ASMARA (AFP) — Nimbly peeling a spiky cactus fruit, eight-year-old Kibrab offers its sweet orange flesh to a sharp-suited young Eritrean.
It is “beles” time in Asmara — the annual return of Eritrea’s scattered diaspora and harvest time for the prickly pears they are named after.
Collected from the steep mountainsides surrounding the capital Asmara, the wild cactus crop provides a welcome cash injection for poor families.
Even more than the beles fruit, the 70,000 “beles” visiting from overseas also bring a vital economic boost, which according to some estimates amounts to half of Eritrea’s gross domestic product.
“We ‘beles’ Eritreans come every year around July and August, the same time as the beles fruit are ready, so we get called the same,” said a 28-year-old Eritrean-British businessman, who asked not to be named, who has lived in London since leaving as a child.
“It’s a positive name, because our relatives here know we bring help for the rest of the year.”
Remittances from some 850,000 Eritreans living abroad — a fifth of the country’s 4.2 million population — have a major impact in a country with an annual gross national income per capital of only 220 dollars (160 euros), according to 2005 World Bank figures.
Many fled Eritrea’s devastating 30-year liberation war against Ethiopia, helping fund it from abroad. Eritrea achieved independence in 1993, but is still recovering from a subsequent, bitter 1998-2000 border war with Ethiopia.
Cash from remittances is vital for the government, too, which takes a two-percent cut of all income earned by Eritreans overseas — technically a voluntary fee but widely enforced through community pressure.
“It’s something we have to do if we want to come back to visit,” said Michael who, like many, left for the United States more than 20 years ago after he was wounded fighting against Ethiopia.
“There’s a duty not only to help our family, but that we — who have the dollars and economic freedom of the West — should use that to help Eritrea.”
State-run media heap praise on diaspora donations, lauding them as “contributions to the national development” and support for the families of those killed fighting for Eritrea.
“Beles” time brings a cosmopolitan touch to Asmara’s Independence Avenue as young returnees speak in accents carried from elsewhere in Africa, the Middle East, Europe and North America. They mingle in the Bar Royal drinking coffee and beer and showing off the latest fashions from their adopted homelands.
But unlike older generations — who remember firsthand the sacrifices of the bloody liberation war — many younger “beles” say they are growing more distant from Eritrea, raising concern that remittances could drop off in the future.
“It is understandable that the longer people are away, the more links fade,” said a 26-year-old Eritrean-German, who also declined to give his name, visiting Asmara for the second time.
“I am proud of my roots, but I don’t have much in common with family here. I find it hard to imagine what my life would be like if I had had to fight, or even just do national service like people here.”
Asmara makes massive efforts to drum up patriotic support amongst the diaspora, promoting international youth festivals and organising “get to know your country” tours around famous battlefields or tourist sites.
Last April, hundreds of young Eritreans from 10 countries met in the English city of Portsmouth for a “youth movement” conference of Eritrea’s only political party, the People’s Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ).
But some say they are uncomfortable at supporting a regime regularly criticised by rights groups for an iron-grip control they say involves arresting critics, persecuting religious minorities and closing independent media.
Even as the diaspora returns on holiday, Eritreans continue to leave the country — many illegally — risking jail or worse to sneak across the dangerous border into Sudan to begin their own desperate search to earn money that many send back home.
Some stay in Sudan, others aim for North America — where the US-based Eritrean community is estimated at between 500,000 and 750,000 — or risk the sea crossing to Italy and Europe. From there, many then head for Germany, Sweden or Britain, where Eritreans last year topped the list of nationalities seeking asylum.
Yemane Gebremeskel, director of Eritrean President Issaias Afeworki’s office, argues it is only a “few individuals” skipping military service, who are therefore “not bona fide asylum seekers in the first place.”
“Migration is not more than a few hundred a year and does not compare in anyway with the reverse annual flow — for temporary stay or repatriation — of our citizens from the diaspora,” Yemane said in a recent interview on a government website.
Those who have returned vow their support for their native country and its redevelopment after years of war.
“People may leave to a new life elsewhere, but we fought so long for freedom that our hearts remain in Eritrea,” said Michael.
“This will always be home.”
(Reuters) – Addis Ababa: Ethiopian Airlines hopes to tap surging growth in China and India by opening new flights aimed at making Addis Ababa their gateway to Africa, chief executive Girma Wake said.
“Even one per cent of that market is huge. We will expand our routes into China and India and also the frequency of our flights,” he said in a recent interview.
Ethiopian Airlines is one of a trio of African carriers along with South African Airways and Kenya Airways spearheading change in Africa’s growing airline industry with modern planes and solid safety records.
Girma said Ethiopian was considering raising its weekly flights to China to 14 from 11. “Four years ago we were operating one flight every other week,” he said. “I am sure that within a year it will probably be twice a day, 14 flights a week.”
Emerging markets
Girma, 64, predicted Africa’s airlines would increasingly look to the Far East, rather than Europe and the US, as engines for future growth.
“India and China will have a lot of traffic to Africa in the future. They are investing more in Africa and their people are getting richer. Now they will look for tourism,” Girma said.
Ethiopian Airlines operates 10 flights a week to New Delhi and Mumbai.
The state-owned carrier, which flies to 28 destinations in Africa, forecast last week a 106 per cent rise in 2007-08 pre-tax profits to 448 million birr ($49.3 million).
Revenues and profits are rising despite stiff competition from wealthy, Gulf-based carriers such as Emirates, which are expanding aggressively in the region and even drawing pilots away from African airlines.
The ‘brain drain’ afflicting most business sectors in Ethiopia had left its mark on the airline, but Girma said the carrier has taken steps to alleviate the problem by raising wages and banking on the desire of employees to stay at home.
“We lost maybe 10-12 pilots to Gulf carriers over the last three years,” Girma said. “But we are improving. In the last year, we have lost only one.”
Despite this, Girma remains a solid supporter of Ethiopia’s ‘open skies’ policy, which has seen foreign carriers enter its market.
He said in the last two years several airlines had started flying to Ethiopia, including Emirates, British Airways, KLM and Turkish Airlines.
“Despite their entry, our [revenue] growth has been in the region of 20-25 percent. Small African carriers should learn that there are very few African countries whose home traffic is big enough,” Girma said.
Ethiopian civic and media groups in Washington DC are organizing a public gathering today, August 18, to honor and express appreciation to members of the former Kinijit International Leadership.
Several Ethiopian civic and media groups are sponsoring this special event which is scheduled for Saturday, August 18, 2007, at the Unification Church in Washington DC, starting at 3 PM.
The Kinijit International Leadership (K.I.L.) had been operating on behalf of the leaders of the Coalition for Unity and Democracy Party (Kinijit) until they were released from jail on July 20 last months after 21 months of incarceration.
Although the K.I.L. faced persistent leadership crisis caused by the disgraced former chairman, it was able to accomplish a few but crucial tasks.
One of the K.I.L. major accomplishments is creating international awareness for the plight of the jailed leaders, which contributed to securing their freedom.
K.I.L. was able to do that while its former chairman was busy stealing money from the organization and later on airing a radio broadcast calling some of the top officials of the K.I.L. ‘Woyanne agents.’
Under the leadership of Ato Andargachew Tsige, the head of organizational affairs, K.I.L. was also able to help facilitate the democratization of Kinijit chapters around the world and the creation of several new chapters. As a result, currently there are over 50 Kinijit support chapters in North America, Europe and Africa.
Considering the enormously difficult conditions under which the K.I.L. operated, it is a remarkable achievement, and Ethiopians around the world owe them a heartfelt thank you for keeping the Kinijit movement alive.
The groups that are involved in organizing the event include Ethiopian Review, Netsanet Le Ethiopia Radio, Addis Dimits Radio, Mebt Radio, Ethiopian Current Affairs Forum, Tegbar League and Kinijit DC Metro. More groups are expected to sponsor the event.
The World Bank recently appointed Ken Ohashi as a country director for the World Bank regional offices in Ethiopia and Sudan. Mr. Ohashi, a Japanese national, will replace the outgoing Ishac Diwan, head of the World Bank regional office in Ethiopia and Sudan.
Mr. Ohashi who holds a Ph.D. in Economic Development joined the World Bank in 1979. In a written statement made to The Reporter, the World Bank said Ken Ohashi was a “seasoned” World Bank leader who recently had held senior positions in Nepal and Kenya.
His last position was country director in Nepal where he served for six years. Mr. Ohashi is currently in Washington DC and is expected to come here next week.
Mr. Ishac Diwan, who was head of the World Bank office in Ethiopia and Sudan for over five years, left here for Washington two weeks ago. Mr. Diwan was appointed country director for five West African countries and will be based in Ghana.
Source: The Reporter
PRESS RELEASE August 17th, 2007
Defending champion Gete Wami returns BERLIN-MARATHON
Defending champion Gete Wami (Ethiopia) will return to the 34th real,- BERLIN-MARATHON on 30th September. That means that both champions will come back to Germany’s biggest marathon race. Wami’s fellow countryman Haile Gebrselassie intends to break the world record set by his big rival Paul Tergat (Kenya/2:04:55) in 2003 in Berlin.
For Gete Wami it is also about more than just the victory in Berlin. If she will win the race with 40,000 runners again, she would take the lead in the World Marathon Majors (WMM). The first series will end at the ING New York City Marathon on 4 th November. The top man and woman will share a jackpot of one million dollar. Should Wami finish second in Berlin, she would share the lead with Jelena Prokopcuka (Lithuania). More information about the WMM series is available at: www.worldmarathonmajors.com
Gete Wami set her personal best of 2:21:34 in last year’s race in Berlin. At that time it was also an Ethiopian record. In the meantime Berhane Adere improved this to 2:20:42. To get the record back and to become the ninth runner in athletics history to run sub 2:20 are the main goals for Gete Wami in Berlin. Another target for Wami, who was the 10,000 m world champion in 1999 and who finished second in the Flora London Marathon clocking 2:21:45 this April, would be the world leading time for 2007 of 2:20:38. China’s London winner Chunxiu Zhou clocked that time in April.
The 32 year-old Gete Wami will face strong competitors at the real,- BERLIN-MARATHON. Among them are Japanese Naoko Sakamoto, whose personal best of 2:21:51 is barely slower than the one of Wami. Russia’s Irina Timofeyewa (2:25:29) or Poland’s Grazyna Syrek (2:26:22) could be in with a surprise. Furthermore German runner Irina Mikitenko has a potential for a strong marathon debut.
More information is available at: www.real-berlin-marathon.com
SCC-RUNNING
Glockenturmstraße 23
14055 Berlin
