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Addis Ababa in pictures

Posted on , Updated on by Elias Kifle

Addis Ababa

The air is thick with pollution and the spicy sweet smell of eucalyptus wood smoke. You’re as likely to see a sophisticated professional walking down the street with a briefcase as you are a peasant wrapped in a dirty gabi running a small herd of oxen. Or goats.

Blue and white mini-bus taxi cabs jammed with people behind steamy windows careen down the streets next to miniature cars 50 years old and still running.

Our SUV stops and children or disabled people or just poor people rush to the window saying, “Birr, money, money, birr…” People everywhere walking, carrying impossibly large loads on their backs or their heads, pushing wheelbarrows full of tomatoes, or firewood, or old shoes. Dirty feet in broken rubber sandals, mud sidewalks. Tiny walk-up corrugated metal stores selling spices in plastic bags. Or meat. (That’s a horsehair fly swatter the meat seller has in his hand there.)

Scenes that didn’t make sense. An ancient sewing machine with a man sewing dozens of burlap sacks together – right in the city.

The view of the neighborhood across the street from our 4 star international hotel window.

Source: Susan at homecake

36 thoughts on “Addis Ababa in pictures”

  1. Hi! Dear Elias! Thank you!
    Please.Post side by side the old and new Mekele and other Tigrai cities for comparison! and understanding of the TPLF destructive ( non -Tigrai part of the country) and (construction and develpoment of Tigrai region) Policies.

  7. Dear ER, It is what we have during Haile Slasse, Derg and it is same now.

    Not sure of your motives, you have managed to show us these pictures. There are certainly better pictures that you decided to ignore. I think you should focus on the bigger issue and discuss on how to improve the current disaster of EPRDF monopolized polices.

  8. Wow, I did see that the fast development of Ethiopia, Now I had to believe that the propaganda of weyane mouth piece cadres in Diaspora for the growth of Addis Ababa. I have also noticed that the people on the pictures are counting millions of birr and enjoying life……….What a shame of jokes by weyane sympathizers. By the way I would not get surprised if weyane members and sympathizers tells us a bunch of lies about the growth of addis, but I always get ashamed by those “what’s up” generations who go to Ethiopia for vacation and tell us Ethiopia is growing while the truth clearly showed by the pictures rather than words that doesn’t lead anyone to a debate………
    Our enemies are not only weyanes but the no. one enemies that we have are those moron and retarded Ethiopians who are not supporters of weyane but exited to lie about the realities of Ethiopia after they get back from a few weeks’ vacation from Ethiopia. Those are the enemies of their families and their people that keep hiding the truth and the damages that is going on by the weyane mafia group. Just because some of them spend a good time around the best spots of Addis Ababa, Nazerth, Sodere, Langano and various places, they assume that everyone else is doing fine in Ethiopia. But the fact is that the Ethiopian people is upside down under the criminal weyane regime.
    Shame, shame , shame,,,,,,shame…… on the people who say Ethiopia is growing, after they get back from a few weeks’ vacation from Ethiopia! MAFERIA HULU…….

  9. That is it? You got what you were looking for. I am sure you have taken some beautiful places or people pictures too, share them.

    Waynigus Debeb
    Seattle WA.

  11. We know we can change all that if we are allowed to have peace. peace within us, peace with our neighbors and peace in the entire Horn region – damn it! yes, we can do it, but by not foolishly talking war, war and some more war.

  12. This is the fact. As a result of 17 years looting and brutality we exactly look like this. As the criminal enemy is building expensive houses and accumilating money the very people are under severe poverty! yes.

    temelkach

  13. If we had a responsible and caring goverment, Addis would have looked different. In 17 years a lot could have been done to improve the image of the city, not just by erecting high rise buildings but by improving the living conditions of the very poor and the destitiutes. People flock to the cities from the countryside in search of jobs and better life. Once they arrived in the cities with no money and no food they will be forced to live in slums and the streets. That’s why we need to change this corrupt government and replace it with a government that works for it’s people.

  14. that is how most of ethiopian people live. why woyanne cares about that?..of course not. u know ..people may not realized it..but, if truth be told ..the difference how woyanne elits live and the rest of ethiopian people so vast that u may not even have enough words to say it. in some ways it is comaprable to slavery time. yeah.. by threatening, arresting,,murdering they enslaved the ethiopian people.

    I Believe if we look around and have a little love to our counry and people not one, there are many moses among us. unless we look forward to our freedom, woyanne gonna slave us as long as possible.

    at first no body listened to moses when he told them God had decided to free them from slavery.but, eventually they did. we have to stand firm and shout, and struggle for our “freedom and freedom”, sooner or later the ethiopian people will be free from woyane enslavement.

    Hope with our struggle, one day we will see free ethiopia in God we trust,,amen!!!

  15. If you want to see tigray,go to google maps and zoom it to see clearly.Look for entire tigray,aksum adgirat …….
    It looks like europe.Look for their high way and in streets.Look what they built.you can also compare that(tigray)with your birth place such as jimma,harar dire dawa nekemte……etc.by far tigray got it’s triple lion share.it’s amazing how they are building.that is why the rest of the country what it looks like the above picture.

  16. I think there are a lot of places pretty good too yet a lot had to be done but for comparison why don’t you post the good ones like bole road,Megenagna,Kazanchis,Mercato,or else still alot has to be done but pretty much good are there

  17. Elias –

    Thank you again for your informative pictures – that is the Woyane reality after 18 years of brutality against non-tigreans as a whole. The pictures don’t need additional explanation but to share my experience – The situation in other parts of the country, in particular Nekemte, Jimma, Mettu, Bedele, Agaro, Gimbi and many important urban centers of Ethiopia, are left to rot or decay – it is a complete disaster and beyond belief – the degree of miserable road conditions, the lack of electricity, water supply – Although Woyane is enemy to all Ethiopians, it seems to me Woyane has designated those Oromo towns as enemy territory.

  18. YOU HAVE to see behind those pictures. what is the point of comparing the buildings on bole and other roads, in most part owned by woyannes elites or those connected to them.

    If u wanna know reality checks those pics tell its all. that is how most of ethiopian people live. i heared woyanne is planning to build EPRDF party office in arat killo. are we gonna count such kind of buildings..too?

    those pics help remind us how the helpless ethiopian people lives. the elites and the war lords with their guns are up there ,,,the poor and the helpless crying down there.that is the truth. till one day the top and the bottom reversed as seen so many times in human history.

  19. The pictures is not about buildings. this is to show the lifestyle of the real Ethiopians. ofcourse there are a lot of nice buildings. but those are wayanes exept some. you know how is living in the houses of derg, “kirai betoch”. forget about the new ones. they are 100% wayanes. But soon or letter on his turn wayane house will be “Akaki karchele”. Long live all anti-wayane Ethiopian fighters!

  20. These pictures show how Woyane is achieving its goal of distroying and humiliating Ethiopia. Their final goal is ruining Ethiopia completely. Woyane is Ethiopian enemy that is why they are doing this.

  21. This is a shame!!! How on earth does a citizen of any country takes pride of showing the ugly face of his/her own country shown all over the world. Politics and hatred of the Woyanne regime is understandable. But, showing your own country in disgrace with derogatory comments above each and every pictures is nothing else but getting paranoid. How in the world do you all get satisfied by looking at a picture showing the people and the country in contempt? I for one believe Woyanne is responsible for the deterioration of our people and our cities. But, I also respect my country and people however poor and shabby they may look. The pictures were taken by some foreigners and all of you who showed sympathy for the pictures should have read the comments given by these foreigners above each and every pictures. Does it really make you happy to read a comment which talks about people with “dirty feet” asking for Birr? I am writing this for those innocents who thought these pictures exposed Woyanne and therefore they are happy. Not at all!! They expose our own poor people and their life style, where sewing the traditional way is said to make no sense. Please come back to your senses and show respect to the people and country which you all claim to love wholeheartedly.

  23. What is our aim? What is our final goal? As one people of one country,
    what is our common denominator? Unfortunately, some of wants to
    fight against poverty, disease, and ignorance, in one ward work united
    for social and economic development.

    And there are also those who live by pride of our grand parents.
    We go back thousands of years back searching heroes and get satisfied
    by their patriotic fame and hey days.

    Some others they dream biblical time. Stone age. They don’t realize
    that we are in globalization era. For those people having over 300 hundred
    thousand army ready to invade any neighbor satisfies their appetite of pride.

    We inherited legacy of war loving governments. Menelic, Yohannes, Teferi,
    Mengustu and this midget Meles. No one of those leaders invested the human
    and natural resources of this mighty country used for the benefit of the people
    and the country. They used war as mean of power survival.

    Meles, used the same tactic. War. War. War.

  24. ER:

    What’s your point? There are so many things we can accuse Weyane for, but let’s not get frivolous. These images have been the trademark of Addis for the last 50 years, at least. This city has not suddenly transformed itself into a shanty town under Weyane!

  25. actualy those pictures are decent…what would u say if you see the shanti houses n
    and the beggers ..as an opposition figure I was in Asmara on a mission and I was impressed how the asmara munucipal keeps the city clean…you got running fountains , working wall clocks, they even have megaphoes in the city streets for moring news and music…all this is done with meager eritrean economy…whle meles gebsebes is taking all the money our city is langusihing…cry emeye ethiopia cry…

  26. The poorer became richer (Woyane).

    The richer became richrer (Al Amoudin.

    The poorer became poorer (Ethiopian people except Bandas).

    If Woyane and Al Amoudin will be gone Ethiopian become richer.

    God Bless Ethiopia. YES-HR-2003!!!

  30. As I have observed last year, Addis is worst than these pictures depict!!! One can observe that by walking around through Arat Killo, Kirkos, Katanga (behind exhibition center and dembel city center), Wollo Sefer, Piassa, Serategna Sefer, Merkato, Abenet, Doro Manekia, Shiro Meda, etc…It is really a puzzle when we get wrong pictures from pro-government media out lets—they deceived us to buy the heart and minds of the diaspora!!!

  31. “A picture is a thousand words.” Do you remember who wrote in Addis Zemen “Tgrai esktlema lelaw ager yidma.” that became the talk of the town in Addis, in the early years of woyane? This was truely prophetic in a retrospect.

  32. for u the peoples who say why u do not look good places and post the photo ,why? to hide the truth of what the rest of addis abeba looks like? get real .ayto endalye atihunu . zare ye ethiopia hizb enjera biyagegn yalemabaya yemibelabet,teff enkuwa megiza akim yelelew hizb bebezabet, mebirat kemiberabet yemitefabet bebezabet ,weha tewat meto ken mulu belebet ere min tezeriziro yalikal ena yeha hulu chigir lemin be addis abeba tiru sefer photo aliteshefenem tilalachu yeha yewechiwn eridata endayker new?birrun wedekis eyasigabchu addis abeban geneban lemalet new? hodamoch hula what goes comes round .

  33. This is the result of tribal politics-sloppy development.Most of Addis still remains slum with some scattered home development.The greatest trajedy is the bulk of the population still, after 18 years of rule by Woyanne regime,lesds a miserable life.Food,clothing,housing come first and others will follow.Elias is right in exhibiting some of the dilapidated areas in the town.It helps us to understand the true image of Addis.

  34. Wow! These are fantastic photos! And interesting observations by the writer as well. Let’s be honest here: they’re just travel photos and impressions. That’s it. Nobody needs to blow a nut over it.

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