Relations between the African Development Bank and the government of Ethiopia seem to be thawing — but they’re not piping hot just yet.
AfDB pulled its international staff out of the country last month following a “serious diplomatic incident” in which Ethiopian security forces are alleged to have “unlawfully arrested [and] physically assaulted” two of the bank’s staffers. AfDB warned the incident could hurt its future operations in the country.
There’s now been some movement in the situation. Last week, the bank said its international staff could now return to the country after it received an apology from Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. But in a press release, it mentioned another divisive (and likely related) issue, concerning funds that are owed to the bank but appear to have gone missing — Semafor reported that $5 million due to be deposited with AfDB had been lost to an email phishing scam at the Ethiopian finance ministry. In its update last weekend, the bank said Ethiopia had committed to cooperate with the bank on investigations into the whereabouts of the money.