UN News: SC President H.E. Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri (India) on thedeath of four Ethiopian peacekeepers in Sudan, Posted by Menelik Zeleke

03 August 2011

Informal comments to the media by H.E. Mr. Hardeep Singh Puri, Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and President of the Security Council for the month of August on the death of four Ethiopian peacekeepers in Sudan and the situation in Syria.

Ethiopia commutes death sentences on Mengistu officers, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Ex-dictator, officers sentenced for genocide in 2008

* Mengistu not in group

* Group, religious leaders appealed for leniency

By Aaron Maasho

ADDIS ABABA, June 3 (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Wednesday it had commuted the death sentences of 23 of former dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam's henchmen convicted of genocide in 2008, reducing the penalties to life imprisonment after an appeal.

Ethiopia PM says anti-dam groups keep Africa poor, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Ethiopia building huge dams to beat power shortages

* Says western campaigners only focus on Africa


By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA, March 31 (Reuters) - Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi denounced Westerners on Thursday campaigning against hydropower dam projects in Africa as "borderline criminal" and said they were helping to keep Africans poor.

Ethiopia is building five hydropower dams -- some funded by the World Bank -- and announced on Wednesday that it would shortly start building a huge 5,250 megawatt (MW) dam on the Nile, despite an escalating row with Egypt over the river's use.

Western NGOs have been campaigning against some of the dams on environmental or human rights grounds.

"These people will not allow the disturbance of butterflies even if this means millions of people have to be subjected to the deadliest killer disease of all -- poverty," Meles told a conference on hydropower in Africa in Addis Ababa.

"I am not a believer in conspiracy theories but, if I were, I would conclude that these people want Africa to remain as it is with all its misery and poverty so they can come and visit nature in its pristine state in winter every so often."

Meles said the groups were from Europe and the U.S.

Power shortages are common in Africa and have hindered investment, even though the continent has abundant potential resources of solar, hydro, oil, gas, coal and geothermal power.

Ethiopia aims to produce 15,000MW of power within 10 years as part of a plan to spend $12 billion over 25 years to overcome chronic power shortages and export to other African countries.

One of the Ethiopian dams, the 1.4 billion euro Gibe III that is expected to generate 1,800MW, has been the subject of a major international campaign over the rights of tribal people.

Over 400 NGOs led by Survival International this month signed a petition against Gibe III. They say that 200,000 Ethiopians who rely on fishing and farming may become dependent on aid to survive if the dam goes ahead.

Meles said the impact of the dam projects would be "negligible" and those affected would be compensated.

"These groups have done virtually nothing to stop their countries from building all the dams they can while at the same time single-handedly subjecting our planet to the threat of catastrophe because of global warming," Meles said.

"(Yet) they are trying to stop projects in poor countries like Ethiopia that are infinitely more environmentally and socially responsible."

Meles is Africa's usual lead negotiator at climate change talks and has in the past suggested European carbon emissions caused his country's 1984/85 famine.

(Editing by Richard Lough and Elizabeth Fullerton)

Meles : High time for Africa to discuss on alternative dev't paradigms, Posted by Meosha Eaton

Addis Ababa, March 28, 2011 (Addis Ababa) - Prime Minister Meles Zenawi said that it is high time for Africa that issues of alternative development paradigms be discussed.

Meles said comparative studies of Africa's development and that of a number of Asian countries have shown that the neo-liberal paradigm cannot bring about economic transformation or sustained and accelerated growth.

Meles was speaking here on Monday at the opening of the 4th Joint AU/ECA Conference of Ministers of Finance, Planning and Economic Development .

The Premier said the primary objective of a developmental state would be to bring about radical transformation of the political economy of a country such that value creation through producing globally competitive products and services becomes the only dominant path to wealth accumulation.

He said this task is done through both removing all bottlenecks to production activities, including by providing comprehensive support to such actors and by systematically eliminating the sources of unproductive rent-seeking activities.

Meles said the present meeting should enable to explore the possibilities of a new development paradigm centered on the establishment of developmental states.

Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Dr. Jean Ping on the occasion said Africa registered 5.7 per cent economic growth in 2010 budget year.

Dr. Ping said structural change is significant to make sustainable the economic growth and also curb basic development problems of the African people.

Therefore, Africans are expected to implement new alternative development principle, he said.

UN Under-Secretary-General and Executive Secretary of ECA, Abdoulie Janneh on his part stressed the need for African states to play significant role in the efforts to speed up development.

The theme of the conference entitled "Governing Development in Africa" indicates that states are expected to play significant role towards the same goal, he said.

MACTV News: PM Meles calls on Diaspora Ethiopian to strengthen dev't efforts , Posted by Menelik Zeleke

Addis Ababa, February 21 (WIC) – Prime Minister Meles Zenawi has urged Ethiopians in the Diaspora to strengthen their joint efforts in the endeavors to successfully implement the five-year Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP).

Ethiopia aims to join WTO without opening up sectors, Posted by Meosha Eaton

* Addis Ababa does not want to free bank, telecom sectors
* Ethiopia hopes to join WTO soon
* Poor country with potentially large market


By Aaron Maasho
ADDIS ABABA, Feb 8 (Reuters) - Ethiopia said on Tuesday it expected to gain entry to the World Trade Organisation soon without giving way to foreign demands that it open up its banking and telecoms sectors.

Analysts say the Horn of Africa country's hopes for WTO membership hinge on calls for Addis Ababa to open those areas to international competition, in a country where most people have no telephone or bank accounts.

U.S. officials have publicly asked Ethiopia to liberalise both sectors, seen as a stumbling block to Ethiopia's efforts for accession to the WTO since 2003 -- which could help boost investor confidence, enticing foreign cash and know-how.
The country of 80 million people is among the world's poorest and one of its largest recipients of foreign aid. It is scheduled to hold its second working party meetings, a major foundation for prospective membership in May.

But Ethiopia is attracting growing interest from foreign investors in agriculture, hydropower, and oil and gas exploration, and has recorded growth of more than 10 percent for the last five years.

"WTO membership obviously has its benefits, but we believe surrendering our sensitive areas such as banking and telecommunications will harm our national interests," State Minister for Trade Yacob Yalla told Reuters.

"We are confident that our accession will be finalised soon, and we expect them to respect our sensitivities in that process," he said.

Speaking at a workshop organised to share experience with Cambodia and Yemen, Yacob lamented the "cumbersome and time-consuming" process for accession, and said his country seeks to move directly towards bilateral negotiations after May.
Bids to join the WTO take anywhere between three to 15 years, according to the organisation, and some countries such as Yemen have held up to eight working party meetings before proceeding to bilateral discussions with trade partners.
Ethiopia has suffered high inflation, power cuts and a shortage of foreign currency in recent years.

Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, a former Marxist rebel, said in 2009 that he hoped negotiations would be finished within three years and said competition may be inevitable.

Meles has said Ethiopia may not need any food aid within five years thanks to an ambitious development plan that targets an average economic growth of 14.9 percent over the period.

Addis Ababa has posted high economic growth figures over the past five years, averaging about 11 percent, according to government figures. Opposition parties have disputed the accuracy of the country's growth statistics.

(Editing by James Macharia and Angus MacSwan)