German
banking giant to open office here
ANGELA MERKEL arrives this week
By Tesfu Telahoun
Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,
is expected to arrive here for a state visit this week.
The Chancellor’s visit is aimed at strengthening the already
close ties with Ethiopia and Africa in general. In a related development,
Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest financial institution
has a announced in a press release it sent to Capital that it is
to open a representative office in Ethiopia, on October 4th 2007.
 MORE
ETC to launch 3G mobile service
By Kirubel Tadesse
The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), is preparing
to launch 3G (third generation) Mobile SIM cards in both post paid
and pre paid services. Sources told Capital that ETC has already
distributed 3G-Sim cards to appraise its performance and is scheduled
to sell the cards in a few weeks time for interested customers.
MORE
Transforming agri-exports for added-value
By Andualem Sisay
About seven months ago, Girma Birru, Minister of Trade and Industry
was in Tokyo, Japan, where he met Mr. Hiroshi Ono, President of
Hanamasa, one of the leading coffee suppliers in Japan. It was a
welcome opportunity for the Minister to request Mr. Hiroshi Ono,
who owns over 100 coffee department stores in Tokyo networked with
over 3,000 coffee stores across Japan, to begin importing value
added Ethiopian coffee.
MORE
India Initiative to train Ethiopian designers
By Kirubel Tadesse
Indian Capacity Building Initiative will train more than forty
Ethiopian designers selected by the Indian Embassy here for fifteen
days starting from October 15,2007
At a briefing held on September 26 at the Indian Embassy library,
Dr. Neeti Sethi Bose, Project Coordinator, explained that each of
the three experts coming from India would give trainings for five
days on female apparels, accessories and life style products (home
décor).
MORE
First real estate expo opens
By our staff reporter
Eighteen real estate developers, finishing material suppliers
and service givers participated in a first ever real estate expo,
at the Hilton hotel, from September 24 to 27 2007.
Ato Elias Assefa, spokesperson of Kokebe Conferences plc which is
the coordinator of the exhibition said, “The main purpose
of this expo is to forge a relationship between real estate developers
and key buyers.’’
MORE
ERA launches phase III roads program
By our staff reporter
Phase III of the Road Sector development Program is to proceed
starting July 2007 and will last for the next 3 years.
The required costs for the project until July 2010 have been estimated
based on the prevailing rates. It is assumed that a total of 3911
km will be rehabilitated/upgraded, 2083 km and 5730 km federal and
rural roads respectively, are planned to be constructed. Parallel
to this, periodic maintenance will be made on 28% of the total federal
network during the three year period. The routine maintenance for
the whole network is assumed to be undertaken yearly.
MORE
Women Traffic Police rule more streets
By Kirubel Tadesse
The number of women traffic police officers in Addis Ababa is
rising, reaching a total of twenty-six. The female officers are
observed working in some of the busier streets such as Autobis Tera,
Eurael Church, Arat Kilo and others in the capital.
Sergeant Daniel Tadesse stated that women traffic officers were
selected from Addis Ababa police women through exams and other criteria
which also apply to men.
MORE
ASER Real Estate goes operational
By Kirubel Tadesse
ASER Real Estate started operations to build eighty houses in
three years time at prices ranging between 1.75 and 3 million birr.
ASER is building the houses on 30,000 square meters it secured at
Eka Tafo, near Ayat. Each house will create jobs for more than twenty
people, with a total of more than 1600 jobs in the three year period.
ASER General Trading, parent company of ASER Real Estate, will build
a shopping center and apartments next to the project.
MORE
Addis to celebrate World Habitat Day
Cities Network to be launched
By Kirubel Tadesse
The Ministry of Works and Urban Development has announced that
Addis Ababa will celebrate this year World Habitat Day starting
from October 1, 2007 as per the United Nations designation to mark
every first Monday of October as World Habitat Day.
MORE
Rejoicing in Abyssinia
By Andualem Sisay
As the plane from New York landed at Bole International Airport
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Imogene Jones was not able to control
her tears. She is one of the several thousands of Abyssinia Baptist
Church followers of Harlem, New York who had always dreamt of visiting
the country that their church is named after - Abyssinia, the old
name of Ethiopia. The Afro-American members of the church consider
Ethiopia as their spiritual land.
MORE
Mobilizing Aid for Trade
By Andualem Sisay
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development
Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO), will jointly organize
the regional review meeting on Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focus Africa
in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 1 – 2 October, 2007.
MORE
Africa has to focus more on mobilizing domestic
resources: UNCTAD
By Andualem Sisay
Making greater use of domestic resources can help more African
countries to achieve sustained and higher economic growth, says
Economic Development in Africa 2007, launched on Wednesday September
26, 2007.
Improving the taxation system in a way that attracts Africans engaged
in the informal economy, which has more than 50 per cent share in
the economy, is among the recommendations of the report. Such an
approach will over the long term reduce overdependence on donor
funding and on the rules that apply to it, according to this new
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.
MORE
GTZ propose cobblestone center
By Kirubel Tadesse
German Technical Cooperation International Service (GTZ-IS), has
proposed to establish a cobblestone paving education center in Adama.
Steffi Noelting, University Capacity Building Program (UCBP), Communication
& Public Relations, told Capital that according to proposed
plans, the center would be able to train thirty teachers and thirty
trainees every two months.
She explained to Capital that paving with cobblestones began in
Egypt 3500 years ago and yet, it is not commonly practiced in Ethiopia
despite its benefits. She further explained that paving with cobblestones
creates many jobs since it is very labor intensive and uses all
natural and locally available materials that don’t depend
on imported oil.
Venezuela: power for the community
By our staff reporter
‘We want the prevalence of communal power over individual
power’, Venezuela’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Luis Marano
Joubrtt told journalists at an Embassy press conference focusing
on constitutional reform in Addis Ababa on September 27, 2007.
MORE
High traffic flow in direct proportion
to economic growth
By our staff reporter
Recent documents show that the average density of roads networks
has increased from 31 km per sq. km in 2002/03 to 39.5 km per sq
km in 2005/06. The increasing accessibility through the expansion
of roads and the associated growing economic activities has resulted
in high traffic flow, raising the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)
along the roads. This was disclosed in a report made on the analysis
of traffic flow patterns in Ethiopia in the last 14 years, by the
Ethiopian Roads Authority [ERA] during the launch conference of
Road Sector Development Program, third phase, on September 24, 2007
at the Sheraton Lalibela hall.
MORE
|
German
banking giant to open office here
ANGELA MERKEL arrives this week
By Tesfu Telahoun
Dr. Angela Merkel, Chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany,
is expected to arrive here for a state visit this week.
The Chancellor’s visit is aimed at strengthening the already
close ties with Ethiopia and Africa in general. In a related development,
Commerzbank, Germany’s second largest financial institution
has a announced in a press release it sent to Capital that it is
to open a representative office in Ethiopia, on October 4th 2007.
The representative office for Ethiopia and eastern Africa will be
established with a ceremony to be held at the Sheraton Addis and
which will include a workshop under the theme ‘the banking
sector’s role and enhancing cooperation between Germany and
Ethiopia’.
In attendance will be the presidents of state and private banks
in Ethiopia as well as the CEO of the Commerzbank AG. The conclusions
of the workshop are to be submitted to the visiting Chancellor Dr.
Angela Merkel.
Commerzbank considers Africa as a rapidly emerging economic opportunity
and to further its links with African market it is also to open
an office in Lagos Nigeria which along with the existing Johannesburg
branch will bring the number of its offices in the continent to
three.
ETC to launch 3G mobile
service
By Kirubel Tadesse
The Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation (ETC), is preparing
to launch 3G (third generation) Mobile SIM cards in both post paid
and pre paid services. Sources told Capital that ETC has already
distributed 3G-Sim cards to appraise its performance and is scheduled
to sell the cards in a few weeks time for interested customers.
The 3G cards are the third generation of mobile phone technology,
offering a wide range of high-speed mobile services, including video
calling and messaging, e-mail, games, photo messaging, information
services and broadband internet connection that reach up to 450-Kilo
byte per second. The 3G-Sim cards ETC will sell require handsets
that support GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) technology.
Sources added that the price of the 3G-Sim cards is expected to
be between 250 and 300 USD. The 3G-Sim card numbers will be 09125
and 09126 for post paid and pre paid users respectively.
Including short message service (SMS) which was re-launched on the
eve of the millennium, ETC is currently giving call waiting, call
diverting, call barring, roaming, and voice mail value added services
in its mobile; pre-paid, post-paid and satellite services, However
the voice mail service is not working properly in pre-paid mobiles,
sources explained.
ETC is going through major expansions as it announced back in August
2007, with the implementation of the Internet bandwidth-upgrading
project, which aimed to address the rapid growth of Internet users
and the ever-increasing consumption of international bandwidth.
The Corporation is currently engaged in the execution of an additional
upgrading project aimed at securing swift Internet connection having
the capacity of a 34 Mbps international link via Djibouti.
ETC also announced that fixed telephone exchange capacity has reached
974,193 in 1998 Ethiopian fiscal year witnessing a 20% growth, while
the number of subscribers also rose to 740,250 in 1998 Ethiopian
Fiscal year compared to 610,347 in 1997 E.F.Y. resulting in
an increment of 21 percent.
ETC also explained that in expanding basic telephone services particularly
in the rural parts of the country, it managed to replace analogue
exchanges with digital automatic exchanges, raising the latter to
449 in 1998 E.F.Y. against 273 in 1997, showing a 64 percent increment.
The Corporation has also finalized mobile network expansion projects
with a capacity of 350,000 and 625,000 lines, which were launched
during the 1997 E.C budget year together with the execution of additional
mobile expansion project having a network capacity of 175,000 lines,
in various parts of the country.
Transforming agri-exports
for added-value
By Andualem Sisay
About seven months ago, Girma Birru, Minister of Trade and Industry
was in Tokyo, Japan, where he met Mr. Hiroshi Ono, President of
Hanamasa, one of the leading coffee suppliers in Japan. It was a
welcome opportunity for the Minister to request Mr. Hiroshi Ono,
who owns over 100 coffee department stores in Tokyo networked with
over 3,000 coffee stores across Japan, to begin importing value
added Ethiopian coffee. Following this, on Monday, September 24,
2007, Mr. Hiroshi Ono visited Yirgachefe coffee farmers and concluded
a sales agreement with Alfoz plc, which inaugurated the next day,
a new coffee roasting, grinding and packing plant built for this
purpose. “We introduced them to several companies with potential
of providing them with value added
coffee and Hanamasa selected Alfoz plc,” says Girma.
“Their choice of company makes no difference for Ethiopia
as our focus is on increasing the income of the country and creating
jobs by promoting value added agricultural products export,”
says Girma who witnessed the signing ceremony.
During the agreement, Mr. Hiroshi Ono also brought with him a French
partner who is to sell the coffee in the European market. “This
will enable Ethiopia to earn more foreign currency from coffee and
create additional employment opportunities,” said Girma.
This agreement makes Alfoz plc, which has been exporting raw coffee
to Japan, the first local company to export directly; roasted, ground
and packed coffee to the Japanese market from Ethiopia.
“As the market is highly controlled by few giant companies
globally, it was not easy for us to access it by providing the local
coffee in such value-added form,” says Ali Hussein Mohamed
Manager and Owner of Alfoz.
Using its plant, the company will be able to produce and export
4 mln Kg of coffee per annum by creating employment opportunities
for 50 citizens. Alfoz plc has invested 15 mln birr for the realization
of this coffee roasting, grinding and packing plant, according to
the manager and owner of the company, which has been engaged in
exporting, washed, and sun dried coffee to USA, China, Europe and
the Middle East.
During the inauguration of Alfoz’s coffee processing and packing
plant, Mr. Hiroshi Ono indicated that his company, which is renowned
for its large skilled workforce to create value-added and finished
products, will take part in the new phase of exporting processed
beans to consumers in Japan and other countries directly. Borrowing
the Ethiopian motto yichalal, meaning ‘it is possible’,
Mr. Ono said: “let’s work hard with the spirit of “yichalal”
to secure a gold medal in the coffee industry.”
Agrarian countries do not earn their due from agricultural products
when compared to those that import these products and add value
to them. When it comes to coffee, the farmers earn the least from
their production. Those who sell the final liquid coffee to customers
are the most to gain.
For instance, last season, a pound of coffee fetched farmers an
average price of $1.45. Figuring in the cost of generator fuel,
bank interest, labor and transport across Ethiopia’s dusty
roads, it netted them less than $1. In the U.S., however, that same
pound of coffee commands a much higher price: $26 for a bag of Starbucks’
roasted Shirkina Sun-Dried Sidamo.
“Since currently we are not at the level of selling our coffee
in cups as the final brew to the global market, we must focus on
adding value to it and earn better income by selling it in roasted,
ground and packed form,” says Minister Girma Birru.
“If we are able to do that at least to half of the coffee
that we used to export without adding value, our farmers as well
as others engaged in the sector will benefit considerably as a result,”
he says.
Currently, Ethiopia exports from 170,000 to 180,000 tons of washed
and sun dried coffee every year.
Realizing the profitability of producing value added agricultural
products for local and export markets and the added attention given
by the government, last week an investor received a license to invest
some 89 mln birr to start sesame production and processing for export,
according to the information we obtained from the Ethiopian Investment
Agency.
India Initiative to train
Ethiopian designers
By Kirubel Tadesse
Indian Capacity Building Initiative will train more than forty
Ethiopian designers selected by the Indian Embassy here for fifteen
days starting from October 15,2007
At a briefing held on September 26 at the Indian Embassy library,
Dr. Neeti Sethi Bose, Project Coordinator, explained that each of
the three experts coming from India would give trainings for five
days on female apparels, accessories and life style products (home
décor). She added that the Initiative expects trainees to
commit to the sessions since it is only five days that each expert
can spend with the designers. She added, “Give us your commitment
for the fifteen days as we and all the experts have and we will
make sure that it will be an experience which is very positive and
valuable for your career in the years to come.
Dr. Neeti explained to the selected designers the rules and regulations
of the Initiative for the fifteen-day training. Some of the rules
resulted in questions from the designers and they were responded
to by the project coordinator. One of the rules which aimed at strengthening
the commitment of the participants stipulates that the Initiative
fines one hundred birr for each session missed. “The money
will be spent on charitable causes,” Dr. Neeti explained.
Dr. Neeti added that at the end of the training, four selected designers
from the four categories would be awarded a fifteen-day study tour
to India. All the participants are to produce at least ten pieces
for a contest scheduled for January 2008. Dr. Neeti explained to
the designers that the pieces they will come up with should be made
with local products as much as possible.
The selected Ethiopian designers would experiment with local materials,
hand loomed cottons and other natural fibers and leathers on the
fifteen day training. It aims to create an opportunity for the designers
that will enable them to come up with ideas to produce new ranges
of affordable apparels, accessories and life style products. The
training aims to provide technical support and create linkages between
the two countries. The capacity building Initiative with designers
was organized to mark the Ethiopian millennium and to celebrate
sixty years of the Independence of India.
First real estate expo
opens
By our staff reporter
Eighteen real estate developers, finishing material suppliers
and service givers participated in a first ever real estate expo,
at the Hilton hotel, from September 24 to 27 2007.
Ato Elias Assefa, spokesperson of Kokebe Conferences plc which is
the coordinator of the exhibition said, “The main purpose
of this expo is to forge a relationship between real estate developers
and key buyers.’’
The expo had been expected to be opened by Ato Berehane Deresa Mayor
of Addis Ababa. However, the Mayor was indisposed and asked to be
excused. Ayat, Fa, Eniy, Akakas, Sunshine, Safe, Pan-Africa and
Kara kore are some of the developers who participated in the exhibition.
Before the opening ceremony the organizers prepared a panel discussion
among developers, the city administration, banks, Finance Ministry
officials and capacity building representatives. In Addis Ababa,
up to 300 thousand people want to build a home and developers want
to know they are able to buy houses from them,’’ Kokebe’s
spokeperson, told Capital.
“We developers want Ethiopian banks to give loans for our
clients because they can not pay the full prices at once. But banks
do not want to give loans for real estate buyers. This may be a
danger for this investment activity,’’ Getachew Haile,
planning and program manager of ENYI told Capital.
ERA launches phase
III roads program
By our staff reporter
Phase III of the Road Sector development Program is to proceed
starting July 2007 and will last for the next 3 years.
The required costs for the project until July 2010 have been estimated
based on the prevailing rates. It is assumed that a total of 3911
km will be rehabilitated/upgraded, 2083 km and 5730 km federal and
rural roads respectively, are planned to be constructed. Parallel
to this, periodic maintenance will be made on 28% of the total federal
network during the three year period. The routine maintenance for
the whole network is assumed to be undertaken yearly.
Based on the cost estimate, the order of magnitude of planed expenditure
is about Birr 35.2 billion out of which 29.7 billion goes for federal
roads or about Birr 9.9 billion per year, Birr 5.5 billion for regional
roads and Birr 1.0 billion for community roads at current (2007)
costs.
The total road network of the country has reached 42,429 km (excluding
community roads) as of June 2007. With a total land area of 1.1
million sq.km, the current road density is 38.6 km per 1000 sq.km.
Over all roads network in Ethiopia has been increasing on average
by 3% each year between 1997 and 2007. This was explained by Ethiopian
Roads Authority (ERA) when opening an implementation assessment
of its ten years performance in the road sector and the launch conference
of Road Sector Development Program phase III/ RSDP III/ at Sheraton
Addis, on September 24, 2007.
During 10 years of RSDP, it was planned to upgrade a total 2080
km of trunk roads with a total budget of Birr 5,059 million. The
actual physical accomplishment as of June 2007 turned out to be
2009 km and the total budget outlay amounted to Birr 5368.1 million.
The physical and financial accomplishment rates are 97% and 106
% respectively.
During the first phase of the Road Sector Development Program (RSDP),
international contractors have been the major implementers of federal
road rehabilitation, upgrading and construction projects with 70%
of total contracts; local contractors have taken 20% and the rest
has been covered by ERA.
In the RSDP II, more emphasis has been given to further enhance
the capacity of private domestic contractors. As a result, the participation
of local contractors has increased. Participation of local contractors/consultants
has increased to more than 65% during RSDP II period on projects
financed mostly with contract values. Classifying the involvement
by type of service, it can be seen that the majority (64%) is consultancy
service while 36% is construction of roads.
“The basic problem of local contractors is finance. The government
should find us funds from international finance institutions like
the World Bank”, owner and general manager of Berta Construction,
Ato Berhane Abate told Capital.
The representatives of donors, regional road authority officials
and more than 150 representatives were present at the conference
chaired by Dr. Kassu Ilala, Minister of Works and Urban Development.
Women Traffic Police
rule more streets
By Kirubel Tadesse
The number of women traffic police officers in Addis Ababa is
rising, reaching a total of twenty-six. The female officers are
observed working in some of the busier streets such as Autobis Tera,
Eurael Church, Arat Kilo and others in the capital.
Sergeant Daniel Tadesse stated that women traffic officers were
selected from Addis Ababa police women through exams and other criteria
which also apply to men. He added, “Starting from the selection
process to their assignment location, everything is based on the
steps and regulation of previous procedures. Nothing has been done
particularly to help them to become Traffic Police; they were chosen
because they qualified.”
A taxi driver Capital talked to at Autobis Tera said that some of
the female traffic officers are more understanding compared to the
men. He added, “Most of them let you go with a warning and
don’t give you a ticket right away. As you see in this area,
people are all over the main road and passengers yell at you to
drop them off mid-street. When you do that you assume like most
Traffic Polices would, the women officers also understand. Though
sometimes that gets you in trouble. I know most of them are confident,
but there are some women traffic police who directly start issuing
tickets thinking that it’s only because they are women that
we are breaking the rules out of disrespect but that is not it.
I am sure they will realize that in few months time.”
Sgt Daniel explained that the performance of the women traffic officers
has been outstanding and added, “I personally saw some of
them on busy streets doing a great job. So far no significant problem
has been reported that reflects on their performance.”
Women officers first appeared during Emperor Haile Selassie’s
period, with five working in Addis.
ASER Real Estate goes
operational
By Kirubel Tadesse
ASER Real Estate started operations to build eighty houses in
three years time at prices ranging between 1.75 and 3 million birr.
ASER is building the houses on 30,000 square meters it secured at
Eka Tafo, near Ayat. Each house will create jobs for more than twenty
people, with a total of more than 1600 jobs in the three year period.
ASER General Trading, parent company of ASER Real Estate, will build
a shopping center and apartments next to the project.
Solomon Alemseged, Managing Director of ASER General Trading, said
that the houses to be built have four design options. “We
are however ready to take designs of our client’s preference
or even make modifications to the design that we already have”,
he added. “I have been in the business for more than twenty
years and I have seen people with the desire and the money to build
houses being scared of the process. They are discouraged with the
tiring process of buying land, hiring a contractor and other routine
tasks that make it difficult for them to start building their own
houses”, Solomon said, explaining opportunities real estate
companies offer to their customers.
The first design option is designated 500-A G + Two, which is built
on 468.77 m2 with a 500-m2 total plot area. The second design, 500-B
G + One, will be built on 373.03 m2 area and 500-m2 total plot area.
Both designs have five bedrooms including steam and sauna. The third
and fourth designs are built on 500-m2 total plots.
ASER Real Estate started operations with seven million birr start
up capital. ELUGI is the consultant company for ASER’s eighty
house project.
Addis to celebrate
World Habitat Day
Cities Network to be launched
By Kirubel Tadesse
The Ministry of Works and Urban Development has announced that
Addis Ababa will celebrate this year World Habitat Day starting
from October 1, 2007 as per the United Nations designation to mark
every first Monday of October as World Habitat Day.
The theme this year, ‘A Safe City is a Just City’, aims
to raise awareness and to encourage reflection on the mounting threats
to urban safety and social justice, particularly urban crime and
violence. World Habitat Day celebrations in Ethiopia involve eight
days of activities starting on 26 September to 3 October and will
feature an exhibition and a programme to be aired twice on national
radio.
According to the Ministry, “Ethiopian cities are known to
be safe in regards to urban crime and violence. The inclusive organic
urban development process of the urban centers that needs to be
understood and nurtured, has achieved such positive results.”
The Ministry further explained on its September 26, 2007 press conference,
“Ethiopian cities are truly a place where everyone’s
right to the city is respected, where the rich and the poor live
side by side. For instance, the capital Addis Ababa as the home
of 25% of the nation’s urban development with a population
in excess of three million and is safer by any standards of crime
and urban violence that we are observing in many cities of the urbanizing
world.”
Capital learned that Ethiopian Cities Network (ECN), will be launched
on October 5, 2007 at the Sheraton Addis in the presence of member
cities and collaborating partners. The idea of establishing a Cities’
Network in Ethiopia first evolved in the Amhara Region. Cities have
made a request to German Technical Development (GTZ) to support
the establishment of a regional cities network.
The ECN will be financed mainly through membership fees. The Ministry
of Works and Urban Development, the World Bank and GTZ are supporting
ECN. Cities Alliance has approved a grant of USD 74,000 for the
start up phase.
The objective of the Ethiopian Cities Network is to provide a forum
for member cities where they can exchange experiences on improvement
and implementation of strategic urban planning processes as well
as innovative approaches for pro-poor urban development. Seventeen
percent of Ethiopia’s total populations live in cities which
are expanding by 4.11% every year.
Rejoicing in Abyssinia
By Andualem Sisay
As the plane from New York landed at Bole International Airport
in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Imogene Jones was not able to control
her tears. She is one of the several thousands of Abyssinia Baptist
Church followers of Harlem, New York who had always dreamt of visiting
the country that their church is named after - Abyssinia, the old
name of Ethiopia. The Afro-American members of the church consider
Ethiopia as their spiritual land.
Mrs. Jones, who is retired from her job as a journalist on the American
NBC network, and the 160 members of the church who came to Ethiopia
with her for two weeks, were all delighted. “Everything I
see here, especially in the rural areas is different and I couldn’t
believe my eyes,” she says after visiting the historical sites
of the country such as the churches of Lalibela, hewn from one monolith,
Axum, Gondar and Bahir Dar.
Les Payene, a journalist for 35 years on the New York based Newsday
newspaper, which is Pulitzer Award winner, also seemed overwhelmed
with what he has observed in Ethiopia. “Unlike any African
countries I visited, the culture, directness of the people and the
independence that you can observe on the face of the people is so
different,” he says comparing his experience of Ethiopia with
the 23 African countries he has visited.
The Abyssinia Baptist Church, which was founded in New York by three
Ethiopians and other Afro-Americans who were against the racism
rampant in the then United States, celebrates 200 years of its anniversary
this year.
Speaking about the overall objective of their visit to Ethiopia,
“Our presence here has something enlightening and divine,”
says Reverend Calvin O. Butts III, leader of the group.
“When I go back to the US, I will tell my friends that I saw
a new heaven and a new earth,” he said on one of the discussions
he chaired entitled, the historic context of Ethiopian-American
relations and the role of the Diaspora in Ethiopian Development,
on Thursday September 27, 2007.
Beyond responding to their spiritual calling, the group plans to
support Ethiopia’s struggle to defeat poverty. “This
is a moment of cooperation on how we contribute to our home’s
(Ethiopia’s) economy by mobilizing our resources and skills
that we acquired from abroad,” said Reverend Butts, who met
with various government officials, including Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi and President Girma Wolde Giorgis.
He believes that they can follow in the footsteps of Israelis abroad,
who are active in transforming their motherland’s economy.
During their stay in Ethiopia, the group has presented a picture
that depicts King Haile Silassie I of Ethiopia presenting a gold
Ethiopian processional cross to the Reverend Adam Clayton Powell
of the Abyssinian Baptist church in New York City in 1954.
Representing State University of New York, Reverend Butts has also
signed an exchange program agreement with the Addis Ababa University,
which awarded the Reverend an Honorary Doctorate Degree.
Though all of them are Afro-Americans, this is the first time that
many members of this group visited Africa. As a result, their perception
about Africa is totally based on the image of the continent created
by western media.
“Media in the West and the US is used for manipulation of
images,” Les Payene said, speaking to Ethiopian journalists
gathered at the Addis Ababa University School of Journalism and
Communication on Wednesday, September 26, 2007. “On most of
these media, we see whites helping blacks; not blacks helping themselves,”
he says.
On one of the traditional dinners she organized for the group, Mrs.
Samrawit Moges, General Manager of Travel Ethiopia Tour Operations
plc, urged them to serve as Ambassadors of Ethiopia from now on
to change this dark image by relating what they have witnessed in
Ethiopia to the rest of the world.
Mobilizing Aid for
Trade
By Andualem Sisay
The Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), the African Development
Bank and the World Trade Organization (WTO), will jointly organize
the regional review meeting on Mobilizing Aid for Trade: Focus Africa
in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on 1 – 2 October, 2007.
The conference is one of three regional meetings organized by the
WTO in preparation for the Global Aid-For-Trade Review meeting in
Geneva in November 2007. The Doha Round of WTO negotiations are
about opening up new trade opportunities. According to critics weak
export sectors or high adjustment costs prevent many poorer countries
from embracing trade liberalization and joining the global market.
The conference is expected to look at ways to mobilize the political
and financial commitments required to address the challenge of making
trade happen using Aid for Trade. Its key objective is to forge
a long-term vision for the region – one in which trade, growth
and global integration become central elements of the development
agenda.
According to the statement sent to Capital, ECA, President Jakaya
Mrisho Kikwete of Tanzania, Mozambique’s former President,
Joaquim Chissano and former UN Secretary-General, Kofi Annan, have
been invited to the conference.
“Many still lack the basic infrastructure – roads, ports,
telecommunications networks – to link exporters to world markets.
Others lack the capacity to formulate effective trade strategies
or to successfully negotiate trade agreements.”
“Today’s increasingly open and integrated global economy
has created huge potential for developing countries to harness trade
as an engine of growth. But to seize this opportunity, they need
the capacity to export successfully and to connect to the global
marketplace,” the statement indicates.
The conference is also expected to bring together key actors such
as trade and finance ministries, donor agencies, international financial
institutions, multilateral and regional organizations, and the private
sector.
A paper summarizing discussions at the event and outlining proposed
next steps will be produced after the conference. Recommendations
will be fed into the WTO’s Global Aid-for-Trade Review in
Geneva on 20–21 November 2007.
Africa has to focus
more on mobilizing domestic resources: UNCTAD
By Andualem Sisay
Making greater use of domestic resources can help more African
countries to achieve sustained and higher economic growth, says
Economic Development in Africa 2007, launched on Wednesday September
26, 2007.
Improving the taxation system in a way that attracts Africans engaged
in the informal economy, which has more than 50 per cent share in
the economy, is among the recommendations of the report. Such an
approach will over the long term reduce overdependence on donor
funding and on the rules that apply to it, according to this new
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) report.
The report argues that increased use of domestic financial resources
and more productive investments would provide African leaders the
“policy space” to define development programs that reflect
their countries’ genuine priorities, giving true meaning to
the rhetoric of “ownership” of economic policies.
The report contends that the “developmental state” has
been a crucial element in the phenomenal economic growth of several
Asian economies. Such economies also have focused much greater attention
on increasing and retaining domestic financial resources and using
them to fuel rapid and sustained economic growth as well as job
creation-approach African countries should emulate.
The strategy is different from the recent African experience, in
which the philosophy has been to reduce government participation
in the economy to conform with the prevailing ideology in favor
of market opening.
The report, however, warns that state involvement in development
should not be seen as repeating past mistakes, such as overprotection
and interventionism.
A country’s economic growth must be generated by internally
integrated economies, the report says.
“This requires strengthening linkages between rural and urban
business activities, and between different economic sectors. Sectoral
integration, in turn, spurs product diversification and economic
transformation. That can mean greater output growth and more savings,
leading to increased investment which sustains the process of economic
growth.”
The report argues that a strategic allocation of investment to sectors
with the strongest linkages to the rest of the economy can create
more jobs and generate growth that benefits larger proportions of
African populations.
Governments could design credit allocation policies, public investment
and expenditure policies, and incentives for the private sector
to invest in priority areas. The report says that strategic integration
into the world economy may require different doses of protectionism
and openness, depending on timing and circumstance.
GTZ propose cobblestone
center
By Kirubel Tadesse
German Technical Cooperation International Service (GTZ-IS), has
proposed to establish a cobblestone paving education center in Adama.
Steffi Noelting, University Capacity Building Program (UCBP), Communication
& Public Relations, told Capital that according to proposed
plans, the center would be able to train thirty teachers and thirty
trainees every two months.
She explained to Capital that paving with cobblestones began in
Egypt 3500 years ago and yet, it is not commonly practiced in Ethiopia
despite its benefits. She further explained that paving with cobblestones
creates many jobs since it is very labor intensive and uses all
natural and locally available materials that don’t depend
on imported oil.
To advertise the potential and benefits of cobblestone paving, the
Municipality of Adama recently commissioned a cobblestone demonstration
area, located in the central marketplace of the city. The Municipality
also decided to pave 40 km of walkways ( 2m across) in the city
using cobblestones. The total area is about 80. 000 meters square
and this work will create jobs for 1190 people. GTZ is currently
training one hundred twenty five people with this trade and the
training will continue for two months.
Cobblestone production starts with uniformed trachyte raw material
blocks with average size of 30 × 40 cm. It is made by hammer
and chisels with 10 cm ×10 cm ×10 cm, 40 cm ×20
cm ×10 cm dimensions of cobblestone and curbstone respectively.
In cobblestone paving using curbstones, workers create a frame around
the area to, keep the cobblestone from tilting outwards. After creating
an even bed of crushed stone, one can place the cobblestones in
the arch design, hammering them down with a cobblestone hammer.
GTZ says that more than one hundred towns in Ethiopia have over
20,000 inhabitants and to pave the walk ways, plazas and resident
lanes in all one hundred fifty towns, it would be necessary to train
approximately 178 500 cobblestone people. In addition, workers are
needed in quarries, earthwork companies and transportation. “
It’s much cheaper to pave these areas with cobblestones instead
of asphalt or hand made concrete stones; paving with asphalt costs
more than 180.00 birr per meter square but with cobblestones, the
cost is only 138 50 birr per meter square. GTZ University Capacity
Building Program has decided to pave the walkways of all 13 new
universities with cobblestones to promote the trade of cobblestone
paving.
Venezuela: power
for the community
By our staff reporter
‘We want the prevalence of communal power over individual
power’, Venezuela’s Ambassador to Ethiopia Luis Marano
Joubrtt told journalists at an Embassy press conference focusing
on constitutional reform in Addis Ababa on September 27, 2007.
Venezuela is now led by a socialist party under leader Hugo Chavez
who was elected in 1998 and reelected in 2002. “On August
15th 2007, a new historical milestone was reached in the construction
of a new humanist and socialist model by the government of the Bolivarian
Republic of Venezuela. That is the Constitutional Reform process
led by President Hugo Chavez under the democratic and protagonist
participation of the people of Venezuela”, stated the Ambassador.
‘’Our Bolivarian socialism is a dynamic concept and
liberates the people. Our concept of democracy is social, individual
and economic. We give priority to the individual, Luis Mariano added.
The Ambassador stated that the national assembly insisted on the
reform and that it has been discussed for the last six months by
citizens. A referendum and election will be held in December.
High traffic flow
in direct proportion to economic growth
By our staff reporter
Recent documents show that the average density of roads networks
has increased from 31 km per sq. km in 2002/03 to 39.5 km per sq
km in 2005/06. The increasing accessibility through the expansion
of roads and the associated growing economic activities has resulted
in high traffic flow, raising the Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)
along the roads. This was disclosed in a report made on the analysis
of traffic flow patterns in Ethiopia in the last 14 years, by the
Ethiopian Roads Authority [ERA] during the launch conference of
Road Sector Development Program, third phase, on September 24, 2007
at the Sheraton Lalibela hall.
The pattern of traffic flow along the roads depends on the economic
activities and social interactions between the various areas in
the country. Akaki-Debrezeit, Modjo-Nazareth and Nazareth-Awash
have high traffic flow and growth in annual average daily traffic
as stated in ERA’s studies.
High traffic flow indicates that the roads have been able to generate
economic development in their area of influence. It is mainly along
these roads that exports and imports transit to the capital and
other cities of the country. Moreover tourist attraction areas as
well as rich agricultural production areas including coffee and
fruits are located along these routes.
The growth of different sectors of the economy has an impact on
the flow of traffic volume. The country’s economic growth,
which is reflected in the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) and the subsequent
increment in vehicle fleets and fuel consumption/import of fuel,
has resulted in the growth of traffic movement (AADT) as the growth
of any sector of the economy compels higher traffic flow.
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