In its highest procurement period in the last few years the Ethiopian Sugar Corporation has floated another round of sugar bidding with a huge volume. The bid is for the third time in the budget year.
The international bid that the corporation announced a week ago indicated that it is looking to buy 200,000 tons of cane sugar.
The maximum production in the history of the corporation was 4 million quintals per annum in the 2015/16 budget year. Last budget year the annual production was 4.5 million quintals. According to the survey conducted by the Sugar Corporation the current demand is from 6 to 6.5 million quintals per annum.
Due to the gap between the demand and actual local production the corporation has imported 200,000 metric tons of sugar per annum.
However this year imports have significantly increased.
Gashaw Ayecheluhem, Public Relations head at the corporation, told Capital that the El Nino and La Nina effects have affected production. “The instability followed by burning sugarcane farms at Wonji and Arjo Dedesa and suspending the production at Fincha have significantly hindered our ability to produce a lot of sugar this year,” he said.
He said that the delay of the expected new factories has also affected the volume.
“The instability has significantly affected the production at some of the factories, for instance Fincha suspended its production for months when it was unable to transport the sugar in produced and ended up staying at a congested warehouse during the instability period,” he said.
“The rain also caused some other factories to not start on time,” he added.
According to Gashaw, Omo Kuraz II, which is one of the new factories constructed by the Chinese company COMPLANT, has suspended its production because of unexpected rainfall. Kuraz II commenced its trial test last budget year and suspended production due to the rainfall and is still not operating.
In December 2017 and March 2018 the corporation bought 100,000 metric tons each to alleviate the sugar shortage.
With the current purchase, Ethiopia will have imported 400,000 metric tons in a single budget year. The sugar being bought now will be transported during the coming budget year.
According to Gashaw, the 200,000 metric tons of sugar will be distributed from September to December in the coming budget year that starts on July 8.
According to the bid document, the procurement volume will be decreased based on the production performance of the factories.
“If the factories are doing well the volume in the latest bid will be reduced,” he added.
The 100,000 metric ton sugar bid opened in March and is expected to begin transportation June through August, which is the second month of the coming budget year (2018/19).
In the end of the budget year the corporation purchased only 70,000 metric tons of sugar, which was distributed last October.
The sugar shortage is not new to the country. For the past several years the government has allocated millions of USD to import the sweet.
In the beginning of the past Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP I), which started in 2010 and ended in 2015, the government announced the commencement of ten sugar factory projects that were expected to be finalized before the end of the five year period. Hopes are that the new sugar factories will allow the country to halt sugar imports and enable it to earn more than USD 600 million from exports by the end of the first GTP.
However almost all of them have been delayed beyond the scheduled time and the country continues to allocate scarce hard currency to import the product, which is also source of input for several industries.
Currently some of the projects are on in the testing stage and the majority are under construction.
Compared with the past two years the current purchase is very huge.
In 2015 the corporation purchased 275,000 and 300,000 tons in 2016, while the July and 2017 purchase, were 170,000 tones.
The corporation planned to cut sugar imports as of the past budget year and it has unsuccessfully attempted to export sugar to Kenya.
In the previous bid that opened in March ED and F Man, Agro Corp, Sukden, Al Khaleej, Baitak Development and Antei International were selected as the final competitors to supply sugar from June to August. ED and F Man, who won the bid, are expected to transport the sugar for local consumption until August.
In December Al Khaleej won the bid for 100,000 metric tons of sugar purchased by the corporation, Sukden supplied the 70,000 metric tons in the beginning of the budget year.
From seven operational factories Kuraz II and Arjo Dedesa, who lost 2,100 hectare of sugar cane during the unrest, are not active.
According to Gashaw, so far in the budget year the corporation imported 295,000 metric tons of sugar and imported another 110,000 metric tons that ED and F Man will supply for the end of the current budget year and the beginning of 2018/19 budget year.
Every month the corporation supplies 600,000 million quintals of sugar to the local market and manufacturing industry.
Sugar factories are expected to perform maintenance during this rainy season.
Sugar imports continue to skyrocket
France, Ethiopia to commemorate Korean War veterans on 65th anniversary
In 1951 Emperor Haile Sellassie sent the famous Kagnew Battalion to fight along with 16 other nations from around the world in support of the United Nations’ peace keeping operation. Ten years earlier Ethiopia became the first African country to participate in a peacekeeping mission abroad contributing 6,000 soldiers. Today, 188 remain alive, grouped into a very active association under the authority of Colonel Melesse Tessema.
Now, in honour of the 65th anniversary of the Panmunjeom Armistice in Korea, the Defence attaché office of the French Embassy in Addis Ababa in collaboration with the Ethiopian section of the Legion d’Honneur society and the associations of Korean War Veterans of both France and Ethiopia will commemorate the pride of the Ethiopians for their accomplishments in the Korean battalion from June 4th to 7th.
Thanks to Ethiopia, this involvement has been a symbol of a proud Africa engaged to defend liberty and freedom all over the world. On this special occasion, French veterans will be welcomed in Addis Ababa and will have the opportunity to reconnect with their Ethiopian brothers in arms. Because they coincidently follow each other in the alphabet, the two nations often fought together, especially during the famous battle of Crèvecoeur in the summer of 1951. Currently, Ethiopia is in the forefront of peacekeeping missions.
The event will consist celebrating the reunion of French and Ethiopian veterans at the Korean War Memorial in Addis Ababa, a military ceremony at the Peace-Keeping Main Department of Addis Ababa where the torch will be passed between veterans and the new generation of peacekeepers. It will also feature a conference at the Addis Ababa University where the Korean war veterans will share their experiences with students and researchers.
This commemoration is an unprecedented opportunity to remind Ethiopian and French peoples their common history and to strengthen their future relationship. On a wider scale, it’s also a way to underline the significant commitment of Ethiopia in peace keeping operations together with all other countries around the world.
This event is made possible thanks to the support of the French Ministry of Armed Forces along with French and Ethiopian companies.
Lack of perceived benefits cause many teachers to skip certification exam Out of 6,000 teachers, only 900 passed the exam last year
Over 2,000 teachers working in government schools who were registered to take a written licensing exam prepared by the Addis Ababa Education Bureau declined to sit for the exam.
Out of the 4,300 teachers registered to take the exam but only half came to the examination, which was held a week ago. The exam was given to the teachers and school directors who are working from first through tenth grade.
Sources close to the issue told Capital that the teachers don’t see the point of taking the exam because scoring well on it will not give them more salary or a promotion.
However, out of the 6,000 teachers who took the exam in Addis Ababa last year only 900 passed.
The half day exam was a way of developing a professional licensing system which is also a common examination for teachers. Those who passed the professional competence examination received a professional certificate.
“If you look at the teachers who took the exam before and got the certificate, it didn’t do anything in terms of getting them better pay or a promotion so others are looking at that and feel it is pointless to take the test,” a source said.
The Bureau will announce who passed the exam in one week.
The entry level qualification for a teacher will be a minimum of a Bachelor Degree and Diploma. The Bureau said the professional licensing system for teachers was introduced to enhance the quality of education and professional competence of teachers.
Since 2013, six rounds of licensing written exams have been given by the Ministry of Education and so far 8,600 teachers have received teaching licenses. There are 38,000 teachers in the final stages of receiving the license.
So far the teaching license in Ethiopia is not used to determine salary or raise however in the future it will be used to hire teachers. Researchers assert that the availability of well-trained teachers, through pre-service teacher training, in-service professional development and informal training obtained through on the-job experience, is central to improving the quality of education at both primary and secondary levels. The licensing written exam is expected to help teachers see how they improve.
In 2003/4 Ethiopia introduced the Teacher Education System Overhaul (TESO) with a new curriculum promoting active learning and student-centered approaches. It was implemented in most of the teacher training institutions in the country.
In Memory of Emeritus Professor Abraham [Abiy] Ford Department of Radio, Television and Film in the School of Communications And Addis Ababa University Schools and Department of Journalism and Performance Arts and Film
The name of Abraham [Abiy] Ford in his lifetime and death invokes feelings of admiration and respect in the hearts and minds of many people. But personally, Abiy is not just a name in the footnotes of history, but the true spirit of Ethiopian born scholar at home and Diaspora. His legacy will be remembered as a celebration of excellence in service and truth in freedom of choice and speech.
Professor Abraham [Abiy] Ford was born on March 5, 1935 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia and died on May 9, 2018. Abiy was an Ethiopian by birth and rich culture. He belongs to distinguished ancestry of Afro-Barbadian and Afro-American heritage. His parents migrated to Ethiopia in response to Marcus Garvey’s call for a return to Africa. Ethiopia as an independent country in Africa has already been known as a haven for freedom of choice and protection from oppression for peoples of diverse cultures and faiths. It was for the same reason that when a small number of Muslims were oppressed in Arabia arrived in Abyssinia [now Ethiopia] fourteen centuries ago. They were exhorted to flee and live in a country that was ruled by a just ruler. Ethiopia since time immemorial has become the magnet of freedom of conscience, human dignity and respect for individual birth rights and identity.
Abiy’s celebration of life reminds us of how free people living together in a haven endowed with coexistence of races and cultures. Abiy is the oldest son of Arnold Josiah Ford, a musician, a theologian, a rabbi, a teacher, a linguist and his wife the “Great Teacher” Minion-Lorraine-Innis, a musician, an educator, a tennis instructor, an Eagle Scout and pioneer of scout head start in Ethiopian schools. Abyi Ford and his brother Yosef Ford earned the coveted first boy scout master and troop leadership badge known for its triple fingers symbolizing “Loving God and Country, Being Altruist, And Obeying the Rule”. A badge of honor I wore as I am also a boy scout to serve and obey the rule to salute him farewell.
Abyi’s mother despite the Italian occupation became one of Ethiopia’s pioneer educators to establish the first modern co-education school named after Princess Zenebe Worq. On the other hand, his father Arnold Ford, was also able to direct the only short-lived school of music and language in Addis Ababa when he died and buried in Ethiopia in 1935. He was a political activist and a composer of the first Universal Ethiopian Anthem that was adopted by the Universal Negro Improvement Association [UNIA] in 1920.
Abiy followed his parental’ s pioneering trail and first college graduate from the School of Communications of Columbia University in New York. He was also trained and served as a pilot in US Air Force. He flew his personal one engine plane as trainer. As Emeritus Professor of the School of Communications of Howard University, he returned to his beloved birthplace to enrich the national renaissance agenda for higher learning institutions in Ethiopia since 2007.
Abiy’s altruism coupled with creative imagination was driven by the humble idea of helping to establish a school of journalism and thereby creating conditions to nurture a free press in Ethiopia. In as much as his career in fine arts that begun at Howard University, a premier Historically Black Comprehensive University for more than four decades, he managed to contribute to teaching films, radio and television and graduation of first talented intergeneration leaders of African and Ethiopian descents in the United States.
Abiy’ s vision for Ethiopian higher and secondary education was realized when he felt that immersion is the catalyst of active knowledge about fine arts education designed in modules for innovative curriculum to be taught in promising secondary schools and colleges and universities in Ethiopia. The pilot test of was realized during the summer break he volunteered to teach in secondary schools in a collaborative project developed by few faculty from Howard University interdisciplinary working group to develop interdisciplinary curriculum well before his retirement in 2006.
Abiy mentored and encouraged young Ethiopian film makers to seek Fulbright Scholarship, as well as enroll in other academic opportunity available for Africans. In so doing, he consistently yearned to establish ties between Addis Ababa University and international sister institutions.
According to Professor Andreas Eshete, former President of Addis Ababa University: “Abiy was also a force behind an initiative to form a film school. He used his professional talent to engage and challenge his colleagues and peers to join him in his mini projects about the future of Ethiopian film. In so doing, “Abiy was a cherished presence in various musical hands beginning to flourish in Addis.” His musical talent led him to be involved in the Ethiopian Millennium Musical Festivals. In his free time and uncompensated non-university activities, as an accomplished pianist and percussionist, he played at Addis Ababa Jupiter Hotel almost every Thursday. Every time I visit Addis Ababa, I see him there because it is a privilege to listen to his music not only in private homes but also public square concerts in Addis and Washington, D.C.
His lifetime dream after his retirement from Howard, had always been to build an African-American museum at the site of his mother’s lovely, old school. Given his indefatigable altruism and love of his country of birth place many of his colleagues building a museum that would have been a fitting memorial to his remarkable Ethiopian family, as well as his belonging to proud Afro-Caribbean and African-American family who became quintessential patriotic Ethiopians.
The Board of Howard University has affirmed in its resolution to celebrate Abyi’s lifetime accomplishments as an exemplar for his colleagues and peers to do things beyond call of duty in the classroom to capture the existential needs for education that fit his people in the real world. In so doing, “Abiy Ford maintained close professional relationships in both Ethiopia and the United States. As one of the pioneers and faculty member in the Department of Radio, Television and Film in the School of Communications, he also attained the rank of tenured professor, developed courses and programs on Film and Journalism, and published in peer-reviewed journals.”
By all measures of excellence in service and truth, Abiy was also a gifted linguist in Amharic, French, English and Italian which made him a distinguished consultant and delegation leader on behalf of Howard University and Addis Ababa University in Africa, USA, Europe, Scandinavia, and Canada.
Abiy’s work earned him a rare two years of consecutive Fulbright Scholarship that took him to Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and other parts of Africa. After his retirement from Howard University in 2006, Emeritus Professor Abiyi Ford was able to fulfill his lifetime vision as a scholar and educator, par excellence.
The of Board of Trustees of Howard University also shared the feelings of many of us that “ words cannot adequately express their heartfelt sympathy to his daughter Ms. Miniyabi Ford, as Howard Alumna, and her entire family. The Board also articulated the altruism, congenial personality, unpretentiousness and communication skills encompassing world vision of his country Ethiopia and Africa.” It also noted that the former President of Addis Ababa University, Professor Andreas Eshete, lauded Professor Ford for his significant and indispensable contributions for humanity studies.
Professor Andreas Eshete, on this occasion as always, “remembered Abiy as a vivid, living symbol of the enduring bonds binding the lives of Afro-Caribbean, African-Americans and Ethiopians.” By all measures of excellence like Andrea Eshete, everyone who knew Abiy felt he has inculcated in his students, peers, friends and public audience “the missed in the country that he, in a genuine spirit of Pan-Africanism, made his abiding home.”
Many of his colleagues and scholars felt welcome in academia and other social settings where ever he served. They desire to have him as their mentor and center of affection. His wisdom, prudence and depth of scholarship are visible and hard to forget his words, smiles, bushy mustache, modest and unassuming manners in teaching interdisciplinary Ethiopian and African history in one of the oldest Historically Black University celebrating its 150 years of existence. I have shared the limelight to be in his academic circle to learn from his experience when I teach international health and development subjects.
Abiy, a genuine boy scout buddy, throughout his life was there to help junior faculty as newcomers, as well as undergraduate and graduate students to learn and enrich their lives as advocates of Ethiopia and Pan African’ ideas and ideals in Diaspora. He valued openness as a culture to treasure in our service in public diplomacy and dialogue, as well as means of civil discourse to resolve differences are healthy democratic culture that enrich peaceful coexistent life styles. The ongoing debate surrounding Pan African scholars has taken deep-root and life of its own during his lifetime and that of his parents, colleagues and peers in Diaspora, but he cherished his love of Ethiopia as a challenge of lifetime project in pathway of freedom of thought and expression.
Abiy will be remembered by many friends as a gentle debater, critical thinker and challenger who exemplify excellence in service and truth when everything he did is on the balance of his stamina to do many things. He travelled many thousands of miles as itinerary preacher and spokesman. More important he was a loving, caring and compassionate person family man and a friend ready to share his genuine feelings. Those who know him could not hold their feeling and outpouring admiration for his refined culture and urbane humanism. Many tears were shed because of fear of the vacuum created by his departure and loss of his paternal wisdom at all occasions. I witnessed it on May 14, 2018 at the Celebration of Life dedicated to a beloved professor “Abraham Abiy Ford at Howard University, Washington, D.C. USA
In the final analysis, as a brilliant communicator, many of his audience felt they will grow intellectually when he challenged them to debate issues and respect freedom of choice and speech. He approached them believing that constructive engagement and dialogue are the mainstay of one’s universal values, beliefs and acceptance of diversity as one of the strongest legacy to be preserved where people live, work and establish their home. Abiy’s legacy will be remembered, as well as his familiar lineage of the source of rare patriotic breed that lived and buried in the rich earth of Ethiopia. Our heartfelt condolences to his family and friends and especially his daughter Miniyabi and his grandson Fasil who will be the torchbearers and successors of a great heritage and scholarship.
By Ahmed A. Moen, DrPH, MPH, MHA
Howard University, Washington, D.C, USA
