for you, there may be a history of colonialism, there may be other histories, factors that clearly will affect the nature of your country at a particular moment in time. But actually agency from the key actors today, they can overcome it. And in fact, in the book, I have plenty of examples of countries that start from imperfection, and actually start doing quite interesting things in terms of growth and development, while other countries are very much more stagnant and staying behind. Tobi; You sort of preempted my next question. I mean, since say, 1990, or thereabout, when the results of some of the ''Asia Tigers'' started coming in, maybe also through the works of people like Wade, Hamsden and co., countries like South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, have become like the standard for economic development, and subsequent analysis around issues of development always look at those countries and also their neighbours who have actually made some progress, maybe not as much as those specific countries. But what I want to ask you about in your book is, you talk about some of the works on development trying to reach for some kind of long history or some kind of historical...I don't want to say dependency or determinism, but you get my point. So my point is, if we go outside of these Asian Tigers, if we go back to say, Japan, or even the second industrial revolution, America, Germany, the Netherlands, can we observe the development bargain as you have described it? Is it also consistent through history?Stefan; I would say Absolutely. I mean, one of the things with when we look at these countries with longer-term success, you mentioned correctly, you know, the Koreas and also Japan, or going back in time to the Industrial Revolution, the second industrial revolution and so on, actually, we take for granted that actually they really wanted to succeed. And it's actually one of these things, and especially in recent history, [South] Korea came out of deep conflict, of course, it was also called War so they got certain support as well. But it was really important for both Japan and Korea after the Second World War, for Japan to re-emerge and for Korea to emerge. It was a form of also getting legitimacy towards their own population. So it was a real underlying deep commitment by that elite in these countries to try to make a success of it. We take it for granted, if we go back in history, take England in the 19th century...I mean, it was a very strong thing, it's like, you know, we wanted to show that actually, we are ruling the world on commerce and all the kinds of things, there was a deep motivation. And of course, also the pressures, you know, remember, the society was being very fractured, and we can't call growth in the 19th century in Britain very inclusive. [There was] a lot of change happening, and indeed, you know, very poor people I think actually initially didn't manage to take up. But especially if we come to the early 20th century became this kind of thing surely [where] development in the form of growth was also when it's a little bit broader shared, became quite part of it. And it's one of these things that when you look at politics, whether it's in the 1930s or 40s or 50s or now, whether it's in England or in America, actually growth and development, I won't take it for granted. People are voted out of office because they are not managing the economy well. There is a lot of political pressure in Europe now. And it's really political because ''oh you're not dealing with the cost of living crisis right or you're undermining the real income increases.'' You know, the US election, we ended up interpreting Trump as an election that actually [served] people [who] had stayed behind in the process of growth and development. Actually, in the politics of most richer countries, it's so much taken for granted that that's a big part of the narrative. So it's an interesting one (maybe, if I may) just to [use] China, I find it a really interesting one. Because, you know, the historical determinism is problematic there. And of course, some people would say, China should never have grown because it has the wrong institutions. But of course, it is growing fast. But if you think of a bit of what would be historical institutions that are relevant? China has had centralized taxation for 2000 years, a centralized bureaucracy for 2000 years, a meritocratic bureaucracy for 2000 years, you know, it actually had a history that actually acquired strong institutions. But funnily enough, when did it start? Just at the moment of deep weakness in the 1970s. When the Cultural Revolution had destabilised the legitimacy of the state, ideology was totally dominating, Mao died in the early 1970s and mid 1970s the Gang of Four came up, which was his widow, it was all turbulence. And actually lots of people thought China would disappear. It's at that moment, it picked up that kind of thing, you know, and actually, fundamentally, if you read all the statements of that periods, they became fundamentally committed, ''we need to make progress in our economy, that's our source of legitimacy.'' So even there there, that's where you see that actually really emerges and this became something that they needed to achieve - a fundamental commitment to growth and development as a form of getting legitimacy to the population. So in a very different way, as some of the other countries, but it's the same principle. Legitimacy of a lot of countries is equated with progress and growth and development, which is essentially a feature of a development bargain.Tobi; Obviously, all societies have some form of elite bargain. Not all elite bargains are development bargains. That's the gist of your book, basically. Now, what I'm trying to get at here is elite bargains that are not for development, that do not benefit the rapid progress of a society, how do they emerge? You talk about the agency of the people that are running the country at a particular point in time. To take Nigeria as an example, a lot of people will blame Nigeria's problems on colonialism. And I'm also quite intolerant of such arguments, at least up to a point. But what I'm trying to get at is that how do elite bargains that are not for development, how do they emerge? Is it via, also, the agency of the elites of those societies? Or are there features of a particular society that kind of determine the elite bargain that emerges? For example, sticking with Nigeria, a lot of people will argue that our elites and our institutions will think and look differently if we don't have oil.Stefan; Yes. Tobi; Right. The state will be less extractive in its thinking, the bureaucracy will be less predatory, right? A lot of people would argue that. So are there other underlying factors or features in a society that shape the kind of elite bargain that emerges, or this is just down to the agency of the people who find themselves with power and influence? They are just the wrong type of people.Stefan; So, Tobi, you make an excellent point here, and, so let's take this a little bit in turn. Leonard Wantchekon, the economic historian at Princeton, from Benin… he gave a nice lecture not so long ago, at Yale, it's on YouTube. And he made this very helpful statement, and he said, you know, if it's between history and agency, I would put 50% history 50% agency, okay. And I will actually add to it [which] is that depending on where you are, history is a little bit more or a little bit less. And so clearly, and he was talking about Africa in general, colonialism will matter. It has shaped your institutions and, you know, the way countries have emerged and the way they decolonized, all these things will have mattered, and they make it harder and easier and so on. But you alluded to it as well [that] at some level, it's already a long time ago now. Of course, it's still there, but it's a long time ago. So over time agency should become much more important. The point though, that you raise about oil makes a lot of sense. So the problem with a development bargain is that actually for a political elite, and for a business elite, dare I say for a military elite, the status quo is, of course, very convenient. Status quo is something that is very convenient because it involves very few risks. So the problem with growth typically is that, actually, new elites may emerge, a new type of business elites may emerge, they may question the economic elite that exists. As a result, it may change the politics. And in fact, if you go back to history, as we were saying, of course, that's the history of Britain where all the time, you know, there has been a shift of who is the elite, there's always a new elite, but it's shifting. So growth is actually a tricky thing. Because it actually, in that sense, changes relative positions in society. Now, that's obviously the case in every society. But it will even more so if the status quo is actually quite of relative affluence, if the status quo is actually quite a comfortable position to be. Now if you have natural resources, you don't need growth, to be able to steal. You can just basically control the resources that come out of the ground. And so your supply chain for stealing money can be very short, you don't have to do a very complicated game. If you need to get it from growth in the economy, it's much more complicated, and it's much more risky. Okay. And so it's not for nothing, that actually clearly, more countries that didn't have natural resources in recent times, over short periods of time, managed to actually get development bargains and basically leads gambling on it. Because actually, the status quo was not as lucrative as the status quo can be if you have a lot of oil or other minerals. And so you're right, and it makes it just really hard...and it actually means in fact [that] even well-meaning parts of the business elite in Nigeria will find it very hard to shift the model entirely. Because you know, you are a business elite, because you benefit from the system one way or another. I'm not saying that you steal, but it's just [how] the economy is based in Nigeria on a lot of non-tradables, is helped with the fact that you have so much to export from oil and so you end up importing a lot, but you can also keep your borders closed or anything you feel like keeping the borders closed for. And that helps for a lot of domestic industries, because protectionism, you know, you do all the things. So the system self sustains it. And with oil, there is not that much incentives to change it. So yes, it is actually harder if you have natural resources to actually reengineer the system to actually go for growth and development. So yes, it is the case. But it hasn't stopped certain countries from not going that route. You know, Malaysia has oil? Yes, it's not a perfect development bargain. But it has done remarkably well. Indonesia, in its early stages, also had oil in the 1970s as an important part, it managed this kind of relationship, and then maybe come the agency in it, you know, do we get enough actors that actually have the collective ability to shift these incentives enough to start promoting more outward orientation, try to export some new things from your country, all that kinds of stuff? And that is indeed what happened in Indonesia. There in the early 1970s, they had oil, but they also learned to export shoes and garments early on, they took advantage of good global situations. And Nigeria didn't, you know, and then agency comes into it, you know, the managers of both the politics and the relationship between politics and business, including from the military, they went in a particular route, and they had choices and they didn't take them. I'm pretty sure if you go back and, you know, there will be moments of choice and we went for another - as people call it - political settlement... another equilibrium that actually didn't involve development and growth as the key part. So yes, it makes it harder. But the agency still, still matters.Tobi; From that point, my next question then would be, what shifts an elite bargain more? That's kind of like do question, right? What shifts an elite bargain? These questions do sound simple. And I'm sorry, but I know they are incredibly difficult to answer. Otherwise, you wouldn't have written an entire book about it. Right. So what shifts an elite bargain more towards development? I mean, you talked about China, we've seen it also in so many other countries where the country was going in a particular direction that's not really pro growth, pro-development, and then there's this moment where things sort of shifts. So it may be through the actions of particular actors or events that inform those. So what... in your experience as a development practitioner and looking at all these places...What are the factors that have the most influence in shifting the elite bargain? Is it just luck? I mean, when I think about China, what if Deng Xiaoping and his colleagues had actually lost that particular power struggle after the death of Mao? So did they get lucky? Is it luck? What's going on?Stefan; You know, I wouldn't use title of gambling but there has to be a little bit of luck involved as well, you know, the circumstances have to play in your direction. But it's not just luck. Okay. So it's an interesting thing when you look at a couple of the countries, what were the moments that people within the elite managed to shift it in another direction? So. China is interesting because it was going through conflict, not deep conflict or violent conflict, but there was a lot of instability in China at the time, at the end of the Cultural Revolution in that period. Other countries like Bangladesh came out of conflict. And so conflict, definitely, or coming out of conflict creates a moment. But of course, there are lots of countries that come out of conflict that make a mess of it. It's a window of opportunity. And it probably is linked with something related to it, which is legitimacy. When you come out of conflict, most of the time, leaders need to reestablish legitimacy. This is clearly something that happened to Rwanda coming out of the genocide, Kagame clearly had to establish legitimacy, you know, he represented a very small group of people within the country and he needed to get legitimacy overall and he chose growth and development to doing that. I think Ethiopia is similar, that actually Meles Zenawi coming from Tigray, he needed, you know, post 2000, coming out of the Eritrean war at a time, and all kinds of other crisis that he was facing in his own party even, he needed to get legitimacy, and they thought he could get legitimacy for his regime through growth and development. So legitimacy-seeking behavior can be quite important. Now it has another side to it. If there's a crisis of legitimacy, that's the moment when the leader can actually take advantage of it. A crisis of legitimacy is actually saying, ''Well, look, we better go to something that begins to deliver to people.'' And why I'm actually suggesting it is that actually, there are in certain countries, a bit of pressure from below also seems to be quite useful. But there is a role there and I find it very hard to define exactly because I'm always scared of autocrats and so on. But the point of leadership is there. So I don't mean it as the strong leader, but more to do with the kind of group of people that manages to take other people along and convince them that is the kind of thing that they need to do. So if you go to Indonesia, I don't think it was Suharto personally, who was the great thinker there that did it. But he clearly surrounded himself with a group of people that included technocrats and also other people from politics, that actually managed to push this in a particular direction in doing it. So how do we get it? While it is actually people taking advantage of windows of opportunity to actually nudge towards it? Okay. But it's hard. We're talking Nigeria, other people have asked me questions about Brazil, about India, you know, large countries like yours with very complicated elite bargains that have national and state level things and so on... it's really complicated. Rwanda in that sense is well defined, you know, we have one well-defined problem and, you know, we could go for a particular model. It can be quite complicated to have some ideas on that on Nigeria, but maybe we can come to that a bit later.Tobi; So, I'm curious. I know you didn't cover this in your book. So let me let you speculate a bit on the psychology of elite bargains or development bargains specifically now. Given that I've also tried to look at some of the societies that you described, and even some others that you probably didn't mention, I don't think there's been a society yet where this is a gamble true, but where the elites have sort of lost out by gambling on development. So why don't we see a lot more gambles than we are seeing currently?Stefan; Actually, unfortunately, we see gambles that go wrong. I mean, for me, and I've worked a lot on Ethiopia, Ethiopia as a gamble that went wrong at the moment. And Ethiopia... you know, just think a little bit of what happened and maybe typify a little bit in a very simplistic way the nature of the gamble. You know, you had a leader under Meles Zenawi, under the TPLF - the Tigray and rebel group - where in the end the dominant force in the military force that actually took power in 1991. And they stayed dominant, even though they only represent, you know, five 6% of the population, they remain dominant in that political deal. Though other groups joined, but militarily, it was the TPLF that was the most powerful. So it also meant that the political deal was always fragile because in various periods of time, you know, my very first job was teaching in Addis Ababa University so I was teaching there 1992 93... you know, we have violence on the streets of students that were being actually repressed by the state, they were demonstrating against the government. You know, over time, we have various instances where this kind of legitimacy, the political legitimacy of that regime was also being questioned. Now, one of the gambles that Meles Zenawi took was to actually say, look, there's a very fragile political deal, but I'm actually going to get legitimacy through growth and development. So he used development as a way of getting legitimacy for something that politically and you know, just as Nigeria is complicated, Ethiopia is complicated with different nationalities, different balances between the regions, that he actually wasn't quite giving the space for these different nationalities to have a role, but he was gambling on doing it through growth and development. How did this go wrong? You know, I kept on spending a lot of time, but in the 2010s after Meles Zenawi died, very young from illness, the government still tried to pursue this. But actually, increasingly, they couldn't keep the politics together anymore. They were almost a different nationality, they were always on the streets, there was lots of violence and so on. And then in the end, you know, the Tigrayans lost power in the central government, and then, of course, we know how it escalated further after Abiy. But in some sense, the underlying political deal was fragile and the hope was that through economic progress, we could strengthen that political deal to legitimacy. That gamble is fine. Now it's a very fractured state and unfortunately, all the news we get from the country is that it's increasingly fractured. And I don't know how we'll put it together again. So that's a gamble that failed. Now, we know more about it. And it was very visible because it lasted quite a long time. Many of these gambles may actually misfire if they don't pick the right political moments. You know, if you don't do it at the right moment, and if you're a little bit unlucky with global circumstances, you fairly quickly could get into a bit of trouble politically, and whatever. For example, with the high inflation we have in virtually every country in the world now, it is clearly not the moment to gamble. It's extremely risky, [and] fragile, and your opponents will use it against you. So it's another thing like, you know, we don't see them gambling, you know, there are relatively few windows of opportunities at which you can gamble. And there are some that will go wrong. And even some that I described as successes, you know, we don't know whether they will last, whether they will become the new Koreas. I'm cautious about that. So, we need to just see it a little bit. Although I don't see Nigeria taking that gamble. So that's another matter.Tobi; No, no. I mean, that's where I was going next. Let me talk to you a bit about the role of outsiders here. We're going to get the aid discussion later. So currently in Nigeria, obviously, the economy has been through a lot in the last several years, a lot of people will put that firmly into the hands of the current administration. Rightly so. There were some very terrible policy choices that were made. But one point that I've quite often made to friends is that, to borrow your terminology, I don't think Nigeria was under the influence of a development bargain that suddenly went astray seven years ago. We've always been heading in this direction, some periods were just pretty good. And one of those periods was in the mid to late 2000s, when the economy seemed to be doing quite well, with high oil prices and also, the government actually really took a stab at macro-economic reforms. But if also you look carefully at the micro-history of that period, you'll see the influence of, should I say, outside legitimacy, you know, trying to get the debt forgiveness deal over the line and, you know, so many other moves that the government was making to increase its credibility internationally was highly influential in some of those decisions and the people that were brought into the government and some of the reform too. And my proof for that when I talk to people is to look at the other things that we should have done, which, we didn't do. We had the opportunity to actually reform either through privatization, a more sustainable model of our energy policy - the energy industry, generally. Electricity? People like to talk about telecommunications and the GSM revolution, but we didn't do anything about electricity, we didn't do anything about transportation. Infrastructure was still highly deficient and investment was not really serious, you know. So it was not... for me, personally, it was not a development bargain. Now, my question then would be, could it have been different if some of the outside influences that are sometimes exerted on countries can be a bit more focused on long-term development, as opposed to short-term macro-economic reforms on stability? You know, institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, I know they have their defined mandates, but is it time for a change? I think they actually have a lot more influence than they are using currently.Stefan; You make extremely valid points. And I think I will broadly agree with you with what you just implied. And I'll take a stance on it now. So the first thing, of course, and you correctly saw that something very misleading in Nigeria's growth figures is that periods of high growth are not at all linked to much action by economic policymakers. But it's still largely linked to oil prices. And we have this unfortunate cyclical behaviour in policymaking. Where the behaviour when prices are really good, is just always missing taking advantage of the opportunity. While when things are bad, we're talking about all kinds of things one ought to be doing but then saying, ''we can't do it because the prices are low.'' And so there is this kind of strange, asymmetric thing about policymaking that we always have the best ideas when we can't do them, and then we don't have the ideas we should have when the going is good. And this is in a way what you're alluding to. Of course, the role of outsiders that gets very interesting is what these outsiders were focusing on, actually, I think it was in the interest of the, call them, semi-outsider inside government...some of these technocrats that were brought in. And I can understand it entirely, you know, there were some really sensible finance ministers at various moments and so on. They were focused on actually things that were relatively easy in that period. So they were actually relatively easy, because the going was quite good. And so actually you created that strange impression, and it's a little bit like together with the outsiders, with World Bank, IMF, but actually, we're dealing with something really dramatic but, actually, we were not at all setting a precedent because it was actually, relatively... relatively politically low cost to do these things at that moment. Okay. So it was progress of sorts, you know, getting the debt relief, and so on. But arguably, you know, it's not a bad thing. But this actually was quite a low-hanging fruit and many of these organizations like these ideas of low-hanging fruits, because actually, politically, it played well, it increased the stature internationally of Nigeria...but, actually, it didn't really cost the elite much. It wasn't really hard for the elite to do these things. [If they did] the difficult things, they would really have started to change Nigeria. And so there is something there that I'm struck by the last sentence you said that some of these outsiders may be focusing on the wrong things. I think it has to be the insiders wanting to focus on these things, on these more difficult things. And then I do agree with you, the outsider should be smarter, and better able to respond to this. There's a problem with the outsiders here as well, take something that clearly you still struggle with and struggled forever with - electricity reform, the electricity sector. It's so complicated, and it's set up so complicated in all kinds of ways and whatever. So much inefficiency, so much waste that then it doesn't function and everybody, you know, complains about it. But it becomes politically very sensitive because there are definitely vested interests linked to it now and it becomes very hard to unravel it. Now the problem is if you ask typically a World Bank or an IMF for advice, they will make it very simple and say, Oh, just privatize the whole thing and do the whole thing. Now. You know that in a politically sensitive environment, you just can't privatize everything, so you privatize a little bit, but anything that's really with vested interests you won't touch. But these are the inefficient bits. So the easy prey, you privatize, and that's someone else making even more money off it because it's actually the efficient part of those systems that gets privatized, and then the inefficient part is still there and costs even more money. And so what I think these outsiders could do better is to have a better understanding of Nigeria's political economy, which is complicated at the best of times, but really understand, where can we start actually touching on something that we are beginning to touch on something vested interests that we begin to unravel a little bit some of the kind of underlying problem of, you know, politically connected business, you know, all the way to party financing or whatever...that you need to start unraveling somehow, where actually the underlying causes of inefficiency lie. Because the underlying causes of inefficiency are not just technical, they're actually not just economic. The underlying causes are these kinds of things. So I think why the outsiders did what they did at that time, it actually suited the government at the time, the technocratic ministers, that's the best they could do because that was the only mandate they had. Together with the outsider, they'd say, Well, that's certainly something we could do. But actually, fundamentally, you didn't really change that much. You don't still have then wherever it goes a bit bad, I'll get six or whatever exchange rates, and I'll get all kinds of other macroeconomic poor management, and, of course, nothing can happen when there's a crisis. There's no way we can do these more micro sector-specific reforms than doing it. So yeah, you're absolutely right. But let's not underestimate how hard it is. But starting to do the things that you refer to is where we need to get to to doing some of these difficult things.Tobi; The way I also read your book is that the two classic problems of political economy are still present, which is, the incentive and the knowledge problem. So I want to talk about the role of knowledge and ideas here. Let's even suppose that a particular group of elites at a particular time are properly incentivized to pursue a development bargain. Right? Sometimes the kind of ideas you still find floating around in the corridors of power can be quite counterproductive. A very revealing part of your book for me was when you were talking about the role of China. Also, I have no problem with China. The anecdote about Justin meme stood out to me quite well, because I could relate to it personally because I've also been opportuned to be at conferences where Justin Lin spoke, and I was slightly uneasy at how much simplification happens. I mean, just to digress a little bit, there was a particular presidential candidate in the just concluded primaries of the ruling party, I'm not going to mention the name, who is quite under the heavy influence of the China model. Right? Always consults with China, always meeting with Chinese economists and technocrats. And my reaction when he lost the primaries was ''thank god,'' right? Because what I see mostly in development thinking locally, I don't mean in academic circles, a lot of debates are going on in academics... is that the success of China and Asia more broadly has brought the State primarily into the front and centre. If you look at this current government, they will tell you seven years ago that they meant well. You know, judging by the Abba Kyari anecdotes where government should own the means of production. He may not believe that, like you said, truthfully, but you can see the influence of what has been called ''state-led development.'' In a state where there is no capable bureaucracy. The government itself is not even optimized to know the problem to solve or even how to solve that particular problem. Right. So broadly, my question is, if an elite chooses to pursue a development bargain, how does it then ensure that the right ideas, which lead to the right kind of policies, and maybe there might not even be the right policies - one of the things you mentioned is changing your mind quickly, it's an experimental process - but, you know, this process needs people who are open to ideas, who change their minds, who can also bring other people in with different ideas, you know, so this idea generation process in a development bargain, how can it be stable even if you have an elite consensus is that chooses to pursue development?Stefan; Look, it's an excellent question. And last week, or 10 days ago, when it was in Bangladesh, I was very struck that, you know, as a country I think that has the development bargain, there was a lot of openness. And you know, I was in the Ministry of Finance, and people had a variety of ideas, but they were all openly debated, there was not a kind of fixed mindset. And it is something that I've always found a bit unfortunate dealing with both politicians and senior technocrats in Nigeria. Nigeria is quickly seen as the centre of the world, there's nothing to learn from the rest of the world, we'll just pick an idea, and then we'll run with it and there's nothing that needs to be checked. And, you know, I love the self-confidence, but for thinking and for pursuit of ideas, you know, looking around and questioning what you hear whether you hear it from Justin Lin, who by the way, I don't think he's malign and he means well, he just has a particular way of communicating but it is, of course, a simplified story that you can simply get, and then you'll pick it up. And of course, if you ask the UK Government, the official line from London, they will also tell you there is only one model when they're purely official, but privately they will be a bit more open-minded, and maybe Chinese officials don't feel they have that freedom to privately encourage you to think a bit broader and so you have maybe a stricter line. So how do we do that? I think we can learn something here from India in the 1970s and 1980s. So when India after independence, it had a very strict set of ideas. In that sense, India was as a child of its time as a state, you know, state control, state-led development, there were strong views around it and India ended up doing a lot of regulation. They used to refer to India as the License Raj. Like a whole system based around licensing and everything was regulated by the state. So the state had far too much say in terms of the activity, despite the fact that the underlying economy was meant to be very entrepreneurship and commerce-led, but you had a lot of licensing rules, and so on. And of course, its growth stayed very low in the 1970s and 80s, it was actually very stagnant. It changed in the 1990s. Partly came with a crisis - in fact, a balance of payments crisis - it needs to reform and Manmohan Singh was the finance minister, then, later on, he became maybe a less successful Prime Minister. But as a finance minister in the early 90s, he did quite amazing things. And then during the 90s, gradually, every party started adopting a much more growth-oriented, more outward-oriented type of mindset. Now, why do I say this? Because actually, during the 1970s, and 80s, you had think-tanks, all the time pushing for these broader ideas. It took them 20 years. But there were really well-known think-tanks that kept on trying to convince people in the planning commission, economists in the universities and so on. And to critically think, look, there must be other ways. So actually, funnily enough, in India, it has a lot to do with the thinking and the public debates, that initially the politicians didn't take up, but actually found the right people to influence... you know, you actually have still in the civil service some decent technocrats there, they don't get a chance. But there are decent people, I know some of them and so on. But there needs to be a feeding of these ideas. And actually, this is where I would almost say there's a bit of a failing here, in the way the public discourse is done [in Nigeria] and maybe voices like you, but also more systematically from universities from think tanks and so on to actually feed and keep on feeding these ideas. There is a suggestion [by] Lant Pritchett - you know he's a former Harvard economist, he is now in the UK - [who] wrote this very interesting paper and he said, some of these think tanks who are actually getting a little bit of aid money here and there and he said, that's probably the best spent aid money in India ever. Because the rate of return and he calculates this number is like 1,000,000%, or something. Because he basically says the power of ideas is there. And I do think there is something there that I'm always surprised by that there are some very smart Nigerians outside the country, they don't really get much of a hearing inside the country, then there are some that are actually inside the country, the quality of debate is maybe not stimulated to be thinking beyond. It has to do probably with how complicated your country is, and of course, the Federal status plays a role. I just wonder whether maybe this is something that needs to start in particular states. You know, there are some governors that are a little bit more progressive than others. Maybe it is actually increasing and focusing attention over this on a few states to get the debate up to a high level and to actually see what they can do and maybe it's where the entry point is, but you need ideas I agree with you and I do worry at times about the kind of critical quality... there are some great thinkers in Nigeria, don't get me wrong, but the critical quality of ideas around alternative ways of doing the economy and so on, and that they get so easily captured by simple narrative, simple national narratives that are really just too simple to actually pursue. I mean...yeah.Tobi; That's quite deep. That's quite deep. I mean, just captures my life's mission right there. It's interesting you talked about Lant Pritchett and the question of aid, which is like my next line of question to you. There was this brief exchange on Twitter that I caught about the review of your book in the guardian, and the question of aid came up. I saw responses from Martin Ravallion, from Rachel Glennerster, I'm not sure I'm pronouncing her name right. So it's sort of then brings me to the whole question of development assistance, aid, and the way intervention has now been captured by what works. One fantastic example I got from your book is on Bangladesh, and how both systems work. You know, there's a broad development bargain, it's not perfect, nothing is, no society is. And there's the pursuit of economic growth. And also, it's a country where aid money and all forms of development assistance is quite active, and is quite huge, and it's actually quite effective. Now, my question is that basic insight from your book, which is for aid spending to be a little bit more biased, not your word... a little bit more bias to countries that have development bargains broadly? Why is that insight so difficult for, I should say, the international NGO industry to grasp? Why is it elusive? Because the status quo, which I would say, I don't mean to offend anybody, but which I will say is also aided by development economists and academics who have sort of put methodology and evidence above prosperity, in my view... because what you see is that, regardless of how dysfunctional the country is, broadly, the aid industry just carves out a nice niche where they do all sorts of interventions, cash transfers, chickens and, of course, you can always do randomized control trials and you say you have evidence for what works. But meanwhile you don't see the broad influence of some of these so-called assistants in the country as a whole. And these are institutions who proclaim that they are committed to fighting extreme poverty and we know what has vastly reduced poverty through history has always been economic growth and prosperity. So why is this elusive? Have those agencies and international development thinking itself been captured?Stefan; Look, I think I should make you do my interviews in the future. Yeah. So I've got to hire you to give...Because, look, I've been inside the aid industry and, in fact, the two people that you mentioned, you know, I would call them my friends, although one of them clearly is very cross at me at the moment. But you know, these are people I've worked with, and so on. And I am worried that there is such an obsession within the aid industry to prove their effectiveness. And I know I've been under pressure, you know, I've worked in it and sitting in London and getting your newspapers to say you're wasting all this money. It's really affecting a lot of people. And it was really hardwork for these 10 years that I sat inside it. But it's about just the humility that you just described, you know, and I want to make this distinction between...I'm about to make two distinctions. So the first one is - you made it well, even Bangladesh, something is going on. And you know, with all the imperfections, the government is trying to do something, and largely by staying to some extent out of the way. And there's some good stuff happening. So there's growth picking up and so on. So you can do all kinds of things. And I think aid in Bangladesh has been great at trying to make sure that the growth that was taking place in that country was a bit more inclusive than it probably would have been. I think it's great. And I think the aid industry should be proud of it. There is a great book that I quote as well also by Naomi Hossein and she calls it The Aid Lab and this is a bit like in praise of it. You know, if we do it carefully with some community and complement what's going on in a country that is deeply poor, you know, you can actually do really good things. Because in the book, I also mentioned Ghana that, actually, aid has been pretty effective because something had begun to change in the 90s, and so on. And we can question that to some extent and, of course, it's none of this perfection. But if you then come to a country where, you know... probably the two of us agree [that] there is some form of stagnation in that kind of [country], there's no development bargain, the elite bargain doesn't really push everything forward. Just be humble to say, look, I have a little niche, and there will be some chicken farmers that are happier, we'll do some good things in health... in health, actually, it's quite straightforward to do good things. But they are to call these good things, don't classify this as if you are leading the fight against extreme poverty, leading the fight against the change in these countries. Because, actually, if the local elite is not leading their change, and those people who have the power and influence not leading their change, the best you can do is doing good things. So I'm happy for us to be able to say we do good things. And it led me in the context of an interview to say like in India, as doing a lot of good things means that aid was actually in itself quite irrelevant, because the real change came, as I described in the 90s, actually, there was a real shift in gear, and suddenly their own development spending became gradually more effective. And of course, you can help them then to make it more effective. But, you know, I was a bit sad, and Martin Ravallion now took issue with it and wanted to emphasize... you know, and I don't want us to ever say, look, we did it. I mean, it's such a lack of humility I'll say this. At some point, we may have been supportive of doing it, but it's always the countries that did it. And the people there that did it. And other times just be humble and say, well, we may be doing something reasonably good, we may improve health outcomes, education outcomes, but not necessarily the whole country may do it in the schools that we work in, or whatever. And it's, that's good, you know, that's just as there are Nigerians that do good things via their own organizations and so on, they do good things. And it's probably teachers in the country, within the state schools that do some of these good things in the best practice stuff. And so yeah, they improve things, but overall, have the humility to say you're not changing Nigeria, because unfortunately, Nigeria is not being changed at the moment.Tobi; So my question then would be, is it reflective of the current intellectual climate in development economics where randomized control trials, they pursue...I know Lant Pritchett has really come down quite heavily on this particular movement, though, sometimes he seems to be the only one standing, maybe not quite literally true and I'll give you two examples from Nigeria, right? In 2012, when the anti subsidy-removal protests broke out, when the government on the first day of January removed fuel subsidy and prices suddenly went up. And the labour movement, the student movement, opposition politicians mobilized the population against that particular move. Some form of resolution that the current president at that time reached was to do what they call a partial removal of subsidy, you know, prices will go up a little bit and the government then did a scheme - an entrepreneurship scheme - where you submit a business plan and you're paid to get $50,000 to do a business.And I read a particular study by David Evans of the World Bank of how fantastically successful this particular scheme was, and of course, no doubt, it was successful. I mean, if you get $50,000 to do business in Nigeria, that's a lot of money. I don't need econometric analysis to know that, but maybe some people do. But the truth is, if you look today, I can bet you that a lot of those businesses are probably dead now due to how the economy as sort of evolved after that. Secondly, at the time we were having these debates and protests in 2012, the subsidy figure there was $8 billion annually, today it is $15 billion. So if you say you have evidence that something works, what exactly is your time horizon for measuring what works? And if you say something works, works in whose benefit, really? The most recent example was in 2018, 2019, where the government was given a small amount of money to small retailers, they call it Trader Moni. I'm sure there were World Bank officials and economists (I have a lot of respect for them) who are measuring the effectiveness of this thing. But you could see clearly that what was politically going on was the government doing vote buying. Right? So if you say something work, works for whom? Right? That was my response to Rachel on Twitter, but she didn't reply me. My question then to you... Sorry, I'm talking too much... Is this reflective of the current intellectual climate in development economics? Stefan; So yes and no? Okay. So, well, i'm going to have to be very careful. Of course, Rachel...I know her very well. And, actually, I have not that many gripes with her. She comes out of, indeed, the whole school of RCTs. By the way, I also actually do RCTs. I like it as a tool to actually study things. And I'll explain in a moment a bit more. So I do these randomized control trials as well. But I am very, very sympathetic. And I actually totally agree with your frustration around this idea to creating that impression about what works. You know, I have it in the book, I even mentioned it, there was a particular minister that at some point announced we're only going to spend our money on what works, you know, like a great slogan, as if you have all the answers, you know what to do. And of course, there is a technical meaning to it. Technical meaning would mean, if I do something and if you haven't done it, what would have been the outcome? And the paper that you refer on the entrepreneurship, this entrepreneurship for the $50,000... I know actually the research very well, the original was from David McKenzie and then other people commenting on it. Yes, relative to a counterfactual, yes, it was actually much bigger than an alternative scheme, you know, then that's something. So you could say, well, you know, as a research question, as a researcher, I find it interesting. From a policy point of view, I'm so much more cautious. And I'm totally with you. You know, first of all, in the bigger scheme of things, how tiny maybe it be... now there are some people who would say, well, we don't know anything, really, what to do in this whole messy environment so at least [to] have something that does a bit better than other things is maybe a useful thing to know. I think it comes back to that humility. As a research tool, it's great at getting exact answers. As a policy tool, I think we need to have much more humility. Because are these ideas tha totally transforms everything, that is actually makes a huge difference? Not really. It probably means that we can identify a little bit and I think even Pritchard wouldn't disagree with [that] sometimes a few things are a little bit better than other things. And if we want to do good, maybe it's helpful in medicine whether we know whether we should spend a bit more money on X or on Y, that it actually does a little bit better in the functioning of a health facility or not, if we spent a bit more money on that practice or on that practice, same in teaching in the school, if we do a little bit more of that in a very constrained environment than something else, that's useful, it doesn't change dramatically. And I categorize it with doing good. With humility, if we do good, it's helpful to know which things are a bit better than other things...when we try to do good. It's an interesting thing, even in Rachel's thread, she actually used it, we can still do quite a lot of good with aid. Actually, funnily enough, I don't disagree that deeply with her and say, Yeah, we may be able to do it good, but don't present it as if we, in the bigger scheme of things, which is where you're getting that, make any difference. And this is where I'm also sympathetic with Lant in saying, Look, sometimes we seem to be focusing on the small trivial things and yeah, it's useful to know but meanwhile the big picture is what you were describing, there's so much going on and, actually, nothing changes there. And so I categorize it in a bit of the same thing. Because I'll now give you an account, which is then go to Bangladesh again. Look, I think it was extremely useful in Bangladesh at some point to really have ... an RCT - a randomized control trial. So really careful evidence to show that a particular program that BRAC, the biggest NGO in the world, the local NGO, was actually what it was actually doing to the ultra-poor. In fact, two weeks ago, I was visiting the program again. And I find it really interesting because it's really helpful for BRAC to know that that program, when I do it in a careful evaluation relative to other things, that actually this program is really effective. And that, actually, we know for BRAC that they can have so much choices to spend their money on poverty alleviation, the things that we can dream up, to actually know this is actually a really good thing. And why of course does it work? Well, it works relative to doing nothing, but of course, it helps in Bangladesh {that] growth is taking place and it actually can get people to become [a big] part of it. In fact, I was visiting people that, whether we use a Nigerian or Bangladeshi definition of extreme poverty, they wouldn't have been in that state 10 years ago and so this is their being six, seven years in that program, and it was really interesting that I was sitting into some interviews they were doing, and I looked over my shoulder, and they now had a TV and a fridge. And I say, okay, an extremely poor person in Bangladesh would not have had this. So there's clearly something happening. Now, that's not simply because of the program. It's also because the whole country is improving. But I'm pretty sure and what the data showed is that those who actually had a program would have found it a bit easier to take part in that progress. And I'm pretty sure that the TV, and the fridge, probably was helped, to some extent, by the programme. In fact, we have very good evidence in the kind of evidence that Rachel Glennerster talks about. So again, I think it's all about a bit of humility, and understanding better what we mean by it. And to be honest, I think there are lots of people who work in that field that are careful with it. And that actually will do it, use it well. It gets just really worrying that people, often more junior people than Rachel, they've never really been in the field properly and then they make massive statements. So they work in big organizations, and they use that evidence, overuse it and overstate it. I think Rachel is actually careful, even her thread was very careful, although your question is a very good one. But it's very careful. But it still allows other people to overinterpret this whole thing. And then I get really worried. I'm actually going to put out a thread on Twitter in the coming days where I'm going to talk about tribalism in development economics... where I'm good to deal with your question as well because I think the way the profession has evolved is that you need to be in one tribe or another, otherwise, you're not allowed to function. I think, you know, you need to be eclectic, you know, no one has this single answer. And there's too much tribalism going on, much more than I've ever known before. You know, you need to be Oh, a fan of that, or you need to be the historical approach, or the Political Economy approach, and the whole... we should learn from all these bits. That's the idea of knowledge that you learn from... as much as possible from the progress in different parts of a discipline, or in thinking.Tobi; I'm glad to have caught you on a free day because having a lot more time to have this conversation has made it quite rich for me personally, and I'm sure for the audience as well. So I just have a couple more questions before I let you get back to your day. The first of those would be...um, when I first became aware of your book on Twitter, it was via a Chris Blattman thread. And he mentioned something that I have also struggled with, both personally in my thought and, in my conversation with people. And somethin

Listen to the Sat. Oct. 8, 2022 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. This program features our PANW report with dispatches on the continuing war between Russia and the United States-supported Ukraine forces; peace talks between the Ethiopian government and the TPLF rebels in Pretoria, South Africa have been postponed; Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari has submitted a national budget which is the largest of his tenure in office; and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) has conducted additional missile launches which have landed in the Sea of Japan. In the second hour we look at the recently-held national elections in the Kingdom of Lesotho where the recently-formed Revolution for Prosperity Party (RFP) has scored an overwhelming victory. Later we look at the nature and character of education on the African continent. Finally, we review the role education struggles in the Civil Rights Movement through the prism of the April 1951 Moton High School student strike against segregation in Farmville, Virginia led by Barbara Johns.

A UN Commission on human rights reports on major atrocities being perpetrated by both the TPLF and Ethiopian Government forces particularly in Tigray... We hear how civilians have suffered. Also, Ugandan authorities confirm an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease... A twenty-four year old man has been identified, but could there have been a handful of others before hand? And Iyanu, a child superhero based on Yoruba mythology created by Roye Okupe is a graphic novel turned Cartoon to be streamed by HBO and Cartoon Network. These stories and more in this podcast presented by Bola Mosuro.

Tigrayan forces in Ethiopia say they are ready for a ceasefire after a five month truce broke down. They also pledged willingness to participate in African Union-led talks. Will the Government in Addis respond in kind? Also, Uganda pays the DRC $65 million dollars in reparations for the invasion by UPDF forces and looting of resources  during the war in the 1990s. Could the ICJ ruling set a precedent? Plus, how some African nations are reacting to the death of Queen Elizabeth II. Her body now lays at rest in Edinburgh. What could King Charles III's accession mean for Africa and the commonwealth? Those and other stories in this podcast with Bola Mosuro.

Rootin 4 Lenin https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8rptl6HjNotk-2PAwrkfWw Sources https://rainershea.substack.com/p/the-us-empires-diminishing-capacity?r=ufxwl&s=r&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=email https://www.rt.com/news/541113-ethiopia-tigray-foreign-citizens-advice/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=RSS https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfepTfxqmg8 https://youtu.be/z0cYHw-joZI https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-11-04/ethiopian-rebels-opposition-form-political-front-against-abiy Davidson, Basil, et al. Behind the War in Eritrea. Russell Press Ltd., Nottingham, 1980. Ghebre-Ab, Habtu. Ethiopia and Eritrea. The Red Sea Press. Trenton, NJ. 1993. Haile, Bocresion. The Collusion on Eritrea. No publisher / city given. 2000. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Italo-Ethiopian_War Women Accuse TPLF of Mass Rape | The War on Ethiopia Dispatch 2: Content warning: *Graphic descriptions of sexual violence* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D7KcspluOcc http://plaza.ufl.edu/gguillet/Geo_Website/Pages/dannsapp.htm

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow #ClassicGregoryCopley: #Ethiopia: Nine months ago in Addis Ababa: Abiy rolls back the TPLF; & What is to be done? Gregory R Copley, @Gregory_Copley, editor and publisher of Defense & Foreign Affairs.   https://www.voanews.com/a/us-envoy-feltman-to-visit-ethiopia-thursday-meet-with-officials-/6382650.html

Listen to the Mon. Sept. 5, 2022 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The program coincides with the concluding day of the 2022 Detroit Jazz Festival. We will feature our regular PANW report with dispatches on the criticism by people in Ghana over the governmental decision to seek yet another loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF); the Ethiopian government has reported capturing dozens of TPLF rebels fighting against the national military forces; there are still difficulties in holding inclusive talks with the various tendencies and the military regime inside the Republic of Sudan; and Somalia is suffering from malnutrition among growing numbers of civilians inside the Horn of Africa state. In the second hour we listen to an interview with Jazz vocal artist Dianne Reeves on Ella Fitzgerald conducted by the Library of Congress. Finally, we pay tribute to the legendary Jazz pianist Phineas Newborn, Jr. of Memphis.

Ethiopian ambassador Zenebe Kebede says federal forces acted in defence after TPLF attacked their positions in the recent flare-up of clashes in Tigray. But Tigray isn't the only hot spot experiencing violence in Ethiopia. We report on other attacks carried out in Oromia and listen to chilling accounts from local residents Also in the pod: We speak to an opposition leader in Chad who is trapped in his party headquarters after security forces arrested his supporters; A report on the death of twenty-one teenagers who died in a South African tavern concerns the victims' families. And we ask Malawi's Health secretary what is behind a recent spike in cholera cases in the country.

Photo: No known restrictions on publication. @Batchelorshow #Ethiopia: TPLF attacking again. Gregory Copley, Defense & Foreign Affairs https://www.barrons.com/news/new-air-strike-hits-capital-of-ethiopia-s-tigray-01661904608

Listen to the Sat. Aug. 20, 2022 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the armed attacks on the Hyatt hotel in Mogadishu, Somalia which have left 20 people dead; Kenyan President-elect William Ruto is making preparations to take charge of East Africa's largest economy after winning the recent national elections; the Ethiopian government of Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has put forward the conditions for a peace agreement with the rebel TPLF in the north of the Horn of Africa state; and South Sudan has made an assessment that the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Project (GERD) will have a positive impact for the entire region. In the second hour we continue our Black August programming looking back on the Chicago Rebellion of 1966 and an historic speech by then Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) Chairman Stokely Carmichael on Black Power delivered in 1967 at Michigan State University (MSU). Finally, we examine the recent elections in Kenya and the future prospects for the country.

We have the latest from Ethiopia where hopes for peace talks have faded as the TPLF claim that a new offensive is underway in Tigray. Five years on from a devastating mudslide in Sierra Leone, our correspondent Umaru Fofana has been catching up with families in the affected area. Plus a sustainable innovation for beverage lovers in South Africa – compostable coffee pods.

Uganda's military has refuted claims that it has been providing support to the Tigray People's Liberation Front, as it battles Ethiopian federal forces. Plus, a special report on the race against time to stop the water taps from running dry in South Africa's Nelson Mandela Bay. And we meet the Kenyan women whose digital library is aiming to rewrite the script of the country's colonial past.

Listen to the Sat. June 18, 2022 edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. This episode continues our commemoration of Black Music Month which began during the late 1970s. The program features our regular PANW report with dispatches on the conflicting stories about the status of potential negotiations between the Ethiopian government and the rebel TPLF; protests are ongoing in the Republic of Sudan demanding the removal of the military coup regime; there are reports that a soldier from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been killed on the border with Rwanda; and several Moroccan women are revealing that they were abused by a French businessman. In the second and third hours we examine two legends within the field of African American music. John Coltrane has a legacy of innovation and sustained production which spanned two decades. Finally, we examine the life, times and contributions of Detroit Jazz Guitarist and composer Kenny Burrell.

Listen to the Sun. June 12, 2022 special edition of the Pan-African Journal: Worldwide Radio Broadcast hosted by Abayomi Azikiwe, editor of the Pan-African News Wire. This episode continues our focus on Black Music Month. In our PANW segment we will discuss the following dispatches where the People's Republic of China has expressed its opposition to both the Ukraine war and sanctions against the Russian Federation; there are unconfirmed reports that the Ethiopian government is slated to hold secret talks with the TPLF in Tanzania; problems are persisting in initiating a dialogue between the Sudan Forces for Freedom and Change (FFC) and the military regime; and the first group of migrants from Britain to Rwanda have arrived in Kigali. In the second and third hours we further examine the history of African American music with examinations of the cultural legacies of Ruby Elzy and Odetta Holmes.

Over the last decade, third-party litigation funding (TPLF) has evolved into a $17 billion industry worldwide, and 52% of that money is being spent in the U.S., making TPLF a key contributor to social inflation, hiking up jury awards and claim settlements that may have a significant impact on insurance prices and coverage availability.What is it?  How does it work?  What effect is it having on pricing?   Where do we go from here?Featuring:Bob Greenebaum is an Executive Vice President, Central Region Director, and Casualty Practice Leader located in CRC Group's Chicago, Illinois office.Youtube | Tools & Intel | LinkedInJoin #TeamCRC, email resumes@crcgroup.com

Another episode, another special guest graces us with their insight! Jeff Pearce (author, journalist, activist, ally for African progress) joins us to discuss his time in Ethiopia at the height of the war waged by the TPLF on Ethiopia (the war still continues...). Jeff was present on the ground in places such as Dessie, Lalibela, and Afar. He spent time with internally displaced peoples (IDPs) and visited sites destroyed by TPLF (hospitals, hotels, places of worship). We also discuss the loss of momentum with the #NoMore movement and the unfortunate splintering of support due to varying perspectives. An episode so jam-packed we had to separate it into two parts. Check the links below and please support important work, including The Gifts of Africa: How a Continent and Its People Changed the World and Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia's Victory over Mussolini's Invasion.OrderThe Gifts of Africa: How a Continent and Its People Changed the Worldhttps://www.amazon.com/Gifts-Africa-Continent-People-Changed/dp/1633887707/ref=tmm_hrd_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1648079925&sr=1-1Prevail: The Inspiring Story of Ethiopia's Victory over Mussolini's Invasionhttps://www.amazon.com/Prevail-Inspiring-Ethiopias-Mussolinis-Invasion-ebook/dp/B00MSYUXP8Jeff's YouTube channel:https://www.youtube.com/user/pearcefoolTwitter: @semiamericansIG: @semiamericanspodcastTikTok: @semiamericanspodcastFacebook: @semiamericanspodcasthttps://linktr.ee/semiamericanspodcastDisclaimer: This episode was recorded March 11, 2022

Journalist Rania Khalek talks about her reporting trip to Ethiopia, where armed group the TPLF is waging war on the central government, apparently with Western support, and Eritrea, one of the world's most sanctioned countries. We discuss the geopolitical importance of the Horn of Africa, and how the area has been affected by the US new cold war on China. PART 2 OF 2 VIDEO: youtube.com/watch?v=LZ4Q9zIB2xA Follow Rania's reporting at BreakThrough News: breakthroughnews.org And follow Rania at twitter.com/RaniaKhalek