Mekelle, Ethiopia- In Mekelle, shops are reopening, and banks are resuming services, but residents remain anxious about what comes next. Ethiopian federal forces and allied fighters retook the Tigray regional capital on October 4, as renewed fighting raised fears that the region’s fragile recovery could be derailed once again. Tigray, in northern Ethiopia, is still recovering from the 2020–2022 war between federal forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), the region’s dominant political movement.
For residents, the return of fighting has brought new uncertainty over jobs, education, security and the future. Daily life resumes, but hardship remains. Businesses and financial services are gradually reopening in Mekelle, but many households are struggling to afford necessities.
Delayed salaries have left public employees struggling to cover food, rent and school costs, while years of conflict have depleted family savings. We still have expenses every day, and without our salaries, it is difficult to know how we will manage,” said Gebregziabher, a public servant in Mekelle. The funding crisis has affected the wider public sector.
In March, Tigray’s interim administration said it could no longer cover monthly salaries for about 137,000 civil servants because expected federal budget transfers had not arrived. In April, the regional finance bureau reported an 8.5-billion-birr (about $52,000) funding shortfall affecting salary payments and development projects. For many residents, the reopening of businesses offers only a partial return to normality.
Without reliable incomes and greater security, everyday expenses remain difficult to manage. For students in Tigray, renewed fighting has revived fears of another interruption to their education. Many already lost valuable study time during the previous war and worry about falling further behind.
In Adigrat, Shewit, a grade 10 student, said uncertainty about classes and security had left him worried about his future. I am afraid that if our education is disrupted again, I will lose another year and fall further behind,” he said. Some university students have left Tigray for Addis Ababa, Ethiopia’s capital, to seek transfers to other public universities.
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