Africa 2000

Sao Tome and Principe

There is a saying in Amharic – ‘Yemata enjera Yistegn’ – which roughly translates as –May I have wealth in my senior years. This saying is becoming a reality in this small nation which is about to transform itself from abject poverty to Emirates style petro dollar wealth.
Sao Tome and Principe is an archipelago comprising mainly of the namesake islands respectively. It is found in the Gulf of Guinea about 290 kilometers off the Central west coast of Africa. It is Africa’s smallest independent nation. It is only 1001 sq. kilometers in total and consists of a chain of half submerged extinct volcanoes. Volcanic ash, rich in soil nutrients, has made the nation an idyllic island paradise with lush tropical forests.
Sao-Tome and Principe was ‘discovered’ in 1471 by the intrepid explorers of the 14th, 15th and 16th centuries – the Portuguese. It was first settled by Iberian convicts and – surprise – exiled Jews! The Portuguese first established large sugarcane plantations but then brought the slave trade; Coffee and Cocoa were introduced in the early part of the 19th century.
Sao-Tome and Principe became independent in 1975, a year which saw all Portuguese colonies free, following the democratic revolution in Portugal in 1974, Manuel Pinto Da Costa became its first president.
Sao-Tome and Principe began a democratic path in 1987. It was tested by a military coup in 1995 which was soon reversed after Angola brokered an agreement. Another coup in 2003 also endangered democracy but the elected government was restored in 2006.
Large offshore deposits of high grade crude oil have been discovered in the nation’s territorial waters. The oil bonaza is expected to make one of the poorest countries in the world a super rich island paradise.

Facts and Figures

Location- Gulf of Guinea; Gabon and Equatorial Guinea to East
Area-1,001 sq km
Topography-Two main islands are extinct chain of volcanoes, Forested interior.
Population-193,413
Distribution – 38% urban
Ethnic Make-up-Mestizo, Black, Portuguese
Languages – Portuguese (Official), Creole), Fang
Religions –Roman Catholic
Capital City – Sao Tome, pop 57,000
Government Type –Republic
Head of State– President Fradique Melo de –Menezes, since 2001
Head of Government P.M Tome Vera Cruz, since 2006
Currency – Dobra (STD) 6,857 = $ 1 US
Gross Domestic Product - $ 214 mln
Per Capita GDP -$ 1,200
Economy –Construction, textiles, cocoa, coffee, oil, fish
Electricity Production – 20 mln kwh
Literacy – 80%
Life Expectancy – 66 male, 69 female
AIDS Rate – N.A. %
Airports –2
Vehicles –N.A.
Telephones – 7,000 lines
Radios – 319 per 1000 people
TV sets – 229 per 1000.
Daily Newspaper Circulation – N.A.
Internet –20,000 users

Facts and figures are the latest available at time of publication and may not necessarily be the most accurate.

Oriazul in Addis

The Senegal-based group, Oriazul, is a band composed of many talented African musicians. Oriazul performed to an Ethiopian audience at Juventus club, on Saturday November 24, 2007. The group came back to Addis by popular demand which is making band's performance an annual event. Capital's Kirubel Tadesse talked to members of the band introducing to Daniel Gomez band leader and key boardist, Florent Loso, bass guitar player among other band members.

Capital: Tell us about your pervious experiences in Ethiopia?
Daniel : I have been in Ethiopia a few times before. For me this year's performance is the fourth. My first performance was back in 2003 and I used the opportunity to establish contacts and to know places in Addis. After that I brought the band in 2005 and we played in a charity concert. Last year we performed at the Great Run. We were here for two weeks and that gave us an opportunity to reach many Ethiopian audiences, we did eleven concerts in different places like National Theatre, it was a fund raising concert for flood victims.

Capital: How has been public acceptance of your performances?

Daniel : When the organizer told me that I am to go and play in Ethiopia, I wasn't sure it was a smart thing to do. I was in doubt whether the people accepted our music or not; that was back in 2003. I was really surprised by the huge acceptance of the Ethiopian audience. What is nice about music is, it doesn't require audiences to speak the same language, the music itself is the language. After that acceptance, I said that I have to come with the band. In my first concert, when I was playing Jcaba at Sheraton Addis people were singing it 'Beca' and when we finally talked, I understood that both words meant 'it is over' and I realized that there is much similarity in our music and language than we realize.

Capital: Introduce yourself and tell us about your role in the band?

Florent: My name is Florent Loso and I am from the Democratic Republic of Congo. I am Bass Guitarist and this is my second time to come to Ethiopia.

Capital: How did you join Oriazul?

Florent: When I came to Oriazul I tried to listen Cape Verdian music and contribute mine to it. There is a type of music in Cape Verde called 'Funana'. It very speedy and when you compare it with Congolese music; the rhythm is the same so I easily found my way into the band. I like the collaborations, we usually play Cape Verdian music but in concerts we play other African music too which isn't difficult since there is much similarity. For example last time we did a collaboration performance with Tesdenia Gebre Markos and it wasn't at all difficult to sing with her. She was there at the organizer's house and she listened when we were practicing and when she played with us, it turned out nice and we performed together in concert.
Evelyne: My name is Evelyne Dacruz. I am a lead vocalist in Oriazul, and I am from Cape Verde. The concert was wonderful. It was nice to see Ethiopian people accepting and enjoying our music.

Capital: How did you perceive Ethiopia prior to your visit and what do you think now?

Evelyne: I used to think that Ethiopia is small, like Senegal but now when I see it it is a very big and beautiful country. I like the traditional food. You have your own space, streets or some other places aren't much as crowd in Senegal or other African places. It is nice here, I like it very much.
Johnny: I am Johnny King from Congo and I play guitar. Ethiopia is a beautiful country, it is my first time to see this country and I like it very much. Addis Ababa is a very modern city, most roads and recreation centers I see are modern and nice. What I heard about Ethiopia is different from what I see. What I saw on TV were bad things only, all the drought and conflicts are put on air to define Ethiopia but here I see otherwise. I am surprised in a very good way. I know that Ethiopia is the only country that was not colonized and we feel proud of that. The only difficult thing I faced in Ethiopia is communication. Every body speaks English and I am not good at it, nobody speaks French so I find it hard to communicate with people.
Claire: My name is Claire Mbeng and I am from Gabon. I am Lead Vocalist in Oriazul. I have been in Ethiopia on other occasions and this one is my fourth concert. The concerts have been very entertaining. The people have enjoyed our music.

Capital: How is Ethiopia known in Gabon?

Claire: In TV everything looks bad and the beautiful country I got a chance to see isn't known by most Gabonese. The girls and boys ….all of the people are beautiful. If cultural contact like this continues, every thing becomes clear and we can know one another in a better and genuine way.
Sanou: My name is Sanou Diouf, from Senegal and I play saxophone. I know about the history of Ethiopia, the only African country who stayed independent but next to that what we hear is all the bad things as others have stated it. But I like it here and Ethiopia is a country everybody should see and enjoy I enjoyed the concerts and I am sure I am coming back.

Capital: Any final messages?

Tape Laye: Music has an amazing power and all of the world's artists should use it to unite humankind.
Moustapha Drame: I think when we talk about unity of Africa; we are talking about the way we can communicate as Africans. Since music is a language spoken by everybody, it has a key role to play. The Melody and the rhythm communicates with you so if we Strength cultural relations of this kind as seen in Europe, and elsewhere, the unity of Africa is possible. Music holds the key to realizing that dream of African unity.