Information hungry Ethiopians who are too poor to buy newspapers are resorting to renting them per half hour basis, according to a report that is published by South Africa’s Mail & Guardian. One of the places where newspapers are being rented is the Arat Kilo neighborhood of Addis Ababa where Meles Zenawi and wife Azeb Mesfin are currently building an extravagant residential villa at the cost of 82 million birr.
Ethiopia’s newspaper landlords
By Mohammed Selam
Despite an abundance of national and international newsmakers, Addis Ababa has relatively little in the way of newspapers — no dailies of note — or even newsstands to offer news consumers. But don’t be fooled. This is a city of voracious readers where even the poor are indulged.
In fact, some corners of Addis are reserved for newspaper passions, Arat Kilo being one legendary neighbourhood. And by persisting, there you may stumble upon the city’s secret: consumers too poor to buy a copy of a newspaper but able to rent a read.
Arat Kilo is not only the home of Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s spacious palace and the country’s Parliament building but also of flat-broke citizens with rich news-reading addictions.
“Paper landlords” offer “news seats” to readers who gather on the edge of a road, in a nearby alleyway, even inside a traffic circle. And for years, these “paper tenants” have happily hunkered down, reading a copy of a newspaper quickly and then returning it to watchful owners nearby. And even today’s deteriorating economy and “press-phobic” government has not significantly slowed this frenzied exchange.
In a country without a substantive daily Saturday is distribution day for the country’s weeklies. That also makes it the toughest day to find an empty news seat in Arat Kilo, or anywhere on the streets of Addis.
Luckily, Birhanina Selam, the nation’s oldest and largest publishing house, where 99% of newspapers get published, is in Arat Kilo. So readers there can get news hot off the press while the rest of the city gets the paper later that day.
Cliché of journalism
Major cities elsewhere in the country receive newspapers a day or two later and for readers there the cliché of journalism as the first rough draft of history seems senseless. The story is already history by the time it reaches their streets.
Unlike newspaper readers in the countryside, the poor of Arat Kilo must deal with noise. Cars blow horns hysterically. Street children shout for money in the name of God. Lottery vendors call out for customers. Taxi conductors shriek names of destinations. Yet the “renters” tune out the city’s hustle as they run up against rental deadlines. Paper landlords vigilantly act as timekeepers.
Readers dare not hold copies for more than a half hour or they will be charged more birr. One copy of a newspaper may quickly pass through a hundred readers before, late in the day, it is finally recycled as toilet tissue or bread wrap.
Now, as a rising number of unemployed people hunt for jobs through newspapers and a growing population of pensioners distract themselves with news, news seats are popular pastimes.
And this is true despite prices for newspapers doubling as a result of the rising costs of newsprint and the country’s latest round of inflation and devaluation. Addis — dubbed the political capital of Africa because it hosts the headquarters of the African Union — is not as safe a haven for journalists as it is for journalism readers. Some international patron saints of media call the current government one of the world’s most journalist-unfriendly regimes.
As more and more local journalists face threats, the number of newspapers dwindles as diminutive media houses close. Over the past few years, some two dozen journalists have fled to neighbouring countries. They’ve left behind a country hurtling towards a “no free press” zone, with few media houses willing to publish private political newspapers.
Less variety for the poor
Just last year, two journalists in Ethiopia collected two prestigious awards — the Committee to Protect Journalists’ International Press Freedom Award and the Pen American Centre’s Freedom to Write Award for their fortitude and courage working in Ethiopia as political journalists. These honours witness the way the country handles the free press.
At present only a handful of local newspapers and two handsful of local magazines circulate in Ethiopia, with a total weekly circulation that barely equals that of one day of Kenya’s Daily Nation’s 50 000 print run.
By comparison, Fortune, reportedly the leading English weekly in Ethiopia, publishes 7 000 copies a week at most. So, unfortunately, the poor — and everyone else — in Addis have fewer copies and less variety. And a nation with the second-largest population in Africa — some 80-million potential readers — registers among the fewest number of newspapers on the continent.
Ironically, in Addis you do not often see readers riding in taxis, waiting at bus stops or sitting in cafés for hours. Few Ethiopians read newspapers, magazines or books alone in public but they do banter in groups. Only a few cafés allow their verandahs to be news seats to attract more customers. On the contrary, many street-side cafés post No Reading signs next to No Smoking signs. The Jolly Bar, friendly to newspaper renters for more than a decade, now forbids customers to read newspapers inside or outside.
In Arat Kilo, however, no one expects, or can afford, to read their papers in a comfortable seat or on a café verandah. “Here citizens may stand for a while on a zebra crossing and read the headline and pass,” says Boche Bochera, a prominent “paper lord” in the neighbourhood, exaggerating how his place is overrun by newspaper tenants.
Here, stones are aids to reading as are lampposts and pedestrian right-of-ways. And readers lean against notice boards or idle taxis, transforming themselves into “newspaper warms”. The streets of Addis, like Arat Kilo, get warmer with newspapers and newspaper readers lying on them.
Newspaper vendors and peddlers
Nowadays, traditional newspaper vendors and peddlers find themselves challenged by newspaper lords such as Boche. From a flat stone in Arat Kilo, Boche earns bread for his family of six by renting newspapers and magazines from sunrise to sunset.
Wearing worn overalls, he spreads the day’s newspapers around him and passes copies to paper brokers, mostly kids; his “paper constituencies” may reach 300 people a day. His attachment to this task is legendary. “I have a beautiful daughter called Kalkidan,” he says. “I named her after a magazine I lease weekly.”
And he seldom bribes community police to let him sit comfortably. “That is how I survived for the last 15 years,” he says.
When papers start to wear out with over-use, Boche splices them with Scotch tape. Then he affixes his signature so everyone knows which copies belong to him. This, he reasons, is his protection. But, he says: “Some disloyal paper tenants steal my copy and sell it somewhere else to quench their hunger.” As the hub of street newspaper reading, Arat Kilo entertains more than a thousand people a day. Other spots are rising to the challenge.
Merkato, dubbed the largest open market in Africa, now has a place for newspaper addicts around the Mearab Hotel. When daylight wanes, newspapers rented there will be collected and resold in kiosks nearby to wrap chat, a local leafy stimulant.
Other Addis neighbourhoods, like Piassa, Legehar, Megenagna and Kazanchis have also created newspaper circles for paper tenants. Yohannes Tekle (29) has been a regular reader of street papers for seven years. These days, especially, when a newspaper costs up to six birr (75 US cents), he rents one for 25 Ethiopian cents (which is less than one US cent).
For Tekle, a day without newspapers is unthinkable. “It is like an addiction,” he says. “Sometimes, I regret it after renting a paper when it is full of mumbo-jumbo news. I could have used that cent for buying a loaf of bread.” Still, he’s reluctant to set aside the habit.
“If I miss a day without renting, however, I feel like I missed some significant news about my county — like a coup in progress.”
(Mohammed Selman, a lecturer in journalism, is a freelance writer. He lives in Ethiopia. In 2009 he won the Excellence in Journalism award for print from the Foreign Press Association in Addis Ababa.)
Azeb Mesfin, the wife of Ethiopia’s tyrant Meles Zenawi, is building a new residence inside the Menelik Palace compound at the cost of 82 million birr, FORTUNE, an Addis Ababa-based business journal reports.
Azeb, who is known in Ethiopia as the mother of corruption, is building the residence with public funds, while according to the U.N. 2 million Ethiopian are in need of emergency food assistance.
FORTUNE is reporting that taxpayers are paying for the construction of the extremely lavish residence for the Prime Minister and his wife inside the Menelik Palace compound at Arat Kilo. The regime will be spending close to 82 million Birr on this residence, which will incorporate a swimming pool and tennis court as well as guest houses.
A committee of three has been established to follow the construction of the residence. It comprises Azeb Mesfin, an MP and resident of the compound for close to 20 years now; Muktar Khadir, head of the Office of the Prime Minister and secretary of the cabinet; and an individual who is currently following up the landscape work inside the palace.
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has issued a report today stating that the African Union (AU) is lagging in defense of press freedom and that African governments are criminalizing investigative reporting. What the CPJ forgot to add is that AU is a union of thugs, thieves, and mass murderers like Ethiopia’s Meles Zenawi, Sudan’s Al Bashir, Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe, to name a few. It is an organization that is created to protect the interest of African dictators, not the suffering people of Africa.
New York (CPJ) — Global and regional institutions with a responsibility to guard press freedom are largely failing to fulfill their mandate as journalists worldwide continue to face threats, imprisonment, intimidation, and killings, according to Attacks on the Press, a yearly survey released today by the Committee to Protect Journalists.
“While international law guarantees the right to free expression, journalists cannot count on a robust defense of those rights,” said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon. “The recent unprecedented repression and persecution of journalists in Egypt, for example, provides an important opportunity for global and regional institutions to speak and act forcefully in defense of a free press.”
Attacks on the Press is the world’s most comprehensive guide to international press freedom, with thorough analyses of the key factors that obstruct a free press by CPJ’s regional experts. It includes a special feature on the invisible nature of online attacks meant to curb journalists, including online surveillance, malicious software, and the elimination of news sites from the Internet.
CPJ found that a halfhearted, inconsistent approach to defending press freedom plagues institutions like the United Nations, the African Union, the Organization of American States, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, among others. “While valiant special rapporteurs at various institutions battle anti-media violence, their efforts are stymied by a halting political will to guarantee press freedom,” said Simon.
With a preface by Al-Jazeera English anchor Riz Khan, the book provides an overview of media conditions in more than 100 countries along with data on journalists killed (44) and imprisoned (145) in 2010. Regional trends identified by CPJ include:
Africa:
A rise in investigative journalism has led governments in the region to crack down on journalists, particularly those reporting on the provision of basic services and the use of public money. From Cameroon to South Africa, authorities are moving aggressively to unmask confidential news sources, criminalize possession of government documents, and retaliate against probing journalists—all while governments across the continent, under pressure from donor countries, are pledging more transparency and accountability.
Americas:
Decades since democratization took hold in the region, a rise in censorship can be seen throughout Latin America, caused by government repression, judicial interference, and intimidation from criminal groups. In some countries, a climate of impunity perpetuates a cycle of violence and self-censorship. In others, governments abuse state resources to silence critical reporting, and powerful figures routinely utilize politicized courts to override constitutional guarantees of free expression.
Asia:
With a mixture of violence and official repression, censorship in Asia takes many forms. China’s anti-media policies are becoming ever more entrenched, even as local journalists test the daily guidelines flowing from the Central Propaganda Department. Asian democracies like Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia appear incapable of reversing the impunity with which journalists are being killed, while Sri Lanka’s peace dividend never materialized for journalists. Pakistan was the world’s deadliest country for journalists in 2010.
Europe and Central Asia:
Newer and subtler forms of censorship are taking hold across the region to counter the rise of electronic journalism, particularly in Russia and the former Soviet republics. These include the targeted use of technological attacks and the untraceable disabling of independent media websites. The physical violence already employed in several countries to harass and intimidate journalists working in traditional media now extends to bloggers. Meanwhile, journalists face restrictions and potential punishment from defamation laws and anti-extremism statutes.
Middle East and North Africa:
Throughout the region, governments are conflating critical coverage of counterterrorism with terrorism itself, claiming national security grounds to suppress news and views considered unfavorable. From Egypt to Turkey, sweeping national security legislation has been enacted, criminalizing the coverage of terrorism and politically sensitive topics. Iran leads the region in its abuse of anti-state charges, and from Sudan to Bahrain, authorities resort to threats, harassment, and restriction of movement to limit coverage and conceal controversial activities and flawed policies.
For those who hope to see a thriving and united Ethiopia, I say to you: “If home is where the heart is, and the heart is more powerful than the mind”. If we have Ethiopia in our hearts, and no fear in our minds, it is the enemy who should fear us; for the power of “we” is more influential than the logic of “I”. Change is coming! The question is, what are we prepared to do with and for the new and free Ethiopia?
Revolution and reformation? It is always easier to begin an article with a critique of the past because it helps to comfort one’s soul and mind in the face of the coming unknown, after questioning the status quo. In the evolution of mankind, the majority always wanted change when they were robbed, oppressed and stripped of their dignity by a powerful few. In the end, the power of the people and the unity of the oppressed ignited the flame of change, starting a new chapter. Today, we find ourselves at the end of a chapter in Ethiopia’s lustrous history. So, how should we begin the new chapter? What comes after the revolution? How do we reform our country to actually become a nation of the people?
We must first revolutionize our thinking and reform our attitudes towards one another as Ethiopians. Before we question social issues, economical flaws, and lack of law, we must question the “single person’s” understanding of democracy and freedom. Without law, there could be no freedom, and without freedom, there is no democracy. Our plan must not be to create a utopian society, but rather an Ethiopia where the people, first and foremost, are free—free to express their individual identity, free to speak, free to respect, free disagree, free to debate, free to share, free to change, free to exchange, free to remain as they are, free to argue and free to free their minds. The poor of the country must be the beginning and the end of the next chapter for Ethiopia.
We must believe in constructing a government that is by the people, for the people, and we must become a people who understand and believe in that government. Our government and system of governance must also begin with the people. We cannot invite the people to be part of the development and growth of the nation, if they were never included in the constructing plans. Respect and appreciation of the individual must also become part of communal social interaction. Simply, we must view every individual and tribe as part of the “we” of tomorrow.
Our reformation must not be about erasing the past, rewriting what has been done but rather by learn from the past to build a prosperous future. Let us not forget, it took the current administration fifteen years to destroy what previous governments had put in place and five years to destroy what little normalcy was left in their method of governance. As a result, by their own admission, we are fifteen years behind in the transformation development plan, which took them twenty years to manifest.
Most of all, the people must influence political, financial, and economic development, as well as social policy. For too long, the leaders of most African countries have neglected the people of their nations for their own personal short-term, money-driven agendas. The people have to be the nations driving force. A nation is nothing without a strong economy, and an economy is ineffectual without a contributing workforce. Innovators, thinkers, idealists, builders, farmers, laborers, shop owners, merchants are some of the contributors to a strong economy. People should be free to work and financially flourish without direct involvement from the government, but government must continuously monitor the system.
The elected representatives of the people must believe in the separation of government and military along with the separation of government and economics. Political leaders must not be intimidated by educated leaders of the community; rather, they should embrace them, to listen to the people through them, and build a cooperative solution to the troubles of the nation. Government must not be above the uneducated, the educated, or the majority. Government must be of the people and for the people. Politics and politicians must not be above social servants and/or intellectuals, but rather be supporters of innovation and internal social evolution. They must strengthen the country’s economy and development by providing the necessary tools for those individuals and groups to flourish.
Rule of Law and Political Process …
Without rule of law and political process for all citizens, we will go back to the same past we have struggled through. All citizens must be subject to rules; no individual, group, or tribe can be excluded. Instituting a governing law and a transparent political system will allow for the public sector to flourish under new inventions, creations, and a variety of new businesses. It is not inventors or thinkers that Ethiopia lacks. The issue is lack of opportunity and freedom of expression. Under a new process, the wealthy and the politicians must be subjected to the laws of the nation to the same extent as everyone else.
Ideological Reform and Social Reform
In order to reform our thinking for the new chapter, we must analyze four elements of the current system that I feel are critical to opening up dialogue and encouraging action-backed change. We must first ask what democracy is and what it means to have a transparent government. What is a government for the people? What is the role of government? What must government do for the average person? And how must it all relate to, influence and be well understood by the people of Ethiopia to be effective.
The next chapter of Ethiopian politics has to begin with the people. The growth and development must be intertwined in culture, religion, economy, social and political institutions. Elected government officials should not have direct personal influence on the economics of the nation. As long as we continue to have elected officials control political policy and financial regulations, it is only to their best interest, not the countries economy and people, that these policies and regulations will be geared towards. Government has to leave businesses in the hands of the owners to succeed or fail. Government must regulate according to market conditions, but must not control the economy.
Democracy: Understanding Democracy
The basic element of democracy is OPPOSITION, from which is expected a united and improved outcome. Democracy is the “rule of the people”, not “to be ruled by a few”. The result of a revolution must be social equality for all Ethiopians. The widespread people of the country must be a political force in each and every election. Elected representatives must govern the people, under a system in which multi-party ideology can flourish with the interests of Ethiopia at the fore. Democracy, in relation to political representation, is a government vested in the people, to change periodically at the choosing of the people through elections.
In a parliament, championed by individuals who only pretend to represent the people, if one individual preaches to the converted, it is not political or social democracy, it is as simple as that. This type of system does not have a democratic foundation, and cannot claim to practice the theories of democracy because quite simply, the people are not actually represented by the representatives. We have become accustomed to witnessing one leader in every political system to be tried in our country; we must begin a system of governance reliant on collective ideas and participation.
Transparency: Government and the People; Law of the Land
There are two synonymous questions asked after the departure of almost every African leader “How much money did they take?” and “How many people did they kill before fleeing the country?” Corrupt individuals, their families, and selfish human hyenas who listen to them have robbed us for far too long. We must take our Ethiopia back! In order to do so we must begin to respect one another, listen to one other, and help our weakened and psychologically wounded brothers and sisters in Ethiopia.
The flaw in the current African model of governance (which is backed by the West) is “rule with an iron fist, and the people will love you in time.” NO THEY WON’T! That is a lie. As evidenced by Africa’s bloody history students will revolt, people will become angry and in some cases civil war will ensue. If you educate people, give them the freedom to ask questions and be heard by the system, they will be part of Africa’s solution going forward. It is easier to convince the uneducated and the poor to resort to violence and extremism because they are unable to ask questions and convene intellectually. An educated society will use democratic means to take back their freedom. Look no farther than Egypt. The outcome of the revolution again must remain in the hands of the people.
Government must take the lead and give every citizen the opportunity to participate, either conceptually or physically, in the development process through trade and education in social, infrastructural, and financial policies. We must construct a social and political system respectful of people, human rights and values. The future of the world depends on the sovereignty of the individual state, and we must begin constructing Ethiopia as one nation of many groups. Our difference in subculture and religion will bring us together and strengthen us in a united Ethiopia.
Role of Government
The old question of “who will police the police?” is as African as our dark skin. The quote also applies to the continent’s individual state leaders. They believe that by dividing the country through various existing social differences, they will rule longer, most of all become stronger. That’s where they fail, and where we will succeed. People are the strength of a government. That’s why when the majorities rise up and ask questions, leaders flee the country. They never had support!
Protecting the rights of the people and installing constitutional mandates is not enough. The people must understand and know who their representatives are and what they are doing. We must endorse an action-backed, result-oriented system. Merely sitting people in a big room to discuss issues of a political nature does not make a democracy. In a true democracy, it is the needs of the people, and their ability to elect and remove whomever they choose at any given time, that is the foundation and the effect of a national rule of law.
Change must ignite within each and every one of us before we can have social change.
The political state of our nation is not the focus of the next chapter in Ethiopia, but rather the social change result of the individual change we must ask of all Ethiopians. What are the everyday needs of the average individual? From their wants and needs, can we construct a system able to grow concurrently with the minds of the educated and a productive workforce?
Yes, this will take time and effort, but we do not lack the resources or the minds to create an adoptable social and political structure designed for Ethiopia. To date, all forms of Western-shaped governance have led Ethiopia into an oligarchy (a structure of power where a few people control everything). Western political ideals will never work in Ethiopia, unless altered to work for Ethiopia. All political and social structures must be constructed according to the current social conditions of the nation. The ideals must also allow for adaptability, for progress and change, which will certainly come with future generations.
Our People Must Understand…
We must teach ourselves that our politicians are elected officials, representatives of the people in a place of liberty and freedom for all under the same constitution. The role and responsibilities of elected officials are to those of the people whom elected them. The majority has to be part of the movement and change. Every individual’s contribution must be recognized and respected regardless of tribe; religion or any other divisive means that other use to divide us. Our diversity will become the foundation of our strength to unite Ethiopia!
Most of all, we must protect the country from outside influence. The new political system must be mandated and implemented with full Ethiopian interests, so that the rights of all Ethiopians will be protected and defended from both domestic and foreign forces who stand to destroy the sovereignty of Ethiopia.
If history ever forgives us for what we have done to this country, God will not!
The Algerian government announced today that it is lifting the state of emergency that has been imposed since 1992 as opposition groups plan more protests. The regime of President Abdelaziz Bouteflika is also considering additional measures such as wage increases, importation of more food and major reforms in order to appear responsive to the public demands.
Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci told Europe 1 radio Monday morning that Algeria’s 19-year state-of-emergency laws would be revoked within days, ending tight censorship and lifting a ban on political demonstrations. “In the coming days,” Medelci said, the emergency regulations would be “a thing of the past,” giving way to “complete freedom of expression within the limits of the law.” He then added, “Algeria is not Tunisia or Egypt.”
Algerian regime’s actions are contrary to the normal mode of operation for most dictators who resort to more repressive measures in the face of popular uprisings that usually lead to a disgraceful end for them.
In Ethiopia’s case, Meles Zenawi’s hands are socked with so much blood that his end will be terribly ugly. If he is smart as he claims to be, he would disappear right now and enjoy his loot with his Chinese friends.
More Algeria update
(Deutsche Welle) — After the popular overthrow of the authoritarian regimes in Tunisia and Egypt, President Abdelaziz Bouteflika announced that he would lift the 20-year-old emergency law that restricts freedoms in Algeria.
Despite the promise, some 30,000 security forces prevented protests by the National Coordination for Change Democracy (CNCD) from taking place in the capital of Algiers last Saturday. CNCD is an umbrella group that represents numerous opposition factions.
In defiance of the still active emergency law, the CNCD announced subsequent to Saturday’s aborted demonstration that it would hold protests every week until Bouteflika steps down. However, it is unlikely that the Algerian regime will witness a fate similar to that of Ben Ali in Tunisia and Mubarak in Egypt. While in those cases the military either sided with the opposition or remained neutral, in Algeria the armed forces are deeply invested in the survival of Bouteflika’s regime.
Power of the military
Similar to Tunisia and Egypt, Algeria’s young population – 60 percent of the country is under 30 – struggles with a staggering 30-percent unemployment rate and little hope for the future. Protests in January over rising food prices and lack of economic opportunity turned violent, resulting in several casualties.
“If you go on the street and ask young Algerians what they want to do, most have exactly one idea and that’s a visa for France,” Oliver Schlumberger, an expert on democratic reform in the Mideast with the University of Tuebingen, told Deutsche Welle.
And though the opposition groups have taken to the streets ostensibly against Bouteflika, the real power in Algeria lies with the military. Respectfully called “le pouvoir” – the power – virtually every facet of life in North Africa’s largest nation is dependent on the military, from politics to the resource-rich economy. Regime change in Algeria would ultimately impact the interests of the military itself.
“In Algeria, the president is actually a consensus figure for the military which stays behind the scenes,” Schlumberger said. “The president himself doesn’t come from the military, but instead is a diplomat who was a minister during the 1970s. A group of 10 to 15 generals is the real power behind the scenes.”
Yet the opposition has – up to this point – tried to avoid confrontation with the armed forces. They remember what happened when free elections were held in 1991. The Islamic Salvation Front (FIS) won and the military intervened to annul the results. A brutal six-year civil war ensued which claimed 100,000 lives.
War weary
The now polarizing President Bouteflika originally came to power – undoubtedly with the support of the military – on a platform of national reconciliation. He promised amnesty for anyone who laid down their arms. The situation slowly calmed down, but peace never totally returned. The hardcore Islamic fighters vowed to fight on, some declaring their allegiance to al-Qaeda. They roam the vast expanse of the Sahel Desert, kidnapping Westerners and demanding ransoms and carry out bomb attacks from time to time.
Schlumberger visited Algeria just as the civil war came to an end in 2001. He told Deutsche Welle that the conflict makes Algerians different from Egyptians in a very important way.
“They’re war weary,” Schlumberger said. “There was such an extreme, palpable need to return to normalcy. That people could go to work in the morning and return at night without fear or worry and maybe drink a coffee on the street.”
As a consequence, most of the population supported the reconciliation program. War-weary enemies became neighbors once again, despite the fact that most people know exactly who killed whom. But political reconciliation has not resolved the economic and social problems that originally contributed to the Islamist victory in the 1991 elections. And the Algerians currently taking to the streets say that their situation is getting worse every day, despite the fact that the national economy is doing fairly well. However, it remains to be seen whether the opposition movement can win the war-weary population to their cause.
“Repression and lack of modernity surely exists in Algeria,” Schlumberger said. “But I’m not so sure that this will lead to a similarly large number of people taking great risks and going onto the streets and protesting.”
National security petrostate
Algeria has large oil and gas reserves and profits from economic relations with the West. However, wealth from energy exports has done little to alleviate the plight of the population at large. Approximately 60 percent of state income comes from the energy industry while 95 percent of Algeria’s export revenue comes from oil and gas. And according to Schlumberger, the military has a major stake in the country’s energy-dependent economy.
“The military is of course a security actor on the one hand, but also an actor with very important economic interests on the other hand,” he said. “A model dominates there in which you need the consent of a general in order to be economically successful. That means there’s someone from the military behind the scenes who takes a percent of the earnings.”
The military, the real power behind Bouteflika, is invested in and profits from the status quo. So while the armed forces either sided with the opposition or remained neutral in Tunisia and Egypt, which ultimately gave the protesters a window of political opportunity, in Algeria the generals have – at the moment – little interest in political change.
“The military has a lot to lose in terms of privileges,” Schlumberger said. “And in that respect, I don’t really see the military agreeing to meaningful reforms without a fight.”
Azeb Mesfin, the wife of Ethiopia’s tyrant Meles Zenawi, is building a new residence inside the Menelik Palace compound at the cost of 82 million birr, FORTUNE, an Addis Ababa-based business journal reports.