Tulip Inn, a four-star brand name hotel which is a subsidiary of Louvre Hotels Group signed its first deal in East Africa. Olympia Hotel will be opened in Addis Ababa after renovations are completed on an already existing hotel. Louvre Group has other brand name hotels in Addis Ababa.
Kumeger Teketel founder and CEO of Ozzie noted that there are now thirty brand name hotels in Addis Ababa. He believes that as more high standard hotels come into the country and people see the difference that management and practices in the hospitality industry will improve, eventually leading to Ethiopia being registered on the global MICE map.
“As MICE infrastructures in the country are accelerated we will fulfill the basic element of standard hotel services,” he said.
Previously the facility was known as Watergate Hotel and was owned by, Habtu Mulialem. He owns MSN, a company which exports cereals. The building has 12 storeys and a large parking lot. The facility will include 109 rooms, two restaurants, one bar, one coffee shop, meeting rooms, steam bath and gymnasium.
“Olympia’s amazingn location in the heart of Addis Ababa offers restaurants and clubs”, the group expressed in its statement sent to Capital.
The Group works in 10 sub-Saharan African countries and is known for its Golden Tulip, and Royal Tulip Hotels. They have 2800 rooms in sub-Sahara Africa. They plan to invest even more in sub-Saharan Africa by opening one hotel per quarter and signing one new deal each semester for three years.
Louvre Hotels Group is a major player in the worldwide hotel sector with 2,500 hotels in 52 countries. The group is known for its variety of star collections and is a subsidiary of Jin Jiang International Holdings, one of the largest tourism and travel conglomerates in China.
The mid upscale hotel is expected to start re-operation within two months and will create 175 jobs when it opens.
Ozzie brings 17 brand hotels to Ethiopia. Thirteen additional hotels are in the pipeline and 38 are under the negotiating process.
Watergate Hotel to re-open as Olympia
Classy water plans to sue over closing
Belaya Industrial PLC which sold bottled water under the brand name “Classy,” has been closed, against their will, for the last two weeks. Now they plan to sue the Ministry of Trade.
The company, located near Suluta in Oromia Zone, was closed by the Ministry over concerns with the quality of their water. The company has responded by saying the lab results are unreasonable.
The Ethiopia Conformity Assessment (ECA) gave a letter to the company saying there was no problem with the quality of their water.
However, the Ministry says a lab test that they took four months ago failed to meet the required total plate count. A plate count test basically looks at all the organisms in the water and determines if it is safe to consume.
Dagne Yesegat, owner of the company said the decision is unfair and cost 270 workers their jobs.
“We were going to export our water but now we have been shut down, I don’t understand how two government agencies can come up with two separate quality assessments.”
Dagne went on to say that it was unfair for the announcement of the problem to go to the media before it went to them and they plan to sue unless they are allowed to re-open.
Kasshaun Mulat, Trade Inspection Director for the Ministry of Trade told Capital that the company was closed after several warnings.
“We have been sending them letters for two years and they have not adjusted the quality. They may have gotten assurance from ECA but that doesn’t have anything to do with the quality results in our laboratory.”
Belaya Industrial PLC was producing 24,000 bottles of water per day in various sizes. The company was established four years ago with an investment of 13 million birr. Its factory is on 20,000sqm. They sourced their water from Entoto Mountain.
Globalism and America First-ism
United States President, Donald Trump in his speech to the United Nations General Assembly last September, stated emphatically that “We reject the ideology of globalism and we embrace the doctrine of patriotism.” He went on to say that “America is governed by Americans” and that “responsible nations must defend against threats to sovereignty not just from global governance, but also from other, new forms of coercion and domination.” Political analysts argued that in President Trump’s mind, it appears that global governance is somehow synonymous to terrorism.
According to them, he is creating false contrasts. The contrast between globalism and patriotism which President Trump wants to create in order to defend his “America First-ism” is a false one. Simply put, globalists are patriots who have a worldview that is not limited to the political boundaries of one state. Globalism means nothing more and nothing less than figuring out how the world really hangs together. In that sense, Benjamin Franklin, with his famous quote advising the 13 rebellious colonies to “hang together”, was the modern world’s first globalist.
In the context of the many challenges the world faces collectively, and which also have a direct impact on all nations individually, including the United States, President Trump’s position is as transparent as it is ludicrous. To him, a narrow devotion to “non-global”patriotism is what legitimizes his ardent pursuit of the national head-in-the-sand strategy that he obviously prefers. Playing such game may appeal to the core of his voter base. But it does nothing to deal with issues such as climate change, epidemiological threats, migration and other matters.
Many American scholars lamented that, by refusing for the United States to play its proper role as an integral part of the change coalition, President Trump is not even doing his own country any favor. His stubborn refusal to deal with real and present challenges only increases the pressure on future United Staes governments to take the necessary actions.
More important and even more insidious, is the fallout that stems from the United States moving from its traditional role as a promoter of reform to a cheerleader of the “bad apple” coalition globally.
Jonathan Hicks of University of New York stated that, that is also why President Trump’s argument which is “Around the world, responsible nations must defend against threats to sovereignty not just from global governance, but also from other, new forms of coercion and domination”, rings so hollow. Blaming “global governance,” as he loves to do, is downright childish.
On the other hand, Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani captured reality in his own speech at the United Nations General Assembly. He said that “Confronting multilateralism is not a sign of strength, rather it is a symptom of a weakness of intellect.”
As regards patriotism, it is important to note that President Donald Trump actually strips that patriotism of one of its core components. Jonathan Hicks noted that under President Trump, United States patriotism evidently no longer includes ”a government of laws and not men,” as Abraham Lincoln proclaimed in his Gettysburg Address. With his ill-guided and ill-constructed efforts to create a strong contrast between “Americans” (good) and “globalists” (bad), President Trump is just channeling Steve Bannon.
Professor Alen Barrow of Cambridge University stated that the underlying suggestion that “globalists” can never be “true”Americans, worse, that they may be traitors to the American cause, is betrayed by the fact that a majority of Americans do not believe in the President Trump worldview. They continue to believe in the validity of Benjamin Franklin’s view that “We must all hang together, or most assuredly we will all hang separately.”
According to Professor Alen Barrow, President Trump and Bannon would have none of that. They favor an approach that turns globalism into a hidden form of anti-semitism, as an analysis in The Atlantic demonstrated. Professor Alen further noted that, the more benign view is that “globalists” in America or other countries have an allegiance not simply to the United States, or only to their native countries, but to the world. Any such internationalist must by definition betray the nation, the argument goes.
In his book “After Europe,” Ivan Krastev points out that the customary political divisions within Western democratic countries, left of center and right of center, have become very shop-worn. Those old-line conflicts are being “replaced by a conflict between internationalists and nativists.”
If this is the case, who then is a “globalist”? According to Ivan Krastev, perhaps it is best to view globalists as “double” patriots. They care about their native countries, but are also mindful of the concerns of other countries’ governments and peoples and more broadly about the way the whole world “hangs together.” And indeed, quite a few globalists are people who may live and work abroad, but they surely aren’t traitors to their homelands or unpatriotic.
Ivan Krastev noted that in the end, President Donald Trump and his followers are not patriots, they are nationalists. As the former President of France, Charles de Gaulle, once put it: “Patriotism is when love of your own people comes first; nationalism, when hate for people other than your own comes first.”
EPRDF holds 11th Congress
The ruling coalition, Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), has concluded the highly anticipated 11th Congress at Hawassa town, the capital of SNNP region.
During the three day event from October 3, the coalition representatives comprised of 250 voting members from four parties talked about several issues in addition to a report going over achievements of the 10th Congress and proposed agendas to be undertaken in the next two years.
During the closed sessions the participants raised several issues including the current reforms in the political, social and economic sphere.
Sources who attended the closed session told Capital that participants expressed their concern about the border issues between Sudan and Ethiopia and internal border issues. The coming of opposition leaders from abroad and handling the growing ethnic based political instability was raised during the congress. The economic policy and strategy and achievement on regional policy including the progressing peace condition between Ethiopia and Eritrea, Sudan and South Sudan and Djibouti and Eritrea was appreciated by the participants, according to Fekadu Tesema, the congress spokesperson.
He said during the first day of the closed session the congress gave priority to the current affairs and the report of the 11th Congress.
The participants encouraged the move of the new leadership that amplified hope in the country. Opening of the political space and allowing opposition leaders to enter to the country besides influential figures were also stated to be positive achievements over the past few months.
The national reconciliation which improved the multi-party system is also stated as a success registered in the past few months. The collation communiqué also amplified that the multi-party system will be the next move of the country.
The coalition has also agreed to work together to support the current change.
Political party reform was also intensely discussed. Capital was unable to confirm for sure but sources said the party’s political ideology was expected to be debated.
The party document distributed at the congress stated that the ideological development would be undertaken.
Tax
The congress discussed improving VAT collection. Documents show that VAT revenue has declined. One reason for this is that people are hiding their VAT tax returns. Meanwhile, other tax payers declare bankruptcy to avoid paying taxes.
These are problems that the government plans to work on changing. The IMF recently released a report saying that government revenue has not improved compared with GDP.
The government planned for tax collection to be 17 percent of GDP by the end of the current five year plan. However tax collection compared with GDP has hovered at around 12 percent.
VAT collection and the general tax collection by the Ethiopian Revenue and Customs Authority (ERCA) only achieved three fourths of targets this past fiscal year. This is the highest gap between expectations and reality in history.
For the 2017/18 budget year ERCA planned to collect about 200 billion birr, but in reality they collected 150 billion.
The party promised to take legal action against people who break the tax law, trade in contraband and beak investment laws.
They announced plans to reform the tax system, something which has been talked about in the past but not applied.
Agriculture
The party continues to want farmers to transition from subsistence farming to growing crops to be sold at the market. As it has been since the first GTP in 2010 developing irrigation will be one of their top strategies. Other programs like mechanized farming, bio technology, strategic crops and specialization in farm areas will be implemented in the next two years.
The diversification of the agricultural input suppliers and quality supply in addition to an organized financial scheme are new strategies for the coming two years. Horticulture development, improving technology and aquaculture development are other new programs. The report stated that technological transformation and research and extension works will be applied in aquaculture and livestock production. Hopes are that more hard currency will be earned from livestock sales.
Manufacturing
Industrial parks will be pushed to begin producing as soon as possible. Special support for those who are expanding production and export will be given. Even though the government has attempted to transition to a manufacturing economy since the first GTP the actual performance has been very poor.
To tackle the problem, the government has engaged in developing the parks. The Hawassa Industry Park has been a pioneer in this regard. However several well-known international have come to open shop at the park, although it has not been as much as hoped.
Hard currency revenue from Hawassa Industry Park has not exceeded USD 25 million, while projections indicated that it would take in USD one billion per year.
One of the major reasons for this has been that starting production has been delayed at the factories; as a result the government plans to support investors that begin production right away.
Plans are for the import substation to be a priority as has been the case previously. The report stated that there are around 5,000 products that are being imported which can easily be produced here, such as powdered milk. Every year the country allocates a significant amount of hard currency to importing basic food items like wheat, oil and sugar, while 4/5 of the total population works in agricultural production.
Forex
The document noted several plans for getting more foreign exchange into the country in addition to increasing earnings from exports. It called for new studies to be undertaken to expand the amount of hard currency individuals bring into the country.
Remittances actually bring in more foreign currency into Ethiopia than export earnings. Although, that figure declined when there was a boycott by the Diaspora and a problem with illegal remittances. However, since PM Abiy came to power and reformed the political arena remittances have increased.
Another plan to bring more foreign currency into the country is to privatize some public enterprises which would secure cash that would then be invested. In addition the report lists strategies like stopping contraband trade, under invoicing and illicit trade methods, as well as suspending and postponing some government projects until hard currency earnings improve.
Social development
The document announced several plans to improve living conditions. The party is looking to the mining sector to improve wealth and contribute to local economies. Since many people are migrating from rural to urban areas, job opportunities and an urban development program must be created.
The condo housing project has made housing more accessible over the last decade. Recently the government in Addis Ababa introduced a saving scheme through the 20/80 and 40/60 programs for condominium homes. However there is still a huge housing shortage, prices are skyrocketing and many are not able to afford their monthly saving plan.
Now, the government is coming up with a new housing strategy.
They will facilitate a plot of land and a loan program for private home developers. The document stated that unlike the previous policy land and finance will be facilitated for house developers. “The government will minimize its role and directly engage with home developers to develop houses,” it added. In addition foreign real estate developers will be able to engage in the housing scheme in addition to local investors.
At the end of the congress eligible voters which are usually known as central committee members elected their chair and deputy.
The central committee (CC) is made up of 45 people from 4 parties. According to the information Capital obtained, 178 CC members out of 180 participated on the last day of election.
Except for Muferiat Kamil, chair of Southern Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (SEPDM), Demeke Mekonen, chair of the Amhara Democratic Party (ADP), Abiy Ahmed (PhD) chair of Oromo Democratic Party (ODP), and Debretsion Gebremichael (PhD), chair of the Tigrayan People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) competed for the chairman and deputy positions.
According to the election result 177 members have voted and Abiy, who come to power in March was re- elected with 176 votes to chair the party for the coming two years. One vote went to Demeke. For the deputy chairmanship Demeke who is currently Deputy Chair beat out Debretsion. He secured 149 votes for the deputy chair position; while Debretsion got 15 votes, 13 did not vote.
