June 2011

Dear Secretary Clinton, Unlike the almost annoyingly fussy, routinely dead-beat and robotically mechanical welcome of the government, I extend to you the simple, warm welcome of Ethiopia’s oppressed tens of millions: Welcome to our ramshackle of a city, the embodiment of four wasted decades and barely over a century old, though, as Henry Kissinger usually […]

By Yilma Bekele I am not making this up You can follow the link below and watch the four part video of the leader for life meeting with Ethiopian business leaders. It is a very interesting video. The video is edited and posted on You Tube by Ethiopian TV. I am very grateful. They should

Ethiopia’s deputy prime minister, Hailemariam Desalegn, dismissed forecasts that economic growth would slow sharply this year and next and that monetary policy was pushing up inflation, saying growth may exceed 10 percent. Expansion won’t drop below 9 percent in the fiscal year to July 7, 2012, from 11.4 percent this year, Hailemariam, who is also

Ethiopia’s dependence on foreign capital to finance budget deficits and a five-year investment plan is unsustainable, said Ken Ohashi, the World Bank’s country director for the Horn of Africa nation. The government plans to borrow at least 398.4 billion Ethiopian birr ($23.6 billion) from home and abroad to fund the five-year growth plan, with an

(bbc) The US is reviewing its green card lottery after this year’s results were cancelled, leaving 22,000 people who thought they had been chosen for a chance at US residency disappointed. The state department said a computer failed to run a valid random selection for the annual diversity visa lottery. More than 19m people entered

By Alemayehu G. Mariam [This commentary is an expanded version of remarks I gave at the annual SEED Award Dinner (Society of Ethiopians Established in Diaspora)[1] held at the Georgetown University Conference Center, Washington, D.C. on May 29, 2011.] I thank the Executive Board of SEED and its chairman Prof. Melaku Lakew for selecting me

Source: FEWS NET The eastern Horn of Africa has experienced two consecutive seasons of significantly below‐average rainfall, resulting in one of the driest years since 1995. Crops have failed, substantial livestock mortality has occurred, and local cereal prices are very high. More than seven million people in the sub‐region need humanitarian assistance, and emergency levels

Meles Zenawi, Ethiopia Length of rule: 16 years. Zenawi helped lead the rebel movement that overthrew a brutal military dictatorship in 1991, and in 1995 was elected prime minister, a post he still holds. After heavily disputed elections in 2005 that featured his ruling party announcing victory in a close election before the votes were

By Alison Rusinow The global food price crisis: It’s rightfully making headlines in the international media, causing grave concerns amongst international donors and humanitarian agencies world-wide and even focusing the attention of leaders at the G8 summit. But what does it mean for the most disadvantaged people in one of the poorest countries in the