Capital

‘Split ETC three ways’: consultants

By Groum Abate

Council approves third party vehicle insurance

By Groum Abate

Sunshine Pharmaceuticals merges with Rx Africa

By Andualem Sisay

Publishers’ conclave

By Groum Abate

ETC and Ethiopia’s journey to WTO

By Andualem Sisay

E-commerce the way forward for Africa, new book says

By Andualem Sisay

Ethiopia blocks opposition Web sites - watchdog

By our staff reporter

Ethiopia named biggest backslider on press freedom

By our staff reporter

Thuraya inaugurates sales showroom
Introduces 2nd generation products

By Andualem Sisay

Church plans ART training

By Andualem Sisay

Beating global warming need not cost the earth

Starbucks agrees Ethiopia trademark deal

By Groum Abate

Alumni weekend reunion
Celebrating the past . . . creating the future

By Mina Yirga

‘Caution needed in boosting knowledge economy in Africa’, ECA

By Andualem Sisay

No Canada DV, says Embassy

By Andualem Sisay

Diaspora muslim association meets Meles

By Tsion Aklilu

CUD trial adjourned to June 1

By our staff reporter

Mogadishu mayor bans weapons

By our staff reporter

ILO to launch major new report on discrimination in the work place

By our staff reporter

‘Split ETC three ways’: consultants

By Groum Abate

International consultants advised the government to restructure ETC by dividing it into three separate subsidiaries possibly under a holding company of a network and fixed line operator, a mobile operator and an internet service provider (ISP).
The consultants further suggested at a validation workshop on the Impact of WTO accession on the Telecommunications Services of Ethiopia held on Friday, May 4, that the government should also license a second mobile operator. The study suggests that the mobile operator does not initially have an international gateway license and will use international facilities of ETC. The possible reform scenario also suggests, to license two new ISP’s and allow ISP’s to access the internet through its own backbone facilities. The scenario also suggests the new ISP to build and operate its own local access network but to offer internet access services over these facilities and permit full competition in value added services.
The consultants suggested that the above reform scenario should be done in two years after the corporation starts its reform.
Furthermore the consultants suggested that ETC’s 49% share should be sold to a strategic investor and fully liberalize the ISP market in the third year of reform.
The consultants also suggested that in the 4th year of reform a second fixed line operator and a third mobile phone operator should be licensed. The government should also allow mobile operators to provide international gateway services and to build and operate international facilities.
In addition, in the final year of reform the market for fixed line network operators should be liberalized and license mobile operators subject to availability of spectrum.
Ethiopia still practices a monopoly in almost all segments of its telecoms sector. Total telephone line penetration remains very low. However, the government is intent on privatizing the national operator, Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation, and introducing competition in mobile and Internet services. The mobile sector has been growing by 100% or more per annum in recent years, taking the network to its capacity limits and resulting in major infrastructure expansion efforts. Massive broadband initiatives launched during 2004 and 2005 aim at bringing the country closer to the information society and enabling it to leapfrog to a Next-Generation Network. The national operator, ETC, has budgeted a record amount for the financial year 2005/2006 for infrastructure improvements.
Established in 1952 as Ethiopian Telecommunications Board, then Provisional Military Government of Socialist Ethiopia Telecommunications Service in 1975, Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority in 1981, and finally Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation in 1996 was put on the privatization list for 30% of its equity.
The expression of interest invited potential Strategic Partners to acquire a 30% stake plus management control in the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC). But later it announced the extension of the bid, which is still on hold.
The Government expects the successful Strategic Partner to have requisite technical skills in both fixed and mobile, as well as the requisite financial capacity to expand ETC’s network and help develop the business to international standards.
The ETC business consists of Ethiopia’s incumbent fixed telephony business, Ethiopia’s first and only cellular business, an internet business, and ancillary telecommunications service business.
The government of Ethiopia currently owns 100% of ETC.
Last week ETC as part of the 1.5 billion dollar loan deal signed with the Chinese ZTE for the upgrading of its telephone network, signed a fiber transmission backbone project, mobile network expansion and wireless phone projects.
The two parties on Friday signed a 1.39 billion birr agreement providing for the execution of the three telecom service expansion projects.
Installation of the fiber optic cable would enable the country to have international connections via Kenya in addition to the existing ones through the Sudan and Djibouti.
According to the agreement, 1.2 million mobile telephone lines would be provided to subscribers in Addis Ababa and other eight towns in connection with the upcoming Ethiopian millennium celebration.
Moreover, the first phase of the wireless telephone expansion project with a capacity of 652,000 telephone lines would also be executed.
The projects would increase the number of fixed and mobile telephone service subscribers to over 14 million.
ETC struck the loan deal for a staggering 1.5 billion dollars from ZTE in November at the Sino-Africa Forum held in China.
The corporation has devised a scheme whereby telecom equipment suppliers will make use of this opportunity and arrange vendor financing schemes so that they can supply goods and services as may be required by projects.
When the project is completed, the present 4,000 kms long optical fibre deployment will reach 10, 000kms, the prevailing mobile net work expansion capacity of 1.5mln will reach 7 mln with 3- G high mobile technology (‘Third generation mobile) which is equipped with image, internet and other accessories with soft switches.

Council approves third party vehicle insurance

By Groum Abate

The Council of Ministers passed a bill for an insurance levy for adoption in Ethiopia, which used to be one of the few remaining countries without mandatory third party motor insurance.
The Council of Ministers passed decisions on a bill providing for third-party insurance on road accident.
At its regular meeting the council referred the long awaited bill to the House of People’s Representatives for adoption.
In the fiscal year of 1997 E.C 320 deaths have been recorded while over 22.5 million birr worth of property was lost in Addis Ababa only.
The consequent loses of human lives, disabilities and property destruction was sure to impact the society psychologically, economically and politically.
The bill would facilitate emergency health service for road accident victims and provide third-party insurance coverage for owners of vehicles.
Ethiopia with a population of 77 million and 1.5 cars per 1,000 people has 109,000 cars which are involved in 1,800 fatal crashes per year, or one fatal crash for every 60 cars. The UK with a population of 60.4 million and 434 cars per 1,000 people has 26.2 million cars which are involved in 3,262 fatal crashes per year, or one fatal crash for every 8,031 cars. A car driven by an Ethiopian is 134 times more likely to kill someone than a car driven by an Englishman, according to a recent study made by an international NGO based in the US.
“It's not practical for Ethiopians to have cars. If all Ethiopians had cars, and if they had a life expectancy of 60 years, all Ethiopians would be killed in car accidents in less than 60 years,” the study commented on the amazing figures.
Traffic accidents in Ethiopia are among the highest in the world by far exceeding the rates in Kenya, Tanzania and Zambia.
Around 2,000 people die of car accidents in Ethiopia every year while thousands of others sustain injuries.
According to the Addis Ababa Transport Authority in Ethiopia, over 1,800 people died while more than 7,000 were crippled or injured in 2003. Moreover, the death rate is 136 per 10,000 vehicles and Ethiopia is losing over 400 million birr yearly as a result of road traffic accidents. The share of Addis Ababa city in the total number of accidents was 60 percent in 1989 with annual average traffic accident growth of 31.4%. The council also passed on bills providing for a Multi-modal Transport system, which it said would have significant benefits in easing transit logistics operations, and providing for in-land freight operations, which it said would be vital towards the realization of the country's agriculture-centered development plan, the growth of the private sector and people-to-people ties. Furthermore, the Maritime sector administration bill, which provides for the establishment of an institution which makes the hitherto separate efforts uniform and coordinated, and works to ensure the country's benefits based on international maritime conventions was also passed.

Sunshine Pharmaceuticals merges with Rx Africa

By Andualem Sisay

Rx for Africa, Inc. announced today it has merged with Rx Africa (Ethiopia) PLC, formerly known as Sunshine Pharmaceutical, and Diamond Entertainment Corporation, a publicly held corporation headquartered in Walnut, California.
Rx Africa (Ethiopia) PLC owns and operates a state-of-the-art pharmaceutical plant built on twenty three thousand square meters of land located east of Addis Ababa. The facility was established to manufacture HIV/AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other generic drugs for distribution initially in Ethiopia and eventually throughout Africa. The company is currently producing and marketing a total of six products, and is in the process of scaling up its production with the expectation of producing at least 30 new drugs by late 2007.
“We are proud to join the ranks of publicly traded pharmaceutical companies searching for innovative solutions to the critical challenge of meeting the healthcare needs of those living in Africa,” commented Dr. Mulugeta Bezabeh, new CEO of Diamond Entertainment Corporation and continuing CEO of Rx Africa (Ethiopia) PLC. “We intend to be a major factor in the manufacture and distribution of much-needed medicines not only in Ethiopia, but also throughout Africa. We believe that Ethiopia and many other African countries are poised for very rapid growth of the private sector over the next five years, and Rx for Africa, Inc. intends to be a participant in that growth.”
Dr. Bezzabeh continued, “We are in the process of reworking our facilities to bring them into US Food and Drug Administration and World Health Organization GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) compliance. We expect to have this work completed within calendar year 2007. These upgrades will make Rx Africa (Ethiopia) PLC eligible to receive some of the billions of dollars available from programs such as the President’s Emergency Program for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and various World Health Organization initiatives.
“We are excited and proud to have reached this important milestone, which will bring us credibility and visibility in the U.S. and also allow us to access public capital markets.”
Rx for Africa, Inc. is a holding company headquartered in New York City which was recently acquired by a newly formed subsidiary of Diamond Entertainment Corporation, a publicly traded company. At present, the primary asset of Rx for Africa, Inc. is its 100% ownership interest in Rx Africa (Ethiopia) PLC, a pharmaceutical company based in Ethiopia.
Rx Africa (Ethiopia) PLC is a pharmaceutical company formerly known as Sunshine Pharmaceutical, which owns and operates a pharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Ethiopia.

Publishers’ conclave

By Groum Abate

The Ethiopian Publishers and Printers Association (EPPA), in collaboration with the International Publishers Association (IPA), conducted a half-day seminar on publishing and copyright on Friday May 4, 2007.
At the seminar, subjects on key policies for a successful national publishing industry, the international copyright framework: What are the benefits for publishers, model agreements between publishers and authors, and collective management of reprographic rights were discussed.
At the seminar high officials from the IPA, president of EPPA Muluwerk Gebre Hiwot and Okubay Berhe, Chairman of the Ethiopian Copyright Management Society were present alongside major printers and publishers in the country.
IPA was established in Paris in 1896. It is a Non Governmental Organisation with consultative relations with the United Nations. Its constituency is of book and journal publishers world-wide, assembled into 65 publishers’ associations at national, regional and specialized level.
Regional groups have been established for South East Asia and Pacific (APPA), Latin America (GIE), Arab countries (APA), Africa (APNET), South Asia and the European Union (FEP).
IPA assists its national member organizations when national laws that affect publishers, in particular copyright laws, are reviewed or amended. IPA provides legal advice or participates in the lobbying of national governments or regional associations in cooperation with the relevant member organization.
IPA also monitors cases of violations of freedom of expression or the freedom to publish and intervenes in the case of prosecution and persecution of publishers and authors worldwide.

ETC and Ethiopia’s journey to WTO

By Andualem Sisay

Ethiopia’s commitments to join the World Trade Organization (WTO) and Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC) provisions don’t have to compete with the country’s development objectives, said Taddese Haile, State Minister for Trade and Industry.
“The important issue is that our commitments at the WTO in telecommunications should compliment but not compete with our development objectives,” he said while opening a one-day workshop that brought to table a paper, which evaluates the status of ETC and recommendations towards liberalizing it as part of Ethiopia’s journey towards WTO accession.
The researchers group composed of both foreigners and Ethiopians has also evaluated Ethiopia’s telecommunications sector along with the country’s development and social objectives.
Low levels of penetration of fixed and mobile phones and computers, long waiting lists for fixed service, unsatisfied demand in the cellular mobile services, poor quality of Internet service and ineffectual regulation are listed as the characteristics of ETC by the presenters.
Furthermore, low level of access in rural areas, lack of coherent policy formulation and lack of coordination among government departments and agencies involved in the sector were also indicated in their findings as characteristics that describe ETC. Low levels of revenue from the sector relative to the economy as a whole and mismatched between price and quality of service are mentioned.
In addition, Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority’s standard quality monitoring program is not well organized and is understaffed and therefore ineffectual in ensuring better quality of service. Unavailability of many important services including short message services and service level agreements that enable to hold the operator responsible for failure to meet agreed quality parameters are also the problems that show the inefficiency of ETC.
An almost total absence of private sector participation in the sector, which has a direct link to the country’s journey to WTO accession, is also mentioned as a deficiency of ETC. Since Ethiopia applied for World Trade Organization (WTO) membership, liberalizing the Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation is among the major contentious issues.
ETC is the exclusive provider of local, domestic and international voice services, cellular mobile, internet and telex and telegraph services. Government favors preserving the state owned monopoly for the provision of most telecommunications services and in order to achieve universal access.
Out of the 1,820 mln birr revenue of ETC, 34 per cent is derived from local telephone, 30 per cent from international long distance service, 28 per cent from mobile, 7.5 per cent from the Internet and and 0.5 per cent from telegraph and telex. Between 2000 and 2004 the corporation invested 6 bln birr.
When the characteristics of the telecommunications sector in Ethiopia is compared with other Sub-Saharan African countries, Ethiopia is the least in telecommunication investment per capita by investing half a USD. The country is also the lowest in Africa in cellular mobile telephone penetration, according to the 2005 data, presented at the workshop.
Down stream services: sale of customer premises equipment including PBXs, distribution of Sim cards, and installation and maintenance of outside plant, Virtual Internet: dial-up internet, web hosting, e-mail call center services, and provisioning of global Mobile Personal Communications by Satellite services but only in cooperation with ETC are the services, which have so far been opened to private sector provision.
In conclusion, the paper highlighted that reflection and action on sector reform building on the 2002 Government White Paper and the 2004 Letter of Communications Sector Policy should not only be continued but intensified as the negotiations for accession to the WTO progress and become more urgent.
The need for a well defined policy that is developed through transparent process in which discussions and public consultations where all stakeholders can contribute and play an important role is also recommended. Beyond that a new policy will need to define a comprehensive program for meeting the government’s universal access objectives in a liberalized telecommunications environment.
According to Richard Self, who presented an action plan for telecommunications negotiations in the WTO at the workshop, the Ethiopian government should plan for submitting its own offer, preferably before WTO members make requests as part of preparing itself now for negotiation.
To provide background to the offer in telecommunications, government has to consider visits by telecom experts to Geneva to explain Ethiopia’s objectives in telecom and its position on WTO accession and has to submit background supplementing foreign trade memorandum data on Ethiopia’s telecommunications regime and policy objectives.
Developing support within Ethiopia and among other countries along with obtaining regulatory technical assistance, which includes soliciting national and international donors are also included in Mr. Self’s action plan advice.

E-commerce the way forward for Africa, new book says

By Andualem Sisay

A new book, launched here by the Economic Commission for Africa, on Wednesday evening seeks to underline the importance of the burgeoning electronic and mobile commerce industry for Africa’s economic development.
The book, “African E-Markets: Information and Development”, is the second in a series issued by the Committee on Development Information (CODI) whose annual meeting is currently underway in Addis Ababa. It is co-published by ECA, International Books and the Centre for African Studies in Copenhagen.
The book notes that information and communication technology (ICT) has unleashed a massive, cost-effective way of doing business. ICT accelerates the movement of goods, services, ideas and people which fuels the globalization process. Therefore the power of information to stimulate Africa’s economic potential cannot be underestimated.
The publication looks at the role of issues such as the enabling environment, e-economics, the stakeholders and data in assessing the implications for economic growth, meeting the Millennium Development Goals and poverty reduction.
It makes the point that the African e-commerce model differs significantly from that of the West and Asia. This is due to the continent’s late entry into ICT, which means it has encountered a more advanced technology. The African model is essentially based on mobile telephony, a cash economy, marketplace culture and pre-paid accounts.
But the book also sounds a note of caution. While e-commerce is undoubtedly crucial for Africa’s development, it risks widening the gender gap and further excluding women from a vital economic resource, particularly in rural areas. There are also “cultural barriers” to be overcome in Africa where face-to-face transactions are still preferred and virtual shopping remains a relatively new phenomenon.
Launching the publication, Aida Opoku-Mensah who heads ECA’s ICT division, noted that it was written completely from an African perspective by African experts. She said it was aimed at practitioners and teachers.
Several of the book’s authors were also present at the launch, and stressed the principle that knowledge is the basis of development.
”You can’t be competitive if you don’t take into account information, said Moubarak Lo, one of the contributors. “Africa has a unique chance to integrate into the new technological revolution.”

Ethiopia blocks opposition Web sites - watchdog

By our staff reporter

An Internet watchdog on Tuesday accused Ethiopia of blocking scores of anti-government Web sites and millions of Weblogs in one of sub-Saharan Africa's biggest cases of cyber-censorship.
Web monitor, the OpenNet Initiative, said the Horn of Africa country was stopping citizens from viewing opposition-linked Web sites, and blogs hosted by Blogger, an online journal community owned by Internet search engine Google Inc.
Ethiopia dismissed the report as "a baseless allegation".
"We may have technical problems from time to time," said Information Ministry spokesperson Zemedkun Tekle, "but we have not done anything like that and we have no intention of doing anything like that" according to the Star.
The OpenNet Initiative -- a partnership between Harvard Law School, and universities of Toronto, Cambridge and Oxford -- said it had gathered proof of interference.
"We have run diagnostic tests using volunteers in Ethiopia which indicate that they are blocking IP addresses," OpenNet research director Robert Faris said, referring to the unique numeric addresses of Web sites.
"The evidence is overwhelming that that is what they are doing. ... Most of the sites that we found blocked were related to freedom of expression, human rights and political opposition," he said by telephone from the United States.
The allegations could be embarrassing for the Ethiopian government, which is a major ally of the United States in Africa and has been criticised for a post-election crackdown on the opposition that killed nearly 200 people in 2005.
"I think it's a decision that makes the Ethiopian government look extremely hostile to free speech and to open political discourse," said Ethan Zuckerman, research fellow at the Berkman Center for Internet and Society in the United States.
The Ethiopian blockages are part of a growing global trend, Faris said.
"As recently as five years ago, China, Iran and Saudi Arabia were the only countries that were filtering the Internet. Now we have found two dozen," he added.
The full list of countries will be published later this year in a book entitled "Access Denied: the Practice and Policy of Global Internet Filtering."
OpenNet found some filtering of pornographic and political Web sites in Islamic north African countries including Tunisia.
Some pornographic and anti-Islamic sites were also blocked in Sudan, although the Web sites of many human rights groups critical of the situation in Darfur remained visible.
But it found no evidence to back up reports of online censorship in Eritrea and Zimbabwe. Ethiopia was the only widespread campaign identified in sub-Saharan Africa, the OpenNet report said.
Ethiopia has one of the world's lowest Internet access rates -- only two out of every thousand Ethiopians were logging on in 2003, according to the United Nations Development Programme's latest Human Development Report.
But it also has one of Africa's healthiest blogging scenes, fuelled by a handful of anonymous writers in the capital Addis Ababa and the large communities of politically active Ethiopians in the United States and Europe.
OpenNet said many of Ethiopia's blogs were caught in a blanket blockage of Google's Blogger service, home to millions of blogs worldwide, most having nothing to do with politics.

Ethiopia named biggest backslider on press freedom

By our staff reporter

Ethiopia tops a list of countries where press freedom has deteriorated over the last five years, the Committee to Protect Journalists reports. The U.S.-based media advocacy group says the Ethiopian government has jailed 18 journalists and shut down eight newspapers in its recent crackdown on the press. Katy Migiro in Nairobi has more on the report for VOA.
Ethiopia is the world's worst "backslider" on press freedom, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists' latest analysis. It says that journalists in Ethiopia operate in a repressive climate where they face intimidation and expulsion.
Two other African countries, Gambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, are among the top "backsliders" on press freedoms. Other nations in that category are Russia, Cuba, Pakistan, Egypt, Azerbaijan, Morocco and Thailand.
In Ethiopia, the Committee reports, 18 journalists have been jailed for their work and at least 15 are facing the death penalty for alleged anti-state crimes. Eight newspapers have been banned.
The Committee links the Ethiopian government's campaign against the independent press to the disputed 2005 elections in which the ruling party won a third consecutive term. Riots over the election results ended with the jailing of more than 100 opposition leaders and journalists on charges of conspiring against the government.
Ethiopian government spokesman Zemedkun Tekle dismisses the CPJ's criticisms as inaccurate. He says it was necessary to take some journalists to court because they were behaving as though they were above the law.
"We are not going to accept [that] kind of statement [by the CPJ], because it hasn't really happened," he said. "This statement doesn't show the reality in our country. In order to respect the rule of law, some steps have been taken, some newspapers have been taken to court because of their threat on the constitutional order. The press freedom in Ethiopia is getting stronger and stronger."
The CPJ says the remaining private media outlets now practice self-censorship to avoid being shut down. This has led to a surge in Internet reporting. The CPJ says Websites critical of the government, such as Ethiopian Review, are now being blocked.
Tekle denied this is the government's doing.
"It's not true," he added. "No need of blocking Web sites from the government's side, because this is a democratic country. The constitution guarantees freedom of expressing one's opinion so it is purely a baseless allegation."
The CPJ says its list of 10 countries where press freedom has deteriorated over the past five years reflects a mixture of relatively open countries that have turned increasingly repressive and traditionally restrictive nations where press conditions have worsened.

Thuraya inaugurates sales showroom
Introduces 2nd generation products

By Andualem Sisay

In collaboration with local commercial partners, Thuraya, a global satellite mobile service provider, opened an integrated sales showroom in Addis Ababa on Friday May 4, 2007 as part of the ongoing strategy to push growth in core African markets.
Located in the commercial district of Addis Ababa, the new showroom serves as a modem one-stop shopping outlet for Thuraya's private, business and corporate customers in the growing Ethiopian market. The showroom provides handheld, rural telephony services, DSL, maritime and all other customer care aspects.
It was last year that Thuraya in collaboration with ETC, launched Thuraya’s first generation satellite phones in Ethiopia. In addition to the inauguration of its sales show room in Addis Ababa, Thuraya also introduced two second generation satellite phones i.e SO-2510 and SG-2520.
SO-2510 being the smallest and lightest satellite phone ever made, the Global Positioning System (GPS) feature in the handset facilitates reaching destinations while traveling in remote and unconnected areas within Thuraya’s network.
SG-2520 is the world lightest dual-mode satellite phone, fully equipped with distinctive features such as a built-in camera and high-resolution color screen. It is also a three-in-one integrated technologies handset by comprising satellite, GSM and GPS, offering users unmatched combination of quality and performance.
The showroom has been set up through the cooperation and alliance of the Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporation (ETC), being the national telecom provider and Thuraya as the satellite telecom operator, Afro Space as the local distributor and PROBEX being Thuraya's Service Provider and Distributor respectively.
Thuraya's Chief Commercial Officer, Mr Sultan Al Ghafli pointed out that Thuraya has been giving major attention to Ethiopia, being one of the key markets on the African continent. "We are looking forward to playing a bigger and more effective role with our local partners in supporting and expanding the telecom sector in Ethiopia," he said.
Thuraya Satellite Telecommunications Company, based in the United Arab Emirates, provides mobile satellite services in more than 110 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe and the Middle East. Its service is also available in the Gulf, the Red Sea, the Mediterranean, the Persian Gulf Arabian Sea, the Black sea, and parts of Indian and Atlantic oceans.
The company is planning to launch its third satellite this year to bring countries of the Asia-Pacific region under Thuraya’s foot print and extending its coverage to nearly two thirds of the globe’s population. The company was founded in 1997.

Church plans ART training

By Andualem Sisay

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church said that it is planning to give training on HIV/AIDS for those baptizers who serve patients that come to be treated by holy water in order to be healed from the diseases that they are suffering from, including HIV/AIDS.
This is indicated by Megabi Bluy Seife Silasse Yohanes and Endashaw Wolde Senbet from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, at the monthly round table discussion organized by Internews for journalists from both state and private media.
The purpose of training baptizers came about to teach them on how to treat people living with HIV/AIDS and to stop the baptizers from forbidding people with HIV/AIDS from taking Antiretroviral Treatment (ART) and holy water at the same time.
“The Ethiopian Orthodox Church will not forbid HIV positive people from taking ART side by side to the holy water,” says Megabi Bluy. “Fasting also is not mandatory for these people.”
The program will be given to baptizers that have been identified in some 80 holy water sites is planned to begin next month, according to Endashaw.
Currently the number of people living with HIV/AIDS that believe they can be cured by holy water is increasing. Shenkora, Entoto and Shinkuru Michael holy water places are among the major sites visited by people living with HIV/AIDS.
Critics believe that many people living with HIV/AIDS are using holy water sites for many years to hide themselves from stigmatization of the people in their living place. They recommend that there has to be a re-unification program that will protect these positive people from being separated from the society for many years and ending up dead there.
“There is no law in our church that says one must be baptized with holy water for a specific period of time. As the water is one healing weapon of God, it is only God that knows when some one heals and if someone heals as a miracle it won’t be expressed/revealed upon everyone. Besides, from our Ethiopian Christian practice, church is their first choice and safest shelter as a social security place, especially when they feel desperate.”
Though many people have been claiming that they are cured after getting baptized in these areas, the Ethiopian Orthodox Church has no testing center that gives certificates of healing to a person who was once HIV positive before being baptized and became negative afterwards.
“Even though we have no doubt that God uses any thing or anyone as his weapon to heal His children, there has to be such a center that proves someone is positive before baptized and healed after that,” says Megabi Bluy. This certificate will also help that healed person to be attached with a negative person by legal marriage.
Internews has chosen the topic for its monthly roundtable discussion to give the opportunity for the church to clarify the report that was presented by Sky News, indicating some baptizers act of forbidding people living with HIV/AIDS from taking medicines such as ART side by side to the holy water.

Beating global warming need not cost the earth

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), in the third of a series of reports, said keeping the rise in temperatures to within 2 degrees Centigrade would cost only 0.12% of annual gross domestic product.
The world needs to cut annual emissions of carbon dioxide by between 50 and 85 percent by 2050 to keep global warming in check, a U.N. climate change report said on Friday.
The third report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC) on ways to fight greenhouse gas emissions was finalised after a week-long meeting in Bangkok.

U.N. talks agree report on battling climate change
Climate experts agreed on a U.N. report on Friday that said fighting global warming is affordable and the technology available to slow the growth in greenhouse gas emissions and stave off climate chaos, a senior delegate said.
"It's done," he told Reuters after five days of intense wrangling about how much the battle against climate change would cost and how to go about it.
The talks in Bangkok ran into the early hours as scientists and government officials from more than 100 countries tried to resolve complex issues in the report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).
The report deals with ways to curb rapid growth in greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide from burning fossil fuels and forests, that scientists say are causing global warming. It also says current policies are inadequate.
"With current climate-change-mitigation policies and related sustainable-development practices, global greenhouse gas emissions will continue to grow over the next few decades," a revised draft of the report says.
The formal report, yet to be published, does not set out policies. It reviews the latest science on the costs and ways to curb emissions growth and is designed to be a blueprint for governments. But it says there is a wide variety of technology already available to fight climate change at costs bearable by much of the developing world responsible for a lot of the current growth.
They include as nuclear, solar and wind power, more energy-efficient buildings and lighting. Capturing and storing carbon dioxide spewed from coal-fired power stations and oil and gas rigs is also feasible.
In some cases, such technologies could lead to substantial benefits, such as cutting health costs by tackling pollution. Even changing planting times for rice paddies or managing cattle and sheep flocks better could cut emissions of methane, another powerful greenhouse gas, it says.

Arguments
The report is the third to be released this year by the U.N. panel, which draws on the work of 2,500 scientists. The previous two painted a grim future of human-induced global warming causing more hunger, droughts, heat waves and rising sea levels which would drown low-lying islands.
In Bangkok, China and Europe sparred about the costs and levels of greenhouse gas emissions which ought to be allowed.
Delegates also debated the role of nuclear power. China, the world's number two emitter of greenhouse gases after the United States, wanted the IPCC report to exclude language which would promote stabilising emissions near current levels in part because of the limited economic studies available.
The report says the steeper the emissions cuts, the more costly to the global economy. The amended draft says that in 2030 the costs for mitigating greenhouse gases at stabilization levels of 445 and 710 ppm CO2-equivalent are estimated at between a 3 percent decrease of global GDP and a small increase.
But it says regional costs might differ significantly from global averages. The senior delegate said focusing on 445 ppm (parts per million) was unrealistic given the rapid growth in emissions, particularly from the developing world.
The European Union wants the lowest level possible to achieve its goal of a maximum two degrees Celsius rise in global temperatures, a level it says is a threshold for "dangerous" changes to the climate system. Greenhouse gas concentrations are now at about 430 ppm CO2-equivalent. (IPCC)

Starbucks agrees Ethiopia trademark deal

By Groum Abate

Talks between Ethiopia and US coffee giant Starbucks have ended in an agreement over a long term trademark dispute, a leading charity announced.
Starbucks and Ethiopia are to sign an agreement this month to allow the country to brand its specialty coffee in America, ending a long trademark tussle, according to Oxfam.
The charity said the two sides had agreed in principle on the deal, of which details will be announced after the signing at a yet unspecified date.
'This is an important step for Ethiopia as it engages with coffee companies on its innovative trade marking initiative designed to help alleviate poverty,' Oxfam said in a statement.
Oxfam said it welcomed the news that the government of Ethiopia and Starbucks have agreed in principle to sign a licensing, distribution and marketing agreement that recognizes the importance and integrity of Ethiopia's specialty coffee names.
Ethiopia had applied to trademark its most famous coffee names -- Sidamo, Harar and Yigacheffe -- to control their use and allow farmers to receive a greater share of the retail price.
But in August, the US Patent and Trademark Office ruled in favour of an appeal by the National Coffee Association (NCA), which represents US coffee roasters including Starbucks, against the trademark application.
Ethiopia is the world's sixth largest coffee producer and Africa's top producer and exporter.

Alumni weekend reunion
Celebrating the past . . . creating the future

By Mina Yirga

Kokebe Tsebaha (meaning in Geez morning star) School held the kickoff event to celebrate the School’s 75 years in existence on Saturday and today, welcoming the school community.
Kokebe Tsebeha School crept quietly into the sunlight of existence in 1932, as a small registered school, looking after the education of many famous individuals of today such as Professor Ashenafi Kebede, Dr.Fekadu Gedamu and Brigadier General Legese Tefera among the many brightest luminaries in Ethiopia.
Reflecting on his school experience, Asefaw Damete, chairperson of former student association and event organizing committee said, “At first Kokebe Tsebaha School was believed to be located around Arat kilo area. What has been celebrated here today is the 59th year of the school shift to the new compound which we see now. Yet, enough evidence has not been found to ascertain this fact. Newspapers of that time (which were Aemero and Berhanena Selam) indicated that Kokebe Tesbha is the 3rd best school (after Teferi Mekonene and Saint George) which were founded by the emperor.”
The popular personalities in the minds of the old students were the first director and founder Mr.Peri Karl Michael and Ato Amare Gulelate who had been educating young people to be qualified public servants. Smiles are seen on the faces of alumni when remembering the late schools guard Abeyae Mulatu. The students were never late to join their class session because they were saved by Abeyae Mulatu’s bell which was heard as far as 4 kms.
“We certainly have something to celebrate! It was a collection of alumni — bound by shared experience and fond memories. That wasn’t all we have laid the corner stone for the construction of a building which is going to contain a library and meeting hall,” Says Hailemichael Bekele, one of the former students and member of the bazaar organizing committee.
The celebration was marked by keystone events: paintings, which are made by Atelabachew Reda, an alumni were also on display. Different kinds of festivities and filed games were part of the gala celebration. Old friends hugged each other; adults became children again as they eagerly re-introduced themselves to former teachers.
“This is a truly remarkable opportunity to showcase Kokeb Tsebaha School and its profound impact, past, present and future, on the community at large. Those items are now being carefully stored so they will be preserved for the future. The paintings displayed here are a fond memories to the old students. Lessons on audio visual, agriculture, supervision, teaching trainings, and music were been given apart from the common courses. This school truly gave the basis for many individuals who have now become professors, doctors and artists like, Tsedaniya Geberemarkos, Dagmawi Ali, Abate Mekuria and many others,” says Workeneh Kefelae, Coordinator of the exhibition committee.

‘Caution needed in boosting knowledge economy in Africa’, ECA

By Andualem Sisay

A high-level meeting on development information opened here on Tuesday, May 1, 2007 with a call to tap into the emerging knowledge economy to tackle employment challenges in Africa.
In his opening address to the fifth Committee on Development Information (CODI-V), Abdoulie Janneh, the Executive Secretary of the Economic Commission for Africa, which is hosting the event, said the continent cannot ignore the basic fact that the knowledge economy is key to long term growth.
”Do we have the requisite skills base, the right workforce or what is now termed ‘knowledge workers’, that can lead this continent into the knowledge age and economy?” he asked.
But he pointed out that there were dangers associated with rising numbers of knowledge workers. Not only could they be lost to countries where the knowledge industries were more advanced, but also the demand for less-skilled employees could be at risk.
Africa could again be disadvantaged, aggravating unemployment problems and reducing the human resource capacity to support its homegrown and meaningful knowledge enterprises,” he said.
”To avert this, African countries need to create the means by which they can utilize their skilled workforce, and address how the existing workforce can be re-skilled to meet new challenges.”
”The future of employment creation in Africa’s knowledge economy depends on what actions we take now,” Janneh stressed.
Other speakers noted the importance of embedding information technology to keep up the growth momentum in Africa. This was particularly important for promoting e-health - a fundamental opportunity to boost medical care on the continent.
The keynote speaker, Prof. Yaw Nyarko of New York University, noted that Africa was well placed to take advantage of the knowledge economy to propel the continent forwards, because of two important factors.
Africans, he said, were enthusiastic about education, vital for the sector’s development. And secondly, there was the legendary entrepreneurial spirit which was well suited to individualistic knowledge economy activities. He stressed that Africa should not miss out on the technological revolution.
In the course of the weeklong meeting, four CODI sub-committees will look at the knowledge economy and employment issue from the perspective of data, geo-information, libraries, and ICT.
The meeting - which brings together government experts, practitioners and observers - will then assess the status of the knowledge economy in Africa and call for recommendations to boost employment in this sector. Ultimately, it will set the agenda for ECA’s two-year program on ICT, Science and Technology for Development.

No Canada DV, says Embassy

By Andualem Sisay

A paper that has been on sale claiming that Canada has begun a Diversity Visa program is false says the Canadian Embassy in Addis Ababa.
In its fraud advisory warning (internet frauds, fraudulent job offers, visas for money) sent to Capital, the embassy indicated that Visa and Work Permit applicants may be tricked into buying false documents.
In several cases, the victims are offered high-paying jobs in Canadian hotels or on offshore ships. In other cases, they are promised a visa (sometimes including travel and accommodation) in exchange for money.
The embassy advised the public to protect themselves from being victim of a fraud, to take information only from the official Web site of Canada embassies and to use email addresses of the Canadian government that contain ".gc.ca".
“All forms and guides required to submit an application for any type of visa are available at no cost on the web site. Only our authorized officers inside our diplomatic missions can make the decision whether or not to issue a visa.”
“We never ask applicants to make a deposit to personal bank accounts and we never ask applicants to transfer money via a private money transfer company (like Western Union or Moneygram). Beware of ‘representatives’ who claim that you will get a visa, obtain citizenship or benefit from special treatment from the Canadian government by using their services. The processing fees are the same at all Canadian visa offices around the world. We do not require any other fee.”

Diaspora muslim association meets Meles

By Tsion Aklilu

Bedri International Muslim Federation is an association of Ethiopian Muslims in the diaspora. Nine representatives from the association were sent here to discuss issues close to the Islamic community in and out side the country, with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi.
Topics like establishing an Islamic Bank, strengthening and upgrading of the Islamic organization and the hijab were some of the issues the representatives discussed. According to one of the delegates, Ato Nejib Mohammad, the talks held with the PM were encouraging, “We have raised issues that matter to the Muslim community. Almost all our questions were met with an optimistic attitude: the PM has assured us that establishing a Muslim bank is not a problem as far as it is in the hands of local citizens.” Muslims banks only to save money and the banks are not expected or allowed to charge interest.
The delegation traveled to Tigray, Harar, Awassa and Jimma. On their trips around the regions, they had a chance to view the situation of the Muslim community and Ethiopia at large, said Nejib and explained, “We have talked and shared experiences. We are here to discus issues that are vital interest of Ethiopian Muslim.” Bedri International Muslim Federation is also an active association in Atlanta, America that is now fighting to set Khalid Ahmed free.
Khalid is a young man whose story is not new to Capital’s readers. Our newspaper has featured his open letter five months ago. His ex-wife accused him of circumcising their two years old daughter, after which the court has sentenced him to ten years imprisonment.
The courts final decision has upset him, his family, and the diaspora in Atlanta and Washington DC, America. Even though almost five months have passed since Khalid’s imprisonment, at this moment he is looking for a retrial. According to, his brother Adel Ahmed and the representative of the delegation, they are looking forward to the retrial.
Nejib said that Ethiopians around America have been following the story from the very beginning. “Khalid is like our son, I personally know him, he has put his fate in Allah which is good, but we have to struggler to free him. The courts decision was not fair. The injustice is not only on Khalid but rather on Ethiopian,” said Nejib. He also confirms their agreement to retrial with new a jury, judge, and lawyer, “Our problem was money, now we have raised about 30,000 USD for hiring lawyer we can afford.”
Father Ato Ahmed also said, “The decision is not justified. For me it is an act against Ethiopian.”
Bedri International Muslim Federation and other non-religious diaspora associations are looking for a retrial rather than appealing. The benefit of reappearing is said Nejib, “The lawyer can challenge the contradictory answers of witnesses including the daughter’s and come up with new evidence.”
At the end of next July, Ethiopian Muslim’s from all over the Europe and America will gather in Atlanta, as done every year. On the occasion, Nejib and the association in Atlanta are expecting to hold an auction to raise money for Khalid.
The delegates are expecting to leave Ethiopia today, Sunday May 6, 2007.

CUD trial adjourned to June 1

By our staff reporter

The Federal High Court has ordered that CUD defendants charged with treason receive copies of relevant court rulings given earlier and audio-video evidence submitted against them by the prosecutor.
The defendants had previously made their appeals to the court to obtain the provision in addition for permission to get together to ruminate on their cases.
Accordingly, the court ordered the prosecutor to submit two copies of relevant materials to the court's registrar in five days. It ordered the registrar to then pass the materials on to the prisons administration.
The court also ordered the prisons administration to designate a place to display the materials to the defendants - two tapes a day. The prisons administration has also got a court order to bring the defendants together for a half-day discussions of their defense.
The court pledged to provide the defendants with space for discussion if the prisons administration does not have a facility.
Also to the appeals made earlier by defendants Daniel Bekele and Netsanet Demissie, the court allowed that they be taken to their former places of work to retrieve defense materials.
It ruled out their appeals to get back property taken as exhibits, saying a ruling had already been passed earlier on the matter.
The defendants are expected to come up with their defense evidence on the adjourned date.

Mogadishu mayor bans weapons

By our staff reporter

A former warlord who has long lived by his gun was sworn in as mayor of Mogadishu on Friday and immediately ordered residents of the Somali capital to get rid of their weapons.
But Mayor Mohamed Dheere offered no clear details on how that could be accomplished in a city awash in Kalashnikov rifles, machine guns and hand grenades. Previous efforts to get residents to give up their weapons have been unsuccessful.
"No weapons are allowed in the city," Dheere, who spent 16 years as a warlord struggling for power in this Horn of Africa nation, said at his inauguration ceremony. "Anyone who violates this directive will be punished."
The new police chief, Abdi Qeybdiid, also called for residents to disarm Friday, and said cars with blacked-out or tinted windows must go.
"Anyone who fails to abide by these rules will be brought before the court," he said _ a surprising assertion in a city that has seen little more than chaos for more than a decade.
Dheere is trying to build on a fragile peace carved out by clan deal making and a fierce military crackdown on Muslim militants.
Aid groups say 1,670 people were killed between March 12 and April 26 and more than 340,000 of the city's 2 million residents fled for safety as the government, backed by Ethiopian troops, pressed to wipe out an Islamic insurgency.
It was not clear how long the calm would last _ extremist Islamic leaders have vowed their forces would rise up again. But the violence was also spurred by a struggle for power among Somali clans, and that element may have subsided because of efforts to appease the clans, including the weekend appointment of Dheere as mayor. Dheere's powerful clan, the Hawiye, had complained of being ignored by the government.
Somalia has been mired in chaos since 1991, when warlords overthrew dictator Mohamed Siad Barre and then turned against each other. The current government was established in 2004, but has failed to assert full control.
With the crucial aid of troops from neighboring Ethiopia, Somali forces ousted a militant Islamic group known as the Council of Islamic Courts over the New Year. But the group promised to launch an Iraq-style insurgency, and the capital was soon enduring weeks of artillery battles and shelling between the warring sides.
The relentless violence is among the reasons many Somalis have been reluctant to give up their arms. But in a hopeful sign for the government, several members of the powerful business community in the capital handed over 25 boxes and 20 sacks filled with weapons, saying they would now depend on government forces to protect them.
But violence and crime continues to be a challenge. On Thursday, gunmen seized three boats off the coast of Somalia's semiautonomous Puntland region, said Andrew Mwangura, head of the Kenyan chapter of the Seafarers Assistance Program. Mwangura had no update on the situation Friday.

ILO to launch major new report on discrimination in the work place

By our staff reporter

The International Labour Office (ILO) is to issue a major new report on May 10, 2007 on the state of discrimination in the world of work. The report examines the status of traditional and new forms of discrimination and analyses progress in combating them at the national and global levels.
The report, entitled “Equality at work: Tackling the challenges” will be formally launched on 10 May at a high-level event in Brussels, Belgium by ILO Executive-Director Kari Tapiola, Peter Van Velthoven, the Belgian Labour Minister, Director-General Michael Van Der Pas of the European Commission on Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, and Manuela Tomei, the ILO expert who authored the report.
The report highlights newly emerging forms of discrimination, such as unfair treatment in hiring of younger and older workers, people with disabilities, those living with HIV/AIDS, on the basis of sexual orientation, and others. The report also explores the new challenges stemming from the emergence of practices that penalize people with a genetic predisposition to developing certain diseases or who have lifestyle issues considered unhealthy, such as tobacco use and obesity.
The traditional forms of discrimination based on gender, age, race and social origin, affecting virtually everyone in the world, remain stubbornly resistant to all efforts, including legal measures. The report concludes with a range of policy suggestions and offers a plan of action for achieving equality at work for all.
Four years ago, the ILO provided the first global report allowing a reliable assessment of the extent of discrimination in the workplace. It called upon Governments to take a more integrated approach to eliminating discrimination at work, which imposes large costs on the global economy in unrealized benefits. This year’s report will present a new global agenda building on lessons learned to achieve further progress in the elimination of discrimination is all its forms.

‘Split ETC three ways’: consultants

Council approves third party vehicle insurance

Sunshine Pharmaceuticals merges with Rx Africa

Publishers’ conclave

ETC and Ethiopia’s journey to WTO

E-commerce the way forward for Africa, new book says

Ethiopia blocks opposition Web sites - watchdog

Ethiopia named biggest backslider on press freedom

Thuraya inaugurates sales showroom Introduces 2nd generation products

Church plans ART training

Beating global warming need not cost the earth

Starbucks agrees Ethiopia trademark deal

Alumni weekend reunion Celebrating the past . . . creating the future

‘Caution needed in boosting knowledge economy in Africa’, ECA

No Canada DV, says Embassy

Diaspora muslim association meets Meles

CUD trial adjourned to June 1

Mogadishu mayor bans weapons

ILO to launch major new report on discrimination in the work place

MORE

‘Split ETC three ways’: consultants

Council approves third party vehicle insurance

Sunshine Pharmaceuticals merges with Rx Africa

Publishers’ conclave

ETC and Ethiopia’s journey to WTO

E-commerce the way forward for Africa, new book says

Ethiopia blocks opposition Web sites - watchdog

Ethiopia named biggest backslider on press freedom

Thuraya inaugurates sales showroom Introduces 2nd generation products

Church plans ART training

Beating global warming need not cost the earth

Starbucks agrees Ethiopia trademark deal

Alumni weekend reunion Celebrating the past . . . creating the future

‘Caution needed in boosting knowledge economy in Africa’, ECA

No Canada DV, says Embassy

Diaspora muslim association meets Meles

CUD trial adjourned to June 1

Mogadishu mayor bans weapons

ILO to launch major new report on discrimination in the work place

Thuraya inaugurates sales showroom
Introduces 2nd generation products

Alumni weekend reunion
Celebrating the past . . . creating the future

Thuraya inaugurates sales showroom
Introduces 2nd generation products

Alumni weekend reunion
Celebrating the past . . . creating the future