Editorial
Viva Africa!
Churchill Road – Addis Ababa | Ethiopia
A few short years ago, while one prepared to land at Bole Airport, Addis Ababa, they saw a dearth of development. Mostly old Ladas – painted blue or yellow – lined the streets, broke down to generate traffic jams and reminded all and sundry of Abyssinia’s inglorious Italian and Russian past.
In 2013, the old Russian cars are still going strong, like they are built to last. But everything else is much different. Addis Ababa is unrecognizable – in a good way. Not only are there new hotels and buildings everywhere; English is more or less, the lingua franca. University kids are instructed in English, French and Amharic. The nightclubs and nightlife is much more liberalized than anything else – and these simple pleasures of life compensate for what is, ostensibly a command economy and a police state.
So what, some ask, if you can recognize the secret police spying on your activities? At least, you can change your dollars into Ethiopian birr at any bank. Visa and Mastercard credit cards are used everywhere – from high rise hotels down to the Merkato, and it does not matter than there are people walking somewhat extemporaneously through the heavy traffic. At least, the guy blocking a sizable chunk of the road with his truck is working to build the nation’s infrastructure. There’s talk of a light rail to reduce the congestion of Addis Ababa’ more than 5 million people, and this will be most welcome.
The point to all this is that things in certain parts of Africa are moving in a positive direction. Yes – the police and army still block the pathways to hotels and outriders scatter everyone in heralding the passage of a VIP. However, that fancy looking black saloon is actually assembled somewhere in Ethiopia.
Unlike Zimbabwe that forced its Mazda plants into exile, Ethiopia is churning out vehicles that look like very much Toyotas and Skodas. Again, it matters not that the car names or logos are simply unreadable. The heart of the matter is that the number of brand new cars will grow and grow and grow. Soon, there’s a chance that the number of road accidents in Ethiopia or the occasion of another broken down Russian metal heap will reduce.
Ethiopians have begun to build houses on the outskirts of Addis Ababa. The affluent do not just live in the Bole neighborhood. They go to the Starbucks-like coffee houses, drink their coffee and then take the public transport all the way home to the edge of their capital city. Beautiful women and men festoon different parts of this unconquered land and if one put on their investor glasses, they would see opportunity to make more money than King Solomon himself.
The country’s investment authority, interestingly, eagerly awaits to lead people of that caliber to the next level; in spite of a civil service or bureaucrat air.
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That the Queen of Sheba’s country needs more is evident: If this country is going to grow even faster, it must shed its insularity. Children and their parents must be instructed more and more in English, and this is, obviously happening. The number of spelling or grammatical mistakes on English billboards and posters is unacceptable, but less than 10 years ago, these signs were almost non-existant.
Besides, the strong Ethiopian Diaspora in different parts of the world are doing an excellent job. Their investments and remittances are supplementing the government expenditure on social services and ensuring a functional economy. Under the circumstances, both parties – government and Diaspora – seem to have a quiet respect for each other. Many people feel the yoke of corruption – and yet they see progress. The immigration officers at the airport could use a little finesse in their treatment of foreigners and perhaps, sections of the magnificent airport should not leak during the rainy season; but this does not necessarily mean that the tatters will dominate the good cloth.
No, Addis Ababa is not Lagos. The chaos in the former is so much more on the path towards some sort of victory than the latter. And we only juxtapose Lagos and Addis because they are both fast growing African cities.
The Habari Network Editorial Board
August 20, 2013