By Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin
Many Ethiopians have been intrigued by the advent of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange and many voices have been heard from around the world in our virtual cyber-community and in private communication, some encouraging, some thrilled, some questioning, some skeptical, some downright opposed. I would like to thank all of those who have taken the time to express their interest, whatever their viewpoint. Open dialogue on important ideas, in a mutually respectful manner, is vital to our ability to grow and evolve as a society and as an economy. As we proceed in our dialogue, I trust that those who organize these forums will enforce the necessary standards of courtesy worthy of our age-old civilization.
To quote Victor Hugo, “there is nothing so powerful as an idea whose time has come.” In response to the many thoughtful and sometimes provocative questions that have been raised, I would like to take this opportunity to share with you why we believe that the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange is an idea whose time has come. Here in Ethiopia, over the past two years, we have continuously held open discussions with our stakeholders, in numerous events, engaging with thousands of private market participants from farmers to traders to processors to exporters, from all sides of the market, as well as others. Given the recent interest by those in the Ethiopian Diaspora, we are happy to take the time to respond to concerns raised and to clear up the misinformation and misunderstanding that seem to currently prevail among some. We do so out of respect for our fellow Ethiopians and because we believe that all deserve to get the facts about this important initiative in our country. This is probably a good time to make the appropriate disclaimer that the views presented here are my views and, where relevant, those of the Exchange, and do not represent the government of Ethiopia, any other institution, or any political party. In this essay, I will focus on the core questions related to the need for the Exchange, its ownership and possible control by government, and whether it is a free market or a monopoly. For those who might not appreciate the technical detail provided, please skip to the end where I summarize the key points. For the rest, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
I start with addressing why ECX is needed to begin with, and why we believe it can fulfill its vision of “transforming the Ethiopian economy by becoming a global commodity market of choice.” Like most countries in early stages of development, Ethiopia depends on agriculture as the backbone of its economy. To get out of agriculture and transform into a modern industrial state, Ethiopian agriculture must become increasingly productive so that labor can shift into other sectors. Greater productivity comes through investing more capital into production, through investing in productivity-enhancing technology, such as fertilizer, seeds, better farming tools, mechanization, etc. This investment can only happen if it is profitable. Profitability depends on whether there is a market where the product can be sold reliably and efficiently. Understandably, farmers hate risk. In addition to weather and production risks due to pests, crop disease, and other vagaries of nature, farmers also face the risk that there is no buyer, that they can’t access the market or it is too costly to do so, that prices are unknown or will drop, or that they won’t get paid. These very real market risks and costs prevent them from making the investments they need to make to be more productive. So they are stuck in a vicious cycle, producing at low yields, mostly for themselves, which is why only 25% of total agricultural production reaches the market. Farmers are not the only people whose livelihood is constrained by the market. If they are unable to get the supply of raw commodity delivered to them when they need it or prices fluctuate or the quality is unreliable, industrial processors, such as flour factories or biscuit or oil manufacturers, routinely incur higher costs because they are unable to utilize their machinery at full capacity and are thus discouraged from expanding their production. Similarly, commodity exporters who have contracted with international buyers face the terrible risk of not being able to make their shipment on time if they are unable to get the supply in time or in the right quality. To avoid this risk, they often are forced to tie up their capital holding large inventories, which means they can’t readily expand their business. So there is a real market problem, and it is faced by many actors on all sides of the market. And this problem constrains our economic growth. How does ECX provide a solution? ECX is a neutral third party, providing service to the market in four major ways. First, ECX certifies the quality of the commodity to be sold and holds it in warehouse on behalf of the seller, thus guaranteeing the quality, quantity, and delivery of the commodity to the buyer of that commodity. This solves the problem faced by buyers such as exporters and processors. Second, ECX operates a payment clearing and settlement system which takes payment from the buyer and transfers it to the seller, guaranteeing that the payment will be made in the correct amount and on time. This solves the problem faced by sellers, such as farmers and traders. Third, ECX provides a trading system which enables buyers and sellers to find each other when they need to trade. This trading system is for now a physical Trading Floor where bids and offers are made in person by buyers and sellers (or their agents) but will also have an electronic trading platform which can be accessed remotely. Finally, ECX disseminates information on prices as soon as trades are made to everyone in the market so that no one is at a disadvantage because they are missing market information. This price transparency helps everyone to plan their commercial actions better and thus make better deals. Having a reliable market system helps farmers produce more, expands our industrial base, increases our exports, and enhances our food security because commodities reach the areas where they are most needed faster and at lower cost. That is why commodity exchanges are part and parcel of most advanced and more recently emerging economies around the globe, starting with the best known US commodity exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade, started in 1848 for precisely the same reasons why our farmers and others in Ethiopia and our economy as a whole would benefit from an organized market.
I would now like to address a set of related questions: Who should own the exchange? If the government of Ethiopia owns it, how can it be considered a free market? Is it a monopoly and/or an instrument of control? These are all valid questions and have been asked many times by our stakeholders here in Ethiopia. Let us start with ownership. The historical experience is that exchanges in Western countries were set up by private actors as “mutual organizations” on a non-profit basis, meaning that a group of merchants got together and set up this third party marketing system which sustained itself from fees charged to its mutual owners, or members, at zero profit. Even though the exchange itself was non-profit, the members who owned the exchange on the other hand privately benefited from the system by restricting entry into the mutual organization and charging for-profit brokerage fees to non-members to use the exchange trading system, thus becoming very profitable, large brokerage firms such as Charles Schwab, Merrill Lynch or others. Over time, this system of mutual ownership become problematic because of the inherent conflict of interest in that the owners who were also members tended to put their private interest ahead of the market’s interests. So, traditional exchanges in most of the Western countries and newly established exchanges in the emerging markets have in the last decade evolved to “demutualized” entities, meaning that the owners are separate from the trading members. In the US, this has meant that most of the exchanges have gone public, meaning that they have sold shares to many individuals, who are not members of the trade. In places like India, exchanges have been recently set up owned by a few investors, such as banks or insurance companies (half state owned and half private), again who are not trading members. However, if there are investors or shareholders, it implies that the exchanges no longer have a non-profit orientation, meaning that they charge fees intending to maximize profit, rather than at cost. In the case of Ethiopia, having reviewed these various global experiences, we chose a unique “hybrid” model. Our model adopts the demutualized entity status in keeping with global trends, but retains the traditional system of membership and the non-profit status of the exchange, in order for it to attract maximum participation and not to impose a financial burden on the market users. In effect, this is a Private-Public partnership model in that, as a non-profit, it would only make sense for the state to sponsor the investment since no private actor would be willing to invest large sums on a non-profit basis. At the same time, there is private ownership of a restricted number of permanent and freely tradable membership seats (like shares) which gives incentive to private members to profit from using the exchange system and from charging brokerage fees to non-members. This model essentially marries the social objectives of creating an organized market with private profit incentives. By law, and unlike any other publicly owned enterprise in Ethiopia, our Exchange operates on an at-cost basis and does not pay dividends to the government Treasury and may only re-invest any net earnings into its own scaling up. Initially, in fact, the Exchange is operating at a loss since it charges fees somewhat below cost, in order to encourage participation. Thus, there is no motive to retain ownership by the state and over time, as the Exchange system takes hold, the government has publicly expressed its commitment to passing ownership to private entities. This model is not entirely without precedent. In the US, Government Sponsored Enterprises (GSEs) in the financial sector, the most well known of which are Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac corporations which operate multi-trillion dollar markets for home mortgages, were set up under state ownership in 1938 and later went into private shareholding in 1968. Their recent bailout, along with other financial institutions, by the US government following the 2008 financial crisis has restored ownership back to the US government. Many stock exchanges in emerging markets, such as Dubai, Tel-Aviv, Eastern Europe, and others, are established with government ownership, usually for the same reasons as Ethiopia, that the investment costs are too high to encourage private investment and because the exchange is desired for social objectives, as a benefit to the economy. I should mention that the start-up cost of our Exchange is in the order of US$ 24 million which, because of its public ownership and non-profit nature, was able to be financed by donor partners such as the USAID, World Bank, UNDP, WFP, Canada, and others.
And now, for what really matters, what about control? To begin, it is important to understand that, although government-owned, the Exchange is not a part of government. It is not an agency or department of any particular state organ. It is established, by law, as an autonomous commercial enterprise having its own legal status. A parallel example might be Ethiopian Airlines, although the corporate governance of the Exchange is unique. Our establishing law extends the concept of demutualization further to separating ownership, membership, and management. Thus, by law, the Exchange is managed by professionals that cannot be appointed from within government or come from the trading community. The Exchange has its own salary structure and its employees are not part of the civil service. In fact, at present, the Exchange has an internationally recruited management team of 10 professionals, financed by external donors, as a management on loan program, to ensure that the Exchange is run professionally and to transfer needed skills. Again, unlike any other publicly-owned enterprise in Ethiopia, the Board of Directors is composed in almost equal part of representatives of the owner (state) and the private members of the Exchange as well as the CEO as a non-voting director. The Exchange’s CEO is appointed by and reports to this Board of Directors. Thus, without any doubt in the law or in practice, the Exchange is managed independently of any government organ and is a serviceproviding entity to the private market actors. There is no interference or intervention in any aspect of day to day ECX operations, whether it is the warehousing and quality inspection, the dissemination of price information nationally and internationally (which relies mainly on the systems that ECX itself has developed), the financial systems, or the trading sessions. One could say, and many of our private sector members have quickly realized once it was explained, that the ownership-membershipgovernance model described above essentially gives a free pass to our private members, who can gain private profit from the exchange at minimal cost, without investing in the expensive assets, and still have a big say in the management of the entity.
At the same time, like in any country, no market can exist in a vacuum outside the reach of policy or the laws of the land. Thus, our Exchange regularly consults with appropriate line Ministries on the direction of policies, regarding changes to domestic or external trade policies, tax, or macro policies. This is no different than in South Africa, the US, India or elsewhere. For example, in 2008, when domestic inflation got out of hand, the Indian government banned rice and wheat trading on the Exchange and imposed an export ban. This has nothing to do with who owns their exchanges (in fact it is a combination of public and private investors). Similarly, the US has recently initiated a crackdown on excessive speculation in the commodity markets (oil) and imprisoned or fined several market actors such as Bernie Madoff who violated laws in the financial market. In addition to the laws and policies that govern a market in any country, all exchanges also have their own internal Rules that govern how the market is organized and how the market actors must behave. The Rule books of the Chicago and New York commodity exchanges are thick volumes with thousands of pages developed over 160 years with detailed instructions on how to govern their market. We also have our Rules of the Exchange that, like in the US, Argentina, Brazil, India or elsewhere, have to be approved by our regulatory body, the newly established Commodity Exchange Authority. This Authority is a government body which has the mandate of overseeing that our Exchange itself and our Members are in compliance with our law and with the other laws of the country and with our Rules. Having been set up alongside our Exchange, the Authority has been in active partnership to build its capacity through training with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission, on which it is modeled. In any country with a serious market, government regulators like SEC and CFTC in the US, or FMC and SEBI in India, have a significant and constant presence. So a market is not a free market because it is operates outside of laws or rules. It is in fact the presence of these laws and rules that ensures that the integrity of the free market, or the principle of market competition, is maintained. For example, one of our rules regarding our Trading Floor is that all prices must be shouted out audibly so that all market actors can hear the bid or offer. This is a rule designed to ensure that everyone has a fair chance to compete for that trade.
So what makes a free market? It is, within the confines of the existing rules and laws in place, the absence of interference by any third party in the actual buying and selling of any good. In a free market, as long as the rules are followed, any seller can sell whatever they want to any buyer at any price, any time, and in any amount, and vice versa. Let us think of a free market like driving on a highway. As long as you have a driver’s license, a registered and insured vehicle, and follow the traffic rules, you can drive in any car you want, anywhere you want, with whomever you like, for as long as you like (gas permitting, of course). The rules are there to ensure that everyone is safe on the highway. In our Exchange market, this is precisely the case today. Our 450 mostly private trading members freely trade at prices and quantities and with whom they like without any interference whatsoever.
Finally, what about a monopoly? Why force all coffee or all sesame trading into the Exchange? Why not let people choose to use the Exchange of their own free will? To extend our above analogy, we might say that this is like forcing all drivers onto a single highway. At first glance, this seems quite unpalatable and rather contrary to the notion of a free market. Here is the catch. Among the four functions of the Exchange that were listed above, its very core role is to provide a central trading system for buyers and sellers to match their trades. This trading system results in what is known as “price discovery” which is the emergence of the competitively bid market price that reflects true supply and demand of a good at a particular moment. However, to be a truly representative market price, the trading system needs a critical mass of sellers and buyers, otherwise the Exchange’s price is meaningless as an indicator of market supply and demand. In other words, if the ECX price represents only a small share of the actual market trading, then this price is not the true market price. For this reason, all of the world’s exchanges essentially force this critical mass of trading in a commodity or stock into a single trading system. That is why there are only two major stock exchanges (NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange) for the entire U.S. economy and most companies are only listed on one of these exchanges. Similarly, for commodities, although there are about 4 active commodity exchanges in the US, each commodity is traded exclusively on only one exchange. For example, Hard Red Spring Wheat is only traded on the Minneapolis Grain Exchange and Soft Winter Wheat is only traded on the Chicago Board of Trade, and so on. By the way, the term “monopoly” is not the correct use of the term in this case since monopoly implies a single buyer or a single seller that sets prices non-competitively and, here, we have hundreds of buyers and sellers freely trading competitively at their own prices. We would hardly say the Chicago Mercantile Exchange has a monopoly on corn trading, no more than we would consider that the CEO of Fannie Mae is part of the US government. So, more appropriately, it can be said that our exchange, like other exchanges elsewhere, is an exclusive platform for trading in particular commodity contracts. Over time, as the market volume and liquidity grow, it might be appropriate to have more than one commodity exchange and our law provides for the Ethiopian regulatory body to recognize other exchanges.
IN SUM, here are the key points. A better functioning market is good for everyone and for the economy, from farmers to domestic traders to processors to exporters and an exchange is a tried and true model to deliver a better market. Though state owned, ECX is an autonomous (non-government) commercial entity set up on a non-profit basis, with private ownership of membership seats, which thus represents a Private-Public partnership model in which private seat owners are able to gain profit from using the exchange system at minimal cost. Our corporate governance structure ensures that ECX is managed independently and professionally with a Board of Directors representing nearly equally both the owner and the private trading members and a separation by law of management from ownership and membership. At the same time, the Exchange operates within the policies and laws of the country, like any exchange in the world. Within these rules and policies, there is no interference by the state in the operational management of the exchange or in the day to day trading by market actors. Finally, ECX cannot be considered a monopoly in the correct sense of the word but rather an exclusive trading place for specific commodities, in order to have a critical mass of buyers and sellers, in keeping with the way exchanges are set up around the globe.
In subsequent essays over the coming days, I will address the human side of ECX, the lives that have been touched and who is really benefitting, particularly among small farmers, and the very important issue of coffee trading and the concern on specialty coffee, as well as our first year performance and the exciting plans ahead as we embark on our second year. Some of these themes are also addressed on our website, www.ecx.com.et, where you can also find our establishing law. Some have questioned why invest the time to engage in this dialogue. It is because we believe that a national institution such as ours must be accountable and transparent to all Ethiopians, wherever they are. Public education is part of our job. We also believe that, through bringing knowledge or investment, anyone can meaningfully engage with ECX. After all, it is your Exchange too.
(Dr Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin is Chief Executive Officer of the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange)
55 thoughts on “An idea whose time has come – Eleni Gebre-Madhin”
How could it be a free market in a place where Effort (TPLF) taking over business in the name business for people of Tigre? There is no free market in Ethiopia. Holingans of TPLF manupilating and running the business. Even the Guragae with years if business expereince are bieng pushed out gardually. There is no free market in Ethiopia!!!!!!!!!!!!
It does not matter what she says because she works for Meles. The larger public has no power and in the end it is the TPLF who is going to be the benefitiary of the product. No doubt about it.
Very coherent explanation
thank you
demssie
how she is talking about an economy that is 75% monopolized by meles and wife?
I hate what the racist TPLF is doing to our country. But I admire and respect Dr.Eleni for her courage. She is setting a good example by going back to our native country and doing her part. God bless you and your family. You have it all together.
Dear Dr Eleni
I must accept that it is a good idea, but it is not an idea whose time has come. Why do I say this. First, you are working with an illigitimate ruler who wants to control everything through time. The ruler in power gives you the freedom to work according to your volition until it own chosen guys exercise the business of making international deals. It will train its own loyals by leting them to work with you. They don’t interfer in your area till they are sure that they aquired the necessary knoweldge of running the ECX, then they will start upseting you by interfering in your job. Then you will be forced to resign, after that they will charge you with corruption and treason working with this international institutions you mentioned in your article. Finally you will end up in prison not to expose the satanic acts of the regime. I bet that is the strategy they are using now. They did this against Tesfaye Birru of Ethiopian Telecommunication Agency. He was an outstanding scholar in IT in Addis Ababa University. Kasu Illala propsed him for the position, then Meles purged some of the officials through corruption bla bla… Tesfaye reformed the ETA and brought many good ideas. Then Meles’s chosen people purchased the skill of running ETA from Tesfaye. Then that gentle and beloved scholar wanted to resign, Meles asked him to be his advisor, but he refused. When he went to Germany for a study (?), they accused him of corruption. The message was clear ” don’t come back”. He said that he was clean and wanted to defend his case. Now he is languishing in a prison, all the country’s best people are destined to visit once in their life time- Kaliti. I have received many similar stories from people whom I talked to years ago in Kaliti. Eng Gizaw G/maraiam, who was manager of Muger Cement factory and president of Ethiopian Olymphic federation had similar story; now he is employed with a huge salary in Alamudini’s business after 5 years in prison. He was freed without any compensation for the lost years. I am sure the fate of Elini won’t be diffrent from the rest of these guys. You are a great guy,but I don’t want to see you end up in Kaliti.
You are optimistic that the Woyanes will transfer the state ownesrship of ECX to private companies. I agree that they will transfer it, but that comapny will be non other than EFFORT. That is where ECX ends up at the end of the day. Once they do this they can control everything in the country even the life of the peasnats, ketemes and foreign companies. That will add up to their power. That is what you are doing for these guys, and that is why I said it is a good idea whose time has not come. The right time of your idea should have been after a democartic government is established in Ethiopia. Now you are leaving the fate of Ethiopia to fall at the hands of EFFORT and few Tigrians who don’t have national feelings at all. Please, be ware what is to come.
Dr Eleni,
First and formost thank you for wiring a response to many Ethiopians who wrote a response to your previous letter.
You know, I might will write my own response exclusively if I will have time to do so. But I just wanted to let you know that your entire hotchpotch doesn’t hold any single water, instead I should’ve listened your first recommendation and jumped to your conclusion since you just wrote a bunch of unrelated Economical backgrounds about different countries including the United States where the rule of law is respected based on the constitution with the worst dictatorship country where the rule of laws are the members and affiliated individuals of the tribal junta Weyane. It is not a bizarre to you that the weyane officials are above anyone, let alone your quality of words that you keep stressing on your piece as if the government is operated by policies and rules, where the fact of the matter is that regardless of the rules that you have written or regardless of the commitiment that the government promised to abide with….regardless of any other thing you have to simply know that if your path is not comfortable by Meles Zenawi or by an ordinary TPLF Tigrian individual, you will be beaten up and thrown to jail….then your so called “Policy and Rule” would not save you from nothing…..simple as that……forget the entire process…forget your paper rules and regulations….forget your “intellectual comparision” about the economic processes of many countires…forget the involvement of a separate and so called “independent institutions”…..the bottom line is that if meles zenawi and his tigrian tplf members doesn’t like you….they can kick your EXC…and accuse you as a terrorist and criminal and keep you in jail or kick you out of business….PERIOD….it is not about your 7 pages rules and regulations ….it is all about if TPLF likes it or not……life is a worse as it is in Ethiopia…..
By the way, the other funny thing that you tried to exemplified Ethiopian Airlines as a corporate governance Exchange while the fact of the matter is that EA is solely manipulated with TPLF board members in which the total outcome is controlled by the terrorist group of weyane.
Here is what you wrote
“As long as you have a driver’s license, a registered and insured vehicle, and follow the traffic rules, you can drive in any car you want, anywhere you want, with whomever you like, for as long as you like (gas permitting, of course). The rules are there to ensure that everyone is safe on the highway. In our Exchange market, this is precisely the case today.”
Moreover you tried to give us irrelevant example how someone can drive a car as long as he has obtained the necessary legal requirements…….I wish things work as you simplified in Ethiopia, so that we wouldn’t have to extend our argument with you….so if someone can live peacefully as long as he/she fulfills the legal requirement in Ethiopia,
So Do you think?
1- The thousands of farmers that are harassing and torching by the government officials are because they didn’t follow the “traffic rules” ?
2- The thousands of political prisons in suspect of different oppositions in different parts of jail are detained because they didn’t follow “traffic rules”?
3- Birtukan Midekessa and other thousands of innocent individuals are detained just because they didn’t follow the “traffic rules”?
4- The government has kicked out numbers of NGO’s because they didn’t follow the “traffic rules”
5- Many people are being killed in the cities and particularly in the rural by the government officials just because they didn’t follow the “traffic rules”
6- A genocide against the people of Gambella( in 2003), the people of Amhara ( in 1996 in Harrar), the people of Sidama (in 2003) the people of Agnuawk (in Dec. 2004), the people of Oromo, the people of Ogaden and others have been carried out by the TPLF criminals, just because the people didn’t follow the “traffic rules”?
7- Most elementary, high school, college and university students throughout the country have been repeatedly harassed, torched and killed by TPLF criminals, just because the people didn’t follow the “traffic rules”?
8- Do you think, the members , supporters and affiliated elements of the current regime of Ethiopia (TPLF) are killing, stealing money, building their own buildings and villas, establishing their multimillion dollar business including EFFORT ( Endowment for of Rehabilitation of Tigray), exporting their money to foreign countries including the US and many parts of Europe, sending their kids to the best schools in Ethiopia and outside Ethiopia, and get other essential priorities are because the FOLLOW THE TRAFFIC RULE……
I live the verdict to your voiceless conscious while I want to suggest you once again that you cannot fool no one but yourself, regardless of your endless economical connection about the world….there is one easy thing you failed to address, in which the President of the United States Barack Obama also expressed during his Ghanna speech…..
“There is no development without rule of law”…the same thing would apply to you…there is NO EXC without rule of law….it doesn’t matter how many pages of rules that you have at home or office….the bottom line is that with the absence of rule of law like the case in Ethiopia…..you are simply glorified with empty bravado ….talking about the worldwide trade would not save you from TPLF criminal elements…..
Dr Eleni, forget the rest of your childish tantrum to explain about the paper laws that would never apply or protected by nothing if the TPLF doesn’t like it…,, just simply join us with laying out the foundation of rule of law first by fighting the TPLF tyranny……
You are simply talking how the shape of the roof of the house should be mounted, with out building the foundation….so simply the first phase to build a house is to build the foundation…….RULE OF LAW REQUIES IN ETHIOPIA….
tnx!
I will rewrite my response properly….but till then i can be reached @ [email protected]
Thank you for setting the stage for a lively discussion. It is particularly refreshing to hear that you are interested in engaging the Diaspora in a civil discourse. I urge readers to focus on the efficacy of a commodity exchange in developing societies like ours instead of Eleni. There are several schools of thought out there and each has its prevailing arguments for or against such an entity. What I would like Dr. Eleni to address in her next piece is the status of the other ingredients required to make the exchange work. For example, there is an assumption of access to current information about price by the farmers on which to make a rational decision. How realistic is this assumption in a country like Ethiopia where the illiteracy rate among farmers is high and the telecommunications infrastructure is not fully developed. What is being done to address the lack of this main ingredient? Also, is there the political will to craft the appropriate regulatory infrastructure given the disarray in the legislative branch of present day Ethiopia? Are you convinced that the markets are competitive, fair and free from corruption and government manipulation? If so, what evidence is there to support this?
Looking forward to reading your next piece
Tazabi
The commodity exchange in the USA was established by Government. Was the US Government was also a killer like Woyane or had the US also monopoly trade enterprises like Woyane EFFORT meant to benefit a certain 16 inter-married woyane mafia groups. How can you compare the situation in Ethiopia with other countries. You can compare it with Hitler Germany, Mussoloni Italy, or Stalin`s Russia not with other governments.
At least she has tried and promised to continue explaining the issues responsibly … I wish the TPLF people did the same and ruled me forever … But, they are arrogant and chauvinist.
Chombe
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Let me tell you something Woyzero Eleni !!
A real Agricultural Commodity exchange is a VOLUNTARY association of legal entities and/or individuals intended for open public auctions in agricultural products in a definite place, at definite time by pre-established rules. Period!
Now! – If legal Ethiopian coffee traders are coerced to surrender their goods to Your institution, then it is a Forced commodity exchange, not a real Voluntary commodity exchange. This brings back memories of agricultural marketing organizations of the “glorious” Soviet empire.
What we are witnessing right now in Ethiopia is the Centralization of Agricultural Marketing under a bogus TPLF controlled institution.
Alemu,
I think Eleni’s explanation is great; after all she is a technocrat who is doing her job as any car mechanic does his job that is to make the car run again.
The problem I have been having is that almost all the resources of the country are controlled by Effort (TPLF). So how could there be a free market under such condition.
Besides I think one day when the Genocidal Tyrant of Ethiopia, Meles, wakes up on his left hand side he would put the exchange under Effort.
In other words, it is a joke claiming the exchange operates freely.
I love Eleni so long live Eleni. However, death to her boss, thief Meles!!!!
Very interesting explanation. This is not new but true for many small or big initiatives and objectives whether private or public. There might be no argument in what is written on papers. However, the main question that is evaded in the article is why the commodity exchange participated in the confiscation of the assets of traders’ years of effort and send them to prison to cut their hands off. Was it handled in the same way also in the USA as it was modeled as such?
As seen in the documentary sesame trade was handled fairly but no mention of heavy handed dealing on the coffee trade. Why? Why CEO of ECE skipped again & again the core issue of the outcry?
We need to know the rationale behind the confiscation of coffee and traders imprisonment.
Immebet!!! As I have said before, keep on doing what you are doing now. If any of the comments you heard or read on any media are something positive, then use them or pay attention to them. Otherwise, do not be distracted by name-callers and innuendo-philes. As much as I detest the undemocratic nature of the current regime, I find it utterly irresponsible to categorize what you are doing as mere servile or vile. I wish there are hundreds of thousands of daughters like you who will do nothing but beneficial to the people of Ethiopia be it in the long or short run. I admire your steadfastness in this matter. May God Bless you and your family.
Indegena ig inesalehu!!!!!
Very interesting explanation. This is not new but true for many small or big initiatives & objectives whether private or public. There might be no argument in what is written on papers. However, the main question that is evaded in the article is why the commodity exchange participated in the confiscation of the assets of traders’ years of effort and send them to prison to cut their hands off. Was it handled in the same way also in the USA as it was modeled as such?
As seen in the documentary sesame trade was handled fairly but no mention of heavy handed dealing on the coffee trade. Why? Why CEO of ECE skipped again & again the core issue of the outcry?
We need to know the rationale behind the confiscation of coffee and traders imprisonment.
It seems that you could not understand Dr. Eleni’s English.
yewollo English new yemtfeligew? Wirgat. After all she is a doctor, not just weizero.
Doctor Eleni Gebremedhin, the problem is, it is not what is on paper rather it is what is the actual thing on the ground. take as an example the 2005 election that was an election of 26 or moore millions of vote that your TPLF government canceled after the result showed your Mafia tribal government was not the winner. Think for a moment as a fair human being not as a Tigrean if you are a fair woman after this election why we have to believe you or for that matter any Tigrean because millions of Tigreans like you still believe that your Mafia tribal government was right to kill people for standing for their birth right.
Second the judicial system should be free of anyone including any government influence the government has only the responsibility of paying expenses to run the judicial process it can not influence as it did on the cases of Tedi Afro, Birtukan Midekisa, and many 10s thousands of ethiopians for the last 19 years.
Third look the Ethiopian Orthodox church how your TPLF Mafia government is ruinning this an old ancient church.
Actually it might be good or blessing if it destroys completely because the distraction of the Ethiopian Orthodox church will cut once for all the remaining link between Ethiopians and the Tigrean society I am sure it will hurt for sometime then as usual I am sure also time will heal it So it will not be a prolonged pain for the rest of Ethiopians who are Orthodox. Some times I think you people are an evil because if you are not an evil and stupid you would not try to destroy the Ethiopian Orthodox church and the Ethiopian flag because it is part of your Tigrean society history and your only good connection to the rest of Ethiopians therefore you should be guarding jealously instead of destroying your only link to the rest of Ethiopians. Anyway who knows you might be praying for the distraction of the Ethiopian Orthodox church as some non Orthodox church member who are a new converts to the new and latest religions wish for the distraction of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. For instance your TPLF leader Meles Zenawi and TPLF appointed Pope Paul would be the first to be happy while my poor old grand father cries on spilled milk.
By the way do you know since TPLF became a government and your evil pope Paul became the pope of the Ethiopian Orthodox around 6 Millions of Orthodox have left to other late commer religions who knows you might be one of them only god knows.
Remember Madam When Eritrea left Ethiopia many Ethiopians had cried in vain even many were massacred by Tigreans for the demonstration against united nation’s Egyptian borne secretary meanwhile you Tigreans were dancing until the truth catches you at the battle of Badme thanks to Esayas Afework of Eritrea. Then you shameless people started to yawn to claim your Ethiopian birth right and your Ethiopianess anyway nobody will believe you if you yawn or moan.
Last not least how do you stop if TPLF and Meles wants to use your organization I am sure you will not say no why because you are a Tigrean no Tigrean would say no to another Tigrean or TPLF behalf of truth. To this day we have not seen I do not think we would see in our time unless some magic comes. I think your organization even might be the new right hand of TPLF and Efort. At last I wish you bad luck not on you personally rather on your organization’s success because I think you are cheating or this might your another Tigrean game.
Doctor Eleni Gebremedhin, I think you are talking apples and oranges because the problem in Ethiopia today is, it is not what is on paper rather it is what is the actual thing on the ground. take as an example the 2005 election that was an election of 26 or moore millions of vote that your TPLF government canceled after the result showed your Mafia tribal government was not the winner. Think for a moment as a fair human being not as a Tigrean if you are a fair woman after this election why we have to believe you or for that matter any Tigrean because millions of Tigreans like you still believe that your Mafia tribal government was right to kill people for standing for their birth right.
Second the judicial system should be free of anyone including any government influence the government has only the responsibility of paying expenses to run the judicial process it can not influence as it did on the cases of Tedi Afro, Birtukan Midekisa, and many 10s thousands of ethiopians for the last 19 years.
Third look the Ethiopian Orthodox church how your TPLF Mafia government is ruining this an old ancient church.
Actually it might be good or blessing if it destroys completely because the distraction of the Ethiopian Orthodox church will cut once for all the remaining link between Ethiopians and the Tigrean society I am sure it will hurt for sometime then as usual I am sure also time will heal it So it will not be a prolonged pain for the rest of Ethiopians who are Orthodox. Some times I think you people are an evil because if you are not an evil and stupid you would not try to destroy the Ethiopian Orthodox church and the Ethiopian flag, because it is part of your Tigrean society history and your only good connection to the rest of Ethiopians therefore you should be guarding jealously instead of destroying your only link to the rest of Ethiopians. Anyway who knows you might be praying for the distraction of the Ethiopian Orthodox church as some non Orthodox church member who are a new converts to the new and latest religions wish for the distraction of the Ethiopian Orthodox church. For instance your TPLF leader Meles Zenawi and TPLF appointed Pope Paul would be the first to be happy while my poor old grand father cries on spilled milk. By the way do you know since TPLF became a government and your evil pope Paul became the pope of the Ethiopian Orthodox around 6 Millions of Orthodox have left to other late commer religions including many Tigreans who knows you might be one of them only god knows.
Remember Madam When Eritrea left Ethiopia many Ethiopians had cried in vain even many were massacred by Tigreans for the demonstration against united nation’s Egyptian borne secretary meanwhile you Tigreans were dancing until the truth catches you at the battle of Badme thanks to Esayas Afeworki of Eritrea. Then you shameless people started to yawn to claim your Ethiopian birth right and your Ethiopianess anyway nobody will believe you if you yawn or moan.
Last not least how do you stop if TPLF and Meles wants to use your organization I am sure you will not say no why because you are a Tigrean no Tigrean would say no to another Tigrean or TPLF behalf of truth. To this day we have not seen I do not think we would see in our time unless some magic comes. I think your organization even might be the new right hand of TPLF and Efort. At last I wish you bad luck not on you personally rather on your organization’s success because I think you are cheating or this might your another Tigrean Tigrigna game.
Elleni wrote “To begin, it is important to understand that, although government-owned, the Exchange is not a part of government.” By your own admission, it is only clear that ECX is orchestrated by Woyane Cadres who are supoosed to be “Board members” – Woyane is the government – there is no two way about it – why is it that you felt that you had to act as “Woyane” disinformation medium simply beyond me – Could it be GREED in the name of the love of country BS – Let me say this, you are simply full of it!!!
I wish she didn’t respond to the questions she received. This essay exposed her intention even more than the previous one. I had give her the benefit of the doubt before, but this essay did it. She is sent by TPLF for porpaganda purposes
Elena
Do what u have to do and don’t waste your time on the dead fishes. They stink. You are trying to deal with a society that has turned against itself. Just be careful because a society like that doesn’t give a darn for humanity.
We all wish to see Ethiopian farmers and consumer gets what the free market offers. Free market is known in improving the general welfare of the society. But free market can only be built if there is a fertile ground to build it. There is no fertile ground for free market in Ethiopia under the TPLF/EPRDF dictatorial rule. They government and their cohorts control the key markets in Ethiopia. They own the market; they control the distribution of products and services the Ethiopian market offers.
Dr. Eleni preaches us about the value of genuinely free market whereas there is no free market enabling environment in Ethiopia. Things flow in logical order. Thus, the talk about the importance of free market without free institutional ground for ECX to stand on is just BS. We don’t forget that easily. Was it a couple of months ago when Meles Zenawi stated that he “will cut the coffee traders/merchants hands if they refuse to abide by his market controlling game.” It makes a lot of sense if Dr. Eleni starts by consulting Meles Zenawi to stop talking about cutting the Ethiopian traders’ hands before she tries to become Adam Smith of Ethiopia. Free markets cannot flourish where dictators plan to cut hands of traders who fail to abide by his market control and monopoly rule.
Eleni,
I’ve nothing against you but have a huge problem with what you’ve imersed in. One, who works for gestapo, under Hitler’s own law, to serve the existing nazism, does contributes to deaths of many millions of human lives. This brings us to your service under the most corrupt hate mongering, deceitful, built on emptying Ethiopia’s national wealth to its own coffins, adds insults to the injuries that the Ethiopian people are faced with. My beautiful Elleni, please stop trying to endoctornate us, with what most Ethiopians across have tried over and over, yet found Zero sums out of.
Your service to looters does not protect, the interests of our poor farmers, nor merchants that are being robbed under your own watchful eyes, by the regime you are serving.
It does not work because Ethiopian Hitler Meles Zenawi came to falsify, cheat, rob, weaken, commit gross human right abuse, devide the country, its diverse ethenic, then finally declare the independence of “Greater Tigirini” country. If you doubt me, go Listen to The great Ethiopian , by the name of Gebre medhin Araya’s Intervies, in the context of Current governmental modes of operanda.
Dear Dr. eleni
you are doing a fantastic job in explaning what a government owned commodity exchange market can do to help the ethiopian economy and its people. Ethiopia has a free market system and vibrant democratic institutions. The rule of law and protection of personal property are in the constitution written in bold amharic and english alphabetes.
well, the economy is growing at 10 percent according to our esteemed prime minster. The world bank lied when it suggested a much lower rate. The coffee exporters had it coming when their property was confiscated and they were thrown in to jail. The recent statment from the country’s chamber of commerce which pointed to the prevailing unfavourable condition to commerce is just one more lewid attemept by sympathizers of ginbot 7 and is completely untrue. Dr.eleni , you do not have to explain to nobody that you are just another woyane in disguse. some people can accuse of being a woyane front in charge of collecting the ever dwindling and scarce foreign currency. who cares! if they want power, let them wrestle it from TPLF. I read the article you wrote where you defended your ethiopianess and raged on those who accused you of being a tigrean. I use it all the time though i belong to the ruling class. you know what i am saying! Let us fool them. viva commodity exchange and long live free market economy.
Dr. Eleni, with due respect of your former professional affiliation at the WB as Senior Economist, and as a graduate of one of the precious University in the USA, I would like to question your thought and understanding of the outcomes of education and the world biggest enemy, poverty. Among few factors, corruption and bad governance are the major cause of poverty in developing country, which you have cited and reported several times during your career at the WB.
Actually it was not your original article that embarked me more, but your line of arguments in reaction to the comments forwarded by the many. I thought this kind of argument never beer from an educated professional like you, rather it seems the politics that has been deep rooted for the past two decades perhaps those propagated by the political medias. What I do not want rule out is your innovation capacity regardless of your political or ethnic belongings yet until you prove it if your motivation and goals are to remain in a professional innovation, your gesture would have not tested easily and so sensitive to the left and right wings.
The matter of the fact, within few months whether you call it innovation or somebody call it exploitation, is your point of target, coffee-while there are several commodities that are at highest risk of international trade- and your rush reaction at the opinions will not label you a short of a sergeant for the one already oppressing the country’s economy.
Particularly, when you say the farmers- a small coffee farmers- benefited from the EXC , without knowing who are the small farmers, how they feel about their day-to-day life, about how the engaging into the coffee production, for me it is a very shameful insult to the people. Whether for good or bad, as simple as that farmers are rational although they are not in a position to max their consummation on using their rational thinking due to market imperfection/distortion (you have learned this principles from your graduate school economics). The market for coffee producers are intervened and distorted at the high level, and all coffee producing farmers clearly knows who you are -a game theory 101- you know that I know -I know that you know …. so there is not optimal solution. The point is whether you put or call yourself Dr. for the farmers, they are already cheated enough, you cannot cheat them again just by change name. Rather, you are try to cheat us or the ready, do you think so?.
Your way of move, after you fail to deliver the planed objective, you will be awarded a Ministry of Commerce or Trade and Industry position and that will be the game of the story and effort. Test me.
Good Luck!!!!
Eleni, Elu, Eleniachen. Do you accept the fact that majority of Ethiopians (both inside and outside the country) do not trust the government/TPLF?The government who has shown time and again it doesn’t respect its own constitution. Do you honestly believe the government will let everything else operate in one way, and allow the ECX to operate freely – “with no interference”? That is why we are skeptical of ECX and you for telling us what we are not seeing in practice. The rule of the country you are operating in you mentioned doesn’t exist is what we are telling you Elu. You are intentionally avoiding the big white elephant in the room once again, and focused on technical details of how a market operate, and you mention civilized nations exchanges to compare and contrast to tell us how ECX operates. This is truly a “Willing Suspension of Disbelief”. You are working for a government, who arrested a none violent single mother named Birtukan for her god given right of speaking the truth. How can you seat there an tell us the same government who is braking its own rul to arest such none violent person, will respect the rule when it comes to EXC. TPLF is simply not an entity that will respect the fair play rules, if it landed in Mekele. So in short you are creating a fantasy, that is giong to be used to subjugate the very people you are purporting to help.
Having said the above, there are several excerpts from your own essay that is oxymoronic for reasons mentioned above. Thus our urging you to abandoned what you are doing, until and unless a truly democratic government is in place.
“So what makes a free market? It is, within the confines of the existing rules and laws in place, the absence of interference by any third party in the actual buying and selling of any good.” comment – who makes the exsiting rules and laws.
“For this reason, all of the world’s exchanges essentially force this critical mass of trading in a commodity or stock into a single trading system. comment – this is not a true statment, take it back Elu
“That is why there are only two major stock exchanges (NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange) for the entire U.S. economy and most companies are only listed on one of these exchanges.” comment – once again this is factualy not true, you should take it back.
“Our corporate governance structure ensures that ECX is managed independently and professionally with a Board of Directors representing nearly equally both the owner and the private trading members and a separation by law of management from ownership and membership.” comment – who is the owner you are refering to here? It is TPLF right?
“At the same time, the Exchange operates within the policies and laws of the country, like any exchange in the world.” comment – LOL realy policies and laws of TPLF right?
Well, this essay sounds like what Meles writes under ‘mirqana’. The Ethiopia depicted in the writing is so much removed from reality that one is forced to wonder how seemingly intelligent people fail to see the most fundamental flaw in the country i.e, rule of ‘zer’/tribe. Does Eleni really think Meles and his TPLF cadres see commodity exchange in the flowery words of this essay? Your most influential Board Member is the ignorant former Weyane spy Debre Tsion. I think you are not giving enough respect to the intelligence of the average Ethiopian.
Lakew
What makes you special Dr. Eleni. We know what happened to the other people went back to their country to work. Do you want us to belive you are running independent entity from TPLF because of that argument I dont trust your argument. No one can anything in that country without the TPLF involement specially in that kind of maganitude. Are you telling us they gave you the coffee trading without any involment from TPLF that is the number one foregin currency for ETHIOPIA. You are blinded by your ambtions and forget what country you are. In that case there is free democracy, Free speech and free economy in the country. I dont trust you if there is people can trust you that means they dont know nothing about TPLF.
There is no free market GLMELIE without free society. BEKA ALEKE DEKEKE!
It is an absolute waste to talk about the so-called ECX. It is a distraction from the central issue of the day – First Ethiopia should be set free from tribal mafia. I humbly ask all freedom loving Ethiopians to invest their time, effort and other resources to fight woyane head-on.
If Dr Eleni is honest to herself, she would have stated the obvious and stop any association with the illegitimate government immediately.
In Woyane/tribal mafia dictatorship, the laws, rules, procedures on the books are applied selectively. Dr Eleni, whatever independence you claim to have is VERY superficial. This you know and everybody knows. Then why stick around the blood sucking mafia?
Dr. Eleni is establishing an institution that is needed for development. Unless you are interested in taking power by a short cut like TPLF why worry? Ethiopian Airlines serves the Woyanes but still we rather have it as an institution. Don’t you think?
Down the line when we have a fair election, institutions such as ECX and Ethiopian Air would serve the people.
We shouldn’t ask everyone to sit and wait. Let folks do what they’re capable of today. Let her be used by Woyane for now. That is her choice. South Africans are using institutions created in the apartheid era. Aren’t they?
We don’t need to start from scratch when Bertukan becomes the president. I say let us not oppose folks who want to go back and do something.
Dawi
This article should have been titled: “An Answer whose time has passed. I am referring to the line: The views expressed in this essay “do not represent the government of Ethiopia, any other institution, or any political party.” Of course, except that of the author and the exchange. This is my only favorite sentence in the whole article. The ECX should have declared independence from TPLF two years ago instead of going to bed with the devil.
Positives:
In a country where public servants more often than not feel they are too important to explain themselves to their citizens whom they are there to serve , your effort to engage is commendable and exemplary. It is safe to say public office in SSAs are nowadays more accountable to donors.
Questions():
1. With the government having 50 % the seats in the board of directors (if understand the article correctly), don’t you think the government could easily block CEO which the government doesn’t approve off? (I am talking about the system, you are going to be there always)
2. To my understanding, in US the commodity exchanges become big places to trade commodity out of choice rather than government decree. First, there were smaller commodity exchanges all over but because the people(the owners) choose they merge gradually (there were incentive to share info on large scale). Doesn’t the top down and major change (very big one) approach where traders are forced compromise the efficiency? Isn’t the reason structural adjustment doesn’t succeed as expected because it is a big change forced from above at once?
3. What are the incentive for the ECX to be efficient (to have the appropriate quality standard, quality and competitive pricing of storage facility, etc)? If the government is going to come up with a directive to trade through ECX, as you said there is no profit motive (already), what are the incentive then? I am not a big fan of the benevolent government, neither would I believe a benevolent management team of ECX. If I know my salary is secured regardless of whether I show up for work, I am most likely to spend most of the summer relaxing but hey I love to work :-)
4. Finally, on a less relevant point how does members of ECX make into the board of directors? does the members vote on it?
Best Wishes
Dear Elleni
May be it is good to come true what you have done on your analysis but it does not need to be a highly qualified Economist or Institutional Economist to describe the interaction how the market perform in a country where there are no large number of buyers and sellers,market disinformation, free will of producers to hand their produce or alternative ways of getting inputs for producers.
In order to enter the market it needs basic endowment and entitlement since the market is the only media to intersect the buyers and the sellers. As you have describe it the ECX plays this role to help both ends meet but i have more doubts how ECX will be an ideal way to be a cornerstone to alleviate the problem market distortion in Ethiopia.
Let we raise who are the major actors in the newly formed ECX? how much capital revolve with most of the many actors and the four majot founder members Ambasel,Guna,Hiwot,Dinsho and Wondo? As per my search in the net the capital for both Guna and Ambasel is 10 million Dollars each and if we consider the other two have the same amount we will end up these parapartal (ruling party owned trading firms) with about 40 million Dollar capital. Moreover if one look the bids from these what you tell us PLCs focus in importing fertilizers and pesticides and other raw materials with foreign exchange allocated to them and distribute to almost 85 percent of the farmers of the country. What is the impact on adressing how the market works? What i describe above tells us almost all Ethiopian farmers are in the hands of these four giant firms which are run by TPLF and its affiliates and they are also the only sources to avail credit for the farmers. What did it mean to you that there is an ECX which act fairly to adress the buyers and the sellers?
Does not that mean the other Agricultural marketing corporation in the hand of four giant baptized daughters/sons of TPLF?
The other riddle what you could not understand is that you think and take examples of the developing and developed economies to substantiate your founding but by passing the reality next door.What i advise you as a layman is take atleast two weeks vacation and criss cross the country with good heart and talk to farmers in different places how they hand their produce to whom and at what price or if they have time to contemplate about the market situation or how they are asked to pay their input credit and tax as soon as they trash their produce in the field or how they sell their sheep,goat or heifer to pay the loan taken from these giant leeches.
In my opinion in order to boost the income of our farmers through availing information and participation in ECX is a noble idea but the prerequisite work had to be done genuinely before taking this step, to name some:
°organization of farmers on their own free will (could be more associations in a woreda or kebele based on interst)
°abolishment of currently monopolized input and credit distribution (to open up to private investors in the field)
°Free and democratic election of the constituency by the people for the people not imposition of loyal cadres to run the administaration at any level
°to invert the the existing “v” type accumulation of skilled manpower,finance and facilities at the top to a normal pyramid with more resources at the base and less and few qualified personnel at the top.
°
Good explanation. The explanation looks wonderfull on the paper.
The analogy with EAL is non-sense.Ethiopian Airlines is a public enterprise and all of the board members and senior managers including Girma Wakie are appointed by government.EAL is not by any means free from government intervention.
The other thing Eleny asserted that the government never intervens in the work of ECX. The woyane thugs never allow any institution to operate freely. Her assertion is more unreliable considering the strategic importance of ECX.She also claims that EXC will be privatized when it gets hold. Please don’t joke. Let me ask you a very simple question. Why not the woyane thugs privatize ETC or its mobile phone operating part?. Any strategic institutions will never be privatized as far as woyane is in power. Trust me.
Dear Dr Eleni
You are either sublimely naive or deliberately misinform what you think is a credulous audience. While your conceptual analysis of markets in the US, India, etc. may be plausible, you skip the fact that your masters are control freaks who do not brook an independent existence of even innocuous associations such as the Ethiopian Football Association. The grain market is hugely linked to TPLF’s ideological infatuation with control of the peasant (an overwhelming majority of the population). Conversely, they know that the emergence of an independent, non-Tigrean agro-based middle class will threaten their stranglehold on their rule. In this life-and-death war, your closing ranks with theme should be a godsend to them.
Dear Dr Eleni,
I am very impressed by the genuine narrative you presented in your last article 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 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 he prepare a woyane cadre to lead the institution that you are running now. As you are well aware, 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 abraptly. 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.
Here is the list for ECX board of directors. 7 of them are TPLF/EPRDF members! How can it be independant?
H.E. Mekonnen Manyazewal | CHAIRMAN and State Minister, Ministry of Finance and Economic Development
H.E. ATO AHMED TUSSA | State Minister, Ministry of Trade and Industry
BEKALU ZELEKE | President, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE)
BEYENE G/MESKEL | Director General, Privatization and Public Enterprises Supervisory Agency
MESFIN LEMMA | HEAD, LEGAL AFFAIRS BUREAU PRIME MINSTER OFFICE
ABDELLA BAGRESH | GENERAL MANAGER, S.A. BAGRESH PLC
BERHANE HAILU | General Manager, Ethiopia Grain Trade Enterprise
CAPTAIN FEKADE MAMO | GENERAL MANAGER, CHALLENGE COFFEE TRADERS PLC
GETU KEBEDE | GENERAL MANAGER, KALITY FOOD SHARE CO.
DEBRETSION T/MICHAEL | Director General , Ethiopia Information and Communication Development Agency (EICTDA)
I think you know the real reality of our ill fated country
why in God’s sake use your reserch in the very wrong place in order to lobby for this merders.my illeterate advice to dr.is that distance your self from this complicated lies.
Dr.Eleni
I admire your courage and ambition to contribute to Ethiopian farmers what you have acquired in the West.But you have already started with disaster, .IN an export trade byers and sellers often establish long lasting mutual relationship of trust and confidence in each other. delivery, quality, quantity,terms of payement packaging etc.The Ethiopian exporters have also reliable suppliers according to given specfications.The importer on the other side has also obligations to meet the chains of disribution of wholesalers ,roasters and distributers and finally consumers with specfic tests.
I have read with dismay that experienced coffee exporters, well positioned in the global coffee market were arested,confiscated and sent to Kaliti for ” hording” there own coffee.By this irresposible actions all the chains were suddenly broken and Dr.you were part of the the disaster.The coffee export income went down.Who were the lossers.The exporters,the farmers and the country at large.The winner is the Weyne.It is a calculated move to controll the lucrative export market at the cost of the nation.Who was to blame for Ethiopian coffee ban in the Japan market for exporting coffee in recycled pesticide infested bags?DR.Eleni, your project is not timely and not serously concieved for short term and long term impacts.
Dr. Eleni’s explanations have some hidden assumptions. For ECX to be an efficient free market intermediary, the following hidden assumptions of Dr. Eleni have to hold.
1. The TPLF/EPRDF regime is as neutral as democratically elected governments of the USA, India, etc.when it comes to market operations.
2. The TPLF/EPRDF government has created free market growth fostering institutions (like legally protected private ownership, independent legal institutions etc.)that protect market agents.
Both of the above underlying assumptions of Dr. Eleni are false, considering Ethiopia under the TPLF/EPRDF rule. The governments in countries like USA, India, etc. do not directly interven and manipulate free market operation. Let alone intervening in free market operations, the TPLF/EPRDF regime has direct role in the markets through its giant oligopolistic economic entities like EFFORT, Dinsho, and many more, which are TPLF government officials, relatives-owned or affiliated.
It is a living reality that most of the market distortions and imperfections in Ethiopia are due to the work of these TPLF/EPRDF government-owned or affiliated entities. And the government officials are known to directly intervene in the market to protect the business interests of these entities, sometimes directly intervening in the market to distort its free function such as pushing out private competitors out of the market. Therefore, let alone building neutral free market enabling institutions, the TPLF/EPRDF officials and their affiliates are known to abuse the rules and regulations they drew on paper. They are very imperfect people that hugely contribute to the imperfect market in Ethiopia.
Therefore, what is the magic of the ECX, which can turn these market distorting government officials to all of a sudden become free market fostering independent agents for ECX. We have not seen private business entities that have had huge impact in Ethiopia under the TPLF/EPRDF regime, except those owned or affiliated with the government.
It is crystal clear that the owners of ECX from both the government side and private side will be TPLF/EPRDF officials, their relatives and few other individuals affiliated with the government. It is known that in today’s Ethiopia, they are the dominant rich group with the money. Share-holders of ECX will be the same rich government officials, relatives and their affiliates. In short, ECX will not be that much different from EFFORT or other TPLF/EPRDF owned or affiliated business ventures. There is no chance in hell for the ECX to be independent free market intermediary unless the TPLF/EPRDF transforms the way it deals with the economy of Ethiopia, which is very much unrealistic assumption.
Therefore, instead of giving us the BS of free market ECX, they should continue to do what TPLF/EPRDF regime is known at doing: owning and dictating everything in Ethiopia. They have monopolized both the political dictatorship and economic ownership. ECX is one more extension of that. Nothing more, nothing less.
Dr Eleni,
The country men and women who responded to your article did not question the importance of commodity exchange for Ethiopia. You missed the point. We said you are working with the dictator. Period! You are justifying your luxurious life in Ethiopia. Whether you are an Amhara, an Oromo or even a Tigre, you have to know that when the day comes you will be asked for the suffering you and your bosses caused on the Ethiopian people in general and the farmers of our country in particular. You will be asked for your actions more than anybody, because you have a PHD and you are doing knowingly and willingly. Please do not compare an apple with an orange. America with the most advanced democracy with our lovely poor Ethiopia ruled by barbaric government. A time will come when we can use our talents from America to benefit Ethiopia. Wait and Please fight to bring that day.
First of all, I want to appreciate the Effort of Dr. Eleni to share her ideas and to answer questions raised by different people.
But I have queries, in fact important realities, which Dr. Eleni needs to address.
Dr. Eleni, you stressed about the importance of markets (through ECX). I do not deny the need to have efficient market institutions for growth of a country. I do not want to argue, though arguable, whether ECX is such an institution, or whether it is of the peculiar characteristics that you described it with. My points are different.
1. Production versus market
It is a plain fact that the people of Ethiopia are the poorest of the poor in the planet, by any standard. We cannot deny the level of food crisis the country is facing over the years. I do not want to tell you the situation of famine over time (trend) in Ethiopia as you are more familiar with it.
Now the question: Is that simply because of marketing problem or problems related to production? Which one should be of priority problem?
Is that because buyers and sellers cannot find each other? Is it because of the risk of no buyer? Is that for the reason that farmers’ livelihood is constrained by the market? because of fluctuation in prices? Do farmers have marketable surplus at all?
2. You said ‘Farmers hate risk’. Absolutely right! But which risks are farmers in Ethiopia frequently facing? Is that a product price/market risk? Or risk related to production like erratic nature of rainfall and other vagaries of nature?
3. You talked also about investing in productivity enhancing technologies like fertilizers and HYV seeds. That is right and important. But what are the major problems in relation to this?
Didn’t you know that development agents, who are meant to promote these technologies through technical help and advice, are busy with other political jobs? Didn’t you know that they are Cadres of TPLF? Didn’t you know that they are the ones who disburse input credits, collect repayments, and put farmers in jail when they fail to pay in time?
You know that competitive and efficient input delivery system is necessary to increase production and productivity. Why didn’t you mention that the input delivery system is monopolized by the government? Why didn’t you raise the issue of land ownership and other policy distortions, which are also important to enhance productivity?
You said ‘profitability depends on whether there is a market where the product can be sold reliably and efficiently’. You have to also know that profitability depends on whether output is produced efficiently.
4. You said ‘To get out of agriculture and transform into a modern industrial state, Ethiopian agriculture must become increasingly productive so that labor can shift into other sectors.’ I totally agree that transforming agriculture and shifting excess agricultural labor to industrial sector is important. But, is an increase in agricultural productivity a cause for shift of labor to industry?
Economic theories indicate that the shift in labor is from low productive area to high productive area. But I am not saying that low agricultural productivity is desirable for shifting labor to industry. But to indicate that high productivity cannot be a cause for the shift. Because of accumulation of excess labor in agricultural sector (no adequate job in industrial sector) and because of a limited amount of land to cultivate, marginal product of labor is almost zero in agriculture (law of diminishing marginal returns). Therefore, it is necessary to increase agricultural productivity (using different productivity enhancing technologies) and at the same time shifting excess labor from agriculture to industry (by creating rural and urban industries). So, as to me productivity enhancing and labor shifting should go in parallel ways, rather than cause-effect nexus. Even if they have cause and effect relationship, it is in a different direction (low to high).
You may say that you are only dealing with the market aspect and not with the production aspect. But, it is hardly possible to tackle the problems of the rural poor without considering production aspects.
Dear Dr. Eleni,
I really appreciate the incontrovertible step you have taken to deliberate on the questions and comments about ECX. This transparency, apart from being answerable to the public as a public servant, is crucial for the success of what you are doing. In my opinion, as many would agree, investing time for answering and informing the people, whom you said you are serving and the ECX is benefiting, is as important as establishing and operating ECX. May be even more in a country like Ethiopia where there is already a growing mistrust between the government, unfortunately the owner of your ECX, and the people at large. I just hope all the rest of public and government authorities in Ethiopia follow suit.
I have the following points on your article. For the sake of clarity and staying in the course, my comments will follow after quoting statements from your article. I am just one of the citizens, not an expert in the field of economics or marketing, whom you said one of those you planned to educate. If I err, then you shouldn’t bother much. I just want ECX would be a success for the sake of poor millions. That is all.
I will start from the last point you explained in your article, concern about monopoly. Your explanation is as follows.
“Finally, what about a monopoly?…. At first glance, this seems quite unpalatable and rather contrary to the notion of a free market. Here is the catch. Among the four functions of the Exchange that were listed above, its very core role is to provide a central trading system for buyers and sellers to match their trades….. For this reason, all of the world’s exchanges essentially force this critical mass of trading in a commodity or stock into a single trading system”.
What would be difficult to understand from this statement first is the frame of reference you used to bring ‘provide(ing) of central trading system’, which is ECX’s “very core role”, in agreement with ‘force(ing) the critical mass into a single trading system’. The understanding is that the ECX serves as a medium bringing buyers and sellers providing a modern and professional centre. The key terms here are “provide” and “force”. Providing doesn’t imply forcing in both its literal and figurative meaning of the word. But above all the main question is, are the world’s exchanges forcing the critical mass with price and service competitiveness and other peaceful means or using otherwise tough government measures? Because, some people might say this is forced in Ethiopia through tough government regulations, closing the private business, appropriate their holding and jailing the owners? How do you compare that with the means the world’s exchanges practice?
When you deliberate on ownership you state the following. “Our model adopts the demutualized entity status in keeping with global trends, but retains the traditional system of membership and the non-profit status of the exchange, in order for it to attract maximum participation and not to impose a financial burden on the market users.” In response to that one may say why bother for ECX being non-profit as far as being a profit organization is in fact going to work fairly and efficiently which may also keep the clean work environment and integrity of ECX? What if you are compromising integrity and fairness for making ECX non-profit? The other natural question is, when you are saying “not to impose a financial burden to the market users”, is it based on assumptions or market research and consulting market users about benefits and costs for ECX beforehand? By the way, what do you mean by “traditional system of membership”?
At other place you state the following. “Thus, there is no motive to retain ownership by the state and over time, as the Exchange system takes hold; the government has publicly expressed its commitment to passing ownership to private entities.” I personally appreciate your trust to the government to the extent that you are talking on its behalf about motive. However, first of all, is there any specific time point as to when the government will exit? Explicitly what will be the governments and ECX’s measuring stick to say it quits for the government? Second, is it literally public expression or is there a signed protocol/agreement among the parties, namely the government, private sector and ECX? Remember that the government invested money and it is the owner now. How could we be confident that it will not be tempted later and changed its mind when the ECX potential is growing? Besides, if there is no binding paper agreement, isn’t this out of standard procedure? The other question is if the non-profit venture is good for ECX, then why the government is going to exit anyways handing ECX fully for the private sector? Not only that. If the fully private venture is known to benefit ECX better, then why the government not hand over ECX right now? If this might be because the government still has to collect the money it invested before it exits, then there should be transparency as to the accounting means and process of getting that money back to the government, which might be very important for you to deliberate on that in one of your future articles.
Let us carry on. You write “Again, unlike any other publicly-owned enterprise in Ethiopia, the Board of Directors is composed in almost equal part of representatives of the owner (state) and the private members of the Exchange as well as the CEO as a non-voting director.” In response, one may say why different from other publicly-owned enterprises in Ethiopia? Because that might in fact put the ECX in experimental adventure of a new approach which may or may not work eventually. If the structure is proven it worked somewhere in a similar set up (which will be good for other publicly-owned enterprises in Ethiopia to follow) then why the privilege to ECX? Or better put, what is in giving this special privilege to ECX?
You state “There is no interference or intervention in any aspect of day to day ECX operations, whether it is the warehousing and quality inspection, the dissemination of price information nationally and internationally (which relies mainly on the systems that ECX itself has developed), the financial systems, or the trading sessions.” Let me take your word that there is no intervention whatsoever from the government, and I believe, that it would be, except my doubts on independence of “the financial systems”. Because these are just routine work that should be taken over by the exchange, to begin with, the government may not be interested with. My question is, are these the only job descriptions of ECX? For example, where among those ECX duties listed above does forcing the critical mass fall?
Further, you state “the membership governance model described above essentially gives a free pass to our private members, who can gain private profit from the exchange at minimal cost, without investing in the expensive assets, and still have a big say in the management of the entity.” I respect the confidentiality of information with regard to share holders who got the “free pass”. But, was the sell for ECX shares open to the public then and as a result the identity and composition of the private share holders of ECX indicate this very fact right now?
How do you comment if one says to you that the comparison of Bernie Madoff to coffee exporters, or other private businesses in Ethiopia for that matter, is an extremely exaggerated one. I hope you very well know the weight of the 11 count criminal complaints Madoff was found guilty; it was not exclusively for “excessive speculation”.
Finally, I want to comment on the following statement from your article. “In addition to the laws and policies that govern a market in any country, all exchanges also have their own internal Rules that govern how the market is organized and how the market actors must behave.” That is understandable, but is there any information as to who prepared the internal rules, how they were prepared and what these internal rules are apart from “shouting out prices audibly”? This arises from a need for transparency for the public and share holders, and if these rules have been consulted to the fairness, and professional standard expected from exchanges before they have been implemented.
I believe that, by embarking on such a peaceful dialogue, you are not only doing well for ECX. You are also taking a new and winning direction to problem solving and leadership. This is what living by example is all about and encouraging others in similar and higher public office follow the same path.
Thank you.
By Boressa Tumsa*
In her second article targeted to the Diaspora, Dr. Eleni Gebre-Madhin eloquently explained how ECX, the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, was structured to address the needs of the buyer, the seller and the market provider (ECX itself).
The Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) is a new trading system being set up in Ethiopia by the Cornell-University educated and former World Bank employee, economist Dr. Eleni Gebre-Madhin. ECX tries to emulate the likes of the Chicago Board of Trade, according to Dr. Gebre-Madhin. ECX is the first-of-its-kind trading system in Ethiopia, where the exchange of commodity in the traditional means lacks efficiency and needs a reform.
Less than two years in its existence, ECX has already monopolized coffee and sesame trades in Ethiopia. In other words, importers and exporters of those commodities have to go through the ECX trading system in order to complete their transactions.
Critics of such monopolization of the trading system include coffee exporters as well as its importers. In January of 2009, when the ECX moved to monopolize coffee trades, the government confiscated thousands of tons of coffee beans from major exporters, who refused to use the ECX auctioning system. At that time, the Prime Minister, Mr. Meles Zenawi (also the Chairman of TPLF, the ruling party), threatened to cut off hands of those exporters accused of ‘hoarding’ coffee beans from the market.
Similarly, importers of coffee expressed their concern in April 2009 (Seattle Times):
“U.S. coffee importers and roasters are worried that a new auction system in Ethiopia makes it almost impossible for them to buy coffee from the particular farmers whose beans they want.”
Besides those actually involved with ECX, analysts and observers of the Ethiopian political economy voice yet another skepticism about the intention of ECX and the unlimited market power it will ultimately render to Ethiopia’s ruling party of the last two decades – “TPLF”.
TPLF came to power in 1991 after toppling the Derg military regime, that ruled the Ethiopian empire for 17 years with iron-fist socialism – confiscating all businesses and extra private properties, and nationalizing all major products and services produced in the country.
TPLF, a political organization with deep Marxist-Leninist roots, found itself in May 1991 a country that had billions of dollars of nationalized assets, including vast state-owned farmlands, and a world saying goodbye to ’socialism’, TPLF’s core philosophy. TPLF quickly shifted gear and embraced “market economy” as a party talking point and “privatization” has its implementation instrument.
TPLF, the political party, turned around and set up a business conglomerate abbreviated as EFFORT, and before everyone realized it, the entire Ethiopian economy, from pharmaceutical sector to retailing commodities to building construction to mining and others, was transferred to TPLF’s business venture, EFFORT, and affiliated entities. They did so by “legally” auctioning off nationalized assets to TPLF’s business entities through the Ethiopian Privatization Agency, a government entity headed by TPLF members. After that, Ethiopia is said to be “thriving in the market economy” while most economic sectors are fully monopolized by TPLF.
The most powerful person in EFFORT is none other than Mrs. Azeb Mesfin, the Deputy CEO of the conglomerate and the wife of the Prime Minister.
Going back to the discussion on ECX, in her latest article, Dr. Eleni Zaude Gabre-Madhin, said:
“A parallel example [to ECX] might be Ethiopian Airlines, although the corporate governance of the Exchange is unique.”
The Ethiopian Airlines, the state-owned airliner in Ethiopia, is an exception to the rule of “privatization” in that it is still owned by the “state.” However, there is a fine or no line separating what the “state”, as a public entity, owns and what “TPLF”, as a ruling party, owns. For example, the Board Chairmanship of the Ethiopian Airlines has thus far been assumed by someone from the top TPLF leadership; the current Board Chairman is the Minister of Foreign Affairs and TPLF Central Committee member, Mr. Seyoum Mesfin. Mr. Seye Abraha, a former TPLF Central Committee member, had also been in charge of the Airlines. Therefore, TPLF administers over the profits of the Airlines.
The critics of ECX, therefore, fear that TPLF will continue to dominate the commodity exchange as a government entity, on one side, and then, as a “private owner”, on the other side. This fear is not unfounded. As explained above, the so-called “private ownership” has become synonymous with TPLF’s business affiliates.
This group of critics of ECX does not oppose the idea of having a ‘commodity exchange’ or even that Dr. Eleni Gebre-Madhin and her team of experts are in charge of it. The critics also seem to have no beef with her ethnicity, as she has tried to portray their skepticism in her first article to the Diaspora.
The problem, once again, is with giving unlimited market manipulation power to TPLF. TPLF is the Ethiopian government involved in ECX as a “state”; TPLF is the “private owner” involved in ECX in one or another way. Such unchecked power vested upon a single political-cum-business entity, TPLF, is the real danger here. Who will be the regulator and who will be the regulated? Who will be allowed to use the market? Who will be barred from using the market – on political grounds?
During the 2005 election, the government/TPLF telecom monopoly, the Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority, turned off “texting” service to its subscribers when the opposition got smarter and used “texting” as a medium of communication. TPLF turned the government entity into its political subsidiary and used it to muffle the opposition.
How will TPLF use ECX to stifle its opponents? How can ECX be independent of the TPLF-dominated political and economic realties of the Ethiopian empire?
For ECX to realize its potentials and for Dr. Gebre-Madhin to be successful, the political and economic playing fields now entirely dominated by TPLF ought to change.
* Boressa Tumsa can be reached at [email protected]
Selam Dr. Eleni,
If I ever meet you in person, I will express my gratitude and admiration. Until then here is what I have to say, you are a pride of our country. You are one of a kind, please contiune on the path you started. Your effort will be rewarded soon. Please don’t give up. Don’t listen to doubters, negaitve thinkers pesmist voices. You are a visionary, and inspiration to many. Don’t think for a second you will have an easy road. But the reward is beyond anyones imagination.
May God be with you in all your endevours, and shine your path.
Eyobel,
Washington DC
The government officials who are listed as regulators, including the Prime Minister’s involvement in the ECX’s affairs are the major causes of market destabilization and the failure of the exchange as a market institution. In addition, the ruling party affiliated traders, financers, transporters, and exporters should have been banned from the exchange. The Prime Minster as the leader of his party must disclosed his party owned enterprises and their financial interests to the public before they are permitted in the exchange.
There is a lack of market information, lack of contract enforcement, and a lack of trust on the ECX. In particular, the asymmetric information (those who are close to the government possessing all the information and outright favouritism) has been damaging to the ECX and will continue to be so.
Furthermore, let it be known that no commodity exchange will work (let alone function and assist the 82 million Ethiopians) without transparency and accountability.
Let it be known that there are no commodity exchange markets that have flourished under repressive, parasitic, nepotistic and oligarchic regimes as it exists in Ethiopia. Let it be known that there is no “free commodity exchange” where repression is the order of the day, where the Ethiopian people are so petrified by the repression of Meles Zenawi’s regime that they are leaving their country in drones. We believe there are better ways to feed starving Ethiopians, currently over ten million of them being dependent international food aid.
Let it be known that a commodity exchange, no matter how glittery it may seem, will not work in a malaise economy and with people under increasingly grinding poverty.
Let it be known that there is no true commodity exchange in a country where group of people who claim to represent a minority ethnic group, who have illegally transferred the means of production to themselves and the parastatals they fully control.
Let it be known that the ECX adventure has been an exercise in futility, in part because the circumstances for a true commodity exchange system to function do not exist and in part because, as it became evident by Meles Zenawi’s “cutting of the hands” of the Ethiopian coffee exporters, the entire exercise is designed to have full control of the commanding heights of the Ethiopian economy.
Let it be known that the ECX is another well orchestrated gimmick, one of those government set up mega projects which are designed to control both the outputs and prices of the Ethiopian farmers, particularly the commodities which are the source of foreign exchange. Let be known that, as the saying goes: “all that glitters is not really gold!”
Let there be no more hypes, no more deceptions. Most importantly, it is time for those enablers of Meles’s greedy and kleptocratic regime that the creation of hypes real consequences. As a gimmickry mega project, the ECX has been and will be used to both squander the meager resources of the country and as means of controlling the outputs of the Ethiopian peasants. Let it be known that those who are a part of this process, including those at the helm of the ECX will be accountable for what they have done to Ethiopia and its people.
I appreciate the idea but its application still has some problems. One thing I would like to address to Dr.Eleni is that either the free market ,centrally planned economy or mixed economy are not our philosopy so that when we tried to practice it, I hope you will encountered problems of different origin. You need to know and characterize the country social system first. I do not know to which category the country classified first. It is difficult to talk free market economy with out capitalism and the existence of real capitalists and centrally planned economy ( socialist economy) with out public properties. Taking into consideration this points ,let us talk about ECX and other economy sectors. Otherwise duplication from other countries experience can not work in the specific soil of Ethiopia. First and foremost, let us understand the countries economy ,its people tradition and others very useful values of the people then devise a mechanism to solve the problem in consultation with the people, the government, and those who involved in the programe. Then, you can convert your own good idea in to practice which is free from duplications of others philosophy.
Dr Eleni,
Let’s start discussing the basic first before we start discussing about free market.
Which one do you think comes first free markets or free people?
Dr. Eleni,
I am very much devastated to see that my briliant sister probably mother, is being in use by the Woyanes! For now they will let you free to exercise your knowledge and very soon they will throw you out. I wish you are working for the democratic and united Ethiopia. But you are working for the TPLF’s EFFORT led capitalism that is so racist and ethno-centeric.
I would like to conclude by saying that TPLF – EFFORT capitalism has managed to get great mind who is not Tigre, who is not decended from the “golden race”. So, how is your woyane boss, Dr(?) Addis Alem Balema doing? Is he learning from you or busy with crafting a strategy to fill key positions with his woyane (tigre) intelectuals?
This is not the time. The time will have to come after the woyane elements are destroyed. Take my words.
Dear Dr. Eleni,
I admire your dedication to set up ECX in Ethiopia where there is no freedom as we know it in countries like the United States, India, South Africa which you cite as examples to emulate. Even though you and your staff have to be thanked andappreciated for what you are trying to, believe me you will find out that your sincere effort will in thend turn out to be a THANKLESS JOB.
Although I would wish you all the best to your wellbeing, I fear for you. A reader above, Steve Bik, put the scenario how and where you will end up after the TPLF goons learned the ropes from you how to run the ECX in a year or two.
It is a chilling reality. I only hope you will not end up in prison like Bertukan Mideksa and Teddy Afro.
GOD HELP YOU