A visit to Little Addis, Johannesburg, South Africa

The Ethiopian district in town is affectionally known as Little Addis. Amazing cheap food can be enjoyed. But we’re talking amazing, and amazingly cheap. We’re slowly starting to explore the area more. One place to start is Joburg Mall accessible on Jeppe Street. The first place we recommend you hit is a cute little spot called cafe Addis. Just down the passage is a spot to get dam near the finest coffee in the world. Now Im not talking Italian espresso nonsense. This stuff is roasted in front of you over a pile of burning coals, and then placed in large traditional pots that brew the coffee till it reaches amazingness. (JoBusy.com)

LAGOS, NIGERIA (APA) — Ethiopia’s Habtamu Awash was the winnner of Nigeria’s 5th Obudu Ranch Mountain race, beating 2008 champion, Ababe Dinkesa, also of Ethiopia to the fifth position on Saturday.

With a time of 42.03 minutes, Awash beat more than 160 mountain runners in the 11km race from Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Cameroon, Rwanda, Holland and the host country Nigeria to clinch the first position and a cash prize of US$50,000.

The second position in the male category was won by Geoffry Kusuro of Uganda with a time of 42.11 minutes and received US$20,000, while the third position went to MacDonald Ondara with a time of 42.14 minutes and received US$9,000.

In the female category dominated by the Ethiopians, Manilu Daska of Ethiopia won the race with a time of 49.12 minutes and a cash prize of US$50,000.

The second position was won by another Ethiopian Mastawet Tufa with a time of 49.31 minutes and she received US$20,000, while the third position went to Meselech Hileyesus, also an Ethiopian, with a time of 49.54 minutes.

In local runners category, Danjuma Gyang of Nigeria won the first position in the male race with a time of 48.57 minutes and Janet Dung came first in the female group with 59.56 minutes.

HARTLEPOOL, UK (Hartlepool Mail) — POLICE have renewed their appeals to find a missing Ethiopian woman who vanished three months ago during an exchange programme.

Konjit Assefa, 22, was visiting Hartlepool as part of a nine-strong group of Africans when she went missing at around noon on Tuesday, August 25.

Three other Ethiopian members of the Global Exchange programme, all men in their 20s, also disappeared during a trip to London, though one later made contact and was deported.

A Cleveland Police spokesman said: “We are appealing for information regarding a missing Ethiopian woman.

“She had been living in the Headland area of the town as part of an exchange programme.

“At the time of her disappearance she is believed to have been wearing stone washed jeans with a black and grey hooded top and was carrying a small black and red rucksack.”

The Mail reported how Hartlepool Police joined forces with London’s Metropolitan Police in searching for the missing men who disappeared during a tour of the Houses of Parliament on July 15.

Zerihun Weldeyohans Alaro, 24, later contacted organisers after staying with family in London, but was deported.

Exchange visitors Habtamu Debella, 27, and Muluneh Tilahun, 21, are still missing with the UK Border Agency saying they are now as all of the group’s visas ran out on September 9.

The Global Exchange programme involves 18 volunteers, nine from the UK and nine from Ethiopia, living in Hartlepool while working for community organisations.

The team had just finished the second part of the exchange, having already spent three months in Africa.

Programme leaders told the Mail in the summer that they will seriously think about which countries they work with in the light of the disappearances.

Anyone with information is asked to contact Hartlepool Police on (01642) 302126.

ADDIS ABABA (WFP) — Every day dozens of World Food Program (WFP) chartered vessels ply the oceans of the world en route to distant ports. Laden with food the vessels steer their course towards the continents of Asia, South America and Africa where the need is often greatest. The beautiful highlands of Ethiopia have long struggled to support that proud nation’s burgeoning population but have often been unable to meet the demand. As a result WFP has been asked to step in and establish a vital food lifeline from countries around the world whose grain surpluses can meet the needs of the Ethiopian people.

For years the Port of Djibouti served as the main port of call for all food flowing into landlocked Ethiopia. Following the separation of Eritrea from Ethiopia in 1993, Ethiopia, which once had the privilege of using the ports of Asab and Massawa along the Red Sea coast, suddenly found itself reliant upon the tiny nation of Djibouti for access to the Gulf Of Aden, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean. An increase in commercial cargo, humanitarian cargo and government cargo led to congestion in the Port of Djibouti and strained the overland transport capacity to Ethiopia.

While some years were worse than others, the past two years have presented additional challenges. The Ethiopian government’s request for support of over 11 million people has suddenly pushed the supply chain to its limit. (The amount of food WFP estimates it will need to move into Ethiopia is nearly 800,000 metric tonnes.) As a result of this request, WFP undertook an assessment to determine the feasibility of using the ports of Sudan and Berbera, located to the north and south respectively, as alternate supply routes into the landlocked nation. Early test shipments proved successful so additional shipments of bulk grain were sent into the two alternate ports.

We have been lucky enough to receive images from these early shipments to the remote port of Berbera and of the overland convoys moving into Ethiopia from Sudan. We took the liberty of compiling the images into a multi-image show complete with a custom audio track. It highlights the process involved with moving food into some of the world’s most remote regions. Hopefully, the new routes will prove to sustainable new passages into the heart of Ethiopia.

Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (ECA) – The expansion of existing and the creation of new dry ports in Ethiopia was the subject of a day-long workshop held at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) this week.

With no direct access to the sea, landlocked Ethiopia appears to be at a disadvantage when it comes to efficiency of transportation of goods. However, dry ports could be a solution to this problem. ECA, on behalf of the Ethiopian Dry Ports Services Enterprise, has undertaken a feasibility study for dry ports in the country. The meeting was to review the feasibility study with a variety of stakeholders from across the country.

With a dry port, goods being transported to a landlocked country, rather than undergoing customs procedures at the seaport, would instead be transported directly to the country’s dry port, where customs clearance would take place.

Mr. Stephen Karingi, Chief of Trade and International Negotiations at ECA, said the importance of dry ports for landlocked countries could not be overstated. ECA studies have shown that, keeping distance constant, transport costs for landlocked countries are on average $2000 USD higher than those for non-landlocked countries owing to delays at seaports and border posts. Efficient dry ports could help reduce these transport costs and make them better able to compete commercially.

“The ability of landlocked countries to trade does rely on the existence of efficient and easily accessible transit corridors of which dry ports constitute a vital component,” he said. “The benefits of efficient dry ports could be enormous for Ethiopia.”

Ethiopia currently has two dry ports – one in Mojo, the other in Samera. In addition to the review and input into the final report, participants discussed the feasibility of expanding these two dry ports as well as possible locations for others.