1. law, govt and politics
2. government

Vol. XIX No. 944 |1
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Vol. IXI No. 944 | October 11, 2014 | ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
www.thereporterethiopia.com
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MEDIA COUNCIL ON THE HORIZON
By Solomon Goshu
Photo By: Reporter/ Nahom Tesfaye
After intense negotiations and fierce
debates that went on for over a decade,
the Ethiopian media took a decisive
step forward this week in establishing
a media council, a self-regulatory body
of media practice and the conduct and
discipline of journalists in Ethiopia.
A lively two-day consultative forum of
media stakeholders held at the UNECA
(United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa) on October 9 and 10 deliberated
on the draft Articles of Association and
Code of Conduct, which was prepared by
members of the organizing committee,
reaching agreement on the sticky issues
of membership and finance.
According to the draft Articles of
Association, publishers, broadcasters,
professional journalists’ associations
as well as private and public journalism
schools can become members of the
council on a voluntary basis.
The forum debated whether to allow
individual journalists to be members of
From left: Amare Aregawi, General Manager of Media and Communications Center and Vice-Chair of the organizing committee;
Abdissa Zeray (PhD), Dean of School of Journalism of Addis Ababa University; Kabral Blay-Amihere (Amb.), Chair of Ghana’s
National Media Commission and Zewdneh Beyene (PhD), Moderator of the Consultative Forum
Water ministers urge Egypt
to rejoin NBI
Ethiopia loses more than USD 90 mln
due to rough gemstones export
By Kaleyesus Bekele
“GERD is very important investment to all of us and to the wider region”
Mutaz Musa Abdalla Salim, Chair of Nile-COM
By Yemane Nagish, Nairobi, Kenya
and reiterate its commitment
cooperation on the Nile.
Concluding the Fourth Nile Basin
Development Forum, a high-level
meeting held at the Intercontinental
Hotel, Nairobi from October 6-7, the
Nile-Council of Ministers (Nile-COM),
which comprises of the water ministers
of all member states of the Nile basin,
urged Egypt to resume its membership
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Mutaz Musa Abdalla Salim, Sudan’s
Minister of Water Resources and
Electricity, Current Chair of the NileCOM noted, “Cooperation over the Nile is
not an option but a necessity.” He added
that Sudan has resumed its membership
for
Water ministers... page 34
Media Council... page 33
Ethiopia is losing more than 90 million
dollars annually because of the exports
of rough gemstones, it was learnt.
At a two-day consultative meeting on
the mining sector held on October 7
and 8 jointly by the World Bank and
the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines (MoM)
at Addis Ababa Hilton, gemstone
manufacturers and exporters told
participants that the country is losing
a huge amount of foreign currency and
jobs due to failure to process (curve and
polish) gemstones.
Tewodros Sintayehu, managing director
of Orbit Ethiopia PLC, said that instead
of exporting processed gemstones the
country is supplying rough gemstones to
the international market. Tewodros said
in 2012 Ethiopia exported 16,500 kg of
gemstones, mainly opal, and earned only
seven million dollars. “Had this been
processed we could have earned more
than 100 million dollars and created
more than 1000 jobs for Ethiopian
citizens,” Tewodros said.
Ethiopia loses... page 34
2| Vol. XIX No. 944
EDITORIAL
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Published weekly by Media &
Communications Center
Address: Bole Sub City,
Kebele 03, H. No. 2347
Tel: 011 6 616180 Editorial
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Bruh Yihunbelay
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Sub city: N.lafto, K. 10/18, H.No. 614
[email protected]
Senior Editors
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Editors
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Senior Reporters
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Columnist
Leyou Tameru
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Graphic Designers
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Head of Photography
Nahom Tesfaye
Photographers
Tamrat Getachew
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Website
Bezawit Tesfaye
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Cartoonist
Elias Areda
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Marketing Manager
Endalkachew Yimam
Biruk Mulugeta
Biruk Chernet
Computer Secretaries
Birtukan Abate, Helen Yetayew,
Print
Tesfaye Mengesha, Yeyesuswork
Mamo,Gezaghgn Mandefro
Exercising strict oversight over the executive
The current Ethiopian year of 2007 (2014/2015) is the closing year of the Ethiopian government’s 5-year Growth and Transformation
Plan (GTP). It is also the year the draft of the second round of the GTP is set to be deliberated upon and implemented after a critical
assessment of the implementation of the plan over the period of its execution. This process needs to involve an in-depth evaluation
of the performance of the executive over the past five years by members of the current House of Peoples’ Representatives if the
country’s overarching plan for the next five years is to be accomplished successfully.
The past four years of the GTP have witnessed the launching of huge infrastructure and other projects that have been unprecedented
in the history of the country. The construction of major highways, rail ways, hydro-power dams, education and health facilities,
residential condominiums, sugar factories as well as the expansion of the national telecom network can be mentioned in this
regard. Commendable as the commencement of these projects may be, questions must be asked about their progress.
Among the mega projects underway, the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which has led to the creation of national
consensus that has not been matched before, has drawn the attention of the world. According to the government, the construction
of the dam is some forty percent complete. Updates on the progress of the construction, which has seen unparalleled levels of
public participation, are regularly provided. This, indeed, is laudable. The public, however, is not similarly kept informed about
the status of the other projects. Why? Will the projects be characterized by delay and cost overrun like the majority of road,
hydropower and telecom projects executed over the years? The public need assurances that they are on track.
The private sector unarguably plays a vital role in transforming Ethiopia from an agriculture-led to an industrialized economy.
While efforts are being exerted to deepen its role in the manufacturing sector, one cannot help but ask, among others, whether
there are enabling policy frameworks and incentives in place, and whether government monopolization of mega projects has
brought about a satisfactory result and if not what should be done about it.
As the organ in which ultimate power resides, Parliament owes the obligation to oversee that the executive branch of the
government is properly discharging the responsibilities entrusted to it. In the exercise of their oversight power members of
Parliament must not be content with listening to the performance reports of government agencies and proactively seek detailed
information from them. Just as the country’s economic growth is explained in figures so should the status of the implementation
of the ongoing massive projects.
It is with an eye to mitigating the challenges that are likely to be faced in the coming five years that the achievements of the
GTP over the past five years will be assessed at the end of this Ethiopian fiscal year. Extolling successes while making light of
shortcomings will not get us anywhere. Could the economy have grown faster than government statistics suggest or is it ambling
along just fine? Is the successful implementation of a certain project eclipsing the poorly performing projects or is everything
going smoothly though nothing has been said about it? Parliament is duty-bound to demand satisfactory explanations from the
Executive on these matters.
How far along are preparations to enable the national grid and transmission lines cope up with the volume of electricity that is
projected to be generated at the conclusion of the GTP? Are they on or behind schedule? Is there a market for the products of the
sugar factories under construction? Are they lagging behind and over budget as well? Will the potash deposit, which is hoped to
bring in substantial foreign exchange once the railway linking the site it is mined to the port of Djibouti is complete, be ready
for production any time soon or is it anybody’s guess when production will start? Is the construction of trunk roads along the
country’s import-export corridor is on time or falling behind as usual? These are also issues on which Parliament needs to lean on
the Executive to provide clarifications. There can be no going back when we are witnessing the glimmers of a sustainable growth.
Aside from being a milestone for the GTP, 2015 is a year the fifth national elections are due to be held. The actions being taken
by the government to ensure that the elections are free, fair and credible must be evaluated critically; it has to be asked what it
is doing about widespread complaints regarding lack of good governance as well as widespread violation of fundamental rights,
miscarriage of justice and rampant corruption. It’s pointless for the executive to highlight its success alone; it’s incumbent upon
it to acknowledge its weaknesses as well with a sense of accountability and pave the way for immediate corrective measures. For
this to happen it is imperative that parliament exercises strict oversight of the Executive.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
HEADLINES
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Presidential address to parliament focuses
on economic performance
Offers apology for power interruption
Warns Eritrea, rebel groups
Agency criticizes
companies
in relation
to ISO 9001
By Neamin Ashenafi
By Yonas Abiye
Many companies that are gaining
publicity by claiming that their company
is an International Organization for
Standardization (ISO) 9001 certified
have been criticized by the Ethiopian
Standards Agency since it is out of
context and creates confusion on the
public.
In a joint parliamentary session, the 4th
election term of the 5th working year of
House of Peoples’ Representatives and
the House of Federation commenced
on Monday after a three-month recess.
The President of the Republic, Mulatu
Teshome (PhD), addressed Members
of Parliament as well as the entire
nation by highlighting major economic
and
infrastructure
performances
development activities, including the
10.3 percent annual GDP growth rate.
Director General of the Agency, Almaz
Kahsay told The Reporter, “There is
a difference between management
quality standard and product standard;
however many companies claiming
that their organization is receiving the
ISO 9001 award for the product does not
necessarily imply that their product
is certified.” She also said that their
management system might be certified
but it does not necessarily imply their
product is certified and in this regard the
agency is working to create awareness
within the society.
On behalf of the government, he
highlighted the major achievements that
he lauded it as a successful performance
implemented in the previous fiscal year
in particular and the last for years of
Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP)
period. He said that a lot remains to be
done and new plans would be intensified
ahead of the current fiscal year.
During the last four years of the GTP,
the country’s economy had registered
a consecutive GDP average growth
rate of 10.1 percent, the president
said, adding that the transformation,
industrialization
and
growth
in
manufacturing had to be increased to
sustain the registered growth.
Vol. XIX No. 944 |3
The Director General also told The
Reporter, “When these companies
announce the certification they should
Agency criticizes.. page 35
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Ethiopia
welcomes
Tanzania’s move
to ratify the Nile
treaty
According to the president, the industry
sector had a faster growth rate than
others, and more efforts would be made
to duplicate the double-digit mark of
the growing economic path higher than
an 11.4 percent GDP growth in the year
ended July 7.
As part of the economic progress and
to sustain it with the said double-digit
growth rate, the president indicated that
efforts would be made to raise export
earnings to as high as USD five billion at
the end of the current fiscal year.
By Mikias Sebsibe
He underlined that to hold inflation
rate at single-digit, works on supplying
consumer goods and modernizing trade
trademarket network would be strengthened.
He however did not mention the specific
measures to be taken-what he described
as the intervention to control the
possible surging of inflation.
Ethiopia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MoFA) has welcomed Tanzania’s move
to ratify the Cooperative Framework
Agreement (CFA), a treaty which seeks
to establish a commission to realize an
equitable utilization of the Nile River.
In a move that quelled uncertainties over
Tanzania’s commitment to the treaty,
President Jakaya Kikwete’s cabinet,
the most senior executive branch of
Tanzania, approved and forwarded the
CFA to the country’s parliament.
current
account
deficit
“Though
widened in the last fiscal year due to the
increase in import, it was compensated
by the significant income from tourism,
Ethiopian Airlines and remittance,”
Mulatu said
The parliament is expected to ratify the
treaty next month, Tanzania’s minister
of State in the President’s Office, Mark
Mwandosya (Prof.), said on Monday
during the 4th Nile Basin Development
Forum held in Nairobi, Kenya.
In the last fiscal year the federal
government collected 122 billion birr
from tax, non-tax revenue including
grants direct-budget subsidiary and debt
relief, which is a 106 percent performance
against the target, he noted.
“The move is to be expected and
we welcome it,” Dina Mufti, MoFA
spokesperson, told The Reporter. “We
hope and expect other signatories to do
the same.”
Likewise, agriculture, which had been
the backbone of the country’s economic
performance, according to him, had
witnessed a promising progress with
productivity of major food products
that could hit as equal as 27 quintals per
hectare.
Doubts as to the ratification of the CFA
emerged when Tanzania’s minister
Presidential address.. page 35
Ethiopia welcomes... page 35
www.thereporterethiopia.com
4| Vol. XIX No. 944
HEADLINES
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
eLearning conference Tullow moves out staff,
machinery
returns to Ethiopia
Calls exploration results “a nightmare”
By Yonas Abiye
By Kaleyesus Bekele
In what is said to be the largest ICT
conference on African soil, Ethiopia will
host this year’s eLearning Africa, which
is also the tenth anniversary edition of
it being held under the patronage of the
Ethiopian government.
The British oil company which is
prospecting for oil in the South Omo
basin of Ethiopia, Tullow Oil, is moving
its staff and machineries out of Ethiopia.
At a consultative meeting on the
Ethiopian
mining
sector
jointly
organized by the World Bank and the
Ethiopian Ministry of Mines on October
7 and 8 at the Addis Ababa Hilton,
Nick Woodal-Mason, country manager,
Tullow Oil, said that his company is
taking its staff and mining equipment
out of Ethiopia. “After drilling four
wild cat wells in the South Omo basin
we found nothing. We found only
clay. Geologically, the results are a
nightmare,” Nick told the participants.
The company has already released the
well drilling rig.
In a statement sent to The Reporter, the
organizers indicated that the conference,
the largest international event in Africa
on ICT for education, training and
development, would be held in Addis
Ababa from May 20 to 22 next year.
Speaking of Ethiopia’s decision to host
the event, Debretsion Gebremichael
(PhD), Deputy Prime Minister for
Finance and Economic cluster, who
is also the Minister of Information
and Communication (MoIC) said, “My
government is pleased to host eLearning
Africa as this is a conference returning
to Ethiopia, where my government
joined arms with ICWE in conceiving
and launching the first eLearning Africa
platform on African soil.”
Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD)
Rebecca Stromeyer, CEO of ICWE
GmbH, and Founder of eLearning Africa,
said that during its 10-year history, the
conference had led to an explosion of
new ideas, new projects, new agreements
and new partnerships. Accordingly,
the conference has brought the leading
experts on learning, development
and technology to take part in our
discussions and has shown the world the
ambition and wisdom of Africa.
“eLearning Africa 2015 will create an
opportunity to reflect on the 10-year
journey traversed by eLearning Africa
since its first conference in Addis
Ababa. Furthermore, Ethiopia, as the
seat of the African Union, welcomes
conferences that bring together African
policymakers and experts once more
back to their home,” the statement
quoted the minister as saying.
eLearning conference... page 35
Tullow Oil began prospecting for oil
in the South Omo basin in 2011 after it
bought a 50 percent stake from Africa
Oil, a Canadian oil company. Africa Oil
and Marathon Oil own 30 and 20 percent
working interest in the South Omo
basin respectively. Tullow drilled four
exploration wells; Sabisa-1, Tultule-1,
Shimela-1 and Gardim-1 but it did not
find any oil and gas reserve.
Nick explained how Tullow decided to
come to Ethiopia. “We came here after
we discovered oil reserves in Uganda
and Kenya. We got positive results in the
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www.thereporterethiopia.com
Great East Africa Rift Valley. The rift
system extends to Ethiopia. Our blocks
are found in South Omo near the Kenyan
border where we found hundreds of
millions of barrels of oil. The decision to
come to Ethiopia was good but it did not
work out.”
According to Nick, 35 expatriates from
Tullow’s Ethiopian office have already
left and there are about only five
expatriates who are still here dealing
with logistics and customs issues. “By
December we are all leaving Ethiopia
and we will keep only a skeleton office
for the coming two years,” Nick said.
Nick explained the complexity of the
oil exploration project in South Omo.
“The concession is found in one of the
remotest places not only in Ethiopia
but in Africa. It is located 1600km southwest of the port of Djibouti. It takes ten
days for a truck to reach the concession
from Galafi, the Ethio-Djibouti border,
to our camp. It costs us 10,000 USD per
truck for a one-way trip. This makes our
exploration work very expensive,” Nick
said.
He noted that the drilling work was
the most challenging one due to well
instability and the hot temperature,
as hot as 200 degree centigrade
underground.
Tullow moves... page 35
HEADLINES
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Safeway, Mulmul join
Total’s Café bonjourr shop
Vol. XIX No. 944 |5
Diageo’s Meta Abo to double
its production capacity in a
few months
Launches 3.5 million birr investment in
community development program
By Henok Reta
Photo By: Reporter /Tamrat Getachew
Diageo’s Meta Abo Brewery announced
the final stages of its USD 1 million
expansion project that will double the
existing production capacity in a few
months last Tuesday at Hadmes Hotel,
near the factory’s site. While launching
the new community development
program that cost the factory 3.5 million
birr, Francis Agbonlahor, Managing
Director, said that the factory’s growth
should be maintained in line with
supporting the community.
Marc de Lataillade
By Henok Reta
Total Ethiopia inaugurated the first
Café Bonjourr in collaboration with
Safeway Supermarket and Mulmul
Bakery introducing the French concept,
Happy Sud. This concept will be a new
trend in the city’s retail industry. “The
partnership with the two important
brands in the retail business in Ethiopia
will promote standards and global
marketing strategy,” Marc de Lataillade,
Managing Director, Total Ethiopia said
when delivering a speech at the official
inauguration event at the Head Office,
Roosevelt Street, yesterday.
country. Currently, the company is
undertaking an international standard
depot in the town of Dukem, 30 km away
south east of the capital with an outlay
of 270 million birr to boost its capacity of
covering ¼ of the country’s fuel demand,
the managing director told The Reporter.
This announcement of the new
investment into the Sebeta community
falls in line with Meta Abo Brewery’s
strategy of growth, commitment and
sustainability, he stated. This year
the factory is looking to double its
production capacity, as the expansion
appears to be on the verge of completion
after striking the deal to buy the state
owned brewery for USD 255 million in
2011. “Diageo and Meta Abo Brewery
are in Ethiopia for the long haul,” the
managing director reaffirmed.
This year, the brewery will also provide
an independent water supply line to the
community surrounding the brewery
from a borehole, through an expanded
water distribution pipeline, expanding
the reach of its water distribution to
more households, according to the
managing director. Mayor of Sebeta
town, Ejersa Donssa, on his part praised
the factory’s effort in an attempt to
increase its social responsibility as
it successfully maintains its growth
and expansion. “We will keep our way
forward together,” he said.
The factory has also launched its first
scholarship program in the name of a
late employee who died of a car accident
a few months ago. The Meseret Mamo
scholarship of Meta Abo brewery will
grant 5-10 students money every year to
cover their expenses at the university.
On the other hand, the factory is also
part of the local barley sourcing program
in partnership with 6000 smallholder
farmers, the Ethiopian Agricultural
Transformation Agency (ATA) and
Oromiya Agricultural Bureau to play
a role in fostering agriculture, the
managing director told The Reporter.
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EHRC, Irish
government
sign MoU
The new concept that aims at introducing
the renowned French tradition of
making a mini market, fast food and café
available together at one place has been
introduced for the first time in Ethiopia,
according to Marc de Lataillade. The
Partners of Total Ethiopia in this new
concept are renowned in the retail
business in Ethiopia, and this is fully in
line with Total marketing and service
strategy. The Café Bonjourr concept was
realized to create a more comfortable
zone for customers at the gas station,
and has become another trademark for
Total worldwide, he stated.
By Neamin Ashenafi
The
Ethiopian
Human
Rights
Commission
(EHRC)
and
the
government of Ireland have signed a
memorandum of understanding (MoU)
to work together in the areas of the
right to justice in different regions of
the country to provide a legal service for
the poor and vulnerable members of the
society, mainly women.
Fekadu Kebede, Managing Director
at Safeway Supermarket said that the
partnership with Total was a result of
loyalty and consistence that has been
well observed by esteemed customers
of the supermarket over the past four
years. “We greatly feel honor to join
Café Bonjour, almost all shops across the
city, that will indeed, help our effort in
promoting the retail business,” he said.
The newly formed café is keeping its
expansion across the city with a grand
shop being opened in the Gelan service
station and other locations in the coming
months.
Irish Ambassador to Ethiopia Aidan
O’Hara told The Reporter that, based on
the signed agreement, the government of
Ireland will provide 400,000 Euro for the
program and it will extend for the span
of two years and will support poor and
vulnerable members of society who seek
legal advice.
On his part Ambassador Tiruneh
Zena,
Ethiopian
Human
Rights
Commission Commissioner also told
The Reporter that the criteria to select
these universities are mainly based
on “performance delivery, activities
of the universities, commitment of the
universities and sound financial report.”
Total was established in Ethiopia in
1950 as a petroleum product distribution
company, it developed its activities by
merging with Mobil Oil East Africa in
2006. Today, the company operates 173
service stations and four depots in the
He also said that the commission has
been working in this area for the last
EHRC, Irish... page 36
www.thereporterethiopia.com
6| Vol. XIX No. 944
In-depth
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
IMF vs. Government
The issue of fiscal consolidation
By Asrat Seyoum
Table1. Ethiopia Comparison of PPG External Debt Baseline Scenario
It has been one of those weeks. Ethiopian
monetary and fiscal authorities are kept
on their toes ‘defending’ the outcome of
their policies and what they have
in-store for the current budget year.
Yes, it is time for receiving their report
card; perhaps one of the most influential
country’s
overall
reports
about
economic standing. By one of the most
influential international institution
namely the International Monetary
Fund (IMF). A well-established practice
by now, a team of IMF experts pay a visit
to countries like Ethiopia, countries
receiving their financial assistance, to
see how the economy is managed. The
visits and the subsequent staff report
are all done under what is dubbed the
Article IV consultations between the
IMF and respective nations. For many,
the routine is more than consultation
to say the least. It is an epic showdown
where experts and authorities from both
side get to test their intellectual and
professional prowess. Well, this much
can be said regarding the the Article
IV consultation between the Fund and
Ethiopia. A lot of the ‘consultation’ is
about macroeconomic matters and the
Fund is one of the two Bretton Wood
institution designated for such areas.
The
exchange
becomes
even
more
Fiscal year ending July 7
2034
2014
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2024
(percent, unless otherwise indicated)
PV of Debt to Exports Ration
2014DSA*
1150
135.9
141.9
141.1
131.9
120.1
78.7
25.2
2013DSA
116.8
120.9
124.1
122.2
117.6
113.4
92.6
…
2014DSA
15.4
18.9
21.0
21.9
21.3
20.4
15.3
6.7
2013DSA
16.4
17.5
18.8
19.1
19.0
18.9
16.2
…
PV of Debt to GDP Ratio
PV of Debt to Revenue Ratio
2014DSA
102.0
131.5
147.1
154.6
149.4
140.8
105.4
38.7
2013DSA
127.9
131.9
141.9
144.6
144.7
140.8
121.9
…
Source: Ethiopian authorities; IMF and world Bank staff estimates and projections.
*Debt Sustainability Analysis
lively when a fundamental ideological
divide exists between the two parties.
Apparently, nothing sums up the
Ethiopian government’s relationship
with the IMF than a “fundamental
idealogical difference”. So, there appears
to be an issue year-in-year-out. In the past,
a number of macroeconomic matters like
inflation, financial sector regulation,
sectoral liberalization and overall
growth paradigms had been sources of
contention. In fact, severe resistance
to IMF’s policy recommendation is one
of things that the late Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi is remembered for. To put
it into perspective, neither sides had the
complete upper hand historically. While
the Fund remained loyal to the widely
championed market economy with a
IMF vs. Government... page 38
Hospitality business in the making
By Birhanu Fikade
from the tourism and hospitality sectors
annually.
Back in the days of the emperors, Addis
Ababa was able to host the first ever
Etege Taitu Hotel, named after Empress
Taitu, the wife of Emperor Menelik II.
It opened doors some 116 years ago. The
establishment of Taitu Hotel gave the
capital a new face. A face of hospitality
at least for the royal circle. Members of
royal family and ranking inner circles
of the emperor were hesitant to give it a
try, because it was not a regal thing to
do at that time; to have a meal inside a
place called hotel. As some literatures
proclaim they even discarded it all
together.
There are a number of factors which
had deterred the growth of hospitality
industry in Ethiopia. Before, 1991
Ethiopia was struggling to be in the list
of the hospitality sector. The famous
13 months of sunshine slogan which
still serves in promoting Ethiopia was
launched during the time of Emperor
Haialesellaise I. Behind branding and
cultivating the tourism sector, one bold
figure is to be mentioned. Habtesellaise
Tafesse was a minister of tourism back
in imperial days. It was that time which
gave opportunities for many local as well
as international brands like the Hilton to
come into the play until the Derg seized
power. Before the military took over the
government, Bekele Mola Hotels, Ghion
Imperial Hotel, Wabi Shebelle Hotel, Ras
Hotel, Ethiopia Hotel, Omedad Hotel
and the likes were mushrooming in the
capital and regional cities.
Little by little, the inner circles of
the royal society started to become
accustomed to the concept of wining
and dinning at an establishment
called hotels. From then on to now, the
hospitality business came to serve many
including travelers across the world.
Yet, fifty years later, Ethiopia sticks
with only three hotels which could be
named for their international presence.
The 47-year-old Addis Ababa Hilton was
built by Emperor Haileselassie I. Some
15 years ago, followed Sheraton Addis,
which bears one of the luxury brands of
Starwood Hotels and Resort Worldwide.
Radisson Blu came up with the brands of
Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group as only the
third hotel Ethiopia has ever registered
in the name of international brands.
But right this time, the hospitality
industry seems to be picking up trying
to catch up with at least the neighboring
nations which amasses billions of dollars
The private sector was forced to
hibernate throughout the 17 years
of military rule. Most private sector
holdings were nationalized; one best
example to be cited from the hotel
business was Omedad Hotel. It was
built and operated by private owners
before being nationalized. These sorts
of measures and the maximum capital
ceiling placed on the private sector made
it difficult to own and operate hotels in
the country at that time. Half a million
was the limit set for investors by the
socialist government.
Currently, the total number of hotels
both
b
th privately
i t l
owned
d and
d those
th
belonging to the Government in Ethiopia
is around 426. According the Ministry of
Culture and Tourism, these and those
of “unclassified hotels” are estimated to
have some 19,000 rooms in 2011. To have
a recent data on the real number of hotels
in the country is a hugely challenging
task. However, some researchers dare to
project that the number of hotels grow
by 20 percent based on the 2009 figures.
The assumption works out that the total
number of hotels probably reaches some
500 or so in 2014.
Out of which, 93 hotels with a little over
5,000 rooms, fall under the star-rated
standards of the ministry. These are
hotels which are dubbed to be holding a
two to five stars showing their standard
and status in the internationally
recognized language. However, the
standards set for star rating was
introduced long before the country was
introduced to the luxury standards such
as Sheraton Addis. Before Radisson
Blu, came into the face of Ethiopia’s
hospitality business, the government
considered some 17 hotels which meet
the international standards in the
capital, which means they fall into the
standard of two stars and beyond.
According to officials of the ministry, the
hotel rating system will be introduced
in the industry soon. Previously, the
ministry had attempted to bring in a
new grading system which was aimed
at delineating star-rated hotels in the
country. But that was boldly rejected
by the industry players and property
owners. Following the opposition, three
years ago, the ministry came up with
www.thereporterethiopia.com
similar attempts. It was challenged by
the local hotel operators once again. But,
not only them, ministry’s contacted the
World Tourism Organization (UNWTO)
and presented the guidelines which
it attempted to implement. UNWTO
experts, however, did what the hotel
operators had done and rejected it. The
experts discarded the guidelines set out
by the government. Instead, they tried
to develop a new form of guidelines
and that still is on the making, Tadesse
Endaylalu, tourism licensing services
directorate director at the ministry told
The Reporter.
But the absences of regulation on
grading, some industry players were
seen manipulating the industry. Across
the city, to the layman’s understanding,
many hotels give themselves star ratings
perhaps for other commercial purposes.
When they found out that the hotel
business is the ideal one to venture on,
easily labels the building with hotel flags
and start rates. These usually are those
hotels mostly complained by lack of
accommodating parkings, public areas
or swimming pools.
In his exclusive interview with The
Reporter, Neway Berhanu, managing
director
of
Calibra
Hospitality
Consultancy and Business Plc (a
company which has facilitated the
contacts recently to develop six
internationally branded hotels here),
said that most of the hotel owners
and developers previously were not
convinced by the idea of hiring hotel
Hospitality... page 36
HEADLINES
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Vol. XIX No. 944 |7
Ethiopian to AWiB to honor ‘exceptional’ women
commence
Dublin, LA
By Neamin Ashenafi
Tewolde Gebremaraim
By a Staff Reporter
Ethiopian Airlines yesterday announced
that it has finalized preparations to
start flights to Dublin and Los Angeles
starting from June 2015.
Ethiopian said flights to Dublin and Los
Angeles will be operated three times a
week with the ultra-modern Boeing 787
Dreamliner, which offers unparalleled
on-board comfort to passengers. The
flights will be the only direct service
connecting Africa with Ireland and the
West Coast of the United States.
Ethiopian said travelers from Los
Angeles and Ireland will be able to enjoy
seamless and convenient connectivity
options thanks to Ethiopian extensive
in
Africa
covering
49
network
destinations. Similarly, as the flights
will be the only direct service between
Dublin and Los Angeles, the Irish and US
traveling public between the two cities
will greatly benefit from the opening of
the route.
“Our new flights connecting Addis
Ababa, Dublin and Los Angeles will
play a critical role in the expansion of
trade, tourism investment between the
fast growing continent of Africa, and the
United States and Ireland. As the these
flights will be the first and only direct
air route linking Africa with Ireland and
the West Coast of the US, they will bring
these two seemingly far away cities
much closer to Africa and will facilitate
mobility and connectivity for businesses
and the large African Diaspora
community living in the West Coast of
the United States”, Ethiopian Airlines
Gorup CEO, Tewolde Gebremaraim,
said.
The third edition of the Women of
Excellence annual celebration of
leadership and contribution made
by Ethiopian women, hosted by the
Association of Women in Business
(AWiB), will take place on October 19 at
the Sheraton Addis. Seven candidates
have been identified for this year’s title,
Seble Hailu, president of the association,
told The Reporter.
This was disclosed during a press
conference held on October 7 at SaroMaria Hotel. Blen Sahilu, board member
and head of public relations of the
association, told The Reporter that each
year the association celebrates the
dedication, ingenuity and achievement
of amazing Ethiopian women, one of
which will take the title of AWiB 2014
Women of Excellence (WOE).
It was also disclosed that the nominees
are chosen for their vision, proven record
of success, courage and compassion as
demonstrated by how they have helped
other women to succeed.
For this year’s title some 21 nominees
were identified and due to various
reasons, such as some of the nominees
being outside Ethiopia, refusal from
some of the nominees for various reasons
and more, the list was reduced to 12. The
Court Sentences three magazine
publishers in absentia
months jail terms each.
By Tamiru Tsige
General
Managers
of
publishing
companies of the now defunct Addis
Guday, Fact and Lomi magazines
received jail terms of more than three
years.
The Sixteenth Criminal Bench of
the Federal High Court passed the
sentence on Tuesday in the absence of
the defendants who fled the country
following the charges.
Endalkachew Tesfaye, general manager
of Rose Publishing Plc - publisher of
Addis Guday magazine and Gizaw
Taye, general manager of Dadimos
Entertainment and Press Works Plc
- publisher of Lomi magazine were
sentenced to three years and three
The sentence against Fantu Nuriye,
general manager of Yofa Entertainment
and Press Works Plc - publisher of Fact
magazine, received a jail term of three
years and 11 months.
The publishing companies and the
general managers are accused of
public incitement through spread of
false rumours and subversion of the
constitutional order.
Gizaw was the only defendant to appear
before court back in August. However,
he fled the country after the court
granted him a 50,000 birr bail. Except
Fantu, a defendant whose identity and
whereabouts is yet to be established,
a total of 15 journalists have fled the
country for fear of persecution.
Advertisment
In this regard, the runners for this year’s
award are Dr Bogalech Gebre, Founder
and Director of KMG Ethiopia, Frealem
Shibabaw, Founder and Director of
Bahir Dar Academy and Director of the
Ethiopian School Meal Initiative, Dr
Liya Tadesse, CEO and Vice Provost at
St. Paul Hospital Millennium Medical
College, Rachel Mekuria, Former Head
of the Educational Television Production
Division and Former Board President
AWiB to honor... page 36
Israeli Knesset
with Ethiopian
counterparts
By Yonas Abiye
A handful of the Israeli parliamentary
(Knesset) officials and staff visited
their Ethiopian counterparts to confer
and share experiences at the House
of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR)
yesterday.
Headed by the Director General of
the Knesset, Ronen Plot, the Israeli
delegation briefed their counterparts
on the formation and activities of the
Israelis main legislative and government
system.
According to Plot, in the Israeli
government and legislative system the
head of any opposition party will get
similar respect as a house speaker or
any other senior government official in
the executive body.
According to the Director General, the
Knesset is the house of representatives
(the parliament) of the State of Israel, in
which the full range of current opinions
are represented. Nevertheless, parties
“In line with our Vision 2025 strategic
roadmap, we are expanding our network
and deploying the most technologically
advanced aircraft as part of our
Ethiopian to commence... page 36
final 12 nominees were interviewed, and
the association has shortlisted seven
women for the final 2014 award.
“Free grant... page 36
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Israeli Knesset... page 36
8| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
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10| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
COMMENTARY
C
onsider, for example, policy toward the
banking system. With the defeat of the Scottish
referendum, it is clear that the UK will
still have a single integrated banking and
financial system for the foreseeable future. In the US,
which similarly has an integrated banking system, the
federal government steps in when banks in a state are in
serious trouble. Americans have learned the hard way
that bad financial events, even when initially localized,
can quickly infect the entire system.
The evolution of devolution
By Barry Eichengreen
The Scots have spoken. A solid majority
voted against independence in their
historic referendum last month. But
the debate left no question that an
even larger majority favors the further
devolution of economic, social, and
political power in Britain. And regional
movements elsewhere in Europe – and
around the world – are making similar
demands.
The logic of devolution is clear. Scotland,
for example, may not want a bigger or
smaller government than it has now,
but it wants a different mix of taxes and
spending. It wants more local control.
The Scotland Act of 2012, scheduled to
come into effect in 2016, provides a down
payment on this desired autonomy.
Prime
Minister
David
Cameron,
knowing which way the wind is blowing,
has promised more.
But if devolution is good for Scotland,
then why not for Wales and Northern
Ireland? Why not also for England, for
that matter? An equilibrium in which
Scots vote on English laws but the
English have no vote on Scottish laws
will not remain an equilibrium for long.
And why stop there? Why not devolution
for Yorkshire, a region with a population
equal to Scotland’s and an active
separatist movement, and for other
English regions?
A not-so-United Kingdom of regions need
not be a disaster. The United States is able
to function, after a fashion, as a union of
50 states of very different economic size
and political complexion. Other federal
states like Canada and Australia may be
even better role models.
But it is important to draw the right
lessons from the experience of these
other states.
For starters, the central or federal
government should retain significant
fiscal powers. It must be responsible not
just for defense and foreign policy, but
also for key economic policies. And it
must have the resources to implement
those policies.
Consider, for example, policy toward
the banking system. With the defeat of
the Scottish referendum, it is clear that
the UK will still have a single integrated
banking and financial system for the
foreseeable future. In the US, which
similarly has an integrated banking
system, the federal government steps
in when banks in a state are in serious
trouble. Americans have learned the
hard way that bad financial events, even
when initially localized, can quickly
infect the entire system.
Specifically, the federal government
steps in through the agency of the Federal
Deposit Insurance Corporation, which
has a credit line with the US Treasury.
With the federal government raising
roughly two-thirds of all tax revenues,
there is no question about the Treasury’s
The evolution... page 28
VIEWPOINT
By Mesued Mustefa
Turkey is a vital country to defeat ISIL
In my last week take on the current
international issue entitled “Fighting
International Threats and Challenges,”
I argued that today’s international
setup has failed to protect mass killings,
crimes against humanity and has lack
of determination and commitment
to protect humanity across the globe
in general, and in Syria and Iraq in
particular. I raised the issue of Islamic
State of Iraq and the Levant ((ISIL) as
an example and asked why this group
gained this much momentum in the first
place? Though I am not an expert on the
issue; I also stated my skepticism about
the successes of the ongoing operation of
the international coalition to bombard
the command and communication
facilities of this group. I expressed the
importance of urgent and strong action
from the international community
before it becomes too late.
Just a few days later this group is about
to gain another strong strategic place
located near the border of Turkey,
while there have been continuous
bombardments from the so called
international coalition forces. Speaking
Tuesday in the southern city of
Gaziantep, Turkish President, Recep
Tayyip Erdoan, told residents that
Kobane was about to fall. “The terror
will not be over…unless we cooperate
for a ground operation,” Erdogan said
in the eastern city of Gaziantep. “I am
telling the West - dropping bombs from
the air will not provide a solution.”
I think Kobane is a game-changing
place for this crisis for two reasons.
Both the international coalition and the
government of Ankara understand the
ramification of the capture of Kobane
by this terrorist group. In the first place
the importance of ground forces may
get momentum and the international
community
will
reconsider
the
effectiveness of the ongoing air
bombardment and at the same time
Turkey will likely react and engage this
group. These two scenarios in one way
or another will change the whole picture
of the ongoing struggle to tackle such
threats. The capture of this strategic
town by this group is also vital for the
www.thereporterethiopia.com
group too. I see the possible capture of the
Kurdish populated city of Kobane as an
opportunity to defeat the group because
this scenario will bring Turkey into
play and gives her a chance to assert her
demands to the so called international
coalition. As we all followed, Turkey has
significant differences in the handling
of the current problems in Syria and
Iraq. Both the Assad regime and the
Kurd separatist fighters are enemies
of the Ankara regime. As far as my
understanding goes, if we need to defeat
this group, one country that can play a
significant and vital role is Turkey. It
was a well-documented fact that Turkey
Turkey is a vital... page 28
Vol. XIX No. 944 |11
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
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12| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Advertisment
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Opinion
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Vol. XIX No. 944 |13
America’s overrated decline
By Joseph S. Nye, Jr.
With the approach of the US
Congressional
elections,
questions
about the health of America’s political
institutions and the future of its global
leadership have become rampant,
with some citing partisan gridlock as
evidence of America’s decline. But is the
situation really that bad?
According to the political scientist Sarah
Binder, the ideological divide between
America’s two main political parties has
not been as large as it is now since the
end of the nineteenth century. Despite
the current gridlock, however, the 111th
Congress managed to pass a major fiscal
stimulus, health-care reform, financial
regulation, an arms-control treaty,
and revision of the military policy on
homosexuality. Clearly, the US political
system cannot be written off (especially
if partisan gridlock is cyclical).
Nonetheless, today’s Congress is plagued
by low legislative capacity. Though
ideological consistency has more than
doubled over the last two decades, from
10 percent to 21 percent of the public,
most Americans do not have uniformly
conservative or liberal views, and want
their representatives to meet one another
halfway. Political parties, however, have
become more consistently ideological
since the 1970s.
This is not a new problem for the
US, whose constitution is based on
the eighteenth-century liberal view
that power is best controlled by
fragmentation
and
countervailing
checks and balances, with the president
and Congress forced to compete for
control in areas like foreign policy. In
other words, the US government was
designed to be inefficient, in order to
ensure that it could not easily threaten
the liberty of its citizens.
This inefficiency has likely contributed
to the decline in confidence in American
institutions. Today, less than one-fifth of
the public trusts the federal government
to do the right thing most of the time,
compared to three-quarters in 1964. Of
course, these figures surged occasionally
during that period, such as after the
September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks; but
the overall decline is considerable.
The federal government is not alone.
Over the last several decades, public
in
many
influential
confidence
institutions has plummeted. From 19641997, the share of Americans who trusted
universities fell from 61 percent to 30
percent, while trust in major companies
fell from 55 percent to 21 percent. Trust
in medical institutions dropped from 73
percent to 29 percent, and in journalism
from 29 percent to 14 percent. Over the
last decade, confidence in educational
institutions and the military has
recovered, but trust in Wall Street and
large corporations has continued to fall.
can be misleading. In fact, 82 percent
of Americans still consider the US to
be the world’s best place to live, and 90
percent like their democratic system
of government. Americans may not be
entirely satisfied with their leaders, but
the country is certainly not on the brink
of an Arab Spring-style revolution.
Moreover, though party politics have
become more polarized in recent
decades, this follows the 1950s and early
1960s, when the escape from the Great
Depression and victory in World War II
fueled unusually high confidence in US
institutions. In fact, the sharpest decline
in public trust in the government
occurred in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
Moreover, declining trust in the
government has not been accompanied
by significant changes in citizens’
behavior. For example, the Internal
the
Revenue
Service
is
among
government institutions that inspire
the least public confidence; yet there
has been no major surge in tax evasion.
In terms of controlling corruption, the
US still scores in the 90th percentile.
And though voting rates in presidential
elections declined from 62 percent to 50
percent in the latter half of the twentieth
century, they stabilized in 2000, and rose
to 58 percent in 2012.
The loss of confidence that Americans
have expressed may be rooted in a
deeper shift in people’s attitudes toward
But these ostensibly alarming figures
America’s... page 28
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14| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
COMMENTARY +
P
hilosophical differences are
extremely difficult to reconcile.
Just
as
Platonists
and
Aristotelians struggled against one
another for millennia, Kantians and
utilitarians have been at one another’s
throats for centuries.
The new philosophers
By Harold James
At the recent meeting of G-20 finance
ministers in Australia, US Treasury
Secretary Jack Lew noted “philosophical
differences with some of our friends in
Europe,” before urging Europeans to
do more to boost their anemic growth
rate. The terminology is striking, and
underscores the difficulty of Europe’s
search for a way out of its current
malaise.
Canada’s finance minister, Joe Oliver,
joined the call for fiscal expansion in
Europe – a position for which there
seems to be some support within the
European Central Bank. Indeed, ECB
President Mario Draghi has advocated
higher spending by more fiscally strong
countries like Germany. And ECB
Executive Board member Benoit Coeure,
together with his former colleague Jörg
Asmussen, currently Germany’s deputy
labor minister, recently suggested that
Germany should “use its available room
for maneuver to promote investments
and reduce the tax burden of workers.”
In fact, most of the world believes that
Germany should adopt a more expansive
fiscal policy. According to this view,
austerity is counter-productive, because
it induces slowdowns and recessions
that make long-term fiscal consolidation
more difficult.
But Germans – as well as some other
Northern Europeans, and perhaps some
Chinese economists – remain reticent.
They believe that responding to calls
for stimulus would simply lead to more
such calls, creating a log-rolling, porkbarrel dynamic in which any hope for
fiscal consolidation is ruled out.
The stimulus-versus-austerity debate
is an old one. In the 1970s and 1980s,
the United States regularly called on
Germany and Japan to act as locomotives
for the global economy. But, until
recently, the divergences were viewed
in terms of interests, not “philosophies.”
Americans wanted additional demand
for their goods and higher prices, while
the Germans and Japanese defended
their export industries.
The problem today, as Lew’s recent
statement highlighted, stems from
deeply entrenched differences between
the opposing sides’ belief systems, with
ideological questions about fairness
and responsibility trumping pragmatic
discussion of the best way forward
for everyone. As the historian Robert
Kagan argued in 2002, Americans and
Europeans do not only have different
worldviews; they occupy entirely
different worlds.
Philosophical differences are extremely
difficult to reconcile. Just as Platonists
and Aristotelians struggled against one
another for millennia, Kantians and
utilitarians have been at one another’s
throats for centuries.
Such deep theoretical conflicts have
real-world consequences, as they impede
constructive debate and cooperative
action in crisis situations. Fundamental
ideological divisions over the 2003 Iraq
war have strained global politics for
more than a decade.
The new... page 30
VIEWPOINT +
By Gordon Brown
A generation held hostage?
On April 14 the Islamist terrorist group
Boko Haram kidnapped 276 schoolgirls
from
the
government
secondary
school in Nigeria’s northern town of
Chibok. Many escaped, but 219 remain
in captivity, their whereabouts still
unknown.
So deep is the despair and desolation felt
by the girls’ parents that they are now
considering whether to declare their
daughters “presumed dead.” According
to local custom, funerals are held after
loved ones have gone missing for four
months, so that a period of mourning
can give families some closure. The girls
have now been held captive for over five
months.
No one can overstate the families’
unspeakable anguish from not knowing
if their daughters have been raped,
beaten, or trafficked out of Nigeria – or
even if they are still alive. The rest of the
world may have moved on, but the girls’
parents wake each morning to a day of
uncertainty and resignation. Hope is
fast evaporating.
It is difficult to see how the girls could
be returned safely. Launching a military
rescue operation would be highly risky.
It is believed that the girls have been
split into separate groups, so that any
attempt to rescue one group would
imperil the others. Despite talk of the
government negotiating a deal with
the captors, this option, too, would be
fraught with danger.
Even if all of the girls eventually do
come home, nothing will ever be the
same again for them or their families.
For some, it is already too late. Seven
parents, despite being relatively young,
have died of heart attacks or strokes, to
which the intolerable strains of their
situation may have contributed.
But amid the gloom, there is, perhaps,
a glimmer of hope. While we cannot
know the future for the girls still in
captivity, 15 of the 57 girls who escaped
their kidnappers are now back at school,
braving Boko Haram’s threats to return
and abduct more students. Hundreds
www.thereporterethiopia.com
of thousands of other girls in northern
Nigeria are now too afraid to go to school,
but these girls refuse to be cowed. They
are determined to make up for lost time.
This display of astonishing courage
and determination to get an education
should be an inspiration for us all in the
fight against discrimination. To support
and encourage more girls to attend
school in the face of abduction threats,
the Nigerian Safe Schools Initiative has
been launched to fund fortifications,
telecommunications,
and
security
measures aimed at allaying children’s
fears about going to what should be a
safe haven.
A generation... page 30
Vol. XIX No. 944 |15
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Advertisment
Request
q
for Supply
pp y of Communications and
Information Systems
y
((CIS)) Equipment
q p
and
Services for Eastern Africa Standby
y Force
((EASF)) ((REF: HR/ICT/002/2014))
The EASF Secretariat intends to procure CIS Equipment and
Services andtherefore seeks companies to supply the CIS
Equipment and Services. Interested and competent Companies
should collect a detailed Terms of Reference document from
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of a non-refundable fee of USD 50 or equivalent in Birr. The
completed bids should be returned to the address below by 17th
October 2014 10.00 am and opened immediately thereafter in
the presence of bidders or their representatives who choose to
attend.
EASTERN AFRICA STANDBY FORCE HEADQUARTERS
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Web:
www.easfcom.org
Joint Declaration by the European Union High Representative
for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, and the Secretary
General of the Council of Europe on the European and World
Day against the Death Penalty, 10 October 2014
!
strong and absolute opposition to capital punishment in all cases and under all circumstances, and their commitment to its
worldwide abolition. We are deeply concerned about setbacks in some countries, such as recent mass trials leading to a vast
number of death sentences, the extension in domestic legislation of the scope of the death penalty’s use, or the resumption
of executions after a period of several years.
No execution has taken place in our Member States in the past 17 years. The European Union and the Council of Europe
"!#!$%&"$'()
Convention on Human Rights, and urge all other European States that have not yet done so to sign and ratify these instruments
which aim at the abolition of the death penalty.
The European Union and the Council of Europe deeply regret the recent executions carried out by Belarus, the only European
country that applies this form of punishment. They strongly urge Belarus to commute the sentences of the two remaining
*+()
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penalty.
Both organisations welcome the recent steps taken by the African Union towards the adoption of an Additional Protocol to the
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of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights of 15 December 1989, aiming at
the abolition of the death penalty, have brought the number of States Parties to eighty-one. They encourage all States which
have not yet done so to ratify this protocol on the occasion of its 25th anniversary in 2014.
The European Union and Council of Europe call on all Members of the United Nations to support the Resolution on a moratorium
on the use of the death penalty which will be put to vote at the 69th session of the UN General Assembly in December 2014.’’
www.thereporterethiopia.com
16| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Advertisment
VACANCY ANNOUNCEMENT
GREEK COMMUNITY SCHOOL, ADDIS ABABA.
Fax : +251 115 510274 e-mail: [email protected]
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www.thereporterethiopia.com
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Feature
Vol. XIX No. 944 |17
Investment setbacks in Ethiopia
EUBFE panelists holding discussions with the attendees of the forum
By Henok Reta
When the Ethiopian Investment Agency
(EIA) announced the unprecedented
level of increase in investment from
US and the EU back in July this year,
it hardly mentioned what awaits some
of these companies coming to Ethiopia.
For the time, it was the increase that
was the big story since the level rose to
19.27 billion birr just from 2010 to 2014,
according to the EIA. “It just reached
new heights,” public relations director
praised it in comparison to what he
called the “lion’s share” takers of the
Foreign Direct Investment (FDI): China
and India. The figure, however, is just
half of the 40.61 billion birr that reached
the country through FDI, the EIA states.
No doubt, the country can present
itself amongst the major potential FDI
destinations in world at the moment.
Ethiopia’s immense natural resources,
vast land, cheap labor, ideal weather, and
some incentives may have something
to do with this. In spite of this, the
country has not been what investors
from the West call an ‘ideal’ investment
destination. As some prefer to put it,
the administrative “gridlock” with the
state bureaucracy remained the main
reason behind this, especially, not for
those businessmen and women who are
passionate about ease of doing business
with flexibility and transparency all
their lives. Indeed, authorities try to
sell a stable economic environment,
liberalized
economy,
security
of
investment, significant tax incentives,
investment opportunities, favorable tax
regime, access to large market, good
infrastructure, strong natural resource
base, and cheap labor force to potential
investors.
Good enough. The country, indeed,
looks fine from here. But, on the other
hand, it doesn’t sound so good in light
of some global indicators. It ranks 166th
in the world and Africa in terms of
starting business, 125th in ease of doing
business and even it ranks 16th out of
the 19 Common Market for Eastern and
Southern Africa (COMESA) countries.
“Since it covers 25 percent of the
COMESA, it shouldn’t top the bottom,”
Thierry Mutombo Kalonji, director
of investment promotion and private
sector development at COMESA, says.
In spite of the best practices the country
has shown in a few years to attract FDI,
the regional block, COMESA urges for
more improvements, particularly in
licensing, taxation and registration.
“Mauritius, Zambia and Rwanda can
impart their best practices in terms of
licensing for other member states,” the
director points out.
Since its inception in 2012, the European
Union
Business
Forum
Ethiopia
(EUBFE) has held a couple of meetings
that brought together government
officials, businesspeople, and experts to
discuss issues regarding the investment
climate. While conducting the second
anniversary of the forum at Addis Ababa
Hilton last week, the solid evidences
traced by the experts’ case studies and
legal analyses ignited a heated debate on
the matter. Ahmed Shide, state minister
of Finance and Economic Development
(MoFED), assured commitment to work
on the shortcomings indicated. “We are
here to listen to you,” he said. Semaw
Negatu, a legal expert, on his part, said
that the EU Business Forum in Ethiopia
insightfully showed the edge of business
impediments that have been faced by
foreign investors in particular focus on
registration, licensing, taxation, and
renewal. According to Semaw’s study,
impediments found in the investment
sector were: insufficient supply of credit,
shortage of foreign currency, prohibition
of licensing permit (Franco valuta), loan
www.thereporterethiopia.com
restriction and the like. Duty drawbacks
in customs, blocking the voucher system
for loss of minor item, applications of
non-uniform methods of calculations
with the custom authority, and rigidity
of laws and regulations, lack of trust,
deposit advance payment and taxation
procedures with the licensing and
automation were also widely identified
by experts as major obstacles to business.
Indeed, the authorities repeatedly
reacted on some of the findings of this
survey.
“We share some of the indicated failures,
but they will find solution through
consistent implementation of the laws,”
Nebiyou Samuel, deputy director of
Ethiopian Revenues and Customs
Authority (ERCA), said. However, the
Ministry of Industry (MoI) does not
admit to frequent delays and lengthiness
of registration and licensing process. The
MoI is of the view that for a reason related
to security and dishonesty experienced
in the past, “We can’t issue licenses and
registration documents since we have
faced a lot of issues in screening some
dishonest businessmen who misused
licenses,” Nuredin Mohamed, Trade
Inspection and Regulatory Director and
advisor to the state minister, MoI told
The Reporter.
the
willingness
of
the
Despite
government to undertake possible
changes to improve the business climate
in Ethiopia, shortage of skilled labor
force will remain a critical problem,
according to experts. Capacity building
through training, facilities and adoption
of best practices would transform
the nation and helps to become top
destination on the global investment
map, they suggest. “Finance and
investment reforms, in this regard, play
an important role in attracting more FDI
Investment... page 30
18| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
SMART PHONES FOR
SMART PICTURES
Thirty-year-old Aschalew Belete just had his birthday party some days
ago. He had no candles, cookies or camera flashes. He celebrated it joined
by a couple of friends at Ambassador Park imbibing beer. Abruptly, one
of the friends took out his Samsung Galaxy S4 to take a snap shot of the
birthday boy. “I need this picture now,” he told his friend. In a somewhat
fanciful wittiness the three friends found themselves in a photo shop to
print the picture taken on the cellphone’s camera. The print shows a
very funny look of Aschalew whose eyes were gazing at the empty beer
bottles on the table and another one that shows the 8-year-old Aschalew
along with eight candles, and bottles of Miranda.
SEE THE FULL STORY ON THE NEXT PAGE
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Vol. XIX No. 944 |19
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
By Henok Reta
Thirty-year-old Aschalew Belete just had
his birthday party some days ago. He had
no candles, cookies or camera flashes.
He celebrated it joined by a couple of
friends at Ambassador Park imbibing
beer. Abruptly, one of the friends took
out his Samsung Galaxy S4 to take a
snap shot of the birthday boy. “I need
this picture now,” he told his friend. In
a somewhat fanciful wittiness the three
friends found themselves in a photo
shop to print the picture taken on the
cellphone’s camera. The print shows a
very funny look of Aschalew whose eyes
were gazing at the empty beer bottles
on the table and another one that shows
the 8-year-old Aschalew along with eight
candles, and bottles of Miranda.
Since then he has kept the two photos
of different times, different history with
different looks. “The difference can be
easy to notice, but the way they were
made is just amazing,” he says. Aschalew
remembers how often he was asked to
stand up properly by the cameraman
22 years ago. “I think my kids would
have something quick and easy when
compared to what we had back then,” he
says.
As a pretty modest man who avoids an
exotic lifestyle, and the modern way of
interaction with the people around, he
has long kept himself isolated from the
digital world. “I don’t know why, but I
know I’m not old-fashioned,” he tells.
As a result, he does not want to be on
the social media or does not want to use
gadgets. “That is the reason why I told
my friend I need the picture in print
right then,” he reasons out his quick
demand of the picture taken by his
friend’s phone.
In one of the busiest photo shops in
Addis Ababa, a group of people are seen
occupying the small room busy editing
images on their desktop computers.
Others sat down on the bench waiting for
the delivery of pictures. Selam, a front
desk receptionist at photo Wondessen,
Bole branch keeps herself busy cutting,
cropping and issuing photos. “Most
of these pictures are taken by our
cameramen here in the studio,” she says.
These days, many people, particularly
youngsters have begun using a variety
of smart phones with high megapixel
cameras to capture any moment day and
night. While hanging out in a café or bar
and even on a picnic or while traveling
people have become well accustomed
with taking pictures themselves on their
phone. “I usually take my own picture
on my cellphone. It’s been long since
I posed in front of a camera,” Zinash a
self-employed young woman told The
Reporter. She, however, lacks a habit of
printing the pictures she takes on her
phones. Since she is an active social
media member for socializing and
networking she posts her pictures to be
viewed by friends and family members.
In fact, many of the pictures posted
on the social media appear to be more
of self-taken phone photos (selfies),
according to professional photographers.
“Megapixels alone is no guarantee of
heightened photographic performance,”
Kalab
Mengiste,
a
professional
www.thereporterethiopia.com
photographer says. Indeed, many would
hardly think of the camera quality
when purchasing phones. The common
questions asked when people are buying
a phone are thoroughly related to
the battery life, hardware toughness,
network access, internet and durability,
according to an expert at Yonas mobile.
“Yes, some might be well aware of the
pixel density with their phone, but what
I usually found out is that many are less
aware of it,” he says.
The formula for fantastic photos comes
down to the entire camera module,
which includes the size and material
of the main camera lens, the light
sensor, image processing hardware and
the software that ties it all together,
according to photography experts.
Professional photographers say that the
most important ingredient in the optical
system is the sensor, because that is the
part that captures the light. The sensor
is essentially the “film” material of a
digital camera. The fact is that if one
wants a phone that is super slim and
super light and still has a battery life
that will last a full day and more-then
some compromise has to be made and
it is often done by making a smaller
sensor, and making compromises on the
lens, they argue.
Despite the market for smart phones
in Ethiopia it seems to be pretty
incomparable even when compared with
other African countries. Still the number
of people using them is getting high,
according to smart phone retailers in the
Smart phones... page 31
20| Vol. XIX No. 944
Society
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Against the waves
Insights of the 2014 Irreecha festival
Traditionally decorated Oromos headed by a man with baboon skin head dress
By Daniel Dormeyer
When they left from Addis Ababa early
in the morning of Sunday October
5, the two Europeans, James Cator
from England and Daniel Dormeyer
from Germany, accompanied by two
Ethiopians, Minassie Alemayehu and
Haile Mekonen, did not really gauge
the significance and importance of
what they would experience when
attending Irreecha in Bishoftu, Oromia
regional state, around 45 minutes south
of the capital. With almost one third
of Ethiopia’s population, the Oromo
constitute the largest ethnicity in
Ethiopia and the wider Horn of Africa.
Cator and Dormeyer had just arrived,
excited about a country charged of
history, culture and noble values,
and willing to overcome waves of
preconceived ideas about Ethiopia.
The season of blessing and love
Established by Oromo forefathers,
Irreacha (also called Irreessa) takes
place annually throughout Oromia and
amongst Oromo communities abroad
on the first Sunday of last week of
September or the first Sunday of the first
week of October according to Oromo
time reckoning (Dhahaa). Bishoftu hosts
the major gathering of a festival believed
to be one of the largest in Africa.
Known as Oromo’s Thanksgiving to
their God (Waaqa) for his goodness
over the past year, Irreecha marks the
beginning of a new lunar calendar and a
seasonal change from winter to spring,
and more particularly the end time of
starvation (Gadaa Belbaa), disunity,
chaos (Mormor), and the auspicious
occasion to wish plentiful harvests in
the upcoming year.
After a pleasant drive through
though
unexpected
enchanting
landscapes on the uncrowded highway
in the wee hours of the morning, during
which they wondered about a dead
hyena and the probability of getting
hit by a car, the multicultural group of
friends finally reached Bishoftu.
Bishoftu means “the land full of water”
in Oromiffa language. Indeed, the main
ceremony would take place at the Lake
Hora Arsadii. In fact they reached sacred
ground, where Oromo people believe
God will grant all their wishes.
Waves of joy, harmony and unity
The car needed to get parked right
before a blocked area. It was a short, but
already crowded walk down to the lake.
The rising sun dispelled the last clouds
around Bishoftu, and casted bright
spotlights on first waves of chanting and
dancing people running down the street
and moving towards the venue. Like
tens of thousands of Ethiopia’s ethnic
Oromo, they gathered for Irreecha to
celebrate the transition from the dark
and challenging rain season to the sunny
new Birraa (Spring) season.
Even though some habitants got
together in front of their homes around
a delicious coffee while teenagers were
still playing football, they knew that new
waves of people from different parts of
the country would arrive soon and just
take them along to the ceremony. The
effervescence, an irresistible attraction
was already palpable.
“I was so impressed by the huge number
of people, all beautifully dressed and
moving ahead peacefully and cheerfully.
A real festival of colors. I can’t remember
having seen in my country such a
traditional event respected and followed
by so many people and with so much
passion.”, Cator says.
Symbols of an identity and a worldview
The group of four bought scarfs in the
traditional white / red / black colors
and a green tree on it, as well as the
green grass and yellow flowers (umama)
to comply with the tradition. Indeed,
www.thereporterethiopia.com
everything related to Irreecha has a
meaning and a purpose: for instance the
Oromo gather in symbolic places such
as hilltops, river sides and the shades of
big sacred trees. Green being a symbol of
fertility, peace, abundance and rain.
At Lake Hora Arsadii the three
predominant Oromo colors on the
Oromia’s traditional dressings sticked
out of this huge green area.
Waves of joy and happiness brought the
pilgrims and the group of four to the
shores, amongst thousands of people
already standing there and waiting the
elders to stir long grasses in the lake
before sprinkling the blessed water.
They believe to get blessed as well and
that it will bring them closer to Waaqa
(God). Many of them also made presents
to thank God for the blessings and
mercies received in the previous year.
In the distance various boats could be
spotted on the lake, sometimes with
newly married couples aboard.
An older man started explaining the
spiritual significance of Irreecha to
Minassie and his obligation to convey
the meaning of a ritual that has been
passed down many generations and that
will be passed to the next ones.
Against... page 26
Vol. XIX No. 944 |21
Lifestyle
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
A NEW DAY
begins in Addis Ababa
Meskel Square is a spot where a considerable number of sportsmen and women workout
By Mark Jenkin
To walk the streets of Addis Ababa at
6am gives a sense of a city coming to life.
Before another hectic day has properly
started in this emerging metropolis,
there is relative calm. In the Shalla
Public park in the Bole Sub City, birds
are singing in trees and lush long grass
has been freshly watered from the rainy
season.
There is still a coolness in the air.
Women are sweeping the dusty streets
with straw brushes, ensuring the front
of their shops and homes are well
presented. Stray dogs randomly wander
by the roadside, uninterested by the
activities around them.
Men, with baggy tracksuit bottoms
hanging from their athletic frames
are out for their early runs before the
traffic reaches a rush-hour crescendo.
They are pounding the pavements and
working hard against the heavy air that
comes in a location nestled beneath the
mountains, almost 2,500m above sea
level.
Construction workers are getting ready
for a day of toil , clambering up the
wooden scaffolding of emerging high
rise buildings. Lorries pull up alongside
the countless building sites. Addis is a
place that is expanding fast.
It is unrecognizable from 20 years ago
and in another few years its appearance
will have changed significantly again.
It is hoped new roads, railway lines and
modern hotels will make this a tourist
destination attractive to people from
across the world. Then there are signs of
the old world too, as herds of goats amble
by the side of the road tended by their
farmers. In numerous homes, maids and
mothers have been up early to do the
household chores and prepare food for
the day.
By 8:30am, the strong sun has burnt
through the cloud and thousands of
people are bustling in all directions.
Children in smartly pressed uniforms
head for school. Large groups of
worshipers in white robes make
towards a religious ceremony at Bole
Medhanialem Church. Blue taxis and
buses dominate the busy roads.
United, Liverpool, Arsenal, Real Madrid,
Barcelona, Juventus and Bayern Munich
are among the team colors worn.
A man is trimming the grass verges,
not with a petrol machine but stooped
over using hand-held shears and taking
pride in his work. Everywhere there are
clothes shops, shoe-shine stalls, people
selling confectionary and fruit on street
corners.
The city’s passion for sport can be seen
too, at Meskel Square where scores of
runners go through their paces along the
steep banks. Some do their stretches and
push-ups by the side of the road, others
sprint up and down the steps like the
boxer Rocky Balboa in the movies.
Some young boys are busy washing cars.
Men in business suits march confidently
to their offices.
Nurses, police officers and delivery
drivers go about their daily business.
Fashionably
dressed
women
in
vibrant colors take great pride in their
appearance. For the young men, there is
the more casual look of jeans, tracksuit
tops and a never-ending variety of
football shirts.
The national colors are everywhere.
The brilliant yellow, red and green of
the Ethiopian flag. And everywhere you
look, there are signs of the obsession
with Western football. Manchester
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Young athletes, men and women, are
practicing their tempo runs or sprints
with dedication and enthusiasm. May
be one day they will have the chance to
become Olympic champions like their
heroes Haile Gebrselassie, Kenenisa
Bekele or Turunesh Dibaba.
This is a typical morning in Addis
Ababa. With the hustle and bustle of
contemporary life and the happy, laidback manner of its people, Addis is a city
where old traditions and modern culture
meet in a fascinating way.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
22| Vol. XIX No. 944
Travel
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
HAVE
a ride on the wild side
By Mette H. Sommer
About 225 kilometers east of Addis
Ababa and about 6 hours of driving you
will find the Awash National Park, a
nature reserve, surrounded by beautiful
mountains and grassland. Not many
foreign people do yet know about the
fascinating experiences, which this
area of Ethiopia offers, even though
there are plenty of opportunities for
visitors. First of all the park offers
you the opportunity to watch the wild
African animals in their natural habitat
and the park is a place of residence for
an exciting wildlife with spices such as
oryx, gazelles, crocodiles, and baboons.
Furthermore, a couple of native tribes
live in the park, who like to greet you.
But be aware that most of them do not
want to be photographed, due to their
conviction about the camera’s negative
influence on the soul.
Besides the wildlife and the natives, the
park also includes an amazing nature.
You can see everything from dry trees
and bushes at the grassland to more
exotic palms close to the swamp. In the
north of the park you can furthermore
find hot springs, in which you can bath.
But be careful; if you want to jump into
the hot water, you should make sure
you brought some cold water as well,
because the spring is even hotter than
the air, which means a higher risk for
you to get dehydrated.
The park does also include many
beautiful sights, such as waterfalls,
rivers and mountains which all seems
almost unaffected by the presence of
man.
More than just nature
The area that surrounds Awash is
much more than just the National Park.
Also the cities in the area offer unique
experiences. A city which is worth a visit
is the small village, Dubti, which you can
reach by shared taxis. It will cost you a
little less than 90 Birr. The village, which
is placed close to beautiful mountains
and only 10 minutes of driving from
Awash National park, is best described
as a hundred houses placed next to the
main road.
Due to the size of the village, the facilities
are far from as good as the ones in the
capital, which is an experience by itself,
but you will still have the opportunity
to order a cup of the great Ethiopian
coffee or to do some shopping in the local
supermarket. Besides that, you can rent
a room for only 150 birr a night, which
includes a bed, a toilet, and an ice-cold
shower – nor more or less. Of course, you
still have the opportunity to rent a more
modern room, but since you easily can
spend a day on sightseeing, you do not
as an ordinary traveler need to upgrade
your room for further luxury – it is an
experience to live simple.
Besides the hotels the city offers
traditional entertainment. Especially
during the evening you can join go to
one of the local bars, where they will
show you traditional dances and songs.
Furthermore, they will often give you
the opportunity to join their dance and
sometimes even make a verse about
you as the main character of the songs.
Besides, that you can also join the
traditional Ethiopian Coffee ceremony –
but a good idea is to friendly ask them
first. In general, the village is very open
and interested in the visitors and do
therefore do their best to give you the
best experiences, at your stay.
It is recommendable to hire a local or go
there by a smaller company from Addis,
as they know the area and generally
can show the unknown treasures of
Ethiopia. Besides that they would also
give you a much better price than most of
the travel agencies, which often ask for a
lot of money. But if you decide to hire a
local, you do of course have to be aware
of some differences: The guide would
not be a professional tourist guide, and
do therefore not expect too much of him.
Second, he will probably not book you in
to some fancy hotel and you will travel
by shared taxi, which will make you
explore of Ethiopia in a more down to
earth way, which will be great if you are
a young or middle-aged traveler. At the
same time you will also be showed the
sights which only the locals know about
– everything from beautiful views to
delicious food. A great place to have your
lunch is for instance a restaurant, which
is found close to the Awash Waterfalls.
They cook great food and you can enjoy
the tasteful food next to the crocodiles
and the river. Other places you can
order a roasted chicken and after a half
an hour of waiting you will be served a
perfectly roasted chicken – fresh from
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Oryx at the Awash National Park
the backyard. Besides that you will also
have the opportunity to try one of bajajs.
They are an easy and cheap way to get
around, and are just like the taxi’s easy
to see by their blue and white colors.
Great with a break
It is a great idea to visit the cities out of
Addis, especially if you visit Ethiopia
for a longer time. But it craves some
planning to find the inspiration for the
trip and to decide where to visit. One of
the problems is that the a considerable
number of Ethiopians often do not
know that much about the lowland
and different tourist attractions. But
when first you discover where to go it
is a unique experience. Besides that
– arranging a trip from a local travel
agency is not that expensive: a weekend
in Dubti is only about 2000 birr. But if
you stay patient and do some research
you will be able to arrange a cheap trip
in Ethiopia. Because Ethiopia is much
more than just Addis Ababa, and there
is so many places which is worth a visit.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Entertainement
Vol. XIX No. 944 |23
His 50 albums and countless solo concerts, along with frequent
travels between Europe and Martinique, have finally brought
him to Africa to meet the continent’s legends like Manu Dibango
CAB: charming trios in
blending cultures
By Henok Reta
The Alliance Ethio-Française has been
enormously involved in introducing
new, talented musicians in Ethiopia.
This time, the invitation brought in
the CAB, a very charming trio that
colorfully blends cultures and beats.
“Simply awesome!” an Ethiopian bass
player hailed the performance of the
band that entertained a thousand of
people at the Italian Cultural Institute.
The Cameroonian singer, bassist and
songwriter Bassy apparently looked like
he was enjoying the formation of the
trio as he brilliantly played his Afro-jazz
songs being produced from the piano,
the drum and the conga drums. Since
his first band, the Jazz Crew, whose
repertory already reflected his penchant
for Bossa Nova, a genre of Brazilian
music developed and popularized in
the 1950s and 1960s, he took part in the
creation of Macase. Macase is widely
known as one of the most inventive of the
numerous ‘jazz fusion” groups, inspired
by the local rhythms which proliferated
in the clubs of Cameroon. The group
famously collected prestigious African
prizes such as the Prix Découvertes RFI,
Masa and Kora.
Having released the debut album
“Leman” in 2009 by the World Connection
Label, he has performed in festivals and
venues all over the world to envisage
his soulful spectrum in Brazil. “It’s just
my own sense of discovering cultures to
make it music,” he says, as he himself
describes himself as “a man of the
world.” In the best sense of the world, he
is rooted in the land but also a traveler
in his soul and open to cultures to find
a nexus for what he calls the “missing
link” between the African and Latin
continents. Conceived as a passionate
Photo By: Reporter /Mesfen Solomon
“First time in Addis. Are you ready?”
Blick Bassy, a Cameroonian singer
started the first ever concert for the
CAB (Caribbean African Brazil) at the
Italian Cultural Institute on Tuesday.
His energy, mesmerizing dialogue with
the audience and enthusiastic approach
to kicking off the trio-concert in Addis
Ababa has inspired the audience. He
then pointed to the two musicians on
the left and right. “Adrian, from Brazil,”
he called upon the young percussionist
who was born in Aracaju, Brazil, in 1981,
to a great bass player father, Narriman
Tenorio. “To the right…one of the most
talented pianists, Mario Canonge from
Martinique,” he introduced the man
who invented and orchestrated the CAB
trio.
CAB preforming at the Italian Cultural Institute
musical travelogue, he follows the tragic Adriano DD inherited great diversity
“slave route” from Cameroon to Brazil, and fickleness, which made his music
passing through Benin, Senegal and even more unique and special. “I really
Cape Verde. Now, the meeting of Africa, enjoy the cultural mix that helps us to
the Caribbean, and Brazil has just see music is infinite,” he says. Music
opened a new era for the cultures and is so much a part of life for the talented
traditional melodies to flow on the world young percussionist who built his own
stage. Mario Canoge by far appears to first drums made entirely of large dishes
be the point of the formation as he plays and casseroles. He tells about his first
piano like a master. Born in 1960, in impression of music, particularly the
Fort-de-France, capital of Martinique, bass section as his grandfather played
he passionately associated himself with trombone in the military orchestra
the piano. Although his parents had
of Maceio city, capital of Alagoas in
a significant role in helping him gain
northern Brazil.
access to a piano in his childhood, the
Martinique star has proven to have Now, the three immensely talented
an amazing ability to adapt his piano- musicians find themselves in the perfect
playing to a wider variety of genres such place to recreate and reunify themselves,
as jazz, zouk and salsa in France.
speaking one language through a diverse
His 50 albums and countless solo culture. The brilliant collaboration
concerts, along with frequent travels seems to be phenomenal for many
between Europe and Martinique, have as the trio excessively captures the
finally brought him to Africa to meet the attention of the audience with fusions
continent’s legends like Manu Dibango, of Afro-Caribbean beats. “Phenomenal
Etienne Mbappe, and Gino Sitson. This combination indeed,” Ethiopian music
indeed led him to discover another fan of Afro-Jazz told The Reporterr as
young talent, Bassy, who’s been given some Ethiopian famous musicians, the
nickname of “un angel negro” by his likes of Girum Mezmur, co-founder of
fans to put him in the footprints of his the Addis Acoustic Project expressed his
compatriot, Manu Dibango. Being born admiration in a standing ovation for the
in the richest cultural place in Brazil, trio.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
24| Vol. XIX No. 944
Interview
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Photo By: Reporter /Tamrat Getachew
PART
TNERS FOR
DEVELOPMENT
In September 2013, the Republic of Belarus opened its embassy in Ethiopia, making it the fifth
in Africa. The diplomatic relations between the two countries started after 1991, when both
countries were liberated from the socialist regimes Ethiopia from the military regime the Derg
and Belarus from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR). Ambassador Dimitry
Kuptel is the new Ambassador of the Republic of Belarus to Ethiopia and representative to the
African Union (AU). Before he came to Ethiopia, Kuptel was working at the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of Belarus in different posts and was also ambassador to Vietnam. Neamin Ashenafi
of The Reporter sat down with the Ambassador to discuss various issues ranging from the
depth of the relationship between the two countries to the challenges and opportunities of the
relations of the two countries. Excerpts:
Vol. XIX No. 944 |25
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
The Reporter: Can you elaborate on
your country and the evolution of
the diplomatic relations that your
country has with Ethiopia?
Ambassador Dimitry Kuptel: The
Republic of Belarus is a democratic
social-oriented state situated in Central
Eastern Europe neighboring Russia
on the east and Poland on the west, so
after the collapse of the Soviet Union in
1991, Belarus became independent from
Russia. A couple of years after that,
Ethiopia and Belarus started diplomatic
relations.
relations between Ethiopia and Belarus
have not increased, and that is why we
are here and have opened our embassy
in Ethiopia, to expand our economy and
trade ties.
This is our aim and why we have opened
our embassy here in Ethiopia. It is to
scale up the cooperation and to work
closely with Ethiopia for mutual benefits.
We have got technology, knowledge
and machines, which Ethiopia needs to
develop the agricultural sector and the
mining industry in the future.
So I hope we will have successes. And,
although our relationship hasn’t been
very close, we hope that it will be in the
future.
It is in this regard that we opened our
embassy here in Ethiopia last September.
After that we started rapidly and very
intensively to develop our cooperation.
Beside that we have to emphasize that
we started structural cooperation with
Ethiopia in the international arena
within the frame work of the United
Nations on the basis of mutual respect of
both countries.
We produce different types of machines
such as lorries, trains and buses and so
on including agricultural manufacturing
products such as tractors and so many
others and household products such as
TV sets and refrigerators.
However, unfortunately, the economic
These two countries are celebrating
the 20th anniversary of their
diplomatic relationship. So how is
the cooperation going so far: is it
going as was planned some 20 years
ago? Is it promising, and at the same
time what are the challenges?
Generally speaking, during this 20-year
history of our relations and cooperation,
these have been good, especially in the
international arena. We also have hopes
to speed up our cooperation in all fields.
After that we have been providing our
knowledge and we trained personnel,
educated Ethiopians in our country
much more after the collapse of the
Soviet Union. This year we celebrate
the 20th year of the establishment of
diplomatic relations with Ethiopia.
The Republic of Belarus is ready and
keen to expand political, economic and
social diplomatic relations as well as
international relations with Ethiopia.
So we hope to build a relationship that
will be mutually beneficial to both
countries.
and we are ready to provide even our
technologies to produce some parts and
units here in Ethiopia to create more
jobs.
You said that your country is
producing a lot of machineries. Are
you going to enter the Ethiopian
market, apart from your dealing
with MetEC?
But we don’t want to emphasize only
on selling and buying products from
each country. We are ready to provide
our technology, knowledge and at the
same time we are ready to transfer
technology to Ethiopia. At this point I
would like to mention that we are now
working closely with the Metals and
Engineering Corporation (MetEC) to
renew the Belarusian tractor assembly
in Ethiopia built in 1984. We now would
like to restart cooperations in this field
Of course we are ready to open a
representative office here in Ethiopia
not only with the government but also
with enterprises, the private sector and
other companies to work together.
There is no difference for us; we are
ready to establish not only tractor
assemblies but road construction
machines, agricultural machines and
mining equipment to produce here.
Generally, we are ready to provide our
technologies and knowledge.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
You have mentioned the products
that your country produces and
exports across the globe but, at the
same time, Ethiopia also exports
some products, mainly agricultural
products. So what is your country
doing so far in this regard, that is
importing Ethiopian products into
your country?
Unfortunately,
Belarusian
people
probably don’t know much about
Ethiopian products. We are already
buying flowers, some coffee and some
agricultural products and foods but
not too much. As I mentioned, our
cooperation is on the basis of mutual
benefits and that is how it should be.
For example we are not producing
coffee in our country and we are ready
to buy from Ethiopia. We are ready to
buy more quantities from Ethiopia.
And for this I have always been asking
the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of
Industry and the Chamber of Commerce
to provide us with reliable partners to
establish direct relationships between
the representatives of the business
community of both countries.
So, in this regard, is there any
understanding
memorandum
of
or any bilateral agreement with
Ethiopian counterparts to boost
economic
cooperation
and
the
relationship between these two
countries?
We are now working under the
intergovernmental agreements of trade
and economic cooperation between our
countries as well as the agreement of the
cooperation in the sphere of education.
We have political consultations between
our ministers and we have also signed a
memorandum of understanding with the
chamber of commerce. And we hope to
Partners for.. page 26
26| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Against...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 20
Then the group of friends also dipped
their grass in the water, trying to imitate
the repetitive hand movements people
did to reject all possible bad vibrations
while making wishes. Probably more
generally about peace and health when
the Oromos praise God also for fertility
and abundance with regards to the one
who matter to them, their livestock and
the upcoming harvest.
Three united dimensions
Overwhelmed by this visual feast of
colors and the irresistible vision of
fraternity, the four friends climbed back
to a clearing where the main ceremony
would take place. The white seats in the
shade of the big sacred trees they spotted
when walking down to the lake were
now occupied by the central persons of
the blessing festival.
At this very moment the group of four
realized the union of three dimensions of
Irreecha: religious, political and social.
First this thanksgiving embraces all
persuasions:
Christians
religious
(amongst them Orthodox, Protestants),
Muslim and Animists. They all came to
thank the higher force and pray for a
fruitful harvest.
Second Oromos from all ages and all
stripes gather to Irreecha, sharing
the same values and respect for the
traditions.
Third various officials (speaker of the
House of Peoples’ Representatives,
officials from the Ministry of Culture
and Tourism, President of the Oromia
Regional State) performed in harmony
with the honored Abagedas (the
elders, the traditional leaders of the
Oromo community, elected according
to the traditional Gadaa principles).
The speeches were held in three
languages: English, Amharic and
Oromiffa. Solemnity, pride, confidence
and magnificence emerged from the
speeches, reminding people about the
uniqueness of this highly symbolic and
truly global event.
The festival is held annually on the shores of lake Hora
Ethiopia is coming
Warmth was in the air and also in the
words. Besides the respect of tradition
and the awareness for the Oromo
culture and history, this unique event
symbolizes the pride and rise of Ethiopia.
Elites and supporters got encouraged
to help paving the way for promoting
Ethiopian values of sharing and
fraternity conveyed by Irreecha, but
also to convince the United Nations
Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization ((UNESCO) to register
this outstanding festival on the
representative list Intangible Cultural
Heritage of Humanity.
“The holiday is the only occasion, to
the best of my knowledge, that brings
together members from all religious
persuasions to honor it. Seeing the
masses attending this day is an evidence
to how people here have not abandoned
their traditional values even as they
embrace modernity. It’s no wonder that
it is a candidate for UNESCO’s World
Heritage list with generations after
generations protecting it,”Minassie
says.
A sign sent to the world
When the group of four left, they walked
back against further, even more massive
waves of people joining the celebration.
Waves of peace (Nagaa), freedom
(bilisummaa),
unity
(tokkummaa),
and reconciliation (araara), bringing
people closer to each other and making
religious, political and social bonds.
The two Europeans perceived Irreecha
PAR
RTNER
TNERS FOR..
TN
FOR...
....
be signing another agreement.
What were the challenges that you
have faced in boosting the cooperation
between these two countries so far?
The major challenge that comes to my
mind first is the lack of information, lack
of direct conversation and knowledge
of the potentials of the economy of
both countries. Therefore, we should
inform business communities about the
broader products we produce in both
countries and about our opportunities
and the potentials to establish a strong
relationship and cooperation.
You have mentioned that lack of
information and direct contact
were the major challenges of the
cooperation of these two countries
so far. In this regard, one of the
means to overcome such a challenge
is organizing a forum and business-
to-business meetings. What have
you done to inform the business
community of both countries about
the potentials and opportunities?
Yes, the first step is to organize a forum
together with deputy foreign minister
of the Belarusian Republic and invite
all Ethiopian companies to come to
exchange dialogues and at the same time
to see what to learn more about Belarus.
This will be conducted in one week’s
time here in Addis Ababa.
After that we are planning to organize
exhibitions in both countries to invite
representatives from the Ministry of
Education, industry and representatives
of business to Belarus to participate in
our exhibitions and conferences.
How do you describe the process
so far and what is your plan in the
future in relation to informing and
CONT`D FROM PAGE 25
addressing the business community
in both countries?
We will organize trips for representatives
of the mass media to our country. In our
country, journalists also always want
to learn more about our partners like
Ethiopia and they always ask what we
are doing here in Ethiopia and what
kind of potential we have here and so on.
Now that Belarus has opened an
embassy here in Ethiopia, what are
you expecting from the relationship
with Ethiopia?
Belarus only has five embassies in
Africa. The embassy that we opened in
Addis Ababa is the fifth one and we are
looking forward to strengthening our
relations not only with Ethiopia but also
with other African countries.
Of course, Ethiopia is the seat of the
www.thereporterethiopia.com
also as a positive movement against
many waves they are experiencing
in their societies: tradition resisting
to modernity (people still looking for
endorsement by the elder), all ages
united instead of generations divided,
all social classes brought together rather
than class struggle, all confessions in
harmony unlike so many parts of the
world.
This year Oromos celebrated the
Irreecha blessing festivities in millions.
The group of four felt proud and honored
to have been part of this movement. And
they simply let themselves go with these
positive waves.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
African Union (AU), which is a very
important body to confront both issues
in Africa and Ethiopia and that’s why
we are here and we expect with Ethiopia,
a better future. What comes to mind is
that we are at the right place at the right
time, where Ethiopia is about to finish
the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
(GERD) in about two years. Therefore,
we are ready to provide our knowledge
and technology and our machines for the
country’s rapid development.
Is there any specific area that the
Belarusian side wants to focus on in
providing technologies, know-hows
and machineries in Ethiopia?
We are in the beginning of the
consultations between our ministries.
We are only to start to find the directions
and find the challenges, problems and
also the potentials. But generally we are
focusing on providing all that we have,
all our machineries, all technologies
and to participate in all fields of activity
in the country, not only specific plans
but be engaged in all endeavors of the
country.
Vol. XIX No. 944 |27
Feature +
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Photo By: Reporter /Mesfen Solomon
Enhancing the contribution
of the mining sector
Panelists of the Ethiopian Extractive Industries Forum
mine would be the Allana Potash mine
in the Afar Regional State in the Dallol
Depression.
By Kaleyesus Bekele
Ethiopia is not much known in the
mining world. Except for the small-scale
gold, tantalum and gemstones exports,
the country is not among the list of major
mineral exporters in Africa. There are
no large-scale mines in Ethiopia. The
only large-scale mine is operated by
MIDROC Gold in southern Ethiopia.
The company started mining in 1998
and annually produces four tons of gold
in the Lega Dembi mine in the Oromia
Regional State. It mainly exports the
gold bullions to Switzerland. MIDROC’s
Lega Dembi Gold mine is ranked 170th in
the world in terms of value of production
in 2012.
The Canadian mining firm, Allana
Potash, plans to mine one million tons
of potash every year beginning in 2017,
then by generating 430 million dollars
annual revenue. According to Allana,
the potash deposit is estimated at 3.2
billion tons. The project is valued at 1.2
billion dollars. Allana, together with
its partners, will invest 630 million
dollars in the potash mine and related
infrastructure, the largest Foreign
Direct Investment (FDI) in the mining
sector so far.
The other new mine is the Tulu Kapi
gold mine in western Ethiopia. A
sizable gold mine was discovered by a
British company, Nyota Minerals, in
West Wollega of the Oromia Regional
State. The Tulu Kapi gold reserve is
estimated at 24.9 tons. International
Finance Corporation (IFC) is involved
in the project, which was expected to
be operational in 2014. This failed to
materialize due to the declining price of
gold in the international market and the
dearth of investment capital.
The state-owned Ethiopian Minerals
Development S.C. (EMDSC) mines
tantalum concentrate in the Kenticha
mine in the Oromia Regional State
in Guji zone. The Kenticha tantalum
mine operations has been on hold since
2013 due to the government’s effort to
privatize it. EMDSC wants to process
the tantalum concentrate rather than
exporting the raw tantalum concentrate.
The tantalum concentrate is mainly
exported to China.
In the south there is also a small stateowned mine called Adola, where alluvial
gold has been mined for over half a
century. Placer gold has been mined in
Ethiopia for more than 2000 years, but a
significant large-scale mining sector has
not been developed yet. More than one
million people are engaged in artisanal
mining primarily focused on gold.
Artisanal miners pan eight tons of gold
every year, contributing a significant
amount of foreign currency to the coffers
of the government.
Gemstones, mainly, opal, are produced
by artisanal miners. Rough and curved
gemstones are exported to India, Europe
and the US. The Ethiopian Ministry
of Mines (MoM) is encouraging and
assisting artisanal miners. Tantalum
is also produced by artisanal miners.
Artisanal miners generate more than 400
million dollars, the lion’s share coming
from gold export.
Nyota recently farmed out the
concession to another British company,
KEFI Minerals. KEFI is now updating
the feasibility study undertaken by
Nyota. The Tulu Kapi mine could be
operational within three years.
Ethiopia is also endowed with a range of
industrial minerals deposits including
potash, limestones, coal, iron ore,
tantalite, field spar, quartz, dimension
stones and dolomite, among others.
The third new mine will be Sakaro Gold
mine discovered by MICROC Gold.
The Sakaro gold mine is only five km
away from the Lega Dembi mine. The
gold deposit is estimated at 22.5 tons.
MIDROC is expected to start production
soon.
In the past 25 years no new mine was
opened in Ethiopia. Now there are
about three new large-scale mines in
the pipeline that will go operational in
the coming few years. The largest new
The ministry has issued 200 mineral
exploration
licenses.
A
number
of companies have reported gold
discoveries including ASCOM Mining,
Stratex and Ezana Mining in the
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Benishangul, Afar and Tigrai regional
states.
In 2011-2012, the mining sector earned
618 million dollars from mineral exports
– 2/3 coming from artisanal mining. The
mining sector is expected to generate
2 billion dollars by 2024, thereby
employing 8000 citizens.
The Ethiopian government aims at
building and developing an essentially
new economic sector – a large-scale
mineral sector. The current policy
framework envisions the mineral sector
to be the backbone of the industry by
2020-2023.
The World Bank this week released an
extensive study on the Ethiopian mining
sector at a consultative meeting held at
the Hilton Hotel on Octrober 7 and 8.
The report assesses the potential of the
mining sector and the challenges the
sector is facing.
The study, entitled Strategic Assessment
of Ethiopia’s Mining Sector, jointly
prepared by the World Bank and
the Department for International
Development (DFID), the governments
of Australia and Canada as well as the
Ministry of Mines, was launched during
the two-day forum. The study assesses
the potential of Ethiopia’s mining
sector to contribute to sustainable
economic growth and development.
It further provides recommendations
for the initiatives and actions that
will be required for such development
to take place, and identifies the risk
and opportunities that this entails.
The World Bank says the need for this
type of strategic analysis follows from
the Government of Ethiopia’s (GoE)
ambition to – as part of the Growth and
Transformation Plan (GTP) – develop
the mining sector to become the main
pillar of the economy.
Enhancing.. page 31
28| Vol. XIX No. 944
This approach to
governance has had
a profound impact on
the mentality of the
American people. A
2002 study indicated
that three-quarters of
Americans feel connected
to their communities, and
consider their quality of
life to be excellent or good,
with nearly half of adults
participating in a civic
group or activity.
America’s...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 13
individualism, which has brought about
decreased deference to authority. Indeed,
similar patterns are characteristic of
most post-modern societies.
This social shift probably will not
influence US institutions’ effectiveness
as much as one might think, given
America’s decentralized federal system.
In fact, gridlock in the national capital
is often accompanied by political
cooperation and innovation at the state
and municipal levels, leading citizens
to view state and local governments,
as well as many government agencies,
much more favorably than the federal
government.
This approach to governance has had a
profound impact on the mentality of the
American people. A 2002 study indicated
that three-quarters of Americans feel
connected to their communities, and
consider their quality of life to be
excellent or good, with nearly half of
adults participating in a civic group or
activity.
That is good news for the US. But it
does not mean that America’s leaders
can continue to ignore the political
system’s shortcomings, such as the
gerrymandered “safe seats” in the House
of Representatives and obstructive
processes in the Senate. Whether such
sources of gridlock can be overcome
remains to be seen. And there is
legitimate reason to doubt America’s
ability to maintain its “hyperpower”
status, not least owing to the rise of
major emerging economies.
But, as the conservative author David
Frum notes, over the last two decades,
the US has experienced a swift decline
in crime, auto fatalities, alcohol and
tobacco consumption, and emissions
of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide,
which cause acid rain – all while leading
an Internet revolution. Given this, dire
comparisons to, say, the decline of Rome
are simply unwarranted.
Ed.’s Note: Joseph S. Nye, Jr., is a
professor at Harvard and the author of
Presidential Leadership and the Creation
of the American Era. The article was
provided to The Reporter by Project
Syndicate: the world’s pre-eminent source
of original op-ed commentaries. Project
Syndicate provides incisive perspectives
on our changing world by those who are
shaping its politics, economics, science,
and culture. The views expressed in this
article do not necessarily reflect the views
of The Reporter.
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
The evolution...
ability to provide the financial backstop
needed to prevent contagion.
This implies that transferring the
majority of revenue-raising capacity
to the regions would be a mistake for
the UK, because doing so would give
the country a banking union without a
fiscal backstop. And that, revealingly, is
precisely what the eurozone has. That is
not somewhere the UK should want to
go.
additional federal transfers.
To counter this deficit bias, federations
in which states do much of the spending
and the central government raises
most of the taxes typically impose
balanced-budget rules on subnational
governments. Forty-nine of the 50 US
states, for example, have such rules in
one form or another.
In the US, control over social policy is
delegated to the states, allowing local
legislatures to tailor programs to local
tastes and use resources efficiently.
But those local policies are still subject
to federal oversight. The federal
government steps in – and has the
capacity to do so – when, for example,
civil liberties are being violated.
The Scotland Act of 2012 caps the
region’s deficit at 10 percent of its
budget and limits how much the Scottish
government can borrow. These issues
are now likely to be reopened with
further devolution. But reconsidering
debt and deficit limits on regional
governments is not the same thing as
abandoning them. The experience of
other federations shows that the latter
would be a mistake.
And yet there also is the danger
that federal authorities will assign
responsibilities to state and local
governments but not give them the
resources they need to carry them out.
And even where revenues are otherwise
adequate, states have an incentive to
spend more on social programs and,
pointing to the resulting deficits, ask for
At the same time, rigid rules
limiting deficit spending by regional
governments could place the UK in the
same fiscal straitjacket as the eurozone,
where member states are prevented
from borrowing in recessions. Fiscal
policy would then become dangerously
procyclical,
aggravating
business
fluctuations.
Turkey is a vital...
has long been accused of tolerating ISIL
— whose fighters often transit through
Turkey — because the group was useful
in countering both Assad and the Kurds.
Even if the vice president apologized to
Erdoan, last week US Vice President
Joe Biden blamed Turkey in part for
the rise of groups like ISIL. “They
poured hundreds of millions of dollars
and thousands of tons of weapons into
anyone who would fight against Assad,”
he said.
The current international coalition
strategy is to focus only on fighting the
extremists, which gives breathing space
for President Bashar al-Assad, whose
overthrow has long been Turkey’s
top priority in Syria and the ongoing
international support for Democratic
Union Party (PYD) — the armed sister
party of the Turkey-based Kurdistan
Workers’ Party (PKK) insurgency,
which Ankara regards as a “terrorist”
organization are the two main points
of difference for Turkey and the
international community. Opposing the
current strategy, Turkey prime minister
said “If ISIS[L] goes, another radical
organization may come in,” he said. “So
our approach should be comprehensive,
inclusive, strategic and combined
... not just to punish -- to satisfy our
public opinion -- to punish one terrorist
organization, but to eliminate all
terrorist threats in the future, and also
to eliminate all brutal crimes against
humanity committed by the regime.”
From the outset, I think both Ankara
and the international community know
the importance of ground operations;
and the Turkish army can defeat this
group. Ankara waited this long for two
reasons I think. The first thing being
that before involving themselves in
the current international coalition to
tackle this group, Turkey demanded
the overthrow of the Assad regime as
a favor. The second and main thing to
defeat this group is the role of Syrian
Kurds because once Syrian Kurds are
able to strengthen their power it will
definitely send a clear message to Kurds
in Turkey as well.
The so-called giving military and
financial support to moderate groups
in Syria as strategy to topple the Assad
regime might compromise the security
interest of Turkey. As I tried to state in
the above paragraphs, the support for
PYD — the armed sister party of the
Turkey-based Kurdish PKK insurgency,
which Ankara regards as a “terrorist”
organization can affect Turkey’s
interest. The Ankara government is
currently engaged in peace talks with
the PKK and it has long been wary that
Syrian Kurdish success would send an
unwanted message.
Last week I asked why the international
community waited this long while
ISIL has been killing thousands
of civilians, religious and ethnic
minorities in broad daylight. Why did
the international community wait too
long for intervention? For Turkey I
think the government of Ankara was
in ambiguity to decide which “terrorist
group” it preferred to have as a southern
neighbor: The PYD, which will affect the
internal security of Turkey by sending
bad messages to Kurds in Turkey, or
ISIL, which is a terrorist group and its
brutal tactics - including mass killings
and abductions of members of religious
and ethnic minorities, as well as the
beheadings of soldiers and journalists
www.thereporterethiopia.com
CONT`D FROM PAGE 10
Simply put, if fiscal policy is to play a
stabilizing role in the UK economy, it
will have to be conducted at the federal
or central level. The central government
and its revenue-raising capacity cannot
be allowed to wither away.
Devolution is coming, and its appeal is
undeniable. But it is important to know
where devolution ends and dysfunction
begins.
Ed.’s Note: Barry Eichengreen is
Pitt Professor of American History
and Institutions at the University of
Cambridge. His newest book, Hall of
Mirrors: The Great Depression, The Great
Recession, and the Uses – and Misuses –
of History, will be published by Oxford
University Press in December. The article
was provided to The Reporter by Project
Syndicate: the world’s pre-eminent source
of original op-ed commentaries. Project
Syndicate provides incisive perspectives
on our changing world by those who are
shaping its politics, economics, science,
and culture. The views expressed in this
article do not necessarily reflect the views
of The Reporter.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 10
but a counter force to tackle the Assad
regime.
What I understand from the current
strategy of the international community
is that indirectly the real game plan
was first for ISIL to defeat and weaken
the Kurd resistance, then for Turkey
to involve her military to protect her
borders. Because Turkey has a significant
role in defeating this group and Ankara
is also vital for cutting human supply
of ISIL by securing border security.
I strongly support the possibility of
broadening the target towards the
Assad regime. As the Prime Minister
of Turkey Ahmet Davutoglu eloquently
put it, “We said chemical weapons are
the red line. He used chemical weapons.
What happened to him?” “We didn’t do
anything. “He killed people by punishing
them through hunger. He surrounded
cities, neighborhoods, and kept them
hungry.” This is a time to consider
Turkey’s role in defeating ISIL. This a
time for the international community to
consider Turkey’s demands to broaden
the target and include the Assad regime,
because for me, both are the same in
their crimes, killings, and massacre and
more importantly in there character of
inhumanity.
Ed.’s Note: Mesued Mustefa is a
consultant and part time instructor
at New Generation University College
(NGUC). He has a Masters Degree in
Journalism and Communication and a
Postgraduate Certificate in International
Diplomacy. He tries to understand and
examine the dynamics of international
politics. The views expressed in this
article do not necessarily reflect the views
of The Reporter. He can be reached at
[email protected].
Vol. XIX No. 944 |29
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
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30| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
The new...
Modern
political
processes
and
structures are simply not well suited
for conducting – much less settling –
philosophical disputes. Democratic
institutions are designed for making
deals between competing interests,
with
parliaments
specializing
in
finding the right combination of
concessions to enable agreement on a
generally accepted solution. Likewise,
international forums like the G-20 exist
precisely to persuade a large number
of vastly different countries to set aside
philosophical questions for the sake
of their shared economic, political, or
security interests.
Philosophies do not just give a little here
and there, blurring over the difficult bits
in the hope that everything will work
out in the end. Imagine asking a Kantian
to add just a bit of utilitarian calculation
to the categorical imperative.
Of course, resolving a philosophical
debate is not impossible. It was standard
pre-modern practice to overcome such
differences with a formal disputation.
In the early sixteenth century, the
German princes attempted to settle
the philosophical challenge presented
by Protestant reformers by engaging
Martin Luther to debate a prominent
orthodox Catholic theologian, Johannes
Eck.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 14
There are not that many modern
varieties of this sort of practice, but
the 1944 United Nations Monetary and
Financial Conference at Bretton Woods
comes close. By systemically engaging
with the economic issues involved in
building a viable international system,
experts created a new global economic
and political order.
In a sense, central banks have begun
to resemble medieval philosophical
faculties, with discussions addressing
the issues underlying policy decisions,
rather than just the policies themselves.
In the ECB, for example, a debate is
underway to determine under which
deviation
from
fiscal
conditions
orthodoxy might be stabilizing in the
long term. How that debate is resolved
could lead to a new kind of international
cooperation.
At a time when political processes are
stalled on both sides of the Atlantic,
the US Federal Reserve and the ECB
have been engaging in a series of policy
innovations, feeling their way toward a
solution that could promote and sustain
economic recovery. On this basis, the
ECB is recasting itself as the incubator
of a new intellectual and philosophical
synthesis.
But central banks’ new role as supreme
arbiters of policy truth is fraught
with hazard. Given that the solutions
that emerge from their disputations
and analyses will be the product
of technocratic – not democratic –
processes, they are likely to trigger
populist backlashes.
Moreover, the policy approaches that
central banks produce may be too
complex and interlinked to function
efficiently. In particular, the attempt to
make expansionary policies conditional
on the implementation of a host of
microeconomic reforms is problematic.
If only some parts of a complex package
linking fiscal leeway with structural
reform are realized, the outcome is
likely to disappoint – or even prove
counterproductive. When it does, the
old philosophical divisions are likely to
resurface.
Ed.’s Note: Harold James is Professor
of History at Princeton University and a
senior fellow at the Center for International
Governance Innovation. The article
was provided to The Reporter by Project
Syndicate: the world’s pre-eminent source
of original op-ed commentaries. Project
Syndicate provides incisive perspectives
on our changing world by those who are
shaping its politics, economics, science,
and culture. The views expressed in this
article do not necessarily reflect the views
of The Reporter.
Investment...
and write a success story,” Jean-Paul
Gauthier, Principal of Locus Economica
LLC, says. He argues forcefully that
sometimes a bad system can be remedied
via a good implementation practice. He
insists that the government should focus
on implementation. According to him,
trust should come before verification
of the investors. In a survey, he cited
Kenya’s licensing and automation
experience appeared to be a very
good example here. “They have wellmaintained record since some decades
ago, even during regime changes the
records survived,” he explained.
The adoption of basic principles
starts with trusting the investor
and evaluating the on-line company
profiles of the investor or the electronic
signatures, according to Jean-Paul. He
recommends an on-line business forum
that would ease the burden of safety
beforehand. On-line business forum in
South Africa has yielded in simplifying
paperwork registration process and
license issuance, he explains. “Ethiopia
should become a one-stop shop,” he
argues. Kenya’s experience shows that
reviewing some 86 licenses, in which
they maintained 34, eliminating 20
and simplifying 32 from January 2014
to September 2104. Thierry Mutombo,
however, reassessed the causes for
lagging behind of Ethiopia and most of
the members. He argues that COMESA’s
initial commitment towards trade issues
rather than investment is the basic
reason. Nevertheless, the investment
reforms took place in some member
states that have tremendously improved
the investment.
According to Mutombo, Zambia and
Mauritius have been found to be
exemplary in easing business deals,
creating viable environment, and
simplifying licensing. The creation of the
Zambia Development Authority (ZDA)
in 2007 has centralized and rationalized
investment facilitation and promotion.
It has also made generous incentives
schemes available for investors and
aftercare services. Furthermore, the
development of multi-facility economic
zones has provided investors with a more
secure and well-equipped environment
to operate. The ongoing reforms in the
areas of automated registrations, permit
and visa processing, registration of land,
and customs clearings are said to have
been transforming the country’s status
to a leading position, he sates. In fact,
the World Banks’ Second Investment
Climate Assessment for Zambia (2009)
confirmed that Zambia’s business
environment has improved dramatically
since the first assessment in 2004.
With more positive business results,
previously identified problems such as
macroeconomic stability, high taxes,
and corruption, among other things, are
being tackled and did not figure among
the major obstacles in 2008 survey.
“Business registration is simplified
when the country is doing its best on
CONT`D FROM PAGE 17
easing burden with getting construction
permit and sector-specific licenses as it
was also joined by Zimbabwe to launch
similar formality in licensing and
custom transit,” Mutombo said.
The same thing is true with Mauritius,
as it appears to be one of the most
competitive, stable and successful
economies with the Gross Domestic
Product (GDP) of USD 9.5 billion,
according to data by the US State
Department. Since the reforms in 2006, it
has attracted more than USD 1.6 billion
in the form of Foreign Direct Investment
(FDI), including USD 443 million in 2010
and USD 339 million in 2011. The World
Bank’s Doing Business report also
ranks Mauritius first among African
economies and 23rd worldwide, out of
183 economies in terms of overall ease of
doing business.
“There is a constructive dialogue with
the government so that things will
look much better than now,” Barbara
Plinkert, Chargé D’affaires of the EU
delegation to Ethiopia, says. “The EUBFE
will do more in promoting the business
climate in Ethiopia,” she predicts. On the
other hand, COMESA’s newly-launched
network would also boost the capacity of
the agency for investment in Ethiopia.
“We are nominating an Ethiopian CEO
for the PTA (financial arm of COMESA),”
Mutombo reflected on the stronger tie
that his organization and Ethiopia will
have to boot investment.
The adoption of basic principles starts with trusting the investor and evaluating
the on-line company profiles of the investor or the electronic signatures, according
to Jean-Paul. He recommends an on-line business forum that would ease the
burden of safety beforehand. On-line business forum in South Africa has yielded in
simplifying paperwork registration process and license issuance, he explains.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
The American civil-rights
struggle that reached its
height in the 1960s fought
racial prejudice and
discrimination at home
and opposed colonialism
abroad. But there is a
war of liberation that
remains to be won
worldwide – against child
labor, child marriage,
child trafficking, and
discrimination against
girls.
A generation...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 14
Sadly, the world’s response to pleas for
donations has been slow and miserly.
This indifference mirrors similar
reactions to other recent global appeals,
such as for schooling for Syrian refugees
in Lebanon. The lack of concern seems
particularly callous when one considers
that the cost of educating a refugee child
is no more than USD 8 a week.
There is simply not enough outrage –
except from young people themselves.
They are more assertive in standing
up for their right to education than the
adults who are supposed to uphold that
right. It was particularly encouraging
to see hundreds of global youth
ambassadors from 100 countries descend
on New York recently to demand the
right to education and to support the
Bring Back Our Girls campaign in
Nigeria.
Bring Back Our Girls is the highestprofile
campaign
highlighting
discrimination against girls. But it is
only part of a growing global movement
by young people for civil rights.
The American civil-rights struggle that
reached its height in the 1960s fought
racial prejudice and discrimination at
home and opposed colonialism abroad.
But there is a war of liberation that
remains to be won worldwide – against
child labor, child marriage, child
trafficking, and discrimination against
girls. None of these evils will end until
basic education is made compulsory for
all – just as was done in the West more
than a century ago.
The campaign for the 219 Nigerian girls
– kidnapped simply because they wanted
to go to school – is an iconic battle of
this freedom struggle. That struggle will
be won some day. No injustice can last
forever. But for the missing girls and
their loved ones, it is a struggle that
cannot be won soon enough.
Ed.’s Note: Gordon Brown, a former
prime minister of the United Kingdom,
is the United Nations Special Envoy
for Global Education. The article was
provided to The Reporter by Project
Syndicate: the world’s pre-eminent source
of original op-ed commentaries. Project
Syndicate provides incisive perspectives
on our changing world by those who are
shaping its politics, economics, science,
and culture. The views expressed in this
article do not necessarily reflect the views
of The Reporter.
Vol. XIX No. 944 |31
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
PHONES...
city. “The use of smart phone
es
has just become more than
n
luxury since life is getting a
bit easier with it,” Kirube
el
Legesse, a smart phon
ne
technician, says. Sinc
ce
he got back here from
m
the Middle East a few
w
years ago, he has been
n
fixing smart phone
es
and tablets. Many
y
use their phone
es
for browsing th
he
web while others do
additional things lik
ke
taking a photograph
h.
And fixing the problem
m
with the camera len
ns
could be a bit tougher and
challenging.
“Honestly
y
speaking technicians lack
k
some intricate knowledg
ge
with the camera of a phone,” he
h
says.
When looking at the basic question
n
of how often do people use theiir
phones to take images, the randomly
y
selected individuals approached by
y
The Reporterr replied “very much
h”
since self-shot photos (selfiess)
appears to be more enjoyable than
n
professionally taken one.
one “I really
enjoy it. Whenever I’m alone sitting
somewhere and if my phone is in
my hand I take a picture or even
take some video shots,” Zinash
Enhancing...
The report indicates that despite the fact
that large-scale mining is still virtually
non-existent, Ethiopia does have the
geological potential for the discovery of
new and sizeable economic deposits. The
report identifies gold, copper, tantalum,
and potash as the main foreign currency
earners.
In the 2011/12 fiscal year the Ethiopian
mining sector contributed about 1.5
percent to the country’s GDP estimated
at 32 billion dollars. The sector accounted
for 618 million dollars (19 percent) of
the country’s export, with gold making
up close to 100 percent of the mining
exports.
According to the report in 2012, total sales
from the mining sector in Africa were
valued at 120 billion dollars representing
nearly 10 percent of the continent’s GDP.
In Africa metal mining and coal mining
are about the same magnitude in terms
of value. Among the metals, gold, copper
and iron ore make up more than half
of the value. “If one assumes that the
geology of Ethiopia is as prospective as
the African average, then these numbers
would imply that the present day
economic potential for the development
of the Ethiopian mining sector would be
to achieve an annual turnover of nearly
5 billion dollars,” the report said.
The report highlights the hurdles
in the Ethiopian mining sector. In
adequate promotional work, in efficient
licensing procedures, dearth of trained
professionals, low productivity, and
border conflicts (disagreements related
to land use) are some of the challenges
facing the mining sector. Back in 2011 the
MoM suspended licensing for about two
years saying that they wanted to review
applications and working procedures.
“In the absence of the recent success
stories (apart from Allana Potash) and
with limited geological data pertinent
to exploration, the collection of new
high quality data and the subsequent
marketing of these data through a longterm strategy for investment promotion
assume vital importance,” the report
states.
The report indicated that the existence
of a modern and well-functioning
mining cadastre and registry system
and clear rules for the award of licenses
are key features for the promotion of
investments in the mining sector. The
Ministry of Mines commissioned a
computerized mining cadastre system
in 2011 but it has not been functioning.
According to the report, there are critical
capacity constraints at the Ministry of
Mines licensing department.
The report stressed the importance of
having a clear legal framework both
to attract investors and to facilitate
regulation of the industry. The lack of
trained professionals and staff turnover
at the Ethiopian Ministry of Mines and
Ethiopian Geological Survey (GSE) were
discussed.
“While considerable competence exists
in particular among many MoM and
GSE long-term employees, the overall
capacity at the ministry and GSE for
proper promotion, supervision and
regulation of the sector is limited,” says
the report. “The main reasons for this
include the historically non-existent
large-scale mining sector, which has not
provided the opportunity for consistent
responds. On the hand, some also
enjoy shooting each other while
hanging out together. However,
pictures are often left stored on the
memory of the phone rather than
being printed. “Pictures taken at a
ceremony usually get printed more
often,” Selam, the receptionist, told
The Reporter.
In a more irritating manner, those
pictures stored on the phone can
definitely get lost or corrupted
suddenly. In spite of the growing
market for smart phones in the
heinous crimes on phones is also
getting momentum. “This might be
a good reason to keep my pictures
printed or have a backup,” Ziansh
terribly speaks about the awful
experience she observed with her
friend some time ago. “My friend
lost her phone and everything on it.
Now, she has learnt to backup her
files,” she speaks on behalf of her
friend. No doubt, phones, tablets and
even laptops have served many in
the place of cameras since a decade
ago and that could have made a
serious impact in the photo shop
business. “Yes, I would say so, but it
will never stop the business since a
professional camera man is always
needed in some circumstances,”
Kalab argues.
The quality of images differs from
CONT`D FROM PAGE 27
capacity development; the high number
of staff at MoM and the GSE (Totally
1,500 according to the structural plans
with current number of employees being
about 900) of which the majority are
working in administration or support
process rather than core process; a high
turnover of staff and a decrease in the
number of long term experienced staff,
prevents consistent capacity building
and which is related to civil sector
salaries being significantly lower than
those offered by the private sector, and
non-flexible budgeting and procurement
procedures,” the report reads.
In
planning
for
future
mining
development, the report recommends the
establishment of “resource corridor”.
The recommendation includes the
establishment of a clear policy direction,
addressing organizational and capacity
building needs at MoM and increased
provision of information on the
geological prospectiveness of Ethiopia.
The report also highlighted the need
for the engagement of civil society
in the mining sector in dealing with
communities’ concerns.
The World Bank, the Canadian Foreign
Affairs,
Trade
and
Development
(DFATD), the Australian, Chinese and
the British governments assist the
Ministry of Mines.
The report said significant support to the
Ethiopian mining sector is being planned
through the Australian government,
DFATD, DFID, the World Bank and
Chinese initiatives, the work that is
identified must be carefully coordinated
to avoid duplications of efforts.
In the course of the meeting DFATD
www.thereporterethiopia.com
CONT`D FROM PAGE 19
phone to phone as it often brings
about a competition amongst the
manufacturers. When Nokia first
came up with Pure View technology
used in 808, its announcement of
the 41megapixel camera toting
no sense, However, thanks to
the camera companies the term
megapixel had become a kind of
short hand for image quality, states
NDTV Gadgets website. Simply
put, every new phone that launches
has ads that focus on photography.
While most refrain from saying it
in as many words, manufacturers
proclaim that their phone’s camera
is better than what is in the market.
Still the current thinking about
megapixel is misleading, according
to experts.
Whatever the size of the market for
smart phones in Ethiopia it looks
pretty small, but retailers argue that
the number of users is growing fast.
And nowadays, selfies are gaining
momentum over the professionally
taken studio photos. For many, it
has also become a permanent hobby
as they are often seen taking selfshots in different places. “Experts
argue that phone camera and
pixels should matter since these
days people share photos on social
networking sites like Facebook,
Instagram and Twitter.
announced the launch of a new support
program to the Ethiopian mining
sector. Minister Counselor and head
of development cooperation, Amy
Baker, told The Reporterr that DFATD
allocated 12.5 million Canadian dollars
for technical assistance program that
would last for five years. Baker said
the program will assist Axum and
Addis Ababa University Science and
Technology in the areas of strengthening
mining education. DFATD has been
providing technical assistance for the
MoM licensing department.
The World Bank has been proving
technical assistance to the MoM in the
artisanal mining sector and the accession
of Ethiopia to the Extractive Industries
Transparency Initiative (EITI) with an
outlay of 3.6 million dollars. Kristen
Hund, senior mining specialist with
the World Bank, told The Reporterr that
the whole purpose of the study and the
forum was to identify the gaps in the
mining sector and cooperate in filling
the existing gaps. “Based on the needs
of the ministry the World Bank wants
to assist in addressing policy issues, and
capacity building programs. We want to
help them in revising the petroleum law,
if they think it is necessary,” Hund said.
Guang Zhe Chen, World bank Country
Director for Ethiopia, said, “Sharing
of international best practices on
Extractive Industries will contribute
to building a solid base for their good
governance, which in turn will facilitate
sound management of revenue and
equitable growth that will further the
sustainable development of Ethiopia.”
Officials of the Ministry of Mines seem
to be happy with the World Bank’s study.
Minister Tolossa Shagi said the ministry
will work with development partners
in the areas of capacity building. “The
report is good. It identifies the gaps in
the mining sector and where we can
cooperate,” Tolossa said.
32| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
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Vol. XIX No. 944 |33
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
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MEDIA
COUNCIL...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 1
By establishing an
independent Media
Council, the industry
avoids a possibility of
having a mandatory
statutory media
council which the
government warned it
would promulgate.
the council but a consensus was reached
against the notion.
A heated debate ensued on the issue
of membership to the Ethics Panel,
accountable to the General Assembly,
with some arguing against the inclusion
of government. In the draft Article of
Association, the executive, judiciary
and legislative organs of the government
are represented.
Hours of debates led to a consensus that
welcomed the inclusion of the executive
and legislative organs of the government.
However, most argued against the
inclusion of a member of the judiciary
within the panel and in the event of an
inclusion they opted for a member who
is a retired judge.
The 15-member Ethics Panel will
also have representatives from the
private and state media, journalists’
associations, civic societies, chamber
of commerce, religious institutions,
higher learning institutions and famous
personalities.
The Council hopes to get its finance
from three main sources including
membership contributions, donations
from domestic sources and fundraising
activities. The forum rejected democratic
fund, which was stated in the draft
code, as another main source of income
leaving it for the general assembly to
decide on the issue of finance from the
government as it deems appropriate.
However, the issue of legal registration
remains unresolved despite the draft
Article of Association stating that the
Council will be registered in accordance
with the Charities and Societies
Proclamation. The Charities and
Societies Agency, the regulatory body,
claims it is not within its mandate to
register the Media Council.
However, Mimi Sebhatu, chair of the
organizing committee, remains optimist
the Media Council will be set up.
“This is a huge step forward,” Mimi told
The Reporter. “What is left now is only
procedural and we expect to establish
the council in two months.”
After incorporating the feedback from
the forum, the draft codes will be sent
back to stakeholders for comments after
which time the Council is expected to be
established.
By establishing an independent Media
Council, the industry avoids a possibility
of having a mandatory statutory media
council which the government warned it
would promulgate.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
34| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
By Leyou Tameru
@anchihoye
Bits
&
Water ministers...
Pieces
What Ebola has
taught me!
Ebola has been on the headlines for the past couple of
months. The media has been covering the epidemic from all
sides. From the number of infected and dead to its potential
spread to different parts of the world. Opinion polls, info
graphics, data, probability and reality have all been put
together to apparently inform the public but in reality
they’re allcreating more confusion and fear than actually
informing. The way this whole thing has evolved there are a
few things that have bothered me.
At the beginning the world didn’t care much, the first
countries to have been affected were African. The reaction
of other countries, including their African neighbors, was
to close borders and isolate them. But that response was
clearly not the right one, considering how communicable
Ebola is and how small the world has gotten; it was a not-sowell-reasoned reaction. Before we knew it there were nonAfricans who became infected. And at that point, things
began to change. The perception of the epidemic as incurable
suddenly changed to a potentially curable epidemic. Talk of
experimental drugs that magically cured the westerners
who were affected started a whole new conversation about
the value of black vis-à-vis white life. How come these drugs
weren’t discussed prior to that? Once these drugs were
“successful” pharmaceutical companies were eager to
test them out on other patients in Africa, a move that has
aroused my skepticism.
The one thing that saddened me the most was that the first
call for action on Ebola on an international level was made
by President Barack Obama. African states followed his
lead. In fact, the African Union had an “emergency” meeting
about the topic in September, a good 6 months since the
epidemic re-surfaced. The World Health Organization and
the US government were among the first to respond to the
crisis. What does this say about inter-continental support?
Quarantines and testing centers were set up in airports and
borders. During the US-Africa Summit, African presidents
whose countries were affected by Ebola were actually tested
prior to entering the US. The president of Guinea was one
of them.
What is the purpose of these testing centers in airports
though? I feel that their main value is in making people
feel safe and not in keeping them safe. Considering how the
epidemic spreads, these centers come a little too late. By the
time that plane has landed, many would have already been
exposed and the centers can’t do very much.
The issue gets complicated further, especially in light of the
availability of these miracle drugs seldom discussed. As it
turns out, making them available was no easy fit. This past
week a black man died in Texas because the drug that was
administered to him was not the same as the one used at
Emory, those drugs worked. The reason these two hospitals
did not use the same drug is because they had run out of the
one used at Emory, and production will take a long time. I
can’t help but think, how convenient?
As it continues spreading, governments’ responses to Ebola
have reminded me of how this world works. First off, when
it comes to supporting each other African governments
seem to be lagging behind. The western governments
that always happen to be the first responders never do so
without some sort of ulterior motives. And last but not least,
it still looks like racism lives today. More than 3000 Africans
have passed away because of the epidemic, what seems to
be getting more attention is the infection of the westerners.
And, whether it’s coincidental or not, the only black person
to have been infected by Ebola and treated in the US, passed
away. Ebola is just one of the problems we’re facing today,
but there are real underlying problems that we refuse to
deal with.
Ed.’s Note: Leyou Tameru is a graduate of Georgetown and Addis
Ababa University Law schools, specializing in International Legal
Studies. Born and raised in Addis Ababa, she seeks to understand
the impact of economic, political and social issues on everyday
lives. She can be reached at [email protected]
CONT`D FROM PAGE 1
The Nile Basin includes 11 countries that either use or are
the source of much of the river’s water. Eritrea has never
been a member of NBI.
to the organization for she sees no option other than
cooperating. “Those who don’t cooperate will only
be on the victim’s side,” he stressed. He also assured
that “Sudan will cooperate forever with and fully be
committed to the NBI.”
The Minister openly called upon Egypt to learn
from Sudan and renew its membership. Musa told
The Reporterr there is no reason for member states
to be kept outside of NBI, which he assured is the
only neutral and independent regional institution
working on the Nile. The water ministers of
member states supported this position in their
concluding declarations, which were read before
the participants of the meeting.
Keynote addresses were given by ministerial level
officials from Tanzania, Sudan, and by the World
Bank.
In her opening speech, Professor Judi W. Wakhungu,
Cabinet Secretary-Ministry of Environment, Water,
and Natural Resources of Kenya told participants:
“We are hoping that cooperation around the Nile is
going to increase security and stability.” She said
the NBI had advanced a cooperative process to
realize tangible benefits, build trust and confidence
among its members.
Mutaz Musa said investment preparation leveraged
under the NBI currently stood at USD 6.5 billion.
Out of which projects with total investment of
3bn$ have been implemented so far. He told the
Forum that the NBI was at a critical juncture with
resources declining with the closure of the World
Bank-sponsored program (Nile Basin Trust Fund)
in December. The Minister appealed to member
states to honor their obligations to the NBI, and to
development partners to continue their support to
enable effective implementation of its programs.
Talking about CFA, which has been signed by six
of ten member states, despite its full commitment
to cooperation, he said Sudan has not yet decided to
Ethiopia loses...
According to Tewodros, due to the country’s failure
to process and export the gemstones it is losing jobs
to India, China and other countries. He said that due
attention is not given to the gemstone production
and export sector. “The sector should be recognized
and supported by the government. It should be
administered under the Ministry of Industry as it
is a manufacturing work. A committee should be
established that would undertake a study on the
potential of the sector and how it can be supported.
The members could be drawn from the Ministry
of Mines, the Ministry of Trade, the Ministry of
Industry, the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs
Authority and the Ministry of Culture and Tourism.
A gemstone cutting and polishing industry should be
established. The government should recognize it as
a new industry and provide the required support to
the industry,” he said. Tewodros said that the sector
should be given protection and support, financing
and industry zone.
Nature has endowed Ethiopia with more than 20
precious stones. Ethiopia exports mainly opal to
India, Europe and the US. Ethiopian opal is now
dominating the international market. Previously,
Australia was known for high grade opal. Now it
seems that Ethiopian opal is more popular than the
Australian opal. There are four types of opal found
in Ethiopia. Most of the opal is coming from North
Wello, Amhara Regional State.
Tamrat Modjo, artisanal mining and transaction
coordinating director with the Ministry of Mines,
said that the sector was not ignored. Tamrat said
the Ministry of Mines was closely working with
gemstone producers in different regions. “We are
providing support to the artisanal miners and
www.thereporterethiopia.com
sign the framework agreements. He, however noted
his country is ready for re-negotiation over the
conflicting issues included within the agreement.
Commenting on the GERD, which was also one of
the few topics that had attracted high attention of
the participants, he expressed his positive outlook
towards it by saying “provided that all necessary
conditions are met, we should not see it from a
negative side. The dam is extremely important to all
of us and to the region as a whole.” He appreciates
the current move by the three countries, Ethiopia,
Sudan and Egypt, to reach a common agreement on
how to implement the recommendations of the IPoE
on the Renaissance Dam.
The NBI Forum was accompanied by partners at a
round table discussion on Wednesday (October 8)
seeking to mobilize resources for the implementation
of NBI-initiated projects.
The forum, held under the theme “Building
Sustainable Trans-boundary Cooperation in a
Complex River Basin: Challenges, Lessons and
Prospects,” brought together over 500 participants
from across the world. Water experts, diplomats,
researchers, high officials and media personnel
attended the Forum. Several papers were presented
and discussed among the participants.
The Nile Basin includes 11 countries that either
use or are the source of much of the river’s water.
Eritrea has never been a member of NBI.
They are Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo
(DRC,) Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South
Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Eritrea
participates as an observer.
The Nile Basin Initiative was created in 1999 to
start negotiations for a treaty that would lead to an
“all-inclusive” use of the river. The Comprehensive
Framework Agreement was signed in 2010. It has
been ratified by Ethiopia and Rwanda. Kenya says
it will do so before the end of the year.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 1
gemstone manufacturers. Three years ago we
imposed a ban on rough gemstone exports. There
are no adequate gemstone processors in the country.
So the artisanal miners were unable to sell their
rough gemstones. This caused serious social and
economic problems. More than 50,000 artisanal
miners especially in the North Wello region faced a
serious financial problem. Then we were forced to
lift the ban. Now we are trying to bring in foreign
investors who can engage in processing gemstones
here in Ethiopia,” Tamrat said.
He added that the ministry was looking at the
opportunity that artisanal miners could acquire
mining equipment through lease finance scheme.
According to him, in the 2013-2014 fiscal year the
country exported 25,000 kg of gemstones valued at 16
million dollars.
An expert from the Ministry of Mines said that there
were no trained professionals in the sector. “We do
not have gemology education in the country. We do
not have a gemology laboratory. The government
should give due attention to the sector like it does
to the flower and manufacturing industries,” the
expert said.
The Ethiopian artisanal mining industry employs
more than one million people. The major types
of gemstones found in Ethiopia include garnets,
emeralds, rubies, and opals. Opal accounts for
nearly 98 percent of the precious stone exports
of the country. According to the World Bank, the
artisanal and small-scale mining sector’s size and
characteristics is poorly understood. Border dispute
with mining companies, poor safety awareness
and impacts on the environment were some of the
concerns in the artisanal mining sector.
Vol. XIX No. 944 |35
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Presidential address...
In his opening address, Mulatu was
bold in describing the construction of
the major infrastructure in the energy
sector, particularly the progress of the
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
(GERD). He said that the project was
proceeding as planned and was 40
percent accomplished. Similarly, his
address to the nation also highlighted
that the construction of Gilgel Gibe III,
Genale Dawa and other power projects
such as wind and geothermal energy
sources were proceeding on time
according to plan.
In his address the president offered
an apology publicly about the power
interruption that is taking place across
the nation, which has been one of the
chronic challenges.
“Allow me here, to express an apology
for the interruption of electric power,”
the president said, adding that it was an
institutional inefficient management of
the Ethiopian Electric Service.
“… [the power interruption is] caused
in part by maladministration in the
institution, due to pressure arising from
increased demand in major cities in
connection with rapid industrialization,
change in urban way of life, as well
as malfunction of power transmitting
lines,” the president said.
The state-owned power company has
CONT`D FROM PAGE 3
been under strong criticism and is
accused of causing public discontent
for frequent power interruptions in
the previous years. In particular, some
companies engaged in the manufacturing
sectors were complaining that they were
forced to undertake their production
with low capacity due to the instability
and shortage of power. Similarly, the
Ministry of Industry has also reported
that the power shortage and interruption
had negatively affected the country’s
export performance last year.
The other issue addressed in the
president’s speech was one of security
which particularly singled out the
terrorism attempts by the groups
which the parliament had designated
as terrorist groups such as the Oromo
Liberation Front (OLF), the Ogaden
National Liberation Front (ONLF) and
Ginbot 7.
“To move to a slightly different register,
there is a pressing need to deepen
religious tolerance in the public sphere.
In the same vein, the government and
the public have to work in concert to
prevent unlawful acts and terrorism.
This should serve notice to terrorist
outfits like OLF, ONLF and Ginbot 7,”
the president warned.
Most
importantly
the
president
extended an over-toned warning to the
neighboring arch-foe Eritrea to stop its
provocative move against Ethiopia.
“I need not remind anyone that the
Ethiopian government will take a
proportional measure against any
provocation by the Shabia government
of Asmara”, Mulatu said.
In connection with the upcoming
national elections scheduled to be held
next year in May, the president called
upon all participants of the election to
play “responsibly” so as to make it fair,
free and credible. In addition, he also
stressed that the media had a big role to
play in creating national consensus on
the national issues.
“In this connection one cannot
overstress the indispensable function of
the media in fighting extremism, public
disorder and in raising the awareness of
harmony and mutual respect. This year,
since our digitalization process would
have reached a decisive stage, it would
help our effort to pluralize the media
landscape and increase the existing
number of alternative sources of
information to the public,” the president
said.
However, the president did not comment
on the growing criticism against the
government for its alleged repression of
free press nor did he say anything about
the arrest of journalists, bloggers and
member of opposition groups.
Agency criticizes...
also mention that their certification
is for their quality management but
not necessarily for their product.” In
this regard, she also said that to clear
this confusion and misunderstanding
the agency is working closely with
the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority
and
other
related
governmental
organizations.
By the same token, Legesse Gebre,
Standard Director, Ethiopian Standard
Agency told The Reporter, “Those
companies who are working against
the procedure should get back in line
quickly because their activity is illegal,
and if they seek any advice in this regard
the agency is willing to guide them.”
According to the officials, to create
awareness and to uplift the issue of
standard in the society the agency has
done a lot. “The agency has provided
training for media practitioners, owners
and professionals of advertisement
companies in relation to standards and
issues related to ISO 9001, but nobody
cares,” the director said.
He further told The Reporter, “ISO is a
certification that is issued mainly for the
CONT`D FROM PAGE 3
quality management system not for the
product that the company produces.” He
also criticized both the advertisers and
the companies, “posting the ISO logo
on a certain product is also an illegal
activity,” he said.
The agency also organized a half-day
workshop in the presence of members
of the parliament standing committee
of science, information and technology
and various stakeholders in relation
to the celebration of International Day
of Standards, which will be celebrated
the coming Tuesday under the theme
“Standards Level the Playing Field,”
which will be celebrated internationally
for the 45th and locally for the 18th time.
The Agency is a governmental agency
accountable to the Ministry of Science
and Technology, and has a National
Standardization Council that works
together with the Agency. The members
of the council are drawn from appropriate
governmental and other bodies and
designated by the government.
Ethiopian Standard Body has undergone
several structural and name changes
since its birth back in 1970, and the
agency was established as per the latest
restructuring, by the Council of Minister
Regulation No. 193/2010, which caused
the splitting of former Quality and
Standards Authority of Ethiopia (QSAE)
into four including the new National
Standards Body (NSB) – Ethiopian
Standards Agency (ESA), Ethiopian
Conformity Assessment Enterprise,
Ethiopian Metrology Institute and
Ethiopian Accreditation office.
In Ethiopia, the need for standardization
became evident during the early 1950s
as it was noticed that the export of
agricultural commodities was being
affected due to a lack of the support
of standardization. Following the
emergence of Addis Ababa, the capital
of Ethiopia as a modern city, it was
also noticed that there is an urgent
need for standardization of buildings,
electrical appliances and water supplies,
especially in the new University campusAddis Ababa University, faculty of
science. These were among the problems
worth monitoring and that have led
the way through to creating a national
standardization body, which happened
in 1972.
Tullow moves...
Nick said Tullow Oil will provide all the
petroleum data it collected from South
Omo and Chew Bahir to the Ethiopian
Ministry of Mines Petroleum Licensing
and
Administration
Directorate.
“We have done by far more than our
commitments. So we are not going to do
extra work in the coming two years until
the exploration agreement expires.”
Experts
of
Tullow
Oil
are
now
CONT`D FROM PAGE 4
recalibrating the basin based on the
data collected from the wells. “There is
evidence of source rocks in the wells.
That is not to mean that they do not exist
in the kitchen,” Nick said. “We could not
find the source rock.” However, he said,
the subsurface data required from wells
was obtained. According to him, the
worldwide statistics of success rate ratio
in drilling wild cat exploration wells is
one out of 11. “Unfortunately, our wells
were some of the ten failures.”
Nick said the company is leaving behind
the infrastructure it built in South Omo.
“We are leaving behind the roads and
bridges we built and the local persons
we trained.”
Tullow oil spent 250 million dollars on
the South Omo oil exploration project.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Ethiopia welcomes...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 3
of foreign affairs and international
cooperation, Bernard Membe, told
his country’s parliament in June this
year that his nation would push for the
renegotiation of the CFA in favour of
Egypt.
However, days later the country’s
water minister, Jumanne Maghembe
(Prof.), dismissed the foreign minister’s
statement saying that Tanzania remains
committed to the treaty.
Ethiopia became the first country to
ratify the treaty in June 2013 when
the House of Peoples’ Representatives
unanimously voted to make the CFA part
of the law of the land. The ratification
was dubbed by parliamentarians as “an
important step towards the realization
of an equitable utilization of the Nile
waters.”
Rwanda is the other basin country
which ratified the treaty out of the
six signatories of the CFA which also
included Kenya, Uganda and Burundi.
These countries are reportedly on
advanced stages of ratifying the protocol.
Similar to the recent move made by
the Tanzanian cabinet, the Kenyan
government is also set to ratify the CFA
before the end of the year.
Egypt, Sudan and the Democratic
Republic of Congo have not signed
the CFA, also known as the Entebbe
Agreement, while the now war-torn
South Sudan had expressed its keenness
to accede to the treaty.
Upon ratification by the respective
parliaments of all the six signatories,
the CFA will serve as the only legally
binding document governing the Nile
river. It replaces colonial-era treaties of
1929 and 1959, which Ethiopia has never
recognized, and strips Egypt of veto
rights over water projects in upstream
countries.
eLearning
conference...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 4
“It has created a new understanding
of what Africans can achieve and a
belief that, working together, sharing
our knowledge, making the most of the
great opportunity that education and
technology offer us, we will change the
world,” the statement added.
“I am delighted to be able to tell you that
after 10 years ‘on the road’ around Africa
–in Kenya, Ghana, Zambia, Tanzania,
Senegal, Benin, Namibia and Uganda –
we are returning to Ethiopia.”
Stromeyer
also
launched
an
international ‘Call for Proposals’
for the conference, which offers an
opportunity to anyone working in
education, development and technology
to showcase their outstanding projects
and sustainable initiatives. It was
also understood that eLearning Africa
invites potential speakers from across
the continent and the world to submit
their ideas, innovations and research,
under the main theme of “Enriching
Tomorrow.”
eLearning Africa 2015 is expected to
address topics including innovative
funding strategies, citizen empowerment,
ICT4E in critical industries and open
knowledge as well as to highlight the
very best of African innovation.
36| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Israeli Knesset...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 7
that reject the existence of the State of
Israel as the state of the Jewish People, its
democratic nature, or that incite racism
may not participate in the elections.
Within the framework of the Israeli
democratic system, in which there is
a separation of powers amongst the
legislature, the executive branch,
and the judiciary, the Knesset is the
legislative branch, with the exclusive
authority to enact laws.
The Knesset may pass laws on any
subject and in any matter, as long as a
proposed law does not contradict an
existing basic law, and the legislative
process is carried out as required by
the law. Legislation constitutes an
important part of the Knesset’s work.
In addition, the Knesset supervises the
work of the Government through its
committees and the work of the plenum.
The Knesset has several quasi-judicial
functions, which include the power
to lift the immunity of its members,
and the power to have the President
of the State and State Comptroller (an
official who oversees and inspects the
executive branch of Israel’s governing
administration) removed.
The Knesset also has an elective
function through which several public
officials are elected.
Nigusu Lemma, Secretary General of
Ethiopian Parliament office, on his
part briefed the Israeli delegation about
Ethiopia’s government system on the
foundation of the constitution enacted
in 1995.
Similarly, Shirley Avromi, Director
of Research and Information Center
at the Israelis parliament office has
presented the institutional system and
implementation mechanism that the
research and information department
assists the Knesset during legislation
process and formulation.
Ethiopian to
commence...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 7
commitment to our customers to provide
them the best possible travel experience
and connectivity options. Our flights to
Dublin and Los Angeles will be operated
with the B787 Dreamliner, which offers
unmatched on-board comfort especially
for such a very long haul route with its
unique features such as greatly reduced
noise, higher cabin air humidity, biggest
windows in the sky and spacious cabin
interior.” Tewolde said.
With the addition of Dublin, the airline’s
11th European city and Los Angeles, its
4th point in the Americas, Ethiopian
international network will cover 85
destinations across 5 continents.
Ethiopian is a Pan-African global
carrier voted by passengers as the
Best in Africa for two years in a row
by Passenger Choice Awards, the most
comprehensive survey in the industry.
The airline operates the youngest
fleet in the continent with an average
of less than 7 years and currently
serves 83 international destinations
across 5 continents with over 200 daily
departures.
Hospitality...
expertise and consultant. Involvement
of experts in the hotel business means
more global brands and faces becoming
interested in the industry.
According to a recent study made by the
research officers of Awash International
Bank, published in the journal of
business management, there is a surge
in demand for a single night rooms
service. In 2011 alone, the demand for
rooms for a single night was a little
over two million while the number of
travelers was at half a million or so.
Projections of the researcher suggests
that by 2015, some three million guests
will have to be accommodated for single
night. However, the existing number
of hotels annual capacity remains to
be 1.7 million or so. Hence, unsatisfied
demand of 1.25 million will still haunt
the hospitality market in Ethiopia.
The supply gap at this point gave
property owners and the government
to look for external big players. These
brand operating companies actually do
not come easy. They want to be more
than sure that they can make money.
But, they do have many requirements
the country needs to address first.
Making available properties which suit
the standards are what they want to
associate themselves with.
Failure to host international brands
means nothing but lesser travelers
coming in to country. But Neway says
at this point in time, the government is
seriously considering the hospitality
business. He justifies this by referring to
the recent establishment of the tourism
transformation council, chaired by
Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
With the absence of internationally
branded hotels, it was daring for the
government to set such a high target as
three billion dollars by the end of 2015
form the tourism sector. During the
same period, the number of travelers
coming to Ethiopia is assumed to reach
one million. However, the existing
figures show that Ethiopia has landed
close to 600 thousand visitors so far. Yet,
the amount of hard currency secured
was not far from USD 400 million.
One reasons for such poor performance is
the lack of tourist standard destinations
and lack of hotels which meet the
expectations of the visitors. The average
stay is less than five days. On the
other hand, the business travelers and
conference attendees are increasingly
frequenting the capital. Hence, Neway
argues that star rating or grading is
not an issue at this time. Rather, safety,
hygiene and sanitation are the basics
requiring consistent maintenance in
the hospitality industry. To fulfill that,
spatial limitations are battling the
sector. Neway pointed out that lack of
sufficient land made some global brand
operators to withdraw deals. Lack of
awareness of authorities about star
rated hotels is also contributing to the
matter.
Days ago, the capital hosted the Africa
Hotel Investment Forum (AHIF), an
recognized
event,
internationally
organized by the London-based Bench
Events. During the three day event, local
speakers and panelists have raised the
challenges of hospitable infrastructure
and land acquisitions. Some property
owners made their point that the
government was not availing finances
to the sector. According to the research,
the hospitality industry was able to
access some 1.4 billion birr credit from
the local banks in 2011. By contrast, the
outstanding loan including the central
bank’s deficit financing, grossed some 78
billion birr in the year in question. For
instance, 7.3 billion birr was allocated
for domestic trade. For agriculture
10.6 billion, for industry 20.6, for
international trade 18 billion birr was
provided. Government deficit financing
amassed some 3.7 billion birr. The
research team also noted that the hotel
and tourism sector had been receiving
an insignificant amount of finances. But
for Neway, the absence of finance did not
deter investors from taking part. Some
37 hotels had been given the green light
and were licensed to go for developing
the start rated hotels in the country.
It is to be recalled that during the event,
six international brand operators have
inked deals to fetch six more brand
EHRC, Irish...
three years but has some finanical
constraints and this support will
enable the commission to work on the
area further, he further stated that so
far some 40 to 50 thousand vulnerable
people have benefited from the program
that the commission has undertaken
with Ethiopian Women’s Lawyers
Association (EWLA).
The Irish ambassador further told The
Reporter that “the Ethiopian Human
Rights Commission, who has already
working with EWLA will administer the
money to work with eight universities in
different regions.”
Eight universities selected for the
program are from four regions, Mekele
and Axum Universities from the
Tigray Regional State, Bahir Dar and
Gondar Universities from the Amhara
Regional State, Wolaita Sodo and Dilla
Universities from Southern Nations,
Nationalities and Peoples’ Regional State
and Adama and Jimma universities
from the Oromia Regional States.
Through this scheme, “the commission
through EWLA, professors of the law
schools and students of these selected
universities will provide free legal
advice to vulnerable people with a
certain emphasis on women,” Aidan
CONT`D FROM PAGE 6
CONT`D FROM PAGE 5
added.
Ethiopian and Irish relations are based
on wide ranging issues of mutual
interest. The most visible people-topeople interactions were during the
height of the 1984 famine when so many
Ethiopians died and which caused the
country so many problems. Ireland’s
response to that catastrophe still
remains a vivid and warming memory.
Most notable among the humanitarian
efforts of the Irish people was, of course,
the work of the Irish rock star, Sir Bob
Geldof, whose initiative in organizing
the Band Aid program mobilized the
international community to provide
the support that enabled the survival of
millions of Ethiopians affected by the
calamity.
Diplomatically, Ethiopia and Ireland
have only a short history dating back to
1994 when Ireland opened its embassy
in Addis Ababa. Bilateral relations
have been cemented by the high level
visits of the late Prime Minister Meles
Zenawi to Ireland in 2002 and of Irish
Foreign Minister, Michael Martin to
Ethiopia last year. Ethiopia’s decision to
open its Embassy in Dublin in 2003 was
another important milestone in further
strengthening diplomatic relations.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
hotels in the capital. Yet, it will take
one to three years for the brand hotels
to materialize. However, the number
of travelers coming to the country
shows an increasing trend ensuring the
domestic hospitality industry that there
the pie is enough for everybody, Neway
argues.
The coming of brand hotels poses again
a question of manpower availability.
Individuals trained and tailored for the
hospitality business are very scarce and
the existing hotels scuffles one another
to retain those. The inadequate supply
is at the cross roads. Probably, two
universities are currently producing
graduates in the field of tourism and
hospitality management. Short term
trainings provided by institutes are set
by the government.
After all, as the big players of the
industry say, it has been a journey of
discovery coming here and seeking for
opportunities. The country has been
starting from the ground zero they
say. For sure, the hospitality industry
appears to one sector which can no be
ignored both in job creation and hard
currency generation. Yet, it is not in
the lists of prioritized sectors as Esayas
Bahre, president of the Development
Bank of Ethiopia, confirms to The
Reporter.
The future, however, seems to be brighter
at least on account of Prime Minister
Hailemariam’s promise to support the
sector. He called on big faces of the
global businesses to come and invest. He
promised his government will provide
every requisite the brand operators are
looking at. To the likes of Neway, it’s not
a mere promise. He ascertains himself to
that when he said he has learnt the PM
was busy while meeting the executives
of the upper ladder of the global hotel
business. Why now? And why the
international brands are coming to get
the business going? No one gives precise
and direct answers. The operators say
that they cannot remain idle watching
the country while there are many things
going on.
Ed.’s Note: Wudineh Zenebe of The
Reporter has contributed to this story.
AWiB to honor...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 7
of the Young Women’s Christian
Association, Tadelech Hailemikael,
former Minister of the Ministry of
Women’s Affairs and Ambassador,
Founder and Director of the Women’s
Development Fund, Tirhas Mezgebe,
Founder and CEO of Mujujegwa Loka
Women’s Development, and Zemi
Yenus, Founder and Director of the NIA
Foundation.
According to the president of the
association, presenting the nominees
were conducted through various mass
media, social media and via the website
of the association.
The winner of this title will receive a
prize of one hundred thousand birr,
and to cover such and other expenses,
the association is partnering with
various partners such as banks like the
Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) and
Dashen Bank.
This year’s celebration will be the third
of its kind and the opening speech will be
delivered by the renowned Dr. Catherine
Hamlin. Tsigie Haile, Founder and
Director of WISE, and Sara Mohamed,
Founder and Managing Director of
Next Design and Modeling School, were
the first and second award winners,
respectively.
AWiB is a women’s association
committed to the development of
women as well as the recognition of
inspirational female Ethiopian leaders
and their important contributions to the
community. The association has been
operational since April, 2010.
LEISURE
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Vol. XIX No. 944 |37
Crossword
ACROSS
1. Not rights
6. Bristle-like appendages of
many grasses
10. People of eastern Europe
14. Not together
15. Indonesian for “Left”
16. Rip
17. Parson
18. Received (contraction)
19. Whale
20. Instigator
22. Saw
24. Bearing
25. Concerns
26. Ermine (plural)
29. German for “Mister”
news reporting
31. Hampering
37. Sharp ride in molding
39. Lennon’s widow
40. Spruce
41. City in Alabama
44. Tailess amphibian
45. Norse god
46. Blots or debases
48. Plant body undifferentiated
into stem, root or leaf
52. Musical piece
53. Works on something again
54. Infernal
58. Assistant
59. Egyptian goddess
61. Skylighted central areas
62. Mid-month days
63. Religious sisters
64. Fewest or smallest
65. Tops
66. Black and white
67. Model rocket company
Down
1. Molten rock
2. Heroic narrative
3. Indisputably true
4. Harmful
5. Large channel of water
6. City in Ohio
7. Dam in a river
8. National Research Council
9. Pistol
10. Dutch for "Stop"
11. Weird
12. Stock car driver
13.
Nails
21. Exam
23. _____ throat
25. Notes
26. Slap
27. Through
28. Paddles
29. City in Viet Nam
32. Chess pieces
33. Sues
34. Symbol
35. Tidy
36. Roves
38. French for "Room"
42. Flubbing
43. "Smallest" particle
47. Annual
48. Pathway
49. Children's story by
Johanna Spyri
50. Supplemented
51. Accumulation of clay
and silt
52. Spunky
54. Airborne electronic
countermeasures
55. Pest
56. Short form of
"Elizabeth"
57. Consumes
60. French for "On"
US Box
office
Hey guys what are
you doing?
Kuncho Komments
What type of
game is it?
That’s a weird
game. What is it
called?
We are playing
a game.
It’s quiet easy. Both of
us will place an air filled
balloon in a box and open
it and the one that floats
the highest and can’t be
reached is the loser.
Your Zodiacs
KUNCHO: Our dads’
salaries and how
quickly it flies away.
1
Gone Girl
2
Annabelle
3
The Equalizer
4
The Boxtrolls
5
The Maze Runner
6
7
This Is Where I Leave You
8
Dolphin Tale 2
9
10
(astrology-online.com)
ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20)
CANCER (June 22-July 22)
LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)
?"@%$?D%*'++;H+K=
This is a week when you are very busy with your
own affairs. Toward the end of the week you have a
nice surprise for everyone. Unexpected changes that
occur this week should improve your surroundings.
Support comes when you need it. This week allows for
conversations that tax your spiritual nature, give into your
higher self when making decisions that count. This week
lucky numbers are: 92, 41, 50, 17, 4
Some decisions that were made in secret meetings are being
postponed for a couple of weeks while details are worked
out. It’s time to take a break. You are likely to feel valued and
appreciated as partners show the good feelings they have for
you in splendid ways where the entertainment and sense of
mutual well being is at a high, thanks to no expense being
spared, even if you start incurring a lot of costs you will still
feel it is all worth it. This week lucky numbers are: 89, 51,
26, 13, 83
This week you have nine out of the ten planets all in an
excellent aspect to your sign. While things won’t be quite
earthy balance. On Friday, the Moon enters Gemini and your
energy is soaring again, just in time for the New Moon that
night. This is the time to make a fresh start. Enjoy and make
the most of the opportunity. This week lucky numbers are:
33, 53, 64, 9, 28
This is a time when you are handling bits and pieces of everything
with nothing large or important going on around you. Taking care
of old business and cleaning up this and that keeps you busy. It
is a nice time for planning for or taking a vacation. A loved one
is feeling somewhat neglected lately, show them that you really
>
start an exercise routine, try running or cycling. Here is a word
of caution, beware what you wish for it just might happen. This
week lucky numbers are: 93, 96, 68, 11, 29
TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21)
SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)
LEO (July 23-Aug 22)
Your social instincts are in top gear as you search out any
gatherings of people and magically get to hear of social
occasions where the sense of good cheer is to be found,
although you know there are serious matters lurking round
the immediate future where good luck and lady fortune are
in attendance. This week lucky numbers are: 88, 24, 77, 21, 95
something nice for yourself to lift your spirits. You are in the
to launch a new phase. The week is once again taken over by
many activities on a day to day level, oh well, at least you are
energised. The moon is in opposition to your sun, let partners
make the decisions in order to keep the peace. Comments have
week lucky numbers are: 23, 44, 62, 17, 38
GEMINI (May 22-June 21)
VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)
!"#$"%$&!'*+/;+<=
A vacation or a trip over water is on your mind now.
You would do well dealing with boats or ships. Get out
and mingle on Monday or if involved go for romantic
atmosphere to make the difference. Partnership
endeavors are possible this week, allow others to take
the lead, fellow employees are key. You have a nice
surprise by the end of the week. This week lucky numbers
are: 47, 12, 79, 40, 82
You are just as happy to have some work put off this week
until someone else solves a major problem for you. Finding
that appliance or furniture you have been looking for might
prove to be a problem this week, and maybe it be better put
off until next week. Take time to show your spouse a little
extra love this week as they have been doing a lot for you and
deserve a little extra appreciation. This week lucky numbers
are: 70, 35, 48, 62, 87
Money should be loosening up for you now and you have
some choices to make this week. You have started to feel
situation, old problems seem to have cleared so that you
can see the way ahead more clearly, there is much in the
world of nature and in your own local area and home that
is a source of inspiration and comfort to you as you observe
life in all its profusion. This week lucky numbers are: 10, 75,
13, 28, 81
This week is very lucky for you so get busy and straighten out
all your affairs. Your personal magnetism and charm are adding
to your aura now and make dating easy.---- Like Capricorn
> ; conjunction between your ruler, Jupiter, lord of the far horizon
and Saturn, ruler of restrictions. Quite possibly, the solution to your
>
Perhaps you should alter it instead of abandoning it. This week
lucky numbers are: 16, 57, 46, 29, 86
SPOT THE DIFFERENCES
Can you spot the 12 differences between the two pictures?
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Solution
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)
>
You seem to be on the right track. It’s time to put your efforts into
your own goals for a change. Monday is good for artistic pursuits
or just taking care of yourself, be lazy. New moon focus is on work
projects that need your intense focus, you know how to make
progress. The work week includes those from far away places
who are or become your friends, open up with others. Thursday
working alone is important. This week lucky numbers are: 41, 27,
95, 34, 78
PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20)
resources and to build up a savings account. Whatever you decide
to do this week turns out well even though it requires a great deal of
your time. Your imagination is working very well now and you could
come up with something quite original and yet practical at the same
time. The little thoughtful things you do can make a difference. You
will get recognition on Tuesday and Wednesday for a job well done.
This week lucky numbers are: 42, 97, 40, 9, 60
Solution
38| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
IMF vs. Government...
night watchman style government at
its helm. Countries like Ethiopia and its
leaders argued for a strong state role in
shaping its growth path. And, both had
their own support base in the global
scene. Local spectators on their part look
to be growing into this friction and these
days it is taken quite seriously. This
year, it is debt. It is about sustaining the
external debt level. And the role of the
State-owned Enterprises (SoE) in piling
up the debt levels was of a special focus.
As a matter of fact, the two have not seen
eye to eye regarding the state activities in
the market. It is one of those ideological
issues for them. To be fair, the debate
have devolved so much through time and
now, all the friction is happing around
certain specific subjects. And one topic
that is climbing fast to importance is
the matter of the SoEs. The state on its
part is firm on these enterprises being
considered as fully autonomous entities,
and whatever decision they make, it did
not want it to be mixed with a regulatory
decision. As can be imagined, the
position of the government regarding
the issue of external debt contracted by
the SoEs is reflective of this approach.
Meanwhile, it is highly unsettling for
the Fund to exclude the books of the
SoEs when dealing with external public
debt of the country. What appeared as an
observation a couple of years ago has now
grown in importance to become the most
contentious matter in the consultation
process. The Fund is of the view that
each and every bit of the activity of the
SoEs should be taken as the activity of
the general government. This means
every bit of spending decision made on
the SoEs would have macroeconomic
impact almost as equal as the decision of
the general government. To some extent,
the Fund argued for the inclusion of the
SoEs books to the budget schedule of the
general government. This incorporates
the revenue, expenditure and debt (a
point of focus now) figures of these SoEs.
It is for the sake of better management
in the fiscal department, IMF says. But,
authorities of the Ethiopian government
greatly differ with this assessment and
refuse to heed such advice.
financial resources. Here is where things
start to get more complicated. Since
both are important part of GTP, finding
financing is priority to authorities.
So now, both central government
programs and projects and those offbudget programs mainly carried out by
SoEs is accessing financing from both
domestic and external markets. But,
although for all practical purposes SoEs
are part of the state, their cumulative
financial position, debt in particular, is
not scrutinized as those of other state
agencies. This bothered the IMF for
years.
But, now the concern looks to be more
serious in a sense that the IMF is
indicating a potential risk from debt
contracted by these SoEs. According
to the report, the stock of external
debt climbed to USD 12.2 billion in the
first half of 2013/14 from 11.2 just few
months ago. In this, the Fund accuses
the SoEs basically utility and other
big companies. It further says that the
state has to check heavy borrowing by
the SoEs for sake of sustainable debt
stock. A macro-economist, who spoke
to The Reporter under the condition of
anonymity, backs the Funds position
that SoEs’ risky borrowing is putting
overall debt level at a dangerous
threshold. He even goes further in
saying SoEs borrowing is progressing
in such a way that it is making the
overall debt stock to be unsustainable.
According to the report, borrowing of
SoEs has reached 10 percent of the GDP
thereby raising the public and publicly
CONT`D FROM PAGE 6
guaranteed debt stock of the nation to
23 percent of the GDP. The authorities
disagree. In fact, they did so even in the
report that Fund made public. For the
government, the borrowing of the SoEs is
driven by the commercial consideration
as corporations and if they access any
external finance it should be because
the financiers have believed that the
projects on the table would be able to
repay the loan extended to them within
the specified data of maturity.
Individually, the Fund hails Ethiopian
Airlines and states that it could manage
debt it contracts from the market. In
fact, Ethiopian is one of SoEs in Ethiopia
which do not require treasury’s
guarantee to access finances. But, large
SoEs like Ethio Telecom and the power
company do have their own risk, it says.
With large telecom services purchase in
recent years, Ethio Telecom was mostly
featured in the report as the face of
SoE group. The authorities are not also
inclined to accept the so-called future
potential risk of the building-up debt
today. By extension, the overall debt
level is considered to be not a risky one,
it maintained.
Here, one issue that begs explanation is
how big and real this risk of borrowing
of SoEs is. Luckily, the article four
consultation contains a debt statistic
analysis annex that shows the details of
the debt level and its potential risk in the
future. The Debt Stainability Analysis
(DSA) was conducted on the basis of
the three different debt sustainability
indicators: Debt to Export, Debt to
Advertisment
GDP and Debt to Revenue. And of
course, various scenarios of flow of
debt and macro and external economic
conditions were assumed to see future
trajectory and potential risk. Various
shock scenarios were also assumed and
simulated to tell the story. Currently,
the country’s external debt stress level
remain to be LOW at best. And projection
of the various scenarios of external debt
levels for the period 2012/13 to 2033/34
and calculation of the three various
indicators as well do not seem to be that
risky.
To beginning under all the indicators,
the country would not face the feasibility
of becoming a moderately stress by
external debt. The threshold of ratio of
debt to export, GDP and revenue are
150 percent, 40 percent and 250 percent
respectively. In that, it was only in the
debt to export ratio (141 percent) that
Ethiopia comes close to or becomes a
borderline case to cross the moderately
stressed threshold (150 percent). And
that was projected for 2016 and 2017 right
in the middle of GTP II. Currently, debt
to export ration is around 115.0 percent
well in low stress category. The Fund’s
analysis simulated various shock
scenarios and in all of them finding a
risk of becoming a borderline case to
cross the moderately stressed threshold
at best. However remote, the risk still
exists and the recommended caution on
borrowing is valid from all angle.
Such debate as well come at the
period where the treasury was getting
ready to float sovereign bonds in the
international money market. This too is
another dimension to the debt structure.
The macro-economist quoted earlier
thinks that this should be more reason
for consolidating the debt structure and
even the fiscal stance of the country
by including the SoEs. “It is important
for fiscal management in face entering
sovereign bond market,” he argued. The
bond market will surely open up the
economy for exchange rate and fiscal
risk, he explains, and this is the time
to consider consolidating. The Fund’s
concern as well is about the possible
impact of SoEs for the overall macroeconomy. And, argues for consolidating
SoEs’ finances with general government
to clearly see and respond to the impact
of these entities.
To put this into context, the Fund is
not exactly a fan of what government is
doing with SoEs. In fact, not even with
existence of such institutions in favor of
further liberalization and limiting the
participation of the state in the market.
One of the highlight of the Article
IV consultation is hence the issue of
consolidating the fiscal side of the public
sector. At least, the debt statistic. The
Fund recommended all government debt
most importantly that of the debt of the
SoEs be put in the same basket if one
is to talk about the overall debt burden
that the country can and is carrying at
the moment. The rationale behind this
is a perceived debt risk that Ethiopia
faces at this time. The report out of the
consultation anchored on this issue this
year. It is mostly about external debt.
But, another economist Girma Abebe
[named changed because he is not at
liberty to comment] feels that such
debate is a waste of time at best. He
says, the only thing that matters is not
agreeing on an accounting methodology
rather making sure that the SoEs can
repay their debts in a timely manner.
Whether in the same books or separate,
the level of debt that SoEs are accessing
first needs to be in line with their
servicing capacity. “In this regard, the
likes of the Ethiopian and Ethio Telecom
do have a sustainable income stream
to suggest they can probably carry the
level of debt at their rosters,” he says.
However, for the rest of them, if there is
a closely monitored debt contracting and
debt servicing plan consolidation can
not be a point of friction.
Owing to the massive financing needs
of the Growth and Transformation Plan
(GTP), the resource gap greatly calls for
huge alternative financing mechanism
to realize it. And debt is almost the only
instrument to make this happen. The
Ethiopian authorities are not shy to deep
into financiers’ coffers whether domestic
or foreign. In fact, the availability of
such credit facilities and favorable terms
of borrowing is the main problem. The
GTP, however, is a combination of both
off-budget and formal budget programs
requiring almost equivalent amount of
As far as, plans are concerned, the
Ministry of Finance and Economic
Development (MoFED), have completed
its Medium-term Debt Management
Strategy in 2013 to guide the financing
activities for the period up to 2017. In
the document, MoFED admits that SoEs’
borrowing activities requires some sort
of guidelines which it pledges to include
in its next edition. “Had it not been for
shortage of data and time constraints,
it would have been good to include
the SoEs in overall debt management
strategy,” it said.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Sport
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
Vol. XIX No. 944 |39
Walias face crucial test against Mali
Elsewhere in the competition, Cameroon
will look to continue their powerful start
in Group D. After a wretched World
Cup in Brazil, the new-look Indomitable
Lions have begun with wins against RD
Congo and Côte d’Ivoire, and now face
two matches in five days against Sierra
Leone.
By Mark Jenkin
The Ethiopia national football team face
a crucial Africa Cup of Nations double
header against Mali this week.
After hosting the Eagles at Addis Ababa
stadium today (Saturday, 4pm), the
return fixture for the Walias takes place
in Mali’s Stade du 26 Mars in Bamako on
Wednesday.
The outbreak of the Ebola virus in their
country is not the only factor causing
disruption to the Sierra Leone players’
preparations. A bizarre row has broken
out around the team after the Sierra
Leone Football Association and the
country’s sports ministry named two
different coaches for the Cameroon
fixtures.
Having lost the opening two qualifiers
against Algeria and Malawi last month,
Ethiopia need positive results to have
a realistic chance of reaching the 2015
tournament in Morocco.
Mariano Barreto, the national team’s
Portuguese coach who was appointed in
April, is seeking to develop a younger
side but results have so far been
disappointing.
Saladin Said scored a penalty in the 2-1
home defeat to Algeria in September
but the inspirational striker has since
suffered a calf injury while making his
debut for Egyptian side Al Ahlly.
Ethiopia were underdogs against
Algeria, the top-ranked African team
who performed admirably at the 2014
World Cup before bowing out after extra
time to eventual champions Germany in
the round of 16.
More was expected, though, in the
second qualifying fixture in Malawi
where Atusaye Nyondo struck twice
to give the home team a 3-2 win at the
Kamuzu Stadium in Blantyre. Getaneh
Kebede and Yussef Saleh were on target
for Ethiopia.
Mali, 59th in the FIFA world rankings,
have Henryk Kasperczak, from Poland,
in his second spell as coach having
previously guided them to fourth place
at the 2002 Afcon tournament.
They are sure to provide a stern test to
Ethiopia who have slipped to 132nd in
the FIFA rankings following their slow
start to the qualifiers.
The Walias will need to be wary of
the threat posed by French-born Mali
forwards Nouha Dicko and Bakary Sako
Athletics round-up
By Mark Jenkin
Legendary Ethiopian athlete Haile
Gebreselassie was forced to pull out of the
Great Scottish Run. The former Olympic
champion ran only 19 minutes of the
half-marathon in Glasgow, Scotland, last
Sunday before being forced to withdraw
due to breathing problems.
men’s race, the Ethiopian women were
also in great form on the fast and flat
streets of the German capital.
Tirfi Tsegaye was crowned champion in
a time of 2-20-18 and her training partner
Feyse Tadese came in second in 2-20-27,
both recording personal bests.
Haile, 41, was attempting to defend the
title he won last year in a time of 61
minutes 9 seconds – a record for the 13.1mile distance in Scotland.
With Tadelech Bekele fourth in 2-2305 and Abebech Afework fifth in 2-2502, Ethiopians claimed four of the top
five places. Shalane Flanagan was the
only athlete to break that dominance,
securing third for the US in 2-21-14.
Haile said on twitter: “Today in Glasgow
again problems with my lungs; exercise
enduced asthma. But I am still enjoying
running so much.”
Tirfi, 29, raced brilliantly to improve her
best by more than a minute and record
the fastest women’s time in the world
this year.
The race was won by South Africa’s
Stephen Mokoka in 61-25 with Edna
Kiplagat, of Kenya, taking the women’s
title in 67-57.
While Flanagan was leading at the
halfway stage, the patience of Tirfi and
25-year-old Feyse were rewarded as they
went to the front after 30 kilometers.
Tirfi pulled clear to secure the best
win of her distinguished career, adding
to previous marathon titles earned in
Paris, Dubai and Tokyo.
There was victory in Scotland last
month, however, for another Ethiopian
athlete, Tomas Abyu, who won the
Loch Ness Marathon in two hours 22
minutes 41 seconds. The 36-year-old,
who has lived in England for 15 years,
is originally from Arsi and has recently
been back training in Ethiopia.
Tomas represents Salford Harriers near
Manchester and has previously won
marathons throughout Great Britain in
York, Liverpool, Jersey and Manchester.
He recorded a personal best of 2-10-37
finishing second at the Dublin Marathon
in Ireland in 2007.
The pride of East African running
was clear to see in an historic Berlin
Marathon on September 28. While
Dennis Kimetto, of Kenya, set a stunning
world record of 2-02-57 in winning the
The nation will hope for more racing
glory tomorrow (Sunday, October 12) as
Kenenisa Bekele is due to compete in the
Chicago Marathon in the US.
Having made his debut over the 26.2mile distance in Paris in April, one of
Ethiopia’s greatest sports stars aims to
continue his progression following a
golden career in track and cross country.
Kenenisa won the Paris race in 2-0503 and has stated he is targeting the
Chicago course record of 2-03-45 set by
Dennis Kimetto last year.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
who have both impressed in the English
Championship with Wolverhampton
Wanderers. Sako, a winger, has scored
five goals for Wolves this season and is
attracting interest from English Premier
League clubs.
Ethiopia are aiming to emulate their
achievements from their previous Afcon
campaign when, under the management
of Sewenet Bishaw, they qualified for the
2013 tournament finals for the first time
in more than 30 years.
Algeria, who top Group B with two wins
from two, play home and away games
against Malawi this week.
Following the sacking of Northern
Irishman Johnny McKinstry, the
ministry appointed former player
Atto Mensah. However, the SLFA then
claimed Mensah was not qualified and
instead named John Ajina Sesay as head
coach for the two games.
Congo Brazzaville, who gained a surprise
opening-day victory over champions
Nigeria, lead Group A ahead of today’s
meeting with South Africa.
Burkina Faso, the 2013 runners-up,
seek to maintain their winning record
in Group C with a trip to Gabon while
Group F leaders Cape Verde hope to
protect their 100 percent record when
they go to Mozambique.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
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Suitable candidates must meet the following eligibility criteria for
their application to be considered:
x Be legally and operationally in a position to work in Ethiopia;
x Hold a Master degree from a recognized university in a social
ˆ
x Have a minimum of 5 years of relevant experience working
in the area of capacity development.
Detailed Te
Terms of Refere
Reference
fere
fe
ence with information on expected
j - " j!
for this consultancy can be found at www.cida-ecco.org
g under the
Vacancy page.
Application Deadline:
Deadline
Deadli
ne:: All applications must be received byy 12:30
12:30 on
on
Monday,
onday,
y, November
November 3rd, 2014 as follows:
a. By post or personally delivered to: ECCO, Ethiopia-Canada
{J{X
\%@
%$V
‰$
04, H. No. 161/01, P.O.Box 1009,Addis Ababa Ethiopia
OR
b. By e-mail at: [email protected]
@
g, Reference: Institutional Capacity
Development Advisor
Please note that only short-listed
shorrt-listed
rt
applicants
applicants will receive
re
eceive furt
fur
further
rtherr
rthe
communication
tion fro
from
rom
m EC
E
ECCO.
CO.
O.
www.thereporterethiopia.com
40| Vol. XIX No. 944
The Reporter | Saturday | October 11, 2014
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