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Water under the Bridge

Staff Reporter
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Egypt’s ambassador to Ethiopia is almost done with his second stint in the country. He loved his time in what he calls one of the most beautiful countries in the world. He points to Ethiopia and Egypt’s common history, and untapped potential trade in the billions. Misunderstandings between the two countries are largely due to bad luck and mistakes leaders made in the past. Now he says is the time to take advantage of the new spiritual leadership both countries enjoy, he adds that the GERD talks are progressing well after some past delays. Capital’s Teguest Yilma sat down and spoke with Abou Bakr Hefny Mahmoud about a stronger relationship and better region. Excerpts:

 

Capital: How was your stay in Ethiopia, and how would you describe the Egyptian Ambassador’s function, how does it feel to be Egypt’s Ambassador to Ethiopia today?

Abou Bakr Hefny Mahmoud: I was actually a diplomat in Ethiopia from 1997- 2001, so my family and I lived in Addis Ababa previously, and when the post for ambassador to Ethiopia was vacant I asked for it. Ethiopia is the top strategic nation for Egypt; being a diplomat in such an important mission, is a big responsibility and a great pleasure. So being the ambassador of Egypt to Ethiopia means that I am under the microscope of Cairo 24/7 and anything I say or do will be captured and scrutinized and analyzed.  It’s a burden but it is a pleasure as well, because I feel I am doing something good.
For the past three years many things have been achieved. From the bilateral point of view, we have been through some clouds, but summer clouds they come and go, because the historic ties between Egypt and Ethiopia will never vanish. What links us is very important. It is not only about the Nile, although it’s one of the important aspects of the relations of the two countries. Both countries helped start the African Union…
We do have historic relations; we have been linked with one church for 1,500 years. I have always said that the Orthodox tie between the two nations also makes divorce impossible. In 1938 when the Italians invaded Ethiopia, Egypt and Mexico were the only two nations that defended Ethiopia in the League of Nations. At the time many Egyptians also came with the Red Crescent mission led by Prince Ismail Daoud, King Farouk’s cousin, and died trying to save our brothers and sisters in Harrar.

photo: Anteneh Aklilu
photo: Anteneh Aklilu

In modern history, there was a very close relation between Nasser and Hailesellasie; they had a lot of respect for each other. I always say that the relation between our two countries is full of bad luck and a lot of incorrect myths. During the Fatimide era [dating back to 1000] we had a wild King named El Hakem Beamr Allah, who prosecuted Egyptians including the Coptic community. He would make them wear a big cross so that everyone could recognize them. When that occurred, the Ethiopian Emperor threatened that should this prosecution continue, he would close the water. The same year we had a very low season, and Egyptians were very scared thinking that Ethiopia could close and open the tap of water. Since then the myth of the water issue started.
What came after that is a series of bad luck that followed us for a long time. When Nasser shifted with the Soviet Union, Haileselassie was with the western world. And then when Sadat came to power, Egypt turned to the US and Mengistu shifted to the Soviet Union. We have been victims of the cold war; but today, we are going through a historical moment where our two countries are headed by two wise leaders, very pragmatic, very open and both of them are very spiritual and they have very good contact. The chemistry goes well and they have the same belief that Egypt and Ethiopia if they put their hands together they can achieve great things.

Capital: Where does Egypt stand today on Abay/Nile and how is the discussion between ministers of Sudan, Ethiopia and Egypt progressing? What’s the latest news you can share with us?

Abou Bakr Hefny: Egypt believes there is enough water for everyone and the only way to better the lives of our people is to negotiate. We believe that there is no real problem and that everything can be solved through negotiations between sisterly countries and this is the only and lonely path to achieve this. These talks are still on and we hope that the scientific studies will be concluded as soon as possible so that we can relax our people from the three sides, since Sudan is in the middle of us.
In that regard Egypt is sacrificing many things to settle the issue of the Nile peacefully. We have said that we are ready for instance to transfer the high water density demanding crops to Ethiopia as Ethiopia has an abundant amount of water. Egypt is one of the driest countries in the world; we depend 99% on the Nile as we don’t have rains. So we are ready to take some of the scarcity of water that will come with the filling of the dam [GERD], and make sacrifices for the mutual interest of the three countries, but without substantial harm. This will only be decided through negotiations and the scientific outputs.

Capital: Some say that Egypt is not comfortable with projects that are conducted by the upper stream countries. What is your comment on this and what should be the future direction in relation to mutual development?

Abou Bakr Hefny: This is not true. In 1954 Egypt once financed an oil dam in Uganda which cost us the equivalent of USD 50 million. This is how we have handled things for a long time as long as there is dialogue we will not be harmed and we even will be supportive of stopping water at the upper side. This is not only Egypt’s approach but what international law states. When you are the last stream country and completely dependent on the water, of course you will be concerned. So it’s not like we have a hidden agenda. International law also states a consultation must be done with the lower stream countries about utilizing the water, whenever the river is trans-boundary.

Capital: What about the rumor suggesting Egypt removed itself from the tripartite national committee set up to resolve issues related to the GERD?  

Abou Bakr Hefny: I can say this is a total fabrication, which I have just become aware of now. The head of the two states had talked in China and there are talks in Addis Ababa. The three water ministers sat down last week as you see in media. So the consultations are still ongoing.

Capital: How deeply are you involved in these negotiations? What do you think the future holds as far as using the Nile?

Abou Bakr Hefny: As an ambassador, I am only involved in diplomatic matters. Negotiations are not my duty rather I am an observer. But, with the negotiations, I believe they are going along smoothly. Previously, the pace was too slow. The dam is here and for the filling to start as stipulated in the declaration of principles the negotiations and studies have to be speeded up.

Capital: Tell us about Ethio-Egypt trade relations; where do you think things should improve or change?

Abou Bakr Hefny: Both nations have a symbiotic relationship in many areas especially agriculture. Egypt consumes a lot of cotton, and meat. Meanwhile, Ethiopia is rich in water, cotton and livestock. We have signed an agricultural agreement but the amount is small. For example, Egypt and Kenya have a USD one billion trade balance every year which is USD 800 million in favor of Kenya. We get most of our tea from Kenya. When it comes to Ethiopia we have a USD 250 million trade balance and the livestock sector has taken up USD 200 million. Egypt’s private sector is eager to invest in Ethiopia. If we had similar trade lines with Ethiopia it would involve billions in USD in cotton and livestock.

Capital: Have new Egyptian companies established any businesses here during your tenure? What is the current status of the agreement to establish an industrial park in Ethiopia?

Abou Bakr Hefny: It is still on the table. The Ethio- Egyptian Industrial Park will be worth USD 120 million. The ball is in Ethiopia’s court. There are serious talks about establishing a state of the art hospital and a delegation will be going to Egypt next month. This will be the legacy I have here in Ethiopia which is close to my heart. Also, there are many Egyptian pharmaceuticals here. We have more than 60 Egyptian doctors working in Ethiopian hospitals currently. In Jimma, Addis Ababa and Mekelle there is cooperation in training doctors. Dr. Kemal Ibrahim, an Egyptian-American doctor and one of the well-known names in the world, will come to Addis Ababa. He will train an Ethiopian team to conduct a Spinal Deformity operation center so that St. Paul Hospital will become the third center in Africa that treats this type of deformity.

Capital: Apart from the intellectual exchanges, what kind of cultural exchanges are taking place between Ethiopia and Egypt?

Abou Bakr Hefny: I am afraid little has been done in that regard. Some parties from the region and others outside the region were not happy to see Ethiopia and Egypt together. I firmly, deeply and strongly believe that if the two nations put their hands together much can be done. The two nations have the tradition of state. When Ethiopia had a problem in 2017 we saw this experience. What saved the nation was the civilization of its people. Egypt also once stayed without a president or a government for a year and a half but survived. What we share is much and we both have a good state and a civilization.

Capital: What should be done to remove this cloud and to strengthen the relationship between the people?

Abou Bakr Hefny: We need to better utilize the ties between both nation’s Muslim and Christian communities. We have a project on the table to link Lake Victoria to Alexandria and create a maritime route. It has been approved as a COMESA project. People between the Nile will be able to navigate it and it will encourage tourism between Ethiopia and Egypt. We are also developing medical tourism which many Ethiopians will benefit from. As well as the newly discovered line to the Holy Land from Egypt that the Holy Family used will be another point of common interest to explore. Ethiopia is one of the most beautiful countries I have visited in my lifetime and its tourism is underutilized.

Capital: Let me take you back to the visit of the P.M. to Egypt early during his tenure; what new proposal, if any, or assurances has he given Egyptian leaders about his policy regarding Abay/Nile?

Abou Bakr Hefny: The press conference given by the two leaders was explicit, and nothing other than that speech can be said. The press conference was beautiful and people had tears in their eyes. The assurance that we have taken was that Ethiopia will never harm its brothers and sisters. What we hope is to speed up this process as promised and to reach an agreement. If we solve our common problems, I see no reason for stopping us from being the two greatest nations in this part of the world. Our enemies are common: terrorism and poverty.

Capital: How does Egypt feel about the improved relationship between Ethiopia and Eritrea?

Abou Bakr Hefny:  If there is no peace in this region no investor will come here. We have invested USD one billion, Egypt, Sudan, and Ethiopia, to develop infrastructure. It is music to our ears to see peace in the Horn of Africa.

Capital: There are rumors that Egypt doesn’t want a stable Ethiopia and that the recent turmoil is instigated and supported by Egypt. What do you say about this?

Abou Bakr Hefny: These rumors have gone around before. In 2018 we had a high commission meeting in Cairo. I believe we can’t take such rumors seriously. But, there are interested parties who don’t want to see these two nations get along. We don’t have to give them a chance to destroy us and tie our hands from making our region great.

Capital:  A couple of years ago two Egyptians were accused of spying and arrested here, and shortly after released. What can you tell us about this affair?

Abou Bakr Hefny: There were no charges made against them. We brought Ethiopian Lawyers to defend them. After a month of incarceration they were released.

Capital: Any concluding remarks?

Abou Bakr Hefny: I have many friends and I always hope to see them in Cairo or Ethiopia. I want to say you have a beautiful country and keep it safe. The first thing you should preserve is the state. The only path you have to prosperity is putting state first.

AWARDS HELPING OR HARMING THE ARTS

admin
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Greetings from Johannesburg, South Africa where I am part of the coordinating team for the 3rd African Women of Excellence Awards (AWEA) for women of African descent being recognized and celebrated for their achievements, sacrifices and struggles for freedom, development and peace in Africa and the African Diaspora. The AWEA includes various categories such as economics/business, politics, science and social affairs. Though AWEA is not exclusively held in South Africa, and does not focus on the arts, it is the second time AWEA will be hosted in Joburg, a city that is no stranger to outstanding events/initiatives. Some of the awards focused on fine art in South Africa include the Thami Mnyele Fine Arts Awards, Standard Bank Young Artists Awards, and The Arts and Culture Trust Awards. These initiatives support and recognize artists and inlcude perks such as grants, exhibitions and mentorship opportunities. All of the aforementioned are aimed at emerging and established artists who may or may not be widely recognized, but display extraordinary talent, nonetheless.
Here in Ethiopia awards come and go and frankly some of them appear to be “business” driven events, focused more on the acquisition of “sponsors” verses truly elevating and acknowledging artists. Recently I had the opportunity to attend the Abyssinia Awards, an event on the scene in Addis for the past two years offering a wide range of awards from Recognition to Laureate for artists in all fields. The event was not well organized, the categories were confusing, the process was dubious and frankly I felt embarrassed for the nominees, winners and organizers alike. Does that mean we should dismiss such effort…to the contrary.
Ethiopia is not a newcomer to such awards. The Haile Selassie Prize Trust for Fine Arts awarded distinguished recipients such as Gebre Kristos Desta and Skunder Boghossian in the 1960’s. On a side note, I was happy when the convener of the Abyssinia Awards referenced this in his opening remarks. Needless to say, Ethiopia does need such awards to memorialize the contribution of artists, warranting that history will reflect a time and space where the arts were an essential and highly appreciated component of Ethiopian social, cultural and economic development. But it must be done right, else history shall record that as well.  I think the best art awards model I have seen so far includes collaboration between private and public sector with art professionals in tow. Let us take for instance the Standard Bank Young Artists Award. According to their website the award is “Designed to encourage the recipients in the pursuit of their professional careers, a key aspect of the awards is the provision of the necessary funding to create and produce a new work for the forthcoming main Festival programme, thereby guaranteeing the winner exposure to a national audience. A monetary award is also made by Standard Bank to each winner in his or her personal capacity.”
This is not rocket science folks. But to do it right means we must demand intellectual integrity, artistic sensibility, and transparency in an inclusive atmosphere of seasoned and trusted professionals. So let’s not throw the proverbial baby out with the bath water, instead let us always strive for excellence, rejecting the notion of mediocrity as the accepted standard. My experience is a mindset of acceptance and excuses yields substandard results 99% of the time. Based on this and more, my concern is two fold. The first is the obvious hard work and good intentions of Ethiopian awards organizers, if not executed well, will leave a sour taste in the mouth of sponsors who are desperately needed for such endeavors, in the absence of philanthropists and government support. On the other hand, I consider the artists who have given their all, without concern for awards, in most cases. Awards not done well, have the possibility of making mockery of the artists and placing a shadow of doubt over the awardees. This is neither nice nor fair.
Artists reflect, unpack, interpret and present a plethora of concerns which the average individual has no platform or prospect to voice, beyond that which is offered by artists.  “We are a mirror for society…” says American Artist Janet Goldner, based in New York and working in Mali for over two decades. I met Janet before heading to Joburg, a guest of USA Ambassador to the African Union, Mary Beth Leonard, an avid art collector, who moved me with her keen overstanding of the important role of artists globally.  Adding to that, Gebre Kristos Desta said in an interview with Sidney W. Head 1969, “…art in this country (Ethiopia) is not the road to riches…”. These statements say it all, it’s not just about money but the passion and the drive of artists.  So if we truly want to honor them, let us do it right- ethically and professionally – in an effort to elevate and artists and their esteemed vocation.

Dr. Desta Meghoo is a Jamaican born Creative Consultant, Curator and cultural promoter based in Ethiopia since 2005. She also serves as Liaison to the AU for the Ghana based, Diaspora African Forum.

Emerging market consumers and global economic transformation

Alazar Kebede
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The newly emerged middle class are trailblazers in their own nations and represent, on a massive scale, agents of global economic transformation.  Their effect on the global economy is already starkly apparent in the seismic shift in global economic gravity over the past few decades.
Due to a myriad of factors, greater trade and investment flows, urbanization, expanding labor forces, rising wages, infrastructure spending, rising life expectancies, political stability, prudent macroeconomic management and, of course, the emerging middle classes of many developing nations, the world has been turned upside down. As recently as 1980, the world economy beat to the tune of the United States in particular and the developed economies in general. The West towered over the Rest.
But, currently the tables have turned. According to the International Monetary Fund, where the developing nations accounted for roughly one-third of world GDP in 1980, this cohort now accounts for over 55% of the global total, with China, the world’s second largest economy, leading the way. By pumping millions of new workers into the global labor force over the past three decades, China and other developing nations have dealt both a supply-side shock (more workers) and demand-side shock (more consumers) to the world economy.
Much of the economic narrative over the past few years has been focused on the former, notably in many developed nations, the United States included, where the common refrain is that the rising supply of workers in the developing nations has undermined the jobs and incomes of workers in the West. To a degree, this is true, although many empirical studies suggest that more United States jobs have been lost to automation and technological advances than to low-cost labor in Mexico or China. The more salient point is that the millions of workers in the emerging markets are also consumers, with more disposable income than their parents or grandparents ever had.
While the spending power of the West has been diminished by the United States-led financial crisis and ensuing austerity in Euro zone area of the European Union, the purchasing power among developing consumers is on a secular upswing. Where in the past factory workers in Asia would trudge off to work on Saturday morning, today they are more likely to head for the local shopping malls for a day of socialising and shopping.
Any first-time visitor to the emerging cities of Shanghai, Dubai, Mumbai, Ho Chi Minh City, Istanbul and Sao Paulo is struck by the vigor and vitality of the local consumer, out in force and shopping in an air-conditioned mall that might be mistaken for a mall in suburban America. The size and scale of these urban buyers and their pent-up demand for electronic goods, appliances, automobiles, skin-care products, clothing and other goods are increasingly setting global trends. Emerging market consumers are leading in global fashion and driving global sales in a number of industries.
Indeed, in a seminal shift, global consumption is tilting toward the developing nations and away from the United States and the West. According to both the recent UNDP and IMF documents, the gap in global personal consumption is narrowing in favor of the developing nations. Where the spread was roughly 80:20 in favor of the developed nations in 1980, the spread has now narrowed to roughly 60:40. And the will have little doubt that in the not-too-distant future, the lines will cross, with the newly emerging middle class poised to take the global baton of consumption from consumers in the West.
And as the emerging market middle classes consume more, world trade flows are being altered. According to the IMF, a shift in world imports is well under way, with the developing nations’ share of world imports reaching a record 56% last year, totalling a record $10.5 trillion. Again, in just a matter of years, the lines are set to cross and imports from the developing nations, led by rising purchases of goods and services from the middle class are set to easily supersede those of the developed nations.
The aftershocks from the rise of the middle class in the developing nations are evident in various guises. Their pent-up demand for electronic goods, appliances, automobiles, skincare products, clothing and other goods has reached the point where emerging market consumers are now dictating the global revenues and profitability of these industries and others.
In addition, as the new global consuming class adopts and acquires Western lifestyles, moves from the village to the city, works in air-conditioned offices, drives to work, consumes more protein, there will be greater demand and higher prices for energy, water, agricultural goods and other natural resources. Put in another way, the monopoly the West has long enjoyed in devouring the world’s natural resources is over.
For much of the post-Cold War era, the equation was rather simple. The developing nations produced commodities and the West consumed them. Those days however, are past. Millions of the new middle class consumers are pressuring the global commodity infrastructure. There is a dramatic shift in underlying demand for global energy, with the developing nations clearly now the global drivers of energy demand and prices.
According to the IMF, the same holds true for the global consumption of meat, fruits and vegetables, with the developing nations, driven by a more affluent emerging market consumer, already out-consuming the developed nations. Pick virtually any commodity and the story is basically the same. Copper, silver, iron ore, meat, corn, wheat, soybeans, the future price of these commodities and others will increasingly reflect the rising per capita incomes and attendant jump in consumption among consumers in the developing nations. In the end, the world has changed. In the years ahead, the global economy will increasingly beat to the tune of millions of other middle-class consumers.

Against Gravity

admin
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Eight young photographers gathered their pieces at the Goethe-Institute Addis Ababa completing their six month mentorship program by established artist Michael Tsegaye. Focusing on the Identity, change and personal elements the emerging photographers produced a lot of creative work during thie program.
“The mentorship inspired me to do more,” said Michael. “Watching them supporting each other and ending up being friends surprised me.”
The Institute which received 30 applicants for the program picked  12 young artists to attend the mentorship but four dropped out. The eight emerging photographers, Abdi Bekele, Addis Aemero, Bemnet Fekadu, Brook Getachew, Firehiwot Gebrealu, Meseret Argaw, Obsa Zerihun, and Solomon Nigus, all completed the project and have new material to work with.
Trainees wen’t through  group and individual education on practical and theoretical processes.
CPE is a program for training, discussion, collaboration and conversation for emerging Ethiopian photographers that was recently founded by Maheder Haileselassie, a photographer. The program is jointly organized by the British Council, Goethe-Institute and Ice Addis, funded by the European Commission.
Organized by Center for Photography in Ethiopia (CPE) the mentorship program was launched on September 25 and will continue for one more month.

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