One of the biggest moments in a person’s life is their wedding day and in Ethiopia it is a major cultural event. Newly wedded couples, parents and friends celebrate it with big festivities including much food, drink and dancing. But appearance is becoming much of a concern and it costs too much. Meseret Mamo, EBR’s Associate Editor, writes that the expense of this huge milestone is becoming an issue especially in Addis Ababa.
One hundred twenty years ago, in 1893, Willie Grooves, a West Bromwich Albion inside forward in the then professional English Football League, was sold with a record transfer fee of 100 Pounds Sterling (GBP) for Aston Villa. This transfer was considered controversial. The Football Association labeled the transfer process ‘unfair’ because the player was illegally poached and a huge amount of money was tendered. Nevertheless, Grooves subsequently became the first player to be transferred with ‘that amount’ of money in the history of football and helped Villa win the league championship in 1894. Villa actually ended up being fined for the incident by the Football Association.
I love movies. I love movies that leave me thinking about the whole story. I love movies that have lively characters that will, in the end, seem like they are my new friends who I care about the most. Whatever the genre, I love movies that will go straight to my heart and wander there for some while.
It’s the holiday season again! The time of year where almost all local radio stations play traditional songs to hype up listeners and boost the holiday spirit; it is that season where incredibly large numbers of sheep, goats and oxen get ready to go to their new “homes”; it is that season where you will see long lines of women with their ‘netela’ around the gates of ELFORA or other chicken and egg wholesalers; it is that season where you will see a lot of shoppers here and there making sure they have every food and ingredient to cook for the holiday!
It has been a decade since Ethiopia applied and began preparations to become a member of the world’s trade governing body, the World Trade Organization (WTO). It submitted the application for the accession in January 2003. Since that time it has accomplished some of the basic requirements and negotiations to be able to ascend. It is expected to complete the negotiations and be a full member as speculated in the Growth and Transformation plan (GTP) by 2015.
Since the 16th century the place located in western Ethiopia known as Bela Shangul, meaning “Rock of Shangul” named after a sacred stone found in the mountainous area of the present Benishangul Gumuz Region, is legendary for its vast area of fertile land suitable for agricultural production. The region was also the place where the Berta people originally settled when they arrived to Ethiopia.
Once, some ten – twelve years ago, shoe manufacturing industry owners were at the late Prime Minister’s office to talk about some of the most dreadful challenges they were facing. One of the major grievances they presented to the Prime Minister was that imported shoes have swamped the local market and they couldn’t compete with them. “People are not buying our product and we will be out of business” they told him.
On January 6, 2011, on the eve of Ethiopian Christmas, the Ministry of Trade imposed price caps on selected basic commodities including meat. The decision was meant to curb the ever skyrocketing prices of basic food items. High government officials affirmed that the price caps were a retort to price gouging by merchants taking advantage on consumers and vowed to put a stop to this “market disorder.”
Footballers in France will hope for a winning strike of a different kind this December when they protest over a controversial super tax levied by the socialist government. Back in 2012, the now French President, François Hollande campaigned for the election promising to tax top earners with 75Pct income tax. The 75Pct tax rate was initially to be paid by those earning over EUR one million a year. After protests by top French executives and prominent personalities such as Gérard Depardieu, a French actor, film-maker, businessman and vineyard owner, the government changed the law so that it would be payable by the companies offering such salaries. This show cases how far progressive tax rate can go.
Michael Buerk’s famished Ethiopia of 1984 has become a nation achieving 93Pct GDP growth in six years, finds study. The television news report by the BBC’s Michael Buerk in 1984 framed Ethiopia for a generation as a place of famine and in need of salvation. Almost 30 years later the country is hailed by pundits as an “African lion” after a decade of stellar economic growth.
Ethiopian Business Review