Ethiopia is in the midst of a kidnapping epidemic

The government of Abiy Ahmed, Ethiopia’s prime minister, does not want to talk about kidnapping. It would rather discuss its efforts to kickstart a debt-laden economy. On July 28th Abiy announced a series of liberal reforms that enabled a long-awaited deal with the IMF for a $3.4bn loan secured a day later. More market-friendly reforms will encourage donors and investors. But so too would political stability. Negotiations with the IMF had been held up for more than two years by civil war in the northern region of Tigray, in which more than half a million people are thought to have died. Abiy’s government hopes the deal signals to the outside world that Ethiopia is returning to normality.