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OBSERVING DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA VIA SATELLITE MAP

By Mathza

Some of the oppositions, opponents and their supporters as well as individuals have been using the media and other means to discredit and incite resentment and hatred against the EPRDF and the government with a view of achieving their political agenda—toppling the government. They have been denying the undeniable and continue to deny the obvious commendable social and economic growth and development achieved by the people and the government—despite sabotage by hard-line feudal, Derg and EPRP elements and remnants in the government. Of course, they do not acknowledge the many obstacles that the government had to go through to achieve such development: maintaining peace and order, keeping the country from disintegrating, transitioning to a free market economy, etc.

They categorically deny of any progress made in these two sectors, including education, health, agriculture, industry and infrastructures as well as eradication of poverty. This is a pure and simple lie—‘bere wolede’. I am at a loss in comprehending how their consciences allow them to lie. Their denial goes against Ethiopia ’s acclaimed fastest non-oil producing economy in Africa today. They claim that statistical indicators of development, including double digit economic growth, the rise of GDP per capita from the stagnant US$ 100 to over US$ 130 in recent years, etc. are manipulated by the government. (In its resolution of February 26, 2008 Kinijit North America unashamedly accused the government of manufacturing information and worsening poverty.) The oppositions et al claim to be more knowledgeable than the world financial institutions, United Nations Agencies, non-governmental organizations, and donor countries who are involved in development activities in the country and who attest the validity of the statistical indicators. In other words, they are calling the providers of foreign assistance liars. They pretend not to know that aid providers monitor the proper use of their aid and ensure the outcomes are as planned. The aid providers have been appreciative of the appropriate and judicious use of resources made available to Ethiopia and the development efforts of the government.* As a result they kept on awarding the country with increasing aid, although international assistance for Ethiopia is still the lowest in Africa on a per capita basis. Does this not make the nay-sayers appalling pathological liars?

There is no point for me here to delve into details about what others have said and written in regard to the impressive progress in the social and economic sectors. The following quotation from Part II of an article I wrote in 2004 (http://www.aigaforum.com/mathza0404.htm) should suffice. “The cumulative effort of past and continuing planning and programming, physical infrastructure and institution building, health and educational development, etc. and the accumulated experience thereof have reached the pre-condition stage for take-off. With peace reigning coupled with the relatively and unusually high level support by development partners, the take-off stage should and could be within reach.” This statement, thanks to EPRDF, is in the process of becoming a reality. In other words, EPRDF has proven this writer right. Ethiopia is definitely on the verge of take-off.

With the above brief review on development let me now move to my objective in this writing. It is to draw the attention of the Ethiopian Diaspora who have been and are being misled by the vociferous hateful and hate monger compatriots amongst them. The latter have been intentionally misinforming the former about development activities in Ethiopia . They have been warning them of the fate awaiting them if they visit their homeland. This in effect deprived Ethiopia from the much-needed Diaspora Ethiopians’ contributions to development. The warning may apply to a handful of persons already found guilty of atrocities during the Derg. It is a fact that individuals in the Diaspora who openly and vehemently oppose and conduct activities against the EPRDF government are welcomed with open arms, enter, and exit Ethiopia without any preconditions or problems.

In regard to misinformation on development performance in Ethiopia , the government is partly to blame. Until a few years ago the EPRDF was, apparently, of the belief that the public would come to know of its efforts and successes through the activities it was undertaking. This very lack of dissemination of information enabled the few vociferous Diaspora to easily hoodwink its silent majority. As the adage goes seeing is believing. This writing is intended to draw the attention of the silent Diaspora majority to an unusual means of observing development in Ethiopia .

There is, apparently, no better way of doing this than sitting in front of a computer in ones office or home. Simply access this link: http://www.sacred-destinations.com/ethiopia/ethiopia-map.htm. Click ‘Ethiopia Map - Detailed Interactive Map of Ethiopia’. Navigate by alternately clicking ‘Map’ and ‘Satellite’ on the right hand corner to locate the city you want to look at.

In order to spare the reader from wasting time searching cities and towns that can be accessed, Ethiopian urban areas with imageries are presented below by region. There could possibly be some not shown here. However, there are, unfortunately, no imageries for Hawassa, Adama/Nazaret, Jimma, and Semera, the brand new capital city of Afar Region . The following cities along the historic route, shown on the right side of the map, can be accessed by clicking on them: Addis Ababa , Axum , Bahr Dar, Gondar, and Lalibela.

Now, changes in the configuration of cities, including their well planned new sections, are indications of development. These changes could not have taken place had there been no development in the country, as the naysayers would have the majority Diaspora believe. On the contrary, overall deterioration would have been the lot of the cities and towns based on the grim pictures on the economy of the country painted by the Diaspora oppositions and their supporters. I suggest that readers closely examine their hometowns and try to locate the residences of their parents, relatives and friends as well as landmarks. Many of them will be pleasantly surprised to witness the growth and development of and ongoing development activities in their hometowns. This would particularly be the case with those who have not visited Ethiopia in recent years. There could, among such compatriots, be many who, according to Jendayi Frazer, the US Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, have “The image of Africa (including Ethiopia ) portrayed by the Diaspora as a police state is that of 30 years ago.” There is no doubt that the current socio-economic situation in Ethiopia is infinitely better than those during the eras of the previous regimes.

* Examples of latest (February 2008) testimonies from institutions, governments and private enterprises include:

1.       “Brilliant economic management of the Ethiopian government… Ethiopia definitely has a success story….” Giovani Majnoni, Executive Director of the World Bank.

2.       “The country has done a very good job in terms of achieving broad based growth” Robert B. Zoellick, World Bank President.

3.       “The economies of Ethiopia , Mozambique , and Tanzania are among the fastest-growing in the world.” George Bush, President of the United States of America .

4.       Austrian aid to Ethiopia rose to 28 million Euros compared with 5.6 million Euros in 2001, according to memorandum of understanding signed during the official visit of the Austrian President, Dr. Heinz Fischer.

5.       Witnessed Ethiopia is moving on the right development direction and appreciated the activities underway in Ethiopia , the Economic Cooperation and Development Standing Committee of the German Bundestag.

6.       Commended the economic growth of Ethiopia during the past four consecutive years, Kinichi Komano, Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia .

7.       “…an investment environment that has ripened during four consecutive years of double-digit GDP growth” Brian Burrell, Special to Fortune.

8.       “Since Ethiopia is a rapidly growing country with a government that is very well focused on economic development, we have chosen to expand our regional network here” Alec Davis, CEO, Davis and Shirtliff, a Kenyan water-engineering company.

9.       “Double-digit economic growth” The Wall Street Journal ( February 27, 2008 ).