Worldcross country silver medallist Berihu Aregawi stormed to a 26:33 10km win in the northern Spanish town of Laredo.
In doing so, the Ethiopian 22-year-old achieved the second-fastest men’s 10km of all time behind Rhonex Kipruto’s world record of 26:24 set in Valencia three years ago. He also broke the Ethiopian record by 23 seconds.
Aregawi is the world record-holder for 5km, a feat he managed in Barcelona on 31 December 2021 thanks to a 12:49 run, and he had set his sights on the 10km world record since then.
Contesting only his second ever 10km race and wearing his usual orange and blue outfit, Aregawi overtook the pacemaker just before the first kilometre mark then went through the halfway point in 13:10, a world record on track.
Despite running without a pacemaker and being hampered by slightly rainy conditions, a brave final effort of 2:36 for the closing kilometre, he was just outside his goal.
“I have mixed feelings as the race was great but I had set the goal of breaking the world record,” he said. “Running on my own for almost the whole race was not easy but the main handicap for me was the tight turns as the road was wet and I was afraid of slipping at the zebra crossings. But anyway, I’m really satisfied.”
Wayback, the 22-year-old ethiopian-Irish Efrem Gidey beat his rivals in the chasing pack after a thrilling sprint to take the runner-up spot in 28:17 to Mortimer’s 28:18, while Spanish 3000m steeplechase record-holder Carro was given the same time in fourth.
Berihun goes No2 all times 10km race in Laredo
Fitsum Tadesse
Name: Fitsum Tadesse
Education: High School Diploma
Company name: Fitsum Tadesse General Car Exhaust Muffler Garage
Title: Owner and General Manager
Founded in: 1997E.C
What it do: Car exhaust muffler garage
Hq: Around Arada, Kelemework Highschool, Addis Ababa
Number of Employees: 20
Startup capital: 20,000 birr
Current Capital: Growing
Reason for starting the Business: It makes me happy to help my customers
Biggest perk of ownership: I love what I do
Biggest strength: Professionalism, Persistence, customer handling
Biggest challenge: Shortage of material supplies and foreign currency
Plan: Branding the business
First career: Car exhaust muffler mechanic
Most interested in meeting: Jack Ma
Most admired person: Jack Ma
Stress reducer: Working
Favorite past time: Working
Favorite book: Dertogada by Yismake Werku
Favorite destination: China, Dubai, India
Favorite automobile: Opel Astra 1998
Thinking of starting a business, continued …
Two weeks back we looked into some hints and suggestions to include in a solid business plan. We saw that a business plan summarizes a project in a way that makes it understandable and attractive to potential financiers, business partners or employees. Keep in mind that the first review of a business plan is an elimination process, rather than a selection process. The challenge is to stimulate readers’ curiosity and allow them to read the plan easily. The plan should clearly identify the problem the business is going to address, not only the solution. A good understanding of a particular problem or need will lead to success. First confirm the need, then build the product. Show you understand the problem and your solution will be more convincing. Next, be focussed. Define the target market and provide a relevant description, with figures that show the size of the market. For readers to reach your conclusions, rather than their own, you need to guide them. It is not enough to describe facts as different readers may draw different conclusions. Show evidence of market acceptance, in particular with a new product or concept. Consumer behaviour is hard to predict. A common pitfall is to assume that customers will behave in the way you expect. Reality is different and common sense is the least accurate way to predict consumer behaviour.
Now describe the implementation approach. A good idea is unlikely to be unique. If it is good, expect a few other people to be thinking about it. If it’s really good, you may find others working on it already. The difference is in implementation. This is the real challenge. Even if the idea is not unique, you can make a difference in the way you carry it out. And that is what investors are looking for.
Be coherent with figures. There will never be accurate figures until the business is underway and even then, some pieces may be missing. It is always possible however to use comparisons, benchmarks, and reference points. Use them to estimate market size, market share and profit margins. Readers of your business plan will in the first instance not be able to double check the figures. They would rather look at the coherence of figures and check that they are consistent with the strategy.
Sometimes financiers provide a format for the business plan. If not, use an easy-to-read format. Remember that complicated documents are irritating and flat text with long paragraphs is boring. Think about the way people read a newspaper: they check the headlines first and focus on interesting stories. Readers of business plans are no different. Don’t use small type and don’t exceed 30 pages. If readers want more, they will ask. Remember that large files are also difficult to send by email, particularly in our situation in Ethiopia.
Use simple style, common vocabulary and avoid abbreviations. Describe the business in a way that makes it easy to understand. Describe the need to be addressed and the market opportunity. Then explain how this need will be met.
Draw the organization chart as it should be at maturity, not to fit the current team. Highlight the team’s capabilities and don’t hesitate to identify gaps, showing awareness of future trends.
It is a mistake not to include a thorough analysis of potential competition. If there is no competition, that is not necessary a positive point. In fact, it may be very negative because there could be no market for the idea. Once competition has been covered, show the differentiating points. Avoid statements saying that your business will be “better” or “cheaper” or “faster”.
Marketing and sales are strategic components of any business. Focus on how this will be done and remember that the marketing approach may provide competitive advantage.
The most important determinant for success is the ability to execute. Implementation is the real differentiator. This includes all aspects, from the choice of technology to customer service.
Always include a section analyzing the risks that may affect the business. An accurate assessment of risks will help convince investors that you are fully aware of the threats the business may face. It will also show that you are prepared and capable of responding to the challenge. This reminds us of the continued electricity problems we are facing for example. I have spoken to several business owners running different kinds of businesses and they are all seriously affected by it. Production time is reduced, production costs are rising, essential information and opportunities are missed, and a lot of business and money is lost. I wonder how many of us are prepared for such high infrastructural risks. Those who were and had earlier invested in alternative sources of energy are now at an advantage.
Going back to our business plan, don’t forget to state clearly what is expected from the target readers. The conclusion should include your funding request.
In conclusion:
Use the business plan as a communication tool.
Be simple, realistic and use common sense.
Don’t look for funding but for raising interest.
Be ready to support any statement with detailed information.
Reference: Financial Times – Mastering Management 2.0 – Joe Tabet and Albert Angehrn
Ton Haverkort
ton.haverkort@gmail.com
The US shouldn’t be surprised Latin America is turning to Russian news sources
Washington keeps meddling in the affairs of ‘its hemisphere’ and deploying propaganda to paint its interventions as benevolent
In his 2005 Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Harold Pinter spent a good deal of his time detailing the crimes of the US in the world, but especially in Latin America. He spoke about how most people have been lulled into forgetting about these crimes, if they ever knew about them at all, thanks to Washington’s sophisticated propaganda machine:
“The United States supported and in many cases engendered every right wing military dictatorship in the world after the end of the Second World War. I refer to Indonesia, Greece, Uruguay, Brazil, Paraguay, Haiti, Turkey, the Philippines, Guatemala, El Salvador, and, of course, Chile. The horror the United States inflicted upon Chile in 1973 can never be purged and can never be forgiven.
Hundreds of thousands of deaths took place throughout these countries. Did they take place? And are they in all cases attributable to US foreign policy? The answer is yes they did take place and they are attributable to American foreign policy. But you wouldn’t know it.
It never happened. Nothing ever happened. Even while it was happening, it wasn’t happening. It didn’t matter. It was of no interest. The crimes of the United States have been systematic, constant, vicious, remorseless, but very few people have actually talked about them. You have to hand it to America. It has exercised a quite clinical manipulation of power worldwide while masquerading as a force for universal good. It’s a brilliant, even witty, highly successful act of hypnosis.”
Of course, the people who suffered from the relentless US attacks have not forgotten them. And as might be expected, these attacks have not stopped, or even slowed down, with the US supporting right-wing coups in Latin America and the Caribbean in recent years – for example, in Honduras in 2009; Bolivia in 2019; and most recently the ongoing unrest in Peru. The US also helped instigate a very violent coup attempt in Nicaragua in 2018, though it ultimately failed. Moreover, in addition to forcibly kidnapping Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide and flying him to the Central African Republic in 2004, it appears that the US had some role in the recent murder of Haitian President Jovenel Moise.
Meanwhile, Washington is leading NATO’s expansion of its forward-operating capacity in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to Popular Resistance, at the end of 2022, the US had “12 military bases in Panama, 12 in Puerto Rico, 9 in Colombia, 8 in Peru, 3 in Honduras, 2 in Paraguay, as well as installations of this type in Aruba, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Cuba (Guantanamo), and Peru among other countries.” Washington is seeking to control the entire “land and maritime surface of the region”, including a network of NATO bases on islands in Argentina’s territorial waters “usurped by the United Kingdom.”
In light of all this activity and history, the people of Latin America and the Caribbean can be forgiven for doubting the claims that the US is helping to spread democracy, peace and truth in the region. The people of this region are simply tired of being bullied by the US, and they are equally tired of being blatantly lied to by the US government and its corporate media mouthpieces. As such, it should come as little surprise to anyone paying attention that the people of this region are increasingly looking to non-US sources like Russia’s RT to get their information, much to the chagrin of the US.
As CNN laments, “Russian propaganda has long exploited simmering resentments against the West’s imperialistic past and recent foreign policy interventions, now promoting the view that Ukraine is a puppet of the West. The narrative is particularly powerful in Latin America, where Kremlin-controlled media outlets such as RT have big audiences.” Similarly, POLITICO complains, “When it comes to Russian state media, the Kremlin’s Spanish-language services – most notably RT en Español – are a juggernaut, particularly in Latin America. Its glitzy television studios, anti-gringo editorial line and ability to tap into locals’ desire for outside news sources have made the outlet by far the largest proponent of Moscow’s talking points.”
There is much to unpack in these alarmist statements. First of all, in its very assertion about “Russian propaganda,” CNN itself engages in its own, quite typical pro-US propaganda, attempting to claim that the West’s imperialism is in the “past” and reducing its recent, anti-constitutional coups in Latin America to mere “foreign policy interventions.” For its part, POLITICO acknowledges that the appeal of RT to Latin American viewers is its “anti-gringoeditorial line” without explaining why Latin Americans would be attracted to that – that is, without acknowledging it is the cruel US actions which have driven Latin Americans away from American sources and towards those like RT.
Of course, the problem is that the US government and its compliant propaganda outlets like CNN and POLITICO have gotten high on their own supply. They believe their own line about the nature of US imperialism in the region and cannot seem to fathom that they themselves are some of the biggest purveyors of false news in the world, including about Washington’s role in the world.
Again, the people of Latin America and the Caribbean, forced to endure the brutality of the US in their daily lives, are not so fooled, and they are quite understandably looking elsewhere for their news, and even for help. Thus, people protesting US intervention in such countries as Haiti and Peru are even waving Russian flags and asking for Russian help against this intervention.
There is an easy solution to this. If the US wants the people of the region to look to it and its media outlets for news and information, it might be honest about its interventionist past and present conduct in this hemisphere, and it can start treating the people of this hemisphere and their countries with respect and as equals. As long as the US continues to treat Latin America and the Caribbean as its “backyard” in which it is free to meddle for its own gain, it will only continue to alienate the people and to push them towards Russia and other points eastward. This should be an obvious point, but it seems to be lost on those policymakers in the US who seem incapable of seeing past their own self-interest, all the while believing that they are somehow the good guys.
Daniel Kovalik teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and is author of the recently-released book Nicaragua: A History of US Intervention & Resistance.
