Ethiopia recently embarked on a major macroeconomic reform, including market-based currency trading, a departure from past policies. While this has been welcomed by major international financial institutions, many Ethiopians are concerned that it could further exacerbate the rising cost of living. In this context, a Facebook post claims to show protests against the rising cost of living. However, this is incorrect: the photos are old. They show protests against ethnic violence in April 2021 and the disbandment of local security forces in April 2023.
The after in Amharic, published on August 1, 2024, reads: “Rising public uprising in Ethiopia.”
“They are city people who cannot feed themselves because of (Prime Minister) Abiy’s sabotage,” it added, referring to the crowds of people in the photos.
The message is accompanied by two photos showing large groups of people with banners.
Macroeconomic reform
On July 28, 2024, the Ethiopian government launched an extensive macroeconomic reform package, a change supported by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank (archived hereThe reform package allows market-based currency trading, a move that marks a significant departure from the previous policy, when the National Bank of Ethiopia controlled currency trading.
The changes led to a significant devaluation of the Ethiopian birr against the US dollar of around 30 percent on July 29, 2024. The devaluation has now reached more than 50 percent.
The policy change has also led to a golf in commodity prices, distorting the export market and raising public concern (archived here).
However, the photos do not show street protests against economic problems.
Unrelated photos
AFP fact check done reverse image search and discovered that the photos show public gatherings in Ethiopia from 2021 and 2023.
The first photo was published on X on April 4, 2021 by an Ethiopian political activist. According to the accompanying text, it shows an “anti-government protest” against violence against ethnic Amahra in the town of Gilgel Beles, located in the Metekel Zone of Ethiopia’s Benishangul Gumuz region (archived here).
The photo was also shared on Facebook the same day, with a text describing it as a “peaceful protest in the town of Gilgel Beles” (archived here).
AFP reported in February 2021 over ethnic unrest in the Metekel zone, which the United Nations said led to mass displacement (archived here).
The second photo was featured by BBC Afaan Oromoo on April 10, 2023 in a report on protests in the Amhara region against the federal government’s decision to disarm local security forces (archived here).
“Protests in Amhara region sparked by decision to disband regional troops,” the headline reads.
Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s government has begun operations disarm all regional special forces in April 2023 (archived here). In July 2023, an armed conflict broke out between the federal forces and the Fano, a militia group in the Amhara region that opposed the decision to disband the regional forces.
According to the Ethiopian Commission for Human Rights, the conflict has since causes a devastating humanitarian crisis (archived here).
