Statement By Returnees Caucus

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

It will be recalled that the Returnees Caucus was formed four month ago by individual businesspersons and professionals of diverse political views grouped around shared specific issues of investment and foreign aid. At a meeting held on Monday March 21 at the Sheraton Addis, members and friends of the Returnees Caucus discussed the present situation in Ethiopia focusing on what the role of the donor community aught to be in the country’s development efforts and issued the following four-point statement.

1) Expressing our heart-felt appreciation of the donor community’s debt-cancellation measures, and acknowledging that the crucial elements of the Paris Club’s policy decisions will positively impact Ethiopia’s development efforts, we call on the international community to increase its generous support to this country as it wrestles against formidable of economic challenges.

2) Similarly, confident that the efforts being made by the World Bank and IMF to ensure the continuation of the support provided to Ethiopia’s development scheme will succeed, we express our hope that multilateral financial assistance to the country will be augmented in the coming years. 

3)  Whereas international assistance is pivotal to help Ethiopia reach the Millennium Development Goal and help millions of Ethiopians break out of the poverty trap; and such positive external intervention is also beneficial to us returnees who have invested capital in many private-sector endeavourers, we call for the expansion of international aid to the country.

4)  Finally confident that our brothers and sisters in the Diaspora will share our view that external aid to Ethiopia is critical particularly to the poor of our country, we will continue to make our voice herd emphasizing the need for the continuation of aid to Ethiopia.