Ethiopian job plans put Dangote Cement at risk

The Nigerian company, controlled by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and others such as Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi’s Derba MIDROC Cement Plc, should allow the youth to run their pumice mines. PHOTO: Bloomberg

Ethiopian regional officials are demanding foreign cement producers including Dangote Cement Plc hand control of some parts of their businesses to groups of unemployed youths.

The Nigerian company, controlled by Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, and others such as Saudi billionaire Mohammed al-Amoudi’s Derba MIDROC Cement Plc, should allow the youth to run their pumice mines, according to a draft contract drawn up by Oromia state’s East Shewa Zone administration this month. Pumice is an additive used in cement manufacturing and its extraction is overseen by local bureaucrats, rather than Ethiopia’s central government.

“The youth have to get the advantage from the resource, and side-by-side the companies must get advantage from this resource,” Yohan Tesso, head of East Shewa’s urban employment creation and food security office, said by phone. “It’s a win-win.”

Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn’s administration is trying to reduce youth unemployment five months after it declared a state of emergency to deal with violent protests by Oromo communities over alleged land dispossession, political marginalization and repression by the state. Dangote Cement was among several businesses attacked during the unrest, which caused foreign investment to slump.

Oromia has 1.2 million unemployed youth, according to the Addis Ababa-based Walta Information Center news service, which cited a local youth affairs office. The state is targeting the creation of 950,000 new jobs for young people, it said.

Ethnic Unrest Threatens to Derail Ethiopia’s Boom: QuickTake Q&A

The local administration “recently” halted Dangote and Derba’s operations amid discussions about the proposals, the Addis Ababa-based newspaper The Reporter said on March 11, citing Derba’s chief executive officer and chairman of the Ethiopia Cement Producers’ Association, Haile Assegidie. He said proposals to give control of pumice to youth cooperatives came without warning, according to the paper. Calls to Haile’s mobile phone on March 16 didn’t connect.

The disruptions haven’t forced Dangote to stop output, CEO Onne van der Weijde said in an interview. The company’s plant in Mugher, about 90 kilometers (56 miles) north of Addis Ababa, has the capacity to produce 2.5 million metric tons a year of cement, according to Dangote’s website.

The Nigerian company is discussing the proposal with Oromo officials and may be willing to sign a contract “as long as that doesn’t involve higher costs and lower quality and the quantity can still be delivered,” he said. “They shouldn’t force us to do it and then charge a high fee for getting something that we were doing ourselves before.”

Prices being discussed are from 20-30 birr ($0.89-$1.33) per metric ton of pumice, Van der Weijde said. The contract refers to 20 birr.

‘No Right’
Teweld Abay, a director of mineral marketing in Ethiopia’s federal mines ministry, said that while he was aware of East Shewa’s plans, the local administration hadn’t communicated them to the ministry.

“We don’t believe they have a right to ask these cement companies to sign this contract,” Teweld said by phone. “But if these companies sign this contract, then it’s their responsibility.”

The Reporter quoted Industry Minister Alemu Sime as saying his ministry had reached “a general consensus on the importance of the youth job-creation initiative with the cement factories.” Factories raised a “valid” concern that there could be an interruption in the supply of raw materials, he was cited as saying.

Abdisa Jaleta, planning and monitoring officer at the East Shewa urban employment creation and food security office, confirmed an English translation of the contract obtained by Bloomberg is authentic. It identified the pumice supplier as Youth Micro Enterprises Plc.
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A Global Competition For Influence In Ethiopia

ADDIS ABABA — On the flight from Rome to Addis Ababa, the Ethiopian capital, flight attendants hand out Chinese-language magazines. And in the city's Bole International Airport, the only cigarettes available are of the made-in-Chinese variety. Marlboros aren't an option.

Outside the airport, at the first traffic light, my taxi jockeys for position with a economy car driven by a man who appears to be Chinese. "Since they began arriving a few years ago I see them everywhere," my Ethiopian taxi driver complains. "We used to call white people ferenji, which means foreigner, but now we mainly use it for the Chinese. They built everything here: the African Union (AU) headquarters, the new light rail system, the Modjo-Hawassa highway, even the railway to Djibouti."

Here in Ethiopia, where the Italian Empire went to ruin in the ashes of World War II, China is building a new empire of its own.

Heading out from the capital of one of Africa's fastest-growing economies, another feature of the landscape catches the eye. A minaret soars over every urban center, community, or village that appears in the distance — many have even more than one. "Those are all financed by oil money," the driver explains. "For the last 20 years Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait have been building mosques here."

Chinese drivers in a test train on the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway — Photo: Zhou Xiaoxiong/Xinhua/ZUMA

Money and influence

It doesn't take long upon arriving in Ethiopia to understand the forces at play. While China builds roads and highways in exchange for access to the country’s lucrative natural resources, the monarchies of the Arabian Gulf establish their influence in rural areas by building mosques and spreading Sunni Islam.

Journalist and Africa expert Howard W. French says that Chinese "neocolonialism" began in Ethiopia about two decades ago, in 1996. That year, in a visit to Addis Ababa, then-Chinese President Jiang Zemin proposed the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). Upon his return to China, Zemin urged industrialists to invest in Africa. Since then the Chinese presence on the continent has grown and become ever more visible, with Chinese-built roads, railroads, and industrial hubs popping up across Africa.

Buckling under the pressure of a food crisis and an influx of refugees escaping long-running instability in the Horn of Africa, the Ethiopian government sold the country’s best land to Chinese investors, who used it to produce grain for export.

The new railway linking Addis Ababa to the port of Djibouti, 750 km away, grants the landlocked nation access to the sea and was built by the China Railway Group (CREC) and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, a subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC). The three-lane Modjo-Hawassa highway, at a cost of $700 million, is also being built by the Chinese, as was the $500 million light rail system that cuts through Addis Ababa’s traffic. The two-line system is the first to be built in sub-Saharan Africa.

Some Ethiopians claim they have never seen so many people wearing the Islamic veil — Photo: William Palank

But Beijing isn’t solely interested in business investments on the world’s second-largest continent. China is building its first overseas military base in neighboring Djibouti, which will include an air force base, lodging for thousands of soldiers, and a deep-water port that can host large warships.

Investing in the future

The expropriation of land for these projects has run into intense opposition from local tribes in Ethiopia. Last summer, protests erupted across Oromia, the country’s largest and most populous region, spurring a brutal crackdown that killed thousands and forced the regime to declare a state of emergency.

"The fear now is that protesters and farmers will see radical Islam as a source of hope against the Orthodox Christian elite that rules the capital," says a youth who asks to remain anonymous.

Other Ethiopians claim they have never seen so many imams and people wearing the Islamic veil as they do now. Ethiopia has ancient ties to Islam and was the site of the first ever hijra — the journey undertaken by the prophet Muhammad’s earliest followers to escape persecution in Mecca. It is also home to Negash, the oldest Muslim settlement in Africa.

Experts claim that despite this long history, the Gulf monarchies embarked upon a targeted "Islamization" of the country after the fall of the Soviet Union and Ethiopia's communist dictator Mengistu Haile Mariam in 1991. This was done by building mosques in Muslim-majority areas and spreading their version of the Sunni faith in Islamic schools.

"In 1991 Riyadh took 2,000 young Ethiopians to study the Koran in Saudi Arabia, sending them back as imams two years later," says an anonymous source. "That’s when burqas and minarets began to appear everywhere, and the Gulf monarchies want to build two mosques for every community."

While China focuses on business interests, the Arab states seek to indoctrinate ordinary Ethiopians. Ethiopia has one of the highest population growth rates in Africa and is projected to reach 210 million people in 2060, up from the current 99 million. Their goals and tactics vary. But Beijing and the Arabian Gulf both see Ethiopia, whose global importance will only continue to grow, as an area full of promise. Read more here

Ethiopian Political Parties Fail to Reach Agreement - Report

March 19, 2017 - Ethiopia's 22 national political parties concluded their meeting today without reaching agreement on whether to involve third-party intermediaries or not in the upcoming dialogue, according to FBC.

During the meeting, all opposition political parties suggested the dialogue to be mediated by neutral bodies.

The ruling party, the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), for its part opposed the idea and said “a third-party negotiator is unnecessary.”

After discussing on the issue for six hours, all parties agreed to meet again on March 29, 2017 to pass decision on it.

During the meeting, other parties also opposed Ethiopian Federal Democratic Unity Forum’s (MEDREK) proposal to negotiate with EPRDF unilaterally as a chief negotiator.

In the next meeting, the political parties are also expected to approve the draft modality prepared for the dialogue. (FBC)

Ethiopia sees surge in refugees from South Sudan, UN says

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By Tesfa-Alem Tekle

March 18, 2017 (ADDIS ABABA) - The number of South Sudan refugees fleeing to neighbouring Ethiopia has seen a surge since the beginning of March, the UN refugee agency said on Saturday.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in a statement it extended to Sudan Tribune Saturday said over 600 South Sudan refugees are crossing borders to Ethiopia in March on daily basis, due to the ongoing conflict and food scarcity.

“The daily arrival rate has significantly jumped from 103 persons in February and 199 in February to 660 so far in March,” it said.

Between 1 and 11 March 2017, a total of 7,258 South Sudanese refugees have arrived in Ethiopia’s Gambella region.
Of these, 3,967 arrived in the week of 6 to 11 March, representing a daily average arrival rate of 660 people.
The latest influx has brought the total number of South Sudanese refugees who have arrived in Ethiopia since September 2016 to 68,858.

All the new arrivals have gone through level-1 registration and were most of them relocated to Nguenyyiel refugee camp, one of South Sudan refugee camps in Gambela region bordering South Sudan.

Pagak, a border town of South Sudan continues to be the main entry point through which an increasing number of South Sudanese refugees are crossing into Gambella, Ethiopia.

Between 1 February and 11 March 2017, a total of 12,828 refugees crossed through Pagak.
So far in March, 7,258 arrivals were registered in Pagak and all, but 192, were relocated to Nguenyyiel refugee camp while other new arrivals remain in Pagak, awaiting relocation.

According to the latest report, 65% of the total registered new arrivals are children, including 15,488 unaccompanied and separated children.

A recent sample survey conducted in Pagak revealed that the new arrivals originated mainly from Upper Nile State (Nasir, Longechuk or Mathiang, Ulang and Maiwut Counties) and Jonglie State (Uror, Akobo and Ayod Counties).
Conflict and food insecurity were cited as the main reasons for leaving South Sudan.

The majority (87%) continue to be women and children. A good number of those who arrived in March originated from Bentiu.

According to the UN refugee agency, as of 15 March, Ethiopia hosted more than 356,000 South Sudanese refugees who originate mostly from Upper Nile and Jonglie States, as well as some from the Unity state.

In addition to registration and protection, WASH, Nutrition, Primary Health Care and other services are available and functioning well at the entry point.

As South Sudan refugees continue to flee to Ethiopia in large numbers, UNHCR in close collaboration with its Ethiopian partner, Administration for Refugees and Returnees Affairs (ARRA) is in the process of ensuring maximum preparedness by reviewing the capacity of Nguenyiel camp and the identification of possible sites for new camps.

"With Nguenyyiel quickly reaching its capacity and no readily available site for establishing additional camps in the Gambella region, the possibility of transferring new arrivals to the Benishangul- Gumuz Region is being considered," the agency said.
"UNHCR and ARRA are in the process of identifying a suitable site in that region" it added.
Given the ongoing conflict and food insecurity in the newest nation, UNHCR together with ARRA and other partners, have also finalised a draft Contingency Plan to respond to the possibility of a renewed influx of refugees from South Sudan.

The draft contingency plan foresees the arrival of potential more refugees in Ethiopia and fund shorting.
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Five cops arrested for receiving bribes from Ethiopian aliens

The officers based at Mathira Divisional Headquarters are alleged to have arrested the Ethiopian aliens on Saturday who were being ferried in a lorry at a roadblock in Karatina town/FILE

By JOHN GATHUA, NYERI, Kenya Mar 19 – Five police officers from Karatina Police Station, Nyeri County have been arrested for releasing 17 illegal immigrants from Ethiopia after receiving a bribe.

The officers based at Mathira Divisional Headquarters are alleged to have arrested the Ethiopian aliens on Saturday who were being ferried in a lorry at a roadblock in Karatina town.

They were however not booked or taken to the police station as they negotiated their release and paid off the police officers. It is however unclear how much money the police officers received as bribe.

Central Regional Police Coordinator Larry Kieng confirmed the arrest noting that the officers did not call in the incident or report to their seniors.

“We understand that the officers negotiated somewhere in town and released the aliens. They did not report to their seniors at the station,” said Kieng.

The truck ferrying the immigrants was however intercepted at another roadblock at Sagana in Kirinyaga County.

Fifteen of the immigrants were rearrested alongside the truck driver and a turn boy both believed to be Kenyans.

Two other Ethiopians were arrested in Karatina town where they had disembarked from the lorry.

“We have rearrested all the 17 immigrants together with the driver and turn boy. Two of them were found loitering in Karatina,” added Kieng.

He said that once the interrogations are concluded the officers and immigrants will be charged in court.

“At the moment we are still investigating and once we are done we will take the immigrants to court. And of course whoever among our officers is found culpable we will definitely take them to court,” said the police boss.
The five police officers and the aliens are being held at Karatina Police station for questioning by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI).  Read more here