The Ethiopian government is about to issue a new Diaspora policy to engage the vast diaspora 
community around the world. You can read the draft( here). Any policy will become effective and useful if it is derived based on inputs from those that will be affected by and on expert opinions. We may not be experts but we are for sure beneficiaries. As such what will it take for you as a diaspora to be engaged in your mother country? What would you like to see the policy address? And as a diaspora what will it take for you to move back and contribute your know how and invest your money? And what is missing from the current draft document that you would like to be included? Have Your say.
How about Transnational Loan for Diasporas who maintains account back home over one year or so to Purchase Home etc…
Hi dear editors of Aiga,
I appreciate you for asking peoples’ opinion on the proposed Diaspora policy draft and post them without censuring. In my view though the draft lacks some details to avoided room for interpretations, it can be a good start as a policy. However the BIGG PROBLEM awaits it at home. Drafting a policy is one thing and implementing it is another thing. I fly to Ethiopia every year since the last 10 years. Though the purpose of my flight to Ethiopia is intended mainly to reduce my homesickness of my beloved birth country Ethiopia, during my stay there I also observe diverse situations, including entertaining in my mind a potential investment opportunities there which are untouched or underserved. It is good to encourage Diaspora Ethiopians to invest in their birth country and benefit themselves and their fellow Ethiopians in fact instead of first leasing the land to Indians, Arabs or Chinese for so long years to come. But how can you encourage them? In my opinion not by tax-reduction or giving land to build home…these things my help but they are not this much curial in my view. To attract the Diaspora and engage them in the country’s development, the Ethiopian government needs not this much drafting a separate Diaspora policy instead deal decisively (wholeheartedly)to clear the real problems in the country. The Bureaucracy, no institutions where you can say “this damage has done to me “and where you can get fast solutions. There are no mechanisms put to implement the policy back home. Those who went there ahead of us to invest there have problems. There is coration to the height degree. Those tax collectors of the government fill their pockets. That is a normal practice in today’s Ethiopia. The tax collectors come to your business place, they tell you, “you have to pay tax of this or that amount of an exaggerated estimation, and then at last telling you if you give me this amount of money I will reduce for you the tax amount ” It is a normal practice. My last stay was in Oktober this year in Oromia state, mainly in ADAMA. There level of corruption and the lawlessness there is beyond the imagination. Even the lowest party functionaries (the heads of Kebele ) have accumulated a huge amount of wealth. I have seen several simple keble workers .having from 3 to 7 homes, several Lories and so on… They can do for you a service only if you bride them. I have seen a young girl whose cell phone was stolen had to give money (200Bir) for the police in day light to come to the site and interrogate the thief. When I said that is inacceptable, people told me that is normal, otherwise they will not come to the site, but if the thief gave them more than that amount, they will finish the case in his favor. I am mentioning only small things but the corruption related to the land is extreme. People get land even today in any part of the city making contracts with ‘Kebele’ workers as if the land deal were made several years ago manipulating papers.That too is normal practice.Even the new land lease AWAJ will not stop selling the land illegally. And Believe or not all those who do these acts are EPRDF party members. One higher party member in Adama told me, “what you need today to be rich is to be a loyal party member. Criticism will never be tolerated however corruption is being done in day light. That is ok” For those who fly to Ethiopia often this news report is not new http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2011/12/05/ethiopian-illicit-outflows-doubled-in-2009-new-report-says/?mod=google_news_blog
All in all, seeing the current situation on the ground in Ethiopia,( the level of bureaucracy, corruption, absence of right institutions, lawlessness , absence of fast internet and poor telecommunication…)I personally doubt if the EPRDF government will be able to create an environment and mechanisms where the Diaspora feel at home and can work. Democracy and expression of opinion freely is another matter which in Ethiopia is not so much tolerated contrary to what the Government say. Don’t get me false, I am not against EPRDF. But even small criticism can take you to prison in Ethiopia.
One last point I want to raise is, the Ethiopian television. Fallow the news of Ethiopian TV, you will never hear any kind of shortcomings or other view than news which is supportive to the government. From their news, you sometimes think that we are, Ethiopia is the most developed country in the world and full of perfection. But when you come out from the room where you have been sitting and hearing the news you see around you that that is not the reality. They really discredit themselves and the government they think they are serving. There is no country in the world where things are going perfectly. Germany where I reside since the last 17 years is not perfect too, but, much better than Ethiopia in all aspects. However even here we hear daily the media criticizing that and this. They point to the wrongdoings of every one irrespectable of the position he/she holds. They show different views. But in Ethiopia Ethiopian TV’s so called experts too are only those who are supportive of the Government and no other view than praising everything what is done in Ethiopia. Don’t tell me Ethiopian leaders are angels, and the media have nothing to challenge them. At least according to the Ethiopian state media they try to convince that our leaders are Angels and all the work they do is perfect and we are the most developed country in the world. Etho TV you are a good entertainers and drama makers.
All in all, not a policy draft, a mire talk or propaganda can make real change but deeds. Action speaks louder! Show as in action that those mentioned problems are alleviated. Then we will flock back to our country and each will do what he/she can. Thank you
As an ethiopian American, what I want see in ethiopia is transparency, freedom of speach, real constitution that rules every one not the diaspora or ethiopian, that is inclusive to who ever it is. That is not what they have in ethiopia, what they have is a cheat yourself propeganda in their government,there is no honesty, fair treatment to all, a constitution that doesn’t apply in reality to whom is not a member( EPRDF) and that party is the one can change all this mess by cleaning its leapwholes, wrong doings, and corruption all over the country. I went for three monthes in 2009 and learn all this, if you want know more ask someone who stayed more than that? to all of you reading this, let’s be honest and tell them what we want see in our beloved ethiopia.
No need of Diaspora policy at all, just establishe a favorable investment conditions. My view is that there is a great deal of mistrust on the Diaspora’s behalf when it comes to the overall situation in Ethiopia. Considering corruption is at its zenith in our country. Corruption in the form of trade mispricing works both at the domestic trade and international trade levels. I’ve seen it in my own eyes at the domestic level, in which taxpayer’s money is illicitly transferred routinely into the pockets of corrupt government functionaries. So does it work as well at a far larger scale at an international level in the form of bribery, kickbacks and trade mispricing. For e.g., a contractor, say Salini, signs a multimillion dollar contract with the Ethiopian government in a non-transparent ‘bidding process’ in which, in most cases, the bidder is only Salini. The contractor being the sole bidder negotiates for a higher price than would have been the case if the pricing were to be determined via competitive bidding. The difference between the fair market price (lower) and the higher price the contractor negotiated will be shared between the corrupt government officials and Salini. This is one scenario in which trade mispricing can occur. In all of this, it is the Ethiopian taxpayer that bleeds and gets condemned for perpetual poverty that has no ending. These kinds of kickbacks happen in routine domestic trade exchanges in big and small towns in Ethiopia in every region. The resent report by WSJ is a classic example how corruption is deeply entrenched…. $11.7 billion! Unbelievable!!!! When you allow Indian Citizens negotiating bank loans and allow them to compete with local small scale traders sailing construction materials that is what you get….. triggering the outflows of capital leaving the country bleeding to death. What Ethiopia needs at this critical jiffy is accountability, transparency rule of law not policies after polices that has never been materialized as it has been witnessed in many instances under this government.
የዲያስፖራ ፖሊሲ ላይ አስተያየቴን እንድሰጥ ዕድል ስላገኘሁ አይጋን ላመስግን ፤
በቅድሚያ 5-4-1 ጠቅልለዉ አገር ቤት ለሚመለሱ የሚለዉ፤ በጡረተኛነት ደረጃ ጠቅልለን ከገባን በተለይ አዉሮፓ የምንኖር ከጡረታችን ለይ የሚቀነስ ገንዘብ ይኖራል ሰለዚህ ጠቅልለዉ ለሚገቡ የሚሰጠዉን መብት (ጥቅም አላልኩም) በከፊል ለሚገቡም ቢባል ጥሩ ነዉ.
ታክስ ነጻ መሬት ነጻ የሚባል ነገር አይነሳ ይህ ዕድል ቢሰጥም ለጉልበት ስራ ለሚወጣዉ በአረብ አገር ለሚኖረዉ ይደረግለት፤ አዉሮፓ አሜሪካ ካናዳ ወዘተ የምንኖረዉ 30 ፐርሰንት ኢንካም ታከስ ከ 20 ፐርሰንት በላይ ቫት መክፈል የለመድን ለግላችን ለምናመጣዉ ዕቃ ተመጣጣኝ ታከስ ብታሰከፈሉን ተገቢ ይመስለኛል፣
ታክስ ነጻ ያሰገቡትንም መኪና ሕግ እየለዋወጡ ከማሰቸገር ተመጣጣኝ ታከስ ከፍለዉ ንብረታቸዉን የፈለጉት ያርጉት፤ መሬትም ነጻ ለቤት መስሪያ የወሰዱ ካሉ ራሳቸዉ ተወያይተዉ ሊዙን በመክፈል ከሰዉ እኩል ባለቤት ይሁኑ፤ ምን ሰላረጉ ነዉ ነጻ የሚሰጣቸዉ ጊቤን ገድበዋል? ይታሰብበት ለጥቂት ዲያሰፖራ ተብሎ ሕብረተሰቡን ማሰቆጣት ተገቢ አይደለም፣፣ ካገር እንዉጣ ወይ መሬት እነዲሰጠን ያሉትን መምሕራንን አልረሳም፣፤ በንግድና ኢነቨሰትሜንት የተሰማሩትን ስለሚሰጠቸዉ የታከስም ሆነ መሬት ነጻ ትብበር አደንቀለሁ፣ በተለይ ለወጣቱ፣፣
አስተያየቶችን ሳነብ በዙ መንግሰት ተወቀሰዋል አኔም ብዙወን እጋራለሁ፤ዲያሰፖራ ያለንዉሰ መወቃቀስ እንችላለን፤ መንግሰት ለኛ ፖሊሲ ሲያረቅ አብረን እንድናረቅ ዕድል ከተሰጠን፤ መንግሰት ማወቅ ያለበትንም ይረዳ፣ ከማህበራት ጋር እሰራለሁ ካለ ማሕበሩን ይወቅ፣
በፖለቲካ ቀን ከቀን እንደምንታመስ መንግሰት ያዉቅ የሆን፣ አሁንም መንግሰት በሆነ ባልሆነዉ ሰዉን ለማጥቃትና በዘር ለመከፋፈል የሚነሱትን ዛሬ ኢሀአድግ ነገ ተቃዋሚ ወይም ዘሬ ተቀዋሚ ነገ ኢሀአድግ ሌላ ቀን ኒዩትራል እየሆኑ ወይም በማሕበር ስም እየተደራጁ ወያኔን ዘረኛ እያሉ የነሱ ዘረኛነት አልታይ ያላችዉ፤ የኢሀአድግ ደጋፊም የሆኑት ነፈጠኛ ሲሉ የከረሙት ራሳቸዉ የአዉሮፓ ነፍጠኛ እየሆኑብን ነዉ፣ ኢምባሲዉም ከነኝህ ተለይቶ አይታይም፤፤
ከዚህ አስከፊ ተግባር ዲያሰፖራዉ አስቦበት በሰከነ መንፈስ ጥቅሙን ወደ ጎን በማድረግ መብትን እነደማሰጠበቅ ሁሉ ግዴታም እንዳለበት ተገንዘቦ ለአገር ዕደገት አብሮ ቢረባረብ መንግሰት ላይ ብቻ ሳይሆን እርስ በርስ ክሪቲሳይዝ ብንደራረግና በእዉቀትም በድሜም የበሰሉትን ብናዳምጥ ተጠላልፎ ከመዉደቅ ይልቅ ተደጋግፎ መራመድ ለኛም ለአገራችንም ይጠቅማል ብየ አምናለሁ፤፤ የትራነስፎረሜሽንና ዴቭሎፕሜንት ወይም ሐዳሴ በሚለዉ አዲሱ ራእይ አዲስ ማሕበር መሰረቶ ወደፊት መራመድ እንጅ ያረጁ የፈጁ ለማንም አይበጁ፡፡
በመጨረሻ ፖሊሲዉን ማዉጣት ቀላል ነዉ ግን ስራ ላይ ማዋሉ ከበድ ሰለሚል መጀመሪያ ከዲያሰፖራዉ ጋር ንክኪ ያላቸዉን የመንግሰት ድርጅቶች ማዘጋጀት፣ በሀሳቡ ላይ፣ በሴሚናር መልክ እነዲወያዩ ማድረግ፣ በዙ መስሪያ ቤቶች የትዉልደ ኢትዮጵያ መታወቂያ ሳየዉቁት ስናሳየቸዉ ይገረሙ ነበር፣ በቅድሚያ ስላልተነገራቸዉ ነዉ፣
በኢነቨስትሜንት፣ በቢዝነስ፣ በአገር አገልግሎት ስራ ላይ የተሰማሩት ክልምድ ቢወያዩበት በተለይ አገራቸዉ ገብተዉ በትንሹም ሊሰሩ የሚታገሉትን ወጣቶችን አመች ሁናቴ እንዲሆንላቸዉ በፖሊሲዉ ዉይይት ተካፋይ አነዲሆኑ ማረግ፣ በብዛት በዚህ ዓይነት ስብሰባ ተካፋይ የሚሆነዉ ሕግ የሚያረቀዉ መኪናየ እቃየ ታክስ ነጻ ይግባ የሚለዉ ሰራ ፈቱ ነዉ፤ ባለፈዉ ስብሰባ ብዙ ሰዉ በዲያሰፖራዉ ጥያቄ ማዘኑን አሰታዉሳለሁ፣ በዙ የምለዉ ነበር ግነ ሆድ ይፍጀዉ፣ በመጨረሻ የረሳሁት መወቃቀሻ አስተያት መሰጫ መድረክ በዚህ መልክ መከፈቱ አሰፈላጊ ነዉ፣፣ በግጥም ያጠፋሁት ካለ ልካሳችሁ
ተነስተን አንሰራ አገር አሰቀድመን
እንዳባቶቻችን አረኣያ ሁነን
መከባበር ይምጣ ይኑር መተማመን
ድህነትም ይጥፋ እንዘመር ሕዳሴን ፤፤
የዲያስፖራ ፖሊሲ ላይ አስተያየቴን እንድሰጥ ዕድል ስላገኘሁ አይጋን ላመስግን ፤
በቅድሚያ 5-4-1 ጠቅልለዉ አገር ቤት ለሚመለሱ የሚለዉ፤ በጡረተኛነት ደረጃ ጠቅልለን ከገባን በተለይ አዉሮፓ የምንኖር ከጡረታችን ለይ የሚቀነስ ገንዘብ ይኖራል ሰለዚህ ጠቅልለዉ ለሚገቡ የሚሰጠዉን መብት (ጥቅም አላልኩም) በከፊል ለሚገቡም ቢባል ጥሩ ነዉ.
ታክስ ነጻ መሬት ነጻ የሚባል ነገር አይነሳ ይህ ዕድል ቢሰጥም ለጉልበት ስራ ለሚወጣዉ በአረብ አገር ለሚኖረዉ ይደረግለት፤ አዉሮፓ አሜሪካ ካናዳ ወዘተ የምንኖረዉ 30 ፐርሰንት ኢንካም ታከስ ከ 20 ፐርሰንት በላይ ቫት መክፈል የለመድን ለግላችን ለምናመጣዉ ዕቃ ተመጣጣኝ ታከስ ብታሰከፈሉን ተገቢ ይመስለኛል፣
ታክስ ነጻ ያሰገቡትንም መኪና ሕግ እየለዋወጡ ከማሰቸገር ተመጣጣኝ ታከስ ከፍለዉ ንብረታቸዉን የፈለጉት ያርጉት፤ መሬትም ነጻ ለቤት መስሪያ የወሰዱ ካሉ ራሳቸዉ ተወያይተዉ ሊዙን በመክፈል ከሰዉ እኩል ባለቤት ይሁኑ፤ ምን ሰላረጉ ነዉ ነጻ የሚሰጣቸዉ ጊቤን ገድበዋል? ይታሰብበት ለጥቂት ዲያሰፖራ ተብሎ ሕብረተሰቡን ማሰቆጣት ተገቢ አይደለም፣፣ ካገር እንዉጣ ወይ መሬት እነዲሰጠን ያሉትን መምሕራንን አልረሳም፣፤ በንግድና ኢነቨሰትሜንት የተሰማሩትን ስለሚሰጠቸዉ የታከስም ሆነ መሬት ነጻ ትብበር አደንቀለሁ፣ በተለይ ለወጣቱ፣፣
አስተያየቶችን ሳነብ በዙ መንግሰት ተወቀሰዋል አኔም ብዙወን እጋራለሁ፤ዲያሰፖራ ያለንዉሰ መወቃቀስ እንችላለን፤ መንግሰት ለኛ ፖሊሲ ሲያረቅ አብረን እንድናረቅ ዕድል ከተሰጠን፤ መንግሰት ማወቅ ያለበትንም ይረዳ፣ ከማህበራት ጋር እሰራለሁ ካለ ማሕበሩን ይወቅ፣
በፖለቲካ ቀን ከቀን እንደምንታመስ መንግሰት ያዉቅ የሆን፣ አሁንም መንግሰት በሆነ ባልሆነዉ ሰዉን ለማጥቃትና በዘር ለመከፋፈል የሚነሱትን ዛሬ ኢሀአድግ ነገ ተቃዋሚ ወይም ዘሬ ተቀዋሚ ነገ ኢሀአድግ ሌላ ቀን ኒዩትራል እየሆኑ ወይም በማሕበር ስም እየተደራጁ ወያኔን ዘረኛ እያሉ የነሱ ዘረኛነት አልታይ ያላችዉ፤ የኢሀአድግ ደጋፊም የሆኑት ነፈጠኛ ሲሉ የከረሙት ራሳቸዉ የአዉሮፓ ነፍጠኛ እየሆኑብን ነዉ፣ ኢምባሲዉም ከነኝህ ተለይቶ አይታይም፤፤
ከዚህ አስከፊ ተግባር ዲያሰፖራዉ አስቦበት በሰከነ መንፈስ ጥቅሙን ወደ ጎን በማድረግ መብትን እነደማሰጠበቅ ሁሉ ግዴታም እንዳለበት ተገንዘቦ ለአገር ዕደገት አብሮ ቢረባረብ መንግሰት ላይ ብቻ ሳይሆን እርስ በርስ ክሪቲሳይዝ ብንደራረግና በእዉቀትም በድሜም የበሰሉትን ብናዳምጥ ተጠላልፎ ከመዉደቅ ይልቅ ተደጋግፎ መራመድ ለኛም ለአገራችንም ይጠቅማል ብየ አምናለሁ፤፤ የትራነስፎረሜሽንና ዴቭሎፕሜንት ወይም ሐዳሴ በሚለዉ አዲሱ ራእይ አዲስ ማሕበር መሰረቶ ወደፊት መራመድ እንጅ ያረጁ የፈጁ ለማንም አይበጁ፡፡
በመጨረሻ ፖሊሲዉን ማዉጣት ቀላል ነዉ ግን ስራ ላይ ማዋሉ ከበድ ሰለሚል መጀመሪያ ከዲያሰፖራዉ ጋር ንክኪ ያላቸዉን የመንግሰት ድርጅቶች ማዘጋጀት፣ በሀሳቡ ላይ፣ በሴሚናር መልክ እነዲወያዩ ማድረግ፣ በዙ መስሪያ ቤቶች የትዉልደ ኢትዮጵያ መታወቂያ ሳየዉቁት ስናሳየቸዉ ይገረሙ ነበር፣ በቅድሚያ ስላልተነገራቸዉ ነዉ፣
በኢነቨስትሜንት፣ በቢዝነስ፣ በአገር አገልግሎት ስራ ላይ የተሰማሩት ክልምድ ቢወያዩበት በተለይ አገራቸዉ ገብተዉ በትንሹም ሊሰሩ የሚታገሉትን ወጣቶችን አመች ሁናቴ እንዲሆንላቸዉ በፖሊሲዉ ዉይይት ተካፋይ አነዲሆኑ ማረግ፣ በብዛት በዚህ ዓይነት ስብሰባ ተካፋይ የሚሆነዉ ሕግ የሚያረቀዉ መኪናየ እቃየ ታክስ ነጻ ይግባ የሚለዉ ሰራ ፈቱ ነዉ፤ ባለፈዉ ስብሰባ ብዙ ሰዉ በዲያሰፖራዉ ጥያቄ ማዘኑን አሰታዉሳለሁ፣ በዙ የምለዉ ነበር ግነ ሆድ ይፍጀዉ፣ በመጨረሻ የረሳሁት መወቃቀሻ አስተያት መሰጫ መድረክ በዚህ መልክ መከፈቱ አሰፈላጊ ነዉ፣፣ በግጥም ያጠፋሁት ካለ ልካሳችሁ
ተነስተን አንሰራ አገር አሰቀድመን
እንዳባቶቻችን አረኣያ ሁነን
መከባበር ይምጣ ይኑር መተማመን
ድህነትም ይጥፋ እንዘመር ሕዳሴን ፤፤
Lib Yisten
Everybody is skeptical about any policy which comes from TPLF. The aim is not usually focused on helping Ethiopia and its poor people. It is rather focused on trying to maintain Meles Zenawi and TPLF in control.
TPLF now feels that there is no danger which is directed at disposing them which comes from Ethiopians at home since they control everything and everyone and now they feel any real danger to their iron grip rule comes from the diaspora and/or Eritrea. They are trying and becoming successful in trying to harm the people or Eritrea through sanctions and they now want to deceive the diaspora in investing in their country and transfer their hard earned money back home only to fall under a strict control where they can not move or use their money and where they are threatened day and night. We know a poison covered with honey!!!
The one thing the government can have credibility is to support the Ethiopian people to elect their representative without any reservation(free and fair election). Ethiopians know who is what. Twenty years to be ruled by one person is dictatorship. Who wants to invest if there is no rule of law? Who wants to throw hard earned money when there is no freedom, equality, free press, etc.?
EPRDF can take away what investors earned through taxation (100% taxation); EPRDEF can take away any property labeling investor terrorist, corrupt, ant-revolutionary democracy…etc. The current government doesn’t have iota credibility.
We ethiopians never had a problem with crafting policy at the government level. The real question is , when do we start implementing those plans effectively without a knee-jerk reaction. At this very time , ethiopia doesn’t have the pool of intelectuals who are comitted to implement the policy of the government on the ground. Therefore, it is imperative that the government creates connection with the diaspora in order to find those intelectuals who can deliver their expertise. Corruption has become the order of the day and no matter how supportive people are for the policy , they continue the status que and continue with the same mindset of nepotism, corruption and lawlessness. To get ut of this cycle, injection of new blood from the diaspora even if for a short period of time will ultimatley bring new ways of doing bussiness never seen before. Most needed are those in Managment and IT fields who can change the way things are done in ethiopia.
The government has to stop trying to recurit cadres out of every intelectual. Just, let them implement and apply their expertise to the benefit of the country without political interference. In the process, the government should try to incentivise in-order to make their stay smooth without having to go through the hassle of transportation and housing. You just have to know how to take shovelfull by just giving spoonfull as the saying goes.
The current cadres and intelectuals in ethiopia have gotten used to all economic, social and political miseries and they will never try to bring new thinking and new vision since some of them are beneficiaries of the status co.
Ethiopia needs visioneries now more than ever.
We like to return home and help our mother country succeed in development, but there is shortage of misunderstanding between the government policy makers and the diaspora. Whenever something happens to Ethiopia, we are the second people to look at the issue just our own one, and there are plenty of Ethiopia’s issue need to address properly. Most of the diaspora just like myself have been around the World for decades and wanted to contribute to the motherland in many ways, but how do we do that? well, the first and most the government should do to us is that provide the means to return, that includes but not limite to loan, duty free/reduced household goods and transportation. Ethiopia is one of the most expensive country in the World to tax havey on imported items such as cars, and everthing else. We need the assistant of getting back to our homeland by eliminating the import tax or reduce it drastically, so that we can return home and help the country achieve it’s objectivity of development. There are so many Ethiopian doctors and engineers and computer IT personell ready to return or contribute to the motherland, but the policy makers must solve this issue first sooner than later.
It is absolutely a good start and as the matter of the fact a bit late. I think what the government of ethiopia trying to accommodate and encourage diaspora to come back home to contribute financially, educational etc.. are greatly appreciated.I have 4 things to say-1) the ethiopian government need to think out side the box to make things more practical and set up logistic path to benefit the diaspora and the country. 2- create favorable environment for diaspora so that they can contribute in development. 3-come up with encouraging incentives to attract more diaspora so they can leave the job that currently have in exchange to go back home.4-create sound right law to attract more diaspora to have more participation politically,educationally, or financially. finally, what they trying to do is very much encouraging. one thing that i wanted to say is please they have to stop asking people who wanted to go back home to pay 1100% tax on your own vehicle. they need to be more realistic and pragmatic in order to attract more diaspora to come back home. Set a good policy to encourage diaspora to go back home. this law should attract not everyone but based on individual criteria. the criteria must be one of the 3-financial contribution, educational contribution or investment contribution. then they should take there personal belonging absolutely tax free.
Dear Policy Makers,
The diaspora loves his country more than anything. The social capital, the warm family life, and everything that one`s country gives is priceless. It can not be left behind. It is always within the minds of the diaspora of every country. By the same token, Ethiopians do love their country more than words can say. Had the basics to fulfill decent living been satisfied, Ethiopia would not have been pouring its people in every direction of the country. Still after getting something which enable them to live at home, Ethiopians dream of coming back home.
However, after looking at the standards of life abroad, how on earth someone with better opportunities abroad gets back home and lives renting someone`s kitchen like house? At least the government should think over how to attract educated diaspora to help the country. The incentives mentioned in the regulation are still for those who can easily afford the damn expensive house prices, and 110% tax levied vehicles, and etc. The educated diaspora especially those who are at the early stages of their career are still not made part of the benefits. In that case, they remain abroad until a time comes to afford the damn expensive house prices and vehicles. But you should don`t misread my points in that the contribution that would someone makes is indeed much more satisfying and worth going for;yet, everybody works to live a better life and help other to live a better life too, but not to retreat and join those who lament in poverty.
Rethinking the incentive structure is important.
Thanks
the move going to be taken by our goverment is a postive approach. it is ovious that we ethiopians love our country beyound a reasonable dought. some obstucles are holding us behined to fullfill our dreams of going back to our beloved homeland. i am sure, if our government continued the commitment started, we all can claims back our country. just to mention some of the setbacks, like tax regarding vehicles and other important item we are using in a day to day basis in diaspora. these things are important in ethiopia as they are anywher ealse in the world. it is definitily difficult to acomplish anything without your own transportation. many of us who decided to move back home for good have a real plan to do something for our contry and ourselves. but if this small obstucles standing infront of us, it is a failer for us and for our country. i hope the new policy will open up a new chapter for all of us who always wish to go back home and do some thing for our people.
Hi!
you never been honest and wont be honest. Policy for diaspora is not needed…. let the people who are residing at home land have a good policy. There is no good governance in Ethiopia. The dignity of humanity is less than insects in Ethiopia. Let Ethiopian live a dignified life first and make a good policy for them. Then the diaspora will pour to their country if they see that Ethiopia is a safe place to live in.
Thanks
I think if you really love your people and your first home (country) you will not need any special treatment at a policy level to attract you to do some thing for the country, people and yourself.
But we all are different and we cannot be same and wider domain inclusive policy is good to have it in place.
It might also be good to have some one responsible to deal with the diaspora psych…but diaspora community has to try to raise fund and finance their diaspora appointee not government and poor peoples money. The Embassies in every country are enough to get paid by the government.
Than you all….
we the Diaspora do not need a policy to go back home and help our homland and ourselves, there is a corraption in every country including the developed ones,we have to go back and work with our people to stop corraption ones for all by developing the country and improve the life of the ethiopian people.”ask not what your country can do for you ,ask what you can do for your country”.(Jhon F kennedy)
come on Mulubrhan,
Loving our country doesn’t mean our love should be taken for-granted and abused..what Ethiopian government is doing is abusing our desire to go back home and live in dignity whereas in the wast we may have all the material comfort we don’t feel at home. to be honest given the massive development gap in the west and Ethiopia if there is any thing we will gain from moving or investing back home it is only psychological. But given the greedy nature Ethiopian government policy we would be forced to make decisions based on our family’s specially our children’s best interest no matter how much we love and desire to live in our country. There is just no way I personally would compromise my children’s well-being for the sake of a country that doesn’t encourage me to come home. we are not asking for any thing special we are simply asking them to be realistic..Imagine taking resources off my children’s future and put it in the hands of greedy Ethiopian officials by paying 5 time more price than what I would normally pay here in the west for the same vehicle that helps my family the comfort they need. If I have to take them back to Ethiopia it is bad enough that I am taking them to a different environment for the sake of fulfilling my home-sickness but to compromise their well-being is another thing..the point is my dear, yes we love our country but there is a limit to how much we can do for love and suicide is one thing I should not commit. At the moments it is suicidal to think of Ethiopia as it stands..Infrastructure might have improved thanks to the relative peace we have had but the politics hasn’t moved much from the Derg era…the recent land policy is evidence enough for that. it is just disgusting. I felt the country went 10 step backward when i saw the news..they don’t even seem to have a convincing logical explanation other than a desire to control..just unbelievable.
The effort to engage the diaspora is something that should be laudable. However, the real change should take place in Ethiopia where bureaucracy and corruption is keeping away many from investing. I would suggest the government to pay more attention to fighting corruption and the unnecessary bottle neck created by some bureaucrats and that by itself will hugely contribute to attracting the diaspora.
Thanks.
I thank Aiga for trying to get feed backs on Diaspora policy. I am of the opinion this is a good service on Aiga’s part and ought to be congratulated.
In getting back to the matter at hand, I have participated in the discussion that was organized in the city of Boston. Three hours were spent in discussion most time was spent on Q and A.
My take is, that the meeting was very important, though some time was spent on current affairs such as the new land lease policy and the release of the Dergue officials, most of it was on target. I am particularly fond of the idea that the Diaspora being allowed to vote on elections. I think voting the political party of our likes is a great gesture towards the Diaspora for it makes us to be more as part of the Ethiopia we love. I am also fond of the easing up of investment flow from Diaspora by coordinating state and federal investment offices with the embassies. This will enhance the service given to us and alleviate some of the problems we may encounter with limited time we would be spending in Ethiopia for most of us try to get something done while vacationing back home. I can say that most if not all ideas on the policy are very useful for Diaspora but it comes down to whether this policy will effectively be at work. I like to give the Embassies the benefit of the doubt even with their limitations in doing their consular services. They seem to be very stretched with what they do right now. Putting this Diaspora policy as is in and of itself will increase work load for it will attract a lot of Diaspora Ethiopians seeking services. It is my opinion that will be creating a dire situation.
I for one am very happy to see such Policy is formulated. I hope to see it scaled down for it will be very unrealistic to realize it in whole and I think, if the policy is passed in all or most, that will precipitate the Embassies in to a transformation to handle the job. That in itself is a thing to be excited about.
Thank you Aiga
To begin with i am very much indebted to MR. Helisinki for his constructive engagement and his comment in regard to the issue that i commented on the renaming of the proposed draft policy document. Having said that i would like to say some few words on some of the comments that are posted.
Although most of the comments are positive and constructive some are nit picking and irrelevant. The draft document is presented for discussion so as to come out as a fully fledged document. The call for discussion is not just for political commitment but just as an Ethiopian for one owns commitment. The finalization of this document would give broader chance to those Ethiopians in diaspora to play their part in restoring Ethiopian national pride in the international politikos. As an Ethiopian this cannot be compromised.
The issue of free press is mentioned as a critical issue by some. However freedom of press does not mean freedom from justice. The issue of corruption is mentioned out of its proportion. Nonetheless corruption is not an isolated case to Ethiopia. If you look at the society where you are residing What is the root cause for the economic crisis? I think the definite answer is corruption. So corruption is a cancer without border. However the Ethiopian Govt. is doing all its best to fight corruption. But it cannot be rated as 100% perfect in all its endeavor. This is not going to turn over night. Ethiopians in or out of Ethiopia must be resolved as we face problems. Let us not be nit picking. It is an obligation not a privilege to serve our mother land, Ethiopia.
Aiga, I commend you for being honest and transparent by simply posting every bodys comment on your wall. I believe the gov. of Ethiopia should owe you so much and equally they need to learn from Aiga as to how to gather public opinion, which can be used as a positive feedback before ratifying a policy such as this, Diaspora one.
I read so many interesting comments to say the least, positive and even negative ones. Diasporas in many countries do actually participate in the political processes of their root countries directly or indirectly. Like for example, the Philippino Diasporas across the world have a strong unity through which they send remittance back to Philippine so that it can be used for many purposes. The major beneficiories are of course the poor people of Pilippines.
The government of Philippine, not only respect the contribution of the Diaspors but also make the most out of the bilateral relationshp it has with the majorty of the Diaspora group. The Philippino Diaspora has such an influencial power in their country’s economic and political affairs, they can even cause some changes in policies.
This kind of co-operation could also be reached in our country Ethiopia too. The incumbent needs to open his heart and not only its hand. It needs to listen to all these comment and act accordingly, thanks to Aiga. The Diaspora, especially the silent majority, would be more than happy to go back home, given he/she has been guaranted to the right of individual liberity and conducive environment. It is only few of us who took time to post our opinion on Aiga or any other media for that matter. Where as most of the diaspora who read or heard about the policy may not comment on media out lets and that does not mean they do not have a say. They could and would have said much, but they have had the fear. What fear?… well! what if they move back home and face un conducive environment? … do not forget there were expatriates during the Derg regim and we know what had happened to them all. I am not comparing this regim to that of the Derg one. However, when we ask some one to leave a job or business; what he/she has estabulished through thin and thick over a number of years of hard work or education in a foreign country, to be honest it can not be an easy one by any measure of standards.
That is why I do not buy the comments of others which goes ” ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country.” JFK’s words. Not at least in this occation. Do not forget he was born an American and we were born in one of the poorest nation known to man in the whole wide world. Thus, simply put no one would like to go back home with out a well founded assurance. So here comes my suggestion.
The govt. need to give some power by law that the diaspora elected members/groups/ shall have a bureau in side Ethiopia and out side or in the host nation. This group can actually work along with the govt. in the best interest of the Diaspora who have selected or elected him/her. This is not by all means to isolate the diaspora from the rest of the society. It is rather a thought to create a workable environment between the Eth. govt. and the diaspora so that there can be a mutual trust between them.
The diaspora, in return, can bring in knowledge, finance, technology, skill, speed, experience, work ethics(which lack in our country at the moment but vital for development) and many more.
At the moment the majority of Diaspora are not happy because of the recent land policy, which is not well explained in any of the medias including Aiga for that matter. This is scarry. I lost count the number of policies this govt. has produced and actually immplimented. However, this land policy will also cast a shadow to some degree among those who contemplate to go back home.
Last but not least, it is not only members of the EPRDF who are true Ethiopians and who can bulid the nation by themselves. It is totally a wrong sentiment. There are many more true, Ethiopians who are not members of EPRDF, but in fact they work their socks off to get Ethiopia out of poverity. It is always sane and sound to think beyond narrow party political line. These and many more which I am not discussing right now are the hot and debatable issues with in the wider diaspora where I reside some where in Western Europe. Thank you once again Aiga.
God bless Ethiopia, Amen!!!
I felt there should be more can be included into the new diaspora policy,such as tax free on personal belongings for returnees (after 5 years or more).Most of the time if there is policy as such only serve the very rich ones not for the ordinary person such as employee of a company earning normal wages. At the moment you have to be a millionare to invest or to return to ethiopia.Most of us love to move back to our homeland,it is my everyday dream to move back,take all belonging I have here and not worry about the GUMRUCK charging me for everything I brought back(from used furniture to my old spoon I had for many years).Surely if I want to move back and contribute to my country,why would have these obstacles.Any other african countries this is not an issue,so why in ETHIOPIA.
If they really want the policy to be successful they have to give some inorder to get some.It works both ways.
I do not think this is asking to much,no one want to start from scratch after all these years. Most of us love Ethiopia! and help our people.
I hope they adjust the policy to suit all ethiopians abroad(can not wait to go back)
Dear Aiga, I admire your effort to post every one comment without any restrictions as long as they maintained their civility. This is a learning process on how we can communicate with out vulgarity and insulting each oother.
Now let me come to my point, and tell you what happened to me and my family, after we got excited by the hype and went back home. A few year back with the encouragement from the Ethiopian Government, friends, and families from back home. I decided to move back; Not only I decided to move, but I encourage my friends, sibling, and my relatives to do so. Some of the people I encourage to go back, gave me an advice not to take such a risk, some were suspicious of my new found love defence of of EPRDF policy, and some conceder me crazy including my wife. Only my sister with her American husband, and one of my old friend took the risk like me.
My sister and my friend moved back ahead of me by about 8 month. I help them pack and ship their staff that includes cars and household. Goods. Everything went smooth, they got their stuff free of tax, start a good job including my sister American. Husband. By the way my sister quite her $75,000 a year job and her husband his $ 200,000 and above a year law practice to teach at AAU for less than $ 20,000 with the thhelp of UNDP fund.
Even if both me and my wife had a good job offer, I had a hard time convincing my wife. For the sake my kids, she want me to change my my mind or try it by myself and they will join me in a few month. I ship my car and some stuff and went. Imagine my luck, while my stuff is in transit; the Ethiopian government change its car import policy for the diaspora, and was told I can import only cars that are 1500cc. My car Of 2800cc that was siting in Djibouti port required $470,000 birr, wh money I would not pay for a used car. I tried the to Knok every concerning authorities to no avail. They lower it by $390 something thousend. I was exhausted from the bureaucracy, requests of bribe for every simple thing, and financial incapability of the banking sector. It made me question my decision to move back. I gave up my quest, considered it three month vacation, and come back to the good old US of A.
By the way, it is a long story but for your information my unlucky sister car was confescated by tax authority’s, because it was driven by her driver while giving a ride to my sick mother inlaw to the Airport. Currently it is driven by some bureaucrats in gumruk authority.
Dear Aiga.
Sorry for all the typo error and runon, I compos it on my cellphone.
Thanks for posting it anyway, Abiye.
I don’t see the reality on the ground why the Government wants to have a policy to attract the diaspora. EPRDF is known by creating low over night and implimented the next morning, if it is to his advantage. The low is in the hands of the ruling party. There is no accountability, to live and work in Ethiopia you have to be the member of eprdf, if not you are not. So if this policy is for their member it is good let them deal with them. Otherwise it is not for the 99% Ethiopian. You can’t fool us we know what you are doing. Thank you
Comment, unrelated to the subject but worth of considering.
Why is the need to lease the land for dirt cheap price for foreigners for tens of years while national competency is proven in Tigrai Region?
Aigaforum, you are capable of advising Ethiopian policy makers to rethink the land issue that is dear to all Ethiopians. No-one needs economic colonization at this age of time. You can hire experts but leasing land for over 50years & allowing investments fully owned by foreigners is madness and shows how incompetent the ruling government is. Wake-up and do something to stop being the laughing-stock of the world how stupid the government is.
Example:
”
Tigray Project
The Tigray Project in northern Ethiopia has worked systematically and persistently to develop sustainable farming built on local resources. Since 1996 the Tigray Project has worked in an area with impoverished soils, hit hard by erosion and droughts, to turn the tide.
The project is aimed at small farmers, in particular women who cultivate small plots of land. It has resulted in farming that generates better harvests and greater incomes while raising ground water levels, soil fertility and biodiversity.
The cooperation between the area’s farmers and national experts is a good exchange of knowledge and experience which increases the knowledge and competence of everyone involved. The Tigray Project’s success has earned it international attention, and experience gained from the project is now being spread in 165 districts in the grain belt of Ethiopia. Read more about the Tigray Project here.”
http://www.naturskyddsforeningen.se/upload/Foreningsdokument/Rapporter/engelska/Report_international_Ethiopia.pdf
Ethiopian by blood
Very frank to the point. It is not only vehicle that is not affordable but to get even a small apartment or a small house is becoming unthinkable unless you are well greased.
The government is condemning rent-seekers and jailing many innocent people but the government itself is a rent seeker and land lord.
In Derg’s time you would have had at least one residential space for free but EPDRF is leasing the land you own and makes life difficult. The government is not letting you breath even if you manage with the current situation and jumps to choke you if are improving your life.
It is giving land almost for free to foreign investors but for Ethiopians all complicated rules applies, now with this new land-lease rules EPDRF is becoming the worst land-lord of all times and the people start yearning for Derg’s “good old times”.
I was a die-hard supporter of EPDRF and invested in Ethiopia but now I am considering selling my small property I have and move to other country. What a pity to reach to such a stand.
I am just wondering how we could be treated back home if we must take this new diaspora policy initiative and go home. Unlike others, I am not talking about cars and land. I am talking about the business and investment competition, the lack of transparancy and accountability of EPRDF boses. They too are business men and business women and at the same time run a country. How is it possible to go into a fair business and investment competition? In my visit to Ethiopia, I have witnessed some individuals who have had access to hard curency where as the rest of us investors were denied the same chance. There are many managerial, director, CEO’S of different companies held by either by Tigrians or some Mr Berket’s associates. Go and visit EFFORT’S companies and industries, you can witness it for yourself. Many ‘Tegadalities’ are being employed with in these companies and industries. From tea girl to chief executives officer(CEO). One day I will produce the documents which I have compiled by myself, for personal reference. This is also true for many government departments. So where is the equality, the transparancy and the accountability? It is not only difficult to go back home and invest at this moment in time, but also un realistic to see the Diaspora policy go through. For example who is responsible for the Diaspora policy? it is the same Foreign Ministry of Ethiopia. Who is expected to implement it? it is again the same MFA. Where is the checks and balances and how is it expected to come about? Still the Diaspora is expected to trust the MFA and not the vias versa. Give me one reason why the Diaspora should put his trust on the government of Ethiopia? What is so expectional or what is new? I personally need detailed answers, although I still not lose hope all together. May be there might be some kind of national reconcilation which is long over due. That might bring the fear factor to an all time low.
fix your banking system so diaspora or what ever you call will have right to have loan in ethiopia based up on thier investment catagory and colateral.
in western economic establishement,no one asked to put dawn payement of 30% of the loan amount in cash .redicules banking system in ethiopia.for example for dead meat 1 mil et birr the bank requier you to deposit 300,000 birr in cash . it doesnt matter how much is your loan but it has to be paid in 5 year .if not ,you loose your what ever investiment it is to the bank or lender.
politics wise, im pro OLF,ONLF ,TPLF. REASON why is i dont like these emeye
ethiopia ,one nation.one language,one religion ,speak and act like me idiots of the past. dream of past emiyee ethiopia equalizes that of butter droped in fire .no retrival.
last and very seriouse we dont appriciate the mistreatment of oromo farmers,teachers,students,scholars,investors,bussness men/women, sell of oromo land to forgieners while 50% of oromo has shortage of farming land and polpulation growth . those has to be corrected imidietly . if not , the back fire will burn for long and annymousity will widen its intent.
power to the people.
AIGA please forgive me for drifting off the subject but those who drifted off the subject to exploit the situation such as Blisuma need to be responded to..I am of Oromo descent myself and I would like to first correct Bilisuma that he has spelt Bilisummaa wrong. perhaps his master Shabia who dispatched him to incite hatred between Ethiopians didn’t train him very well…sort of badly trained Shabian. but unfortunatly one has to be an Ethiopian to appriciate Emiye Ethiopia and he is not one of us but nice try. Most of us Oromos are aware of the need for unity that appriciates people’s caltural and linguistic diffrences but that doen’t mean we have a problem being Ethiopians. we are not that stupid to imagine neither Ethiopia nor Oromia seperatly. Even if he (bilisuma) is one disilusioned oromo aiga should not have given him a platform where by he can interfare in a complitly difrent subject and throw his venomoius propaganda….No country in the world is made up of a single race or clan and Ethiopia is one such country but unforunatly it seems Shabia is being given an easy ride to exploit our difrences simply because there is no government brave enough to remind them Eritrea is not a hogeneous country…
one thing make me mad this generation getting addicted at the same time in recent debet they were talking about how to keep away the young out of addiction even i never seen one person talking facts
i went to 18 mazoria kolfe i get mad the only place we used to play football now noc open petrol station and some school or kebel.
how can you excpect our footballer to be better than any other country while .
you see a free space you just open something.
may be after 97 election trying to punish the people or the leaders never played football in their life may be that will benefit also.
at lease in ever kebel their should be one playing ground .
we need to creat strong keble which can have a control of or listen to every citizen or locals.thats where start cleaning the mess.
specialy in addis tempreture is high i found some thing is missing .
people are packed so many trafic there is no one place you can go and take your breath away.
even in merkato just open one area where there is big fountain so after work people can relax at least for an hour.
in derg era we used to hide in the box becouse of militery service .
now there is no need to hide but you have no where to go and play.
for me its the same.hidding in the box hidding in your conciouse.
i dont realy mind if aiga will NOT post my response to mr ABDISAA AGAA’S
comment . mr abdisaa , if you can share your help full ideas that might help
attract the diasporas to invest in thier country and what the government would help to facilitate such an opportunity is the topic sir.
for any kind of investiment small or large scale, there have to be peace with in the country and even with neighbors.
mr abdisaa, you did jump all over my shared ideas . if the emiye ethiopia part of my comment ticked of your bearing that trigered your blood pressure
i will say it again and again.emiye ethiopia of yours is not my emiye brother.as far as im concerned ,leximqet yalhone qems yibexaxees. and will
stop here.
getting back to the real issue , the government should lift regulations on banks so they can do thier bussiness how ever they make money even creating ways that they loan money to foriengers establishing bussiness in ethiopia based on thier colateral on the bussiness and assets. loan terms has to be extended at least to 15 years so bussiness it self not failing due to huge monthly payement on the loan. interest rates are has to be reasonable.
when banks gives loan to diaspora’s there has to be some incentive to the bank so bank can grow as well. banks and government should find ways where aperson even can pay his/her loan on monthly bases from where they reside abroad.
if thoughts are given ,and actions are followed up any thing is possible.
Overall, the policy document is well written and full of details. My comments are mainly concerned with the broader policy context in section 1. For example, I felt that the discussion on the globalization and global Diaspora was not inspiring. Second, the policy needs to recognize the role of international organizations in Diaspora mobilization. In section 3 (strategies), we can state that the Ethiopian government would approach organizations like the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to form partnerships. Third, the Ethiopian government needs to indicate that it would make an effort to create strong cultural and commercial ties between Ethiopian society and host countries (US, Canada, Europe, etc). Fourth, provide data or estimates on total remittances from the Ethiopian Diaspora, number of Diaspora investment and social projects, number of returnees (as professionals, entrepreneurs, retirees, etc), etc. Finally, somewhere in this section, it can be worthy to mention that the notion of black Diaspora has a universal appeal and that the government would recognize the importance of creating and maintaining ties with non-Ethiopian Diaspora who believe that they have lineage ties with Ethiopian society. Ras Teferians are examples. In section 2, the principles (sector wide, effectiveness, efficiency and complimentarily) can include “participation and accountability”. This document provides an opportunity to empower the Diaspora to demand for participation in certain aspects of government decision-making and accountability for results. These are highlights of my feedback on the draft policy (edited for public).
Allow me also to comment on two issues raised in this online discussion: !met expectations and role of Ethiopian government missions abroad. In recent years, we in the Diaspora have been aggressive public relations efforts by Ethiopian diplomats and government envoys. The humanitarian and patriotic appeals during these campaigns have created “feel good” environments for us. The problem is that, when we go to Ethiopia, we do not get the same feeling. We find that there are gaps in our expectations, such as rampant corruption, poor quality of services and facilities, bureaucratic rigidity. Does this mean that we refrain from engaging with the Ethiopian government or stop contributing to Ethiopian society? If it takes a generation to change things, what does it mean for us? Do nothing? The choice is to join the Ethiopian people in their struggle to transform the Ethiopian civil service and the whole governmental apparatus. The Ethiopian Television and Radio Agency can program dramas, comedies, public service announcements, etc. to promote values, practices and behaviours that democratize the government bureaucracy, and carry out hidden camera investigations (for example) to expose inappropriate practices and behaviours.
Demography can also be playing an important factor. Younger people (under the age of 40) are now increasingly overrepresented in banks, news organizations, immigration, security, commerce and other social and economic entities in Ethiopian society. Unlike the older generation (including revolutionary democrats), younger Ethiopians have little in common with us, so they are more objective when they deal with us. Added to this is their irritation with Diaspora behaviour: too much partying, too much showing off, extravaganza weddings, insulting government officials on foreign soil, becoming “Egyptians” (= opposing the Renaissance dam), inflating urban real estate prices, changing culture and social structures (we support people who lead lavish lifestyles without working), political intrigues, the list can go on and go on. A small group of Diaspora Ethiopians insulting, intimidating, harassing and labeling other Ethiopians going to attend public meetings can be expressions of democratic rights, but these acts do not rest well with Ethiopian households.
On Ethiopian government foreign missions, I think some of the comments made about the behavior and practices of Ethiopian diplomats are not totally untrue. Diplomats can bring with them the same bureaucratic attitude and perceptions towards ordinary citizens – old habits never die. Nonetheless, we have to realize that diplomats are not expected to do community work. They are trained to deal with issues at higher levels. Instead, the people of the Ethiopian Diaspora should self-organize and take charge of their own affairs. One impact of the recent Renaissance Dam fundraising activities throughout the Diaspora is that, for the first time, like-minded Ethiopians are getting together to support development initiatives. It really feels good to be in an environment where men, women and children think positive and act together to do something good for society, instead of political altercations or political condemnation of other Ethiopians.
Finally, I am in agreement with Zeru Hagos and my other compatriots that somehow the Ethiopian government needs to depoliticize its Diaspora engagement strategy. While the draft policy document does not appear political (except one paragraph on Derge which I suggested be removed), our interest is in seeing the interpretation of the policy in a manner that is tolerant of different political and development aspirations. The discourse in contemporary Ethiopian society has shifted to creativity, innovation and excellence. As I write this piece, the Ethiopian Television is hosting a peer review to select prize winners for best innovative business and technology project proposals. All to say that Ethiopian government missions aboard should relax their political muscles and start to engage with different Diaspora groups. It takes persistent efforts to forge allies and enlist the support of different Diaspora interest groups to achieve shared development goals in Ethiopia.
The Ethiopian government should come to its sense and at least significantly reduce the tax and restrictions they put on simple belongings like cars when Diaspora moves back to Ethiopia or decides to establish business. I was bemused when i heard a 1996 Toyota owner was asked to pay 350,000 Ethiopian birr which is almost ten times the actual value of the car. This is lawlessness at its pick and the government is infested with individuals who lost the common decency.
To be frank no need of diaspora policy, unless to create job for the department and to the people who are going to be assigned to the new job, but that is not the whole rational.
As a diaspora what I need in Ethiopia is the government to fascilitate Ethiopians needs inside and outside. Rather than having rigid policies and want always to hear what it wants on ETV, listen to the people and safe guard the constitution. When the government breaks the constiution it is not crime, Why? Rules doesn’t make change Derg also has constitution but what makes it different is a government that stricktly follows the constitution.
The other thing when government officials come abroad they tell us to engage in the development of Ethiopia but when we ask about our rights then they tell us we are foreigners, then you could not have both ways. People of Ethiopia will partcipate not by propoganda machine but only when they have trust on the government and this trust must be seen in action.
If the aim of the policy is to look good, it is more than enough. In my opinion, the trust level of Ethiopians on government is the most important element for the policy to have
a significant impact to acheive its goal. A little bit of trust may be developed by:
1) Assigning independent individuals in each area rather than party affilated individuals.
2) The government has to find out people who is currently abusing the system (member of diaspora community)
3) Improve the current laws foreign people investing with Ethiopians get involved by giving more opportunity.
4) Give gurantee to investors property not taken by government due to political view point (To show committment,give back oppostion leaders properties)
5) Fair taxation laws to all investors including government affiliated businesse
6) Facilitate the current foreign trade policy to fit diaspora need specially
currency exchange ( why registering in an Ethiopian bank if one has the hard currency)
Bilisuma, I never claimed my commet to be in any way related to the subject nor did i fail to apologise for it? I am again commenting purely in response to your opportunist commet which has nothing to do with the diaspora issue but tried to be a smart a*ss by mixing a bit of diaspora related non sense. sure, my imiye Ethiopia is not yours and it will never be, and i don’t see why you think your feeling would be important when the fact on the ground is Emiye Ethiopia exists and your fantacy ‘dead Ethiopia’doesn’t exist..love it or loath it, Ethiopia will be there regardless of who you are and what you wish..believe me sir/madam asuming you are a genuine Oromo, 40 years of your fantacy plus our populous ethnic group would have made a diffrence. But the truth is you are just a mouth piece for those who want to use you and your senior Shabia as a tool to persue their idiological and stratagical ambitions….oh just to be relevant to the topic, I agree with your idea on diaspora issue, how about that?
The only thing the EPRDF has to do, the only thing it should guarantee is the rule of law. If the law is supreme everything else follows. But I am not holding my breath that woyanne will respect the rule of law. It’s been twenty years and counting.
First of all, I am very glad to hear this golden news. Matter fact it would have been very fantastic if it had a chance of getting starting few years ago. However, it is not too late. This issue has been raised and discussed for the last several years at different community centers. But anyways, I think this is very important for Ethiopian people at large. Indeed I support for the initiation of the new policy. Besides the direct benefit to the Ethiopian Diaspora community, I believe that there may be many invisible attachments within this policy. These attachments benefit to the economy and prosperity of our nation. Some of these attachments I think of are as follows:
A. Preventing Brain Drain- one of the worst situations with immigration is Brain-waste. As we all know, many professional individuals come out of our country and arrive at different part of the world for many reasons like Educational opportunity, Economic, Political view, or Work related attractions. However for the fact that most of these individuals do not even work on profession related jobs. So what is happening is although those skilled people have the capacity to do more, they just waste their knowledge and serve as unskilled labor. So with this new policy, these skilled individuals may have a chance to invest their knowledge in their country.
B. Foreign Currency attraction- Another attachment within this policy will be getting a huge amount of foreign currencies specially Dollars. For many African countries, their main source of foreign currency is from the Diaspora community. According to the African Diaspora program report, sub-Sahara African countries get between 10-40 billion dollars every year from their people who live abroad. From this ratio, it is easy to imagine that due to this new policy our nation will have a big chance of getting foreign currencies. And this will enable our country to overcome the banking and finance problems it faces at least.
C. Brain- Gain: Within the Diaspora community, there are many individuals in number (although less in ratio) that are highly skilled in the area of Medicine, IT, Administration, etc that have a potential skill to be transformed. For example according to the African Diaspora report again, there are more Ethiopian Doctors in North America than in Ethiopia right now. Is not it amazing? So this new policy can encourage those skilled individuals so that to transform their knowledge into their mother land. To me this means, our nation is about to get new technological advancement shortly with less money, time and effort. Cheers!!!!
In general I would like to say that having a policy focused on Diaspora community will eliminate to the notion that says “Ethiopia does not have a capacity” but evidences show on the contrary. Ethiopians who live in and out of the country have many talents. All we need is to get together and exchange experiences, and to do that, we need to have a special policy that attracts Diaspora community to participate on. Finally let me mention few countries who have a policy that attracts their Diaspora community back to home are China, India, some Latin America etc. So those people are investing not only their money but their skills as well. So, no matter what our political view is, we Ethiopians can make a difference by working together for the prosperity of our nation. LET US TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE NEW POLICY AND MAKE A DIFERENCE!!!
Thank you All,
Solomon Gebreyesus,
If all articles of the newly drafted policy implemented properly with due diligence and honesty by both the government and the Diaspora community, it will be a breakthrough event in the last twenty years of rocky relationship between the Diaspora and the government. The next step should be organizing town hall meetings and discussion forums that will ultimately fix the broken relationship and start a new beginning. I understand the first few meetings may be not that attractive even tasty. However, let alone between brothers even Palestinians and Israelis are sitting together to discuss their century old problems. To that end, Ethiopian government should assign capable individuals who can spell the challenges and opportunities currently exist in Ethiopia professionally without fearing political backlash. Let Ethiopians talk among each other and I am sure before long we will find a common ground. I don’t think Eritreans love their country more than Ethiopians do. It is just the government should be ready and eager to listen grievance and concerns of the Diaspora first and then explain its position on those issues that will be raised and important to us. then, diaspora ethiopians will contribute their share meaninggfully they way they did during ethio-eritrean war.
Short and precise: just allow dual citizenship. Probably, the government can restrict participation in political activities and other related fields if that is an issue. But, it should end the fact that Ethiopia is one of the very few countries that do not allow dual citizenship at this time.
Dear Aiga Forum:
I share your view that holding public meeting alone is not an effective process of formulating Diaspora policy. There needs to be more focused approach to solicit opinions and suggestions from various diaspora organizations: cultural, religious,professional, hometown associations, etc. The government should be serious in involving members of the Diaspora in the formulation of the Diaspora policy.
As to the content of the policy, my view is that first and foremost the Government should creat the right environment for everyone and not for Diaspora. At the core of it is ensuring property right and making clear as to what an individual can own and cannot. The current land lease policy is a case in point. First the process of getting land is prone to corruption and to distorting the value of land. Secondly, once you get the land through the leasing process (if you are lucky because I tried several time to bid and what I found out was few business people from Merkato drive the price up, the gang up on every plot and you have no chance of winning), the government should not restrict the right of the individual on how to use, when to use it, etc. The current process is so opaque such that only people with deep pockets can go through the process and get what they want. With the recent land lease policy however, even those with deep pockets have become nervous because of the so many restrictions that have been put in place. There many other issues that can be raised which the government needs to address. In my view the fundamental problem is the political ideology around which these policies are formulated. There still seems to be ambiguity on the role of private sector and the role of market forces in the allocation of resouces. Making such principles clear may be the first thing the government should do to encourage investment not only by Diaspora but by local privart sector which should be the driving force of the projected economic growth in the country.
First of all, I am not convinced that all Ethiopian diaspora are really and truly interested in country building. Many have a hidden agenda and prefer to see the disintegration of Ethiopia in order for them to bring their form of government and exploit the majority of Ethiopians. I have read and reread the diaspora draft policy. I found it reasonable to start with. The draft policy can be amended to add or subtract after the policy is implemented. It is not Gods’ law. We Ethiopians who live outside of Ethiopia complain why the government does not come up with a policy to include us with the rest of Ethiopians in the country. On the contrary when the government comes up with a draft policy the destructive critiques are coming from all angles. Many of us compare Ethiopia and Ethiopians with that of the country and the people we live in. We often forget that we are poor. I want to remind Ethiopian diaspora to revisit from where we come , where we are and where we are going in order to give constructive recommendations.
Couple of suggestions that need to be articulated clearly in the policy:
i) Create institutional link/partnership arrangements to facilitate transfer of knowledge and technology. The policy should enable/facilitate institutional link and/or partnership or twinning arrangements between the institutions that the diaspora is working (these includes: research center, policy center, universities and colleges, medical center/hospitals, financial institutions etc) and similar institutions in Ethiopia.
(ii) create several advisory councils in Ethiopia which will involve people from the diaspora to provide policy and technical advice on a number of issues to support implementation of GTP.
Few more ideas that would inform the policy paper and its implementation framework:
(iii) Government need to improve the mechanisms for remittances including taking specific measures aimed at: reducing transaction costs; increasing the network of remittance transfer facilities; improving access and a more efficient service delivery; improving competition in remittance markets; and developing policies and institutions that offer support for the optimal deployment of remittances to productive investments.
(iv) virtual participation to enhance collaboration between members of the Diaspora and their local counterparts via the internet in long distance teaching and information sharing. This could also involves the formation of academic, scientific and professional networks for collaboration in research and capacity development projects in Ethiopia.
(v) the need to establish accurate information and database: A database with information on the number, location, composition, and expertise of the Ethiopian Diaspora is imperative. This would facilitate the identification of needs and programs requiring Diaspora engagement, while providing accurate and timely information on local conditions and opportunities.
First take proper care of home-residents before shouting to the diaspora.
It’s a good beginning,but just like the rest of similar laws it’s the implementations that’s a headache the truth is as a former diaspora myself all I see is people moving back to the U.S and elsewhere the inflation in Ethiopia is just unbelievable!!All the ppl who seem to bedding well are EPRDF party loyalists!peace.