Ethiopia issues USD 1 billion sovereign bond

Transcription

Vol. XIX No. 951 |1
The Reporter | Saturday | November 29, 2014
Vol. IXI No. 9501| November 29, 2014 | ADDIS ABABA, ETHIOPIA
www.thereporterethiopia.com
Price 5.00 Birr
Ethiopia, South Sudan to establish new airline
By Kaleyesus Bekele
The management of Ethiopian Airlines
is finalizing negotiations with the
Government of South Sudan to establish
a new regional airline in Juba, which
will serve as a flag carrier for the newlyborn African nation.
Ethiopian Airlines will hold a 49 percent
stake on the new start-up airline while
the Government of South Sudan will own
the majority 51 percent share. A senior
official of Ethiopian told The Reporter
that they started the negotiation early
this year and hope to finalize and sign
the deal next month.
Ethiopia, Kenya and Uganda. The new
airline will feed passengers to Ethiopian
Airlines. “Initially, the airline will
serve domestic and regional routes but
eventually it will go international,” the
official said.
At the initial stage the start-up airline
will operate scheduled domestic flights
in South Sudan and regional flights
to neighboring countries, including
Initially, Ethiopian will deploy senior
staff members to manage the startup airline. Ethiopian will train and
empower South Sudanese staff who will
Ethiopia issues USD 1 billion
sovereign bond
take over the management of the airline
eventually. “It is not like any other
management contract. We will build
their capacity so that they can run their
own airline.”
Ethiopian will lease regional aircraft to
the start-up airline. It will also provide
maintenance services by deploying
Ethiopia, South... page 39
Nine charged
for spying
on Ethiopia’s
defence force
By Tamiru Tsige
Seven Ethiopian and two Eritrean
nationals this week were charged with
espionage on Ethiopia’s defence force
stationed at the Ethio-Eritrean border.
The charge filed at the nineteenth
criminal bench of the Federal High Court
alleges that the defendants maintained
clandestine communications with the
Eritrean Intelligence Agency.
By Yohannes Anberber
told The Reporter.
Following the decision that was passed
by the Government of Ethiopia to dip
into the international money market, it
announced to investors on Wednesday
that it has issued a sovereign bond
amounting one billion dollar, sources
Sources also disclosed that the sovereign
bond that Ethiopia offered for the first
time is revealed to investors in London,
where the team is also scheduled to travel
other European cities and the US to
make the offer known to investors there.
According to sources, the certificates
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offer six to seven percent interest rates
with a maturity date of ten years.
High-level delegation led by Sufian
Ahmed, minister of Finance and
Economic
Development
(MoFED),
Ethiopia issues... page 7
The suspects are accused of spying on
the current status of Ethiopia’s defence
force. Federal prosecutors also accused
one of the suspects of prohibited traffic
of arms including Kalashnikovs and
ammunitions and grenades.
The charge alleges that the suspects
have been carrying out the espionage
from October 2011 to May 2013.
The charge accuses the suspects of
Nine charged ... page 39
2| Vol. XIX No. 951
EDITORIAL
Published weekly by Media &
Communications Center
Address: Bole Sub City,
Kebele 03, H. No. 2347
Tel: 011 6 616180 Editorial
011 6 616185 Reception
011 6 616187 Finance
Fax: 011 6 616189
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0910 885206 Marketing
E-mail: [email protected]
Website:
General Manager
Amare Aregawi
Managing Editor
Bruh Yihunbelay
[email protected]
Editor-in-Chief
Asrat Seyoum
Sub city: N.lafto, K. 10/18, H.No. 614
[email protected]
Senior Editors
Yacob Wolde-Mariam
Dibaba Amensisa
Editors
Kaleyesus Bekele
[email protected]
Yonas Abiye
[email protected]
Assistant Editor
Tibebeselassie Tigabu
[email protected]
Senior Reporters
Henok Reta
Columnist
Leyou Tameru
[email protected]
Chief Graphic Designer
Yibekal Getahun
Senior Graphic Designer
Tewodros Kebkab
Graphic Designers
Tsehay Tadesse
Fasika Balcha
Endale Solomon
Semenh Sisay
Netsanet Yacob
Bezaye Tewodros
Head of Photography
Nahom Tesfaye
Photographers
Tamrat Getachew
Mesfen Solomon
Website
Bezawit Tesfaye
Binyam Hailu
Cartoonist
Elias Areda
Fasil W/giorgis
Marketing Manager
Endalkachew Yimam
Biruk Mulugeta
Biruk Chernet
Computer Secretaries
Birtukan Abate, Helen Yetayew,
Print
Tesfaye Mengesha, Yeyesuswork
Mamo,Gezaghgn Mandefro
Ramping
p g upp the fight
g to end
violence against women
The UN annually observes the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women on 25 November. It is followed
by 16 Days of Activism against Gender Violence which follow (ending on 10 December, Human Rights Day) whose primary
objective is to mobilize as well as to raise awareness and trigger action to end the global scourge of violence against women
and girls. The campaign attempts to forge an effective strategy to combat violence against women by acting as a link between
international and local organizations which work towards this end.
The importance of this campaign cannot be overstated. According to a 2013 UN report which reviewed the available global data,
35 percent of women worldwide have experienced either physical and/or sexual intimate partner violence or non-partner sexual
violence with some national violence studies showing that up to 70 percent of women have experienced physical and/or sexual
violence in their lifetime from an intimate partner. The report said that of all women killed in 2012, it is estimated almost half
were killed by intimate partners or family members. It further found out worldwide, more than 700 million women alive in 2013
were married as children (below 18 years of age). More than one in three—or some 250 million—were married before 15. Child
brides were often unable to effectively negotiate safer sex, leaving themselves vulnerable to sexually transmitted infections,
including HIV, along with early pregnancy.
The statistics indicate that in Ethiopia too violence against women has reached alarming levels. The UN estimates that 49
percent of women are subjected to physical violence at the hand of their partners while 59 percent face some form of sexual
violence.
At the beginning of November a high school student in Addis Ababa died after she was abducted from the taxi she was traveling
to home and repeatedly gang raped for some five days. We condemn this barbaric act in the strongest possible term and extend
our condolences to her family and beloved ones. Though violence against women is not a new phenomenon, the manner in
which the young girl was abused and eventually died makes it particularly gruesome. Admittedly, similar incidents are likely
to have occurred before. But more often than not, cases of violence against women go unreported and hence contribute to
diminished awareness on the extent of the problem.
The death of the teenager has evoked raw emotions across all sections of the public and is still a topic which stimulates
impassioned views on all forms of media. It has also prompted activists drawn from different civil society organizations and
notable personalities to appeal to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn to set up an anti-gender-based violence taskforce and
allocate the necessary resources for this cause. All agree that the reaction to the horrendous crime cannot just be to wish the
families and friends of the deceased the strength to cope with their loss. Her death is not a crime against a single individual; it’s
a crime against the entire community.
Violence against women cannot be stopped by expressing rage whenever a shocking incidence takes place. Given its complexity
and pervasiveness, what is required is not an ad-hoc response but rather mainstreaming the efforts aimed at addressing its
root cause through a sustainable and full-time nationwide action. This makes it incumbent upon all stakeholders who work on
eliminating this scourge—the government, civil society and religious organizations, educational institutions and the public at
large— to appreciate that the foremost task in this regard, namely bringing about an attitudinal change by way of a national
dialogue, cannot be achieved overnight and to allot the requisite funding for sensitization and other related activities.
Ghastly as the crime against the high-schooler might be, the response to it must follow due process. As the late Prime Minister
Meles Zenawi once said, however appalling a crime is the downsides of taking illegal measures in the heat of the moment far
outweigh any perceived benefit.
Violence against women should not be a subject which hits the headlines once and then is promptly forgotten. Therefore, if
Ethiopians are to strengthen our social cohesion and realize our aspiration for development, we have no option but to ramp
up the efforts aimed at eliminating any and all impediments standing in the way of the enjoyment of the rights guaranteed for
women under the constitution.
HEADLINES
Vol. XIX No. 951 |3
IOM repatriates over 250 migrants from Tanzania
30 unaccompanied minors said to be among returnees
By Yonas Abiye
Some 253 illegal migrants, who were
detained in Tanzania for more than a
year, returned home yesterday.
The International Organization for
Migration (IOM) facilitated their return
and said that around 30 of the returnees
are unaccompanied minors who are
currently temporarily sheltered at a
rehabilitation center set-up by IOM.
The returnees, who were released from
Tanzanian prisons last week, were
staying at temporary stations provided
by IOM Tanzania until their predeparture medical screening and travel
documents were finalized.
They were detained at the borders of
Tanzania while attempting to illegally
enter South Africa. The migrants
were charged and imprisoned by
Tanzanian authorities for trespassing.
The migrants were detained in two
regions in Tanzania namely Mbeya and
Pwani in three prison facilities called
Ruanda, Ubena and Kigongoni. Most
of the returnees were released after
serving their prison terms for over one
year, while some were pardoned by the
Tanzanian Government before serving
time.
Department registered and verified their
nationalities during their stay in prison.
After the verifications, IOM Tanzania
conducted a pre-departure medical
screening to assess the conditions of the
migrants and chartered a flight to bring
them back to their home country.
The IOM in collaboration with the
Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs
(MoFA) and the Tanzanian Immigration
Most of the returnees originated from
the Southern Nations and Nationalities
Peoples Regional State. Upon arrival,
Officials of MoFA and IOM have
welcomed the returnees from Bole
airport
yesterday
International
afternoon.
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Sub-Saharan
Africa face
decline in
soil fertility
Medrek, UDJ
relationship
ends in
divorce
By Mihret Aschalew
By Neamin Ashenafi
Empirical assessment of Sub-Saharan
Africa’s soil fertility has confirmed
that the region faces a significant
decline in soil fertility, which could
further aggravate food insecurity if no
appropriate action is taken.
The two parties, Unity for Democracy
and Justice Party (UDJ) and Forum
for Democratic Dialogue in Ethiopia
(Medrek), which used to work together
in the opposition block of the country,
has ended their relationship and have
officially separated as of November
20 due to the differences between the
parties.
The finding of the assessment has been
the point of discussion at a regional
workshop, conducted in Nairobi, Kenya
last week. The workshop, with a theme
“Advancing Integrated Soil and Water
for
Climate-Adapted
Management
Land Use in Low-Fertility Areas of
Sub- Saharan Africa”, was organized
by the United Nations University
Institute for Integrated Management
of Material Fluxes and of Resources
(UNU-FLORES), in partnership with
the United Nations University Institute
for Natural Resources in Africa (UNUINRA), World Agro forestry Centre
(ICRAF) and Technische Universitat
Dresden, Germany.
These two parties were working
together for the past six years and their
relationship was at odds after a speech,
which was delivered by former president
of UDJ Gizachew Shiferaw (Eng.),
advocated for a merger than continuing
with the party in the form of a front or a
coalition.
In this regard, Medrek demanded a
correction of that speech and suspended
the party temporarily on its ninth
general assembly which was held last
year. However, UDJ declined to do so
and argued that the speech was delivered
by the president as a personal opinion
which does not represent the party.
An initial mapping study was conducted
to review the current condition of
soil and land use management in
The disagreement between these two
Sub-Saharan.. page 38
Medrek, UDJ... page 38
f
/
All of the returnees are male with 30
of them being unaccompanied minors.
IOM Ethiopia in collaboration with
Ministry of Women, Children and Youth
Affairs and UNICEF will conduct a
family tracing for the unaccompanied
minors and reunite them with their
families in the coming weeks. Hence,
until the family tracing is complete, the
unaccompanied minors will be staying
at the IOM Transit Center in Addis
Ababa.
S
The returnees at Bole International Airport
IOM Ethiopia will provide an overnight
stay accommodation and handout
onward transportation allowance for
them to get back to their place of origin.
4| Vol. XIX No. 951
HEADLINES
Sheep leather to become the Coca Cola, Ambo Water to be
new Ethiopian brand
under one umbrella
By Yonas Abiye
The oldest modern mineral water, Ambo
Mineral Water, a.k.a. Ambo Tsebel,
was bought jointly by the UK-based
multinational brewer, SABMiller PLC,
and SouthWest Development (SWD), will
join the Coca Cola family as SABMiller.
The Coca Cola Company and Coca Cola
Sabco announced their intention to
form a new company called Coca-Cola
Beverages Africa.
Fistum Arega
Noriyuki Nagai
Dubbed as champion product approach,
Ethiopia is set to brand its leather and
leather products made of sheep skin to
Japanese market and beyond.
Noriyuki Nagai, one of the four
consultants hired by JICA to undertake
the job of championing sheep leather
to become a brand product, told The
Reporter that the short term target
of the champion product approach is
to introduce Ethiopia’s hi-end sheep
leather and leather goods to the Japanese
market.
By Birhanu Fikade
Sponsored by the Japan International
Cooperation
Agency
(JICA),
the
champion product approach movement
is something which is said to seek and
improve Ethiopia’s image and brand
the country’s finest sheep leather and
finished leather products abroad.
To that end, stakeholders held the second
phase of the champion product approach
meeting on Thursday at Harmony Hotel
Sheep leather... page 40
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The new business is said to be the
biggest bottler of soft drinks and nonalcoholic beverages in Africa and the
10th largest in the world, with an annual
revenue of USD 2.9 billion. As part of
the deal, SABMiller, which is already a
significant bottler of Coca Cola products
across Africa, will sell its Appletiser soft
drinks brands to the Coca Cola Company
to avoid competition between the two
companies. Coca Cola will also acquire
or be licensed rights to another 19 nonalcoholic drinks owned by SABMiller
in Africa and Latin America for around
USD 260 million.
SABMiller and its local partner will
control the operations and bottling of
Coca Cola in the Ethiopian market as a
majority shareholder.
Currently, there are more than 30 Coca
Cola bottlers in Africa alone and there
has already been a wave of consolidation
among bottling companies in other
countries such as Spain and Japan.
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Coca Cola Sabco is the second biggest
bottler of the product in South Africa
and also has operations in other African
countries such as Ethiopia and Kenya.
On Thursday, SABMiller PLC and Coca
Cola Co. have announced that they will
combine soft drinks bottling operations
in southern and eastern Africa including
in Ethiopia, in a deal that reinforces the
UK-based brewer’s growing interest in
non-alcoholic beverages.
According to information obtained from
SAB and Coke, a new company, Coca
Cola Beverages Africa, will serve 12
countries and supply 40 percent of all
Coca Cola volumes in Africa.
The two companies also said that SAB
and Coke will hold 57 percent and 11.3
percent of the new business respectively
while Gutsche Family Investments will
own the remaining 31.7 percent.
Ambo Mineral Water has been
bottled and marketed since 1930 and
is considered the market leader in
Ethiopia. The source of Ambo Mineral
Water is a thermo-mineral spring, which
is rich in natural calcium, magnesium,
potassium, bicarbonates and carbon
dioxide.
The water originates in a volcanic
fissure which then percolates through
mountainous terrain, eventually being
Coca Cola, Ambo... page 40
HEADLINES
Seasoned Ethiopian captain establishes
private airline, pilot school
Captain Lemma Tekalign
By Kaleyesus Bekele
Former captain of Ethiopian Airlines,
Mulatu
Lemlemayehu,
owner
of
Dreamliner Hotel, is establishing a new
private airline and pilot training school,
East African Aviation, with an outlay of
57 million birr.
Captian Mulat is a seasoned pilot who
served Ethiopian Airlines for 39 years
and has accumulated 27,000 flight hours
under his belt. While working for the
national flag carrier he commanded
aircraft from the old DC3 to the state-ofthe-art jetliner, Dreamliner.
Mulat founded an investment company
called M.T.D.N and built Dreamliner
Hotel in Addis Ababa near Meskel
Flower eight years ago. He started
talking about the new business venture
with his former colleagues a year ago.
He retired from Ethiopian Airlines last
August.
M.T.D.N owns the new private airline,
East African Aviation, and the pilot
school.
Captain
Lemma
training
Tekalign, general manager of East
African Aviation, told The Reporter
Seasoned Ethiopian... page 40
Vol. XIX No. 951 |5
Gov’t contemplates beefing
up investment commission
By Birhanu Fikade
the restructuring was required was
unsuccessful.
The recently-restructured Ethiopian
Investment
Commission
(EIC)
is
anticipated to oversee two essential
government activities, industry zone
management and export promotion,
which are considered to be critical for
the transformation of the country to
industrialization.
The House of Peoples’ Representatives
has amended the proclamation which
constituted the EIC a few months
back. The amended proclamation
(Proclamation No. 849/2014) stated
that Industrial Zone Development
Corporation, a body that is assigned to
oversee the development of industrial
parks in Ethiopia, will be under the
investment board, which is also a
supervisory body to EIC and is chaired
by
Prime
Minister
Hailemariam
Dessalegn. However, the recent move,
according to sources, is intended to give
more functioning power to EIC.
According The Reporter’s sources, the
commission is set to bring under its
wings the industrial zones development
corporation of the Ministry of Industry
and Export Promotion Directorate
General which was under the Ministry
of Trade. Sources also said that these
two government offices have been
prioritized by the government to scaleup Foreign Direct Investment (FDI)
activities and the export earnings of
the country. Most of the FDIs coming
to Ethiopia are preferred to be exportoriented. Hence, the Office of the Prime
Minister is considering the commission
to be best suited to manage these two
governmental agencies, sources said.
Getahun Negash, public relations
officer of the EIC, confirmed to the The
Reporter that there are certain moves
to muscle up EIC, but said that there
are no official assignments given to the
commission so far. Attempts made by
The Reporter to get a response from the
Office of the Prime Minister to further
explain and comment as to why such
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Similarly, the Ministry of Trade, which
three years ago was part and parcel of
the Ministry of Industry, was heading
the export promotion directorate
general. Sisay Gemechu, state minister
of Industry was appointed in 2013 to
head the industrial zones development.
The definition of the industry zone further
elaborated to include the development of
urban centers, special economic zones,
industrial parks, technology parks,
export processing zones, free trade
zones and the likes which are to be
designated by the investment board. The
previous proclamation was contained
to define industrial development
Gov’t contemplates... page 40
6| Vol. XIX No. 951
In-depth
Copyright amendment: a game
changer
By Mikias Sebsibe and Tibebeselassie Tigabu
In April 2007, the Malawi Broadcasting
Station (MBS), a state-owned radio
station, had its office furniture and
cars impounded by the country’s police
following a dispute over unpaid music
royalties.
The measures followed a long-running
legal wrangle between the station
and the Copyright Society of Malawi
(COSOMA). A Malawi court ordered
MBS to pay USD 250,000 to COSOMA for
years of accumulated music royalties.
The confiscation was aimed at ensuring
MBS pays up the sum.
COSOMA, a consortium of associations
in the field of intellectual property,
is a statutory body tasked to enforce
copyright laws of Malawi. Boasting a
history of over two decades, the society
is considered a role model for the rest
of Africa in the protection of copyright.
Here is one of the six African countries
where an Ethiopian delegation went last
year to draw lessons. The delegation
was tasked with the responsibility
of proposing an amendment to the
Copyrights and Neighboring Rights
Protection Proclamation (No. 410/2004)
of Ethiopia.
even had a chance to properly study
its impact on our industry,” Zerihun
Teshome, co-owner of Zami FM, told The
Reporter. “We were not involved during
the drafting process as a stakeholder.”
The amendment concerns broadcasters
like Zami FM as the law puts an
obligation on them to pay royalties for
the use of copyright protected works like
music. The obligation also extends to
businesses such as hotels, clubs, lodges,
beauty salons and taxis. It also creates a
collective management society to enable
right holders administer their rights
in an organized and enhanced manner
including collection and redistribution
of royalties.
Berhanu Adelo, director general of the
Ethiopian Intellectual Property Office
(EIPO), says that the drafting process
was participatory enough and various
consultation forums were held with
the “relevant stakeholders” including
broadcasters.
“The amendment is aimed at providing
legal protection that is compatible
with an ever growing development
of copyright and neighboring right,”
Berhanu told The Reporter.
On the other hand, those in
entertainment business believe
amendment is long overdue.
the
the
After two years of benchmarking that
also assessed Asian countries, the
drafting process culminated and the
amendment was tabled before the House
of Peoples’ Representatives on the first
week of November. To the dismay of
some, the bill was approved within two
weeks.
“This amendment should have been
incorporated in the copyright and
neighbouring
rights
protection
proclamation ten years ago,” Equbay
Berhe, president of Ethiopian AudioVisual Association, told The Reporter.
“The draft was approved before we
Payment of royalties is not an entirely new
Paymentofroyaltiesisnotanentirelynew
concept in Ethiopia. It was introduced a
decade ago with the coming into force of
the existing Copyright and Neighboring
Rights Protection Proclamation. But
payment of royalties was limited to use
of protected sound recordings and even
then users were obliged to pay producers
“equitable remunerations” only once.
The law does not provide for royalties
for other literary and artistic works. The
proclamation also failed to establish an
effective system to collect royalties.
“The former collective management
society was registered as an NGO which
is not mandated by law to issue license
or collect royalties from third party and
distribute it to right holders,” Dawit
Yifru, president of Ethiopian Musicians
Association, told The Reporter.
publishers to go out of business.”
According to data from the Ethiopian
Audio-Visual Association, over 2,000
criminal suits were filed over copyright
infringements in the last ten years alone.
However, right holders got no monetary
gains from such criminal proceedings.
“We could not even file a single civil suit
against the infringers for compensations
in these cases because we were unable
to pay the 10 percent (of the amount
claimed) court fee,” Equbay told The
Reporter.
The introduction of a system of royalties
for protected works used for commercial
purposes is aimed at boosting the thriving
industry under flawed system. However,
devising a royalty scheme, including
how those royalties are calculated, is an
intricate and controversial matter.
Hence, right holders of protected works
stood to gain nothing when their song,
for instance, is aired on broadcasting
stations or other forms of public
performances. The only economic
benefit they get from their works was
through mechanical royalties (royalties
from the recording of composed music
on CDs and tape).
This daunting task, which includes
identifying the category of works for
which royalty payment is to be made
and the list of users subject to pay
royalty, is left to the EIPO based on a
proposal submitted to it by the collective
management society.
Enforcing the mechanical royalties of
right holders was further compounded
by the growth of the digital world which
made transfer of music easy. Songs can
easily be transferred using flash disks,
memory sticks and the internet which
complicated controlling mechanisms.
Biruk Haile (LLD), head of the School of
Law at Addis Ababa University, contends
that leaving the decision of devising the
royalty scheme and who should pay –
to the society and EIPO – without first
providing minimum guideline by the
law is problematic.
“Album copies plummeted from around
four million to just 100,000 copies as a
result of the digital growth,” Equbay,
who participated in the drafting process,
told The Reporter. “This has forced
He argues that the powers given to the
office and the society whose constituting
members is not clearly stated in the law
Copyright amendment... page 39
HEADLINES
Vol. XIX No. 951 |7
Turkish investors eye housing projects
in Addis Ababa
By Yonas Abiye
opportunities with regards to housing
projects.
A group of Turkish businesspersons,
who are on a business trip here, have
expressed their interest to invest in
housing projects in the capital.
During
the
occasion,
President
Mulatu welcomed the decision of the
experienced Turkish investors to invest
in Ethiopia and said that their presence
would enable the country to share their
experiences.
The Turkish delegation headed by
Erdogan Bayraktar met with President
Mulatu Teshome (PhD) at the National
Palace and discussed on issues
including their “strong desire” to invest
in massive housing projects in Addis
Ababa. However, it was learnt that the
total investment outlay has not been
disclosed.
According to sources, the delegation
will discuss with the Mayor of Addis
Ababa, Driba Kuma, on the potential
He also reiterated that the Ethiopian
government would provide support for
the investors.
The delegation leader, Bayraktar, on his
part affirmed to the president that the
investors have finalized preparations to
build a green model city in Addis Ababa.
According to a senior government
official, the delegation is expected to
meet with officials from the Ministry
of Urban Development, Housing and
Construction, and the Mayor of Addis
Ababa about the possibility of finalizing
the ventures.
The Reporterr learnt that the delegation
are also scheduled to meet with Sufian
Ahmed, minister of Finance and
Economic Development.
A year ago, it was reported that the
Chinese giant construction company,
Chinese Civil Engineering Construction
Corporation (CCECC) had issued an
enquiry letter to secure land for real
estate development in Addis Ababa.
The
newly-restructured
Ethiopian
Investment Commission announced a
few months ago that Turkey tops the list
of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in
Ethiopia.
Although the Chinese lead in terms of
number of companies that have invested
in the country, the Turks lead others in
combined capital outlay, the commission
said.
Until the end of August this year,
some 2,010 investors have joined the
Ethiopian market with a total capital
investment of 89 billion birr; however,
the combined capital investment by
the Turks is just shy of 20 billion birr,
constituting 22.5 percent of the overall
outlay. The Chinese, who have 367
companies already invested in the
country, are second to the Turks in
capital expenditure.
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Institute to
bridge gap in
reproductive
health in Africa
Ethiopia
issues...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 1
including Teklewold Atnafu, Governor
of the National Bank of Ethiopia (NBE),
Fisseha Abera, International Financial
Institutions Cooperation Directorate
Director at MoFED, Wasihun Abate,
Director of Legal Division at MoFED and
Mezgebu Ameha, Macro-economy Policy
and Management Directorate Director
have traveled to Europe for this purpose.
By Mihiret Aschalew
The International Planned Parenthood
Federation Africa Region (IPPFAR)
has launched a research institute that
aimed at bridging the research gap in
sexual and reproductive health and
rights in the continent on Wednesday.
The institute that will be headquartered
in Nairobi, Kenya, is named after
Fredrick T. Sai (Prof.), a Ghanaian
internationally recognized authority on
health, nutrition, population and family
planning.
The move was expected after the House
of Peoples’ Representatives (HPR)
discussed in a closed session and gave
the responsibility to MoFED to issue a
sovereign bond.
Though The Reporter approached
Ahmed Shide, state minister of MoFED,
on the event of the signing ceremony
of a loan agreements between the
Government of Ethiopia and the World
Bank and African Development Bank,
he declined to disclose the amount of the
bond issued in London. However, he did
say that “the interest rate that the bond
got was quite reasonable.” According to
the state minister this is mainly because
the bonds were offered at the right time.
“The institute is an initiative of IPPF
Africa, as a response to filling the gap
in data gathering and dissemination.
For us, it is an instrument to strengthen
our programs,” IPPF African Region
Director, Lucien Kouakoa, told The
Reporter at the launching ceremony.
The Fred T. Sai Institute will support
research, modeling and replication
of innovative service delivery and
the research effort of young Africans
generating evidence for sound program
design and implementation in 42 African
countries that it operates. The institute
will also provide small grants to young
women and men for post graduate
research and will hold a biennial science
lecture series to disseminate and publish
research findings with regards to sexual
and reproductive health and rights, The
Reporter learnt.
The move to issue an international
sovereign bond came after Ethiopia got
a B+ rating by renowned credit rating
agencies in May 2014 namely, Moody’s,
S&P and Fitch. Last month MoFED
selected J.P. Morgan and Deutsche Bank
Group from America and Germany,
respectively, to organize and facilitate
meetings with potential investors with
Ethiopian delegation across Europe and
the US.
Sources also said that the delegation will
conclude its tour next week in the US and
they are expected to reveal the amount
they were able to sell to investors.
According to IPPF, the establishment
of the institution is particularly timely
because of the continued challenges of
high unmet need for family planning,
high maternal deaths in developing
countries, high infant and child
mortality, occurrence of female genital
mutilation and early marriage. And the
Redwan Hussein, head of Government
Communication Affairs Office with a
ministerial portfolio, while briefing local
journalist two weeks ago said that the
foreign currency that would be obtained
from the sales of sovereign bonds will
be used to finance mega government
projects which are grappling with severe
hard currency shortage.
Institute to bridge... page 38
8| Vol. XIX No. 951
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Vol. XIX No. 951 |9
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REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL(RFP -ETH- 2014 – 9116223)
organization
g
only.
y
UNICEF supports the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs
(MoLSA) in the design and implementation of integrated childsensitive social cash transfer pilot programs in SNNPR and
Oromia. The major objective of the pilot programs is to test the
integration of Social Cash Transfers (SCT) and access to social
services for extremely poor and labour constrained households
Next Generation Productive Safety Net Programme (PSNP) as
and Disaster Risk Management System.
The design of the program is expected to be completed in
towards the end of 2014. MoLSA, in partnership with partner
organizations has planned to strengthen the technical capacity
of regional Agencies of Labour and Social Affairs for effective
planning and implementation of the SCT pilot in the two regions.
Objective.
Design a comprehensive SCT Management Information System
of Oromia and SNNPR Bureaus of Labour and Social Affairs
in line with the manual of operations;The Integrated SCT MIS
should use technologies that will allow a future integration into
registry.
!
The design will be conducted by a registered institution/
!
""#$
the assignment.
The team must have (1) extensive expertise and experience in
the design of Social Cash Transfer MIS (at least 5 to 8 years)
and a strong commitment to undertake the assignment;(2)
Knowledge of institutional issues related to development
programming (including funding, administration, the role of
the UN system, partnerships, human rights and sustainable
development issues) and (3) familiarity with social protection
policies and programmes with a focus on social cash transfer
programmes and their design.
Interested and eligible bidders ONLY from International
organizations are invited to collect the complete tender
documents by sending an email to Mr. Deresse Damte
([email protected]) or Mr. Ayele Wolde ([email protected])
Starting on Friday 5-12-2014. Proposals are to be submitted
%&'*'+
6<=='>
Time) " #$%&#% 2014. Please quote the RFP nr.
9116223 in all your correspondences. Due to the nature of the
bid, there will be no bid public opening for this offer. UNICEF
reserves the right to accept or reject part or all of any or all
bids. ADDRESS: UNICEF Ethiopia, UNECA Compound, NOF
HQVX#Q><<!
Mr. Ayele Wolde, P.O.BOX 1169, TEL: +251-11 518 4167/4142
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
'!*+"%+
"
,%/
#7&8
The Embassy of the United States of America, Addis Ababa,
Ethiopia, will hold a closed bid sale on used vehicles on
Tuesday, January 27, 2015 from 10:00-12:00 noon at the back
side of main Embassy compound (Batch Plant). Contact: 011130-7577 or 011-442-3812.
Viewing
g: Interested participants can view the vehicles on
Thursday, January 15, and Friday January 16,2015 between
09:00 and 12:00. In order to access the facility, participants will
be required to present ID and get registered.
::
; Interested participants must deposit ETB 10,000.00
for < &+ &
# +
payable to “Cashier American Embassy”. Account #485.
Deposits must be made at Bank of Abyssinia - and branch, prior
to the bidding day and receipt for CPO must be presented at the
time of bidding.
: =
: The Embassy will provide bid documents/
forms and bids will be accepted Tuesday January 27,2015
]=^==_]V^==<<H
`#
manner by avoiding overwriting and any sorts of ambiguity.
>>?:>:=*@>>:=*B==!
"
;
"
Winners will be announced on January 28,2015
and must deposit the full payment at the Bank of Abyssinia- any
branch, to the “Cashier American Embassy”, Account #485 and
submit deposit slips to the Embassy within three working days
or forfeit their CPO deposits. Partial payments are not allowed
$"
<
< ,: Bid winners are required
to remove their purchased vehicle(s) with in sixty (60) days
and after the necessary documentation work required by the
government of Ethiopia. US Embassy will not assume any
responsibility on property sold. Failure to remove purchases as
per the terms and conditions provided results in revoke and /or
<
: :
: Now-winning bidders can collect their
deposit (CPO) receipts on February 09 and 10,2015 between
09:00 and 04:00 at the Embassy Warehouse, off Bole Rd on
the Ethio-China Friendship road-Phone 011-442-3812, Failure
to meet this dates will result in forfeiture of ++
!
;
1. Participants must be at least 18 years old and bring
!<
2. All bidders must provide personal transportation for their
purchases; the Embassy will have no transportation
available.
3. Any and all duties, taxes, transfer fees or other charges of
#`#{`
of Ethiopia are the sole responsibility of the buyer and
will not be deducted or credited to the sale price by the
U.S. Embassy.
4. All items are sold on an “AS IS”. “WHERE IS” and “NON
RETURNABLE” basis.
The Embassy DOES NOT guarantee any items in any
way.
5. }`Q
the Embassy will reserve all rights to cancel the bid and
take related administrative measures including forfeiture
of bid bond deposits as necessary
Contact information: 011-442-3812 or 011-130-7577
10| Vol. XIX No. 951
COMMENTARY
T
he United States did not send a delegation to the
High Level Partnership Forum in Copenhagen,
expressing their “deep concern with political
turmoil in Somalia”. The current turmoil, however,
seems to be the result of problems which are inherent
in the transition process and may further escalate in
the lead up to the 2016 deadline.
State building and the credibility
conundrum in Somalia
By Anna Bruzzone
Yet
another
international
donor
conference on Somalia. “A history of
broken promises” might have been a
rather more appropriate title for the
Ministerial High Level Partnership
Forum (HLPF) which was held in
Copenhagen on 19 and 20 November.
The conference was intended to review
progress against Somalia’s New Deal
Compact endorsed in Brussels in
September 2013 and chart the way ahead
to the implementation of Vision 2016.
This “blueprint for action” entails
three main threads, the “democratic
formation”
of
regional
interim
administrations and Federal States, the
revision and adoption of the Constitution
and the holding of national elections in
2016. The goals are ambitious, but they
seem to be contained within a floating
bubble. Blown by the international
community, the bubble is growing and
may eventually burst.
The HLPF meeting in Copenhagen was
supposed to build upon the “current
momentum” on Somalia, both nationally
and internationally. That sense of
“momentum”, however, which had
made southern Somalia breath more
easily for some months after September
2012, is gone.
The federal government’s performance
has become a concern for both Somalis
and the international community,
though on different grounds. The British
government’s enthusiasm has faded,
since it turned out that Somalia was
not going to be the political victory
that Prime Minister David Cameron
was looking for after the intervention
in Libya in 2011. Questions are being
raised in Westminster about Britain’s
relationship with Somalia, in the wake
of the latest report by the UN Monitoring
Group on Somalia and Eritrea alleging
corruption and activities that may be
subverting the arms embargo.
The United States did not send a
delegation to the High Level Partnership
Forum in Copenhagen, expressing their
“deep concern with political turmoil in
Somalia”. The current turmoil, however,
seems to be the result of problems which
are inherent in the transition process
and may further escalate in the lead up
to the 2016 deadline.
Hailed as the yardstick for the
implementation of the New Deal, posttransition Somalia has become a victim
of its own “momentum” with donors.
The implementation of Vision 2016
has become a matter of international
reputation. Western donors are impatient
with the slow pace of state building
and urging the Somali government to
State building... page 31
VIEWPOINT
By Jeffrey D. Sachs
Sustainable development economics
Two schools of thought tend to dominate
today’s economic debates. According to
free-market economists, governments
should cut taxes, reduce regulations,
reform labor laws, and then get out
of the way to let consumers consume
and producers create jobs. According
to Keynesian economics, governments
should boost total demand through
quantitative easing and fiscal stimulus.
Yet neither approach is delivering good
results. We need a new Sustainable
Development
Economics,
with
governments promoting new types of
investments.
Free-market economics leads to great
outcomes for the rich, but pretty
miserable outcomes for everyone else.
Governments in the United States and
parts of Europe are cutting back on social
spending, job creation, infrastructure
investment, and job training because
the rich bosses who pay for politicians’
election campaigns are doing very well
for themselves, even as the societies
around them are crumbling.
Yet Keynesian solutions – easy money
and large budget deficits – have also
fallen far short of their promised results.
Many governments tried stimulus
spending after the 2008 financial crisis.
After all, most politicians love to spend
money they don’t have. Yet the shortterm boost failed in two big ways.
First, governments’ debt soared and
their credit ratings plummeted. Even
the US lost its AAA standing. Second,
the private sector did not respond by
increasing business investment and
hiring enough new workers. Instead,
companies hoarded vast cash reserves,
mainly in tax-free offshore accounts.
Yet private-sector investment today
depends on investment by the public
sector. Our age is defined by this
complementarity. Unless the public
sector invests, and invests wisely, the
private sector will continue to hoard its
funds or return them to shareholders in
the forms of dividends or buybacks.
The problem with both free-market
and Keynesian economics is that they
misunderstand the nature of modern
investment. Both schools believe that
investment is led by the private sector,
either because taxes and regulations
are low (in the free-market model) or
because aggregate demand is high (in
the Keynesian model).
The key is to reflect on six kinds of capital
goods: business capital, infrastructure,
human capital, intellectual capital,
natural capital, and social capital. All
of these are productive, but each has a
distinctive role.
Sustainable... page 31
Vol. XIX No. 951 |11
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C/
D
?G
(On the occasion of the 3rdd anniversary of the demise of H.E. Kim Jong Il, great leader of Korean people)
We are going to mark soon the 3rd
anniversary of the passing away of
H.E. Kim Jong Il (December 17, 2011).
Observing the day with a great deal of
sadness, not only the Korean people but
also the world progressive people vividly
recollect H.E. Kim Jong Il’s ever-lasting
exploits. Kim Jong Il, the eternal General
Secretary of the Workers’ Party of Korea
and the eternal Chairman of the DPRK
National Defence Commission, was
a great master of independent politics
among others which wrote a special
chapter in the book of the world history
of politics.
Songun politics not only defended
socialism but brought about a new
turning point in the building of a
thriving socialist country in the
DPRK, smashing every high-handed
challenge of the US. This struck the
world with admiration. “The DPRK is
humbling the US, saying what it wants
to say under the eyes of the world,”
“The DPRK is the only country in the
world countering the US with hard
line in the face of the latter’s highhandedness and arbitrariness,” “The
US is put on the defensive by the
independent Songun politics of the
DPRK,” and “The US leads the world
and the DPRK leads the US.”
His political philosophy was the Juche
idea recognized by the international
community as the guiding ideology of
the cause of independence. The Juche
for one’s own destiny and one has
also the capacity for hewing out one’s
own destiny. Kim Jong Il thoroughly
applied this idea in the revolution and
construction.
Maintaining independence, peace and
friendship as the fundamental ideal
of the DPRK in its external activities,
Kim Jong Il paid deep attention to the
building of an independent, new world.
When socialism collapsed in several
countries one after another towards
the close of the last century, the
DPRK remained unperturbed because it had been guided by the line of
independence put forward by Kim Jong Il.
At the time when the anti-socialist forces fussed about the “end of
socialism,” Kim Jong Il made public important works including The
Historical Lesson in Building Socialism and the General Line of Our
Party, Abuses of Socialism Are Intolerable and Socialism Is a Science, in
"
#
and the inevitability of its triumph and made a solemn declaration that
socialist Korea would never deviate from nor vacillate on the road it had
chosen.
Most noteworthy in his political achievements is Songun politics.
The imperialist allied forces led by the United States which had appeared
as the “only superpower” after the end of the cold war committed
arbitrariness and high-handedness in the international arena, taking
advantage of the destruction of the balance of forces on the planet, and
resorted to open aggression upon and intervention in the countries they
were not happy with. In particular, they launched an all-out offensive
against the DPRK, which was unswervingly following the road of
socialism under the unfurled banner of anti-imperialist independence, in
~Q#QQ<
In the light of the prevailing situation, Kim Jong Il held higher the banner
of Songun. He formulated Songun politics as the basic mode of socialist
politics. Thanks to his Songun politics the military strength of the DPRK
was markedly reinforced and the DPRK became a military power which
no enemy, how powerful he may be, dare to attack. Despite the all-out
offensive by the imperialist allied forces, the DPRK staunchly defended
its sovereignty and socialism.
He conducted energetic external
activities to strengthen the antiimperialist independent forces of the
world.
In the new century he visited the
People’s Republic of China several
times, developing friendship between the DPRK and PRC and giving
a powerful impetus to the common struggle of the peoples of the two
countries to defend the socialist cause and global peace. He also
paid several visits to the Russian Federation to put the DPRK-Russia
friendship on a new stage and invigorate the international efforts to build
an independent world.
""

including a top-level delegation from the European Union to give full play
to the validity and vitality of the independent foreign policy of the DPRK.
As a result, countries which had slighted or kept away from the DPRK
in the past made changes of direction: they took the road of improving
relations with the DPRK. In a period spanning some years over 20
countries established or reestablished diplomatic relations with the
DPRK: among them were most of the West European countries including
Italy, UK, the Netherlands, Germany and Spain, and EU, Canada, Brazil,
New Zealand, Kuwait and Bahrain.
The might and vitality of Kim Jong Il’s independent politics were also
#]
era by the north and south of Korea under the ideal of By Our Nation
< # `

it by their own efforts. As a result, the June 15 Joint Declaration was
adopted in 2000 and the October 4 Declaration in 2007, thus setting up
"
<
Kim Jong Il, who always led the cause of independence of the Korean
people and the cause of global independence, will live forever in the
history of world politics as a great master of independent politics.
“
Opinion
Challenges smallholders face at the dawn of mechanized, large-scale agribusiness
is one of these controversial issues. On one of the focused discussions during the
LPI Conference on November 12, a scholar by the name Milu Muyanga (PhD) from
Tegemeo Institute in Nairobi, Kenya had a presentation entitled, ‘Small may not be
beautiful in Kenya: farm size-productivity relationship revisited’.
Small is indeed beautiful!
By Yonas A. Yimer
Within the last few months Addis
Ababa hosted a number of conferences
on agriculture the latest one of these
being the ‘African Land Policy Initiative
Conference (LPI) held at the African
Commission
(AUC)
from
Union
November 11-14. An ordinary person,
who managed to attend a few of these
conferences, can easily notice that we
really are on transformation though a
lot of questions remain unanswered and
a lot more even contentious.
Challenges smallholders face at the dawn
of mechanized, large-scale agribusiness
is one of these controversial issues. On
one of the focused discussions during
the LPI Conference on November 12,
a scholar by the name Milu Muyanga
(PhD) from Tegemeo Institute in Nairobi,
Kenya had a presentation entitled,
‘Small may not be beautiful in Kenya:
farm
size-productivity
relationship
revisited’. Having no luxury of space to
respond to the details of his arguments
I would rather take a few more lines to
justify the beauty of smallholders that
we all need to celebrate.
The United Nations has declared 2014
as the International Year of Family
Farming (IYFF). And it had a reason to.
On its background paper for the State
of Food and Agriculture 2014, Food and
Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations (FAO) estimated that there are
at least 570 million farms worldwide,
of which more than 500 million can be
considered family farms. And more
than 475 million farms are less than 2
hectares in size. Well isn’t this a reason
enough to celebrate IYFF? If no, let’s add
a little more then. In 2010, the African
Development Bank (AfDB) reported that
family farms represent up to 80 percent of
all farm holdings in Africa and globally
they feed 70 percent of the world’s
populations. According to International
Fund for Agricultural Development
(IFAD), ‘the IYFF aims to promote new
development policies, particularly at the
national but also regional levels, that
will help smallholder and family farmers
eradicate hunger, reduce rural poverty
and continue to play a major role in
global food security through small-scale,
sustainable agricultural production.’
Despite this claim by the IYFF, we have
witnessed most people tending to belittle
the value of smallholders and promote
large-scale agricultural investments.
Mechanized
large-scale
farming
is highly criticized of exporting
employment opportunities from Africa
to the developed countries because
the gigantic farming machines are
fabricated outside of Africa and a single
one of them performs in an hour what
hundreds of people could in a day. Smallscale farming, on the other hand, has
promising employment opportunities
for the burgeoning youth of Africa if our
researches provide solutions to ease the
labor with better farming equipments
and techniques based on indigenous
Small is... page 33
Opinion +
he corporatocracy team took different stages and fashions from time to time
to precipitately exhibit themselves into the political purview of Somalia after
formal government apparatus ended officially in 1991, the metamorphosis
trajectory in which this coperotocracy...
Somalia: the quintessential banana
republic creeping in once again
By Ali Sheikh
In the Somalia republic, unlike in other
parts of African countries and elsewhere,
clannish psyche largely determines the
power and the impending clan identity
that keeps the political rift within them
so apart. In 1991 President Said Barre
was overthrown by opposing clans. But
they failed to agree on a replacement and
plunged the country into lawlessness
and clan warfare. Afterwards, Somalia
turns to be a global icon of a failed state.
Total submissiveness to a certain
selfish ideology camouflaged with a
vague and unambiguous self-imposed
interpretation contrary to the “ideal
Islamic school of thoughts” intentionally
destined to sharpen the divisions and
amplified further the uncertainty of
realizing unity of purpose that would
have otherwise paved the way to a
stable and democratic state in Somalia
long before all hell broke loose. All
international communities’ attempts to
lay feet a stable government in Somalia
did not materialize in the past and all
endeavors were pulled down by the
little known Mogadishu corporatocracy
(Mega-business owners).
The corporatocracy team took different
stages and fashions from time to time
to precipitately exhibit themselves into
the political purview of Somalia after
formal government apparatus ended
officially in 1991, the metamorphosis
trajectory in which this coperotocracy
passed through during the last 20 years
of statelessness in Somalia include
in this order; first from warlordism
(financed by Mogadishu-Mega-business
owners to provide protection to their
wealth), to Islamism (Islamic Union of
Courts) en route to unprecedented end
of extremist Al-Shabaab group, a very
miserable ending. Very imperceptibly,
and of course in a boom and bust modus
operandi, the Mogadishu-Mega-business
owners posed endless intimidation to
any transitional government formed that
stands out to oppose the corporatocracy
fraternity interest for the last two
decades.
seems unaffected and survived even
after Al-Shabaab was meddling southern
Somalia control.
In 2006 by the rise of Islamists who
gained control of much of the south,
including the capital, after their militias
kicked out the warlords who had ruled
the roost for 15 years. With the backing
of Ethiopian troops, forces loyal to the
interim administration seized control
from the Islamists at the end of 2006.
Islamist insurgents - including the AlShabaab group, which later emerged
and subsequently declared allegiance
to Al-Qaeda and in 2012 announced
its merger with the global Islamist
terrorist group - fought back against the
government, regaining control of most
of southern Somalia by early January
2009, immediately after Ethiopia pulled
its troops out from Somalia. Soon after,
Al-Shabaab fighters took control of
Baidoa, formerly a key monopoly of
the transitional government, but the
Mogadishu-Mega-business group still
From this stage, ideal matters of coexisting
Mogadishu
Coperotocracy
together were not possibly being agreed
upon by themselves, and thus they
started falling apart further. Of late, one
powerful team emerged called “DamulJadiid” (the New blood), this Islamic
organization was formally the out sprout
of Al-Islah an affiliate of Somalis Muslim
Brotherhood (Ikhwaanul Muslimiinka
Somaalia), this fraternity portrayed
themselves in two segment, on one end,
they are moderate Muslims, on the other
end they are true Mogadishu Economic
Hit Men (MEHM), they dominate the
Mega-businesses in Mogadishu, control
learning institutions, and formed of late
their own research institute; “Heritage
Institute for Policy Studies (HIPS)”among the unknown agenda of the HIPS
Somalia... page 33
FEATURE
Haile Gebrselassie
From athletics to the boardroom
By Lerato Mbele
Haile Gebrselassie is the most famous
man in Ethiopia. The double Olympic
gold medalist and five-time world
champion over 10,000m had a glittering
athletics career and is now a successful
and busy entrepreneur.
the city and the nearby construction
sites prompts a few questions about
the investment choices he has made,
which have turned him into a wealthy
businessman.
He plays down the role of his property
business though, saying it has not
yielded high returns.
So when you manage to get an interview
with him, you do not want to be late.
Imagine our dismay then as we arrived
at the Alem Building, affectionately
named after Haile’s wife, to be told that
a power cut meant the lifts were not
working and we had to lug our cameras
and equipment up eight flights of stairs
to the top of the complex.
Using the winnings from his athletics
career Haile first dabbled in real estate
by building a multipurpose center in
Addis Ababa.
Fortunately we got there before he did
(he was also apparently delayed by the
broken lifts).
Coffee is the mainstay of the Ethiopian
economy. It is the country’s largest
export commodity and more than 20
million smallholders are involved in the
trade.
When he does enter, wearing a charcoal
grey suit and blue shirt, the 41-year-old
smiles broadly and apologizes for the
power cut. He appears to be breathing
normally, unaffected by the climb up the
stairs.
He laughs it off and reminds us that he
has lived most of his life in Addis Ababa,
the highest city in Africa, and by now
he’s used to the high altitude and also
the frequent power cuts.
New ventures
However, he later chose to diversify
his portfolio by buying land for a coffee
plantation.
The sector is so lucrative that a
commodity exchange was established
through which farmers working in cooperative unions can sell to the New
York market through facilitated deals.
For the “emperor of Ethiopian athletics”,
coffee farming is a fairly recent venture,
but it has already proven to be a
profitable investment.
“We have 1,500 hectares of land and we
[used] 500 of that to plant full of coffee
in two years,” he says. “Now we export
organic coffee to other countries.”
But he goes on: “That’s not enough, we in
Ethiopia are rich in different resources.”
Which explains his latest endeavor into
the mining arena.
However, with mining companies
still prospecting for gold, it may be a
while before anyone can assess the full
potential of a new mining industry in
Ethiopia.
Haile is obviously proud of his success in
business, but he says people who assume
that opportunities came easily to him
because of his fame would be wrong.
Shaking his head, he refers to the earlier
electricity cuts and says, “Me too, I am
affected.”
In addition, he says that he had to
build the road leading to his coffee
farm, because if he had waited for the
government it may have taken five or
six years.
Turning to athletics, he was asked
whether it was hard to make the shift
from the track to the boardroom. He
admits that he needed to make some
From athletics... page 32
The panoramic view from his office of
COMMENTARY +
M
ore than 50 South Sudanese and
international human rights organisations
have called for an arms embargo to be
imposed on both sides, in an effort to make further
conflict less feasible. The rights groups wanted the
regional mediators IGAD to inform the UN Security
Council of a ‘clear request’ to impose the embargo.
Would an arms embargo help end
South Sudan’s civil war?
By James Copnall
In filthy camps for the displaced,
thatched huts in half-forgotten villages,
and Juba’s proud new concrete
buildings, South Sudanese are waiting.
As the rainy season peters out, and the
deadlines rush to expiration, everyone
wants to know whether a meaningful
peace agreement will be signed.
Alongside the sort of optimism born of
desperation, there is also the fear that the
squabble over power, and other issues,
will lead to renewed heavy fighting. Can
leaders from both sides overcome their
differences, their desire for revenge, and
their overwhelming need for power?
If not, if the war rumbles back to
a heightened state of intensity, if
thousands more are killed, and hundreds
of thousands more displaced, there must
be consequences.
Already the US and the EU have imposed
sanctions on individual commanders
accused of breaking the cessation of
hostilities agreement. To date, though,
these have been on field commanders
rather than on those with real decisionmaking power.
More
than
50
South
Sudanese
international
human
rights
and
organisations have called for an arms
embargo to be imposed on both sides,
in an effort to make further conflict less
feasible. The rights groups wanted the
regional mediators IGAD to inform the
UN Security Council of a ‘clear request’
to impose the embargo.
IGAD did not go quite that far, but the
mediators were unusually direct in the
November 7 communique following
IGAD’s 28th extraordinary summit.
South Sudan’s neighbours threatened
collective action, including, but not
limited to, asset freezes, travel bans,
and the ‘denial of the supply of arms and
ammunition, and any other material
that could be used in war’.
The threat of regional sanctions is now
explicit, along with the possibility of
further US and EU action, and even UN
measures too. But how likely is it that
sanctions will be applied?
The first point to note is the extent
to which IGAD drives international
thinking about South Sudan. Individual
countries or entities may opt to punish
the South Sudanese leaders, but UN
sanctions are unlikely unless IGAD acts
first.
There is some logic to this. After all,
IGAD, for better or worse, is in charge of
the mediation process. It is also difficult
to see how meaningful sanctions could be
imposed on South Sudan if neighbouring
countries were not prepared to apply
them.
Second, the terms of IGAD’s sanctions
threat are interesting. Targeted sanctions
Would an arms... page 32
VIEWPOINT +
By Gordon Brown
The children’s revolution
Two tragic and haunting images have
emerged this year: hooded Islamic State
executioners holding their knives to the
necks of innocent victims, and masked
medical workers bravely fighting an
uphill battle against an Ebola outbreak
for which the world was not prepared.
But the year’s lasting legacy will be
an even more extensive disaster, with
recovery taking years, if not decades:
nearly two million newly displaced
children, trapped in conflict zones
across Iraq, Syria, Gaza, the Central
African Republic, and elsewhere.
These children have joined the ranks
of 25 million displaced boys and girls
worldwide – a number equivalent to
the population of a midsize European
country and the largest in the 70 years
since the end of World War II. Images
of vulnerable, desolate refugee children
– likely to be displaced for a decade or
more – have become so common that
the world seems unable to comprehend
what it is seeing.
But the plight of child refugees is only
one reason why a new approach to
children’s rights is needed. This year,
an estimated 15 million school-age girls
will become child brides, forced into
marriage against their will. Some 14
million boys and girls below the age of 14
are child laborers, many forced to work
in the most hazardous of conditions.
And 32 million girls are denied the basic
right to attend school, owing to gender
discrimination; around 500,000 of them
are trafficked each year.
In the 1950s, the fight against colonialism
dominated world politics. In the 1960s,
1970s, and 1980s, great civil-rights
battles were waged against racial
discrimination and apartheid, followed
by struggles to advance the rights of
the disabled and sexual minorities. It
is our generation’s task to tackle the
civil-rights movement’s unfinished
business, by ending the exploitation of
children, especially girls, and ensuring
compulsory universal education.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the
United Nations Convention on the
Rights of the Child (CRC), I, along
with this year’s Nobel Peace Prize
winner, Kailash Satyarthi, and the
head of the United Kingdom’s Overseas
Development Institute, Kevin Watkins,
am calling on the world community to
offer practical support to the burgeoning
civil-rights struggle of young people.
We can do more to end child labor,
child marriage, child trafficking, and
discrimination against girls, by not
only demanding the proper policing of
domestic laws, but also by establishing
a new International Children’s Court,
buttressed by a credible reporting and
The children’s... page 35
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Playing her violin in London Café, Tsehay Tesfaye, 35, one of the three
famous violinists, only worried about the harmony of the music the group
plays. Immersed in the music, she never gave due attention to the sexist
remarks. However, on one of those unfortunate days it was not only verbal
assault that offended her – she was slapped by a man from the audience after
she got off the stage. Puzzled by the moment her inside was shaking and she
went to the restroom to calm herself down. And what really amazed her was
the reason for his action. “People told me that it was because he ‘loved’ me,”
she said. SEE THE FULL STORY ON THE NEXT PAGE
By Tibebeselassie Tigabu
Playing her violin in London Café,
Tsehay Tesfaye, 35, one of the three
famous
violinists,
only worried
about the harmony of the music the
group plays. Immersed in the music,
she never gave due attention to the
sexist remarks. However, on one of
those unfortunate days it was not only
verbal assault that offende
ed her – she
was slapped by a man from the
t audience
after she got off the stage.. Puzzled by
the moment her inside was shaking and
she went to the restroom to calm herself
down. And what really ama
azed her was
the reason for his action. “People told
me that it was because he ‘loved’ me,”
she said.
Many Ethiopians recognizze the three
women since they are the first female
violin playing trio. The non
n-existence of
instrumentalists is visible. Going into
different live music ve
enues, music
studios, weddings and other
functions there arre no women
music
instrrumentalists.
Many questiion if they
even enrolll in music
schools, an
nd if they do,
where arre they?
For lon
ng the role
of a woman in
society
y has been
limite
ed to raising
a fam
mily. This has
confin
ned women
to ho
ome and has
hinde
ered
them
from
exploring
what th
he world has
to offerr. One of the
areas w
where there
are fewe
er women in
Ethiopia is the art
scene.
Tsehay sa
ays that she
has sacrific
ced a lot to be
where she iss today. It is
not only herr individual
trials and tribulations.
t
It is, rather, her friends,
whom she con
nsiders her
sisters,
who
also
faced
difficulties.
Nowadays, she is grate
eful for what
she and the group have achieved
a
but
she does not forget the ro
oad she had
traveled.
Growing up, she loved music but
she never thought that sh
he would be
a violinist. She was inttroduced to
violin when she was littlle after she
saw Sudanese musicians playing the
instrument. Her four years sstay in Yared
music school taught her patience since
mastering the instrument was very
difficult.
Though her parents despised the idea of
her musical career, she went on her own
to pursue her dream. After graduation
she instantly found a chance to perform
at the Ethiopian National Theater with
other artists and that was when the trio
was born.
Approached by an owner of a night club
called Twins, the three violinists started
their music odyssey around 1994. Being
on the stage gave her a different feeling
but her club experience changed things.
She felt that the audience was not ready
for their music.
That was one of the toughest and
frustrating moments in her life. There
were recurring harassments and sexist
comments. She says that for those who
were not strong it was unbearable. “It
was the almighty that gave me strength,”
she told The Reporter.
At times there were drunks who wanted
to silence them and their music. They
were insulted and, according to her,
there were amorous advances.
In some instances, they were seen as not
musicians but as prostitutes. One of her
experiences was at Wabi Shebelle Hotel
where a foreigner who wiped his shoes
with dollars gave them one hundred
dollar each (the ones he used to wipe
his shoes with). She was humiliated and
threw back the money. “This was too
much to take,” she said.
On the other hand, there were people who
adored their music and who supported
them and this gave them strength.
Her husband was also not supportive. He
was not comfortable with her late night
outings or her persistent dedication to
music. So sacrificing her marriage was
not a pleasant choice but she says it had
to be done.
Apart from that they were struggling
financially. They used to go around to
find gigs and in some instances had to
perform for free. It was not only classical
music that the trio played. Eventually,
The odyssey... page 27
PROFILE
A rap star from the
“Dimple of Norway”
to Ethiopia after Aster Aweke,
renowned Ethiopian soul artist, and
a teenage philanthropist, Hanna
Godefa, a Canadian-born student who
has cultivated a desire of giving since
the age of seven. “It was a big day in
my life,” Abelone remarked upon
her appointment. She accepted her
appointment during a fund-raising
program at Alliance Ethio-Francaise
dubbed ‘10,000 happy birthdays’ to
help mothers in Malawi and Ethiopia.
On the occasion she performed both
in Amharic and English.
By Henok Reta
She was appointed as UNICEF’s
ambassador to Ethiopia just a few
days ago. Born and raised in Stavern,
a small town affectionately known
as “Dimple of Norway”, from an
Ethiopian parents, Abelone Melese,
is an aspiring hip-hop artist. She
brilliantly contested in the Norway
Talent Show 2014 playing the popular
hip-hop genre music together with her
own song. Although she missed out on
winning the 500,000 Norwegian krone
finishing a head of the 1000 contestants
in the talent competition, she managed
to be among the top ten finalists.
Following her first appearance in
the show, Abelone became famous
both in Norway and Ethiopia. “She
is a talented rapper,” Beza Mekonen,
16-year-old Ethiopian hip-hop fan
says. Indeed, Abelone, a 20-year-old
rapper and activist appears to be an
inspiring young talent influencing
many young daughters in Ethiopia.
It is not the first time that Abelone
performed on the Ethio-Francaise
stage though. Wearing a typical
Ethiopian traditional dress, she played
at the same stage last week (Nov. 21)
commemorating the International
Day of the Girl Child organized
by UNICEF and the Ministry of
Women, Children and Youth Affairs
(MoWCYA).
Effective as of November 20, the
two-year agreement she signed
with UNICEF will see her active
engagement
with
women
and
children in Ethiopia and Malawi. “I
have always wanted to help women
and children who do not have the
opportunities to reach their higher
potential,” she said.
Driven by a strong resistance to
racism, she started singing her
feelings as a child before she decided
to take her talent to the show. In
her final stage performance, where
Abelone played We here now, one of
her songs about racism, she appeared
exceptionally high-spirited. “The
place where I was brought up is like
any other place in Europe where
racism is clearly observed,” she said.
And that is why she thinks the talent
show could be a good opportunity to
send her anti-racism message.
Although Abelone has been to
the land of her parents a several
times, this time, however, her visit
to Ethiopia appears to be historic
and more memorable than the
others. UNICEF appointed her as its
ambassador to Ethiopia and Malawi.
Abelone is the third female artist to
be named ambassador of UNICEF
Photo By: Reporter/Mesfen Solomon
Abelone also admits that her father,
Solomon Melese, who is a song writer,
occupies a big place in her music.
Although he played a role in her
love for music, Abelone says that the
racial segregation she experience
as a child in the smallest town of
Stavern contributed much to her rap
music. However, she did not want
to downplay the big the support and
admiration of Norwegian funs was
during the time of the contest.
Abelone has high hopes for her
ambassadorship.
“Working
with
UNICEF as national ambassador will
allow me to help defend the rights of
children: their right to education,
health, nutrition and sanitation,”
she explains. Patricia DiGiovanni,
UNICEF’s Ethiopia representative,
hopes that Abelone could be a young
role model for her peers and young
women everywhere. “Her candid
personality coupled with her strong
presence in the public domain sends
a powerful message that can reach
the hearts and minds of children and
youth all over the world,” she said.
Her father could not be happier about
her life. “She will do more important
things in her life,” he says confidently.
In fact, it looks like Abelone’s story
is going to stay in people’s minds
for a long time with a Norwegian
broadcasting corporation planing to
do a documentary film about her life.
“I’m happy. I think it will bring me
something great,” she said.
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Society
Kangaroo mother care for
newborns recommended
By Henok Reta
Sisaynesh Bedilu, 38, drifts back in
remorse whenever she reminisces about
the loss of her newborn baby girl three
years ago. Although Sisaynesh delivered
her baby in a hospital in Fiche town
of the Oromia Regional State, the preterm baby (premature birth) died of an
infection shortly afterwards.
“The pediatrician made every effort
to cure my baby but couldn’t succeed,”
Sisaynesh says in grief-stricken voice.
At first, she blamed herself for not
giving proper care to her baby. Her sad
days behind her, she is now among a
handful of mothers who attend antenatal care (care related to pregnancy) in
the hospital she had given birth.
In Ethiopia, an estimated 84,400
newborns die within the first month of
birth and an additional 78,000 are stillborn (born dead) while 13,000 mothers
die each year, according to The Lancet
Series of Every Newborn.
“Unless we start giving proper care to
newborns, we might have to wait 100
years to reach the status of neonatal
care (care for newly-born babies) in the
developed world,” Bogale Worku (MD),
executive director of the Ethiopian
Pediatrics Society, says.
In spite of the number of newborn deaths
in Ethiopia, The Lancet Series of Every
Newborn says the country is currently
ranked fifth in the world as having the
greatest potential to save maternal prenatal (a number of weeks immediately
before and after birth) and neo-natal
lives by 2015.
“There is tremendous opportunity and
we know what needs to be done to ensure
every Ethiopian mother and her baby
have a healthy start,” Gary L. Darmstadt
(MD), Lancet Series author and senior
fellow at the Bill and Melinda Gates
Foundation, says.
Launching the Lancet Series of Every
Newborn 2014
4 in Addis Ababa last
Monday, the Ministry of Health (MoH)
and other international agencies lauded
the success stories achieved by Ethiopia.
However, they were also cognizant of the
daunting and lengthy task of reducing
newborn and maternal deaths in the
country.
Save the Children, UNICEF and the
Gates Foundation, organizations which
have made significant contributions to
Ethiopia’s remarkable achievements
such as in achieving the MDG goal of
reducing childhood deaths ahead of
time, say more needs to be done.
Suggestions such as expanding working
plans and strategies to remote areas
where there is no proper functioning
heath care service, overcoming cultural
resistance in some parts of the country
and calling for more investment in
quality care at birth were forwarded.
Yet, easy interventions, including the
promotion of breastfeeding, neo-natal
resuscitation, Kangaroo Mother Care
for preterm babies, and the prevention
and treatment of infections were also
suggested as ideal mechanisms to
address the problem.
Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) is one
concept less understood and overlooked
in Ethiopia, which experts say is a
promising way that could positively
impact neo-natal care.
Recognized by the World Health
Organization (WHO), KMC is a form
of care, initiated in hospitals, that
involves teaching mothers and other
caregivers how to keep newborns warm
through continuous skin-to-skin contact
on the mother’s chest. KMC has been
shown to prevent infections, promote
breastfeeding, regulate the baby’s
temperature, breathing, and brain
activity, and encourages mother-andbaby bonding.
Almost two decades of implementation
and research have made it clear that
KMC is more than an alternative to
incubator care, states the WHO.
It is a powerful, easy to use method to
promote the health and wellbeing of
infants born pre-term as well as full-term
as well as a gentle and effective method
that avoids the agitation routinely
experienced in a busy ward with preterm infants, according to the WHO.
It was first introduced by Rey and
Martinez in Bogota, Colombia, where
it was developed as an alternative to
inadequate and insufficient incubator
care for those pre-term newborn infants
who had overcome initial problems and
required only to feed and grow.
Hence, mothers’ care in the early days
of birth is considered crucial for the
healthy growth of a child.
“76,800 mothers and babies can be saved
each year in Ethiopia if the country
continues with its aggressive efforts [of
reducing child and maternal mortality]
according to our new findings,” Gary
says.
As most published experience and
research concerning KMC comes from
health facilities where care was initiated
with the help of skilled health workers,
mothers can be trained in rather simple
way, experts say. Once a mother is
confident in the care she gives her baby,
she continues it at home under guidance
and with frequent visits for specialized
follow-up.
“Now is a critical time for Ethiopia
to continue to take action to end
preventable newborn deaths.” Haddis
Tadesse, country representative of Bill
and Melinda Gates Foundation, says.
According to the Foundation, a child
dies every six minutes in Ethiopia.
Despite the great success Ethiopia has
demonstrated in reducing childhood
deaths (MDG4), newborns now represent
a growing proportion of childhood
deaths, Haddis added.
High-impact intervention such as
immediate and executive breastfeeding,
skin-to-skin contact and thermal care
could bring about an enormous change
to scale up the efforts being made.
“In this regard, we are keen on
improving the situation in remote areas
of the country like Afar and Somali,”
Haddis told The Reporter.
Some regions fair better than others in
terms of reducing child and maternal
death with deep-rooted religious and
cultural resistances hindering rapid
progress. As a research conducted by
Save the Children-Ethiopia suggests
cultural resistance is amongst the
challenges halting the efforts.
“Our five-year research known as
Community-based Interventions for
Newborns in Ethiopia (COMBINE)
shows community-based treatment of
severe neonatal infections can reduce
newborn deaths after the first day of
life by as much as 30 percent,” John
Graham, country director for Save the
Children says.
Bridging the gap between communities
in remote areas and access to modern
health care will always remain a huge
obstacle, the Ministry of Health (MoH)
says. More importantly, MoH has
acknowledged the effectiveness of the
KMC and other methods to add to the
success registered within the health
sector.
“We are working hard to overcome all
the challenges and the shortcomings
pointed out,” Ephrem Tekle (MD),
Maternal and Newborn Children Health
Directorate Director at MoH, says.
Evidences of the effectiveness and safety
of the KMC is available only for preterm infants without medical problems,
the so-called stabilized newborns.
By facilitating breastfeeding it offers
noticeable advantages in cases of severe
morbidity.
The benefits of KMC are recognized in
both low – and high-income countries.
Ongoing research and observational
studies on KMC are assessing the
effective use of the method in situations
where neo-natal intensive care or
referrals are not available, and where
health workers are properly trained. In
such settings, KMC before stabilization
may represent the best chance of healthy
survival, experts explain.
For both the authors and the presenters
of the launch of the Lancet Every Newborn
series it does not require countries like
Ethiopia to have greater wealth and
more functional health system to reduce
infant mortality. The method could
well be implemented in Ethiopia by the
acclaimed Health Extension Workers,
they add. Cost-effective solutions
feasible for low-income countries are
available, and one of these interventions
is expanding the KMC method.
Latest data indicate that three million
maternal and newborn deaths and still
births can be prevented each year around
the world with proven interventions
such as KMC. These interventions can
be implemented for an annual cost of
USD1.15 per person. Rwanda is the only
country in sub-Sahara Africa to put
itself amongst countries which reduced
their Newborn Mortality Rate (NMT) by
50 percent between 2000 and 2012.
According to the Lancet Series, the
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progress in Ethiopia is ‘so far so good
but so much to do’ and the country could
achieve something like Rwanda as long
as it keeps up with its well-planned
action of interventions.
INTERVIEW
Royalty system
taking copyright
issue up one notch
Berhanu Adelo is the Director General of the Office of Ethiopian Intellectual Property
Protection Office. Before joining the Office Berhanu had served as head of Cabinet
Affairs in the Office of the Prime Minister. The former law instructor at the Civil
Service University is also remembered well in relation to the debates on the civil society
and associations (CSOs) draft legislation. Berhanu talked to Solomon Goshu and
Mikias Sebsibe of the Reporter on the recently approved amendment to the Copyright
and Neighboring Rights Protection Proclamation (No.410/2004) and its enforcement
mechanisms. Excerpts:
The Reporter: As we all know, your
office initiated the amendment on
the Copyright and Neighboring
Rights
Protection
Proclamation
(CNRPP) the House of Peoples’
Representatives passed last week.
Can you explain what the rationale
behind this amendment is?
Berhanu Adelo: To begin with, the
existing proclamation is over a decade
old. And as you know, the industries that
are governed by the CNRP Proclamation
are very dynamic by their nature.
Especially with the advent of digital
technology in the area of printing, the
nature of business in such industries
and the law that is needed to govern
them properly has to be compatible.
advances
in
digital
Nowadays,
technology have made it very difficult to
protect the intellectual property right of
artistic works. The technology has made
it very easy to make digital copies of
artistic works and transfer such works
from one corner of the world to another.
This has created a problem to protect the
right of the owner of such properties very
difficult around the world. If you think
about it, back when the Burn Convention
on CNRP was signed, the world was not
as digitally advanced as it is today. So,
the amendment is aimed at providing
legal protection that is compatible
with an ever-growing development in
the digital areas. In doing so, we have
assessed various countries in Africa and
more advanced nations in the world.
And, hence, we have introduced some
basic changes to the proclamation such
as the royalty system. In the existing
law, right holders of an intellectual
property are amply protected when
making digital copies of protected rights
for the purpose of distributing it for
commercial use. However, there are now
various entities like broadcasters, music
shops, clubs, public transportation and
the like that are using music and other
artistic works for commercial services
without making any due payments to
owners of the properties. In this regard,
we have identified three groups. The
first are broadcasters who will reap
direct benefit from artistic works for
whom they do not make any payments.
Meanwhile, there are also those that do
not derive direct benefit from the artistic
works, but make a contribution to the
economic value that they are making.
The second group includes business
entities like bars, restaurants, cafes and
the like. There is also a third group for
whom the so-called artistic works render
an indirect benefit. This group includes
beauty parlors, lodges and the like. Now,
the existing proclamation had gaps in
terms of having a system that would
have users pay the appropriate royalty to
right holders. One of the things the new
proclamation brought to the system was
how right holders would form their own
administrative body that would collect
royalties and distribute it to them.
The new amendment also deals with
issues of determining royalty schemes.
Apart from that, the amendment also
included other things like adding fines
to copyright infringements on top of the
prison terms, which was the only penalty
under the existing law. Other than that,
we have also sought to bring about
uniformity in the right of intellectual
property owners. The existing law says
an owner of a work retains his right as
long as he lives plus fifty years after
death. However, there was confusion as
to when fifty years after death begins
to be counted. The amendment clarifies
this by stating that counting begins
from the first day of January after the
death of the right holder. Lastly we have
also extended the mandate of CNRP to
include the applied arts realm.
How was the participation
stakeholders in the process
amending the CNRP?
of
of
All in all, some 12 stakeholder
associations in the field of intellectual
property rights have been participating
with us. We have had a number of
discussions with stakeholders. So,
owners of such rights were involved in
the drafting process all the way. I think
we could have not done it without the
participation of the owners and their
associations. We have sent a delegation
to China and other African countries like
Malawi to obtain valuable experience.
Apart from that, owners of the rights,
other stakeholders like, broadcasters
were consulted in the process.
Especially, with our discussion with
broadcasters, we have come to learn that
they had a view that maintains royalty
fee to be bad for newly mushrooming
FM radio stations in the country. In
fact, around the world the perceptions
that are against royalties have a lot of
sympathizers. Furthermore, we also had
a debate with DJs which resulted in the
establishment of the DJs professional
associations and they are approaching
us to work together with them. Also,
these groups attended when we held the
last public hearing on the amendment
and most have agreed to join this system
and work with us.
Do you think the final version of the
amendment was to the satisfaction of
all stakeholders?
Of course, owners of protected works
were very delighted. Aware of the heated
debate in final public hearing, they were
worried that the amendment might not
be approved by the House. So, they were
delighted when it did. From the side of
the broadcasters as well, they know that
this was the international standard and
that now they are ready to work with the
one another.
In other countries, the collective
management society (consortium of
associations in the field of intellectual
property) is given a statutory status
to enforce the implementation of
such rights. However, in case of
Ethiopia the law does not give such
special right to the collective society.
Why is that?
In the existing law, the responsibility
to enforce intellectual property right
was given to the right holder. The law
does not want the involvement of the
government in the enforcement of such
rights. This was done because the very
essence of intellectual property right is
structured in such a way that the right
gives a monopoly privilege to the owner
for a certain time to. When the time
lapses, it will join the public domain. So,
ultimately, the right to allow, prohibit
or sue is a decision left to the owner of
the protected work. Now, this is the
international standard. Our law, as well,
is part of this international standard.
When we introduce a royalty system it is
one way of enforcement. So, the owners
of the rights themselves do reserve the
right to decide on the rate of royalty
scheme. What our office does is, maybe,
check that the rate is reasonable. Now,
the amendment would also give the
right to collect royalty even for foreign
intellectual property works used in our
nation. So they do have a large mandate
in enforcement. Furthermore, they
are given the regulatory power to give
permission to foreign artists who want
to organize some sort of concerts or
public viewing of their artistic work in
Ethiopia. But, they need support until
they can stand on their own two feet.
They can do this through the collective
management society. Still, they can
establish professional associations,
which are different from a management
society, to better protect the right of
their members.
What
about
individual
right
holders who are not member of the
management society? How can their
right be protected? How can they
be represented in the collective
management body? What about the
copyright and neighboring rights
mentioned in proclamation would
the two have separate representation
in there?
The amendment states preconditions for
the formation of a collective management
society and what needs to be fulfilled.
For instance, the law states the number
of sector associations established under
a collective management society shall
Royalty system... page 26
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Royalty system...
not be less than three. Here we have to
be clear that individual associations are
just professional associations which will
be formed just like any other professional
associations. Meanwhile, when we talk
of the collective management society
we are referring to the consortium of
these various associations. Now, the
proclamation is not concerned about
individual right holders, rather it is with
a collective protection. One right owner,
for instance, cannot unilaterally say
that no royalty can be collected from his
artistic work. The collective management
society would still claim and collect
royalty from songs that belong to artists
like Michael Jackson, for instance.
Although he has passed away and he
is not a member of any professional
association and hence the collective
society, royalties will be collected from
the use of his artistic works in Ethiopia.
This is about protecting the industry
and not about the individual. This is
also in our interest because we require
artistic works of our own to be protected
elsewhere. Preliminary figures of the
study we are conducting indicate that
the copyright industry at the moment
contributes some 4.7 percent to the GDP.
So, it is highly interlinked with the social
and economic wellbeing of the nation to
see that these rights are protected.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 23
body is not reasonable. We also see how
the society redistributes royalties to its
members as well. We will set reasonable
limits on the amount of administrative
and operational costs that the body
withholds from the collected royalty.
Another issue of the responsibility
of the management society is
protecting foreign works. In this
regard, we know that Ethiopia is
not yet a signatory of international
conventions of IP rights. This is also
one of the issues in the country’s
accession to the WTO. So, how is this
society going to handle the intricacies
of such complicated task?
The existing law in fact states that any
foreign intellectual property would be
protected if the products are published
in the Ethiopian market within 30 days
of their release to the international
market. But, beyond that, we are not a
signatory to international conventions
like the Burn convention and that was
the problem. When it comes to royalties
it is different. The essence of the decision
to charge royalty fee on works that
are imported to the country is simple.
At the beginning we were thinking
about imposing royalty payment on
those foreign works where we can have
reciprocity of protection for ours. But,
we went and reviewed the experience
of other nations. Most of them impose
royalty whether or not there is
reciprocity. Come to think about it, it
was a wise approach since not imposing
would have a discouraging effect on the
local works. Users could resort to not
using local artistic works where there
is unprotected and free works out there.
Now, what we are going to do is simple.
We will impose and collect royalty
charge on foreign works, whether or not
the owner of the rights come and claim
it. If they come we will give the royalty
to them; otherwise we would still give
the protection in our own market. Any
owner with the right to claim the royalty
can do so within five years. Otherwise it
will be put on a special fund dedicated to
the development of artistic works in the
country. Here what we should also know
is that we, too, want others to protect
our works in their markets. In the past,
for example, since there was no strong
collective management society in Africa,
there was no way to receive royalties
collected on use of African works in
many European countries. In this regard,
at times the royalty charged on African
works used to be pooled to one cache and
given to any strong African body that
can claim it. So far, we have compiled a
lot of experiences as to the modality of
royalty schemes. One is the fixed royalty
imposition system where users would be
rated according to the intensity of their
use and pay a fixed, assigned amount
periodically. On the other hand, we can
also use the proportional rating system
where the amount is determined based
on the actual usage of a broadcaster or DJ
or others in certain time. To this effect,
there are also software applications that
we can use to keep track of the usage and
charge appropriately.
There are commentators who argue
that the power given to the collective
management society, such as devising
the scheme of royalty, the category
of works on which royalties will be
paid and users that will be obliged to
pay the royalty, should not be left to
the society. What do you say to that?
In fact, if we look at the collective
management society, its main task,
which is collecting royalty and
determining the rate, it can be argued
that it should be decided at higher level
like the council of ministers. But, if you
look at it carefully, the nature of the
industry is quite intricate. For example,
in tangible properties it would be easy
to transfer that property once or have
a contractual agreement if the buyer
is going to drive continued benefit
from that property. Now, if you look
at intellectual properties, the owner
of such property, yes, can once make a
transaction and sell the property to a
third party for certain monetary gains.
However, the nature of the property
is such that the third party (the buyer)
can use that property to drive additional
economic gains without the right holder
benefiting anything out of it. When it
comes to properties which can be copied
and duplicated to offer the same service
that the original property gives it this
becomes problematic. Now, when you
look at the nature of such properties
the value that the owner of the property
should obtain from the continued use of
the property for commercial purposes
should be determined, collected and
distributed by the owner the property
itself, and not by the government.
The collective management society
represents the property owner, and the
owner knows the value that it should
get from the use of its property. It is a
free market operation. However, the
government (the office) would serve us
a check-point because the user of the
protected works also has the right to use
the property for a reasonable amount of
payment. We would not stand by and see
if the charge imposed by the collective
There
are
enforcement
issues
regarding copyright infringements.
Right owners often complain about
their right not being protected
properly. So, do you have an
implementation strategy this time?
Indeed we do have an implementation
The odys
ysse
ey...
they started playing Ethiopian music
such as Erikum or added flavors such
as Eskista and Guragigna. One of their
renowned song is “Hiwot Ende Shekla”
(Life Cike Clay) which was attributed
to their late saxophonist friend Petros
Mekonen.
Sometimes they had to stand for eight
hours and paid so many sacrifices but
finally she feels it paid off. Now they
are the celebrated musicians who are
invited to different big events like hotel
opening, events at the Sheraton, Hilton
and even at the National Palace. Now
the love they get is overwhelming and
they are considered as mentors by many
contemporary musicians. Still she does
not wish for young musicians to go
through what she and her friends went
through.
With many leaving their career when
they get married or starting raising
children the few who remain in the
industry are seen as exotic.
Fikrte Tessema, 36, a violinist and
member of the trio is one of them and does
not want to reveal the details, especially
when it comes to her marriage.
There was a time when she played for
free but that was only for the love of
music. Her story is not different from
strategy and it is currently in the drafting
process. However, one thing that has to
be clear is that the copyrights issue is
always with challenges. Especially with
the advent of the technology it is very
difficult to ensure complete protection of
the right holders. The best we can do is
to catch up as it advances. For instance,
one challenge in Ethiopia is now the
audio and video playing apparatus that
are imported now do not even accept
CDs these days. But, we print our artistic
works with CDs here. This is one thing
we have to overcome. Overall, we cannot
expect the proclamation to be perfect at
this time.
Another matter with amendment
of the CNRP is the provision for
the establishment of the tribunal to
adjudicate copyrights related issues.
Regarding this body, some argue that
it takes away a lot of jurisdictions
that should have been left to the
courts. What is the rationale behind
the establishment of the tribunal
Tsehay’s. After Yared Music School,
she started experimenting with music
which gave her joy. During her time at
Yared she only played classical music.
Playing Ethiopian music was not only
discouraged but was not allowed.
According to Fikrte, if they were found
playing Ethiopian music, there were
punishments which range from warning
to expulsion. That was when her love
for pentatonic sounds grew and she,
with her two other member of the group,
started playing Anchi Hoye, Tizita, Bati
and Ambassel.
They were only paid 50 birr per
performance when they worked at the
national theater and she had to walk
from Menilik area to the national theater
or to the other clubs. Especially during
the nights, they never felt safe. “We died
for music,” Fikrte says. Now all that has
passed and these days she encourages
her daughter and her son to play the
violin.
Now many young women musicians
are forming a trio which gives her deep
satisfaction. “We have managed to
inspire young women musicians,” she
proudly said.
‘Who does she think she is?’ was one of
the many comments they heard but for
which will be under your office?
By its nature the IP matter is known to
be far more complicated. And usually,
such a tribunal needs high expertise in
the area which is better found around IP
offices like ours. On the other hand, if you
take IP cases to court, they usually take
a lot of time since the matter is highly
complicated and requires expertise. At
the end of the day, the court themselves
would be forced to seek expertise opinion
to adjudicate such cases. For instance,
my office is asked to offer an expert
opinion on average 10 a day by courts
and the law enforcement in general.
The other issue is the IP law which is in
effect at the moment. This law leaves too
much room for professional expertise,
that is for the IP office. For instance, the
law gives authority to review trademark
claim issues to IP office before the
matter can go to court. Of course, there
will be a formal appeal process that one
party can take their case to court after
IP office made its decision known. In
CONT`D FROM PAGE 17
Yeshumnesh Taye, 38, her experience is
totally different.
flute, violin, viola, cello and other string
instruments.
An associate dean of Addis Ababa
University, College of Performing and
Visual Arts, she is a flute and piano
instructor at Yared. She says that the
number of women students who come
to Yared are very small which is usually
around six. Sometimes only two women
might graduate and after graduation
many of them might not pursue music as
a career.
The formation of their band was related
to a university project when she was
a senior student and with the feedback
they got they were encouraged to go
ahead with it.
“Many of them leave music when they
get married and usually it is difficult
to come back,” Yeshumnesh told The
Reporter.
According to Yeshumnesh, the nonexistence of women instrumentalists
is related to the gender defined role.
Apart from that, Yeshumnesh says that
there were few women who made it in
the music industry and they did not
encourage young musicians to join it.
Graduating in flute in the mid-1990s
from Yared with a diploma, she started
teaching in different schools and did
private tutoring for children. After she
completed her degree course at Yared,
she was hired as an instructor there. In
2007, she formed an only-women-band
named Ethio Classic Quintet comprising
addition to that, the federal cassation
bench recently has passed decision
regarding industrial design issues that
the IP office should review and exhaust
such cases before it can go to the formal
court system. This is the existing
reality. And the experience elsewhere
is the same. So, the rationale is to have
a formal tribunal as a local remedy to
exhaust issues. But, still the jurisdiction
the law accords the tribunal is not as so
extensive. What the amendment did is
that it gave the tribunal the power to
review IP-related civil cases excluding
extra contractual ones. The tribunal
also does not adjudicate criminal cases
arising out of IP issue.
The potential economic gain both
for the industry and government is
obviously another rationale behind
the amendment. How do you value
this potential gain?
In fact, currently we have commissioned
a study to determine the economic
They perform at different embassies, the
national palace and hotels. They play
classical musics of Wolfgang Amadeus
Mozart, Johann Sebastian Bach, Antonio
Vivaldi and Ethiopian arrangements.
They also play popular music using only
instruments.
Her experience is different from Tsehay
and Fikrte. She says that they are
appreciated by the community. The
appreciation they get from the audience
has enabled them the add new flavors
including Latin American music.
She says that they do not play at
clubs. “We focus on high class events
and functions, which I think is one
privilege,” she said. Even though it
has been decades since Yared was
established, it has a long way to go when
it comes to involving women. To change
that there is a gender office which is
opened to encourage women musicians
to pursue music.
gain from the IP sector. But, this would
only show the existing potential of the
industry. However, once we have the
royalty system up and running the
potential for economic gain is immense.
Based on the data I have, on average, we
have about 30 new movies released to the
market per month. This means we have
almost one movie per day. This industry
is quite lucrative. So, the potential
for revenue in tax or other forms of
revenues is big. Once, the protection is
in place such industries tend to boom in
their output. If you take Hollywood, for
instance, it contributes about 8 percent
to the US economy. And the story is
similar with Bollywood and the recently
advancing Nigerian (Nollywood) film
industry. Protection encourages the
sector. Apart from the economic gain it
is about protecting the right of the artists
and rightful right owners. It has even an
impact on the quality of the products
themselves. It is a motivating factor.
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State building...
“deliver”. The latter, whose credibility
and popularity is falling among the
Somalis, is increasingly dependent on
shrinking external support.
Partly as a result of the pressure to meet
external requirements and deadlines,
tensions within Somalia’s political elite
have been deepening. President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud and Prime Minister
Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed have been at
loggerheads for weeks, in what seems to
be the latest episode of a serial political
drama. The current standoff shows
once more the volatility of clan-based
governments led by a President and a
Prime Minister who have overlapping,
conflicting prerogatives, thanks to a
faulty Constitution.
This stalemate also reveals an
underlying conflict over who is going to
take credit for Vision 2016. It seems that
Somali politicians are already fighting
over the elections’ preparation, no
matter how unrealistic the prospect of
holding credible elections in 2016 might
be.
A cornerstone of both Somalia’s
Transition Roadmap and Vision 2016,
federalism has been playing a major
role in fostering Somalia’s political
fragmentation. Bringing clan conflict
back to the fore, the federalisation
process has reignited the debate over
autochthony, which pervaded fifteen
years of civil war and was only partially
appeased by the reassertion of Islamic
identities. Moreover, to respond to
Villa Somalia’s reluctance towards the
implementation of federalism, donors
have chosen to support any regional
entity going in the “right direction” and
able to play with the stability argument.
Promoted as a policy to foster “local
agency” and mark the paradigm shift
from liberal peace to stabilisation,
federalism has in fact increased
Somalia’s vulnerability to regional and
international interference, producing
further destabilisation.
Federalism is a crucial and controversial
issue as it calls the meaning of citizenship
into question. This notwithstanding,
the donor-driven approach to the
implementation of federalism has
consisted of a series of ad hoc, partial
deals of questionable legitimacy, the
Somali public being excluded from
decision making.
In the latest episode of the federalism
series (farce?), the former Parliament
Speaker, Sharif Hassan Sheikh Aden,
was elected as the President of the South
CONT`D FROM PAGE 10
West Administration in Baydhabo,
on 17 November 2014, two days ahead
of the High Level Partnership Forum
in Copenhagen. The election’s results
were first dismissed by the current
Speaker, Mohamed Osman Jawari, then
welcomed by Interior Minister Abdullahi
Godah Barre and President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud – although he had
previously refused to endorse the South
West Administration conference – and
finally celebrated by the international
community (IGAD, EU, and AMISOM).
Though absent from the conference in
Copenhagen, the United States welcomed
the “historic election” of Sharif Hassan
Sheikh Aden. The election was so
“historic” that, in less than twenty-four
hours, it was contested by a group of
MPs, rejected by a Somali politician who
claimed to be the bona-fide president
of the South West Administration,
and mired in accusations of Ethiopian
meddling.
There is an uneasy feeling of déjà
vu hovering in the air. With a view
to meeting the 2016 deadline, donors
have been endorsing friendlies against
those opposing certain policies funded
by the international community. The
competition among Somali politicians
for accessing power and capturing
financial benefits has been escalating.
The New Deal seems, in fact, to be
perpetuating some old dynamics, which
have contributed to transform Somalia
into what Alex de Waal termed a “rentier
political market place”.
What is at stake here is the credibility of
the whole state-building process, which
continues to be seen by the Somali public
as over-influenced and “contaminated”
by foreigners. On the one hand, the
“Somali project” supported by Western
donors has increasingly been perceived
as a never-ending enterprise, with a
poor accountability record. On the other
hand, al-Shabaab, which still controls
large rural areas and retains the ability
to carry out attacks in several parts
of the country (and beyond Somalia),
has been invoking national sentiments
and capitalising on the West’s lack of
credibility.
Against this discouraging background,
one can only hope that the Somali people,
often celebrated for their resilience,
will follow the exhortation contained
in a popular song by a band of Somali
singers called Qaylodhaan (“to sound
the tocsin”): “Don’t tire out until you get
your rights”.
Ed.’s Note: Anna Bruzzone is a
PhD candidate at the University of
Warwick. The article first appeared
on africanarguments.org. The views
expressed in this article do not necessarily
reflect the views of The Reporter.
Sustainable...
“
CONT`D FROM PAGE 10
These agreements promise to shape humanity’s future for
the better. If they are to succeed, the new Age of Sustainable
Development should give rise to a new Economics of Sustainable
Development as well.
Business capital includes private
factories,
machines,
companies’
transport equipment, and information
systems. Infrastructure includes roads,
railways, power and water systems,
fiber optics, pipelines, and airports and
seaports. Human capital is the education,
skills, and health of the workforce.
Intellectual capital includes society’s
core scientific and technological knowhow. Natural capital is the ecosystems
and primary resources that support
agriculture, health, and cities. And
social capital is the communal trust
that makes efficient trade, finance, and
governance possible.
world markets. Today, however, basic
public education is no longer enough;
workers need highly specialized skills
that come through vocational training,
advanced degrees, and apprenticeship
programs that combine public and
private funding. Transport must be
smarter than mere government road
building; power grids must reflect the
urgent need for low-carbon electricity;
and governments everywhere must
invest in new kinds of intellectual
capital to solve unprecedented problems
of public health, climate change,
environmental degradation, information
systems management, and more.
These six forms of capital work in
a
complementary
way.
Business
investment without infrastructure and
human capital cannot be profitable. Nor
can financial markets work if social
capital (trust) is depleted. Without
natural capital (including a safe climate,
productive soils, available water, and
protection against flooding), the other
kinds of capital are easily lost. And
without universal access to public
investments in human capital, societies
will succumb to extreme inequalities of
income and wealth.
Yet in most countries, governments are
not leading, guiding, or even sharing in
the investment process. They are cutting
back. Free-market ideologues claim that
governments are incapable of productive
investment. Nor do Keynesians think
through the kinds of public investments
that are needed; for them, spending
is spending. The result is a publicsector vacuum and a dearth of public
investments, which in turn holds back
necessary private-sector investment.
Investment used to be a far simpler
matter. The key to development was
basic education, a network of roads and
power, a functioning port, and access to
Governments, in short, need long-term
investment strategies and ways to pay
for them. They need to understand
much better how to prioritize road,
rail, power, and port investments; how
to make investments environmentally
sustainable by moving to a low-carbon
energy system; how to train young
workers for decent jobs, not only lowemployment;
wage
service-sector
and how to build social capital, in
an age when there is little trust and
considerable corruption.
In short, governments need to learn to
think ahead. This, too, runs counter to
the economic mainstream. Free-market
ideologues don’t want governments
to think at all; and Keynesians want
governments to think only about the
short run, because they take to an
extreme John Maynard Keynes’ famous
quip, “In the long run we are all dead.”
Here’s a thought that is anathema
in Washington, DC, but worthy of
reflection. The world’s fastest growing
economy, China, relies on five-year
plans for public investment, which is
managed by the National Development
and Reform Commission. The US has no
such institution, or indeed any agency
that looks systematically at publicinvestment strategies. But all countries
now need more than five-year plans; they
need 20-year, generation-long strategies
to build the skills, infrastructure, and
low-carbon economy of the twenty-first
century.
The G-20 recently took a small step in the
right direction, by placing new emphasis
on increased infrastructure investment
as a shared responsibility of both the
public and private sectors. We need
much more of this kind of thinking in the
year ahead, as governments negotiate
new global agreements on financing
for sustainable development (in Addis
Ababa in July 2015); Sustainable
Development Goals (at the United
Nations in September 2015), and climate
change (in Paris in December 2015).
These agreements promise to shape
humanity’s future for the better. If
they are to succeed, the new Age of
Sustainable Development should give
rise to a new Economics of Sustainable
Development as well.
Ed.’s Note: Jeffrey D. Sachs is Professor
of Sustainable Development, Professor
of Health Policy and Management,
and Director of the Earth Institute at
Columbia University. He is also Special
Adviser to the United Nations SecretaryGeneral on the Millennium Development
Goals. 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.
Would an arms...
are directly tied to any ‘violation of the
cessation of the hostilities by any party’.
The key point here is that IGAD is not
threatening sanctions on leaders who
fail to make the necessary concessions
needed for peace, merely on those who
break the cessation of hostilities.
It is not immediately clear if this would
target the individual commanders,
or those higher up the chain. Is IGAD
sending a shot across the bows of Riek
Machar and Salva Kiir? Or warning
those giving the orders in the field?
Linking the sanctions to Cessation of
Hostilities violations means that it is
particularly important to increase the
effectiveness of the monitoring and
verification teams. At the moment,
they struggle to work in SPLM/A – In
Opposition areas.
So far, although the monitors have
accused both sides of initiating conflict,
most of the blame for the violations has
been directed at the SPLM/A-IO forces.
Both the rebels and the government
have expressed, at different times and
for different reasons, their reservations
about IGAD’s neutrality. In fact, there
are strong reasons to question whether
CONT`D FROM PAGE 14
IGAD are the right people to adjudicate
sanctions.
and asset freezes may not be enough to
deter further conflict.
Uganda is heavily involved militarily
in the conflict. Its troops have fought
alongside forces loyal to Salva Kiir.
Both Uganda and Kenya have strong
economic interests in South Sudan too.
Neither is particularly likely to want to
impose sanctions on those in power in
Juba.
However, those who commit abuses
simply cannot be allowed to escape
without punishment. Those who have
fled conflict, or been raped by unruly
soldiers, or suffered the unnecessary
pain of a lost loved one, deserve to know
that the world is watching, and will
punish anyone who continues to fight.
Sudan, for all its public declarations of
support for Kiir, has also been accused
of supporting his enemy, Riek Machar.
The neighbours are all too involved in
the conflict to be considered impartial.
This idea must be extended, too, to a
more general sense of accountability,
which has been missing in South Sudan
for so long. When the conflict ends, the
worst abusers must face justice, both for
the sake of their victims, and to deter
future fighting.
There is a possibility that any regional
punishments will not be a fair reflection
of the abuses on the ground. There
must also be serious doubts, given their
obvious interests, whether the region
is really prepared to take the necessary
steps to impose sanctions.
This is unfortunate, because I believe
sanctions are necessary.
The AU Commission of Inquiry report
on South Sudan will make interesting
reading. Several sources suggest a
strong draft has already been written,
in which names are named. This could
form the basis for future prosecutions
– if that version makes it out into the
public domain.
It is certainly possible to argue that
they may not be effective. Economic
sanctions in Sudan have largely hurt the
people, not the politicians. Travel bans
Among the sanction options suggested
by IGAD, the arms embargo seems the
most promising. It has the potential
to squeeze the warring parties’ ability
in
“I believe in action, running is action –
running is just what you see… you win
or not. In business you have to plan and
wait.”
He says his biggest challenge was
working in a team and not being able to
set personal goals. It has been a humbling
experience for the man who followed up
his success on the track by setting world
records in the marathon.
Although he has now swapped his
running shorts for a dapper suit he
still finds joy in running and plans to
compete in a race for people over the age
of 40.
Every day he jogs along the hills of
Entoto, a mountainside town outside
Addis Ababa. He says the morning air
helps him think clearly.
Interestingly, there have been moments
in his business career when his mind
was not so clear.
“What I learnt is patience. A marathon
is like two hours-plus of running. The
10,000m is less than 30 minutes. The
same thing when I switch from running
to business – I learn more patience.”
He recalls how 15 years ago, he decided
to build the first ever cinema that
would show locally made Ethiopian
films, despite there being no local film
industry.
Clear thinking
His architect questioned the sanity of
However one option outlined by IGAD
seems to me to contain more risks than
potential rewards.
Point 4 of the 7 November communique
states that: ‘Further, the IGAD region
shall, without further reference to the
warring Parties, take the necessary
measures, if need be, to directly
intervene in South Sudan to protect life
and restore peace and stability.’
This threat of military action, surely
intended to push Kiir and Machar to
a deal as quickly as possible, should
remain just that: a threat.
Already the military presence of the
Ugandan troops, and apparent Sudanese
support for Machar, has made resolving
the conflict more complicated.
Regional military action runs the risk of
regionalising the conflict, the last thing
South Sudan needs.
Ed.’s Note: James Copnall is a journalist
and author of ‘A Poisonous Thorn in Our
Hearts: Sudan and South Sudan’s Bitter
and Incomplete Divorce’. He is editor of
‘Making Sense of the Sudans’. The article
first appeared on africanarguments.org.
The views expressed in this article do
not necessarily reflect the views of The
Reporter.
when he considers what Africa needs to
do in order to change the shape of local
economies.
From athletics...
adjustments, especially because
business there is no instant success.
to fight, if not stop the war entirely. It
would need to be thoroughly policed,
however, and here regional commitment
to the embargo would be vital.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 13
the project. Haile laughs heartily when
he remembers how it all happened.
He found a freelance cameraman,
commissioned him to write a script and
after a few months an amateur film was
made.
The first screening had five customers,
the next had 10, later 15 and thereafter
another film was made. Just like that the
local movie industry was born in Addis
Ababa.
He smirks and shrugs his shoulders,
saying, “That’s how one creates
something.”
Staring out of the window, looking at a
city that is rising from being a socialistcontrolled economy into a free market,
he makes a simple plea. “If you want to
help Africa, don’t bring money. Rather,
bring good ideas.”
With that thought, the athlete-turnedbusinessman excuses himself, late for a
leadership seminar taking place down
the road. It is a lesson about how to apply
the Japanese kaizen philosophy in your
business.
He believes the session will help him
streamline his thinking, his business
and ultimately the country.
Japanese philosophy
He believes these are the lessons that
will make Ethiopia function better as a
frontier market that new investors are
watching closely.
While the movie business entailed
taking a risk, Haile is more measured
Ed.’s Note: The article first appeared on
bbc.com.
Small is...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 12
knowledge and the particular needs
of smallholders. Studies also showed
that industrial agriculture is energyintensive as it uses ten units of energy
to produce one unit of food while smallscale ecological farming uses one
unit of energy to produce two units of
food. Mechanized industrial farming,
with its exhaustive use of fertilizers
and pesticides, is also proved to have
destroyed biodiversity and created
dead-zone water bodies. The dangers of
industrial farming could take a few more
pages to list. However, even Ethiopia
having millions of smallholders,
is
working hard to attract large scale
agriculture investments.
interview in March 2013 as saying,
‘given the fact that smallholder farmers
account for over 90 percent of agriculture
in the country, the ATA’s focus is
exclusively on this group of farmers...So
the ATA’s work is focused exclusively on
identifying the bottlenecks constraining
the development of smallholder farmers
in Ethiopia...’. These statements are, in
essence, a bit of inconsistent. If ATA is
‘exclusively’ for smallholder farmers
their researches should only be directed
to ‘solve the bottlenecks for small
farmers’ rather than balancing between
smallholder farmers and large-scale,
mechanized, commercialized, monoculture agribusiness.
On September this year, during a
plenary session of the African Green
Revolution Forum (AGRF 2014) one
of the participants challenged Khalid
Bomba, CEO of Ethiopian Agricultural
Transformation Agency (ATA) on how
large-scale mechanized farming couldn’t
be a solution since most of our farmers
are smallholders. He had a truth. Khalid
replied that it is a question of balancing
the two rather than promoting one
to take over the other. But it is to
be remembered from his exclusive
But researches are being co-opted. Just
a week ago, The Guardian, on one of its
articles observed that, ‘independence in
the scientific world is becoming harder
and harder to ensure, as university
programmes
become
increasingly
funded by private companies with
vested interests.’ And that reminded
me the words of Vandana Shiva (PhD)
at her keynote speech at Wageningnen
University: ‘our research systems are
brilliant at doing what doesn’t need to
be done and not doing what needs to
be done’. We have millions of farmers
who have particular knowledge of the
characteristics of their particular seeds,
soils and environment. The job of our
researchers then should be building on
what our farmers already know to ease
their labor and help them produce crops
of better quality and quantity.
A number of internationally recognized
reports also frequently indicated
that the food we produce is enough
to feed 10 billion people and there are
only seven billion of us on earth. The
problem thus originates from inequity,
not scarcity. Large scale production
focused on yield, thus, will not solve
our problems; if it won’t aggravate it
of course as Emmanuel D. Mlaka from
Landnet Malawi highlighted on the LPI
conference - ‘prominent projects such as
the G8 New Alliance for Food Security
and Nutrition in Africa intend to make
great contributions to economic growth
but they have little or nothing to offer
small-scale farmers who end up tenants
or employees on their own land with
little or no security’.
On plenary session IV of the LPI
conference a presenter called Marc
Wegerif received the loudest of all
applauds. Marc was able to touch
the hearts of those policy makers,
academicians, traditional leaders and
civil societies who, at the end of his
presentation, kept applauding him
emotionally. And there was no secret
about what he did; he just had the
courage to demonstrate how smallscale farming is beautiful and that we
need to respect our farmers and learn
from those who have been feeding us
for centuries. With his case stories he
showed that small is where variety is
in abundance; small is where nutrition
is in plenty; small is where employment
opportunities are in bounty, small
is where independence from greedy
companies is assured and small is where
sustainability is guaranteed. This moved
many from their seats to applaud and
ask Marc for his business cards and it
moved me to have more respect for these
small farmers and to stand by them. And
yes, that incident was a sign that told a
sad story: many of the participants of
these conferences believe in the small
yet speak for the big.
Ed.’s Note: Yonas A. Yimer is a
communications officer at Alliance for
Food Sovereignty in Africa (AFSA).
The views expressed in this article
do not necessarily reflect the views of
The Reporter. He can be reached at
[email protected].
At present, there are a sea of biased policy research and recommendation put forward to support
President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud’s fragile government and thoroughly coach on any steps he would
take, especially on the cabinet ministers and the way to wither the legitimate powers of any Prime
Minister raised to the position...
Somalia...
is to increase Hawiye tribe influence
in every nook and cranny of Somalia
amalgamating
fragmented
through
villages with inflated fake population
data and thus awarding autonomous
state identity. One Saturday morning
like this, Abdi Aynte, director of the
Heritage Institute for Policy Studies,
himself a Somali-American and among
the Hawiye elites, not only that, but
one of the founders of the Heritage
Institute, on June 28, 2013, told Foreign
Policy via email “Everything that
affects the national fabric (read Hawiye
Tribe) is hugely and manifestly under
researched.”
This statement strongly indicates the
commitment and attitude of the institute
in pursuing the remarking of the Geopolitical history of Somalia through
the rubberstamp of the Damul Jadiid
(The New Blood) government headed by
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud.The Heritage
Institute for Policy Studies would
make research studies and DamulJadiid’s government of Mogadishu will
legitimize it, where the Damul-Jadiid
policies will be then based on the HIPS
research recommendations and would
implement it forthwith.
Many Somali intellectuals believed
that the Mogadishu Heritage Institute
is in pursuant to find a scientific
solution by acting itself as a Research
and Development (R&D) branch of the
Damul Jadiid cult, secondly, to come
up with a modality based on biased but
highly organized academic research
marking a red-borderline taking into a
possession of areas formally inhabited
CONT`D FROM PAGE 12
by other minority ethnic Somalis such
as (Marka, parts of Banaadir, Bay and
Bakole) as well as initiating the first
of its kind since the late dictator Siad
Barre’s regime. “New Somali population
indispensable
census
count”
the
motivation here is to legitimize and
remark New Somalia Geopolitical Order
(NESGO) based on an exaggerated and
tainted population tally, which will be
Hawiye tribe taking the dominant lead
while other bigger Somali tribes will be
viewed as arithmetically marginal.
Currently, skeptics have emerged
among the elite Somalis across the world
with regards to the establishment of the
Heritage Institute for Policy Studies, in
that, the institute is seemingly designed
to deliver a colorful image of the Damul
Jadiid sect in order to beat the wit of the
Western community and the donors, and
it looks like its giving sense to those who
don’t know the underlying agenda of the
institute.
At present, there are a sea of biased
policy research and recommendation
put forward to support President Hassan
Sheikh Mohamud’s fragile government
and thoroughly coach on any steps he
would take, especially on the cabinet
ministers and the way to wither the
legitimate powers of any Prime Minister
raised to the position, and advise strategy
to oust whoever lives to act contrary to
the larger fraternity of Damul-Jadiid’s
political and economic interest.
The story of this particular “Mogadishu
economic hit men (unholy lobby group)”
and the true game of how Somalia, the
already quintessential banana republic
got to where they are now and why
they are currently facing such endless
crises that seem insurmountable is the
responsibility of every elite to uncover
the conspiracy theory led by the DamulJadiid government so as to make the
matter everyone’s pain.
Most importantly, this story must be
told because today is the first time in the
history of Somalia where one group (The
Damul-Jadiid) developed the ability, the
money, and the power to change the face
of Somalia into a Mogadishu Economic
Hit Men.
Damul-Jadiid and the Jackal strategy
to buy parliament votes
In order to keep in power president
Hassan Sheikh Mohamud, the secretive
leader of the Damul-Jadiid cult and end
all opposition to his political policies,
the Damul-Jadiid uses excess money
to influence Somalia parliamentarians
to vote in favor of their wishes, which
was to kick out of power former prime
minister Abdi Farah Shirdon. For those
who oppose the Daamul-Jadiid fraternity
interest, the group uses the “the Jackal
Strategy” (assassination) as a last
option to end once and for all all forms
of disdain. Somalia’s veteran politicians
come to believe that the recent huge car
bomb that went off outside the gates of
the parliament in central Mogadishu
shortly before midday local time, that
followed a twine of smaller blasts
leading to an intense gunfire that caused
heavy casualties was partly blamed
on the Damul-Jadiid government, and
some parliamentarians went further by
saying that there was inside cooperation
with the Al-Shabaab terrorist group.
Also, the most recent was the
parliamentarian and Somali icon
singer late honorable Mrs. Sado Ali’s
assassination just in front of the national
police commission office. Honorable
Sado Ali was known for being a nononsense, go-getter and ardent activist
of Human Rights. Her straight forward
personality to oppose and act as the
“checks and balances” of the DamulJadiid government cost her her life.
These days President Hassan Sheikh
Mohamud as usual has started to
organize a vote of no confidence against
the sitting Prime Minister, Honorable
Abdiweli Sheikh Ahmed who went
against his interest; the president
tried to get all members of the federal
parliament of Somalia through the use
of heavy packages of money.
The big fear now is that Damul-Jadiid
ruling clique will use the “jackal
strategy” if money does not work
according to their wishes, but last
week the parliament came out for the
second time to abort the motion of vote
of no confidence against the prime
minister through violent interruptions.
Nowadays, people are asking themselves
what will be the next cause of action for
Damul-Jadiid, given the challenges they
face in getting through their vote of no
confidence motion against the sitting
Prime Minister Honorable Abdiweli
Sheikh Ahmed?
Ed.’s Note: Ali Sheikh is an MBA-IB.
The views expressed in this article
do not necessarily reflect the views of
The Reporter. He can be reached at
[email protected].
ENTERTAINMENT
Rebuni
receives
awards at
film festival
By Meheret Selassie Mokonnen
Renowned for awarding the best
Ethiopian filmmakers every year, the
Ethiopian International Film Festival
(ETHIOIFF) ended on November 24.
Held for the ninth time, the festival kickstarted on November 17.
This year the competition consisted
of 10 categories- best Feature Film,
Cinematography, Director, Screenplay,
Actor, Actress, Supporting Actor,
Supporting Actress, Promising Child and
Audience Choice. The closing ceremony
at Hilton Addis was a glamorous night
for most filmmakers. Above all it can be
said it was the best night for the Rebuni
crew who took six of the awards.
Rebuni, released last year, won Best
Feature Film and Best Audience Choice
awards. The writer and director of the
film, Kidist Yilma, won Best Director
and Screenplay. The lead actress of the
film, Ruta Mengisteab, was awarded Best
Female Actress of the year. This year the
festival mainly focused on children. For
this reason there was a Best Promising
Child category. The category brought
an additional trophy for Rebuni’s child
actor – Yeabsira Tekilu.
Called to the stage numerous times
Kidist could not say much except “thank
you God” in a quivering voice. “For me
and the rest of the crew, this award is a
responsibility, compelling us to do much
more” Kidist told The Reporter. She said
the award gave them energy and it feels
great to be appreciated and recognized
for something they had worked on
tirelessly.
Kidist Yilma
Tezera Lemma from Ye’bekur Lij
won Best Male Actor of the year.
Tewodros Fikadu from Timetaleh
Biye and Edilwork Tasew from Sir
Mizewa respectively were awarded
Best Supporting Actor and Actress of
the year. Best cinematography went to
Sewmehon Asfaw and Tariku Desalgn
for Kemis Yelebeskulet.
During the award ceremony some of
the audience complained about the poor
sound and picture quality. Expecting
much more from the closing ceremony,
since this is the ninth year and the
organizers must have learned a lot
from the previous years, many were in
despair.
Yirgashewa Teshome, organizer and
director of the festival, told The Reporter,
“These kind of mistakes happen even at
big international festivals. It was not
because we were not prepared, we were
but, it just happened at that moment”. He
said there would be some improvements
in the coming years. He said they would
try to make the closing ceremonies more
interesting and add more categories
whenever professional judges are
available. This year’s judges were
selected from Addis Ababa University,
the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and
National Writers Association.
In view of the 25th anniversary of
UNICEF, the festival focused on children.
The festival, dubbed “Children’s Film
World: Color or Black and White”, paid
exceptional attention to movies made by
children, youths and also movies whose
prime concern were children. During the
week, around 16 movies from different
countries were screened. Among these,
Indian movies “Making of Mahatma”
and “The 3 idiots” were screened with
Amharic subtitles.
Children
from
elementary
and
secondary schools were invited to
attend the discussions and watch the
movies. In addition, a public lecture
about children’s right to information,
expression and culture and how children
are portrayed in movies was given by
Swedish filmmaker Johanna Wester.
So there is a case not only for an International Children’s Court, but also for
children and their representatives to be granted the right to petition it. Such a court
should have the capacity to receive and investigate individual complaints, the power
to monitor independently the enforcement of laws...
The children’s...
sanctions system.
Violations of children’s rights are
now so rampant that there simply
is no alternative. Indeed, though no
human-rights treaty has been more
widely ratified than the CRC, which
requires governments to report on
their compliance once every five years,
its work lacks adequate resources
and enforcement. Only one in seven
countries submit compliance reports on
time, and one-third do not submit even a
year late. Meanwhile, the scantly funded
offices that manage the information
have a two-year backlog.
Another promising initiative – the
“optional protocol on communications,”
aimed at enabling children and their
advocates, for the first time, to bring
cases before the UN Human Rights
Committee – has been similarly
weakened by a lack of strong support,
authority, and resources. Indeed, only
14 countries have ratified the protocol
since it was agreed in 2011.
Moreover, states are not legally
bound to change the policies or laws
that are deemed to be violating their
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international human-rights obligations.
And a shortage of investigative resources
has led to an emphasis on problematic
legislation, instead of the larger issue
of inadequate enforcement of laws that
promote the CRC’s principles.
So there is a case not only for an
International Children’s Court, but also
for children and their representatives to
be granted the right to petition it. Such a
court should have the capacity to receive
and investigate individual complaints,
the power to monitor independently the
enforcement of laws, and the resources
to devote to investigations into
relevant areas, including child labor,
child marriage, child slavery, genital
mutilation, and child rape.
Over time, a reporting system could be
implemented to facilitate an examination
of the impact of health and education
policies on the world’s most marginalized
boys and girls. Such research could
provide compelling evidence to support
universal
education
compulsory
as the ideal mechanism not just for
ending educational exclusion, but
also for bringing an end to child labor
and trafficking, early marriage, and
CONT`D FROM PAGE 14
discrimination against girls.
Another advance could follow, based
on Graça Machel’s victory a decade ago
in convincing the UN Security Council
to implement a system for reporting
violence against children in conflict
zones. At the time, it was agreed that a
Special Representative on Children and
Armed Conflict, whose work is backed
by the threat of sanctions, would also
be established. Today, a similar post
– underpinned by the same system of
reporting and sanctions – should be
created to focus on children’s other
rights.
Next month, Satyarthi and the girls’rights leader Malala Yousafzai will
receive this year’s Nobel Peace Prize,
reminding the world that a children’srights struggle is underway – one that
is increasingly being led by young
people. Indeed, frustrated with adults’
failure to discharge what should be their
duties toward children, young people
are forming child-marriage-free zones,
launching anti-slavery groups, and
organizing education-rights campaigns.
Such initiatives – including Bangladesh’s
20 child marriage-free zones, Nepal’s
Kamlari Forum, and Ethiopia’s Yellow
Movement of university students –
may not yet be trending on Twitter
and Facebook, but they are engaging
millions of young people worldwide.
Now, the Global March Against Child
Labor and A World at School have come
together to support the #UpForSchool
petition, which links the universal
provision of education to ending child
exploitation. Over the next several
months, youth groups in 190 countries
will be collecting, it is hoped, a record
number of signatures.
But we must do more than read and sign
the petition. We must recognize that
today’s movement to ensure children’s
rights is the civil-rights struggle of our
generation – and do whatever it takes to
support it.
Ed.’s Note: Gordon Brown, former Prime
Minister and Chancellor of the Exchequer
of the United Kingdom, is 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.
ENTERTAINMENT+
Addis Foto Fest to gather photography buffs
Guyana, Brazil and US will be exhibited.
Moreover, at Alle, photos from China,
Germany, Ireland, Sweden and others
will be featured as ‘The Visual Migration
and the Asia Collection’.
By Meheret Selassie Mokonnen
Photo By: Reporter /Mesfen Solomon
The third Addis Foto Fest – a
photography festival – is expected to
feature 95 photographers from more than
32 countries. Categorized under various
themes, the festival sorts different
kinds of photographers according to
the themes. Organized and directed by
renowned photographer. Aida Muluneh,
Addis Foto Fest takes place every two
years.
The festival’s inauguration will take
place December 1 at the Sheraton
Addis. Entitled ‘Vision of Africa’, the
launching ceremony will present a
photo exhibition of 15 African countries.
Including 13 Ethiopian photographers,
some of the participants are from Mali,
Kenya, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, Egypt, South
Africa and Mozambique.
During a press conference held at
Sheraton Addis on November 24, Aida
said that most of the time Ethiopian
cultural and historical heritages are
portrayed from a foreigner’s point of
view. She said it was about time a chance
was given to Ethiopian photographers.
She added that fact went for other
countries as well. According to Aida, the
festival, in a way, stretches the idea of
what kinds of photographic pieces are
being produced all over the world.
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Aida said that the festival aims at
heightening the photography scene of
Addis, which she says is at in its infancy.
In addition, the festival is expected to
provide a platform where photographers
can discuss issues. Among the issues
are digitization, the market for
photographers and the gradual change
in African photography.
The
festival
will
have
a
portfolio
Aida Muluneh
review at Alliance Ethio-Française, on
December 2 and the Alle School of Fine
Arts on the December 4 - linking different
photographers from various countries.
The reviews are said to showcase the
progress of each photographer. On
December 6, at the National Museum,
a conference will be held together with
an exhibition entitled: ‘The Americans:
United States and America’. Works from
‘Memories of a Mexican’, a movie
screened at Cannes Film Festival and
other international film festivals, will
be presented. Featuring photos from
Iran, Jordan and Yemen, ‘Witness:
images from Middle East’ will be seen at
Guramile Art Centre on December 4. On
December 6, at the Ethiopian National
Theater, pictures from Uganda, Nigeria,
Algeria and other African countries
will be presented along with video art
projections.
The discussion that will take place on
December 6 at Alle will bring together
photojournalists, art curators and
critics. The discussion is said to focus on
the shifting dynamics of photography in
Africa and the world.
The closing will be on December 7 at
Galani Art Center, with an exhibition
viewing traumatic experiences of
children in relation to HIV/AIDS. All
in all, the conference aims at giving
chances to those who have not had it
to exhibit their works along with wellknown photographers. The pieces that
are included in the festival are selected
by Aida.
UNHCR
!!:&7W$ J!;K#8&&&$$&#M##
;
K#8&&&$$&&$$$
; X
!
>B*Y,JBJJ:=ZJ:[
Z
[
REQUEST
Q
FOR PROPOSALS ((RFP))
1. THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH COMMISSIONER
FOR REFUGEES REPRESENTATION OFFICE ETHIOPIA ADDIS
ABABA, INVITES INTERESTED QUALIFIED COMPANIES FOR
INSTALLATION,
SERVICE
FOR
REPAIR, MAINTENANCE AND RENOVATION
ELECTRICITY
GENERATOR
SETS,
AIR
CONDITIONING SYSTEM AND ELECTRICAL SYSTEM.
2. PLEASE COLLECT THE BID DOCUMENTS FROM UNHCR BRANCH
OFFICE ADDIS ABABA SUPPLY UNIT LOCATED AT BOLE ROAD
NEAR TO SAAY PASTRY DURING WORKING HOURS BETWEEN
09:00 AM – 12:00 AM AND 2:00 PM – 4:00 PM BEGINNING FROM
1 – 12 DECEMBER 2014.
3. ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN SEALED ENVELOPES
BY THE CLOSING DEADLINE OF 19 DECEMBER 2014 AT 4:00 PM.
PROPOSALS SUBMITED AFTER THE DEADLINE WILL NOT BE
CONSIDERED.
4. ALL PROPOSALS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN ACCORDANCE
WITH INSTRUCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE RFP DOCUMENTS.
5. THE UNHCR REPRESENTATION OFFICE IN ETHIOPIA RESERVES
1. THE OFFICE OF THE UNITED NATIONS HIGH
COMMISSIONER FOR REFUGEES REPRESENTATION
OFFICE ETHIOPIA ADDIS ABABA, INVITES INTERESTED
QUALIFIED COMPANIES FOR THE SUPPLY OF THREE
WHEELERS MOTORCYCLES.
2. PLEASE COLLECT THE BID DOCUMENTS FROM UNHCR
BRANCH OFFICE ADDIS ABABA SUPPLY UNIT LOCATED AT
BOLE ROAD NEAR TO SAAY PASTRY DURING WORKING
HOURS BETWEEN 09:00 AM – 12:00 AM AND 2:00 PM – 4:00
PM BEGINNING FROM 1 – 5 DECEMBER 2014.
3. ALL PROPOSALS MUST BE SUBMITTED IN SEALED
ENVELOPES BY THE CLOSING DEADLINE OF 8 DECEMBER
2014 AT 4:00 PM. PROPOSALS SUBMITED AFTER THE
DEADLINE WILL NOT BE CONSIDERED.
4. ALL PROPOSALS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED IN
ACCORDANCE WITH INSTRUCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE
RFP DOCUMENTS.
5. THE UNHCR REPRESENTATION OFFICE IN ETHIOPIA
RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY OR ALL
PROPOSALS RECEIVED.
THE RIGHT TO REJECT ANY OR ALL PROPOSALS RECEIVED.
'Y%B==*B:B:BDJYB
'Y%B==*B:B:BDJYB
Advertisment
By Leyou Tameru
@anchihoye
Bits
&
Pieces
road again
I have been spending a lot of time in airports,
especially in the past few years. And as time goes by,
I cannot help but notice the changes that have been
taking place through time. Although I do not have the
numbers to prove it, I certainly believe that airplanes
are becoming a more common form of transportation.
Airports are getting bigger, destinations are growing
and prices are also lowering, at least in certain places.
Let me tackle the ticket prices issue first. I still have
a hard time understanding why a flight to Dakar in
Senegal costs just as much, if not less, to a flight to
Washington DC. Although I have seen a decrease in
overall ticket prices, there still is a huge discrepancy
when it comes to flights within Africa. This is probably
the reason that small airlines offering cheap prices to
customers are appearing in different countries.
Airlines such as Fly 540 in Kenya are surely becoming
alternatives to larger and more expensive airlines.
But they only serve short distances, and have a long
way to go when it comes to longer ones. I strongly
believe that this is a great beginning.
As African countries are going towards allowing
visa free travel for African citizens, the demand for
cheaper intra-country tickets will certainly rise and
large airlines have no choices but to reduce their
prices.
I’m currently taking one of these new and cheap
airlines today for domestic flight within the US.
This airline has an interesting approach to the
flying business. To begin with, they have no first or
business class seats, all seats are economy class. And
in addition to that, it’s free seating! Boarding priority
is on a first come first serve basis, whoever checks in
first will be able to board first and take whatever seat
they want. My reaction to this is that it kind of feels
like boarding a bus, except it’s not a bus.
Whenever I go through airport security, I cannot stop
myself from thinking about the time when friends
and family of passengers would be able to accompany
their loved ones all the way to their boarding gates.
A time where airport security did not mean, taking
off your shoes, taking your computer out and
passing through body scanners that show you naked.
Although it may be tough to imagine today, there
was time where there was no “random” selection for
additional security check.
Another big novelty is that internet is not only
available in the airport, but it’s also available inside
the planes! How interesting is that? Now you can get
work done, check your email and read the news on
the go.
I guess traveling on a plane is becoming less of a
luxury and more a necessity. The world has its eyes
set on reaching higher heights, i.e. taking a vacation
in space! Virgin Galactica – an airline founded by
Sir Richard Branson and supported by Google – is
looking to provide a commercial spaceship that will
take paying customers to space.
Although the first attempt was a complete failure, it
certainly shows where we will all be going next.
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]
Sub-Saharan ...
different African countries including Ethiopia,
Kenya, Tanzania, Botswana, Namibia, Nigeria,
Mozambique in order to facilitate the discussion at
the workshop.
The objective of the workshop was to discuss and
develop a joint research project across the SubSaharan African region to help mitigation of impact
of climate change on soil fertility.
Reflecting on the assessment reports, Effiom Oku
(PhD), Senior Research Fellow of UNU-INRA,
confirmed that decline in soil fertility and erosion,
water scarcity, and inappropriate farming practices
are part of the major challenges hindering food
production in the region.
“Results from the mapping assessment serve as a
testimony that majority of countries in Africa need
an extensive monitoring program to determine
the impact of climate change on soil fertility, soil
moisture and land degradation” he said.
Oku also noted that, in a region like sub Sahara,
where large number of the population depends
on agriculture, a decline in soil fertility and land
degradation farming activities would have a
significant repercussion on food security.
UNU-INRA, whose focus is enhancing the capacity
CONT`D FROM PAGE 3
of African researchers and institutions in natural
resources management, is optimistic that the
final outcome from the joint regional research
project would produce substantial climate adaptive
measures that can mitigate the effect of climate
change on soil fertility in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Among
organizations
represented
at
the
workshop are Food and Agriculture Organization,
United Nations Environment Program, Mekelle
University,University of Botswana, University of
Namibia, Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture
and Technology, Sokoine University of Agriculture
in Tanzania, Bayero University in Nigeria,
Eduado Mondlane University in Mozambique, and
International Water Management Institute (IWMI).
Research findings show that Ethiopia’s soil is
deficient in essential nutrients. Similarly, according
to the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation
Agency, low soil fertility and crop nutrient
imbalances are major challenges of agricultural
production in Ethiopia. Thus to help tackle this,
the Ethiopian Agricultural Transformation Agency
has identified a set of soil fertility management
interventions, such as new fertilizer formulations
and new agronomic management practices and
these interventions expected to be practical in the
near-term.
These two parties were working together for the past six years and their
relationship was at odds after a speech, which was delivered by former
president of UDJ Gizachew Shiferaw (Eng.), advocated for a merger than
continuing with the party in the form of a front or a coalition.
Medrek, UDJ...
parties continued till the tenth general assembly
which was held on November 8 and the newlyelected president of Medrek, Beyene Petros (Prof.),
told The Reporterr that the suspension is still in place
and nothing has changed in that regard. However,
the president underscored the fact that UDJ still
has some time to correct its mistakes and rejoin the
front before the deadline – the November 24.
Since the deadline given by Medrek has expired
and nothing has changed the relationship between
the two parties stopped, and in this regard head of
public relations of Medrek, Tilahun Endeshaw,
confirmed to The Reporterr that the two parties have
now officially separated.
By the same token, the speaker of the national
council of UDJ, Abebe Akalu, told The Reporterr that
the relationship between the two parties had stopped
and UDJ will continue its activities individually as
of November 20.
Institute to bridge...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 3
The Reporter asked both leaders that since it is
election year, whether the separation harmed the
activities of the parties and weaken the general
opposition block. In this regard, both replied that
it would hamper activities but there was no other
option.
“It will affect us, but it is better to separate than to
work with some defects. Therefore, UDJ preferred to
stop its relation and to work individually with all its
capabilities,” Abebe told The Reporter.
Tilahun, on his part, said, “The separation affects the
parties but this is done deliberately by individuals
who wanted to weaken both Medreek and UDJ and
in this regard their mission is accomplished and
Medrek will go individually and work hard in the
future.”
Apart from this both leaders of the party underlined
that they are well prepared to render their struggles
individually.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 7
institution is expected to contribute for an approach that strengthen evidence supported strategic thinking
and decision making to effectively address the above challenges.
The Fred T. Sai Institute is an initiative of IPPF Africa Region to advocate sexual and reproductive health
and right issues in the continent.
Professor Sai was the first African president of IPPF and served as a senior population advisor at the
World Bank. His contributions have also been acknowledged at the global level with the United Nations
Population Award, IPPF Lifetime Achievements Award and back at home with the Order of Star of Ghana.
At the ceremony, representatives of the Reproductive Health Community from Africa and beyond witnessed about the professor’s
contributions to Sexual and reproductive health and rights,(SRHR) Family Planning and women empowerment that spanned over
IPPFAR is a sexual and reproductive health (SRH) service delivery organization in Africa as well as sexual
and reproductive health and rights advocacy voice in the region. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, the
overarching goal of IPPFAR is to increase access to SRHR services to the most vulnerable youth, men and
women in sub-Saharan Africa.
Supported by thousands of volunteers, IPPFAR works to tackle the continent’s sexual and reproductive
health challenges through a network of Member Associations (MAs) in 42 countries including Ethiopia.
Copyright amendment ...
is just too big.
“The pure discretion given to the society
and the office in the most crucial issues is
uncommon from the experience of other
well established societies,” Biruk, who
has specialized in the field intellectual
property studies, told The Reporter.
The amendment states that the
collective management society, a nonprofit organization, is formed only
when it is recognized by EIPO. The
society is expected to be a consortium
of associations, not individual right
holders, in the literary and artistic
professions.
EIPO together with the society is in the
process of drafting an implementation
strategy which is expected to address
issues such as the amount of royalties
to be paid for protected works and the
amount of administrative fees and tax
to be withheld from collected royalties.
And the director general believes that
it is only fair to allow the right holders
to determine the amount of payment
they should be paid in royalties for their
properties.
“However, the office is there to ensure
that the royalty rate is not unreasonable,”
Berhanu told The Reporter.
The office is considering its options
for the kind of royalty system it plans
to introduce. The schemes proposed
includes a ‘fixed rate’, which will be
levied on users, like hotels, who will be
issued standards and will be required
to pay periodically, and ‘proportional
rates’, where users, like broadcasters,
will be required to pay royalty
proportional to their use of protected
works.
“We are working with WIPO (World
Intellectual Property Organization) to
develop a royalty assessment program
to keep track of usage,” Dawit told The
Reporter. Such applications (software)
are mostly ideal to assess royalties from
broadcasters.
As a booming entertainment industry
which comes out with some 300 films
annually and musicians in and around
Addis Ababa numbering 40,000, the
contribution of the industry to the
national economy is immense.
With the introduction of a royalty system
which also seeks to protect all foreign
works used in Ethiopia, the potential
for a boost in the economy can only
get better, those in the entertainment
business say.
“With a well-functioning royalty system
in place the industry’s contribution
to the country’s GDP could very well
exceed eight percent from the current
six,” Equbay told The Reporter, citing
recent studies commissioned by EIPO.
Those in the industry are eager to
embrace the new change. However,
others, who might find themselves in the
receiving end of the law, feel neglected
in the drafting process and fear the
unknown.
Biniam Negessu, founder of the popular
video sharing site DireTube, says he was
in the dark about the amendment and
only learned of it shortly before the law
was approved by parliament.
“As a member of the Ethiopian AudioVisual Association, I should have been
informed of the process,” Biniam told
The Reporter.
For DJs like Aron Kebede, who is
president of a recently established
association of his professional peers, the
amendment could mean that he would
have to pay royalties whenever he plays
songs in social occasions like weddings.
Aron, who participated in the drafting
process, has no problem with paying
royalties to right holders, but he is wary
of enforcement issues which are yet to be
clarified.
Yonathan Hambissa, owner of Club
Illusion and Flirt Lounge, popular
spots for nightlife in Addis Ababa, was
foreign to the issue of the amendment
when approached by The Reporter
for comment. His club mostly plays
popular Western music with few local
songs thrown here and there. In fact, he
believes that playing local music in his
club is to the advantage of local artists.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 6
Indeed, in practice, the trend is in
reverse. Broadcasters like Zami FM and
Biniam’s DireTube are frequented by
artists who offer their works for free in
the hope of having their artistic work
reaching the public.
Zami’s Zerihun says that the station
has hired an expert to understand the
possible impact of the amendment on
their industry.
“As the collective management society
is not yet established, it is our hope that
our involvement will be sought to make
the institution functional,” Zerihun told
The Reporter adding that the fledging
broadcasting industry also needs
protection.
“If the law is only intended to serve the
right holder and disregard the space
required for the broadcasting industry
to grow, I am afraid it will cripple both,”
Zerihun warns.
The Malawi Broadcasting Station
financially struggled to pay the amount
of royalties it owed COSOMA. After
years of negotiations and legal battle,
the station settled its long-standing feud
by paying the full amount two years ago.
COSOMA, in turn, redistributed the
royalty to its members after deducting
30 percent for administrative fees and
withholding another 20 percent in
government tax out of the total USD
250,000.
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DEJENNA Chemical Engineering PLC, a company under the EFFORT group
is planning to estiablish an integrated PVC Resin Manufacturing Plant in Mekelle,
Ethiopia which has a capacity of 60,000 tons/year PVC resin by the LimestoneCalcium carbide-Acetylene (LCA) route.
DEJENNA Chemical Engineering PLC hereby invites internationally renowned
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manufacturing technology in particular to submit their offer in wax sealed envelope
for the Design, Supply, Construction, Erection/ Installation, Commissioning, Traininig,
Operation and Maintenance Management of Integrated PVC Resin Manufacturing
Plant in Mekelle, ETHIOPIA.
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4.
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Interested eligible bidders can obtain the complete set of tender documents from
the address below upon payment of nonrefundable fee of birr 500.
B;=/BYGB>??>
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!!:M`$
Or
BB++D
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All wax sealed bid proposals must be delivered to the cited address on or before
may 11,2015. Bids presented by any bidder after the closing date shall not be
accepted.
H # " original and three copies in a sealed envelope.
Bids must be accompanied by a bid security of 2% of the total contract price.
Bids received in time shall be opened in the presence of interested bidders
or their legal representatives at 10:00 am on May 12,2015 in Mekelle, Guna
Building room no 402.
DEJENNA Chemical Engineering PLC reserves the right to accept or reject any
or all of the bids.
Nine charged...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 1
transferring information regarding the
location and number of the Ethiopian
defence force as well as reinforcements
in exchange for payments.
stability through armed insurgents
operating in the region, including Al
Shabaab, an Al Qaeda affiliated terrorist
group.
The suspects are also accused of spying
on refugee camps where Eritreans
fleeing their country are taking shelter
and the operation of Eritrean opposition
groups in these areas.
Ethiopia’s continued allegation led
to the imposition of sanctions by the
United Nations Security Council against
Eritrea in 2009 which included arms
embargo, travel bans on its leaders and
freezing of assets of some of its leaders.
Following a two year border conflict
that ended in 2000, Ethiopia and Eritrea
find themselves entangled in a nopeace no-war situation. With no peace
process to normalize relations in sight,
Ethiopia continuously accuse Eritrea
of attempting to destabilize its internal
A recent UN refugee agency report
indicated a sharp increase in the number
of Eritrean youths fleeing to Ethiopia.
More than 6,000 Eritreans had claimed
asylum in Ethiopia over the past month,
the report said.
Ethiopia, South...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 1
its technical staff from Ethiopian maintenance and engineering department. The
amount of investment Ethiopian will make is not yet determined.
Speaking of the market potential of South Sudan, the official said it is a big travel
market and is projected to grow even further.
Ethiopian is implementing a multi-hub strategy. The Ethiopian national flag carrier
is a strategic partner of ASKY, a pan-African airline based in Togo Lome. ASKY ,
which began operation in 2010, serves 22 destinations in west and central Africa.
Ethiopian has a 40 percent stake on ASKY.
Ethiopian has also invested in another start-up airline in Southern Africa,
Malawi Airlines Ltd. Malawian Airlines based in Lilongwe began operation last
year from its hub at Lilongwe International Airport. It serves six domestic and
regional destinations. Ethiopian has a five-year management and technical service
agreements with both airlines.
The management of Ethiopian anticipates to partner with the Government of the
Democratic Republic of Congo to establish another regional airline in Central Africa.
An airline industry analyst The Reporterr talked to said that non-African airlines are
establishing subsidiary airlines in Africa taht serve them as feeder airlines. “So I
think the management of Ethiopian is doing the right thing to withstand the stiff
competition coming from non-African mega carriers,” the analyst said.
Seasoned Ethiopian...
that the company was undertaking
a feasibility study and working on
paperwork for the last one year. Lemma
said that the company submitted
application to the Ethiopian Civil
Aviation Authority (ECAA). “They
evaluated our application swiftly and
approved the documents. To give us
the Air Operator Certificate (AOC) and
license for the pilot training school they
are waiting for the arrival of the aircraft
Sheep leather...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 4
located behind Edna Mall. The second
phase meeting deliberated on branding
issues such as logo and motto, which are
expected to be finalized early 2016.
Among the candidate sectors and
products which the project looked
at, sheep leather has become the
alternative product to go with, Nagai
said. “Ethiopian coffee beans exist in
Japanese market. Hence, there is no
way to brand coffee there. We are trying
to promote sheep leather after we have
checked out that the feasibility and the
potential to supply the Japanese market
and others,” he said.
Kimiaki Jin, chief representative of
JICA Ethiopia office, said that the sheep
leather has been chosen to represent
Ethiopia as a new branded product
for the Japanese market due to its the
accessibility because of the country’s
huge potential.
According to Fistum Arega, director
general of the Ethiopian Investment
Commission (EIC), the branding and
improving the country’s image via the
sheep leather is where the government
is gearing up towards.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 5
that we bought,” Captain Lemma said.
East African Aviation will provide
charter flight services. It will provide
VIP flights and flight services for
international organizations, tourists,
construction and mining companies. It
will offer flight services for aerial survey
and mapping work. The new private
airline will also offer medical evacuation
(air ambulance services).
There will also be an aero club where
individuals who want to fly for leisure
will be enrolled as members and fly for a
few hours during their leisure time.
According to the GM, East African
Aviation recently bought three aircraft.
For the airline operation the company
both King Air 200 aircraft at a cost of
two million dollars from a US-based
company. The aircraft is expected to
arrive at Bole International Airport
after one month. East African Aviation
is planning to offer an air ambulance
service. “We are contemplating to
bring Eurocopter and Cessna Citation
aircraft that are fully equipped with
oxygen and all other emergency medical
equipment.”
East African Aviation bought two trainer
aircraft, Cessna172, from a Swedenbased company, Air Unlimited, for EUR
380,000. The Cessna aircraft are now in
Antwerp, Belgium, undergoing some
modification work. Lemma expects to
receive them after four weeks. “We hope
to be operational in January tentatively.
Once we receive the aircraft ECAA will
issue us the necessary licenses,” he said.
The company also bought two flight
simulators for the pilot training school
at a cost of 390,000 dollars. The company
bought one Cessna and one King Air
simulator from a US-based company,
Redbird Flight International. The flight
simulators are on their way to Djibouti
Port.
The pilot training school has dormitories
and a canteen which can accommodate
24 cadets at a time. The school has
auditoriums, briefing rooms and a
library. Theoretical part of the training
will be given in the premise of the school
while the flight lesson will be offered at
the Bole International Airport.
The school will offer Private Pilot License
(PPL) and Commercial Pilot License
(CPL). It will take a cadet four month
to complete a PPL training program.
The CPL training takes 14 months. The
tuition fee for PPL is USD 23,000 while
the CPL training costs USD 66,500.
“These costs include accommodation,
meals, uniforms and other expenses.
There is no hidden cost here,” Captain
Lemma said.
“We will not make money out of
the school. We just want to offer an
internationally recognized service in
Ethiopia. It could be profitable after
seven or eight years. The tuition might
seem expensive for those who are not
in the aviation industry. Fuel cost is
cumbersome,” he said.
According to Lemma, the trainer aircraft
are equipped with a state-of-the-art flight
instrument. “We want to make it a five
star flight school.”
Lemma is a veteran Ethiopian Air Force
pilot and former director of the Ethiopian
Airlines pilot training school. The
Advertisment
headquarters of East African Aviation
and pilot training school is located in
front of the Ethiopian Airlines Aviation
Academy off the ring road. The school
has already hired four instructors and
hopes to admit 24 cadets.
Gov’t
contemplates...
CONT`D FROM PAGE 5
zone as it is “an area with distinct
boundary designed by the appropriate
organ to develop identical, similar and
interrelated industries together or to
develop multi-faceted industries based
on a plan fulfilling infrastructures such
as road, electric power, and water and
having incentive schemes with purposes
containing industrial development,
mitigating the impacts of environmental
pollution as administering urban areas
with plan and system”, it stated. Besides
the industrial development zones are to
be developed either by the government,
by the joint venture with the private
sector or by the private sector alone.
The export promotion directorate
general on the other hand, led by Assefa
Mulugeta, has also been restructured
recently to oversee both agricultural
and manufactured commodities of the
country and to seek ways which would
promote the exports of the country.
The recent commitment of USD 250 by
World Bank to finance the state-owned
two-phased Bole Lemi Industrial zone
has encouraged 22 factory units to
come to Ethiopia. Among the stationed
factories, the Taiwanese, Hong Kongese
and South Koreans are some worth
mentioning.
Coca Cola,
Ambo...
EIC coordinates the branding project
with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ministry of Industry, Leather Industry
Institute,
Ethiopian
Development
Leather Industries Association and the
Ethiopian Chamber of Commerce and
Sectoral Association also taking part.
CONT`D FROM PAGE 4
tapped at the springs in Ambo Senkele,
130 km from Addis Ababa.
Currently, branding Ethiopia’s sheep
leather project has involved three
local businesses which are said to be
“partner companies”. Leather Exotica
and Enzi and ELICO Awash Tannery
are the local firms which are selected
for the champion product project due
to their designing and production
qualities respectively, according to the
consultants.
It is popularly consumed during and
after meals as a digestive, also popularly
consumed as a thirst quenching
‘soft drink’ or as a discerning mixer,
specifically with whisky and other
spirits.
Recently, its product and pack range has
been extended to include convenience
packaging in plastic bottles, as well
as new products, Ambo Lite (lower
carbonation and mineralization) and
‘Ambo flavored water’ (Orange, Apple,
Pineapple, Lemon-lime).etc.
Fistum said that the branding project
will be scaled up further to the mass
production stage after succeeding on
market penetration and image building
tasks. According to Fistum, champion
product approach has been successful in
countries like Indonesia where they had
become the famous producers of Indomie
noodles worldwide. He also recalled that
the Office of the Prime Minister of Japan
has recently sponsored the promotion
of Kaizen – a renowned Japanese
management philosophy to improve
productivity and quality – and how the
philosophy has become the norm of the
manufacturing sector in Ethiopia.
Coca-Cola was first bottled in Addis
Ababa in 1959 by the Ethiopian Bottling
Share Company, which later opened a
second branch in Dire Dawa in 1965. The
two plants were nationalized in 1975 and
ran as public companies until 1996 when
they were bought by local entrepreneurs.
Just prior to this, in 1995, Coca Cola
Sabco bought shares in the business and,
in 1999, signed a joint venture agreement
with the plants. In 2001, Coca Cola Sabco
increased its shares to 61 percent and
the company changed its name to the
East African Bottling Share Company
(EABSC). Currently, it produces and
bottles a range of beverages including
Fanta group, Coca Cola, Sprite,
Schweppes, Coke Light and Dasani
Bottled Water.
Currently, Ethiopia has three coffee
brands
internationally
recognized
after years of relentless battle with
international giants like Starbucks. The
fine coffees of Harar, Yirgachefe and
Sidama are registered as trademarks of
Ethiopia.
LEISURE
Crossword
ACROSS
1. Bleat
4. Restaurant or bar bill
7. In a fright
12. Aged
13. Artificial language
14. Followers of Gaea
15. Vacate
17. Civil Rights group
18. Can
19. ___ Lanka
21. One and only
22. Whale ship captain
24. Arctic explorers, abbr.
25. Compartments
26. A way to change color
27. __ de, seats you
29. Based on or told of in
traditional stories
31. A salt or ester of
hydriodic acid
35. Loved
37. A waterproof raincoat
made of rubberized fabric
38. Beehive
41. __ student, learns healing
42. Alexander __, former
secretary of State
43. Unit of food energy
44. Possessed
45. Clothespin
46. Get up
48. A woman who dances in a
chorus line
52. Goddesses
53. Reverence
54. Neither
55. Samoyedic
56. John __, English
statesman (1584-1643)
57. Travel one unit east and
one unit north
DOWN
1. Scarf
2. A close-sleeved linen
liturgical vestment
3. Determined
4. Neat
5. Flurry
6. A dwarfed ornamental tree
or shrub grown in a tray or
shallow pot
7. God of fire (Hindu)
8. Supervises flying
9. Tie again
10. Scratchy
11. Measuring instruments
16. Apprehend
20. Tied once more
22. Cash dispenser
23. Mown grass
24. Washington city
25. A place for sleeping
27. Used in combination
28. Perch
30. Come to pass
32. A way to experience
33. Thai 34. Cardiograph
36. Baggage attendant
38. Proportionality
39. Tibeto-Burman language
40. Elect
42. Third
person
as object
(female)
44. Rudolph
__, war
criminal
45. Literature
47. Drunk
49. Route,
abbr.
50. Toff
51. Bulky
grayishbrown eagle
US Box
office
Kuncho Komments
I want us to be
friends.
What?
I have a proposal
for you.
Well there are some
things I have to
know first.
What is it?
Your Zodiacs
Please submit your
resume, two letters
of recommendation a
motivational letter.
1
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay
- Part 1
2
Big Hero 6 (2014)
3
Interstellar (2014)
4
Dumb and Dumber To (2014)
5
Gone Girl (2014)
6
Beyond the Lights (2014)
7
St. Vincent (2014)
8
Fury (2014)
9
Birdman (2014)
10
0
The
e Theory
eo y o
of Everything
e yt
g ((2014)
0 )
(astrology-online.com)
ARIES (Mar. 21- April 20)
CANCER (June 22-July 22)
LIBRA (Sept. 24 -Oct. 23)
CAPRICORN (Dec 22.- Jan. 20)
Learning patience is the main task during this week.
Try to develop your social skills through working
alongside others. You should make an attempt to curb
your impetuous side- weigh alternatives and consider
consequences before speaking or acting. Get to know
yourself better. This week lucky numbers are: 9, 53, 95,
6, 81
Try to tune in what people are really saying. There is a
possibility that someone would wont to monopolies your
time and energy during this week. Beware of such people.
Ideals and ideas can be worthy of devotion, but destructive at
the same time. Firstly you should make sure that others want
to be helped and than offer your support. Beware of being
carried away by your enthusiasm. This week lucky numbers
are: 78, 84, 80, 24, 2
You should try to be more affectionate and playful. Beware
others have their wish and gifts to teach also, and that the
best teacher is often an internal student. This week lucky
numbers are: 41, 18, 88, 65, 40
!
the patience to interact fully with others. Your ideas may have
"
escapism in its manifold guises. This week lucky numbers are:
31, 89, 67, 28, 61
TAURUS (Apr. 21- may 21)
LEO (July 23-Aug 22)
SCORPIO (Oct. 24 - Nov. 22)
This week’s the main task – cultivate your quite side, yet
do not neglect your aggressive urges or let them go bottled
up inside. In case you feel frustrated, try to understand the
problem and then take the initiative. Acknowledge your
need for affection and support. Do not hesitate to ask for
help if you need it. This week lucky numbers are: 14, 68,
92, 81, 1
Try not to overpower others during this week. Learn to back
off and allow things to happen as they will. Although your
hands may itch to do the job, you should give others to do it
their way, even if they make mistakes. Try to remain sensitive
to those around you. This week lucky numbers are: 56, 4, 48,
33, 94
This week is a perfect time for you to dig deeper and explore
the depths of your personality. Make an attempt to take matters
a bit more seriously if you wish others to do the same in regard
to you. On the other hand try not to give up your natural and
instinctive approach to life. This week lucky numbers are: 8,
1, 75, 63, 84
AQUARIUS (Jan. 21 -Feb. 19)
You should try to come on in a rush. Be clear in what you say, but
also diplomatic. This is very argent rule within this week. Don’t
be inattentive to the impression you make or the idea others have
of you. The silence can also be a great value. Try to improve the
personal relationships between you and your beloved. This week
lucky numbers are: 61, 39, 80, 67, 30
VIRGO (Aug. 23 -Sept. 23)
GEMINI (May 22-June 21)
You should resist overwhelming people with your energy.
Act responsibly. Try not to be too needy of attention and
and pay more attention to the hidden talents of yours
during this week. This week lucky numbers are: 14, 31,
55, 16, 58
You should beware of taking too much responsibility.
Consciously work on changing yourself during this week,
month or even year. You can open your horizons by exposing
yourself to different disciplines and points of view. This
week lucky numbers are: 98, 5, 54, 36, 46
SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23 -Dec. 21)
You should monitor the pace of your activities carefully. Seek to be
more consistent and less casual in jettisoning people and ideas.
Avoid coming on so strong. Don’t forget to turn off your mental
monitor from time to time. Confront your fears and insecurities.
This week lucky numbers are: 53, 28, 18, 69, 97
SPOT THE DIFFERENCES
Can you spot the 12 differences between the two pictures?
Solution
PISCES (Feb. 20-Mar. 20)
Sometimes what is right in front of you is just as interesting as
something risky or exotic. It may not be incumbent on you to
#
!
it is called for. On the other hand don’t forget to give yourself easy
rewards, too. This week lucky numbers are: 66, 26, 95, 90, 20
Solution
Sport
On your mark, get set,
t go!
By Mark Jenkin
“I don’t like running,” claims Liam
Myles.
It is an extraordinary admission from a
man who has just dashed halfway across
the world to be involved in a remarkable
road race.
Amid more than 35,000 vibrant red
t-shirts, the softly spoken Irishman is
hobbling back towards his hotel after
taking part in the Great Ethiopian Run.
Everywhere, people are smiling and
chatting about their experiences.
Everyone has a story to tell.
Elite athletes, fun runners, charity
workers, mums, dads, grandparents,
even family pets have covered the
undulating course from Menelik II
Hospital via Megenagna and back to the
finish at Jan Meda Race Course.
Shirts are drenched in sweat; medals
are worn like badges of honor, draped
around necks or tied around foreheads,
creating makeshift bandanas.
Some runners are still wearing their
lion masks or straw hats. Others have
creatively cut their shirts to shreds to
stand out from the crowd.
Liam’s rosy cheeks tell the story of an
epic journey. He has a plastic bag pulled
over his head, protecting his balding
scalp from the burning sunshine.
A small amount of discomfort is worth it,
though, to be involved in one of Africa’s
great social gatherings. Worth it, too,
for the money he has raised for Vita, a
charity project which supports farmers
in the Southern Nations, Nationalities
and People’s Region.
“I was traveling on Friday with a group
of 11 from Dublin but I had a family
bereavement so I had to come a day
late,” says Liam. “I flew during the
night and rushed to my hotel despite the
traffic. I arrived this morning at quarter
to seven.”
With just a few minutes to spare, the
67-year-old agricultural worker finally
found a place among the masses, ready
to take on his second Great Ethiopian
Run.
become like a mass sport, not only for
Ethiopians but for foreigners.”
Contributing to the international flavor
are the Stockport Harriers from England;
students from Norway; six blind athletes
from Holland and a group of charity
workers from Australia running to raise
funds for Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital.
It is not just about enjoyment, however.
For once in the year, this is an
opportunity for ordinary Ethiopians to
make their voices heard.
Plenty make political statements as they
run past government buildings.
Motivated by this year’s race slogan
‘Empower Women. Empower a Nation’
Tigist has taken part to raise awareness
about equality.
For her, the event is part perspiration,
part inspiration.
“I have never liked running - I prefer
Gaelic football and hurling - but do it to
raise funds for the project,” he says.
She wanders home, tired but satisfied. “I
have been running it for 11 years,” she
says. “It’s very nice, especially now the
women’s race is very important.”
“It’s a marvelous occasion. It’s a running
jamboree.”
And the weekend is not just about the
adults in the international 10k.
Joining the jamboree are joggers and
jokers from all walks of life. Gezahgne
Mersha definitely comes into the joker
category.
On Saturday, the festivities begin with
4,000 children racing their own version
of the Great Run at Jan Meda.
Still buzzing after completing the race
for a seventh time he claims “I am the
King of athletics, The King of Habesha
and Russia as well as oldest Prussia.”
What ever his official title, nothing was
going to deny Gezahgne in his home city.
The course took him around 45 minutes
to complete.
“I was sick for the last week so today I
did some running and some walking,” he
says.” Not to mention lots of talking.
“I want to run it every year until my
death,” he continues. “Forever.”
“It’s our culture. It’s our tradition. It has
By 8am, thousands have gathered in their
brilliant orange and navy t-shirts, many
with the green, yellow and red of the
national flag painted across their faces,
warming up in the bright sunshine.
The mood proves such a contrast to last
year when a security scare caused the
last-minute cancellation of the children’s
race.
Then there were tears of disappointment
but now only toothy smiles and excited
anticipation.
With loud music blasting from speakers,
the pop group Yegna keep spirits high,
providing extra encouragement for the
athletes.
Not that there is a shortage of motivation.
Prizes for the top three finishers,
including mountain bikes, keyboards
and bags see to that.
are inspired, too, by Edna Kiplagat, the
reigning London Marathon champion
from Kenya, who is on hand to present
prizes.
Adding to the sense of occasion, the India
ambassador Sanjay Verma tells the
children “You may have many friends
when you are growing up but one friend
that will remain with you, is sport and
physical exercise.
For the winners of the boys’ races, Bikal
Meka (under-5s), Kim Johne (under-8s)
and Amir Hassen (under-11s), there is
the honor of a warm handshake from the
great Haile Gebrselassie.
“Sport is going to keep you away from all
the wrong things in life.”
As soon as the horn blasts to signal the
start, mayhem ensues. Instead of the
measured approach favored by longdistance runners, kids are out of the
traps like Usain Bolt.
Cycling in front to guide the way is
Richard Nerurkar, a former Great
Britain marathon runner, pedaling hard
just to stay ahead.
For many children it is a first introduction
to large-scale racing. In front of cheering
crowds and waving mascots, perhaps it
will be a perfect warm-up for a future
Olympic appearance.
Or may be it is simply a fun and healthy
way to spend time with friends and
family.
Either way, it doesn’t matter. The
Bekele-brothers-wannabes and those
just enjoying the atmosphere, jogging
hand-in-hand with mum or dad can take
part together.
Thanks to Plan International there is
a separate race for disabled athletes
and the organization hosts the event
under the slogan ‘Because I Am A Girl’,
promoting education and equal rights
for females. Girl power is clearly on
display.
Maki Chindlan, the under-5s winner,
Ruth Aynadis, the under-8 champion,
and Nados Tesfaye, first in the under-11
race, all dream of emulating Ethiopia’s
track queen Tirunesh Dibaba. They
As the race’s co-founder 14 years ago,
Haile plays a prominent role on Sunday
too. He officially stars proceedings with
Kenenisa Bekele, Derartu Tulu and
Meseret Defar - a quartet of legends with
a stunning nine Olympic gold medals
between them.
The medal chase on the day is led by
Azmeraw Bekele, clocking 30 minutes 11
seconds for his second GER title.
Wude Ayalew remains strong over the
gruelling hills, claiming the women’s
crown in 34 minutes 3 seconds, her third
victory on the streets of Addis.
Trundling home more than an hour
later comes Liam, the former farmer
from Tipperary. Still separated from his
friends after rushing to the start, he is
far from alone.
Thousands of companions chat and
pose for photographs with strangers.
Like those walking away from a great
music festival or football match, they
are happy to have been part of a huge
cultural event.
For once the streets are free from traffic
and the people are in charge.
As Liam explains “it’s a long way to
Tipperary” but well worth the journey.
Vita, the charity for which he went the
distance, means ‘life’ in Latin.
It seems the perfect word to sum up the
Great Ethiopian Run. Here, life comes in
all forms and is celebrated joyously.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
HAMMER TIME
SPORT
have missed training during teenage
years when agility and flexibility are
greater.
By Mark Jenkin
Kibrom Werede stands proudly next to
a painting of Abebe Bikila outside the
Defense Club in Addis Ababa.
Size makes a big difference too. While
throwers require powerful and muscular
frames, Ethiopians tend to be lean and
light.
By showing dedication to athletics and
setting national records in Ethiopia,
both men have been trailblazers for their
chosen sports.
“May be, physically Ethiopians are not
suited to throwing events,” said Kibrom.
“In Oromia and Tigray, they do running
because of their culture. In the north of
Ethiopia, people are very tall but they
play basketball and volleyball.
But the similarities end there.
When ‘barefoot’ Bikila stunned the field
by winning the Olympic Marathon in
Rome in 1960, he instantly became one
of the world’s most recognizable sports
stars.
“The other problem is food. Culturally,
Ethiopians eat injera. It is injera only.
We are not eating enough carbohydrates
and protein but for throwing, the main
things you need are carbohydrates and
protein.
Kibrom, a gentle giant who only took up
hammer throwing five years ago, is still
waiting for his athletics discipline to
gain similar public profile.
“Kenyans eat maize and have better
suited diets for throwing events.”
Along with the other throwing eventsjavelin, discus and shot put - it has
suffered from a lack of interest and
shortage of investment. In the land of the
long-distance runner, the hammer is yet
to get off the ground.
It was a proud moment for Kibrom last
year when he beat the national record.
The previous best of 38.90m is credited
on the Ethiopian Athletics Federation
website to Sahle Muluneh in 1976.
Combining power and technique,
competitors hold a handle which is
attached to a 16lb spherical weight.
By rotating quickly in a marked circle
and then releasing their grip, they are
attempting to project the heavy object as
far as possible.
As a self-coached athlete who was forced
to learn the finer points of his sport
from the internet, Kimbrom says there
is desperate need for more qualified
coaches.
And, due to the lack of open space on
which to train, he even fears hitting
a member of the public when the
potentially lethal ball and chain is sent
spinning through the air.
Despite
these
limitations,
it
is
remarkable that Kibrom took only four
years to go from novice to national
record holder. Last year in the Ethiopia
Championships
at
Addis
Ababa
Stadium, his throw of 44 meters broke
a record which had stood for more than
three decades.
It is an achievement he did not think
possible while working as an animal
science development agent, helping
farmers learn the best ways of feeding,
grazing and breeding their cattle.
Kibrom, 32, is originally from the town
of Wukro in the Tigray Regional State.
Having graduated from the government
agricultural college, he worked for three
years in the rural area of Dergajen, often
coping without electricity.
When he found himself out of work, a
new occupation provided spark in his
life.
“When I started throwing, I was 27,”
said Kibrom. “I had no job, I had no
alternative, so I thought ‘I’ll throw’. I
was doing it for enjoyment.
“I didn’t have a coach so I learned from
Kibrom Werede
the internet and books.”
The self-tuition clearly paid off and,
following his first appearance in a
national competition, he realized
hammer throwing could be more than
just a hobby.
“All regions come to Addis to compete in
the Ethiopia Championships and after
that, my rank was No 9,” said Kibrom.
“I was throwing without a coach so they
thought ‘may be he’s good’.
“When Defense Club asked me to join,
I said to myself ‘this is good for me’. If
a person has no job, clubs give hope.
Defense is the best club in Ethiopia.
They give me a salary, a home and food.”
Dents and divots do not do footballers
any favors. “The Football Federation
says ‘the pitch is damaged. Don’t
throw’,” said Kibrom.
“If the government gave it more
attention, may be the federations would
work together. They need to compete
with other countries so they prefer
running only. In running, the athletes
have managers - for business only - they
can gain money. There is no attention
for throwing. There is no vision for
changing.”
Kibrom, who is taking his coaching
qualifications, hopes the next generation
of throwers do not have to rely on advice
found online.
Keen to boost their strength in field
events, Defense valued his contribution
in club competitions where the top eight
finishers earn points.
The hammer throw is such a technical
event, experienced teachers are needed
for advice on rotation, footwork, grip
and release.
However, in the hectic city of Addis,
Kibrom finds it difficult to practice his
skills.
“Long
distance
running
is
not
complicated,” said Kibrom. “It is more
simple. Throwing and also jumping
and short distance running have more
technique.
“When I am throwing the hammer, I’m
worried about hitting people,” he said.
“There are no places to train.”
Even at the national athletics stadium,
there are practical problems.
With the blessing of the Athletics
Federation, runners can happily do laps
of the track on the outside of the football
pitch. But throwers, who use the infield, are greeted by groundsmen with
the contempt normally reserved for a
burrowing mole.
“There is no one throwing a far distance
because there are no skillful coaches. If
we have skilled coaches, may be we can
have skilled athletes.”
Kibrom says there are not enough
competitions for throwers and the
shortage of gymnasiums means they
miss vital work on the weights.
Athletes who show interest in throwing
tend to be aged 22 to 30 by which time they
At that time, with Ethiopia still under
socialist rule, throwers were taught
by coaches from the Soviet Union, the
world’s leading throwing nation. The
Soviets produced eight different world
record holders for the hammer between
1954 and 1986 and Yuriy Sedyky’s mark
of 86.74m has still not been beaten.
Gradually, Ethiopian throwers
hoping to make progress.
are
This year at the African Championships
in Morocco, Biruk Abraham extended
the national record to 46.12m, claiming
fourth place.
For Kibrom, however, despite his
national achievements, 44 metres is
not a distance which stands up against
Africa’s best.
“When you compare it with countries
like South Africa, Egypt and Kenya, it’s
very short,” he said. “Only for Ethiopia,
it’s very good.
“In South Africa and Egypt they throw
over 70 meters.”
He dreams of a day when an Ethiopian
thrower can generate the same
enthusiasm among supporters as the
nation’s famous runners.
“When our people, our communities,
hear ‘he’s doing a throwing event’ they
don’t support it,” he said.
“Abebe Bikila was a role model for
running. Still there are no role models
for throwing.”
By spreading the word about his passion
and teaching young athletes, Kibrom is
aiming to put that right.
Perhaps in the future, it will be hammer
time.
Ed.’s Note: The writer is on an internship
at The Reporter.
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