ADDIS ABABA (AFP) — Former world heavyweight champion Evander Holyfield’s exhibition match in Ethiopia has been postponed for September, his opponent Sammy Retta told AFP on Monday.

The fight, to raise funds for AIDS, was set to take place in Addis Ababa on July 26, but organisers had to reschedule after a request from the government.

“The government wanted the match to correspond with Ethiopia’s new year celebrations on September 11, so we both agreed,” Retta said in a phone interview.

Retta, an Ethiopian-born American, is a 35-year-old with a record of 18 wins and three losses in super-middleweight bouts.

At 230 pounds, he now outweighs his more illustrious rival.

The bout was also meant to serve as a warm-up for four-time world champion Holyfield, who targeted another crack at the world title in September.

Retta however, claimed that the 46-year-old’s managers had also postponed that match for an undisclosed date in December.

Holyfield failed to clinch a fifth title during his last attempt late last year when he lost to Russian Valuev.

Valuev, the tallest and heaviest champion of all-time according to experts, is currently the holder of the World Boxing Association title.

The September fight will rank as one of the highest-profile all-American boxing bouts on African soil since the legendary 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” that pitted Muhammad Ali against George Foreman in the former Zaire.

By Wondwossen Mezlekia

In the past few weeks, too many readers asked me to share my views on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) and wanted to know what I think about its effects on the Ethiopian coffee sector in general, and the Specialty coffee industry in particular. I was also asked similar questions by producers of the PBS Wide Angle program that released this documentary program featuring Eleni Gebre-Medhin, founder of the ECX.

While I continue to respond to as many of your emails as I can, I also thought it might be useful to post my comments here on the blog for everyone else to see. So, in the coming couple of days, I will post my views on the most frequently asked questions: What’s your view on the ECX in general; What do you think are the effect of trading through the ECX on specialty coffee exporters and buyers; Is ECX good for coffee growers?

Today, I share my views on the ECX in general as an introduction and to clarify my stance before I raise issues that may easily confuse readers although, to my knowledge, none of the problems I will discuss here are related to or the makings of ECX or Eleni – the person that I admire most and is being celebrated by the PBS documentary on July 22, 2009.

My views on the ECX in general

I think the establishment of the ECX is significant and of a historic proportion.

As I jokingly tell friends, in Ethiopia, major development breakthroughs happen on a periodic cycle of time spanning either 20 or 100 years on average. For example, I listed below a non-exhaustive timeline for Ethiopia’s introduction of the major communication technologies and platforms:

1894 – Postal service started on March 9, 1984 (In 1908, Ethiopia became member of the Universal Postal Union and the first Ethiopian stamps were also printed and sold around this time; in 1936, the General Post Office and two branch offices were established in Addis Ababa as well as thirty-six post offices throughout the country.)

1917 – The first train services from the coast to the capital were inaugurated only in 1917 (A concession for the construction of a railway from the Ethiopian capital to the French Somali port of Djibouti was granted by Menelik as early as March 1894)

1984 – The first extensive open-wire line telecommunication system laid out linking the capital with all the important administrative cities of the country (the Imperial Telecommunications Board of Ethiopia was established by Proclamation 131/53 in 1953)

2008 – The first commodity exchange market established. The person credited for this triumph, Eleni Gebre-Medhin, is featured on this documentary film.

Based on this snapshot of historic timeline, some historians may be tempted to draw conclusions that the establishment of the ECX was overdue by about 4 years because the latest major breakthrough was recorded in 1984 – 24 years prior to the ECX’ formation. I lean towards supporting the argument that it was overdue by over a hundred years.

So, it is my belief and hope that Ethiopians will be grateful for and appreciative of the work done by Eleni and her colleagues for the next many years.

The ECX can play important roles in elevating the agricultural sector’s efficiency, the country’s competitiveness in the global market, and thereby helping the people dig themselves out of the vicious circle of poverty that we are shamefully plagued in.

A transparent and efficient exchange market system nurtures competition and benefits everyone in the value chain. The ECX can help Ethiopia by:

• modernizing the way people do business and improving the marketing channels,
• disseminating market and price information, and
• providing a marketplace where buyers and sellers can come together to trade and be assured of quality, delivery, and payment.

These will have a ripple effect of benefiting everyone in the value chain. Obviously, this cannot be achieved overnight. Transforming a century old gloomy trading system takes time.

I think, the first year of trading coffee through ECX was marred by problems and confusion. While the efforts made by ECX to take on a crop of global importance shortly after its launch is admirable, the strategies it went by to integrate the trade were far from being flawless. From the outset, ECX declared that it aims at creating a national standard commodity coffee classification system; it eliminated direct trade and traceability; and enticed the government to controlling the value chain from farm gate to the border. These changes have had remarkable effects on coffee exporters, buyers, growers, and the coffee sector at large.

I. Homogeneous National Coffee Brand

For a country with millions of poor people, the temptation of utilizing the high paying fewer coffee brands to drive sales and increase the value of the country’s overall coffee production is high. That very thought has played a role in ECX’ decision to homogenize all coffees grown in the same region through a standard commodity classification system.

This is clearly stated in the whitepaper released in April 2009 by the ECX titled: What is in a Bean? ECX and the Specialty Coffee Market. It reads, “We take the strong view that a significant majority of Ethiopian coffees have the potential to be considered fine coffees, and can be sold in the domestic market as such, with appropriate certification. The ECX model not only promotes the specialty coffee segment but also do so in such a way as to benefit the small farmer as well.”

The document does not indicate how ECX’ new system will benefit the small farmers but it stands firm by the assumptions and subsequent conclusions.

“The recent policy decision to include trading of all coffees within the Exchange is based on the strategic thinking that the [following] set of assumptions [is] correct:

1) A significant majority of washed Sidama and Yirgachefe and unwashed Harar could be considered specialty-plus in that they are branded and trademarked and have the potential to meet the fine coffee standards;
2) A significant majority of all Ethiopian coffees have the potential to be considered organic and obtain certification;
3) A significant portion of unwashed coffee can be promoted as forest coffee and/or bird friendly.”

Although these assumptions are based on indisputable facts, they are not exhaustive enough to justify the conclusions drawn by the ECX. The fact that Ethiopia has the potential to increase its coffee qualities to the standards preferred by the global Specialty coffee industry does not give good reason for an immediate homogenization and an automatic upgrade of the classes of the whole coffee production. Ethiopia’s coffee cannot be sold as Specialty coffees only because the country wanted or decided to. In a buyers’ market, such as in the global Specialty coffee trade, unfortunately, the final say is not that of producers’ but the buyers’. Specialty coffee buyers and roasters decide which plot to invest in and which crop to buy.

The alternative is for the country to invest in quality, branding, and slick marketing of its products to set itself apart from the competition and convince buyers. That way, Ethiopia could create the demand and subsequently the market for the coffee brands it wishes to create. This is, however, a daunting task and an expensive venture for Ethiopia, the poorest country in the world. In the absence of these endeavors, countries like Ethiopia are bound to the terms of the global coffee trade, at least for the foreseeable future.

The measures taken by the government to force sell all coffees through the ECX platform and ECX’ decision to standardize the coffee grades into a national brand while, in ECX’ estimation, only about 3.7% of the country’s coffee production qualifies to be branded as a Specialty coffee, may cost the nation dearly. The farmers that are already producing the finest coffees will be the immediate victims of the new system as they are forced to give up the premium prices they are paid by buyers for their exceptional produce. Because, as soon as their coffees are blended with other coffees grown in the same region (in order to boost up the wholesale price for good of the country), these farmers lose their entitlement to the premium status their produce commands. This is unfair to the poor farmers.

Unless the ECX system of trading coffee as a commodity is corrected promptly, in the long term, the strategy risks watering-down the nation’s coffee brands. Such a strategy undermines the superior standards some of the brands earned over the years and the result will be commoditizing the country’s valuable crop.

II. No Direct Trade, No Traceability

Specialty coffee buyers and roasters are puzzled and in panic over the ECX system. The biggest issue for these buyers is the loss of transparency and traceability. They need assurances that the bundle they want is the bundle they will get. The new system does not allow direct trade for single-origin coffee because it promotes the traditional trade relations model where commodity coffee sales is brokered in bulk, thus no traceability. The new system basically lumps together bundles of coffees into a generic class-type-grade combo.

Independent millers who used to buy coffee from farmers, mill it, escort it through the former auction systems, and export it are no longer allowed to do so. They are now required to sell the beans to the ECX, where its origin is lost. The possibility of tracing a bag of coffee to its origins is eliminated in this process. The ECX promises a secure inventory management and a guaranteed warehouse receipts system that ensures “zero delivery default and reduces mixing of coffee origins” during the marketing process. But, as far as buyers are concerned, traceability is lost because there is no way of proving whether the plot they will receive is the one they wanted.

This is remarkable because while the global coffee industry is increasingly moving towards greater transparency of coffee origins, tracing back all the way to individual plots of land, the Ethiopian system is heading in the opposite direction.

III. Government’s Hands in the Bag

The third effect on the exporters and farmers has to do with the government’s intervention.

While it is good that the new exchange system replaced the murky auction centers, unfortunately, it also tempted the government to enter into the market as a major player. Some private businesses are now effectively locked out of the market and, in an unprecedented move, the government has emerged with a strong control over the coffee sector.

In what played out early this year as a reaction to some of the major exporters’ hesitance to sell their coffee stocks at the prevailing prices if sold through the ECX, the government confiscated coffee beans from the exporters and also tasked the state owned profit-making enterprise called Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise (EGTE) with exporting coffee. This crack down on the exporters had a devastating impact on some roasters and their relationship with the country as the country failed to fulfill its contractual agreements during the last harvest season. Also, it raised the question of what else would the government do in the future.

The ECX is currently negotiating with representatives of the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA) and others to resolve this one problem. In the mean time, as the next harvest season approaches, the EGTE appears to be very well positioned to claim the biggest market share in the country’s coffee export.

Domestically, this level of engagement by the government in exporting beans produced by smallholder families is alarming because of the imbalance of power and the obvious conflicts of interest. The government has its influences in almost everything from policy making, distribution of farm inputs, capital, to the land. This is the farthest one can get away from a free market system.

All these affect farmers as their sales volume is directly dependent on the volume sold by exporters.

(The writer can be reached at [email protected])

By David McDougall | Globe and Mail

A Canadian citizen imprisoned in Ethiopia for two-and-a-half years, has been convicted by a civilian [kangaroo] court in Addis Ababa on three charges relating to his alleged involvement in an Ethiopian separatist movement.

Bashir Makhtal, a former Toronto resident now in his 40s, is the grandson of one of the founding members of the Ogaden National Liberation Front, though he claims he has no connection with the movement.

“He was prepared for it. He was not surprised at all,” said Mr. Makhtal’s lawyer in Ethiopia, Gebreamlak Tekele .

Mr. Makhtal is due to be sentenced on Monday and could face life imprisonment or death, though his lawyer says they plan to appeal the conviction.

Mr. Makhtal was arrested by Kenyan authorities in December, 2006, as he attempted to cross the border from Somalia on a Canadian passport in an effort to escape fighting between Ethiopia and Somalia’s Union of Islamic Courts, an Islamist militia.

Mr. Makhtal claims he was in Mogadishu on a business trip, preparing to receive a shipment of used clothing from Dubai.

He was never charged in Kenya. Instead, after several weeks in custody, he was sent to Ethiopia where he essentially disappeared, held incommunicado in solitary confinement and denied consular access for nearly two years.

Pressure from the Canadian government is believed to have helped persuade Ethiopia to give Mr. Makhtal some semblance of a judicial process. But today’s conviction brings to an end a trial that both human rights groups and Mr Makhtal warned would be unfair.

“It’s been a foregone conclusion,” said Lorne Waldman, the Toronto lawyer retained by Mr. Makhtal’s family to represent his case in Canada. “Any independent observer knows that the judicial system in Ethiopia is not independent.”

“The key issue for us now is whether the Canadian government will take appropriate steps to ensure that he is repatriated.”

Addis Ababa (The Reporter) — The Malaysian oil and gas giant, Petronas, is to start drilling the first exploration well in the Ogaden basin.

Petronas will soon start drilling two wells in its concession area in the Genele block. The company has hired a Dubai based company, Weather Ford, which will conduct seismic survey and drill the exploration wells. Recently, Weather Ford started mobilizing its drilling crew, drilling rigs and machines for conducting seismic surveys in the region.

Reliable sources told The Reporter that Weather Ford has agreed to drill exploration wells in the Genale block, block 11 and 15. Sources said Weather Ford is mobilizing its crew and drilling rigs. Weather Ford is engaged in oil and gas exploration work in the Middle East. Petronas conducted various surveys in the Ogaden. However, it did not drill wells.

In 2004 Zhongyuan Petroleum Exploration Bureau (ZPEB), a Chinese company, was contracted by Petronas to do seismic survey and drill exploration wells in the Gambella block owned by Petronas. Petronas acquired the Gambella block, covering about 16,000 sq. km of land, in June 2003. ZPEB collected seismic data on 1500 km. Accordingly, in 2005 ZPEB drilled the first wild cat well in Jikaw locality, only 175 km from the Ethio-Sudan border. The company drilled the second well in Jakaranda locality in 2006. Both wells were dry. Petronas spent 32 million dollars for the drillings and testing. ZPEB withdrew from Gambella after it finalized its work in 2006.

However, the same year, Petronas hired ZPEB to conduct seismic survey in the Ogaden basin. In July 2005, Petronas acquired three blocks in the Ogaden basin – Genale block (24,420 Sq km, Kallafo 30,612 sq.km and Welwel-Warder 36,796 sq.km). In 2006, ZPEB started collecting seismic data in the three blocks.

In October 2006 South West Energy hired ZPEB to do seismic survey in the Ogaden basin. In December 2005, South West Energy, a company owned by an Ethiopian businessman, acquired a Degehabur block covering 21,187 sq. km of land. In January 2007, ZPEB commenced collecting seismic data in the Degehabur block. On 24 Apil 2007 the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF) attacked the Abole exploration site in the Degehabur zone of the Somali Regional State. Seventy-four civilians, including nine Chinese, were killed in the attack. Seven Chinese workers were abducted by ONLF fighters. However, they were released after two weeks. Following the attack in May 2007, ZPEB evacuated all its employees working in Ethiopia. Although the Ethiopian government tried hard to convince officials of ZPEB and SINOPEC to resume operations the companies declined to send their technicians back to Ogaden. ZPEB had terminated all the projects in Ethiopia.

It is to be recalled that Petronas agreed to develop the Callub and Hillala gas fields and paid the Ethiopian government 80 million dollars. The agreement was signed in 2007. However, the company has not started work on the project. Sources told The Reporter that it was related to security issues. Petronas had a plan to build a gas treatment plant. The company planned to construct a gas pipeline that stareches from the gas fields all the way to Djibouti. The total investment cost is estimated at 1.9 billion dollars.

A senior company official said the natural gas reserve in Calub and Hilala was estimated at 118 billion cu.m. adding that it was a small reserve compared to other reserves. It requires a lot of money to develop the natural gas. So the company is saying that it must discover additional reserves and build a gas treatment plant,” the official said.

In a related news, Pexco, a company based in Malaysia, started seismic survey in its concession in the Ogaden. White Nile, Lundin, South West Energy, and Afar Explorations are in the process of starting seismic survey in their concession areas. Pexco has conducted airborne magnetic and gravity survey in the Ogaden basin. The results of the magnetic and gravity survey were evaluated by the ministry.

By Shannon Kari | National Post

TORONTO, CANADA — An Ethiopian refugee who stabbed his girlfriend to death in her Toronto apartment will have to spend at least 18 years in prison before he is eligible for parole.

Arssei Hindessa, 33, convicted this spring of second-degree murder in the May, 2006, death of 20-year-old Natalie Novak, looked straight ahead and showed no emotion as he was sentenced Monday morning by Ontario Superior Court Justice Anne Molloy.

“The murder was the final installment in the history of violence against Ms. Novak,” noted the judge. “She stood up to him. She told him it was over. He killed her,” the judge observed, with several family members and friends of Ms. Novak in court.

Hindessa had already been convicted twice of assaulting Ms. Novak, a student at Ryerson University in Toronto, when he stabbed her to death after she explained she wanted to end their two-year-long relationship.

Ms. Novak was attacked in her bedroom. She was stabbed at least nine times in the chest area and there were many defensive wounds. “Natalie Novak fought for her life,” observed Judge Molloy.

Hindessa also slashed the throat of his girlfriend before he fled her apartment and threatened to commit suicide a few hours later by jumping off a bridge, when arrested by police.

The Ontario Court of Appeal has concluded that the normal range for someone convicted of second-degree murder in a domestic situation is a life sentence with no parole for at least 12 to 15 years.

There were several aggravating factors in the death of Ms. Novak, which is why Judge Molloy said she was imposing a longer prison term before Hindessa can apply for parole.

Hindessa arrived in Canada as a refugee at the age of 25. The judge accepted that he had been imprisoned and tortured in Ethiopia, but she was skeptical about his claims of paranoia and mental illness.

Judge Molloy pointed out that the jury flatly rejected the testimony of Hindessa and his assertion that he was drunk and hallucinating and saw a “seven-headed beast” when he stabbed Ms. Novak. The judge added that she found Hindessa’s expressions of remorse at the sentencing hearing to be “hollow words” aimed at reducing the time he has to spend in prison.

Crown attorney Mary Humphrey had asked for Hindessa to serve between 18 to 25 years in prison before he can apply for parole.

Judge Molloy noted that she must apply “parity” in sentencing, as she explained why she was not imposing parole ineligibility of more than 18 years.

“Natalie was adored, nurtured and treasured by her family and friends. I am aware of the utter devastation caused by her death, said the judge.

When imposing a sentence though, “we do not differentiate between a lovely young woman and the killing of any other human being,” said Judge Molloy.

WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA — Purdue University’s School of Veterinary Medicine celebrated its 50th anniversary by sending 19 faculty members, students and alumni to Ethiopia to assist in improving livestock production and continue its ongoing relationship with the Ethiopian veterinary school.

The group worked with Project Mercy, a U.S.-based, non-profit relief and development agency that seeks to improve cattle and human nutrition through breeding practices. The project is breeding Ethiopian cattle breeds with American and European breeds such as Jerseys, a U.S. dairy breed.

Breeding Ethiopian cattle with Jerseys is a good fit because Jerseys are small, have a high fertility rate and produce a lot of milk, said Mark Hilton, a Purdue veterinarian and clinical professor of food and animal production medicine.

“The thing that surprised me most was the lack of adequate animal nutrition and growth,” he said. “The heifers were only 250 to 350 pounds at a year old. Because of the lack of nutrition, animal reproduction is a luxury in Ethiopia. We saw 5-year-old heifers that had never been in heat. We really want to improve reproduction and show the Ethiopian people they can do it, too.”

Source: Purdue University News