After his trip to Mayotte and Djibouti, Emmanuel Macron arrives this Saturday in Ethiopia for a second trip after that of 2019. The president is coming in particular to inaugurate the former palace of Emperor Haile Selassie which was renovated thanks to French aid from 25 million euros.
Emmanuel Macron arrives in Addis Ababa in the midst of controversy over a mysterious stock of 400 kilos of gold which was transferred from the former imperial palace to the Central Bank in unclear circumstances. Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed announced this in October 2024 without giving details. The opposition and heritage defenders are worried because they have good reason to believe that these 400 kilos of precious metal are not gold bars but the ancient treasure of the imperial palace.
“The fear that this treasure will be melted”
“The Ethiopians whose family worked at the palace think that it is the treasure of Haile Selassie: goldwork, jewelry and golden statues, including those of lions, symbols of the Ethiopian Negus,” explains Charlotte Touati, researcher in the history of ancient Christianity at the University of Lausanne (Switzerland). “What would be dramatic is if these priceless heritage objects were sold or melted down to recover gold at the current price of 32 million euros,” adds the historian. Enat, one of the opposition parties, expresses its fears: “Our history shapes our identity today. Ethiopia should not be a country devoid of history, historical remains or heritage. »
Charlotte Touati hopes that Emmanuel Macron will raise the issue with the Ethiopian Prime Minister. “As a stakeholder in the renovation, it would be interesting for the president or French diplomacy to ask for guarantees because these 400 kilos of gold are part of Ethiopian history and heritage,” says the historian. Contacted, the Élysée did not respond to our questions.
“A rewriting of history”
The French president's brief visit takes place at a time when Ethiopia is in the grip of a new civil war, two years after the end of the conflict in Tigray which left more than 500,000 dead and many rape victims benefiting from a support program financed by France. Abiy Ahmed was criticized for his responsibility in the Tigray war after he had just received the 2019 Nobel Peace Prize.
The new conflict pits the federal government against militias from the Amhara ethnic group, its former allies in the Tigray war. “Abiy Ahmed attacks Amhara heritage which embodies the reign of Emperor Haile Selassie, himself an Amhara. The transfer of the 400 kilos of gold is part of a sort of rewriting of history. The Prime Minister is seeking to recover part of the imperial myth,” says Charlotte Touati.
The war in northern Ethiopia is delaying the restoration project of the rock churches of Lalibela, the holy Orthodox city classified as a world heritage site where Emmanuel Macron announced aid of five million euros in 2019. The fighting is raging there today 'today.
