Ethiopia’s 10-month war has come at a huge human cost, with thousands killed, millions displaced and many in desperate need of assistance. ContentsBanks shut in TigrayMobile phone auction hitPressure to end warBut that’s not the only damage being done to Africa’s second most populous nation – the war has incurred a huge economic cost, too, that could take years to repair. In the capital Addis Ababa, 26-year-old Tigist, who didn’t want her full name to be used, says her monthly expenses have doubled for two reasons: the war that broke out in the northern region of Tigray in November and the coronavirus pandemic. “Before Covid and the conflict, I would pay 1,000 birr [about $22; £16] each month for groceries. Now I spend 2,000 birr,” she says. “Things are more expensive now – phones, food and clothes.”Official statistics show the cost of basic consumer goods has indeed gone up in Ethiopia – they were on average around a […]
Ethiopia’s economy battered by Tigray war
