With the year coming to a close, it is custom for international news sites to review the past year in Africa. Sadly, many of these reviews will be rather gloomy and arguably with good reason; the continent faced a lot of challenges in the past year.
The names that made headlines this year were the likes of Gbagbo, Gaddafi, and Kabila. However, 2011 wasn’t all bad on the continent. In what I hope will be a different kind of review, below is a list (in no particular order) of five of the biggest winners in Africa in 2011. These are names that may not have made headlines and thus may not be easily recognizable. I would argue however, that they had as much of an impact on shaping the year in Africa and are as much an indication of the year to come as the newsmakers.
Lamido Sanusi
The Governor of Nigeria’s Central Bank was Forbes' Africa Person of the Year for 2011. He is credited with spearheading extensive reforms within Nigeria’s troubled banking sector. Despite receiving death threats which have forced him to employ armed guards, he forged ahead with a campaign that included taking over nine banks and firing their executives, many of whom are now on trial for corrupt practices. If Africa is ever to meet its full potential, it is going to have to tackle the endemic corruption that plagues the continent. In 2011, Sanusi boldly took on this challenge, serving as an example to many across Africa.
Aliko Dangote
The second Nigerian to make this list, Aliko Dangota had a great year in 2011, which saw his fortune soar by a whopping 557% and saw him overtake Mohammed Al Amoudi and Oprah Winfrey as the richest person in the world of African descent. Dangote makes this list because in many ways he represents the economic resurgence currently occurring in Africa, which has been captured in a series of recent Economist article. His Dangote group, which has subsidiaries in six African countries, focuses on the provision of local value added products and services to meet the needs of a growing African population. The group employs over 11,000 people and represents about 25% of the capitalization of the Nigerian stock exchange.
Fatouh Bensouda
The Gambian lawyer was recently selected as the next Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court and will take over from current Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo in the New Year. Many observers, myself included, hope that this will mark a new era in the life of the ICC, which in recent years has been heavily criticized by the African Union for exclusively pursuing cases in Africa and overlooking similar or worse atrocities occurring elsewhere. It is hoped that Fatouh Bensouda will help restore parity in the ICC’s case log and its quickly fading credibility.
Anas Aremeyaw Anas
This Ghanaian investigative journalist had a very busy year. His special interest pieces exposed corrupt practices occurring at different levels of Ghanaian society, including at the country’s orphanages and within the Ghana Revenue Authority. This year, with support from Al-Jazeera’s Africa Investigates initiative, he has put life and limb on the line to expose illegal mining activities in Ghana and the persecution of the albino population in Tanzania.
African Women
I am cheating a little here but I am thinking specifically of three outstanding individuals. The Nobel Peace Prize being awarded to Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Leymah Gbowee was recognition of the extensive role women have played in advancing peace, security, and development everywhere on the continent. I am thinking also of Fatimata Bazeye, who played a key role in steering Niger to a successful election and democratic transition and was named Media Trusts Limited’s 2011 African of the Year.
This list, which is by no means conclusive, is a reminder that for all the challenges Africans faced in 2011, there were numerous bright spots. The year experienced by the individuals above also gives reason to be hopeful about the prospects for Africa in 2012. Lamido Sanusi and Aliko Dangote give me hope that the fight against corruption will gain momentum in 2012 and that Africa’s economic resurgence will continue in 2012.
Fatouh Bensouda gives me hope that 2012 will bring a little more parity in the international system. Arnas Aremeyaw Arnas point to the rise of responsible journalism. Finally, women like Johnson-Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee, and Fatimata Bazeye give me hope that in 2012, peace, security, democracy, and respect for human rights will find true expression in Africa.
Photo Credit: World Economic Forum
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Xenella Holding AB publishes offer document regarding the cash offer to shareholders of Allenex AB (publ) in accordance with the rules on mandatory bi
Xenella Holding AB's offer document regarding the cash offer to shareholders of Allenex AB (publ) in accordance with the rules on mandatory bids have now been approved by the FSA.
The offer document with the application form from that of Mohammed Al Amoudi and solid partner AB (publ) is jointly owned budgivarbolaget Xenella Holding AB to the shareholders of Allenex AB to tender their shares in Allenex to Xenella, is available in digital form via www.allenex.se, www.xenella . see and www.aktieinvest.se.
+46 8 506 517 95
The acceptance period for the cash offer under the rules on mandatory bids runs from December 14, 2011-11 January 2012.
Allenex board comes two weeks before the acceptance period publish its opinion on the bid and the reasons for this view. At the same time, the fairness opinion prepared by KPMG to be published.
Allenex AB (publ) discloses this information pursuant to the Securities Markets Act and / or laws governing trading in financial instruments. Submitted for publication December 13, 2011, 12 am: 30.
070-91 800 10
070-600 5364
For more information on Allenex visit www.allenex.se
Allenex is a life science company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells high quality products and services that enable safer transplants with better results. Allenex also has a portfolio of associated companies in life science. Allenex is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Small Cap (ticker: ALNX).
The offer document with the application form from that of Mohammed Al Amoudi and solid partner AB (publ) is jointly owned budgivarbolaget Xenella Holding AB to the shareholders of Allenex AB to tender their shares in Allenex to Xenella, is available in digital form via www.allenex.se, www.xenella . see and www.aktieinvest.se.
+46 8 506 517 95
The acceptance period for the cash offer under the rules on mandatory bids runs from December 14, 2011-11 January 2012.
Allenex board comes two weeks before the acceptance period publish its opinion on the bid and the reasons for this view. At the same time, the fairness opinion prepared by KPMG to be published.
Allenex AB (publ) discloses this information pursuant to the Securities Markets Act and / or laws governing trading in financial instruments. Submitted for publication December 13, 2011, 12 am: 30.
070-91 800 10
070-600 5364
For more information on Allenex visit www.allenex.se
Allenex is a life science company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells high quality products and services that enable safer transplants with better results. Allenex also has a portfolio of associated companies in life science. Allenex is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Small Cap (ticker: ALNX).
La finance islamique, une éthique valorisée par la Sorbonne
Rédigé par Hanan Ben Rhouma | Mardi 6 Décembre 2011
En pleine crise de la dette en Europe, une nouvelle pierre à l’édifice de la réflexion sur l’apport de la finance islamique dans les sociétés non musulmanes s’est ajoutée avec le lancement officiel, mercredi 30 novembre, de la chaire « Ethique et normes de la finance », qui scelle le partenariat entre l’université Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et celle du roi Abdulaziz, à Djeddah. La chaire est entièrement tournée vers la recherche, mais l’apparition d’une formation de finance islamique à la Sorbonne n’est pas exclue pour les prochaines années.
inShare
1
La Chaire « Ethique et normes de la finance », lancée officiellement le 30 novembre, scelle le partenariat entre l’université de Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et celle du roi Abdulaziz, à Djeddah.
Un temps épargnées par les conséquences de la crise financière qui a gravement frappé les Etats-Unis en 2008, la France et l’Europe sont depuis plusieurs mois en plein marasme économique. Mise en accusation, la finance conventionnelle ne cesse de voir son image se dégrader. Dans ce contexte, le développement de normes éthiques dans la finance est devenu nécessaire pour redresser la barre.
Dans ce sens, la chaire « Ethique et normes de la finance », née d’un accord-cadre de coopération signé en janvier dernier entre l'université Paris 1-Sorbonne et l’université du roi Abdulaziz à Djeddah, a été inaugurée mercredi 30 novembre en présence de Jean-Claude Colliard, président de La Sorbonne, d’Osama S. Tayeb, président de la faculté saoudienne, de Pierre-Charles Pradier et d’Abdullah Turkistani, les responsables de la chaire.
Réintroduire l’éthique dans la finance
Au travers de cette initiative inédite, les deux universités ont pour ambition de développer une recherche de qualité autour de la moralisation de la finance et, par ce biais, autour de la finance islamique, présentée aujourd'hui comme une alternative éthique à la finance conventionnelle, qui interdit notamment les intérêts (riba), la spéculation et qui se fonde sur les principes d'adossement de tout financement à un actif tangible et du partage des pertes et des profits.
Selon Pierre-Charles Pradier, spécialiste de la théorie de la décision et de l'économie du risque et coresponsable de la chaire, « son objectif est de répondre à une demande sociale qui est celle de trouver une évolution soutenable, socialement acceptable de la finance. » « On voit aujourd’hui avec la crise de la dette souveraine que les modalités de financement des Etats conduisent à une remise en cause de la construction européenne. L’objet de notre chaire est de réintroduire une dimension éthique dans la finance pour qu’elle soit au service de l’économie et au service des projets politiques et de développement des peuples », ajoute-t-il.
Même si une formation de finance islamique n’est pour le moment pas envisagée à la Sorbonne, la perspective d’une formation de finance islamique pourrait prochainement naître dès lors que l’opportunité s’en fera sentir dans les prochaines années. « Les meilleurs diplômes sont ceux qui sont adossés à une activité de recherche reconnue et donc si nous n’avons pas encore développé une activité d’enseignement, c’est prévu » mais pas pour tout de suite, nous confie M. Pradier.
L'objet premier de la chaire est donc de développer une recherche de haut niveau sur l'éthique de la finance. Une chaire entièrement financée par l’Arabie Saoudite à hauteur de 1 million d’euros sur trois ans, en la personne de Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi, un homme d'affaires ayant déjà financé cinq autres chaires de recherche.
La coopération bilatérale au cœur de la chaire
C'est ainsi que des séminaires mensuels à destination d’un public avisé (doctorants, post-doctorants et chercheurs) ont déjà été organisés dans le cadre de la chaire depuis mai 2011 et se poursuivront tout au long de l'année universitaire. Il s'agit de vidéoconférences, tripartites entre Paris-1, l'Institut d'économie islamique et la faculté des femmes de l'université du roi Abdulaziz, qui permettent de travailler à trois sur des sujets précis.
Cinq colloques, à destination d'un plus large public, sont prévus, dont un sur le dialogue des cultures en février, sur le développement économique de l'Arabie Saoudite en mai et sur le financement de l'Etat en novembre. De ces colloques, des publications scientifiques seront ensuite produites.
Un programme d’échange de doctorants entre les deux universités sera également développé, ajoute Kader Merbouh, coordinateur de la chaire à la Sorbonne. L'opportunité pour cette faculté, réputée pour ses formations en droit et en économie, de se positionner au Moyen-Orient.
La coopération avec l'université du roi Abdulaziz est « fondamentale car l'Arabie Saoudite représente une source de légitimité académique dans le domaine de l'éthique musulmane. L'académie de jurisprudence (fiqh) est située à Djeddah et est voisine de l'université, qui a des équipes de recherche pionnières dans le domaine de la finance islamique, la meilleure bibliothèque et une proximité avec la Banque islamique du développement (BID) », s'enthousiasme M. Pradier. Autant d'atouts dont La Sorbonne peut se servir pour faire rayonner la finance islamique en France.
Lire aussi :
Pourquoi la finance islamique peine à démarrer au Maghreb ?
Finance islamique : un secteur en pleine expansion pour 2012
Finance islamique : les leçons malaisiennes pour la France
Le premier indice boursier de l’alimentation halal lancé en Malaisie
La finance islamique séduit les cabinets d’avocats
Finance : Stoxx lance son indice boursier islamique
De plus en plus de femmes dans la finance islamique asiatique
Paris-Dauphine lance son master en finance islamique
Autres articles
Pays-Bas : les sénateurs contre la remise en cause de l’abattage rituel
Le Qatar au secours des banlieues françaises
Sciences Po veut plus de diversité dans ses effectifs
Une maison de repos islamique va ouvrir à Bruxelles
La télé-réalité « All-American Muslim » perd des annonceurs
En pleine crise de la dette en Europe, une nouvelle pierre à l’édifice de la réflexion sur l’apport de la finance islamique dans les sociétés non musulmanes s’est ajoutée avec le lancement officiel, mercredi 30 novembre, de la chaire « Ethique et normes de la finance », qui scelle le partenariat entre l’université Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et celle du roi Abdulaziz, à Djeddah. La chaire est entièrement tournée vers la recherche, mais l’apparition d’une formation de finance islamique à la Sorbonne n’est pas exclue pour les prochaines années.
inShare
1
La Chaire « Ethique et normes de la finance », lancée officiellement le 30 novembre, scelle le partenariat entre l’université de Paris-1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et celle du roi Abdulaziz, à Djeddah.
Un temps épargnées par les conséquences de la crise financière qui a gravement frappé les Etats-Unis en 2008, la France et l’Europe sont depuis plusieurs mois en plein marasme économique. Mise en accusation, la finance conventionnelle ne cesse de voir son image se dégrader. Dans ce contexte, le développement de normes éthiques dans la finance est devenu nécessaire pour redresser la barre.
Dans ce sens, la chaire « Ethique et normes de la finance », née d’un accord-cadre de coopération signé en janvier dernier entre l'université Paris 1-Sorbonne et l’université du roi Abdulaziz à Djeddah, a été inaugurée mercredi 30 novembre en présence de Jean-Claude Colliard, président de La Sorbonne, d’Osama S. Tayeb, président de la faculté saoudienne, de Pierre-Charles Pradier et d’Abdullah Turkistani, les responsables de la chaire.
Réintroduire l’éthique dans la finance
Au travers de cette initiative inédite, les deux universités ont pour ambition de développer une recherche de qualité autour de la moralisation de la finance et, par ce biais, autour de la finance islamique, présentée aujourd'hui comme une alternative éthique à la finance conventionnelle, qui interdit notamment les intérêts (riba), la spéculation et qui se fonde sur les principes d'adossement de tout financement à un actif tangible et du partage des pertes et des profits.
Selon Pierre-Charles Pradier, spécialiste de la théorie de la décision et de l'économie du risque et coresponsable de la chaire, « son objectif est de répondre à une demande sociale qui est celle de trouver une évolution soutenable, socialement acceptable de la finance. » « On voit aujourd’hui avec la crise de la dette souveraine que les modalités de financement des Etats conduisent à une remise en cause de la construction européenne. L’objet de notre chaire est de réintroduire une dimension éthique dans la finance pour qu’elle soit au service de l’économie et au service des projets politiques et de développement des peuples », ajoute-t-il.
Même si une formation de finance islamique n’est pour le moment pas envisagée à la Sorbonne, la perspective d’une formation de finance islamique pourrait prochainement naître dès lors que l’opportunité s’en fera sentir dans les prochaines années. « Les meilleurs diplômes sont ceux qui sont adossés à une activité de recherche reconnue et donc si nous n’avons pas encore développé une activité d’enseignement, c’est prévu » mais pas pour tout de suite, nous confie M. Pradier.
L'objet premier de la chaire est donc de développer une recherche de haut niveau sur l'éthique de la finance. Une chaire entièrement financée par l’Arabie Saoudite à hauteur de 1 million d’euros sur trois ans, en la personne de Mohammed Hussein Al-Amoudi, un homme d'affaires ayant déjà financé cinq autres chaires de recherche.
La coopération bilatérale au cœur de la chaire
C'est ainsi que des séminaires mensuels à destination d’un public avisé (doctorants, post-doctorants et chercheurs) ont déjà été organisés dans le cadre de la chaire depuis mai 2011 et se poursuivront tout au long de l'année universitaire. Il s'agit de vidéoconférences, tripartites entre Paris-1, l'Institut d'économie islamique et la faculté des femmes de l'université du roi Abdulaziz, qui permettent de travailler à trois sur des sujets précis.
Cinq colloques, à destination d'un plus large public, sont prévus, dont un sur le dialogue des cultures en février, sur le développement économique de l'Arabie Saoudite en mai et sur le financement de l'Etat en novembre. De ces colloques, des publications scientifiques seront ensuite produites.
Un programme d’échange de doctorants entre les deux universités sera également développé, ajoute Kader Merbouh, coordinateur de la chaire à la Sorbonne. L'opportunité pour cette faculté, réputée pour ses formations en droit et en économie, de se positionner au Moyen-Orient.
La coopération avec l'université du roi Abdulaziz est « fondamentale car l'Arabie Saoudite représente une source de légitimité académique dans le domaine de l'éthique musulmane. L'académie de jurisprudence (fiqh) est située à Djeddah et est voisine de l'université, qui a des équipes de recherche pionnières dans le domaine de la finance islamique, la meilleure bibliothèque et une proximité avec la Banque islamique du développement (BID) », s'enthousiasme M. Pradier. Autant d'atouts dont La Sorbonne peut se servir pour faire rayonner la finance islamique en France.
Lire aussi :
Pourquoi la finance islamique peine à démarrer au Maghreb ?
Finance islamique : un secteur en pleine expansion pour 2012
Finance islamique : les leçons malaisiennes pour la France
Le premier indice boursier de l’alimentation halal lancé en Malaisie
La finance islamique séduit les cabinets d’avocats
Finance : Stoxx lance son indice boursier islamique
De plus en plus de femmes dans la finance islamique asiatique
Paris-Dauphine lance son master en finance islamique
Autres articles
Pays-Bas : les sénateurs contre la remise en cause de l’abattage rituel
Le Qatar au secours des banlieues françaises
Sciences Po veut plus de diversité dans ses effectifs
Une maison de repos islamique va ouvrir à Bruxelles
La télé-réalité « All-American Muslim » perd des annonceurs
Allenex AB: Allenex Board of Directors Evaluates the Mandatory Public Offer from Xenella Holding AB
Xenella offers SEK 1.50 in cash for each share. The Offer does not include convertible instruments issued by Allenex. Xenella’s press release in the Swedish language on the Offer is available on Allenex’ website (www.allenex.se).
Xenella is a company controlled by Mohammed Al Amoudi and FastPartner AB (publ), Allenex’s two largest shareholders.
Xenella has indicated that the acceptance period will expire on 11 January 2012. The Board of directors of Allenex will, under NASDAQ OMX Stockholm’s rules on public offers on the stock market (the”Takeover Rules”), announce its view on the Offer and the reasons for this view no later than two weeks before the end of the acceptance period.
Since the board member Oscar Ahlgren is also managing director of Västra Hamnen Fondkommission AB, whose largest owner is Mohammed Al Amoudi, and since the board member Sven-Olof Johansson is also the managing director and largest shareholder in FastPartner AB (publ), these board members have been considered to be in a conflict of interest position. Hence, they will not participate in the evaluation of the Offer or deal with any issues relating to the Offer. As the board members in question will be considered to participate in the Offer, the Board of directors will, under article III.3 of the Takeover Rules, obtain a fairness opinion on the Offer from an independent expert as a basis for its evaluation. Allenex has appointed KPMG as financial advisor to obtain the fairness opinion.
Stockholm, 23 November 2011
Allenex AB (publ) The Board of Directors
Allenex AB discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 20:10 (CET) on November 23, 2011.
Allenex is a life science company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells high quality products and services that enables for safer transplantations with better results. Allenex is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Small Cap (ticker: ALNX).
This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
Read more http://feeds.businesswire.com/click.phdo?i=f5b3a729a2d5bf0241486a8b3e78d6f1
Xenella is a company controlled by Mohammed Al Amoudi and FastPartner AB (publ), Allenex’s two largest shareholders.
Xenella has indicated that the acceptance period will expire on 11 January 2012. The Board of directors of Allenex will, under NASDAQ OMX Stockholm’s rules on public offers on the stock market (the”Takeover Rules”), announce its view on the Offer and the reasons for this view no later than two weeks before the end of the acceptance period.
Since the board member Oscar Ahlgren is also managing director of Västra Hamnen Fondkommission AB, whose largest owner is Mohammed Al Amoudi, and since the board member Sven-Olof Johansson is also the managing director and largest shareholder in FastPartner AB (publ), these board members have been considered to be in a conflict of interest position. Hence, they will not participate in the evaluation of the Offer or deal with any issues relating to the Offer. As the board members in question will be considered to participate in the Offer, the Board of directors will, under article III.3 of the Takeover Rules, obtain a fairness opinion on the Offer from an independent expert as a basis for its evaluation. Allenex has appointed KPMG as financial advisor to obtain the fairness opinion.
Stockholm, 23 November 2011
Allenex AB (publ) The Board of Directors
Allenex AB discloses the information provided herein pursuant to the Securities Markets Act and/or the Financial Instruments Trading Act. The information was submitted for publication at 20:10 (CET) on November 23, 2011.
Allenex is a life science company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells high quality products and services that enables for safer transplantations with better results. Allenex is listed on NASDAQ OMX Stockholm Small Cap (ticker: ALNX).
This information was brought to you by Cision http://www.cisionwire.com
Read more http://feeds.businesswire.com/click.phdo?i=f5b3a729a2d5bf0241486a8b3e78d6f1
Spreading in Gambella Investment, criticism, opportunity
The leasing of large tracts of plots for agricultural investments such as seen in the picture have been the cause of criticisms of fostering “land grab” launched at the government in the past few years by pundits. However, the government counters this saying that the accusations are not valid and being used to promote hidden agendas.
In a sparsely populated area of 3.4 million hectares of Gambella Regional State, foreigners have become a increasingly common sight over the past five years. A growing number of companies have shown interest in venturing into the agriculture sector there and the government has been letting them.
The number of companies who have been granted investment licences in the region has jumped into the hundreds since 2005/06. Yet only 34 licences had been granted in the five years before that. This interest by both local and international companies to lease land in the region has been met with criticism from pundits as nothing more than land grabbing.
There has been no environmental impact assessment done to date and people are being driven off their lands forcefully, allege these pundits, one of which is the Oakland Institute, a think-tank based out of California in the United States.
However, theirs is not an accusation the Ethiopian government seems to have given much attention to. It has been staunchly refuting the allegations and has been accusing these proponents of disseminating such claims to promote hidden agendas. The investment allows for job creation, technology transfer and helps in food insecurity on lands that have lain bare without any agricultural activities on them, it argues.
The government believes that the lands which are not used by small farmers should be used for huge commercial farms and thus require huge capital investment. Indeed some of the companies involved in the region’s plan for big projects require heavy machinery and investment in infrastructure.
One of the companies that have acquired land, perhaps the biggest in Africa, is India-based Karuturi Agro Products Plc, which received a 100,000ha plot. It plans to plant sugar cane, rice, cotton and maize.
A project by a subsidiary of Karuturi Global Ltd, through the Agro Products Plc, is the first venture for the company. Karuturi is known as the biggest rose producer in the world.
Having finished a one-year-long harvest of seedlings on 63ha for its sugar cane plantation, it is now planting 10,000ha with it. Also in the works is the erection of a sugar factory.
Karuturi believes that accusations of residents in the area not based on facts.
“The area used to be covered by forest which we had to clear,” Karmjeet Singh Sekhon, project director, told Fortune. “Our projects benefit not only the company but also the local people in terms of employment and transfer.”
Ruchi Agro Plc, an Indian company, which received 25,000ha Gambella Regional State in March 2009, employs workers from the locality making up 70pc of its workforce. The remaining are Indian technicians that operate the machineries and whom the project manager believe help transfer technology.
On top of the sugar cane plantations and the factory construction projects, the company is also undertaking construction of residential buildings for the company’s employees. Currently, there are 362 permanent and another 650 to 1,600 contractual employees in the company.
However, not all employees are not happy with their pay.
Abera Lera, 28, is one of the employees of the company. Although he has been working for the past seven months for a salary of 1,800 Br, he says it is not commensurate with work in the area.
“We do not have hardship allowances and we have to cover our own food expenses,” Abera, who has worked at Wongi Sugar Factor for 10 years. “Although we have been told the situation will get better, I am thinking about leaving the job,” he told Fortune.
Sharing his concern is Deneke Tora, who also works at Wongi with Abera.
Similar discontent is echoed by employees of Saudi Star, another mega investment project in the region. Incorporated in 2009 with a capital of 500 million Br, Saudi Star aims to grow rice on a 10,000ht plot it acquired using water from the Alwero Dam, which was constructed during the Dergue Regime to supply water to grow cotton.
It plans to access this dam, which has been idle for two decades, using a canal, to irrigate the farm. To facilitate this, the company has signed a contract worth 85 million dollars with GRC, a Pakistani company, for the construction of more than 30km of canal two weeks ago. The Pakistani company has agreed to complete the project within 11 months.
The company, established by Mohammed Al-Amoudi, has already put 80 million dollars into buying agricultural machinery and equipment from Caterpillar, which will be delivered by Ries Engineering SC.
Girma Umad, 28, is one of the employees currently working as a machine operator at Saudi Star. Before he came to work at the project, he used to live in the nearby town of Abobo with his parents.
Although he appreciates the chance to work without having any prior skill sets, he is not happy about the pay as well.
“I have managed to develop the skills needed through observation and personal practise, he told Fortune in appreciation for the overall working conditions. “However, the 25 Br I get a day is not even enough for my daily meals.”
A few weeks back some of the field workers had gone on strike demanding an increase in pay. This was triggered by an increase in wages for those involved in construction work.
However, the issue was resolved after discussions with the workers who received an increment of three Birr a day. The misunderstanding occurred as the increments were not given to all at the same time, according to Seifu wolde, the construction manager at the site.
Despite their complaints, many of the workers are still happy about the work opportunity they are getting.
“It is exactly this kind of technology transfer using machinery that we want to have shifted to our people,” Goaner Yer Zuor, vice president of the regional state, told Fortune.
It seems that the notion of employing local labour is taking root at Ruchi Agro Plc, another Indian company, which received 25,000ha in March 2009. The labour composition at the site is 70pc local, with the remaining technicians coming from India, according to Manohar Lankella (Phd), project manager of the company.
“We employ Indians because we use modern technology,” he told Fortune. “But they are also here to teach locals about how to use them.”
Currently Ruchi employs more than 160 employees.
Manhohar has had the same response to the “land grab” accusations, which he too says are not true.
“The land was empty and we had to clear the land before we could start our work,” he told Fortune, responding to accusations that people were forced to relocate to give way for his company.
Obanga Amir Okoch, 25, a native to the area and an employee of Ruchi agree. Obanga grew up in a local area called “fugnido. The land had lain bare for many years, and people were forced to relocate there during the military regime, according to Obanga.
“However, people left right after the regime was overthrown because they were put there against their will,” he explained to Fortune.
On the other hand, locals like Edosa Telila, 25, who has a diploma in law, seem to have no problem with the presence of foreigners on their land. In his view the locals are benefiting from ground water works and donations of maize at harvest time.
However, it is not just foreigners who have received land in the region, but local companies as well. One such company is Bazen Agricultural & Industrial Development which leased 10,000ha in 2005. It is currently preparing to undertake the clearing of 3,000ha to use as part of 7,200ha for its plantation.
Cotton, peas, maize and mango constitute the main cash and food crops currently cultivated on 2,300, 160, 80, and 53ha of land, respectively. A preliminary 10ha of vineyards also makes up part of the total cultivated land by the company so far. The company has plans to increase the actual cultivated land to 5,230 hectares by 2013.
The current potential harvest from its cotton farm, which takes up the lion’s share of the company’s cultivated land, is about 28 to 30ql per hectare, according to Desta Gebre, General Manager of Bazen, which employs, 48 permanent, 67 contractual and on average 913 seasonal workers.
One of the machineries used at the farm of Saudi Star used to process rice. The company has paid 80 million dollars for the procurement of machineries from caterpillar which will be delivered by Ries Engineering. There are two rice mills that are going to be erected at Gambella and Bishoftu (Debre Zeity) whose parts bought at a cost of 25 million dollar have arrived.
“More than 60pc of the daily workers usually come from Wolaita in the Southern Regional State, while the balance is made up of local workers from around the farm site,” he told Fortune.
Workers at Bazen seem to have less to complain about than other sites. Daily workers get paid 22 Br along with a kilogramme of maize flour, 50 gram of shiro and 30 gram of salt daily. They sleep in dormitories and receive one Birr for every kilogramme of crop they collect on top of their salary during the harvest season.
It seems that while many outside the area debate the land grab issue, the real concerns on the ground for the most part are about wages. Hardly any of the workers of the people who live nearby seem to have any notion that they are being overrun.
There are 306,916 people living in the region, many of whom are not involved in agriculture at all.
Allegations of land grabbing are totally baseless, according Wondimu Filate, public relations expert at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
“The current government policy in agriculture promotes both commercial and small agricultural farming,” he told Fortune, saying that anyone who wants to get involved is handled according to their request.
Commercial agricultural investors who want to lease less than 5,000ha of land can conclude their agreement with the regional states while agreements in excess of that are at the federal level.
The large scale commercial agricultural ventures for which specialized equipment and know-ow are required cannot be undertaken by local companies, according to Wondimu.
Indeed this has been the case for a few of the farms in Gambella. Karuturi reported a loss of 15 million dollars when the Alwero and Baro rivers flooded. The company lost 60,000tn of maize that would have been collected despite the presence of dikes on the sides that face the rivers.
However, the 1.8m tall dikes were not enough to withstand the onslaught of water. That prompted the company to place dikes all around the farm and increase the height of existing ones. Currently, it plans to build a polder, which is low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes forming an artificial hydrological entity with no connection to outside water.
This is to be accomplished by building walls that are four meters tall and nine meters wide.
As this is an undertaking that cannot be done by a local company, Karuturi has hired Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), an Indian public sector enterprise with autonomy to enter joint ventures and subsidiaries, to provide consulting services in flood control and the design of irrigation & drainage systems. Water Watch, a Dutch advisory firm, has also been retained to provide satellite information on hydrological processes and water management issues.
The undertaking will cost as much as the crop that was lost, officials of the company had told Fortune after the flooding.
The magnitude of the scale of projects is also comparable at the farm site of Saudi Star. Not being able to find local companies to construct the canal for its irrigation, it has had to look outside and settled on the Pakistani firm.
It is also constructing two 25-million dollar mills in Gambella and Bishoftu (Debrezeit), 47km from the capital, for the processing of the rice it grows before it is packaged.
In a sparsely populated area of 3.4 million hectares of Gambella Regional State, foreigners have become a increasingly common sight over the past five years. A growing number of companies have shown interest in venturing into the agriculture sector there and the government has been letting them.
The number of companies who have been granted investment licences in the region has jumped into the hundreds since 2005/06. Yet only 34 licences had been granted in the five years before that. This interest by both local and international companies to lease land in the region has been met with criticism from pundits as nothing more than land grabbing.
There has been no environmental impact assessment done to date and people are being driven off their lands forcefully, allege these pundits, one of which is the Oakland Institute, a think-tank based out of California in the United States.
However, theirs is not an accusation the Ethiopian government seems to have given much attention to. It has been staunchly refuting the allegations and has been accusing these proponents of disseminating such claims to promote hidden agendas. The investment allows for job creation, technology transfer and helps in food insecurity on lands that have lain bare without any agricultural activities on them, it argues.
The government believes that the lands which are not used by small farmers should be used for huge commercial farms and thus require huge capital investment. Indeed some of the companies involved in the region’s plan for big projects require heavy machinery and investment in infrastructure.
One of the companies that have acquired land, perhaps the biggest in Africa, is India-based Karuturi Agro Products Plc, which received a 100,000ha plot. It plans to plant sugar cane, rice, cotton and maize.
A project by a subsidiary of Karuturi Global Ltd, through the Agro Products Plc, is the first venture for the company. Karuturi is known as the biggest rose producer in the world.
Having finished a one-year-long harvest of seedlings on 63ha for its sugar cane plantation, it is now planting 10,000ha with it. Also in the works is the erection of a sugar factory.
Karuturi believes that accusations of residents in the area not based on facts.
“The area used to be covered by forest which we had to clear,” Karmjeet Singh Sekhon, project director, told Fortune. “Our projects benefit not only the company but also the local people in terms of employment and transfer.”
Ruchi Agro Plc, an Indian company, which received 25,000ha Gambella Regional State in March 2009, employs workers from the locality making up 70pc of its workforce. The remaining are Indian technicians that operate the machineries and whom the project manager believe help transfer technology.
On top of the sugar cane plantations and the factory construction projects, the company is also undertaking construction of residential buildings for the company’s employees. Currently, there are 362 permanent and another 650 to 1,600 contractual employees in the company.
However, not all employees are not happy with their pay.
Abera Lera, 28, is one of the employees of the company. Although he has been working for the past seven months for a salary of 1,800 Br, he says it is not commensurate with work in the area.
“We do not have hardship allowances and we have to cover our own food expenses,” Abera, who has worked at Wongi Sugar Factor for 10 years. “Although we have been told the situation will get better, I am thinking about leaving the job,” he told Fortune.
Sharing his concern is Deneke Tora, who also works at Wongi with Abera.
Similar discontent is echoed by employees of Saudi Star, another mega investment project in the region. Incorporated in 2009 with a capital of 500 million Br, Saudi Star aims to grow rice on a 10,000ht plot it acquired using water from the Alwero Dam, which was constructed during the Dergue Regime to supply water to grow cotton.
It plans to access this dam, which has been idle for two decades, using a canal, to irrigate the farm. To facilitate this, the company has signed a contract worth 85 million dollars with GRC, a Pakistani company, for the construction of more than 30km of canal two weeks ago. The Pakistani company has agreed to complete the project within 11 months.
The company, established by Mohammed Al-Amoudi, has already put 80 million dollars into buying agricultural machinery and equipment from Caterpillar, which will be delivered by Ries Engineering SC.
Girma Umad, 28, is one of the employees currently working as a machine operator at Saudi Star. Before he came to work at the project, he used to live in the nearby town of Abobo with his parents.
Although he appreciates the chance to work without having any prior skill sets, he is not happy about the pay as well.
“I have managed to develop the skills needed through observation and personal practise, he told Fortune in appreciation for the overall working conditions. “However, the 25 Br I get a day is not even enough for my daily meals.”
A few weeks back some of the field workers had gone on strike demanding an increase in pay. This was triggered by an increase in wages for those involved in construction work.
However, the issue was resolved after discussions with the workers who received an increment of three Birr a day. The misunderstanding occurred as the increments were not given to all at the same time, according to Seifu wolde, the construction manager at the site.
Despite their complaints, many of the workers are still happy about the work opportunity they are getting.
“It is exactly this kind of technology transfer using machinery that we want to have shifted to our people,” Goaner Yer Zuor, vice president of the regional state, told Fortune.
It seems that the notion of employing local labour is taking root at Ruchi Agro Plc, another Indian company, which received 25,000ha in March 2009. The labour composition at the site is 70pc local, with the remaining technicians coming from India, according to Manohar Lankella (Phd), project manager of the company.
“We employ Indians because we use modern technology,” he told Fortune. “But they are also here to teach locals about how to use them.”
Currently Ruchi employs more than 160 employees.
Manhohar has had the same response to the “land grab” accusations, which he too says are not true.
“The land was empty and we had to clear the land before we could start our work,” he told Fortune, responding to accusations that people were forced to relocate to give way for his company.
Obanga Amir Okoch, 25, a native to the area and an employee of Ruchi agree. Obanga grew up in a local area called “fugnido. The land had lain bare for many years, and people were forced to relocate there during the military regime, according to Obanga.
“However, people left right after the regime was overthrown because they were put there against their will,” he explained to Fortune.
On the other hand, locals like Edosa Telila, 25, who has a diploma in law, seem to have no problem with the presence of foreigners on their land. In his view the locals are benefiting from ground water works and donations of maize at harvest time.
However, it is not just foreigners who have received land in the region, but local companies as well. One such company is Bazen Agricultural & Industrial Development which leased 10,000ha in 2005. It is currently preparing to undertake the clearing of 3,000ha to use as part of 7,200ha for its plantation.
Cotton, peas, maize and mango constitute the main cash and food crops currently cultivated on 2,300, 160, 80, and 53ha of land, respectively. A preliminary 10ha of vineyards also makes up part of the total cultivated land by the company so far. The company has plans to increase the actual cultivated land to 5,230 hectares by 2013.
The current potential harvest from its cotton farm, which takes up the lion’s share of the company’s cultivated land, is about 28 to 30ql per hectare, according to Desta Gebre, General Manager of Bazen, which employs, 48 permanent, 67 contractual and on average 913 seasonal workers.
One of the machineries used at the farm of Saudi Star used to process rice. The company has paid 80 million dollars for the procurement of machineries from caterpillar which will be delivered by Ries Engineering. There are two rice mills that are going to be erected at Gambella and Bishoftu (Debre Zeity) whose parts bought at a cost of 25 million dollar have arrived.
“More than 60pc of the daily workers usually come from Wolaita in the Southern Regional State, while the balance is made up of local workers from around the farm site,” he told Fortune.
Workers at Bazen seem to have less to complain about than other sites. Daily workers get paid 22 Br along with a kilogramme of maize flour, 50 gram of shiro and 30 gram of salt daily. They sleep in dormitories and receive one Birr for every kilogramme of crop they collect on top of their salary during the harvest season.
It seems that while many outside the area debate the land grab issue, the real concerns on the ground for the most part are about wages. Hardly any of the workers of the people who live nearby seem to have any notion that they are being overrun.
There are 306,916 people living in the region, many of whom are not involved in agriculture at all.
Allegations of land grabbing are totally baseless, according Wondimu Filate, public relations expert at the Ministry of Agriculture (MoA).
“The current government policy in agriculture promotes both commercial and small agricultural farming,” he told Fortune, saying that anyone who wants to get involved is handled according to their request.
Commercial agricultural investors who want to lease less than 5,000ha of land can conclude their agreement with the regional states while agreements in excess of that are at the federal level.
The large scale commercial agricultural ventures for which specialized equipment and know-ow are required cannot be undertaken by local companies, according to Wondimu.
Indeed this has been the case for a few of the farms in Gambella. Karuturi reported a loss of 15 million dollars when the Alwero and Baro rivers flooded. The company lost 60,000tn of maize that would have been collected despite the presence of dikes on the sides that face the rivers.
However, the 1.8m tall dikes were not enough to withstand the onslaught of water. That prompted the company to place dikes all around the farm and increase the height of existing ones. Currently, it plans to build a polder, which is low-lying tract of land enclosed by dikes forming an artificial hydrological entity with no connection to outside water.
This is to be accomplished by building walls that are four meters tall and nine meters wide.
As this is an undertaking that cannot be done by a local company, Karuturi has hired Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), an Indian public sector enterprise with autonomy to enter joint ventures and subsidiaries, to provide consulting services in flood control and the design of irrigation & drainage systems. Water Watch, a Dutch advisory firm, has also been retained to provide satellite information on hydrological processes and water management issues.
The undertaking will cost as much as the crop that was lost, officials of the company had told Fortune after the flooding.
The magnitude of the scale of projects is also comparable at the farm site of Saudi Star. Not being able to find local companies to construct the canal for its irrigation, it has had to look outside and settled on the Pakistani firm.
It is also constructing two 25-million dollar mills in Gambella and Bishoftu (Debrezeit), 47km from the capital, for the processing of the rice it grows before it is packaged.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Ethiopia's Biggest Cement Plant to Start Output This Month
By William Davison Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Derba MIDROC Cement Plc, Ethiopia’s biggest cement factory, said it will start production within the “next 10 days,” helping end a shortage of the building material in Africa’s fourth-largest economy. The $351 million plant, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) northwest of the capital, Addis Ababa, will produce 8,000 metric tons of the building material daily by February, said Chief Executive Officer Haile Assegide. Derba is part of the MIDROC Ethiopia group owned by Mohammed al-Amoudi, an Ethiopian-born Saudi Arabian billionaire who is one of the biggest investors in the Horn of Africa nation. Once output begins, Ethiopia “will be self-sufficient for the coming two to three years” in cement, Haile said in an interview at the site on Dec. 1. Ethiopia, a net importer of cement, plans to boost output ten-fold by mid-2015 to 27 million tons, according to the government. The Derba plant will add 2.5 million tons per year, while expansions to Mesobo Building Materials Production Plc, owned by the country’s ruling party, and state-owned Mugher Cement Enterprise will add another 1 million, it said. Dangote Cement Plc, Nigeria’s biggest company by market value, said in October it plans to invest $400 million in an Ethiopian factory with the capacity to produce 1.5 million tons per year. Derba Cement, built by China National Building Material Co., may earn more than 2 billion birr ($115.9 million) annually, Project Manager Tadesse Kebede said in an interview at the site. “If everything goes well it will be a cash cow,” he said. Loans Al-Amoudi’s company invested $100 million in the operation, with the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corp. and the Development Bank of Ethiopia providing the rest of the funds. The project was delayed for “almost one year” because obtaining the loans took longer than expected, Tadesse said. “To work with multilateral banks is very difficult,” he said. The factory, which took 3 1/2 years to complete, will require as much as 60 megawatts of electricity from the national grid, Haile said. The company paid for transmission lines and a sub-station to power the plant, according to Haile. --Editors: Paul Richardson, Ana Monteiro. To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net. To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson in Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net. | |
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Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Saudi Star Gets Ex-state Minister as New Chief
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Derba Cement Factory, Ethiopia to Offer 50% Credit
Tuesday, 06 December 2011 08:58 Meron TekleberhanEthiopian Business News - Cement
Derba MIDROC cement factory has announced plans to offer 60 day credit to contractors for 50% of payment and an 
unconditional bank guarantee. The factory is expected to join the cement industry in Ethiopia within a month.
Contractors can utilize the arrangement indefinitely as long as the bank guarantee is in place said Haile Assedeie Chief Executive Office or Derba.
Derba will offer the same terms to private individuals provided that the organizations that they are employed by can put up similar guarantees.
The cement producer will also offer 5 day delivery services to customers within a raidus of 600 Km from Addis Ababa. The company expects to widen its delivery radius after two months to encompass all parts of the country according to Haile.Derba will provide the delivery service through one thousand Volvo trucks to be managed by Derba Transport plc which is under formation.
Derba aims to solve price and supply problems associated with the cement industry in Ethiopia explained Haile. He decline to comment on the price of Derba cement.
It is to be remembered that current increases in the supply of cement after the increase in production by the Mugher and Mesebo Cement factories has resulted in an unprecedented decrease of cement prices.
It is expected that the entrance of Derba into the cement factory with a production capacity of 80,000 qls a day will further increase the supply and reduce the price of cement in the national market.
Mugher and Mesebo have requested that Ethiopian government stop the import of cement as current supplies are sufficient to meet national demand.
Source: Addis Fortune
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Recent Articles by Meron Tekleberhan :
Derba MIDROC Cement to Sell on 50pc Credit
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Ethiopian Billionaire’s Cement Plant to Start Output This Month
By William Davison
Dec. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Derba MIDROC Cement Plc, Ethiopia’s biggest cement factory, said it will start production within the “next 10 days,” helping end a shortage of the building material in Africa’s fourth-largest economy.
The $351 million plant, about 70 kilometers (44 miles) northwest of the capital, Addis Ababa, will produce 8,000 metric tons of the building material daily by February, said Chief Executive Officer Haile Assegide. Derba is part of the MIDROC Ethiopia group owned by Mohammed al-Amoudi, an Ethiopian-born Saudi Arabian billionaire who is one of the biggest investors in the Horn of Africa nation.
Once output begins, Ethiopia “will be self-sufficient for the coming two to three years” in cement, Haile said in an interview at the site on Dec. 1.
Ethiopia, a net importer of cement, plans to boost output ten-fold by mid-2015 to 27 million tons, according to the government. The Derba plant will add 2.5 million tons per year, while expansions to Mesobo Building Materials Production Plc, owned by the country’s ruling party, and state-owned Mugher Cement Enterprise will add another 1 million, it said.
Dangote Cement Plc, Nigeria’s biggest company by market value, said in October it plans to invest $400 million in an Ethiopian factory with the capacity to produce 1.5 million tons per year.
Derba Cement, built by China National Building Material Co., may earn more than 2 billion birr ($115.9 million) annually, Project Manager Tadesse Kebede said in an interview at the site. “If everything goes well it will be a cash cow,” he said.
Loans
Al-Amoudi’s company invested $100 million in the operation, with the European Investment Bank, the African Development Bank, the International Finance Corp. and the Development Bank of Ethiopia providing the rest of the funds.
The project was delayed for “almost one year” because obtaining the loans took longer than expected, Tadesse said. “To work with multilateral banks is very difficult,” he said.
The factory, which took 3 1/2 years to complete, will require as much as 60 megawatts of electricity from the national grid, Haile said. The company paid for transmission lines and a sub-station to power the plant, according to Haile.
--Editors: Paul Richardson, Ana Monteiro.
To contact the reporter on this story: William Davison in Addis Ababa via Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Paul Richardson in Nairobi at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.
Al-Amoudi to Pay Justice Ministry Nearly $1m
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Monday, December 5, 2011
Think tank deplores Ethiopia land grab deals
Think tank deplores Ethiopia land grab deals
By Abebe Gellaw
Washington DC (ESAT News)--The founding Executive Director of the Oakland Institute (OI), an independent policy think tank based in California, USA, has condemned cheap land giveaway deals that have been displacing indigenous communities from their ancestral land. In an exclusive interview with the Ethiopian Satellite Television (ESAT), Anuradha Mittal has said that the deals are illegal and should be voided.
She says that the land giveaway deals in Ethiopia have been causing great misery to the indigenous people, who are not even being consulted when their fertile land is given away to foreign agribusinesses to produce food and cash crops for export.
Mittal further pointed out that the land deals that has been destabilizing and detrimental to ordinary Ethiopians are illegal and should be voided. “These deals are illegal. The people’s voice has not been taken into consideration. These deals need to be voided,” she said.
“These leases are pretty atrocious. If you look at the price of land of this fertile land, which is close to water being given away for leases, which are 45, 50 or 90 years leases. There are no environmental, social impact assessments done,” she said. Mittal further noted that the Ethiopian government cares little about the impacts of these deals on powerless local communities that are being displaced as a result of the land giveaway. “You don’t find any kind of consultation process with the local communities because in Ethiopia land belongs to the government,” she noted. Lack of democracy and good governance is at the heart of such a situation, according to Mittal.
“We don’t find investment scheme that would result Ethiopia as a country, as an economic power, gaining any kind of advantages,” she said adding that the scheme appeared to allow “strategic investors” to rob Ethiopia’s rich resources and taking the benefit out of the country.
Earlier this year the Oakland Institute published special reports on seven countries severely affected by land grab. In its country report on Ethiopia, OI underlined that the land lease deals would aggravate food insecurity, have negative environmental impacts and devastate indigenous communities. According to the report, published earlier this year, over 3.6 million hectares of land has been transferred, largely to foreign agribusinesses.
Despite the fact that Meles Zenawi has been arguing that leasing away millions of hectares of “unutilized land” would ensure food security, OI’s chief says that the land grab rush has the opposite effect and can even sustain hunger and famine. “In the case of Ethiopia, you talk about a country where 13 million people are dependent on food aid. So you can imagine trucks full of aid coming to Ethiopia. On the other hand you have trucks full of cereals, cut flowers and agro fuels leaving the country. So it is just the juxtaposition of the two pictures that base the reality in Ethiopia.”
The OI chief emphasized that the commercial agribusinesses are not growing food for consumption within Ethiopia but for export. “This is food that is leaving Ethiopia. So has nothing to do in terms of food security”, she said.
“The kind of foreign investment in land that we are seeing in Ethiopia is basically a recipe for continued famine in Ethiopia. This is not going to lead to improved food security. This is not going to be supporting small holder farmers. It doesn’t provide a kind of incentives you need to grow and develop as a country,” she added.
Mittal further indicated that OI researchers who travelled to Ethiopia to investigate the impact of land giveaway discovered rampant violation of human rights and the indigenous people are denied their basic rights to raise their concerns. “Our researchers reported a lot of repression. They reported indigenous communities were hunted down like animals where they constantly asked if they support these plantations. They are supposed to say yes. If they would have say no beatings follow, rapes follow,” she said.
The OI director blamed the Ethiopian defense forces for enforcing the land giveaway deals. Mittal says that the defense force uses tanks to monitor “the areas where people are constantly being beaten or arrested if they voice their dissent.”
In Gambella, a region severely affected by land grab deals, the institute’s researchers found out that one of the Gambella National Park is being deforested and devastated by investors operating in the region including Karuturi and Saudi Star, which is owned by Sheik Mohammed Al Amoudi.
Another OI finding contained in its country report on Ethiopia and that has raised eye-brows is that up to 75 percent of land grab investors in Gambela affiliated with the TPLF. The OI country report on Ethiopia states: “It is widely perceived that Tigrayans receive beneficial treatment in relation to investment are given land freely and receive preferential access to credit. All but one of the domestic investors that we visited were from the Tigray region…One regional government official in Gambella estimated that 75 percent of the domestic investors in Gambella were from Tigray.” Mital said such a practice is a kind of colonialism.
Mittal argued that Ethiopia is a rich country with massive resources that can feed itself. She highlighted that people have to figure out how to remove the governance obstacle that is hindering the nation’s progress.
“History shows that if a country like Ethiopia continues to marginalize its own people, continues to ignore and show no respect to human rights, continues to practice schemes which will cause more food insecurity, we do know that there will be more hunger and poverty in Ethiopia. We do know from history that increased hunger and poverty leads to increased insecurity that leads to political instability,” the OI chief said.
Author of several books and reports, Mittal, is an internationally recognized expert on development, trade, human rights and agriculture issues. Recipient of several awards, she was named as the Most Valuable Thinker in 2008 by The Nation magazine.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
Derba Cement Factory, Ethiopia Close to Completion
An estimated 98% of the total installation work on Derba Cement factory has been completed announced Haile Assegdie, CEO for Sheikh Mohammed Al Amoudi Major Investment Projects. The Ethiopian factory has been set up at a cost of nearly 600 million birr and will enter production this month he said speaking to journalists visiting the site.
It is expected that Dereba will have a daily production capacity of 80,000 quintals or 25 million quintals per annum explained Haile.
The project encountered challenges including importing heavy machinery and digging through more than 880 meter through the sand and stone of a mountain according to Haile.All equipment at the factory has been tested individually and the integrated testing for total operational activities will be conducted within the next weeks.
Derba will contribute to provide a sustainable source of cement for the growing national demand for cement alongside Mesebo and Mugher Cement factories.
It is to be remembered that Mugar and Messobo requested that the government halt cement imports in letters to the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development. The cement factories claimed that they can produce enough to meet local demand.
The cement factories have excess stock according to an anonymous official at Mughar. The two factories have increased their annual production by a total of 1.7 million tons following expansion projects.
Source: Ethiopian Herald
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I wish grave to all ethiopian enemies,to all who defame it ,to all who eats from its hand and eats it again,to all who deny the existing facts with in the nation.God(Allah) bless Ethiopia.