Beauty standards have existed for as long as humans have lived in societies. These ever-changing ideals for beauty have given rise to some of the most influential and recognizable figures in history – such as the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, and Lisa del Giocondo, also known as the subject of da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
However, these beauty standards can also have a negative impact on the way that we view ourselves – particularly in the case of women, who often face much more rigid and often unrealistic standards.
Around the world, each country has its own definition of beauty. While there may be some similarities between neighboring countries, the overall differences are quite striking. As humans, we are generally aware of these beauty standards and often feel the weight of them if we feel that we’re unable to meet the expectations set for our appearance – but what about A.I.?
Artificial Intelligence has been on the rise for the past few years, with new software being made available constantly. Many of the latest A.I. tools consist of image generators, which begs the question – do they, also, perpetuate these global beauty standards? To find out, we at Great Green Wall used A.I. to generate the ‘ideal’ beauty standard for each country.
Methodology:
The reserachers used the A.I. image generator, Midjourney, to create a beauty pageant representative for each country in the style of the ‘Miss World’ pageant. We used what the A.I. believes to be the beauty standard, based on what it thinks the general public perceives to be the ‘ideal’ for that country.
For each country, the same prompt was given, with only the country name being changed.
The prompt given to the A.I. was: ‘Create a realistic photo of what the [country name] public consider the ideal woman’s body to be Miss [country name], please show a full length photo of the woman in a dress. No text in the image.’
According to A.I., the ideal ‘Miss Ethiopia’ has a glowing deep skin tone, a thin body type with broad shoulders and toned arms, and black or brunette hair worn in a natural curly style. The facial structure has a very clear beauty standard, with a long, thin face and sharp jawline – alongside a long nose, full lips, and a high forehead.
Here is what the ideal ‘Miss Ethiopia’ should look like, according to A.I.
Surfing Ethiopia’s Insurance Waves
Strong demand for insurance of vehicles, property, health and other insurances across Ethiopia in recent years have been driving the revenues of insurance companies in the country. Growing life expectancy, tax incentives on insurance products, favorable savings associated with insurance have been a further catalyst in encouraging the customers across insurance segments.
However, in the past couple of years, the waves of the insurance companies have been riding in turbulent waves owing to high tides that stem from conflict in the Northern part of the country. The economic downs have pegged the sector back and following the recent peace agreement and economic rejuvenation, the sector is slowly gliding to the former good old days.
Nonetheless, the reality on ground still remains that Ethiopia’s insurance industry is still facing stiff competition as the insurance companies not only compete with each other, but also compete with the risk retention groups, government, and self-insurance.
As economic growth, rising government spending, technological innovations and increased consumer awareness about insurance products continue to touch base in Ethiopia, the government’s policy of insuring the uninsured is said to play a huge part in the pathway to long term success of the sector.
In Ethiopia, the Africa Insurance Company is noted to be one of the crème de la crème of insurance companies in the country. The Africa Insurance Company for over a quarter of a century has engaged itself in all classes of general insurance. Its business dealings over the years have been tailored to meet the needs of its esteemed clients. Currently, the Company carries out transactions of all types of Insurance policies such as Motor, Fire, Marine, Hull and Cargo, Workmen’s Compensation, Personal and Group Accident, Money, Fidelity Guarantee, Burglary and House Breaking, Plate Glass, Liability, Domestic Package, Engineering, Computer All Risk and others.
Cognizant of the shaky recent years and the prospect of new competition from foreign investors, Capital’s Deputy Editor in Chief, Muluken Yewondwossen reached out to veteran insurer, Kiros Jirane, CEO of the Africa Insurance Company, for an insider’s digest of the insurance bubble. Excerpts;
Capital: Currently, how is the overall operation landscape of the Africa Insurance Company?
Kiros Jirane: For the last two years, we have been facing different challenges which majorly stem from the war in the northern region. Most of our customers have stopped paying their premium as they have been highly affected by the situation. Our branch in Mekele which used to be the best operating branch has become a shell of its former self and has since been closed.
Nevertheless, I believe the current peace agreement will improve the situation with regards to the business spectrum of things and I am confident that our customers will be able to buy insurance like the years prior. We are among the crème de la crème of insurance companies in the country, and we trust that our resilience will pave a way for us to stay at the top, despite the recent back-peddling that we have encountered.
Capital: Do you have plans of expanding your products and services that you are currently providing now?
Kiros Jirane: A company’s wide customer base is synonymous with the superlative products and services that it provides. As is the same for us since we have been in the market for a long time with great product and service offerings we have been able to attract a huge customer base relative to our competitors in the country. Similarly, we provide good services and products for our customers which are measurements of a successful insurer. We have more than 30 branches spread across the country.
When you are operating in the insurance sector, you ought always to be vigilant in terms of assessing the market and providing new services based on the growing demand and market size.
The insurance sector in our country is somewhat backward in that you see customers gravitating towards a particular insurance by virtue of who the owner is rather than paying primary attentions to the services and products that the company provides. I believe this will change through time and Ethiopia having a population of more than 120 million is a huge potential ground for the insurance market. That said, the coverage is at less than 5 percent which is very low for a country of its stature and this is because of low awareness both among the society and the providers.
So we have to always engage to improve our coverage specially by watching other countries’ experience and as Africa Insurance Company we are doing just that and we will continue to provide better upgrades to our products and services where appropriate.
Capital: What’s your overall assessment of the overall insurance sector in the country?
Kiros Jirane: One thing we need to note is that there is huge potential and market which we can improve our operation as a sector. If we assess the revenue of insurance companies, we may think that it is increasing, however in comparison to other larger markets in the region, we are lagging behind.
Government has a pivotal role to play in propelling our sector through preparing policies that can support the sector and also in awareness creation including by providing incentives such as making premium for life insurance free of tax and so on; of course now the market is gearing up to be opened to foreign investors.
In relation to the coming of foreign investors, as a sector we are at a potential of a losing battle in terms of competitiveness because the big companies will come with huge amounts of invested capital in contrast to our local small capital.
In our line of business, it is vital to have longer years in order to have a root base to expand the business. However, most of our companies now choose to work and sustain only for today rather than having a long term plan.
The association needs to work on building a common market and we have to create awareness together to expand our covarage. There are a lot of things we can do together but we cannot say that we are successful in working together. The sector is still under the supervision of national bank after a long time of compliance and we are now just preparing to establish an independent supervision body which is a promising move for the growth of the sector.
Capital: Do you think the sector will improve and develop when the promised policies hit the ground?
Kiros Jirane: There are different kinds of insurance products we are giving such as health, education, endowment, house (home) insurance and the so called General Insurance including the famous motor insurance. Of course currently it is not developing as per expectations but in the near future it is more than evident that it will as long as we work on awareness.
We have waited for the establishment of the independent supervision body for a long while now and it is our greatest expectation that when the policies touch base, the insurance sector will hit the ground running.
Capital: What’s your evaluation of Ethiopia’s insurance sector vis-à-vis other African countries?
Kiros Jirane: There are notable amounts of differences. If you take Sudan or Kenya for example which are our neighbors, their population is literally less than half of ours yet they have more insurance companies than we do. In Kenya there are not less than 35 insurance companies and 8 re-insurance companies. This is because their market is of a better understanding and awareness in contrast to ours which only has one re-insurance company, and two contact offices.
Insurance companies in the world are the biggest investors. In Africa, most of the South African insurance companies are said to be on the successful trajectory having taken 60 percent coverage in the continent followed by the northerners. In our context, the bigger investment insurance companies have may be their head office building or branch. We don’t have the capacity to expand our investment.
Capital: How can the insurance sector in Ethiopia best get prepared to go toe to toe the in-coming foreign companies’ competition once the sector is opened?
Kiros Jirane: Insurance companies in Ethiopia may need to increase their capital in order to meet regulatory requirements set forth by the National Bank of Ethiopia which is currently at 500 million birr. This still is not enough when going toe to toe with the coming foreign firms.
The National Bank of Ethiopia sets these minimum capital requirements that insurance companies must meet in order to operate in the country. These requirements are meant to ensure that insurance companies can fulfill their obligations to policy holders and remain financially stable in the event of unexpected losses. Increasing capital can also improve an insurance company’s financial strength, credit rating, and ability to attract investors, which can increase their overall competitiveness in the market.
Our external share holders in Africa Insurance are not more than 50 and the rest is employees of the company. Our plan is to expand our share holder base in the coming five years as part of our plan to make our company the biggest.
Capital: What are your views on the mutual engagement of the operators in the sector in terms of working on common grounds such as the case with motor insurance, where there is a bit of unhealthy excess competition between various operators?
Kiros Jirane: In Ethiopia, the number of vehicles is lower than the population proportion which poses a higher risk of accidents in comparison to other countries. However, since the market is better than other products and services there is an unnecessary competition among insurance companies, which result in lower rates. Furthermore, there is also lack of awareness as majority of the people in Ethiopia may not be aware of the importance of motor insurance, resulting in a lower demand for insurance policies.
Moreover, in Ethiopia, the cost of repairing a vehicle is higher than the cost of the vehicle itself. This can lead to higher insurance premiums to cover any potential repairs. And insurance companies’ rates to premium rates are lower than the cost they pay.
This is not something that could benefit the company in the long haul and its mainly short term planning. It will affect our financial stand and may bankrupt us and hurt our cover plans for others. In Ethiopia, there is a lack of streamlined insurers’ cooperation and we have to work aggressively on that to pave the way forward for our sector, and I hope the new regulatory body will have a tight grip on this.
FRAUD AS A WAY OF LIFE
When a world system collapses it doesn’t always go with a bang, it can also whimper along for quite a while! At times it takes decades, if not more. In the case of the Roman Empire demise took centuries. Nonetheless, the tale-tell signs of impending collapse are/were always there, particularly in the last phase of the dying system. The establishment or acceptance of outright fraud as the modus operandi of the system is one such tale-tell sign. In our prevailing modern world system, fraud is clearly the operating principle cutting across nations, economies and institutions of all kinds. Without the regime of pervading fraud spanning the breadth and depth of late modernity, the system will collapse in no time!
As an appendage or as a microcosm of the interstate system, the nation state itself has become an embodiment of generalized fraud! To sustain the prevailing global fraud, the interstate system continuously employs, amongst other things, protracted lies all over. For instance, the underlying faulty conviction of the status quo, which assumes that nonstop growth is possible on a finite planet, is one. Once such monumental lies are well established, the little lies follow automatically. Force or coercion is also used to maintain the idiotic narratives. No significant body with a critical mass is allowed to interrogate the fraudulent foundations of the world order. Obviously, the sufficiently numbed sheeple as expected, goes along with all the lies that are preached by the establishment. The whole orientation processes, starting from the early years all the way to tertiary education, are all geared to support and reinforce the lies that flow from the powerful and numerous institutions of entrenched interests! One can also mention the other private/semiprivate institutions of indoctrinations, particularly those of the entertainment genre; movies, music, spectator sports, etc. These are some of the staunch cohorts of the global fraud system!
The modern private sector, to a large extent, is a creation of the prevailing global fraud system. On top of the above foundational lie of infinite growth on a finite planet, we also have its associated fraudulent component in finance, which is by far, one of the well-established criminal entities of the systems! As we never tire of proclaiming; Fractional Reserve Banking (FRB) on which the world’s financial/economic system is erected, is the worst (supposedly) nonviolent crime of the millennium. What is FRB? In short, FRB is a financial/banking system whereby money is created out of thin air and is lent to existence. Besides favoring those connected to the money spigot, it widely/globally encourages mal-investments and the utter destruction of the planet’s ecosystem!
The definition or even the very notion of civil society in our modern world system has become problematic. We will not engage that problematic in full, instead, we will contain ourselves within the universe of the common narratives. When a component of civil society is created and supported by capital, in various forms, surely these entities cannot be regarded as civil societies. Since many of these so-called civil society institutions form a portion of the sanctioned entities under the thumb of capital and its states, their independence is bound to remain, at best superficial. Objectively that is what prevails in many of the current nation states. Suffice is to say these entities continue to take active role in the protracted fraud system, lest they lose their direct or indirect support, financial or otherwise. NGOs (Non Governmental Organizations) are nothing more than institutional instruments in the support of the existing global order. In fact, we claim they are WSD, Weapons of State Destruction. This has always been our stand in regards to NGOs unending pronouncements. According to James Corbett; ‘NGOs are the deep state’s geopolitical ‘Trojan horses’! To think that NGOs will bring about positive change to the global system is preposterous! All in all, the major components of modern societies are engaged, directly or indirectly, in furthering the existing global fraud system. Where can one get some respite?
As it stands, the compromised elites and intellectuals of the world system are neither bold nor kosher enough to start widespread integrity systems in support of a resilient existence favoring the global sheeple. It seems the sheeple is on its own in its multifaceted struggle against the prevailing comprehensive fraud, which continues to undermine its welfare. The vacuous ‘good governance’ that is preached all over (by the status quo) doesn’t take into account the myriad consequences of the two fundamental frauds; i.e., that of unlimited growth and FRB doctrines. Therefore, besides lacking credibility, the so-called ‘good governance’ remains absolutely vacuous and frivolous. Luckily, the sheeple has started to take its own initiative to challenge this shortsighted and dangerous system built on lies and fraud. The ongoing massive protest in France, which is in its few months on the streets, is one such sign! Other ascending movements that are dismantling the old guards include, the ‘populists’ (by the status quo). But what is the new populism?
The Princeton dictionary defines populism as ‘a political doctrine that supports the rights and powers of the common people in their struggle with the privileged elite.’ All new movements are still awaiting their organic activist-intellectuals to emerge to the fore and in all likelihood these movements are not going to go anywhere soon. In fact, they might well be the beacons heralding the accelerated collapse of the existing order.
‘Better safe than sorry’, stresses NBE over financial open up delays
The National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE) announces that despite the delays in the process to opening up the financial sector to foreign investors, the major delay have come in light of the understanding of starting a new commerce venture under a clear regulatory framework.
As the central bank underscores, designing a comprehensive strategy to manage the upcoming stiff operation, is mission critical.
Since the government approved a policy early September 2022 to opening up the financial sector, NBE has been engaged on the amendment of the existed proclamation. However, some exports said that the process takes long time against the original projection of finalizing the process.
Solomon Desta, Vice Governor of NBE, who recalled the latest statement of Mamo Esmelealem Mihretu, Governor of NBE, which cited that the draft proclamation will be tabled to parliament in the coming two months, echoed that some delays might be seen but it will be primarily driven by the need to streamline a clear law regarding the opening up of the sector.
“The drafting process has been on the final stage but we have become interested to see the comment and possible inputs from stakeholders and partners on the upcoming proclamation,” he told Capital.
Solomon said that currently NBE is supported by Toronto Centre, East AFRITAC, Africa Training Institute, Tanzanian and Mauritius based IMF wings which have also provided capacity building for its staffs.
“We are working on a framework to undertake comprehensive engagement regarding strengthening the capacity of regulation. We will do preparation and we will work and learn together with those who are joining the market,” the Vice Governor explained.
He added that NBE has drafted the proclamation and invited stockholders like the World Bank, IMF and others to get their view, “Rather than reviewing the proclamation every time we are working to undertake a comprehensive document that shall have a long life.”
Foreign banks that have representative in Ethiopia have got the copy of the draft documents and have been involved on the discussion,“It is crucial for the business so we have distributed the company for international partners and diplomatic missions like the US Embassy.”
“We are working as is supposed. It may seem that the process may suffer delays but the output will be inclusive and comprehensive. If the proclamation is delayed, it is for a good cause on the consideration of quality,” he said.
“We have already accomplished the draft a while back but now we are waiting the view of partners, potential investors and stakeholders in general,” he further explained.
In five year’s time, three to five licenses shall be given to foreign banks he stated, citing, “When the proclamation is amended, we will revisit the directives.”
