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Ethiopian airlines to acquire two Boeing 777-200LRs in November

Other Publications — Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:21:24 +0000

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopian airlines announced on Wednesday that it will acquire two Boeing 777-200LRs in November, making the airline “the first in Africa to operate the world’s most technologically advanced and longest-range aircraft”, a statement said here.

Ethiopian airlines, which bought these planes with a multi million dollar investment, currently operates an all-Boeing fleet, including the 737, 757, 767, MD11 Freighter and one 747 cargo aircraft.

Ethiopian’s vision of the future includes five 777-200LRs and ten 787 Dreamliner as well as 12 Airbus 350s, all of which will significantly enhance its network expansion and generate more revenue.

The airline is expected to spend billions of dollars to acquire these planes.

“The 777-200LR aircraft, which entered service in March 2006, has the capability to connect virtually any two cities in the world non-stop. It will enable Ethiopian Airlines to connect Addis Ababa to the U.S. and to more destinations in Asia non-stop,” said airline.

Ethiopian’s 777-200LRs are configured to carry a total of 321 passengers and a full cargo load on routes where other planes are limited.

Ethiopian activists in Facebook protest for Birtukan Mideksa

Other Publications — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 23:02:59 +0000

By Mark Tran, guardian.com.uk:

Activists have urged people to change their Facebook profile to that of Birtukan Mideksa, 35, Ethiopa’s most prominent political prisoner, for the Ethiopian new year, which starts on 11 September.

The opposition party leader is an Amnesty International prisoner of conscience, serving a life sentence in Kaliti prison in Addis Ababa. A single mother and former judge, she was among dozens arrested after the disputed 2005 elections, freed, and then re-arrested for saying her release had been due to opposition pressure on the government rather than a request by her for pardon.

Mideksa and others arrested in 2005 were pardoned after spending nearly two years in jail. In November 2008 she spoke at a public meeting in Sweden about her pardon, attributing her release and that of others to political negotiations between the opposition and the government rather than an official request made through legal channels.

While people who were in jail with her the first time say this reflected the truth, the government said it equated to denying asking for a pardon. When she returned toEthiopia, authorities asked her to retract her statement, failing which she would be re-arrested. She refused and was re-arrested in December 2008, when the ministry of justice revoked her pardon and re-imposed her life sentence.

Since a court ruling on a complaint she filed against the prison, Mideksa – the only female leader of a main opposition party in Africa – has been allowed more regular visits from her immediate family, including her mother and her five-year-old daughter. However, she has reportedly had only intermittent access to legal representation.

Mideksa’s imprisonment has garnered increasing public attention. Her supporters are planning a run for her in Turbingen, Germany on 19 September.

In its annual report on human rights around the world, the US state department’ssection on Ethiopia said: “Human rights abuses reported during the year included unlawful killings, torture, beating, abuse and mistreatment of detainees and opposition supporters by security forces, often acting with evident impunity; poor prison conditions; arbitrary arrest and detention, particularly of suspected sympathisers or members of opposition or insurgent groups…”

Opposition parties and human rights groups say Mideksa’s case is stark evidence of the authoritarian tendencies of Meles Zenawi, the prime minister, a major recipient of western aid.

Tri-Cities doctor traveling to Ethiopia to perform eye surgery

Other Publications — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:38:09 +0000

From, KNDU-TV: KENNEWICK, Wash.– An eye doctor from the Tri-Cities is traveling to Ethiopia to perform eye surgery on people who have gone blind from cataracts.Dr. James Guzek is an opthamologist at the Pacific Cataract and Laser Institute in Kennewick, but is no stranger to traveling to third world countries to help those who are blind. He’s been to Ghana, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. Most Recently, he traveled to Ethiopia in January, where he helped set up a clinic and performed more than 60 surgeries, giving those who are bilaterally blind their sight back. Dr. Guzek says, “We’d pick out 12-15 people every morning. We’d do our testing. We’d do surgery on as many as we could and the 50, 75, 100 other people that were there, we’d never even get to.”

Doctor Guzek says it those people who made him realize he has to return. “It was traumatizing to go and to have to leave people behind who are easily curable and so that’s why I felt, when I left there, I knew that I’d have to go back.” He is going back, October 15 to October 30th and hopes to perform more than 100 surgeries.

“To give somebody back their sight, it’s just wonderful. It’s more a gift for me, or as much a gift for me, as it is for them, who can receive their sight back,” says Dr. Guzek.

The whole trip is costing more than $60,000, not including medical supplies. Dr. Guzek has been working through his Rotary Club to raise money and says they’re always looking for donations. For information about how to donate e-mail james.guzek@pcli.com

Ethiopian-Born Celeberty Chef, Marcus Samuelsson Opens in Harlem

Other Publications — Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:04:36 +0000

Marcus Samuelsson near his new Red Rooster Harlem at 310 Lenox Avenue near 125th Street. Photo: Christian Hansen for The New York Times

By GLENN COLLINS, NY Times: “FOOD can be cooked from the soul,” said Marcus Samuelsson as he moved through the raw space of Red Rooster Harlem, his upcoming restaurant on Lenox Avenue near West 125th Street. “But that doesn’t make it soul food.”

And so, Red Rooster won’t be devoted to the Southern cooking that has long fueled Sylvia’s, a block away. Nor will it exclusively channel the African dishes Mr. Samuelsson once served at Merkato 55, his vast, exotic meatpacking district flameout. Instead, he will preside over what he calls “an elevated American comfort food” that borrows from both cuisines, and others. “Harlem is so diverse, and our menu will be, too,” he said.

Mr. Samuelsson, 39, was born in Abragodena, Ethiopia, orphaned at 3 and adopted by a Swedish couple in Gothenburg. But cooking in Harlem, where he has lived for six years, is a voyage home to his identity and ancestry, he said. “For any person of color, no matter where you come from, Harlem has special meaning.”

The name of his 100-seat restaurant, opening in October, salutes the original Red Rooster, a storied, long-shuttered Harlem hangout whose clientele included James Baldwin and Willie Mays. The ground floor of the new $2 million Red Rooster will have a restaurant, a breakfast cafe, a grocery, a horseshoe-shaped bar and a communal table, all of it covering 3,400 square feet. He means to fill the 1,800-square-foot basement not only with a party space that has “a speak-easy vibe with jazz, gospel and open-mike music,” he said, but also with cooking classes and demonstrations.

Mr. Samuelsson is the winner of the last “Top Chef Masters,” guest chef for the first state dinner of the Obama administration, and a city fixture who made his bones at Aquavit, where he took over the kitchen in 1995 and is still a part owner.

The executive chef at Red Rooster will be Andrea Bergquist, whose résumé includes Tabla, Gramercy Tavern and Merkato 55.

That restaurant — where Mr. Samuelsson said his role was mostly advisory, where he was rarely observed in the kitchen and which he left after six months — segued into a club and closed last year. He said he will be “a regular presence” in Red Rooster, because he owns it and “this is my neighborhood, and this is our space.”

Red Rooster will be about “affordable, well-executed food,” he said, adding that dinner checks will land in the $40 range, including drinks. Appetizers will run from $4 to $12, desserts from $4 to $10, and the most expensive main course will be $25.

His inexpensive ingredients, drawn from Harlem’s ethnic mix, reflect Mr. Samuelsson’s conviction that “through food, we can trace the history of poverty,” he said, adding that “poor white working-class people are part of soul food, too. Actually, every ethnicity has soul food.”

There will be a potato-and-celery mash, collard greens and fried chicken, a work in progress. “Our crust is there, so now it’s about the moisture factor and how it’s marinated,” he said.

Also on the menu are a duck- and chicken-liver ganache seasoned with garam masala, cardamom, ginger and port-wine reduction; flank steak with oxtail; and two Ethiopian dishes, including a spicy-egg chicken stew.

The bartenders will pay homage to the role of the mixed drink in the Harlem Renaissance, Mr. Samuelsson said, adding that bourbons “infused with peanut and tobacco and other things will be used to build cocktails.”

Mr. Samuelsson is betting that Red Rooster will be a magnet for young, striving African, Caribbean, Latin — and yes, white — Harlem, as well as the neighborhood’s venerables.

“The game changer for me?” he said, pausing during the nine-block walk from Red Rooster to his duplex near Frederick Douglass Boulevard. “That was when I noticed that there were more wine stores in Harlem than liquor stores.”

Ethiopians in the Bay Area Celebrated Enkutatash

Other Publications — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 19:02:33 +0000

By Laura Hautala, OaklandNorth: Labor Day might mark the end of summer for some, but in Ethiopia, September means the springtime celebration of a new year. Called Enkutatash, the holiday enticed a crowd of African ex-pats and other curious locals to an outdoor festival at Berkeley’s Civic Center Park this Sunday.

Organized by Oakland’s own Ethiopian Community and Cultural Center (ECCC), the event showcased crafts and clothing, a variety of ethnic foods, and Africa-conscious charitable organizations from around northern California.

Down Center Street, vendors sold an array of Jamaican, Ghanaian and Ethiopian foods. Along with sunny weather and live Reggae music, the wafting blend of cumin and chili peppers helped create a festive mood. People in T-shirts and jeans mingled with traditionally dressed Ethiopian and Sudanese men and women to get a look at the African-themed wares on display.

“This is a non-political, non-religious event – a festival celebrating the new year,” said Ermias Getachew, president of the ECCC. Sunday marked the party’s seventh anniversary.

According to the ECCC event program, Enkutatash commemorates the Queen of Sheba’s return from her visit to King Solomon, when her chiefs replenished her treasuries with gifts of jewels. It also marks the end of the Ethiopian rainy season, when the country is green and fertile.

Enkutatash is also a time to formally greet friends and neighbors. When meeting a group on the new year, Amharic speakers give the greeting, “Enquan laddis amet aderesachuh,” or, “wishing you all a happy new year.” Groups of women in long white dresses with trimmed white headscarves (also known as a habesha kamet accessorized with a netela) met at the civic center with embraces and extended greetings as they milled through the crowd.

The East Bay is home to a strongly connected Ethiopian community. The Contra Costa Times has reported that half of Africans living in the nine Bay Area counties live in the East Bay. Of all Bay Area African immigrants, 7,500 – or nearly 20% – hail from Ethiopia, according to figures derived from the US Census American Community Survey for 2005-2007.

Food drew many visitors to the park, and members of Oakland’s Ethiopian Orthodox Church were on hand to serve a vast menu of traditional cuisine.

Claiming a plate of food was difficult but rewarding. Chaos reigned as the church members scrambled to get the operation going two hours after the festivities began. Next, visitors tried to order, and learned they needed to buy coupons at a separate location before receiving their food. However, plates of flat injera bread loaded with spicy goodness soon came flying out of each stall.

Dejere Demerat sold meal coupons and explained the menu. “The cooked meat is the tibs,” he said. “You can call it beef tibs, lamb tibs.”

Raw beef, or kitfo, pleased the palate of many a habesha kamet-clad woman dining in the park. The dish came with foamy, sour injera bread, which doubles as a spoon. The church members also prepared vegetarian options, including lentils and collard greens cooked into a thick stew, or wat.

“We are all volunteers,” Demerat said of his crew of about 15 cooks.

Dave Dwelley, 42, and his two children, Eyosiyas and Beza, both about 18 months old, explored craft stalls and listened to live music at the festival. Dwelley said he adopted his children from Ethiopia in November 2009, and he brought them to the event to keep their heritage alive. “We have a real interest in helping them stay connected with the culture of their birth,” he said.

Some organizations came in hopes of calling attention to difficulties faced by people in Ethiopia. Standing by a table full of children’s books, Tracy resident Frew Tibebu explained the need for libraries in his native country. Frew is on the board of the Denver-based Ethiopia Reads, an organization that promotes literacy by connecting Americans with communities in Ethiopia that need libraries.

Tibebu said he came to the East Bay because, even if he only interests “one or two people, those people will make a huge difference” in helping Ethiopians escape poverty.

In Ethiopia, AU Honors Top African Women Scientists

Other Publications — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 16:51:05 +0000

From, AllAfrica.com: The African Union Scientific Awards, some of which are scheduled to be given later this week (9 September), will be officially renamed at the ceremony as the African Union Kwame Nkrumah Scientific Awards in order to increase the AU’s international visibility.

AU leaders reached their decision to change the prizes’ name, which will be effective starting next year at their Kampala summit, earlier this summer.

“[African Union] leaders wanted to celebrate the 100th anniversary of [Ghanaian leader] Kwame Nkrumah’s birth,” Jean Pierre Ezin, AU commissioner for Human Resources, Science and Technology told SciDev.Net. “The prizes will have a new name, nothing else will change.”

The fact that AU leaders discussed the awards, which they want to become more prestigious, showed “recognition at the political level” for the work of the AU’s science and technology division, said Hambani Masheleni, senior policy officer at the division.

“What we are doing is building advocacy for science and technology through these individual awards so that they can contribute to pan-African development.”

The move might help ensure more sustainable long-term funding, Macheleni said.

The awards are currently funded by the European Union’s institutional support to the AU Commission for Human Resources, Science and Technology. This totals around 2 million (US$2.6 million), of which US$500,000 is allocated to the awards programme.

“We have a budget to look at continental and regional African awards that are funded by the AU,” said Macheleni.

The awards were set up in 2007. They include the Young Scientists National Awards worth US$5,000 each, funded separately by the AU and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS); the regional Woman Scientists awards, each worth US$20,000; and continental Top Scientist awards – one for life and earth sciences and the other for basic science, technology and innovation – each worth US$100,000 and open to “all outstanding scientists” in Africa.

AU leaders also discussed bringing the controversial UNESCO-Obiang Nguema Mbasogo International Prize for Research in the Life Sciences awards under the AU awards umbrella, but Ezin said that no application had yet arrived from member states on this subject.

Macheleni was cautious on the prospect of an AU-UNESCO-Obiang award. “The UNESCO awards are quite different from what we are handling here, it is a different style,” he said. “But if we see we are having parallel efforts, we can come together to agree and to complement each other on the same objectives.”

“Honouring science in Africa is important,” said Mohamed Hassan, head of TWAS. But he added that the science issues in Africa are much wider than giving out awards and that the AU needs to build science capacity and help development.

Ethiopia to supply power to Sudan beginning October

Other Publications — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 14:10:40 +0000

Ethiopia to begin exporting hydropower-generated electricity to neighboring Sudan after completion of repair on Gilgel Gibe II power plant.

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) Ethiopia will start supplying power to its neighbor, Sudan, beginning October 2010, APA learns here on Tuesday.

Various power connection works were undertaken between the two countries since the past few years with the support of the World Bank, which has allocated over $100 million for the power interconnection works.

Accordingly, it has been reported that the Ethiopian Electricity and Power Corporation (EEPCo) will start to supply power to Sudan within a month time.

EEPCo indicated that the power supply to Sudan will start as soon as maintenance work on the Gilgel Gibe II hydro-power production plant, which collapsed early this year, is completed later this month.

However, it is not yet clear the amount of power that will be exported to Sudan and the money Ethiopia will obtain by exporting power to Sudan, which is currently supplying fuel to Ethiopia.

Ethiopia, home to around 80 million people, is currently undertaking a multi-billion dollar investment on hydro-electric projects, and is planning to generate around 10,000 megawatt by 2015.

Currently, Ethiopia is generating around 2,000 megawatt, and this will rise to over 3,000 megawatt by 2011 when on-going projects are finalized.

In 2008/2009, Ethiopia signed an electricity export agreement with Sudan, Djibouti and Kenya.

Ethiopia has already completed the Ethio–Sudan transmission line of 230 kilo volt interconnection project, which is about 321 kilometers long.

Moreover, the Ethio–Djibouti 230 kilo volt interconnection of 280 kilometers is another project that is expected to be commissioned in the near future.

“Ethiopian” cars proving to be a success

Other Publications — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:33:50 +0000

From: Radio Netherlands Worldwide: With public purchasing power on the rise, Ethiopia’s small-but-emerging middle class yearns to cruise around Addis Ababa in style. But it has to be affordable. Holland Car, a Dutch-funded company, invests in assembled models. A simple, but quite unique solution on the African continent.

"Holland car" parked in the Ethiopian capital Addis Abeba photo: RNW/Luc van Kemenade

The supply of new models assembled in Ethiopia is increasing and this is reflected in the streets of the capital city. More and more “Ethiopian” cars are seen among the chaotic traffic, still dominated by rundown Lada cabs and Toyota Corollas.

It costs a small fortune to get a second hand vehicle from the West through the port of Djibouti into landlocked Ethiopia. Although taxes have been reduced, they can still rise up to over 100 percent of the purchase value plus the transportation costs, unaffordable to many. For a twenty-year-old Toyota Corolla, for example, you can pay up to 12,500 euros.

Cheap labour
The solution is simple: import spare parts, from China for example, and assemble them in a factory with relatively cheap labour. Although a simple strategy, it’s quite unique on the African continent. Various investors in Ethiopia saw the opportunity and grabbed it. Holland Car for example, a Dutch-funded company, is the first.

Sishah Yohannes, a forty-year-old captain at Ethiopian Airlines, has been driving his Ethiopian-assembled Holland Car Awash for a month now. “I’m really proud when I see the name written in Amharic (official language in Ethiopia) on the back,” he says while parking at the Bole Medhane Alem Church. “This is what I’ve been waiting for: a good Ethiopian product after all this talk about economic growth.”

New family car
Holland Car’s general manager, Tadesse Tessema, convinced the Ethiopian government in the past to lower import taxes on spare parts. This made business even more attractive. Shortly after, he presented three models, all named after Ethiopian rivers: Abay, Tekeze and Awash. Recently, they launched a new family car: Shebele.

Other car assemblers followed suit. First, there was competition from Holland Car’s former Chinese partner. When Yangfan Motors launched three models of its Lifan Cars in Ethiopia, one of them looked a lot like Holland Car’s Abay. The two companies decided to split after a dispute.

Mini-Cooper look-a-like
A definite attraction in the streets of Addis is Lifan’s Mini-Cooper look-a-like, the Lifan 320. The company prefers to describe it in masculine terms as a “mini-SUV with the power of a bear”, but it’s a “typical lady’s car”, says a car salesman.

Hyundai is the latest competitor for the passenger’s car market in Ethiopia. The South Korean company has employed heavy artillery for this. It has Haile Gebreselassie, the internationally acclaimed long-distance track and road running athlete as its ambassador, investor and sole importer. The assembly plant is under construction and personnel are to be trained to assure “international standards”, the successful athlete said.

New step
Satisfied with the competition in the market he initiated, Holland Car CEO Tadesse is preparing for a new step. He’s building a gigantic plant that will be finished in two months. From that day on, he will slowly reduce the import of parts and work towards producing full Ethiopian cars.

“As a pilot, I can choose from different cars from all over the world,” Sisha says. “But I prefer to encourage guys like Tadesse and Haile by buying Ethiopian ones. If the quality is there, why not.”

Floods displace thousands more in Ethiopia

Other Publications — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 20:05:17 +0000

General view from an Ethiopian Army helicopter shows a flooded area of Ethiopia in 2006 AFP

(AFP) ADDIS ABABA — Floodwaters have displaced nearly 16,000 people in north-eastern Ethiopia, the UN said Monday, weeks after thousands of others were affected in the country’s central region.

“Flooding in Afar, caused by the overflow of the Logia River and the Tendaho dam … on 27 August, resulted in the displacement of approximately 15,600 people,” the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement.

The agency said crops and “livelihood assets” were destroyed, roads submerged and bridges swept away.

Flash floods sparked by heavy rainfall earlier in August had displaced more than 11,000 people in the central Amhara region and resulting mudslides killed 19 there, according to the UN.

UNOCHA has warned that nearly 300,000 people could be affected in September as torrential rain continues to pound several regions.

Ethiopia, home to over 80 million, is regularly hit by floods. According to the World Food Programme, more than 183,000 people were affected in 2007.

In 2006, more than 600 people were killed and a further 300,000 affected by unusually heavy floods that ravaged several regions in the Horn of Africa country.

Guinea defeats Ethiopia in CAN 2012 qualifiers

Other Publications — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 23:30:26 +0000

African teams are preparing for upcoming 2012 African Cup of Nations

APA-Addis Ababa (Ethiopia) The Guinea national team on Sunday defeated their Ethiopian counterparts 4-1 in the African Cup of Nations qualifiers played in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The Guinea national team played well both in the first and second halves of the match.

Guinea scored two goals both in the first and second half of the game while the Ethiopian team scored the only goal in the first half of the game.

The Ethiopian team was leading in the match until the 33rd minute of the first half.

The match was suspended for 20 minutes due to heavy rain in the first half of the game and continued after the rains stopped.

This match was the first for the two teams in the CAN 2012 qualifiers.

The Guinea national team was lucky to defeat the Ethiopia team who failed to use the opportunity of playing on their home ground.

Many sports fans were disappointed with the performance of the Ethiopian players during the match.

The Guinean team, which has around five professional players, scored two goals after the 33 minutes of the second match, to the disappointment of the Ethiopian supporters.

Ethiopia returns to the African Nations Cup after 28 years of absence.

The football field was full of water during the 40 minutes of the first half, which left the players not being able to properly manage the ball.

The two countries played seven years ago when the Ethiopian team defeated Guinea 1-0 while Guinea defeated Ethiopia in the return match 3-0.

Ethiopia, Guinea, Madagascar and Nigeria are in the same group for the championship qualifiers.