By Firehiwot Guluma
Since the dictator TPLF seized power, it has been clearly engaged in massive corruption and unethical business practices by national or international business rules. As a ruling party, it not only owns strategic sectors of the economy and engages in commercial and trading activities, it also puts competing private sectors in a hopeless no-win situation. This preponderant economic dominance is also used as a political weapon to harass, incarcerate, dominate, weaken and control opposition forces in order to stay in power indefinitely.
The TPLF, the core political power of Ethiopian government, has transformed the Ethiopian economy from State ownership to the private ownership by political parties, mainly the TPLF, by buying investment assets formerly owned by the government of Ethiopia, as prescribed by the World Bank Report and political coercion by the United States Government. At the same time, the TPLF has also started a huge investment program of its own through sham corporate structures. For example, the TPLF controlled Endowment Fund of Rehabilitation of Tygrai (EFFORT) is a conglomerate with an asset estimated well over a billion Ethiopian Birr involved in business investment in all aspect of the Ethiopian economy.
It was established by expropriating capital equipment from different parts of the country and by the infamous defaulted bank debts. Currently there is no business sector that is free from the involvement of EFFORT. It stretched from production to distribution, from finance to insurance, from wholesale to retail, from real-estate to horticulture, from mining to IT. Peculiarly, this trade empire hasn’t ever been audited by external auditor nor repays the loan it borrowed periodically.
Surprisingly, almost 99.9% of the employees in these innumerable companies of EFFORT are Tigrian; which means that majority of the economy is occupied by either the Tigrian private companies or by the extractive trade empire called EFFORT; and they primarily privileged job opportunity for Tigrians. As the complete cycle of economic dominance and privileged labour market portrays, we are under a severe economic genocide. The following tables show TPLF companies under EFFORT.
Companies with investment capital of 50.000.000 Million Ethiopian Birr
Company NameYear Esr(Ec)CapitalHQBoard chairman
Almedan Garment Factory1995660,000,000 BirrMekeleAbadi Zemu
Mesfin Industrial Company1995500,000,000 BirrMekeleArkebe Ekubay
Mesob Cement Factory1995240,000,000 BirrMekeleAbadi Zemu
Almeda Textile Factory1995180,000,000 BirrMekeleAbadi Zemu
Sur Construction1995150,000,000 BirrA.AbabaArkebe Ekubay
Trans Ethiopia1995100,000,000 BirrMekeleShimelis Kinde
Dedebit Saving & Loan199560,000,000 BirrMekeleAtkilit Kiros
Ezana Mining Development199555,000,000 BirrA.AbabaTewodros H. Berhe
Addis PharmaceuticalsProduction199553,000,000 BirrA.AbabaAbadi Zemu
Tana Trading House Axion Association199550,000,000 BirrA.AbabaSibhat Nega
Total Capital 1,868,000,000 Birr
Companies that did not make their paid-up capital public.
Ambassel CommerceDinsho Share CompanyTigrai Tagai AssociationBrook Chemical Share Company
Dashen Beer FactoryExpress Ethio Travel ServiceTigrai Development PLCComputer Networking Technology
Amhara Meleso MaquaQuamBerhan Building ConstructionStar Pharmaceutical ImportersNational Electromechanical
Saba EmneberedGuna Trade ServicesBiftu DinshoOromia Credit Bank
Adwa Flour FactoryWendo TradingShala AdvertisementNational Geo-Textile
Trans EthiopiaTikal Agri TigraiWalta IndustryAlage Forest Products
Sebhat Nega PLCAddis TransportTikur Abbay TransportMartha poultry
Dima Honey Processinf plantZeleke Agricultural Mechanization PLC Beruk Tesfa Plastic Factory
Aberdele Animal Export CompanyMaichew Particle Board
*Some Board Chairmen might have moved within the parastatals.
*The amount shown on the tables above are initial start-up capitals. The total net worth of the parastatals has quadrupled.
Table Source:Ginbot 7