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Ethiopia ranked 114 out of 128 countries on rule of law

Staff Reporter
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26th out of 31 in the Sub-Saharan Africa Region

The World Justice Project (WJP) released the WJP Rule of Law Index 2020, an annual report based on national surveys of more than 130,000 households and 4,000 legal practitioners and experts around the world.
The WJP Rule of Law Index measures rule of law performance in 128 countries and jurisdictions across eight primary factors: Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice. The Index is the world’s leading source for original, independent data on the rule of law.
Ethiopia’s overall rule of law score decreased 5.6% in this year’s Index. At 114th place out of 128 countries and jurisdictions worldwide, Ethiopia improved six positions in global rank. Ethiopia’s score places it at 26 out of 31 countries in the Sub-Saharan Africa region and 16 out of 19 among low income countries.
Significant trends for Ethiopia included an improvement in the factors measuring Constraints on Government Powers, Open Government, and Fundamental Rights, and a deterioration in the factor measuring Order and Security.
Denmark, Norway, and Finland topped the WJP Rule of Law Index rankings in 2020. Venezuela, RB; Cambodia; and Democratic Republic of the Congo had the lowest overall rule of law scores—the same as in 2019.
More countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance for a third year in a row, continuing a negative slide toward weakening and stagnating rule of law around the world. The majority of countries showing deteriorating rule of law in the 2020 Index also declined in the previous year, demonstrating a persistent downward trend. This was particularly pronounced in the Index factor measuring Constraints on Government Powers.
The declines were widespread and seen in all corners of the world. In every region, a majority of countries slipped backward or remained unchanged in their overall rule of law performance since the 2019 WJP Rule of Law Index.
Regionally, Sub-Saharan Africa’s top performer in the Index is Namibia (35th out of 128 countries globally), followed by Rwanda and Mauritius. The three countries with the lowest scores in the region were Mauritania, Cameroon, and Democratic Republic of the Congo (126th out of 128 countries globally).
Countries with the strongest improvement in rule of law were Ethiopia (5.6% increase in score, driven primarily by gains in Constraints on Government Powers and Fundamental Rights) and Malaysia (5.1%, driven primarily by gains in Constraints on Government Powers, Fundamental Rights, and Regulatory Enforcement).
The largest declines in the rule of law were seen in Cameroon (-4.4%, driven primarily by falling scores in Order and Security and Fundamental Rights) and Iran (-4.2%, driven primarily by falling scores in Criminal Justice). Over the last five years, countries experiencing the largest average annual percentage drop in the rule of law were Egypt (-4.6 %); Venezuela, RB (-3.9%); Cambodia (-3.0%); Philippines (-2.5%); Cameroon (-2.4%); Hungary (-2.1%); and Bosnia and Herzegovina (-2.1%).
The single biggest decline by factor over the past five years was Egypt’s and Poland’s score for Constraints on Government Powers, with an average annual decline of -8.5% and -6.8%, respectively.
“The rule of law is not just a matter for judges or lawyers,” said William H. Neukom, WJP founder and CEO. “It is the bedrock of communities of justice, opportunity, and peace. We are all stakeholders in the rule of law and therefore we all have a role to play in upholding it. The 2020 Index underscores that we have our work cut out for us.”

Ethiopian 737 MAX crash interim report questions Boeing training

Elshaday Tilahun
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Ethiopian 737 MAX crash interim report questions Boeing training

In its second interim report published on March 9, 2020, a year after the disaster, Ethiopian investigators reinstated that it was the faulty MCAS design that caused the crash of flight ET302. They also qualified the training provided by Boeing as “inadequate”.
As it has already been determined in the initial report published in April 2019, a malfunction of the MCAS system was the main reason behind the crash. According to the investigators, that malfunction can be blamed on a faulty design: the reliance on the readings of a single angle of attack probe without redundancy “made it vulnerable to unwanted activation.”
“Shortly after liftoff, the left Angle of Attack sensor recorded value became erroneous,” recounts the report. The incorrect measurement triggered the MCAS system which automatically tried to push down the nose several times. The captain tried to fight back the system, requesting his first officer to help him (“Pull with me”), to no avail.
According to the report, the pilots of flight ET302 followed the procedures recommended by the manufacturer. Thus, the investigators say that their training was at fault. “The difference training from B737NG to B737 MAX provided by the manufacturer was found to be inadequate,” they said. “There was a deviation between the left and right recorded angle of attack /AoA/ values,” says the report.
The USA House Transport Committee report also accuses the Federal Aviation Administration for the approval of the planes and Boeing design failures.
On October 29, 2018, Indonesian carrier Lion Air operating flight 610 from Soekarno–Hatta International Airport in Jakarta to Depati Amir Airport in Pangkal Pinang, crashed into the Java Sea 13 minutes after takeoff, killing all 189 passengers and crew. The conclusion echoes the final report of the Lion Air JT610 crash published on October 24, 2019, in which the Indonesian investigators also recommended for Boeing to review its documentation regarding the MAX.
Less than five months later, on March 10, 2019, in strikingly similar circumstances, Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 another 737 MAX aircraft crashed six minutes after takeoff on a flight from Addis Ababa, to Nairobi, Kenya. The two brand new aircraft, derivative model, to crash within five months of each other and killed 346 peoples.
The Committee’s preliminary findings identify five central themes that affected the design, development, and certification of the 737 MAX and FAA’s oversight of Boeing which are Production Pressures, Faulty Assumptions, Culture of Concealment that Boeing withheld crucial information from the FAA, its customers, and 737 MAX pilots, Conflicted Representation FAA’s current oversight structure with respect to Boeing creates inherent conflicts of interest, Boeing’s Influence Over the FAA’s Oversight
Manuel von Ribbeck of Ribbeck Law Chartered, who represents around 80 families of both crashes and took the case to Chicago court, stated that “he is very pleased with the amount of attention and work the committee has done on behalf of the families and the public in general.”
The report recommended the issues must be addressed by both Boeing and the FAA in order to correct poor certification practices that have emerged, faulty analytical assumptions that have surfaced, notably insufficient transparency by Boeing, and inadequate oversight of Boeing by the FAA.
The final report of the Ethiopian Aircraft Accident Investigation Bureau is reportedly “under progress”.
The FAA grounded the 737 MAX three days after the Ethiopian Airlines crash, following similar actions taken by China, the European Union, and Canada, among others and still grounded.

Insurance technology provider eyes the Ethiopian market

Muluken Yewondwossen
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Insurance technology provider eyes the Ethiopian market

The Dallas, Texas based insurance technology provider, Beyontec with its Ethiopian partner, Moti Engineering discussed with potential customers to supply its services.
The company that has been in service for over 12 years is one of the leading global technology solutions providers for the insurance industry.
Vivek Sethia, CEO and Co-Founder of Beyontec told Capital that the company will provide modern technology for the insurance industry in the world because the founders and staff of the company are engaged in the insurance industry and they understand the gaps and solutions for the sector.
He said that the insurance industry in Ethiopia is one of the growing sectors that should be equipped with modern technologies to keep its growth and follow other countries standard.
“For the past five months the company staff was undertaken several meetings with Ethiopian insurers about the technology and discussed with regulatory body, National Bank of Ethiopia and other relevant government offices about the technology and its solution,” Vivek said adding, “we have got good feedback.”
During a conference held at Intercontinental Addis Hotel on March 11 the company with its Ethiopian partner gave demonstration about its service and experience of other countries that they uses Beyontec’s service.
Abdulhamid Mohammed, Managing Director of Moti Engineering, told Capital that the insurance sector is lagging using technologies than the banking industry.
According to Abdulhamid, his company has been at the back of most of the banks with their automation, while the insurance industry is far from that.
“They have to use a technology that is what we are now working with the well known US Company to improve the insurance companies IT system,” he said.
“Even though they are lagging behind, they have the late comer advantage since they will be equipped with the latest technology,” the Ethiopian partner added.
Hadush Hintsay, Secretary General of Ethiopian Insurance Association, said that such kind of technology is crucial for the sector development. He told Capital that the insurance business is growing by 15 percent every year and such kind of modern service will facilitate the service and also contribute to improve more.
Though the insurance sector is showing growth its contribution for the economy is very small compared with other countries that have similar economic status with Ethiopia.
Beyontec provide services in the US, Middle East and Africa.
Beyontec has been providing the technology edge needed to make insurance business more competitive. Beyontec Suite the core solution, accelerators, automation solutions, the platform solutions, and the Enterprise Cloud ecosystem model are helping global insurance companies bridge technology gaps, shift the value pools, and reinvent risk management in the digital economy.

Building sustainably capacity

Staff Reporter
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Building sustainably capacity

Abebaw Fekadu (MD, MSc, PhD, MRCPsych) is Head of the Africa Centre of Excellence for Medical Discovery & Clinical Trials (CDT-Africa) and co-director of the WHO collaborating centre for mental health research and capacity building at the College of Health Sciences, Addis Ababa University. CDT-Africa is responsible for regional capacity building in medical product development with focus on neglected tropical diseases and health care delivery innovations. Abebaw is also an African Research Leader (supported by the Medical Research Council (MRC) and DfID, UK, Fellow of the Ethiopian Academy of Sciences and Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. He has published over 150 peer reviewed articles.
He serves or has served in various national and international panels including Lancet Commissions, WHO, the UK Medical Research Council and the US Institute of Medicine. Abebaw is Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Addis Ababa University and has been a Visiting Professor at the University of Sussex (since March 2017) and King’s College London (since March 2019).
Abebaw graduated in Medicine from Addis Ababa University and trained in Clinical Psychiatry and Psychopharmacology in the United Kingdom. He talked to Capital about CDT Africa what it does. Excerpts;

 

Capital: What is CDT Africa, what does it do?
Ababaw Fekadu: CDT Africa is a center for the development of new drug innovation in the region established in 2015 with the possibility of accessing 24 eastern and southern African countries. CDT-Africa is a World Bank supported center for innovative drug development and therapeutic trials for Africa. The institution is working to develop endogenous sustainable capacity for therapeutic innovation through education and trainings of society in partnership with higher education and research institutions and discover new medicines under the Addis Ababa University.
The priority of CDT Africa is building endogenous sustainable capacity for therapeutic innovation, conducting researches for the discovery of new medical solutions for diseases, enhance capacity for synthesis CDT Africa works on three programs. which are; medical discovery and development plat forum with focus on drugs, vaccine and diagnostics; health care delivery innovation plat forum with focus on improving health care delivery and quality assurance. CDT also works with the ministry of health to develop solutions that address identified national needs.

Capital: What are some achievements of CDT-Africa through these years?
Ababaw Fekadu: First of all the establishment of the center is an achievement by itself. Creating a center to build sustainable capacity like medicine, drugs, vaccines and diagnostic can support local production of medicines and breaks the major barriers.
CDT is working to establish state of the art clinical trial unit with diverse capacity building initiatives. The institution is working on developing global solutions using the unique biodiversity of Ethiopia and the region. The product development work of CDT Africa is supported by its incubation hub, works on simple solutions on wider applications.
There are different products CDT is working on it. Recently the center starts to offer skilled based short courses as well as masters, PhD and post-doctoral trainings relevant to its objects.
CDT-Africa started giving PhD courses on translational medicine program which is to educate and train postgraduate students with different academic backgrounds and highly motivated to pursue a career in experimental biomedicine and clinical trials and researches. This makes the institution to be the first institution to give the program in the continent.

Capital: What is the relationship between clinical trials and drug innovation?
Ababaw Fekadu: Clinical trials are research investigations involve voluntary people to test new treatments. Clinical research is necessary to establish relatively safe and effective medical products and healthcare practices. It can be said the last stage of creating successful vaccine and medicine, after innovating each and every vaccines and medicine passes through different tests after to see how much is it successful, and if it has the expected result.
Majority of the world’s clinical trials are done in developed world, low-income countries like Ethiopia are underrepresented in clinical researches, however a number of clinical trials being done in Ethiopia keeps rising throughout the years. In the last three years the center by itself has registered four successful innovations and clinical trials.

Capital: How do you see drug development and new medicine innovation in our county? What are the challenges and the opportunities of the field in Ethiopia as well as in Africa?
Ababaw Fekadu: The development and the need for drugs in Africa are disharmonious. The sector is infant, even if there is substantial increase in demand, because of high population growth and the need to ensure universal coverage, we can point out several challenges which limit the development in Ethiopia namely macro and institutional, individuals and operational levels.
In Africa on average 79 percent of drugs and all kind of vaccines and diagnostics are imported and Ethiopia imports 85 present of the drug supplies of the nation. All active pharmaceutical ingredients are imported; substandard drugs are becoming epidemic in Africa. The current medical product development engagement neglect problems that are particular relevance, that lack of access to medicine poses a serious threat to the national and regional development. Poor access to essential medicine accounts for the premature death of at least 8 in 10 people in Africa. It is the major barrier to achieve a sustainable development goal. 80 percent of African countries lack therapeutic research and development capacity No country in the region is producing Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients
Drugs and medicines are huge and can have impact on the overall economic stand of the nation, for example drug importation is the top foreign currency drain after fuel in Ethiopia and likely the case across Africa. Improving access to medicinal institution can help achieve and increase the overall access to medicine with improved access and capacity for assurance, substandard medicines will be reduced , import of medicines will be reduced substantially.
Africa has the capacity to produce its needs also contribute to solve the health problems of the world by converting the unique biodiversity in to medicine products as part of the global health solutions for complex disease such as cancer.
Addressing the need and tacking advantages of the opportunity requires not only training scientists but also in transforming the whole innovation ecosystem starting from the low level.
Medical discovery and development is untapped opportunity to the prosperity, security and wellbeing of the continent, this is a huge opportunity and should be a national agenda and need the attention of the highest level. Having good medical industry sector can minimize the billion dollars countries pay to import medicine.

Capital: What should be done to increase the drug development and innovating new medicine? How long can it take Ethiopia to supplying all the required medicine to the local market?
Ababaw Fekadu:The field is very wide and huge, it needs the participation of all governance capacity, availability of human resource capacity to conduct scientific research’s, it needs the participation of all government and different stake holders in improving the sectors.
Building human capacity by itself is not sufficient, there is a need to create conducive discovery innovation ecosystem, change the academic environment and strengthen quality assurance and regulatory system.
Several things has to come up together and synergies, a unique system of government is required and innovation in this area is needed, the other main thing is to implement plans speedily and decrease the barriers on the procurement process.
In my opinion even if there are lots of things needed to be done, it is not much difficult as it is assumed, it does not take so much, it needs some kind of change, the first is mind change, we need to know that to be independent in medicine is crucial in one’s development. If the government is highly committed on the development of the state they have to work hardly on medicine sector, if it is so, it may take three or four years to minimize number of imported medicine in half which can cut billions of dollars used to import medicines.

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