EDITOR’S NOTE: Woyanne uses this money to fuel its machinery of repression. It should be one of the opposition parties’ target if they want to break Woyanne’s backbone.
ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA (APA) — Remittances by Ethiopians in the Diaspora has reached $780 million in the past ten months, the Ethiopian National Bank said here on Tuesday.
According to the bank, this year’s earnings from remittances exceed that of last year by about nine per cent.
The bank said that the amount of remittances Ethiopia is getting each year is on the rise, especially since the past three years.
“We have enforced a new legislation allowing the Diaspora to have saving accounts in US Dollars, which is encouraging many citizens to do so,” said the bank.
However, according to available information, Ethiopia is getting lower remittances than other neighbouring countries, such as Kenya and Egypt.
In 2007, Kenyans in the Diaspora had sent home nearly 1.6 billion dollars, achieving a per capita remittance of 42 dollars.
Ethiopians on the other hand sent home only 359 million dollars, with a per capita remittance of only 4 dollars, according to a United Nations report for 2009.
However, 1.2 billion to 1.5 billion dollars was remitted to Ethiopia through the non-banking system.
Ethiopia is expecting the remittances to rise to around one billion in the next few years.
24 thoughts on “Ethiopians in the Diaspora sent home $780 million this year”
For the rogue regime at the brink of bankruptcy, this indeed is a great news. Shame on to any and all self respecting Ethiopians for becoming the chief underwriter of genocide in that land.
Afer Belu!
The joke in Addis Ababa is that in order to save electricity, the parliament would be closed and Council of Representatives TV would be broadcast from EPRDF headquarters. That is a good start for Growth and Transformation by saving electricity because there are no representatives and thus no council.
Old barking dog!!!
I coat this, “Woyanne uses this money to fuel its machinery of repression. I always see this kind of attitude towards the ruling party as Elias’s belief not others.
Let me ask you this:-
1-Who do you think built 22 univerisities and 10 more to go build.
2-Who built the three huge hydro-electric power generating dams and plants.
3-Don’t forget also the road projects connectig rural weredas and kebeles.
4-Who changed Addis to a better look than before and also belive me you guys wouldn’t even recognised Addis when you go back the next 5 years.
I know that you are the one who go back there and enjoy and come back here to say bad things about the gov.
You dreaming Alas Elias….. what do you do , if your familiy in need !!!
ER, is there other alternative in sending money to family in Ethiopia? if so PS let us know so that we dont have to send our hard earned DOLLARS to help this cancer Woyane and prolong there power over our beloved country Ethiopia.
thanks.
#3Gemechu
Ethiopian hydro electric for sale for other countries not for Ethiopian consumption and foreign currency for Woyane.
2ND building a lots of building in ADDIS ABEBA is not a substitute for millions of hungry,voiceless,pore Ethiopian population. it is only benefiting the few mostly WOYANE. is that progress to?
Dear Gemechu(hodam),you are barking day and night for failing tplf.
I read what you wrote.
TPLF has building….
-22 universities with very low quality of education and no job opportuniteis for graduates.
-hydro electric power generating dams that collaps with in weeks after built.
-road project to import and export tplf owned (EFFERT)companies products.
‘tinsh enquan antena meselochih Egizabern firu.’
ቁጥር 3 ገመቹ አይምሰልህ ሁሉም ያዉቃል ውያኔ በወረራናዘረፋ ጊዜዉ ከ25 ቢልዮን የአሜሪካ ዶላር እርዳታ አጃኩሞ በእርግጥ ካራሜላ አድለዋል ያም ለወያላዎቹ ። 1ኛ 20 ትምህርት ቤት ብቃት የሌለዉ ግንብ ብቻ 2ኛግድብ በደርግ የተጀመረ ያላለቀ እርዳታ የሚብቅ 3ኛወረዳናቀበሌ የሚያገናኝ መንገድ ትልቅ ውሸት በእርግጥ በእርዳታ የተሰሩ ጥቂት አሉ ምሳሌ አአ ቀለበት መንገድ4ኛ ፎቆች ባለቤትነታቸው ወያኔናየወያኔ ደላሎች የሆኑ አሉ እርግጥ ነው የሕዝብ ልጆች ግን ተሽጠዋል ወይም በረንዳ ያድራሉ፥ብዙ በሰጠራ የተሠሩ የፕላስቲክ ቤቶች ላይ ያድራሉ አረ ተወኝ ስንት ጉዱ።
Gemechu, you must be Meles or Bereket who are boasting in doing the above mentioned trash blaa blaa. In practic your government has succceded in ruling world´s second poorest country. Is it some thing to be proud of??? TPLF regime has come to power to destroy Ethiopia & to vanish its people. Gemechu please, go back to your weyanne media & keep preaching the same song like old barking dog. Leave alone our free media abroad. Here, no one needs or wants to read such nonsense/rabbish.
I don’t understand why people are thinking by putting sanction to Ethiopian government will stop the Weyane.
From my understanding any African government will change their attitude, but the only people who is going to suffer is the poor Ethiopian who is expecting money form their loved once and from donors. And if we continue to say stop donating and sending money to Ethiopian, what ‘ll happen to the people? are thy going to by teff for 5000 br? And what next do you seriously thing the weyanes ‘ll create a democratic country?
ኣንዳንዴ ለቀቅ ነው ወላጅ በርሀብ እየተጠበሰ እንድት ዝም ይባላል
Gemechu, the way you describe the EPRDF accomplishments sounds like the way they used to talk about Hitler and Mussolini. Dictators like to boast they “make the trains run on time” while their repression drives the country into disaster. Look at the dark underbelly of this regime– the human rights violations, the stolen elections, the corruption, the continuing famine, the failure to combat poverty. Ethiopia should be last country to tolerate fascism. The foreign exchange pays the security forces to enforce fascism. The country will build its infrastructure just as well and even better when there is honest, fair and legitimate government. Cutting off the dictator’s foreign exchange will hasten this day.
Where is the hard currency???
Almost a billion dollars can build one Dam with out begging any bank to loan us if the money was not embazzled by Meles and Azeb. This is one of the reason Meles and Azeb looters we hate you so much. You are telling us depleted hard currency reserve despite dollars pouring in from all over directions. Where is the money going???
Woyanne uses this money to fuel its machinery of repression.
Elias, I believe the money is sent to the people and it is the people who receive the money that spend it as they wish. The bank (govt.) levies a negligible percentage for its service, and, how did you come to the conclusion that the money is used for repression. Please explain. I don’t think this is a rocket science to understand; aren’t you making a mountain out of a mole hill?
To answer Asheber, the EPRDF keeps the remiter’s foreign exchange, uses it to equip its security forces, and locally prints and gives birr to the remittee.
Insanity is doing the same thing again and again yet expect a different result.
Elias, What you are recommending has failed again and again. So why are you on the same dogma?
If you don’t send money to your families, they will starve to death. INflation is issue of the whole planet. Things are getting more expensive. Just forget Ethiopia for a second and tell me, how life has changed in Europe the last five years? How about in the USA?
So, the government will find a way to get money by hook or by crook but it is your pop and mom who will suffer. May be you don’t have mom and pop, but several millions of us do and we don’t want them to suffer more just because we don’t like TPLF/EPRDF.
Wake up and smell the coffee.
This is a very complex issue guys, there is no right or wrong answer on this one. Some times I feel like, either my mom dies of hunger so as my country benefits or my mom lives well and my country dies, if this was a true notion which one do we choose? What guarantee do we have if sending remittance would really shorten the life of the regime and if we are not sure how could we deprive our family? Do we really mean it when we talk about this things?
#13 Halafi
all WOYANES are looting Ethiopia yes that includes MELESE(STNAWE) and his wife AZEB(SETNAWIT)too.
Ashber#14
woyane is AFTER FORIGEN CURECY TO BUY THERE WOPEN,TO LIVE lavishly,and to control your family ,my family,our family and they cant do that with Ethiopian BIRR to do that the use hard currency such as U.S dollars.euros,UK pounds and other currency.
i hope u understand.
#16 go buck and red it again.
Elias did`t say dont help your
family.But there are tow things here posible try to find out non-baniking system like “haWalla”,your family get duble amount than the bank,other sytem you can send it in material.uless otherwise help your poor family.2.Weyane is expecting you to open saving account,make investment ,buildig ahouses so in this case be careful and watch your self this is war people and thieves
Zenawi will use this by threatening and causing Ethiopians’ economic hardship so that the diaspora will send money so that he can forcefully use it for EFFORT and TPLF. It is in a way foolish sending this amount of money, how do we know that it goes to them? Zenawi devalued the currency for a reason, that is in order to give Ethiopians’ hardship and nothing else. They will be struggling paying for every cent.
An old saying” In the time of starvation, there is no contamination. We The diaspora have a way of sending money back home without using the western union or other expensive momey exchange co. please wait we will send you the “direct money you can send to your family, any where, in Ethiopia. please Keep in touch in the near future.
We will inform you very soon.
Thank you
[email protected]
Our minds are so brainwashed that we are forgetting the root cause. Some of you say the people will be starved to death… remember, 30 years agon, Ethiopia was self sufficient, despite some poverty. The famine was created by TPLF who deliberately kept the donations and let the people starve and today, TPLF is compensating their people. There is no such thing as poverty even under climate change. If you have good leadership and democracy people can grow food and be self sufficent. Today we have build this “donor mentality” due to TPLF’s deliberate oppression and control to prevent people produce their own food, lack of good education quality, lack of family health planning (that is why the population exploded rather than when it should have been growing gradually- TPLF did this on purpose and encouraging more wives for Muslims, making the people poverty there fore men in rural areas will marry a 9 year old woman for survival ) I mean this is unheard of not only in the history of Ethiopia but also in the rest of the world. We regressed back, even 30 years ago we were as advanced than we were today. Erecting buildings, roads that the majority poor Ethiopians is not development. It is deception by making the city Addis and Mekele, etc shiny and making it look like “Western” style is deception for donors but under neath is there is maggot eating up Ethiopia.
I think the opposition is loosing by rejecting the idea of the Diaspora sending money to Ethiopia. That is going to happen any way and unrealistic expectation in fact turns the whole campaign in to a farce.
Instead the opposition should turn it’s attention to advising people how to deny woyane from getting the money and how those who send money to Ethiopia can help the opposition by giving at least some of it.
Remember how the EPLF did when they were in jungle. They did not condemn the business men in addis ababa when they contribute to the Dergues war effort in Eritrea but they asked them to pay a very little present to EPLF. that is very pragmatic. Because this people can not deny the dergue the money. So why alienate them. And the diaspora can not stop helping their family at home. That is just not going to happen. To go against some thing like that is completely loosing any credibility and the people will just stop listening to the opposition. And that is a double victory for woyane.