Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (APA) – Ethiopia on Tuesday bade farewell to its athletes who will take part in the 37 International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF) world cross country championship scheduled to be held beginning 28 March in Amman, the Jordanian capital.
The 33 member Ethiopian delegation will leave for Oman on Tuesday evening.
This year’s cross country championship will be held for the first time in the Middle East where over 60 countries and around 700 athletes are expected to attend starting on Saturday.
The head of the Ethiopian athletics team to Jordan Tadele Tola told journalists that the Ethiopian national team, which comprises 24 athletes, is expected to repeat its victory at this year’s cross country championship.
Some of the athletes, Gelete Burka and two-time bronze medallist Meselech Melkamu,Genzebe Dibaba (Tirunesh Dibaba’s youngest sister), Gebregziabher Gebremariam who won two silver medals in the 2004 edition of the championships, Tadesse Tola, seventh in Mombasa two years ago, Feyissa Lelisa, 14th in the junior race last year, and World Indoor 3000m champion Tariku Bekele are among others to represent Ethiopia at the championship.
However, it was reported that Kenenisa Bekele and Tirunesh Dibaba, who recently won two gold medals each at the Beijing Olympic will not participate in the race due to injury problems.
Their absence from the championship created confusion among the Ethiopian sports fraternity to repeat their performance as in the previous years.
List of Ethiopian athletes
Women’s Junior 6km: Sule Utura, Genzebe Dibaba, Emebet Anteneh, Meseret Mengistu, Tsega Gelaw, Frehiwot Goshu.
Men’s Junior 8km: Ayele Abshiro; Yetwale Kinde; Dejen Gebremeskel; Atalay Yersaw; Debebe Woldesenbet; Legesse Lemiso
Women’s Senior 8km: Wude Ayalew; Meselech Melkamu; Gelete Burka; Koreni Jelila; Sentayehu Ejigu; Mamitu Deska
Men’s Senior 12km: Gebregziabher Gebremariam; Feyissa Lelisa; Tadesse Tola; Tariku Bekele; Hunegnaw Mesfin; Habtamu Fekadu.
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (APA) – Ethiopia flower exports are expected to earn $280 million in 2009, though current global financial crisis is expected to have some impact on the exports.
Tsegaye Abebe, head of the Ethiopian Horticulture Development Association, told journalists on Tuesday that the country it is seeking new buyers for its fresh flowers because the global economic downturn is cutting sales in its main market, the Netherlands.
The Netherlands imports over 50% of Ethiopia’s flower exports and the country is seeking new flower market in Dubai, Asia, Scandinavia, Russia and the USA, fearing the recession in Europe will affect its flower exports.
Flower exports are becoming the main foreign earner in Ethiopia after coffee and it is expected that flower exports will overtake coffee and be worth $1 billion annually within five years.
Ethiopia earned $178 million last year from the sale of some 1.5 billion stems and employs over 100,000 people, mostly women, on its flower farms.
Addis Ababa, ETHIOPIA (BBC) – Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa has run out of Coca-Cola as the credit crunch takes the fizz out of the economy.
The BBC’s Elizabeth Blunt in the city says she has known African countries to run out of petrol, soap, sugar, batteries or tyres – but never Coke.
The East Africa Bottling Share Company, which produces the soft drink in the region, last week temporarily shut its bottling operation in Ethiopia.
It said they had the Coca-Cola – but did not have the bottle tops.
The firm, which has sent 1,000 workers on compulsory leave, said in its most recent statement that the Ethiopian government had intervened.
The company promised the familiar bottles would start rolling out of the plant again soon.
National emergency?
Our correspondent says it sounds almost as if the Coca-Cola shortage is being treated as a national emergency.
When she visited a local bar she found it had run out of Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Sprite and Fanta. Mirinda was the only soft drink on offer.
It has been estimated that around 35,000 outlets throughout Ethiopia will be unable to serve Coca-Cola and sister brands until the shortage is resolved.
Street children have reportedly been collecting the much-needed bottle tops from the streets of Addis Ababa and selling them back to companies to recycle for around $0.2 (£0.13) a kilogram.
Coca-Cola is normally on sale even in some of the most remote parts of Ethiopia and other African countries.
The continent has been largely spared the worst of the global banking crisis, but it is becoming obvious there are problems finding enough foreign exchange to keep Ethiopia’s economy running, says our correspondent.
HARARE, Zimbabwe (UPI) — Zimbabwean Finance Minister Tendai Biti told members of Parliament the country’s currency was essentially dead.
“The death of the (Zimbabwean) dollar is a reality we have to live with,” he said during a 2009 budget presentation. “Since October 2008, our national currency has become moribund,”
Along with his remarks, Biti announced “the removal of all foreign currency surrender requirements,” New Ziana reported Friday.
Previously, Zimbabwe’s central bank required currency traders to pay 5 percent of their gross earnings at the Zimbabwe dollar’s exchange rate.
Inflation in Zimbabwe hit what has been called a “hyperinflation” rate, officially posted as 231 million percent, essentially wiping out the currency’s value.
