THE MILLENNIUM DAY CELEBRATION IS FAST APPROACHING

Solomon Inquai.

May 13, 2007

We are anticipating a huge turnout of people from all corners of the glob to celebrate the Millennium with us here in Ethiopia. Are you one of them? I hope you are because it will be a unique day. Such a day is rare and only a few are lucky to be around to enjoy it.

The Ethiopian Airlines recently released the News that over 20,000 people have already booked seats. We also understand that a huge turn-out of people is expected from the West Indies, especially from Jamaica. No doubt that brothers and sisters, sons and daughters from all the four corners of the globe will turn-up on that day of days. After all this is a worldwide Millennium day. Everyone is welcome. I am sure that those who come will enjoy the traditional Ethiopian hospitality. There are hotels of all categories to choose from, but it is advisable to book in advance.

What do you expect to see aside from the festivities, the merry making and the music dance and joy. This is the big question!! There is a wide choice of tourist site ranging from historical places, to wild life and beautiful and diverse countryside to visit. There is the colourful cultural diversity to experience first hand.

Over the years Ethiopia had inherited a dubious name thanks to the misguided policy of past regimes. What do you expect to see other than the enthusiastic and colorful celebration on the dawn of the 21^st century and the dawn of the Third Millennium? Ethiopia was at the bottom of the third world countries by all standards in areas such as education, health, food security, investment, job creation and what have you. The EPRDF led government inherited one of the poorest and most backward countries. It has since been striving to change this image. The result so far is gratifying to say the least. To day Ethiopia's image is fast changing and changing for the good, so much so that to day it is seen as a model of development, as the country from which to learn how to go about in the fight against poverty.

I would, if I may, like to share with you what has been happening in Ethiopia in the last decade and half. You will, if you had known the Ethiopia of the past, see great many changes. But before talking of changes taking place we ought to recall the past image.

Ethiopia is changing and changing fast, you no doubt do recall that at one stage Ethiopia had become synonymous with famine, so much so that some English language dictionaries were giving Ethiopia as an example of famine. Take the Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary. In its earlier editions this is how it defines famine:

" … extreme scarcity of food in a region: a famine in Ethiopia. The longest drought was followed by months of famine."

Then there were the harrowing pictures of the dead and the dying, pictures of emaciated children. Those images are no longer true. Yes, there is drought, and yes there is food shortage but there is no famine. Those in need of help are helped in the dignity of their homes. There are no long feeding camps.

Ethiopia is fast changing. It will be among the first few countries in Africa that will realize the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) of the UN. To day the kind of famine pictures that we used to see during the reign of emperor Haile Selassie and the military dictatorship, the Derg, are no where to be seen. The people and the government of Ethiopia are working to ensure household level food self-sufficiency and security. The farmer is slowly, but surely abandoning subsistent farming and moving towards producing cash crops. To day it is not uncommon to hear farmers speaking of thousands of Birr of income. You might ask; how is that possible over such a short period of time? And rightly so! The EPRDF led government is committed to the welfare of the people. Economic development is given as much attention as the political and social development. The Ethiopian farmer is no longer dependent on rainwater only. He is engaged in irrigation using water from rivers, wells, ponds and what have you. Water harvesting is beginning to be the norm. What is more the government has introduced the policy of Agricultural Development Led Industrialization (ADLI). Agricultural products are led by the demands of industry and foreign trade. Thus pattern of rural life is changing.

Industry is expanding side by side with agriculture. Export diversification is one of the aspects of development. Flower growing and flower exporting is fast out pacing other products. Ethiopia is also exporting leather and leather products, and ready-made garments. Take the investment in the first nine months of this fiscal year. 2571 investors have invested 54 Billion Birr. What-is-more 838 of these are foreign investors whose aggregate capital is 40.23 Billion Birr. The investment atmosphere is so positive that it is attracting investors from all corners.

I am sure when you come you will travel to different parts of the country, talk to different people and visit diverse places to see and learn about the new Ethiopia. Come with an open mind. See and judge for yourself.

Development is not limited to agriculture, trade and industry, although these are vital in the development and transformation of the country. Development work however goes much farther and deeper than that. Take the area of social services. Primary education which had an enrolment of less than 20% of the school age population is fast approaching universal coverage. To-day more than 96% of the school age children are in school. The coming academic year Ethiopia will formally launch the start of UPE by admitting all seven year old children in the first grade. Every Wereda or district has at least one secondary school. What are more diverse public colleges and universities are providing education and training. To mention just a few, there are 25 Agricultural colleges, 250 Technical and vocational colleges and 21 Universities. These do not include the private colleges, which are mushrooming everywhere. You do recall that there were only two universities when the EPRDF came to power.

The Agricultural colleges have to date produced 34,000 graduates. These graduates are deployed in groups of three to the district farmers Training countries. They are already playing a vital role in upgrading the farmer's knowledge in crop production, horticulture and animal husbandry. What is more the graduates from the 250 Technical Vocational schools are by and large self-employed in small and micro enterprises. The seed money is made available to them on loan. The result is that you have hundreds, indeed thousands of young men and women across the country engaged in diverse income generating activities. Some of the areas that the youth are engaged in are woodwork, metal work, building construction work, small scale trading etc. You will find this across the width and breadth of the country. Try to visit some of these. One thing that could be said in connection with this is that we are witnessing that young entrepreneurs are emerging.

Provision of appropriate health services, and clean potable water is another aspect of the social services. Hospitals, health centers and health posts are being built and gradually expanding. Health personnel are being trained at different levels. Some of the Universities have Medical Schools and there are other centers for the training of nurses and paramedics. Child immunization has reached a very high level of over 90%. The malaria epidemic is to a large extent under control and rural people are gradually making use of bed nets to keep the mosquito away. This coupled with the Health Extension work and the provision of clean water means a healthier population.

In the area of basic infrastructure equally fascinating changes are taking place. Access by road to a large part of Ethiopia was difficult until recent years. A major undertaking of the EPRDF led government since day one has been road building. Primary attention was given to rural road building and each State or Region has a Road Building Department. The major interstate highways are the responsibility of the Federal High way Department. The combined effort has resulted in the building of tens of thousands of Kilometers of roads and has changed and continues to change the road situation. To day all wereda capitals are accessible by road and the expansion to reach Kebele's and other rural towns is continuing. The Federal government has ear marked literarily billions of dollars for road building. All state capitals and major cities are being connected with asphalted roads to Addis Ababa. It is this massive road building exercise that is changing travel in Ethiopia. There is of course air travel and the many airports have been built or are being built. It is our ardent hope that you will allow yourselves adequate time to travel overland and see and feel the spirit of change in the New Ethiopia.

Among the work of basic infrastructures is the impressive undertaking to extend the telephone and electric supply system to rural towns, to towns in the farthest corners of the country. The whole country except for a few very remote places is being interconnected by a gird system for power supply. The remote places are supplied with generators. In the first nine months of this fiscal year only 266 rural towns have been supplied with electricity. What is more Ethiopia is building a number of hydro-power plants which will treble or quadruple the supply of electricity when finished. Did you know that 6807 rural towns across the country have telephone systems installed? When traveling across Ethiopia you need not worry about connection. You would let your loved ones know where you are even from remote villages.

But, the greatest boom, which is easily discernible, is in the building industry. Everywhere you go one thing that hits you first is the number and size of the buildings under construction. Addis Ababa is at long last having a face-lift. I am not sure if everything will be ready but it definitely taking place. The exercise in road building is totally unprecedented. This coupled with the work of the numerous Real Estate companies is so staggering that you will have difficult believing your eyes. The building fever is not limited to Addis. It is afflicting, if that is the word, every corners of the country. You travel North-South, East-West, and you will see the massive undertakings. Go to Dessie, Bahr Dar, Debre Markos, Awassa, Mekele, Dire-Dawa, and the smaller towns. What would you see? New buildings and more new buildings are coming up. When you look all this you think that the country is in the grip of building fever.

Ethiopia is a country in a hurry. If the current annual economic growth rate of over 10%, which has been registered for four years continues, and there is no reason why it should not, Ethiopia will be transformed beyond recognition. The cooperation between private initiative and the public sector is changing the country. The changes being registered in agriculture, industry and urbanization have began to put Ethiopia is a different category all together. Export earning as a result of diversification is growing at over 30% per year.

Last year Ethiopia passed the one billion dollar export earning. Coffee, which used to be the major of foreign exchange earner, accounts for only 32% of export earnings. Yet the volume of coffee export is growing.

A website on the Millennium celebration in Tigrai is emerging. You can access it through www.aigaforum.com.

Need I say more? Come! Come and see and judge for yourself. After all seeing is believing!