International Legal Perspectives on the Utilization of Trans-Boundary Rivers – The Case of the Ethiopian Renaissance (Nile) Dam
International Legal Perspectives on the Utilization of Trans-Boundary Rivers – The Case of the Ethiopian Renaissance (Nile) Dam By Habtamu Alebachew, Mekelle University, College of Law and Governance Ethiopia Paper Presented to the Ninth IUCN Colloquium, North West University of…
A Growing Opportunity – Measuring Investments in African Agriculture
Introduction Sub-Saharan African agriculture could, and should, be thriving. According to the World Bank, the region has the right conditions to feed itself: enough fertile farmland, enough water and enough favourable climates. According to the International Fund for Agriculture Development…
DeNial is Not a River
By Entehabu Berhe, PhD March 21, 2013 DeNial is Not a River For some, the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) on the Blue Nile (Abay) continues to be a source of controversy and insecurity. For Ethiopia, however,…
The Role of Public Sentiment and Social Media in the Evolving China–Africa Relationship
The South African Institute of International Affairs (SAIIA) published in January 2013 an analysis titled “The Role of Public Sentiment and Social Media in the Evolving China-Africa Relationship” by Yu-Shan Wu, an assistant researcher at SAIIA. The title is misleading…
Embracing Africa’s Economic Potential (Videos)
U.S. Senator Chris Coons Chair, Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on African Affairs March 7, 2013 Recommendations for Strengthening Trade Relationships Between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa TABLE OF CONTENTS Letter from Senator Coons Executive Summary Detailed Examination of Recommendations…
The China Monitor: A Special Report on BRICS 2013 – Is the Road from Durban Leading into Africa?
In the run-up to the 5th BRICS Summit from 26 to 27 March 2013 in Durban, South Africa, the Centre for Chinese Studies at Stellenbosch University published in March a special edition of The China Monitor that looks at all…
Whose Interpretation and Claim is the ‘Intellectual Adwa’?
By Habtamu Alebachew 1. Prelude When I think of the concept ‘Intellectual Adwa’1 in the present context of Ethiopia, I recall in my mind one of the intriguing natures of politics—the rule of divergence versus tolerance. No great leader or…
Ethiopian Late PM Meles Zenawi Very Present 6 Months After Death
By Kirubel Tadesse Feb. 26, 2013 – ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — (AP) — Ethiopia’s long-ruling leader died half a year ago, but it seems Meles Zenawi still holds on to power. In the capital, his face looks down from hundreds…
International Rivers and the Omo – Anti-Dam Group Short on Fact, Long on Fiction Again
The Gilgel Gibe III Dam is once again under fire from environmentalists who had previously raised concerns over dangers they claim are associated with the dam, including allegations that more than half a million people’s livelihoods along the Lower Omo…
Discourse on the Political Economy of Public Corruption in Ethiopia: Meles Zenawi Revisited
By Habtamu Alebachew 1. The Encounter Last year by this time, I participated in an international research conference in the city of Algiers, Algeria, organized by the Algerian Customs Authority in collaboration with the World Bank. The objective of the…
China’s Economic Statecraft and African Mineral Resources – Changing Modes of Engagement
A new study suggests that China’s model of providing large concessionary loans for infrastructure projects to be paid back by sending oil and minerals to China is gradually changing. Ana Cristina Alves authored a report titled “China’s Economic Statecraft and…
Oil in Uganda – International Lessons for Success
The technical challenges of extracting Uganda’s waxy, on-shore oil has prevented production so far and means that full capacity will probably not be reached until 2020. In the meantime, the debate is underway over the management of Uganda’s oil in…
Private Chinese Investment in Africa: Myths and Realities
Xiaofang Shen, visiting scholar in the SAIS China Studies Program and former World Bank investment specialist, published in January 2013 an excellent study titled “Private Chinese Investment in Africa: Myths and Realities” as a World Bank working paper. The paper…
Ethiopia Continues Its Stride Forward Despite Neoliberals’ Cynicism
By Fantahun Belay Since last July, when the government announced that the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi was receiving medical treatments, several overrated analysts and media outlets have been busy forecasting doomsday scenarios, forecasting a power contest in the Ethiopian…
Long Live the King: Ethiopia’s New Leadership is Practising Hero-Worship
DURING his two decades running Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi almost single-handedly engineered its rise from lost cause to model pupil. Even his enemies admit he was both popular and competent. Often working around the clock, he could make complex policy choices…
Costs and Opportunities of Pre and Post the Death of the late PM Meles Zenawi of Ethiopia
By Melese Diribsa The death of the late PM Meles Zenawi has been gone with creating different notions in Ethiopian mind. Nobody expected the untimely death of the late PM Meles Zenawi, 57. Meles was in front of Ethiopian and…
Meles Zenawi: Dedicated Peace Advocate and a Brilliant Military Strategist
By Sani Awol Feb. 11, 2013 This post contains PART I and PART II PART I A week after the untimely and tragic death of H.E. the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, the prominent local elder Professor Ephrem Yishak revealed…
Land of the Pharaohs on the Edge
By Bruh Yihunbelay Feb. 09, 2013 Ever since the ousting of the former president, Hosni Mubarak, one of the world’s oldest civilizations, Egypt, has faced bitter clashes and political instability with no quick solutions at hand. With that being the…
China’s Media Engagement in Ghana
Feb. 08, 2013 A recent academic article titled “Partner, Prototype or Persuader? China’s Renewed Media Engagement with Ghana” by Iginio Gagliardone, Nicole Stremlau and Daniel Nkrumah appeared in Communication, Politics & Culture. It examines the strategic importance of Chinese media…
US and China Economic Engagement in Sub-Saharan Africa
By GAO Feb. 8, 2013 United States Government Accountability Office – Report to Congressional Requesters The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) released in February 2013 a major report on “Sub-Saharan Africa: Trends in U.S. and Chinese Economic Engagement” that focuses…
Don’t We Really Yearn to Hear About an Ethiopian Success Story?
Photo: Ambassador Tesfaye Habisso is a former Ethiopian Ambassador to Uganda and South Africa By Ambassador Tesfaye Habisso Feb. 08, 2013 When I returned to Ethiopia in 2006 after completing my four-year tenure as the Ambassador of Ethiopia to the…
Unleashing the U.S. Investor in Africa: A Critique of U.S. Policy Toward the Continent
By Peter C. Hansen February 4, 2013 Obstacles to US Investment in Africa Peter Hansen, a Washington attorney who specializes in African investment law, made a compelling case for expanding U.S. bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and double tax treaties (DTTs) with…
Does the Ethiopian Constitution Allow for a Unilateral Secession of the Member States of the Federation?
By Fiseha Haftetsion February 05, 2013 The explicit constitutional recognition of the right of nations, nationalities, and peoples to secession is one of the highly debated politico-legal issues in Ethiopia. Election times, in particular, are good reminders of the debates…
Ethiopia`s Multicultural Education: A Negation to the Past and Champion of the New Beginning in Nation Building
By Mahari Yohans (email: mareco_aau@yahoo.com ) 1. Introduction In world history it is uncommon to find a modern state formed peacefully, except in most cases of colonial fabricated state experiences. Regardless of varied theoretical foundation of state formation, today`s modern…
Ethiopia: Prognosis on the Logic of the Tigrian Armed Struggle (1975—1991)
Photo: Meles Zenawi and wife Azeb Mesfin during the armed struggle By Habtamu Alebachew Jan. 28, 2013 1. Prelude Under present circumstances in Ethiopia, I feel that we have to broaden the scope and extents of the discussion on the…
Goldman Bankers Get Rich Betting on Food Prices as Millions Starve
By Tom Bawden January 29, 2013 Bank criticised for making £250m after destructive spikes in global food market Goldman Sachs made more than a quarter of a billion pounds last year by speculating on food staples, reigniting the controversy over…
Davos, Re-Risking Africa and the Green Economy
By Michael Street Jan. 25, 2013 De-Risking Africa was the title of the main session on Africa at the 2013 World Economic in Davos, Switzerland. On 23 January a distinguished panel, including two African presidents, two from the private sector…
Meles Zenawi: The Man Who Gave Back (Video)
Photo: Meles Zenawi, the late PM of Ethiopia Jan. 24, 2013 It is harvest season in Tigray, northern Ethiopia… and the wheat is heavy with seed. One of the world’s oldest known farming areas, the Ethiopian highlands have served as…
‘Ethiopian Characteristics’ of Economic Growth and the Politics of Growth Bumps
By Habtamu Alebachew Jan 23, 2013 Click link below to read entire post in easy to read PDF version: ethiopian-characteristic-of-economic-growth Prelude A dozen of outstanding policy makers and development economists warn about what they call the ‘growth bumps’ amidst remarkable…
Painstaking, Promising Rafting across the Nile
By Dirbaba, M.i Jan 22, 2013 Just some 40 minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa airport the plane approaches its destiny and enters Bahir Dar air space with a low altitude providing passengers to admire the beautiful scene of…
Reactions to Meles Zenawi’s Passing Around the Globe
Jan. 14, 2013 By Daniel Berhane Photo: Meles Zenawi, the late PM of Ethiopia The post below was originally published at http://www.danielberhane.com Meles Zenawi, the intellectual leader of Ethiopia, criticized more than his fair share alive was celebrated after his death. One can…
Ethiopia, the Melting Pot of the Upcoming Celebration of the Golden Jubilee of the African Union!
Image: African Union Logo By Tsehaye Debalkew, Washington D.C. January 8, 2013 The Golden Anniversary of the 50th year of the birth of African Unity will be colorfully celebrated come May 2013 in the city of Addis Ababa as others…
Sudan, South Sudan Agree to Set Up Demilitarized Border Zone
Photo: Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan’s Salva Kiir Jan. 06, 2013 Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir and South Sudan’s Salva Kiir agreed to set up a demilitarized zone along their border “without further delay” as the African states seek…
Ethiopia’s Renaissance: Quest for Conceptual and Definitional Parcels
Photo: Castle in Gondar, Ethiopia By Habtamu Alebachew Jan 7, 2013 The motto ‘Renaissance’ is by no means a unique or exclusive application to Ethiopia’s usage. There have been many experiences of ‘Renaissance Movements’ in other parts of the world….
One Billion Birr Contract Awarded to a Consortium of Designers, Architects for New Ethiopian Parliament Building
Photo: Current Ethiopian Parliament Building in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia By Merga Yonas Jan. 5, 2013 Note: 1,000,000,000 ETB = $55,000,000 USD A consortium of designing and architectural companies, Addis Mebratu Consulting Architects and Engineering, Studio Seven and Geluk Trieurniet Architects–…
Current Reality in Ethiopia: A Dominant Party System or A Single Party State?
By Tsehaye Debalkew, Washington D.C January 4, 2013 There has been an acute and hugely observable dialogue and fierce debate that under grids the critical discourse of the Ethiopian polity in the wake of the fast paced development drive and…
Don’t Ever Be Optimist or Pessimist, Just Believe in Possibilities!
By Kassa Legesse Jan 4, 2013 Heap of Blame and Criticism doesn’t Necessarily Form Credible Facts. Yet I see in Ethiopian political discourse and in the media polarized views: heap of appreciation unwilling to see the tangible failures, and heap…
Perspectives on Meles Zenawi’s “African Development: Dead Ends and New Beginnings”
Jan. 03, 2013 By Habtamu Alebachew (Lecturer) Prelude I heard a rumor in early 2011 that the late Prime Minister Meles Zenawi released an outline of his proposed dissertation with the above title for qualifying for his PhD graduation. Now,…
Betraying An Idealist Ethiopia is Counter-Productive
By Adal Isaw January 2, 2013 Relations between states is shaped and reshaped by the kind of a world-view that a state holds. A state chooses a specific world-view to interact with other states diplomatically, militarily, economically and so on….
The Economics of Pre and Post-Independence African Economy and the Possibilities of Mainstreaming Meles’s Developmental State Ideologies
Dec. 31, 2012 By Samuel Kidane While dealing with the historiography of post-independence African economy, the writer has made attempts to consult sources of different interests. Majority of the sources consulted for this purpose are books written by Marxist scholars….
Ethiopia: Re-framing the Post Meles Zenawi Political Discourse
By Ali Belew Dec. 31, 2012 A couple of months ago, a group of longtime friends spent a three day weekend at Raytown, Pennsylvania, a picturesque resort town whose landscape reminds us of our Ethiopian homeland. One night, while we…
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“Ethiopia is an Important Manufacture Base for [China] Since We are Going to be the OEM for World Brands”
China Daily December 25, 2012 Shoeing into Ethiopia As China’s labor, manufacturing and resources costs continue to rise, Ethiopia, one of the least-developed countries in the world is hoping Chinese companies will consider opening more factories there. “China is one…
Hannah Godefa, 15, Meets Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper
Photo: Hannah Godefa By Adam Martin-Robbins Dec 24, 2012 Hannah’s Philanthropy Lands her Meeting with Harper Hannah Godefa has rubbed shoulders with local politicians and heads of state in Africa, still the 15-year-old philanthropist was honored to land a meeting…
Time Magazine Remembers Meles Zenawi in its Year End “Tributes To Those We Lost in 2012″
Photo: The Late PM of Ethiopia, Meles Zenawi (TOBY MELVILLE / REUTERS) Dec. 20, 2012 Remembering those who left us in 2012 Meles Zenawi always said he didn’t intend to die in office. Speaking to TIME as long ago as…
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD): Transforming the Nile from Fixation to Cooperation
By Ababiya Nemera Dec. 20, 2012 Ever since the April 2011 official launch of the Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) Project, there have been various reports, whether tangible or not, insinuating military attacks against Ethiopia by lower riparian countries. Rumors…
China’s State Media Engagement in Africa: An Instrument of Public Diplomacy
Dec. 20, 2012 The West has not been interested in Africa for decades. Now, after seeing what China is doing in Africa, the topic of Africa, specifically, Africa’s relations with China, has come to the front pages. Most western states…
Ethiopia and the Battle for Economic Stability
By Aksumawi Turner Dec. 19, 2012 Abstract: The Journey for Economic stability has been a very difficult task for the African nations. The one nation which was never colonized, has had to try this journey with little to no assistance…
New Trends in African Media: The Growing Role of China
Dec. 19, 2012 The Oxford University China Africa Network hosted on 9 November 2012 a conference on “New Trends in African Media: The Growing Role of China.” Dr. Iginio Gagliardone and Dr. Harry Verhoeven prepared a brief conference report that…
The Rise and Fall of (Chinese) African Apparel Exports
Dec. 19, 2012 The Centre for the Study of African Economies at Oxford published in August 2012 a study titled “The Rise and Fall of (Chinese) African Apparel Exports.” Written by Lorenzo Rotunno, Pierre-Louis Vezina and Zheng Wang, it explained…
Doha Climate Talks and Major Decisions
By Gabriel Temesgen Dec. 18, 2012 The 18th conference of the parties (COP-18) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change was undertaken in Doha, Qatar, where around 17,000 representatives of nearly 200 countries met in oil-and-gas-rich Qatar for…
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