Mekelle, Tigray – July 2025
More than two years after the guns quieted in Tigray, the promise of economic recovery and private sector growth is slipping through the region’s fingers. A toxic mix of political infighting, propaganda warfare, and unresolved insecurity is choking the region’s fragile business ecosystem, especially for newly established enterprises and investors who hoped to be part of Tigray’s reconstruction.
A Region Ripe for Recovery, Now Paralyzed by Power Struggles
Post-conflict Tigray was expected to be a hotspot for investment, entrepreneurship, and international development. With a resilient population, strong educational base, and untapped natural and cultural resources, Tigray held immense potential for renewable energy, agro-processing, digital innovation, and tourism.
But instead of support, business owners are facing uncertainty and fear. Instead of a roadmap for stability, they are watching political leaders engage in reckless power games, dragging the region into deeper instability.
At the heart of the crisis lies the political schism within the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). The violent removal of former regional president Getachew Reda in late 2024 and the rise of Debretsion Gebremichael’s new faction (Tigray Democratic Solidarity, or “Semeret”) exposed the region to internal chaos at the worst possible moment. Corruption, factional favoritism, and administrative paralysis now dominate Tigray’s political landscape.
Propaganda Over Policy: A Business Climate Derailed
Across Tigray, propaganda has replaced serious policy dialogue. Competing political camps spread fear, misinformation, and conspiracy rather than offering solutions. Public institutions that should facilitate investment, such as the regional investment office, trade bureaus, and licensing agencies, are either stalled or co-opted by political interests.
Entrepreneurs report being extorted, blocked, or ignored if they are perceived as aligned with the “wrong” political group.
Meanwhile, critical infrastructure projects remain frozen, development funds are mismanaged, and diaspora investors are rapidly losing trust in the region’s governance.
Small and Emerging Businesses Hit Hardest
Young entrepreneurs and newly formed businesses, many created by war survivors, returnees, and displaced youth, are bearing the brunt of this instability. These businesses lack the political protection or capital reserves to survive repeated shutdowns, rising operating costs, or regulatory harassment.
Some of the most promising sectors, tech startups, hospitality ventures, creative industries, and women-led enterprises, have collapsed or are relocating operations to safer parts of Ethiopia or abroad.
The result is not just economic loss, but a psychological blow to the generation that should be rebuilding Tigray’s future.
Tourism: The Forgotten Engine of Growth
Tigray is home to some of Africa’s most remarkable historical, religious, and natural attractions, Axum, Gheralta mountains, Debre Damo, and centuries-old rock-hewn churches. The potential for cultural tourism, ecotourism, and heritage-based hospitality is immense.
Yet tourism remains crippled by:
• Insecurity in border areas still occupied by Eritrean forces
• Damaged infrastructure, including roads, hotels, and airports
• Negative media narratives, fueled by political propaganda and war rumors
• Lack of investment incentives or guarantees for tourism operators and investors
No serious strategy has been presented to revive tourism or make it a pillar of Tigray’s economy. Instead, regional officials continue to issue hollow speeches while corruption flourishes in public project allocations.
Political Elites: Protecting Power, Not People
The root problem is clear: regional political elites are prioritizing control over progress.
Rather than uniting for peace, reconstruction, and economic growth, Tigray’s leaders are consumed by internal rivalry, wealth accumulation, and deflecting blame. Politicians accused of corruption and wartime profiteering remain untouched. No meaningful accountability has been established for crimes against civilians, stolen aid, or the sabotage of peace efforts.
The Tigrayan people, entrepreneurs, and workers are paying the price for elite negligence. Every day of uncertainty is a day lost for economic recovery.
Final Outlook: Rebuilding Requires Real Peace, Not Posturing
Tigray cannot attract serious investors or retain its business talent without credible governance, peace, and stability. The region’s economic future depends on:
• Restoring law and order, including in occupied areas
• Depoliticizing economic institutions and protecting businesses from extortion
• Establishing a real economic recovery plan, not slogans
• Holding corrupt officials accountable, regardless of their faction
Until then, Tigray’s entrepreneurs will continue to operate in fear, investment will remain on hold, and the region’s vast economic and tourism potential will remain tragically unrealized.
The message to Tigray’s leaders is simple: stop choosing power over peace. The people need stability, jobs, and dignity, not another political campaign
