Businesses Warn Ethiopia Against Frequent Internet Shutdowns
Business people across East Africa have decried the frequent resort to shutting down the internet by the Ethiopian authorities as the first step in managing political demonstrations and riots. This strategy according to them is hurting businesses that rely solely on the internet and also other related outfits that depend on the internet services. This came as Ethiopia partially restores internet services after two weeks of shutdown over protests. The government early this week restored internet connectivity two weeks after taking the entire country offline in response to protests and ethnic violence prompted by the murder of a pop singer.
Wifi connections returned in the early evening, though mobile data connections were not available and certain social media programmes like Facebook and Instagram were not accessible without use of a virtual private network (VPN). A live tracker produced by NetBlocks, a civil society group that promotes digital rights, showed connectivity approaching half the level recorded before the internet was switched off on June 30. Ethio Telecom is the country’s monopoly telecoms provider.
Hachalu Hundessa, the slain singer, was a hero to many members of Ethiopia’s largest ethnic group, the Oromo, especially during years of anti-government protests that swept Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed to power in 2018. The musician’s assassination in Addis Ababa on June 29 — which remains unsolved — sparked days of protests and ethnic violence in the capital and the Oromia region which surrounds it. Police officials have provided death tolls ranging from 179 to 239 in recent days, with most fatalities occurring in Oromia. Calm has returned to most of the country despite widespread rumours that protests would pick up again last weekend.
Ethio Telecom, which is state-owned, has a history of shutdowns during periods of unrest and during more innocuous events like national exams, though the latest nationwide shutdown was the first in about a year. Abiy’s government is preparing to issue two new telecoms licences that would break up Ethio Telecom’s monopoly, and officials want to eventually sell a 40-percent stake in Ethio Telecom, a move they hope will make the firm more efficient.
Kelechi Deca
Kelechi Deca has over two decades of media experience, he has traveled to over 77 countries reporting on multilateral development institutions, international business, trade, travels, culture, and diplomacy. He is also a petrol head with in-depth knowledge of automobiles and the auto industry