RE: Ongoing insurgency where TK is !!5 Feb 2024 16:13
Q: Most people understand that the conflict in Amhara Region is far away from Tulu Kapi. But could you please give some insight from KEFI’s viewpoint into the Amhara state of emergency and how the Company manages the indirect effects of such distant factors?
A: When TKGM signed the initial Umbrella Agreement in mid-2022, marking the lifting of the Project’s suspension and the re-commencement of launch preparations, TKGM’s commitment to its syndicate and all stakeholders was to manage security in accordance with “red zone” (higher risk category) protocols despite the project area typically rating as “green” (low risk). One of the reasons for this approach is that all syndicate parties are experienced with Ethiopia and expect localised tensions from time to time as democratic reforms initiated in 2018 work their way through society.
TKGM has honored its commitment as regards “red zone” precautionary risk-management and has accordingly expanded its security systems as we approach launch and preparations intensify at the community level as well as corporate.
The TKGM plan is unaffected and is to launch Tulu Kapi over the next few months in line with the Ethiopian Government’s continued upgrade of security protections in the country and preparation of the community.
Independent security assessors Constellis provide detailed monthly reports for the syndicate on Government and TKGM’s preparations but also on the country and regional issues, including insight into the tensions in Amhara which are not a surprise. The recent Constellis reporting has been with a sharpened eye to launch preparations, and has reported that “TKGM’s approach to security at the project site and the transport routes in and out, are sensible, pragmatic and in line with security best management practice”.
As regards distant observers’ perceptions of the potential influence of internal conflicts such as that currently in Amhara, it is worth noting that Gondar, where the current conflict is centred in Amhara, is more than 700km from Tulu Kapi compared with say 500km from Belfast to London. All road routes from Djibouti through Addis Ababa and to Tulu Kapi are unaffected.
To provide some broader context, Ethiopia is approximately five times the size of the UK and double its population. History shows that it is an especially unified and powerful country despite having 80 ethnic tribes and 80 languages, the only one of 54 African counties never to have been colonised, the largest contributor globally to UN Peacekeeping forces and the base for the African Union with over 100 foreign embassies located in Addis Ababa.
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