Ethiopia’s former Central Bank Governor, the man whose fingers typed the codes that overnight made millions of Ethiopians poorer, has moved on.
He’s now at the African Development Bank, Vice President, no less. A seat at the big table. A round of applause, please.
After all, it’s not every day you can devalue your nation’s currency, choke the private sector, fail to make your central bank “independent,” and still get promoted. But such is life in today’s economic priesthood. Failure is a prerequisite. Loyalty to orthodoxy, a virtue. Damage done? Collateral.
Let’s recall his masterstroke: “exchange rate unification.” That’s what they called it, a technocratic euphemism for a dramatic devaluation. The Birr dropped. Prices soared. Families watched their purchasing power evaporate. A move sold to the public as medicine, bitter but necessary.
And yet, did it cure anything? Inflation fell they say. Temporarily. The IMF was pleased. The World Bank nodded in approval. But in Merkato, the price of teff told another story.
Meanwhile, Ethiopia’s public still doesn’t understand what happened. One morning, their savings were halved in real value. Overnight. Pensioners. Teachers. Small shop owners. All disoriented by the invisible hand of reform.
A Central Bank For Whom?
Before he left, our governor tried to make the National Bank of Ethiopia “independent.” But independent from whom? From a parliament where there is no real debate on money? From a government too busy playing ethnic caught in a cycle of ethnic conflicts to mind monetary policy?
No, in reality, what “independence” means today is dependence on Washington. A central bank “independent” from domestic politics… but obedient to IMF playbooks, debt managers in Paris, and spreadsheets in DC.
It was a noble failure. Government rejected it. Perhaps for the wrong reasons, but reject it they did.
What Comes Next?
Now that the governor is gone, pension intact, reputation burnished, and pockets filled with business-class boarding passes, what should we expect of the next one?
Another polished technician? An economist with a foreign PhD and an accent tuned to Davos frequencies?
Or do we dare ask for something else?
From me , that is, from the point of view of someone who believes economics should serve the people, not the lenders, the next governor should be:
• A nationalist, not the ethno kind, but one who sees value in Ethiopian sovereignty, production, and dignity.
• A realist, who knows that textbook inflation models don’t plant crops or build factories.
• A listener, who talks to farmers, traders, and factory workers, not just visiting consultants.
• A reformer, yes, but one who reformulates the very purpose of monetary policy: not price stability for the sake of bondholders, but full employment, industrial resilience, and internal demand.
What Should the Criteria Be?
• Experience in the real economy, not just in academic modeling or policy seminars.
• Independence of mind, not necessarily institutional independence. Ethiopia’s central bank must be part of a coordinated development agenda.
• Courage, to say “no” when the prescription hurts more than the disease.
• Imagination, to see that money is not scarce, but productive capacity is.
In Conclusion
We wish the outgoing governor the best at AfDB. No hard feelings. After all, he played the game by the rules.
But perhaps it’s time Ethiopia stopped playing by those rules, and wrote some of its own.
The next governor doesn’t need to be a savior. But he (or she) must be more than a technocrat. The people deserve it. The country requires it.
And the time, AS ALWAYS, is now.
Kebour Genna doesn’t mince words when he talks about his mind.
He did what he was expected to do by the government.
Ato Kibour,
What I like about you, unlike the so-called educated class, is your ability to write clearly for the “masses.” I wish you would also write in Amharic so the public would understand what is going on. For a starter, PM Abiy simply has no elementary grasp of how the economy or government works. His hyped recent book የመደመር መንግሥት “governance by medemer” is a hodgepodge of catchy phrases plagiarized to look “native.”
Abiy was who told the public that borrowing from the WB/IMF is like borrowing from mother’s kitchen! ከዓለም ባንክ መበደር ከእናት ጓዳ እንደ መበደር ነው For Abiy, putting the whole country through hell is preferred as long as such a decision allowed his prosperity dream to come true. Remember, he already took us through a destructive war, and preparing yet for another. Abiy’s priorities are not in the public interest, period. Can anyone reading this comment tell me how many hours Abiy spends in his office? He thrives in chaos and so is busy telling tall tired tales that change course on a dime. Look at the kind of people he has surrounded himself with. The parliament is barely educated on policy-making, as is Abiy himself. We are in deep trouble as a country. Individuals like yourself should educate the public in what is going on. Abiy and his henchmen are busy turning the facts around to perform their religious tricks. Abiy is so excitable as to be uncontrollable. Look at the cringe-worthy undiplomatic demeanor he exhibits in the presence of foreign representatives and dignitaries.