EDITOR’S NOTE: Germany’s leader Angela Merkel had said at the G20 meeting in London that corrupt dictators should not be allowed to hide their money in secret Swiss bank accounts any longer. If Merkel’s proposal is put to work, this could be the most important accomplishment of the G20 meeting. No wonder Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi was looking desperate and sad at the gathering.

Henry Gombya Reports for BSN From G20 In LONDON — The G20 summit of leaders of industrialized and industrializing countries ended late Thursday evening here with a pledge of a $1 trillion dollars thrown in the financial markets to help ease the global economic crisis.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the summit, the leaders pledged to restore confidence and growth in global finances and also pledged to create more jobs.

In what was seen as an attempt to deal with the causes of the current global financial crisis, the G20 leaders agreed to expand the Financial Stability Forum and re-established it with a stronger institutional basis and enhanced capacity as the Financial Stability Board (FSB).

It will therefore assess the vulnerabilities affecting the financial system, identify and oversee action needed to address them. The FSB will from now on “promote co-ordination and information exchange among authorities responsible for financial stability.”

“The challenge is clear,” U.S. president Barack Obama, said. “The global economy is contracting. Trade is shrinking. Unemployment is rising. The international financial system is nearly frozen.”

Addressing the press at the end of the summit, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the G20 had also pledged to fund and reform international financial institutions, act decisively to kick-start international trade, and build an inclusive, green and sustainable recovery.

Brown said: “We will not hesitate as long as people are losing their jobs and their homes to make the difference that we can by improving their prosperity. Today’s actions of course will not immediately solve the crisis. But we have begun the process by which they will be solved.”

He added that this was not just a single collection of actions. “It is a collective action – people working together at their best,” Brown said.

World leaders who have abused their country’s financial systems by robbing their central banks and banking the proceeds in private numbered Swiss accounts are in for a shock. Germany’s powerful Chancellor, Angela Merkel told journalists, “The days of secret banking are now over.”

From now on, banks will be required to let the FSB look into questionable accounts held in a bank. Many dictators especially in developing countries have used the loophole of secret bank account to amass great wealth. Most of the money banked in such a way often end up being lost when those dictators are either killed or dies from natural causes without anyone knowing what they held in numbered Swiss accounts.

South African President Kgalema Motlanthe said he was happy with the outcome of the summit. He was also happy that for the first time, the G20 members invited the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) the summit, he said.

“South Africa was invited on its own merit of being an emerging economy,” he said, deflecting a question as to whether he represented the entire African continent. Answering a question put to him by The Black Star News as to whether the US$ 250 billion promised by the G20 to go towards helping Africa deal with the present global financial crisis would not end up buying private planes, palaces and limousines for some of Africa’s corrupt leaders, Motlanthe said this money would not go directly to African leaders but would be used by non-government bodies that would pay for services needed by the people of Africa.

Although Meles Zenawi the Ethiopian Prime Minister and also current NEPAD chair was here, he abruptly cancelled a press conference he was about to give. His people gave no reasons for this. But insiders in the press centre said Zenawi was worried about the kind of questions that were going to be put to him concerning human rights violations within Ethiopia and his dealing with his opponents and Ethiopia’s neighbours.

In terms of who benefitted and who lost through the outcome of this summit, it is clear that while the West was seen as trying its best to clean up its house after the global financial crisis that has claimed many jobs and foreclosures.

The $1 trillion poured into the Western world’s global finances is likely to go a long way in helping stem the crisis. The African continent really wasn’t heard; Motlanthe said he didn’t speak for the continent and Prime Minister Ethiopia’s dictator Zenawi cowered in the shadows. On the other hand, Germany’s Merkel found time for journalists and spent a good hour explaining why she was here and what they had achieved.

Indeed, it was rather absurd that no representative of the African continent was at hand to put their case to the world media at such a major global setting.

At a press conference at the end of the summit, President Obama added that while the United States was his priority, every one of the world leaders ought to do what it takes to bring to an end the current global financial crisis.

For the British Prime Minister the summit could not have come at a better time. His ratings in polls have of late been falling badly due to accusations that as one who presided over Britain’s economy for a decade during Tony Blair’s premiership, he should have seen this meltdown coming.

Click here for more photos.

During his trip to the U.K. to participate in the G20 meeting, U.S. President Barack Obama took time out to assist the London police in apprehending Ethiopia’s genocidal dictator Meles Zenawi (Satire).

By Yilma Bekele

When they said “a picture speaks a thousand words” they could have been thinking about this one. The setting definitely is a reception. The people sitting around the table appear very important since there appear to be as many servers as guests. In addition to this we see many photographers documenting the event. It is difficult to determine if this is the beginning or the end of the event. Whatever it is, it is a very lavish and formal affair.

A person sitting right around the center is the only one wearing some kind of head covering, which would lead us to assume that he is from the Middle East. Further down you can see the lone woman. Other than that, it is a mainly a men’s affair. One can also assume that it is a formal event since the men are wearing dark suits. The majority of them seem to be white.

Let’s examine the person on the bottom left. He seems lonely, left out, or sad? He is definitely brooding about something. If you look around, you will notice that those in front of him as well as those on his right are engaged in deep conversation. The man on his left has given him his shoulder.

Who is he? What is he doing here? How come he is not engaged with anyone? Why is everyone ignoring him? If they did not want him there, why was he invited?

He definitely does not appear comfortable. You can tell that from his stiff shoulders and his general posture. His hands are clasped in a prayer position. He is probably not praying, but he is definitely in deep thought. It is difficult to tell how long he has been sitting ignored and isolated. Why didn’t the host find him a partner? He is not smiling, and his somber look conveys he is not enjoying the moment.

Why is he there if he is not comfortable; and why was he invited if he is not part of the group? Could there have been some mix up? Could he have been drafted at the last moment? Was he warned about the cold shoulder he might encounter? Did he send a scouting party to assess the situation? Did they lie to him to embarrass him? Was this calculated risk that blew up in his face? Could it be that he is not able to engage with the others as an equal?

It does not look like a good situation for our friend sitting at the bottom left. It can be considered a form of psychological torture to invite someone to such a dinner and ignore him. At the same time, it is not a good idea to crash a party where one is not welcome. Maybe our friend is praying for the party to be over. Maybe there is nothing here. Yeah right the picture is lying.

U.S. President Barack Obama scolded Ethiopia’s dictator Meles Zenawi during a brief one-to-one encounter at the G20 meeting in London on April 2. Obama reportedly told Meles that the human rights condition in Ethiopia is deplorable and unacceptable.

Following a meeting with Obama, Meles Zenawi, who was invited to represent New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) at the G20 meeting, abruptly canceled a press conference he was about to give.

“His people gave no reasons for this. But insiders in the press center said Zenawi was worried about the kind of questions that were going to be put to him concerning human rights violations within Ethiopia and his dealing with his opponents and Ethiopia’s neighbors,” Henry Gombya of BSN reported.

“The African continent really wasn’t heard; South African President Motlanthe said he didn’t speak for the continent and Meles Zenawi cowered in the shadows,” Gombya writes.

By Jason McLure | Bloomberg

Ethiopia, Africa’s largest coffee producer, will start exporting beans itself after closing the warehouses of six of the country’s largest exporters, which it claims are stockpiling coffee and contributing to a shortage of foreign currency.

A drop in export income, because of a poor coffee harvest, weak world prices and a ban on Ethiopian beans in Japan, is being exacerbated by stockpiling, Eleni Gabre-Madhin, chief executive officer of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange, said on March 27.

Today, the Horn of Africa nation said it would start exporting coffee via the state-owned Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise in a bid to improve the situation.

“Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise knows that it has the capacity to do this and it has a very good opportunity to fill this export gap,” said Berhane Hailu, the company’s general manager, by phone from Addis Ababa today.

The company has started trading coffee on the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange and is in talks with foreign buyers about exports, he said.

Ethiopia suspended the licenses of six of the country’s largest exporters last week after accusing them of hoarding coffee and illegally selling export-grade beans on the country’s domestic market.

The country has experienced shortages of hard currency over the past year, with the nation’s reserves falling to as little as $850 million, enough to cover just one month of imports, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said on March 19. The shortfall has led to rationing and shortages, including cement and medical supplies, because companies can’t import goods or raw materials.

Foreign Currency

Ethiopian Grain Trade Enterprise may use the foreign currency from coffee exports to purchase and deliver wheat to Ethiopia’s urban poor as part of a government program to subsidize food prices, Hailu said.

Ethiopian coffee shipments have dropped more than 10 percent to 76,674 tons during the first eight months of the country’s fiscal year, compared with the same period a year earlier, according to the Trade Ministry.

The country has earned $221.7 million from coffee exports over the period, short of a government target of $446.7 million. Last year, the government also blamed rising food prices on hoarding by traders.