Capital

Castel uncorks winery plans

By our staff reporter

Lome: Ethiopian’s West Africa hub

By Groum Abate

Ethiopia’s financial laws outdated, survey

By Andualem Sisay

Local contractors undertake 20 major road projects in Addis

By Tedla Yeneakal

Imported cement causes local price tumble

By Tedla Yeneakal

Paul Kagame named Laureate of 2007 African Gender Award

By Andualem Sisay

Indian IT Company eyes Ethiopian market CBB automation tender

Starbucks stirred by Free-Trade film

Ethiopian leather sector promising, UNIDO

By Andualem Sisay

Africa Avenue’s ultra modern makeover

By Tedla Yeneakal

Breaking the silence with informed discussion

By Andualem Sisay

Birr depreciates against dollar

By our staff reporter

Ethiopia’s patriarch attends Delhi Styagraha centenary

By Eskinder Michael

Attack foiled

By Groum Abate

AAU honors Nigerian President, Italian PM

A round up of the 8th ordinary summit of AU heads of state

No national borders in next 15 years, Konare says

The Darfur enigma

Somalia reconciliation

2007 stated African football year

NEPAD/AU integration postponed

Publication highlights best practices in African climate risk management

The publication Climate Risk Management in Africa: Learning from Practice launched at the Eighth AU Summit, shines a spotlight on some of the more notable initiatives in countries throughout Africa.

Ethiopian Millennium to be shared with Africa

Ghana takes AU presidency

Castel uncorks winery plans

By our staff reporter

Mr. Pierre Castel, President of Groupe Castel of BGI – Ethiopia fame, met and held talks with Prime Minister Meles Zenawi on January 31st 2007.
Mr. Castel was in Ethiopia on a short visit to confer with the PM and top government officials, including State Minister of Trade and Industry Tadesse Haile, on the brewery giant’s plans to establish vineyards and a winery to produce first class wines for local consumption and the export market.
“The PM is very interested in the project. It is something that he is passionate about and he has encouraged us enthusiastically,” said a pleased Mr. Castel, commenting on the warm reception and audience granted to him on this his third meeting with the PM. The proposed vineyards are to be planted with superior quality grapes from Bordeaux, France - a region that is synonymous with good wines and spirits.
Mr. Castel explained that wine production is an involved process that ideally would take four years from planting the first vine to producing the first bottle. Initially, the vineyards will cover 100 hectares planted with 500,000 vines, creating permanent employment for up to several hundred people in the countryside. Once the winery is operational, it is estimated that up to 1 million bottles will be produced annually.
Mr. Castel expressed his appreciation of the government’s declared intention to offer his company a choice of plots, the climate and soils of which will be analyzed to meet the exacting specifications of the planned grape variety. A suitable location will be selected after these studies are completed.
Ethiopia’s wine industry had been given a head start by resident Greeks and Italians in the 1950s with reputable wines produced in Asmara, Awash and Dukem, among other places. A legacy of that era are the place names of Mekanissa and Saris still in popular usage today. A few brands had even won various international awards. But the industry entered a period of stagnation and decline after wineries were nationalized by the military regime and production facilities aged and were not upgraded. It is expected that Groupe Castel’s new venture will invigorate a sector that has the capacity to contribute significantly to Ethiopia’s foreign currency earnings.

Lome: Ethiopian’s West Africa hub

By Groum Abate

Ethiopian Airlines has finalized negotiations to set up a hub in Togo’s capital Lome this week, after extensive efforts finally succeeded in setting up a West African hub.
The airline is seeking to set up a hub at Lome to use for its Europe and North America flights.
Sources told Capital that the official signing ceremony would take place in a few weeks.
During his stay at the 8th African Union Summit here in Addis, President Eyadema of Togo visited the facilities of Ethiopian Airlines where he pledged to provide all the assistance to Ethiopian in their efforts to enable the carrier to fly to European and American destinations from Togo in the future.
It is to be recalled that Girma Wake, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, had told Capital that the plan for setting a West Africa Hub at Accra was delayed and that Accra officials had requested Ethiopian Airlines to wait until September, 2006, but had then failed to start discussions.
The partnership was due to be finalized in April, 2006 but has been delayed due to management reshuffling at Ghana International Airport. GIA then requested Ethiopian Airlines for an extension until September 2006.
However, the airline stated that it would no more be obliged to select Accra as its West Africa hub but would look to other strategic locations in West Africa.
Ethiopian Airlines and GIA had agreed in 2005 for Ethiopian to set up its West Africa Hub at Accra, in a partnership that would see the two carriers working together in terms of management and technical support. Ethiopian Airlines had been planning to utilize the Kotoko International Airport built in 1943, as its hub in Ghana.

Ethiopia’s financial laws outdated, survey

By Andualem Sisay

The African Financial Survey, prepared and launched by the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the presence of World Bank, Washington Financial Sector Specialist, Mr. Samuel Maimbo indicated the Ethiopian financial law that is serving since 1960 as the major constraint to the country’s financial sector.
According to Mr. Japheth Katto, CEO of Capital Markets Authority in Uganda put his country’s financial law that is in place since 1961 as the youngest after Ethiopia’s. The survey calls for law reforms in respect of capital markets, pensions, auditors and directors.
The research that is based on responses from senior ACCA members, including leading managers in financial services, companies, regulators, users and opinion-formers in seven African countries: Botswana, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia.
The survey also indicated the need to improve levels of corporate governance, protection of intellectual property rights and a legal system which is acceptable to outside investors.
In addition, it also emphasized an urgent need to provide greater credit support to small and medium-sized enterprises. More education and awareness is needed in finance and technology, while risk management issues need to be addressed, according to the survey.
ACCA is a fast-growing international professional accountancy body with 260,000 students and 110,000 members in 170 countries world wide. It has over 48,500 students and nearly 5,500 members in Africa, supported by 10 staffed offices.

Local contractors undertake 20 major road projects in Addis

By Tedla Yeneakal

Local contractors are undertaking half of Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA) 40 projects planned to be executed in this Ethiopian budget year, an official with the authority disclosed.
Private construction companies are already carrying out 20 projects with the remaining ventures planned for this year to be executed by the government.
According to the official, upgrading and construction of roads has been under way in Addis Abeba with an outlay of over 1.5 billion birr.
When completed by the end of this Ethiopian year, the authority hopes to create a smooth flow of traffic and improve traffic safety and also will see the partial completion of the Addis Ababa ring road project.
Officials of AACRA were on a 15 day official visit to the sites to evaluate the progress of the performance of the companies carrying out the project, and to monitor that works being conducted as planned.
Among the major projects being expedited is the 8.5 kilometer Megenagna–Ayat stretch that would be finalized at the advent of the new Ethiopian Millennium. The major road projects include the Magenagna-Menilk Hospital-Arat Kilo-Wingate span,which is expected to link the Meganagna and Wingate ends of the ring road,and Mexico Square-Pushkin Square-Mekanissa.

Imported cement causes local price tumble

By Tedla Yeneakal

Subsequent to the introduction of cement imports, local cement factories have considerably reduced prices, with Mesobo officially announcing it has lowered its prices.
Company sources disclosed to Capital that the price of one quintal of cement, first grade (OPC) from Mesobo now costs 130 birr, down from the previous price of 150 birr. In Addis Ababa, this same type now costs 165 birr, down from 202 birr.
The second grade of Mesobo cement is now being sold at the factory in Mekele, 750 kms from Addis, at a price of 105 birr while it was previously at 140 birr. In the capital it now costs, 123 birr from the former 175 birr.
According to sources, the price of Mugher cement in the black market has also declined to 158 birr from the former price of cement reached as high as 300 birr a quintal. However, factory price for Mugher still linger at the same levels.
A company official said anonymously that the reason for the reduction is due to the rising demand of imported cement, mainly from Egypt.
It is to be recalled that after Prime Minister Meles Zenawi forwarded to parliament a motion that allows private businesses to import cement to relieve the shortages by re-introducing the forgone system of Francovaluta, MIDROC Ethiopia, owned by Ethio-Saudi business tycoon Sheik Alamoudi signed an agreement with the Ministry of Trade and Industry to build a factory which it is hoped to produce 2.1 million tons of cement a year.
The factories now operating in the country do not meet demand requirements. As a result, the public had been experiencing the unbearable and dire consequences of the inevitable price hike.

Paul Kagame named Laureate of 2007 African Gender Award

By Andualem Sisay

The President of the Republic of Rwanda, Paul Kagame, was chosen by the Selection Committee to receive the African Gender Award at their meeting on Saturday, 27 January 2007, at the African Centre for Gender and Social Development of the Economic Commission for Africa.
"Compared to other countries that reached the final stage of the competition, Rwanda is by far the country with the best performance in the promotion and protection of the rights of women,” stated the President of the jury, Gertrude Mongella.
Presided by the President of the Pan-African Parliament, Mme. Gertrude Mongella, the jury reached the decision to elect President Paul Kagame of Rwanda as the recipient of the 2007 Award.
He will receive the African Gender Award next May in Dakar, where the Award was created and attributed by the Pan-African Centre for Gender, Peace and Development (PACGPD) and Femmes Africa Solidarité (FAS).
The jury's choice was guided by specific criteria and indicators designed to monitor the implementation of the Solemn Declaration on Gender Equality in Africa, for which President Paul Kagame has shown major efforts in his country, in the promotion of women's rights.
Since the 1994 genocide, Rwanda has been distinguished for its integration of women in the reconstruction process, the fight against gender-based violence, the protection of the rights of women and girls, women's rights to economic development and to own property, as well as the rights of women and girls to equal education, particularly in rural zones.
Rwanda is the only country in the world that can count 48% of women deputies in their national Parliament, as well as total gender parity in the attribution of teaching positions in higher education and in the country's judicial system.
The first African Gender Award was jointly attributed in May 2005 to President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa.

Indian IT Company eyes Ethiopian market CBB automation tender

By Eskinder Michael

An Indian based IT company, Infosys, has been getting ready to respond to a tender floated by the Construction and Business Bank of Ethiopia (CBB), and hopes to win the tender, to open a way of tapping the Ethiopian market.
Infosys, one of the biggest IT companies out of Bangalore, has almost finished preparing its proposal of interest and will soon submit that to the CBB. The bank floated a tender looking for an experienced IT company to automate its operations.
“Our company is involved in providing IT solutions to many sectors, and banking is one of them. In the banking sector, we provide our only product called the Finacle, where we automate all aspects of the banks operations, including its branches all over the country. Finacle is a banking product of Infosys and is one of the best universal banking solutions,” V. Gosavi, Regional Manager for Middle East and Africa told Capital.
Infosys has had experience in providing IT solutions for banks and financial sectors in Africa, as it boasts banks in Nigeria, Guinea and Kenya as its customers. “We have done the automation for the Equity bank in Kenya,” he added.
Asked if the company would be interested in contacting other banks, he believes that Ethiopia was a potential market, but that they would like to take matters slowly. “At the moment there are about eight banks in Ethiopia that have the capacity to do business with us. But even with them, it could take time for the management to discuss about the matter and pass a decision, but it is definitely a focus of ours,” Sumit Virmani, Head of Marketing for the banking sector said.
This company has been known to have Boeing, Airbus and Microsoft as some of its huge customers.
Q & A with

Capital - Can you give us a brief background about Infosys? What are the main areas in which you are involved?

Infosys is an IT solutions provider that was established in 1981 with just seven people and in its first year, had a revenue return of 130,000 USD. Now, the company is large enough to command about 17,000 employees and an annual turn over of 3 billion USD. This company defines, designs and delivers IT-enabled solutions that help companies. We want the solutions to focus on providing strategic differentiation and operational superiority to clients.
Our domain of expertise are banking and capital markets, insurance, healthcare, life sciences, retail, automotive, aerospace, transportation, resources, energy and utilities, media and entertainment, hi-tech and discrete manufacturing and communications service.
We started the business in 1981 with just one client, but now we have a bulging list of 488 clients worldwide.

Who are your top clients?

Our customers are some of the biggest in the world. We have provided IT solutions for aerospace companies such as Boeing and Airbus. But most of all, Microsoft is one of our biggest customers. Being a leading IT company in the world, Microsoft outsource their work to us and what people want from Microsoft, but can’t reach them, we provide with the same level of quality and time frame.

What makes your company special in providing IT solutions? What is your status globally?

We work with 55 to 60 thousand of India’s brightest software engineers and we are deliberate and efficient in what we do, and for that we have received several awards, not to mention the Forbes and Asia Money awards. With our integrity and prestige growing, we were the first IT company to be registered in NASDAQ.
As for our future aim, we plan to get into the top 5 IT companies in the world. With a projected aim of securing a 10 billion USD annual revenue by 2010, we also plan to make the top 5 IT companies at the same time.

Can you tell us a little bit about your IT solutions for the banking and financial sectors?

We cover about 70% of the market in India, and many of the Indian banks are our customers. Though there is competition from IBM and HP in Asia, we are well covered in that market. But we are also well covered in the European market as well.
Our new focus market is Africa and as such West African countries are our main customers. The First Bank of Nigeria Plc, a leading banking institution in Nigeria uses our IT solution for banking – Finacle. One of the pillars of Finacle’s value proposition to the bank was its new generation solution architecture, designed to help the bank build an agile business through innovative offerings to the market and a significantly superior speed of response to customers, competitive and regulatory requirements. We also provided the same solution to the Equity bank in Kenya. Tanzania and Egypt are also our other customers.
The aspiration of all banks all over the world is similar as they want to be competitive and leaders in their own creed and so Finacle can be applied in any bank in the world.

Starbucks stirred by Free-Trade film

A campaign by Ethiopia to get a fair price for its coffee - some of the world's finest - kicks off in London Monday as a spokesman for the east African country's impoverished coffee growers meets British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The meeting will be accompanied by a screening of the film "Black Gold" - an exposé of the global coffee industry - to Parliament members at Westminster, who will also be addressed by the Ethiopian ambassador to Britain.
The spokesman, Tadesse Meskela, who is the subject of "Black Gold", together with the film's English makers, brothers Nick and Marc Francis, are a serious irritant to some of the world's coffee giants - in particular Seattle-based Starbucks, whose annual turnover of $7.8 billion (£4 billion) is not much lower than Ethiopia's entire gross domestic product.
Meskela runs the Oromia Coffee Farmers Cooperative Union in Ethiopia, representing about 105,000 coffee growers, and struggles to get the best price - although it is nowhere near high enough to earn them a decent living.
He says the country's premium coffees - Yirgacheffe, Sidamo and Harar - can sell for fair trade export at about $1.60 a pound. After deducting costs, the growers get about $1.10. Roasters can sell the coffee on at $20-26 per pound. Coffee retailers make about 52 espressos from a pound of coffee, worth up to $160 a pound.
"This ratio needs to change," Meskela told the Guardian during a visit to London. "Our people are barefoot, have no school, no clean water or health center. They are living hand to mouth. We need $4 a pound minimum, that's only fair."
Black Gold shows malnourished coffee growers depending on handouts of food from the United States to stave off starvation. The documentary has already been released in the U.S. and goes on general release in the U.K. in April.
What of Starbucks, who are opening about 2,000 cafes a year and have put messages on their website saying Black Gold "incompletely represents the work Starbucks is doing"?
"Starbucks may help bring clear water for one community but this does not solve the problem. In 2005, Starbucks' aid to the third world was $1.5 million. We don't want this kind of support, we just want a better price. They make huge profits; giving us just one payment of money does not help," said Meskela.
Meskela already has the backing of Ed Balls, economic secretary to the Treasury. Balls said: "Delivering trade justice is not just morally right, it is an economic necessity for Tadesse and the farmers.
"We urgently need the WTO talks to start again so that we can make good our promise to deliver trade justice for Tadesse and millions of others in the world's poorest countries."
Starbucks told the Guardian it is paying premium prices to farmers in poor countries, well above the average market price. The pictures of smiling Ethiopians in its cafes, however, belie the reality shown in "Black Gold".
Trademark Battle
The Ethiopian government, keen to get a much better price for a commodity that makes up the bulk of its exports, has been trying to trademark its three prized coffee brands and this is where Starbucks' benevolence turns sour.
Although Starbucks only buys about 2% of its coffee from Ethiopia - accounting for only $6-8 million of the country's $400 million annual exports - it has used its muscle within the National Coffee Association of America to block Addis Ababa's trademarking attempts, as revealed by the Guardian last October.
Ron Layton, a Washington-based lawyer with Light Years IP who is advising the Ethiopians, says successful trademarking could add $88 million a year to Ethiopia's export earnings. He says Europe, Japan and Canada have already registered the trademarks and the U.S. trademark office could do so were it not for Starbucks' opposition. "Starbucks clearly fears that if Ethiopia succeeds, other countries will try to follow and it will cost them money. They have even threatened to stop buying Ethiopian coffee, but that would not matter since they buy so little anyway."
He added that other coffee giants, including Green Mountain, the U.S.'s second biggest speciality coffee distributor after Starbucks, have been willing to engage with Addis Ababa to discuss a voluntary licensing scheme which recognizes their ownership of the coffee brands.
Marc and Nick Francis told the Guardian they were surprised at the opposition their film had provoked from Starbucks, especially as they had not set out to attack the coffee giant. They contacted Starbucks repeatedly during the making of the film but were rebuffed each time.
"The key point of our film is that what is required is that people like the coffee farmers in Ethiopia capture more of the value chain of their product," says Marc.

Starbucks, meanwhile, has gone on a charm offensive, telling its customers "you can feel good about drinking Starbucks coffee", taking its message to YouTube and sending its chief executive to Addis Ababa.

Douglas Holt, a professor of marketing at Said Business School at Oxford University, says the company may be committing brand suicide by continuing to resist the Ethiopian move. "If Starbucks were to live up to its 'Coffee that Cares' values, the company would be championing the Ethiopian trademark project," he argues in a new paper.he company built its brand on a commitment to economic justice for its poor coffee farmers, but now risks losing millions of customers if they perceive it as a hypocrite, he says. "Starbucks must now walk the walk even if it means occasionally making economic sacrifices." (The Guardian)

Ethiopian leather sector promising, UNIDO

By Andualem Sisay

After visiting the Ethiopian Leather Institute and reviewing United Nations Industry Development Organizations (UNIDO) Integrated Program under implementation in the country with investors in the sector and high government officials including Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, UNIDO Director General, Dr. Kandeh Yumkella told Capital that what he observed in the Ethiopian leather products sector can be mentioned as a good example to many African countries.
“I was amazed,” he said, “when one shoe factory owner who began exporting shoes in large quantities to Europe told me that he increased the number of employees he had last year by 400,” he said. “This is why Africans need to focus on sectors such as leather, textile and agro-processing which give them the opportunity to add value to their products in order to transform themselves like the Asian ‘Tiger’ economies.
According to Dr.Yumkella, African countries would quickly transform their economy if they give more focus to add value to their agricultural products rather than sticking to commodity exchange as the sole means of development.
UNIDO Integrated Program for Ethiopia aims at developing technical cooperation activities through an integrated approach for the potential contribution of industry to poverty alleviation in the light of the performance and structure of its manufacturing sector.
The program analyzes the scope for enhancing export and domestic demand-oriented production in key industries, i.e. food manufacturing, textile and garments, leather and leather products, and by bringing about efficiency improvements of primary agro-based resources, with an emphasis on Medium and Small Manufacturing Enterprises (MSME) development, including agro-machinery and safe use of pesticides. The program has a budget of approximately US$ 11 million from 2004-2008.
Dr.Yumkella is planning to add additional staff to the Regional Office for Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, AU and UN/ ECA in order to increase UNIDO’s support to the countries. In addition, he is planning to allocate up to 150 mln USD to African industrial development over the coming five years.
Dr. Kandeh Yumkella served in Nigeria as UNIDO Representative and Director of the Regional Industrial Development Centre, a position he held from 2000 until 2003. From then until his election as Director-General in June 2005, he was a Senior Advisor to the previous Director-General, Carlos Magariños.
Telling the gathering that he belongs to a country that is listed as one of the poorest in the world, during his inaugural speech at UNIDO General Conference in December 2005, Dr.Yumkella urged his staff to deal with “poverty alleviation, not in theory, but in practice.”

Africa Avenue’s ultra modern makeover

By Tedla Yeneakal

The Addis Ababa City Roads Authority (AACRA), is set to float a tender within the next month for construction of a 4.32km road project on Africa Avenue, stretching from Bole International Hotel to Meskal Square and comprising of overpasses with eight lanes.
Eng. Aberra Shibru, Contract Administration and Supervision Department Head of AACRA told Capital that the project entails complex junctions at Wollo Sefer, Rwanda- Zerihun Building and Olympia, each having equal lengths of four inner and outer lanes.
According to Eng. Aberra, the project is planned with a view of having a thoroughfare that is continuous and will ease traffic congestion on the route.
Eng. Zewedie Eskinder & Co. Plc, a local firm, carried out the project design in September, 2005 for a fee of 482,000 birr.
“The tender was scheduled to be floated in January but was delayed until now due to issues of compensation estimates for buildings that might be demolished for the project,” the department head said. “Some buildings around the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and near Saay Pastry have been targeted.”
The project will be financed from the 1.5 billion birr budget allotted for the upgrading and construction of roads this Ethiopian fiscal year.
Local and international contractors will participate in the bid. Eng. Abbera refrained from coming up with an estimate of the project’s cost as it might influence the tender process.
The Addis Ababa City administration Office for the Revision of Addis Ababa master plan includes the upgrading of the major roads, prioritizing the most congested ones including the Debre-Zeit, Ambo, Gotera-Bole, Mekanisa ring road round-about to Sar-Bet junction, Ourael to Bole interchange and Mesquel Sq. to Megenagna.

Breaking the silence with informed discussion

By Andualem Sisay

Envisioning Ethiopia Forum, a new local NGO formed to break the silence created after the controversial May 2005 elections of Ethiopia, launched its first discussion forum on the topic “Media Challenges in a Society in Transition”, yesterday at the Sheraton Addis.
“We need to develop the culture of tolerance with informed public discourse,” says Dr. Dawit Zewde, Conveyer of Envisioning Ethiopia Forum. “We are seeking cross-fertilization of thoughts and reach out to various stakeholders: i.e. elected officials, the media, civil society actors and the public at large. That is how we can facilitate the democratization process in our country.”
This is to ensure that civility in public discourse is popularized and becomes part of Ethiopia's mainstream political culture.”
On the discussion forum, six papers on various topics were presented by scholars in the field and media practitioners.
A paper which explored the need for freedom of expression and how societies hold themselves together by way of information was presented by Professor Abiy Ford, Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication at the Addis Ababa University (AAU) under the title Freedom of Expression as Basic Human Need/Right.
In companion to it, Mekuria Mekasha, a lecturer at AAU School of Journalism and Communication with two decades of media experience in Ethiopia, also described some of the necessary limitations on the access to information and freedom of expression. In his paper entitled Right of Access to Information, he cited limitations that protect minors morals and privacy, as well as government operations, activities and secrets.
In his paper Responsible Media in Divided Society, Franz Kruger on his part presented how it is possible for media professionals to remain neutral, objective and fair to avoid the trap of “you are with us or against us” that comes from reflecting understandably the polarization of different actors in a society under transition. He also cited a media practice that inevitably put the media as pawns to conflicting interest and finally become part of the problem by disseminating one-sided, skewed information to the society that openly enjoys bias.
In addition, Media Regulation: How should it be done? by Debebe Haile Gebriel, Role of the State Media by Solome Tadese and Media Ethics and Responsibilities by Tefera Shawl were other papers. The forum was attended by various groups of the society including both private and state media journalists and ambassadors including the French and British Ambassadors to Ethiopia, who are also members of the forum among others.
The Envisioning Ethiopia forum is a community of volunteers and non-partisan individuals dedicated to fostering public knowledge and understanding of major issues affecting Ethiopia's future.
The group seeks to broaden public discourse through in-depth analysis of Ethiopian political and social life. It seeks to promote civility and tolerance in its debate, and the inclusion of perspectives that enhances democratic values.
The forum evolved in the wake of the political challenge resulting from the 2005 national elections. Brought together in a casual setting, members of the group came together with some members of the diplomatic community to seek common ground and improve the quality of public discussion. The group continued to meet and eventually decided to create a forum that would explore critical issues facing Ethiopia and preserve civic debate for the most beneficial exchange of information.
It brings together a collection of professionals, academics, business and civic leaders, and media practitioners, each of whom has a strong desire and concern to contribute to the betterment of their country.

Birr depreciates against dollar

By our staff reporter

The official exchange rate for buying cash notes and transactions of one USD reached nine Ethiopian birr for the first time.
Since Ethiopia began a free market economy after the fall of the Derg regime, the foreign exchange rate has been determined by market forces. The exchange rate for buying both cash notes and transactions has reached 9.0157 birr for one USD on January 26, 2007.
In common modern usage, devaluation (a reduction in the value of a currency with respect to other monetary units) specifically implies an official lowering of the value of a country's currency within a fixed exchange rate system, by which the monetary authority formally sets a new fixed rate with respect to a foreign reference currency.
A fixed exchange rate, sometimes (less commonly) called a pegged exchange rate, is a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currency's value is matched to the value of another single currency or to a basket of other currencies, or to another measure of value, such as gold.
In contrast, depreciation is most often used for the unofficial decrease in the exchange rate in a floating exchange rate system (a type of exchange rate regime wherein a currency's value is allowed to fluctuate according to the foreign exchange rate).
The value of currency is determined by the interplay of money supply and money demand.

Ethiopia’s patriarch attends Delhi Styagraha centenary

By Eskinder Michael

“The answer for violence, doesn’t lie in violence” Mahatma Ghandi
Head of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, His Holiness Abune Paulos, attended was in New Delhi on Monday January 29, 2006, as India celebrated the Centenary of ‘Styagraha’, Ghandi’s peaceful movement against the British.
Though the pope, donned in his traditional white robe and crown did not deliver a speech out was present at the conference as head of the delegation representing Ethiopia.
India commemorated the Centenary of Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha, which, according to Indians and many across the globe, has no parallel in the world today, with dignified personalities from all over the world attending the conference.
South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former Zambian President Keneth Kaunda, both inspired by the diminutive Indian, also attended the conference, with the former delivering an emotional speech.
Nobel Laurete Tutu, who started his speech by cracking a joke and rambling more than a few words of thanks to the organizers, brought emotion to the conference, as in his own way, he reiterated the beliefs of Ghandi saying, “It is only together that we can prosper and it is only together that we can move forward,” he quoted a scene from an old Hollywood movie, ‘The Defiant Ones’, where Carl Weathers helps his convict friend escape the police.
“The world's nations must heed Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy and provide for all their people while keeping greed in check,” said India's PM Mamohan Singh. "I do sincerely believe that the world cannot sustain the lifestyles of the affluent," Singh added. The speech came as India also celebrated the 59th anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Ghandi.
In a country where the name Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Satyagraha are synonymous, the 100 years of the beginning of the movement was celebrated in colorful manner. The Father of the Nation, as Indians call him, started this unequalled peace and human rights movement while in Johannesburg, South Africa on September 11, 1906 to resist racial discrimination he and his people encountered at the time.
History has it that the movement actually began with a meeting at the Empire Theatre in Johannesburg, where several Indians suffering from racial abuse gathered to listen to their leader. Ghandi convinced the people not to cooperate (the main weapon of the Styagraha), a decision that launched the movement that is still celebrated over half a century after his death.
Literally, Satyagraha means holding firm to the Truth and resisting the Untruth actively, but using only non-violent means. Gandhi described it, as truth force, or soul force. He disliked the English term “passive resistance” saying Satyagraha required activism, not passivity.
The meeting was attended by 300 delegates from over 90 countries and 120 civil society organizations with granddaughter Sofia Ghandi chairing the conference.

Attack foiled

By Groum Abate

An attempt by the Eritrean regime, which received a severe blow on military and diplomatic fronts, to mastermind terrorist attacks has been foiled, the National Intelligence and Security Service and the Anti-terrorism Taskforce under the Federal Police Commission reported on Thursday February 1.
In a joint statement, the two bodies disclosed that an attempt to launch a series of terrorist attacks hatched by senior officials of the Asmara regime and Eritrean explosive experts has been averted.
The attacks had been planned to be carried out during the 8th African Union Summit in which several African leaders, the UN Secretary General, senior officials of the European Union, the Arab League as well as of various countries from across the world were taking part, the statement said.
The Eritrean regime resorted to such desperation as it is increasingly becoming when it became alienated from the international community, owing to its role in backing and supporting terrorist groups in Somalia.
The statement said the summit was concluded successfully since the intended terrorist acts of the Eritrean government were exposed in time.
It said the successful completion of the AU Summit is source of a pride not only to Ethiopians but also to the peoples of Africa.
The statement noted that the AU Summit was held very soon after the Ethiopian defense forces and that of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia crushed extremist forces sponsored by the Eritrean government, international terrorists, and the Oromo Liberation Front.
According to the statement, the Eritrean government ostracized it self from the 8th AU Summit and from other international meetings since its terrorist activities brought about isolation in the political and diplomatic arenas.
The plot of the Eritrean government to carry out terrorist activities in Addis Ababa was foiled owing to the efficient and professional intervention of the National Intelligence Service and the Anti-Terrorism Task Force, the statement said.
Accordingly, the Service and the Task Force in collaboration with the public, apprehended all perpetuators of the intended terrorist acts with their explosives and other accessories just ahead of the summit.
The identity of the people assigned to implement the intended terrorist acts as well as the extent of the sabotage is to made public in the near future, it said.

AAU honors Nigerian President, Italian PM

By Groum Abate

The Addis Ababa University (AAU) has conferred Honorary Doctorate Degrees on Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi.
The university granted Honorary Doctorate Degrees of Law to President Obasanjo and to Prime Minister Prodi yesterday for the remarkable contributions they made to their respective countries, to Africa, and the world.
Prime Minister Meles Zenawi handed out the Honorary Doctorate Degrees to the two leaders.
President Obasanjo on the occasion said that Africans should seek knowledge and skills to resolve the problems of the continent and to bring about growth and prosperity.
Prime Minister Prodi on his part stated that the commitment of Africans to resolve their problems as well as discussions on common issues show a better future for Africa.
He said Africa needs educated and far-sighted leaders so as to curb poverty and conflicts as well as to benefit the continent from international trade relations.
According to Prime Minister Prodi, Italy would further strengthen bilateral cooperation with Ethiopia, especially in the education sector.
Meanwhile, the Kaliti Faculty of Medicine of the Addis Ababa University (AAU), graduated 74 health professionals yesterday for the first time.
Some 21 of the students attended courses on anesthesiology and with the rest graduating in medical science.
Handing out the diplomas to graduates, AAU President Prof. Andreas Eshete expressed conviction that the graduates would make significant contributions to the development of the nation especially in the field of medicine.

A round up of the 8th ordinary summit of AU heads of state

The 8th ordinary summit of the AU heads of state was convened in Addis Ababa from January to 2007 and concluded with an upbeat tone but their deliberations on the troublesome issues of Darfur and Somalia were inconclusive to say the least. The summit did manage to discuss and set in motion numerous initiatives and agendas on which the leaders eventually agreed on.
The apparent inability to resolve the Darfur enigma and the issue of finding peacekeeping troop for Somalia are shortcoming of the summit’s outcome. It is still not certain that the requested 8,000 peacekeepers will be secured. It is even more uncertain whether Sudan’s avowed commitment pledged to UN Secretary General Ban KI-Moon to a joint AU/UN Darfur Mission will materialize as fact.
The Summit was otherwise successful, mainly in cultural and sport areas in which 2007 was officially launched as the International Year of African Football and in a welcome surprise, the upcoming new Ethiopian millennium was adopted by the rest of the continent. Reporter Andualem Sisay has compiled this quick over- view of the 8th ordinary summit of AU Heads of State.

No national borders in next 15 years, Konare says

Addressing the opening session of the Eighth Ordinary Session of the AU Assembly here in Addis on Monday, Alpha Oumar Konare urged African heads of State to aim at a united continent in which there would be no national borders in the next fifteen years.
According to Konare, freedom of movement in Africa is critical in order to save Africans from becoming foreigners on their own soil. “Africa should rely on its own resources and move along with a vision without always having to go to other nations to beg,” he said.
In order to speed up continental integration, the AU Chief Executive encouraged Africans to learn and speak Kiswahili, which he describes as a pan-African language that belongs to no ethnic community. He also emphasized the use and development of African languages according to geographical regions of the continent.
In addition, Konare emphasized the need for Africans to act together and struggle in international trade negotiations in order to fetch better prices for the continent’s raw materials and products.

The Darfur enigma

After conferring on the issue of Darfur with Sudanese President El-bashir here in Addis in the margins of the Eighth AU Summit, the newly appointed UN Secretary General Ban-ki Moon told journalists that they have agreed to deploy a hybrid AU and UN force in Darfur.
“Other than being the greatest humanitarian crisis of the world,” said Ban-Ki moon, “Darfur is also holding back the potential of Sudan as a whole to develop as a peaceful, prosperous and democratic nation …and that, in turn, could hold back the future of the entire sub-region.”
Prior to meeting with President El-bashir, the Secretary General in his address to the Summit indicated Darfur as his top priority. “We must address the regional dimensions of the crisis, he said. “Life saving humanitarian work must be allowed to resume, and civil society in Darfur must have a voice in the peace process. And we must persuade non- signatories to join, while building consensus for the urgent deployment of a UN-AU force on the ground.
Related to the issue of Darfur, South Africa’s Archbishop Desmond Tutu has appealed to African leaders attending the African Union Summit, to subject the Sudanese government to tough and effective sanctions.
“This is a matter of at utmost urgency, he said. “The people of Darfur need action in weeks not months. They have suffered terribly, and they can not wait any longer.”

Somalia reconciliation

Based on the AU’s decision to send 8,000 peace keeping troops to Somalia to create a conducive environment to facilitate inter-Somali dialog on national peace and reconstruction after 16 years, five African countries have announced to send some 4,000 peace keeping troops.
So far, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa are the countries which have pledged to contribute 50 per cent of the required troops.
Indicating his delight by Ethiopian forces beginning to withdraw from Somalia, Alpha Oumar Konare, Chairperson of the AU indicated his fear of a power vacuum that may occur if African countries delay in deploying their troops in time. “…but if the troops of the African Mission in Somalia are not deployed quickly, there could be more chaos. We should do every thing possible now to deploy the troops and get the inter Somali dialogs initiated,” he said.
In a related development, the United States Assistant Secretary for African Affairs, Dr. Jendayi Frazer, who also attended the AU summit, indicated in her press briefing the US commitment to provide the necessary humanitarian and logistics support to the AU. In terms of financial support, the US promised to provide….mln USD and has spent …mln last year for causes related to Somalia.
The European Union, after holding talks with the Somalia Transitional Government President Abdoulahi Yousuf, has also promised to donate 15 mln euros to rebuild Somalia.

2007 stated African football year

At the Eighth African Union Heads of State Summit on which 2007 was stated as African football year, Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi urged all African countries in their collective responsibility to ensure the 2010 World Cup event South Africa hosts will be a success.
He underlined the vitality of the decision of FIFA to let South Africa host the FIFA 2010 World Cup even as it is a privilege for all countries in the continent.
South African President Thabo Mbeki also indicated his belief that the event will benefit diaspora Africans who are away from their homeland.
It is recalled that 2007 is observed as African football year as proposed by Ethiopia in the Khartoum Summit last year. He said that Africans should have their own legacy program so as to work in a systematic manner to make the 2010 event a lasting legacy.
In their speech at the Summit observing the year 2007 as African football year and South Africa’s hosting of the 2010 World Cup, FIFA president Sepp Blatter and CAF president Issa Ayatou also stressed the need to support African football that in the long run with change the dark image of the continent.

NEPAD/AU integration postponed

The Eight AU Summit that elected Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia as NEPAD Chairman, postponed a decision on integration of the new Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD).
Briefing journalists after the summit, “We reviewed the progress made in the integration of the NEPAD into the AU,” said Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo. “In Banjul, we agreed to set up a brainstorming session to look into the issues that are very critical to Africa’s development.”
NEPAD was expected to officially become an institution of the African Union, if the proposal, brought up at the Banjul Summit last year, were adopted.
According to Obasanjo, the NEPAD Summit has now postponed the decision until March, when a similar meeting would be held in Algeria, to confer on the issue.
On Sunday, the summit held two meetings on the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM) Forum and the NEPAD Heads of State Implementation Committee.
The APRM Summit was the sixth in a series since it was established, mainly to champion Africa’s commitment to best practice in self-governance. The APRM Summit reviewed reports presented by Ghana, Kenya and Rwanda, the first among 25 countries that have summated to the review.
Sao Tome and Principe became the latest entrant to the APRM chain, bringing the current membership to 26, while South Africa has agreed to take the governance test this year.

Publication highlights best practices in African climate risk management

The publication Climate Risk Management in Africa: Learning from Practice launched at the Eighth AU Summit, shines a spotlight on some of the more notable initiatives in countries throughout Africa.
“The time has come,” said Ahamadu Babagana, Director of the Department of Rural Economy and Agriculture at the African Union, “to showcase the innovation and commitment with which people are working to address climate change and helping vulnerable populations to cope. And there is no better place to start than with this critical publication focusing on Africa.”
The publication analyzes five case studies of efforts to effectively address the risks associated with a changing climate.
Food security in Ethiopia, flood risk management in Mozambique, malaria management in South Africa, agriculture in Mali (Agrometeorology), and drought insurance in Malawi are described by the publication as the best practices in climate risk management in Africa.
According to Stephen Zebiak, director General of the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI), the publication is also important to other countries besides Africa. “it should also serve as a resource …on how science and technology can be utilized today to address climate risks today , as well as those of the future,” he said.
The publication was jointly produced by several African and global partners.
The Eighth African Union Heads of State Summit focused on two central themes: Science, Technology and Scientific Research for Development and Climate Change in Africa.

Ethiopian Millennium to be shared with Africa

In a move which was touted as a tribute to Ethiopia’s heritage, the African Union agreed on Tuesday to accord the Ethiopian Millennium to be celebrated as the African Millennium.
The measure further highlights Ethiopia's uniqueness of culture and may usher in a new continental outlook in which tradition and milestone events of the nations can be shared by the entire continent.
Ethiopian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Seyoum Mesfin, told journalists that the decision will enable Ethiopia and the rest of Africa to begin a new future.
As it uses the Julian calendar which is seven years behind the Gregorian, Ethiopia did not celebrate the millennium with the rest of the world. The government of Ethiopia has formed the Millennium Festival National Council Secretariat which will coordinate the celebration that begin as of September 12, 2007.
The Secretariat is working on 35 projects that will be implemented during the celebration.
It was not revealed at the Summit exactly how and in what ways the new Ethiopian Millennium will be celebrated across Africa.

Ghana takes AU presidency

The Eighth AU Summit of Heads of State appointed Ghanaian President, John Kufuor the new President of the African Union.
According to Ambassador Sahle-work Zewde, Ethiopian Ambassador to the AU, the decision was reached to commemorate the fiftieth anniversary of Ghana’s independence.
Kufuor’s election marks the end of speculation as to who was to succeed the former immediate president, Sassou Ngueso of Congo, especially after a spirited campaign for the post by Sudanese leader, Omar El Bashir, who had been promised at the AU summit in Khartoum in January 2006, to take the AU’s presidency.
For weeks before its opening, the Eighth AU Summit was under pressure not to give Sudan the Presidency by countries and organizations that cite the Darfur crisis which remains unsolved.
Chad was one which threatened to suspend its participation in the African Union if El Bashir was elected as the President of the AU.
In addition, several African delegations and human rights organizations had stated their opposition to Sudan’s leadership of the AU.
The AU leadership is rotational amongst the four main regions: east, central, south and west, of Africa, and it was East Africa’s turn to be at the helm.