Some Nigerian journalists who covered the recent Ordinary Session of the African Union in Addis Ababa had the rare privilege of touring the country. They learnt some of the rules of engagement in business and other sectors. In this piece, Juliana Taiwo, who was part of the tour, writes on the rules of engagement for investors in Ethiopia and sundry issues of interest.
The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Addis Abba Office took nine African Journalists and Editors from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt and Zimbabwe to the Ethiopian capital to focus on the institutional transformation of the African Union; the structure of the African Union Summit; get updates on the current conflicts in Africa; study the Civil Society Organisations’ engagement with Regional Economic Communities (REC) and the African Union; and discuss the African Union Authority/Union Government.
Just before the commencement of the 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union from January 25 to February 2, 2010, in Addis Ababa, the Group of 9 joined other journalists on visits to the President of the Oromia Regional Government and Representative of Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation (OPDO), in conjunction with the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 24th. The group also toured the industrial layout in Addis Ababa, Bishoftu (Debrezeit) where they have the largest flower farm ever. The farm is not just a major foreign earner; it employs 99.9 percent of the indigenes.
Nigeria has been awash with stories of how multinational companies operating here engage in all sorts of illegalities including bringing in nonentities as expatriates. There are also stories that they take delight in employing Nigerians as casual workers, resulting in many dying in the course of work or losing a limb or two without compensations. And, there are claims that there is so much discrimination that there are specific lifts you take at work, what restaurant you eat, what vehicle you take to work and your take home pay.
Call it an unwritten law if you like. But in Ethiopia, every investor must be ready to employ over 90 per cent Ethiopians (they call it affordable labour) in that business, train and retrain them at intervals and fix a time frame when the company would be wholly run by Ethiopians.
Every investor knows that the company's social responsibility to the community in which they operate is a must. According to what we were made to understand, if you are setting up a company in a community, building of roads, schools, hospitals, giving scholarships and employing the locals are not options.
The Tour of Oromia Region
The tour saw us in two companies in the Industrial zone of the Oromia region. We visited Cedilla, an Etho-Indian pharmaceutical company where out of the 361 staff, 350 are Ethiopians and only six are Indians. The next was Elsewedy Cables which, out of 130 employees, has 89 Ethiopians while the rest are Indians and Egyptians with plans to run the factory in the next couple of months with 95 per cent Ethiopian employees. There are constant on-the-job and classroom training in and outside Ethiopia. We observed in Cedilla pharmaceuticals, for instance, that Ethiopians are among the top management team while at Elsewedy Cables, the sales and administrative positions were manned by Ethiopians. We also paid a visit to Lemma Guyya Art Gallery and recreation around Bishoftu city.
For any investor in Ethiopia, it is an unwritten rule that construction of roads, building of hospitals, schools and other infrastructural development in the area of investment is part of the deal and of course, so is the employment of Ethiopians in that company so that they are not detached from the people.
According to Shimelis Adbisa, the Adviser to the President of Oromia Region, the sponsors of the tour, the vision of the Oromo People Democratic Organisation (political party that has been in governance both at federal and state levels for 15 years) is to ensure food security, education, health and provision of a conducive environment for investors with tax leave to ensure rapid development of the region.
He said in order to achieve its goal of bringing about rapid and sustained socio-economic transformation; the government has been undertaking various reforms in social and economic sectors which resulted in the introduction of new policies and strategies. In line with these policies and strategies, the government has also adopted programs of action encompassing attention to improving the capacity of the state; building a growing economy which benefits all; expanding social services; and entrenching peace, security and good governance in the region.
Adbisa said as a result, notable changes are being seen in key socio-economic sectors and in the lives of the people. It has become possible to bring about whole rounded and sustained economic development; improve social infrastructure, reduce unemployment by fostering entrepreneurship and creating job opportunity, and improve production and productivity.
Kuriftu Resort and Spa in Debre Zeit
The best part of the tour was a visit to the Kuriftu Resort and Spa in Debre Zeit, an hour’s drive from South East Addis Ababa. With an altitude of 1900 metres, it enjoys a warm climate, is surrounded by a series of lively crater lakes and is full of birdlife. It is indeed a place you only need to experience to understand. The furniture, the food (they have guest chefs from different countries to train the staff for one month; it was a Nigerian Chef in December) and the surrounding speak of class and nature.
The co-owner of the resort, Ato Tadiwos Belete told us before lunch was served that the vision of the resort which has been operational for the past three years in Ethiopia, is to design, construct and manage replicas in Sudan, Djibouti, Uganda, Nigeria and several other African countries.
He said the resort is the first standard benchmark for a lodge in Addis Ababa. "It proves that we Ethiopians can make and operate 5-star resorts. In addition, it shows that Ethiopian equipment and materials can be applied to our resorts harmoniously. We had trained fresh graduate students for one year and eight months and now they are the ones who are managing the resort. For me, it’s like a child. I saw its progress with time."
Tadiwos was born in a small village called Lemo in Arisi, and he later came to Dessie with his uncle. In 1980, he left for Sudan and stayed there for three years. He spent a very hard time in Sudan, lacking basic necessities, including sufficient water and food. He later became a servant. He engaged himself in different fields and faced challenging time for three years. He finally found a sponsor who took him to Chicago. After a year in Chicago, he headed to Boston and lived there for 19 years. He later returned to Ethiopia to establish the Resort and Spa after he found a partner.
Tadiwos deeply believes in challenging himself to the fullest and is working closely with and improving the lives of his employees.
But the Ethiopians will rather live outside
Despite the fact that I could see some improvements from my last visit (2008 and this was actually my third), in terms of infrastructure, Ethiopians want out of their country. Few of those we interacted with are in love with Nigeria and Kenya.
Our 22 year old driver (Ephraim) for instance, dropped out of secondary school and there is no hope of getting into University as the tuition fees are beyond his control. Even though they are proud of their heritage, they will rather go outside. They are also not really free as they are suspicious of every question and comments.
The disturbing thing though was the sheer amount of psychologically disturbed people (mad) walking stack naked even in such highbrow areas as where the AU and UNECA headquarters are situated.
Rush by Europeans to adopt Ethiopian kids
It was common sight during breakfast at Addis View Hotel where we lodged to see a lot of European couples with Ethiopian kids, ages ranging from three months to four years. Some of the new parents spoken to said they had gone through 20-hour training on adoption and did not have a choice of which country to adopt from.
Olivier and Lies, a couple from Belgium for instance have been married for two and half years. For now, they will rather be parents to some of the kids in the world without parents though have not ruled out having their own biological children in future. In Olivier and Lies case, they had 10 countries to choose from but some of them had pre-conditions they could not meet. In Haiti for instance, the couple must have been married for at least ten years, India you must be Catholic and in Nepal you must have proof that you are biologically unable to have children. But in Ethiopia, after the mandatory 20 hour training, new parents are invited to see the child that has been given to them and this process takes between six months to three years. Most of the parents we met had completed the processes and were in the country to finalise the documents and take away their children.
Aside the language barrier especially with the between one and four year olds, the children, according to their new parents are quick to bond. The children are however monitored with reports sent back home to the orphanage so as to keep their biological parents (for those not orphaned, their identities are never disclosed) with their new parents. When once it is sensed that the child is not being properly taken care of, he is withdrawn and sent back home. The children are however free to return home to Ethiopia at 18 if they so desire to stay connected to their roots.
9-Ja Place
Adjacent to the African Union headquarters is a whole new Nigerian spot, 9-ja, a bed and breakfast as well as a restaurant run by Deaconess Bisi Kolapo and Yeye Fumiola Osiyanbade where you can eat all sort of Nigerian dishes from all parts of the country. It is the first of its kind fully owned and run by Nigerians. Before now, Nigerians in Addis working either in the AU or the UN have had to settle for Italian, Chinese or Ethiopian dishes. The restaurant came to the rescue of those of us who were really getting tired of the food in Addis. It even played host to President Olusegun Obasanjo who was in the country to attend a Panel of the Wise meeting.
ICT Fair at the Summit
In line with the 14th Ordinary Summit of the African Union theme “Information and Communication Technologies in Africa: Prospects and Challenges for Development”, there was an ICT Fair at the basement of the UNECA. For South Africa, it was all about marketing the FIFA World Cup. So, there were free ball pens and flash disks, t-shirts and ball caps, little wonder they had the longest queues at their stand.
The Nigerian stand attracted an impressive crowd. Aside the fact that they had free kola nuts and bitter kola to give out, Omatek’s unique products ensured they were kept on their toes all through, attending to interested parties. Of interest the most was the tablet computers as well as camera devices that could be installed at home to monitor activities at home from any part of the world. No wonder women were the most interested in this device as they wanted to know if it can be installed in their bedrooms so they can monitor what goes on in there in their absence.
