Security incidents leads African Development Bank to withdraw international staff from Ethiopia

By Mohamed Dhaysane

MOGADISHU, Somalia (AA) - The African Development Bank (AfDB) announced Wednesday that it decided to immediately withdraw all international staff from Ethiopia following the recent breach of diplomatic protocol and assault by Ethiopian security forces on two of its staff.

The announcement came after the AfDB said two of the Adis Ababa-based staffers were “unlawfully “arrested, physically assaulted and detained for hours without charge or any official explanation in late October.

“This was a gross violation of their diplomatic immunities, rights, and privileges under the African Development Bank Group’s Host Country Agreement with the Government of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia,” AfDB said in a statement.

The two staffers were released after bank President Akinwumi Adesina, contacted senior officials with the Ethiopian government.

The Ethiopian government started an investigation into the incident in November but has not disclosed its findings.

“The situation is still not yet resolved adequately. It also does not provide full confidence that all the African Development Bank’s employees feel safe and secure to carry out their duties and move around the country without fear of harassment,” said Adesina.

He added that the incident continues to cause much anxiety across the African Development Bank Group and especially among staff at the Ethiopian office.

According to the statement, the incident has also raised concerns among the bank’s shareholders, other multilateral development banks, international financial institutions, the broader diplomatic community and other stakeholders.

The international staff will work remotely outside Ethiopia until Addis Ababa shares the transparent investigation findings into the “grave” incident and publicly details the complete measures it has taken against the guilty parties.

The AfDB is one of the major financial institutions working with the Ethiopian government to support the country’s socioeconomic development.

The bank’s ongoing portfolio in Ethiopia, comprising 22 projects, totaled $1.24 billion as of Sept. 30.

Headquartered in Abidjan, the capital of Ivory Coast, the AfDB is a major bank established in Africa during the 1960s to support African countries’ economic development and social progress.