Horse-drawn carts, buses full of visitors and trucks piled high with bricks and plywood make their way across the frontier, watched by relaxed soldiers from the two nations’ armies who just months ago stared each other down from trenches carved into the rocky soil.

After 20 years of bloody conflict and grim stalemate, the Ethiopia-Eritrea border is bustling once again, revitalizing frontier towns and allowing the countries’ long-estranged populations to reacquaint themselves.

“We have everything we didn’t have before, from the smallest to the biggest products,” said Abraham Abadi, a merchant in the Eritrean town of Senafe whose shop is now filled with biscuits, drinks and liquor made in Ethiopia.
Yet the border’s re-opening has sparked a surge in refugees and also raised concerns over the black market currency trade that some fear will destabilize the economy.

BACK IN BUSINESS
Once a province of Ethiopia, Eritrea voted for independence in 1993 after a bloody, decades-long struggle.
A dispute over the the border plunged the neighbors into war in 1998, leaving tens of thousands dead in two years of fighting.

The conflict continued as a cold war after Ethiopia refused to honor a UN-backed commission verdict demarcating the border, a policy Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reversed in June.
Flights restarted and embassies re-opened shortly afterwards, and in September, Abiy and Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki re-opened the crossing at Zalambessa, an Ethiopian town on a major route into Eritrea.

The opening was transformative for the town, a strip of shops and restaurants damaged in the war and economically paralyzed by the border closure that now bustles with shoppers.
“We’re selling sandals and these shida shoes,” said trader Ruta Zerai, gesturing to a pile of the open-toed footwear popular with Eritreans.

In Senafe, a trading hub 23 kilometers (14 miles) north of the border, the impact of the rapprochement is clear.
Twice a week, organised groups of Ethiopian merchants cross the border, marked by a bare strip of earth only recently cleared of anti-tank mines, for Senafe’s market days.
They bring with them recharge cards for the Ethiopian telecom whose service can be picked up in parts of the town and teff, the once-scarce grain needed to make the staple injera food.

Some even decide to stay.

“I live where I can get a job. As long as I have a job, I’ll stay here,” Sanle Gebremariam, an Ethiopian currency trader working in Senafe, said at a roadside where buses from both countries congregate.

TROUBLE AHEAD
Heading in the opposite direction are thousands of Eritrean refugees fleeing the country’s repressive government and stagnant economy.
Eritreans, many of whom aim to reach Europe, came across the border when it was closed, but the UN says arrivals in Ethiopia have increased nearly eight-fold since its opening.

Meanwhile, Ethiopian traders are grumbling over the unstable value of the Eritrean nakfa against their birr currency.
“We’re trading together, but the exchange rate is unregulated, unstable and illegal,” said Taeme Lemlem, a bar owner in Zalambessa, echoing similar complaints, made before the border war, that were never resolved.

Getachew Teklemariam, a consultant and former Ethiopian government adviser, said the unregulated trade at the border, where there appears to be little customs or immigration controls, risks opening a “shadow monetary front”.

“The exchange rate is being governed by largely speculative perceptions from both sides of the border,” said Getachew. “The overall trade scenario has to be guided by some strategy.”
Both countries’ governments have said they hope the renewed trade links will boost their economies.

But the neighbors are not equals. Eritrea’s economy has underperformed since the war, while Ethiopia has grown at some of Africa’s fastest rates, which hasn’t escaped the notice of visitors to the country.
“I’m very surprised. I didn’t expect this much development,” said Simon Kifle, an Eritrean air force serviceman who was hurrying back across the border before its sundown closing after his first visit to Ethiopia.

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‘‘The government will reform the Anti-Terrorism Proclamation, the Charities and Societies Proclamation as well as various legislation having to do with the regulation of the media,’‘ Arega quoted the president on Twitter.

Discussions between government and opposition parties to amend provisions the controversial anti-terrorism law in May.

Human rights group have previously accused the state of using the law’s broad definitions against anyone who opposes government policies.

Human Rights Watch has previously said the law “grants authorities the power to prosecute journalists who publish articles about protest movements, armed opposition groups, or any other individuals deemed as terrorist or anti-peace”.

Reforms in Ethiopia
Ethiopia’s government led by prime minister Abiy Ahmed has been championing political reforms including releasing political reforms and reaching out to opposition parties.

Abiy has said his ultimate ambition is to organise democratic elections and pledged to conduct a smooth transition if the ruling coalition loses in 2020.

President Mulatu told legislators to work towards reforming the justice and legal system in order to consolidate democratic gains made in recent months.

‘‘The overriding objective is to ensure that the norms and institutions established in these legislations are compatible with relevant international human rights standards,’‘ said Mulatu.

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The rebranding followed OPDO’s three-day general assembly, that also sacked around 80 per cent of the central committee members, replacing them with ‘young and educated’ officials.
The party also changed its logo, anthem and its governing rules and regulations.
The remaining three member parties, Tigray People Liberation Front (TPLF), Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) and the Southern Ethiopian Peoples’ Democratic Movement (SEPDM) are also scheduled to hold their general assemblies in the coming week.

The Youth
OPDO indicated that the previous leaders were “retired with dignity” to pass the baton to a new generation.
Mr Abiy, who spoke at the closing of the meeting on Saturday, said ODP had decided to give a chance to the youth, who sacrificed with their blood and knowledge to bring about the current reforms in Ethiopia.
The congress also re-elected Mr Abiy and Mr Lemma Megersa to continue serving ODP as chairman and deputy, respectively.
The ruling coalition is expected to hold the long-awaited and a few times postponed general assembly in the coming weeks. The general assembly, which has a total of 1,000 voting members, 250 from each party, is expected to elect its chairman and deputy, among others.

Publicly opposed
The last EPRDF general assembly took place in August 2016.
The big question now is whether Mr Abiy will be re-elected as chairman of the coalition.
Many anticipate that the reform perused by the Prime Minister Abiy were likely to culminate in his his re-election as EPRDF chairman.
On the other hand, some fear that those who were unhappy with his reforms and had publicly opposed him, mainly the old guards, were likely to impede his re-election.

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African News:- Meskel tweeted information from a statement issued by ONLF after the meeting, indicating that ‘the parties reached a common understanding on the issues discussed’.

‘‘They agreed to work together peacefully to protect the interests of the people of the Somali Region and collaborate on national issues including the future of Horn of Africa integration,’‘ read part of the ONLF statement.

The Ethiopian delegation included Ahmed Shide, Federal communication minister & Chairman of the Somali People’s Democratic Party while the ONLF team was led by its chairman Admiral Mohamed Omar.

ONLF’s push for self-determination
ONLF, a separatist group established in 1984, had been labeled a terrorist organisation by the Ethiopian government, until recently when parliament passed a resolution removing three organisations including Oromo Liberation Front (OLF) and Patriotic Ginbot 7 (PG7) off the list.

ONLF has since declared a ceasefire and is now having formal talks with the Ethiopian government.

This week, ONLF’s foreign secretary, Ahmed Yassin Abdi told Bloomberg News that the organisation ‘will demand a referendum on self-determination’.

‘‘We want to achieve self-determination recognized by international law under the current Ethiopian constitution,” Abdi was quoted as saying.

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The Oromo Federalist Congress (OFC) and Oromo Liberation Front (OLF), said they had “reached an agreement to work together to represent Oromia and the Oromo people’s interest.”

Local media portals report that the announcement comes days before the arrival of OLF leader Dawud Ibsa his team. They are expected to return from their base in Eritrea, where they recently agreed a peace deal with the federal and Oromia regional government.

OLF until recently was considered a terrorist organization by the government. OFC on the other hand remained a political group in the country during the height of Oromo protests that rocked the country partly contributing to change in leadership of government earlier this year.

Two of its leaders – Dr. Merera Gudina and Bekele Gerba – became the face of the political struggle as they faced multiple criminal charges and spent long periods in detention. The state has since dropped the cases against them.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has stressed on occasions that the ruling EPRDF coalition was committed to ensuring the Ethiopia goes through free and fair elections in 2020.

Activists and political watchers have increasingly called for Addis Ababa to begin work on reforming the electoral system and the wider political playing field to guarantee a credible process.

A top activist in the Oromo struggle, Jawar Mohammed, in an interview with the Addis Standard news portal stressed the importance of political mergers in order to give the ruling party in the Oromia region a good challenge at the polls.

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