By Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin
Much has recently been made of my ethnic identity although this is a matter of no relevance whatsoever to a reasoned discourse on the existence of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. However, when the unnecessary gets in the way of the important, however unpleasant it may be, it must be faced.
I am Ethiopian, as truly and wonderfully as that is, and no one has the right to define, reduce, or otherwise dismiss my identity. I do not apologize for or defend who I am, as each one of us, whoever we are, has a God-given set of circumstances that uniquely defines us.
My reality is that, born in Addis Ababa, I first left Ethiopia with my family at the age of four to live in New York city, accompanying my father, Zaude Gabre-Madhin, who was a senior United Nations official, prior to which he served in the Imperial government. Upon returning a few years later, my family then left Ethiopia again, escaping the chaos of the new Derg regime, this time to Rwanda and later Togo, Malawi, and Kenya. I thus grew up in six different countries, going to school in French as well as English, and learning Swahili along the way. Throughout this time, my parents, to whom I owe everything, instilled in me and my sisters the deepest love and pride for our country Ethiopia. As I grew up in different cultures, grappling to understand my adolescent identity, I drew on the stories my parents told me of my heritage and of those who came before me. My mother, Bizuwork Bekele, who never missed a chance to boast about her beloved Harar, shared stories of my incredible great-grandmother, Imahoy Saba Yifat, from Menz and Gondar by origin, who lived in rural Hararghe as a widow after the Italian invasion and was one of the few women fighters of her time standing up to the invaders to defend the land and her six children. I heard about her son, my grandfather, Ato Bekele Haile, a respected magistrate serving as a judge in Harar town, himself of Gurage and Amhara ancestry, and of my mother’s birth in the historical site today known as the House of Rimbaud. As a young child, I loved to sit for hours with my maternal grandmother, Imahoy Beletshachew Habte-Giorgis, a witty, intelligent, and extremely strong-willed woman who would often exclaim in Afan Oromo which she and her children, including my mother, spoke fluently, as she laughed recalling how she managed her coffee farms in the areas around Jijiga, Fedis, and Deder, where many of my relatives still live today.
My father, for his part, mostly to amuse his daughters, named the water tank in our UN provided house in Kigali, Rwanda, “Bulga Springs” to recall his father’s birthplace in northern Shewa. He would proudly speak of my grandfather, Fitawrari Gebremedhin, a noble and highly disciplined official in Emperor Menelik’s time, who later settled in Wolaita Soddo in the late nineteenth century, marrying my grandmother, Woizero Ayalech Alaye, niece of the great Wolaita King Tona. At the age of seven, I remember visiting Soddo where my father was born and where many of my relatives still live, to spend time in his last years with my grandfather who was then nearly a century old. A tall, dignified, and handsome man, deeply religious, my grandfather showed me and my sister his coffee farm and I remember him speaking of my much loved late grandmother, and of his childhood and the family still in Bulga, and his laughing politely, not understanding, as I chattered to him in English with children’s jokes I had learned in New York.
Thus I grew, within and outside Ethiopia, celebrating all the different identities and cultures that are woven beautifully into the tapestry of my identity as an Ethiopian. To my parents, always, we were Ethiopian and that was something to be deeply proud of, recognizing and cherishing all of our different ethnic strands. I never knew until much later, nor did it matter, which particular ethnic group I should claim. In my extended family, my aunt married a man from Wollega and my uncle married a woman from Asmara, my great aunt married into the Abba Jifar clan in Jimma, and the list goes on. So the Ethiopia I knew growing up with my cousins was a kaleidoscope of identities bound together in one Ethiopia.
This is my Ethiopian story, and it is unique to me, as each Ethiopian would similarly have. It is the story of my Ethiopia, the Ethiopia for which I have enduring love and to which I have returned after thirty years to contribute in the best way I know how. This is my Ethiopia to which I bring all the global experiences which have shaped me, as I have lived my adult years in Mali, Switzerland, and the United States, trained and worked in some of the best institutions, and traveled and explored dozens of countries around the world. This is my Ethiopia that represents all of my heritage, the strong and courageous women and men in my family through the ages whose blood flows in me. This is my Ethiopia for which I am willing to work, fight, and believe all things are possible. This is my Ethiopia to which I have brought my US-born sons, to instill in them the pride and love of all that we are as Ethiopians. I would like to teach them that in our increasingly inter-connected world, they are Ethiopians but also global citizens.
Ethiopia is ours, to claim, to build and to restore. Rather than engage in destructive ethnic bigotry, far better to embrace all of what we are and to build together a better future for our children. My personal identity is irrelevant to my choice or ability to lead an initiative to bring a better marketing system for all Ethiopians, regardless of their ethnic roots or which corner of the country they claim. A market is above all a connection between humans, an exchange of goods and money that links two sides. The market is neutral as to who is on either side, it is the connection that counts. I have always found traders to be the most pragmatic people in the world. Let us too live by this market principle: we are far richer and far stronger if we build on our connectivity to each other in meaningful ways, and that much weaker if we seek isolation and succumb to narrow divisiveness. Let us be like the market. I believe it is our only hope.
(Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin, Ph.D., is chief operating officer of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange.)
60 thoughts on “Let’s be like the market – Eleni Gebre-Medhin”
Dear Eleni,
As for your heritage, it doesn’t really matter if you are mixed or some sort of pure fellow tribe. For someone with sound acquaintance of the human race, as your global journey suggest, it should by now be your first nature never to evaluate anyone with the makeup of her/his DNA but with what resides underneath their conscience for that is the only meaningful element that links one with the other.
Regarding your effort to build a better modern commodity market for the country, it is remarkable engagements by a woman with good intentions. Market does indeed link two sides. Nevertheless, the outcome of buyers and sellers linked with relatively modern tools while the overall governing body remains corrupt is quite unlikely to benefit the welfare or advancement of the society in general. Most bad consequences began with good intentions and many development initiatives as such end-up in negative outcome simply because of the operating system being corrupt.
The degree to which the operating system, the governing body, is corrupt is the degree to which any good applications (Market Exchange or not) could go forward.
Good luck to your job and may the force be with you!
Your friend from distance
Athiopia
Good to hear Elleni’s story. But, the point she made about the market is totaly wrong … The Market has never been neutral and will never be neutral …. Is she trying to tell us that the market between the US and Africa governed by the market principles? I do not think so …. Since the TPLF come to power in Ethiopia, the individuals from one ethinic group have dominated in the market ….. They have access to everything ….
Dear Dr Eleni,
I am very impressed by the genuine narrative you presented about your ethnic fusion.
Most Ethiopians share the same multi ethnic background and it is a hallmark of Ethiopian history that shows how our great great grand parents lived in harmony for years before Meles Zenawi and co came in to picture and bent to destroy all the fabrics of Ethiopian intermingled society by their ethnic based divide and rule doctrine.
I admire your your noble intention and commitment to serve a country that you loved so dearly in your profession. However, I can see a sharp contrast with your professional dedication that you showed to serve your country versus the tribal junta’s policy. So far if you are doing what you think is right to the Ethiopian people, Meles zenawi and co, may slacken the rope till the honey moon is over or till they prepare a woyane cadre to lead the institution that you are running now. As you are well aware, the EFFORT conglomerates is lead by Azeb Mesfin. What I am trying to say is in Meles & Co ruling there is no such thing as professionalism; instead it is loyalty that counts. Under Meles watch, you cannot be a professional without being loyal and stay with that rogue regime for months. No way! Either you as a professional have to be loyal or you will be kicked out from your post. I will see how long you will last and then I can say how you managed to do that.
It does not ask to be a rocket scientist to figure out this issue. Loyalty is # 1 requirement in Meles’s circle. That is what he was doing all along from Dedebit till present days of Menilik palace. Removing by killing, sending to jail, or facilitate opponent’s exile. It is not happened in the past three decades of this tyrant’s history and there is no single reason for me to believe that he is changing his habit of dealing with such an issue all of a sudden. Mark my word for it, either you start feeling the heat or start turning a blind eye for many miscarriages done in that country. If you are comfortable with such misappropriation that these greedy looters are committing, then you are serving your self and your masters not your country. I am not against the commodity exchange infrastructure to function in Ethiopia, as long as it is not designed and created to give international and legal profile and cover to the robbed Ethiopian wealth by woyanes financial institutions. However, one could argue that we have to start laying infrastructures from somewhere even under difficult circumstances, but Dr Eleni may not like what you would see as a consequence if by chance someday you decide a professional and politically unbiased decision that went against woyanes criminal financial giants lead by Meles and co. if you are not doing this so far you must be meticulous person or you do not want to annoy the master at the palace. Having said that, Is every institution new and old be free from Meles’s influence or will it be just like a kangaroo court of the regime that every decision verbalized by the hodam judges are descended from the prime misery office and then he is bragging to the world about the rule of law and constitution. By the same token, I am afraid that Dr Eleni’s institution may be designed to serve woyanes 100 plus large business organizations by orders from Arat killo in the name of Ethiopian people.
Dear Eleni
My Sincere respect is to you. I want to believe what you do is good for Ethiopia in the whole, for Ethiopian farmers particularly. Our problem is you wouldn’t have got such a great task of changing the way of trading in such a level if you had not been Tigre. The problem is not you or your intelligence. Ethiopian loves and needs both you and your brain. Ask your self why people are obsessed with your ethnicity. Or why they focus on your ethnicity than on what you do. That is the policy of our government. Fighting those people who are obsessed with your ethnicity rather that your work, is like fighting the symptom of a disease. I tell you to fight the cause, and Cause is TPLF. I believe you have had enough time to realize that during your stay in Addis.
Much love ….Keep up the good work
Dr. Elleni,
First of all, I am really impressed by the way you decided to confront all the critics about you.I am an ethiopian, lived in Ethiopia for the last 27 years and say I am Amhara just because it was on my ID card. When I check my roots. I would say more that I am from the United Nations of Ethiopia.
But coming back to you, don’t let this get too personal. Stop wasting your time on these rumors. Actions speak louder than words. So show them what you can do.
That being said, I believe that you did put your self in a wrong position when you decided to work with the wrong government. I have seen your presentation vidoes, read some of your articles which by the way I found very very interesting and could be applied easily and efficiently in countries where you have reasonable people.
From what I know, I can assure you that the Woyane bastards will use you as long as they need you for their political propaganda and then you’ll be history. I mean if you don’t know how to run a country after 18 years then maybe you are not fit for it. And I strongly believe that you are working with ignorants who want to stay in power just for the sake of it. I don’t even think they know what they want if their lives.
Another thing I don’t understand is why you have to go mess up the ethiopian coffee market system which was working perfectly before ECX got involved. I believe Weyane is behind all this.
Ethiopia is a country with many cultures and its people have different kind of thinking. What perfectly makes sense to an educated person might not makes no sense at all in a small village in Ethiopia. And belive me it’s not easy to change the way people think there. To treat an animal, you have to think like the animal, you have to understand how the animal will react. So you didn’t live in Ethiopia most of your life and even thou you have the best ideas, I don’t think you will be successful unless you find a partner that lived in the country most of his life and has the willingness and power to help you.
Again I wish you good luck on everything.
And don’t loose track.Do what you went there to do.
ያሳዝናል
የለም ወይዘሮ እሌኒ ከሃገረዎ ርቀው ብዙ ዘመን መኖርዎ ነው መሰል ሁኔታው አልገባዎትም
እኔ ከስዎ ጠብ የለኝም ግን የዘመኑ ግለኝነትና ሰፋ አርጎ ያለማሰብ ችግር አለብዎ
የስዎ ቡናና ቻይ በስቶክ ኤክስቼንጅ መሽጥ ለወያኔ ዘረፋ መልካም ሽፋን ይሰጣል ስለዚህ አወቁም አላወቁም ለወያኔ ጥሩ መሳርያና አሽከር ሆኑ ማለት ነው
ሳክሴስ ስቶሪ መሆን ብቻ አይበቃም
ያሉት ኢትዮጵያ እንጂ ካሊፎርኒያ አይደለም ድሃ ህዝብና አገር በጅብ አገዛዝና በሪሶርስ ኮሎኒያሊዝም መንፈስ ባሰፈሰፉ ባእዳን መንግስታት በተከበበበት ሁኔታ ውስጥ እንጂ
እየተስተዋለ
ባሁኑ ዘመን ነጻ ገበያ ብሎ ነገር የለም
ስለዚህ የአገሩን ጥቅም የማይጠብቅ መንግስት ማገልገል በራሱ ወንጀል ነው ይህ መንግስት ተብዬ የሽፍታ ጥርቅም የከሃዲ መንጋ ጅብ ሃገሪቱን በጠራራ ጸሃይ አውጥቶ
እየቸበቸበ ነው
የድሮ ኮሎኒያሊስቶች ወግ ነበራቸው ጦር አደራጅተው ተዋግተው ነበር የሰው አገር የሰው መሬት የሚቀሙት
በአሁኑ ዘመን ግን ወያኔ በሚሊዮን የሚቆጠር ካሬ ኪሎሜትር ለም መሬት ለባእድ መንግስታት (ኮሪያ ሳኡዲ አረቢያ ቻይና ተጠቃሽ ናቸው) እያስረከበ ነው አንድ ጥይት ሳይተኮስ
ታዲያ የወይዘሮ እሌኒ አያቶች ይሄን ቢሰሙ ምን ይሉ ነበር አጥንታቸው ወይዘሮ እሌኒን ብቻ ሳይሆን እኛንም ሁላችንንም ይወቅሳል
ለመሆኑ እነዚህ ባእዳን መንግስታት ለወያኔ ወፍራም ክፍያ ከፍለው የወይዘሮ እሌኒ አያቶች የኮሩባትን ኢትዮጵያ ከተቀራመቱ በሁዋላ እዚህ ስቶክ እክስቼንጅ ይገቡ ይሆን?
የአያትህ የአባትህ ቤት ሲዘረፍ አብረህ ዝረፍ ነው ጉዳዩ?
Dr Eleni,
I agree with you a 100%. Please ignore all the destructions and noises around you and keep up your good work. Never give up. My God bless you and your effort.
Your Ethiopiawi brother
Well done Eleni, the big majority of Ethiopians do admire you and support your work. Do not give up, do not be discouraged by evil distracters. Instead of being driven in a limousine, you have dedicated yourself to help donkey driving Ethiopian farmers. This is what ethiopiawinet means.
I’m more than impressed by your good article. I don’t know what you are doing, and for that matter I don’t understand what ECX does, and I don’t try to talk about something that I have no idea.
But your article is not about ECX, its about us, Ethiopians; a short version of Obama’s story of race and inheritance in its Ethiopian context. I loved the article and thank you, because its the story of so many Ethiopians, like me who lost their identity with the policies of the current regime in our country. However I have no objection that you work under this regime, its your choice. Its your birth right to do whatever you want to do in your life time, and I believe that you are doing far much better than the screaming Diaspora who always wants to talk about the repressiveness of the regime just to excuse itself for wasting his life eating junk food and doing low down dirty life that is morally corrupting.
we all have choices in this life, Elleni chose her own. We can choose to spend our life living in exile, and bragging over our families and friends back in home how comfortable we are here, or we can do something about it. If we are in par with the current ethnic junta like Elleni we can work with it in our best way. If we have the willingness to tackle it, then we do it in a brave way. Otherwise screaming and cursing doesn’t gain much. we can fill our big mouth from the nearest Mac.
Good work Elleni, follow your bliss
Dear Dr. Eleni,
First of all I would like to convey my deepest respect and appreciation for what you are doing in our country. Only few people I repeat very few people of educated Ethiopians did half as much as you are doing that totally shakes up the entire practice in their field of study. Unfortunately the current system we have in place is very much enabling for those bigots who don’t want to see anything positive done as long as the current government remain in power. That includes the few vocal Diaspora that is infected with the virus called “hate”. Unfortunately, the Ethiopian Diaspora intellectuals are among those who are critically sick to the point that no logical reasoning and no amount of good will can cure them. The so called professors rather chose to live and breathe demagoguery and bigotry as their last life line. Therefore, please don’t give any respect to whatever they might say since they are a bunch of losers who have nothing to show or transfer to the next generation and who would like to capitalize on any mishaps however small or insignificant it might be.
Regards,
Emebet