It all began in an attempt to pick a topic to dialogue about the art of wine when the Acacia Photography Contest was born. Castel Winery Ethiopia called competitors to send their pictures consisting of Acacia Trees and the Castel Wine named after it.
That is when Natnael and Getaneh applied along with 110 applicants.
The name Acacia was chosen by Castel winery to introduce itself to the Ethiopian market. There were many trees on the way to Zeway, where the wine farm was located.
Acacia trees are not affected by draught and are known for being sturdy so they, were chosen to represent the strong background of the company, according to Alem Bekele, Castel’s sales and marketing manager.
The posts reached 300,000 people were shared numerous times. There were other interesting pictures and fun combinations of wine and Acacia trees.
“The campaign was very successful,” said Alem. “We were able to raise the issue of what makes wine a special drink both in history and quality.”
There are three categories of wine globally. The table wine, which is the most common one, consists of no gas and has a limited amount of alcohol, 11 percent. Sparkling wine, which consists of gas, is mostly known for champagne which is produced in northeast France. Fortified wine, which consists of an extra distilled spirit and has more than 11 percent alcohol.
Wine has two categories, one uses the fresh grape and the other is the grape powder. Castel winery uses the fresh grapes cultivated on its 169 hectares of land in Zeway town, 167 km south of Addis .
There are Red, Rose, and White wines. Red and white wine are directly made from the grape juice of their color while rose is created by mixing the two. Castel produces all the three types of wines which makes the Ethiopian factory more successful than its other two plants in Africa, Morocco and Tunisia.
“The contest was expected to award only one individual a local round trip,” said Alem. “However, as the campaign has reached more people than expected the company extended its prize to a flight to Eritrea for the winner and second place a flight to Bahir-dar.”
Castle, which is the third largest wine producer globally, was founded by the nine brothers and sisters. The company which joined the Ethiopian market with a 25 million Euro investment is also undertaking an expansion project with an additional 85-hectares of land.
Castel awards photo contest winners
70 years of excellence
Jean-Christophe Torres, Headmaster of the Lycée franco-éthiopien Guebre-Mariam is a man of many talents. Not only was he a professor of philosophy before becoming headmaster, he also trained teachers, headmasters and inspectors and was a school-business correspondent in Montpellier. A prolific writer, he has published nine books in philosophy and pedagogy. He also served on the editorial board of a journal specializing in educational administration (the French magazine “administration et éducation”).
He talked with Capital about being a headmaster, how it feels to work in Ethiopia, and what’s special about Lycée franco-éthiopien, Excerpts;
Capital: How do you describe 70 years of excellence?
Jean-Christophe Torres: Lycée Franco-Ethiopian Guébré-Mariam welcomed its first students in March 1948. During the seventy years of its existence, it, has adapted to the multiple changes of a country that has experienced a strong demographic and economic growth while maintaining its status of an international reference school for many Ethiopians. The name of the school (passed in everyday language) is reminiscent of the struggle against fascism and for freedom: a struggle in which the Emperor and the French Laic Mission recognized in each other. This long-term success of Lycée is due to the quality of its educational offer, the central role played in the country in spreading the French language and the importance of the Francophonie for a State that hosts the headquarters of the African Union.
The French educational system has adapted its requirements and methods and satisfies a public always very attentive and rigorous in Ethiopia.
Capital: What are the major challenges in running the school?
Jean-Christophe Torres: The most important challenge is first and foremost educational: to further develop training in line with the expectations and requirements of the families we welcome, to strive for excellence in all our students and to transmit to them the values that France shares with Ethiopia.
We aim to develop o students by offering them, in addition to educational support, a large number of sports and cultural activities. We will have in the course of the year a new gymnasium that will offer multiple opportunities for new sports (climbing walls, basketball courts – volleyball – hand couvert , and a dance hall). Our football stadium is also much appreciated by parents and alumni!
For the new school year, new educational activities will also be offered. There will be new languages such as German, but also ancient Latin and Greek. Audiovisual activities will also be co-hosted by a French teacher and a film professional who tours with the French actor Gerard Depardieu: high school newscast club, a short film competition, and production of citizen videos. However, the most important challenge is to accompany students, many of whom are not French-speaking, to the baccalaureate exam. At the beginning of the academic year, we will develop pedagogical methods adapted to these particular non francophone audiences: the French-language approach to schooling. The teachers will all benefit from specific training provided by an academic who will intervene punctually in the school.
Capital: What major achievements have you accomplished so far?
Jean-Christophe Torres: This year, Lycée Guébré Mariam has obtained the accreditation to pass Cambridge certifications. This certificate, issued by the English university internationally recognized within the framework of the European reference system for languages skills. We are the only facility in Ethiopia to be eligible to pass this test.
Students’ final exam results are once again excellent, with a record of 74% passing students with honors and a 99% graduation rate. This year we started this to implement individualized support schemes for students who were having difficulty (tutoring, support) to better take into account the academic difficulty. Lycée Guébré Mariam must accompany all students to success – including the most fragile.
We started a major restructuring phase. After the gymnasium, we will begin restructuring the primary school to have a completely renovated infrastructure within three years.
Capital: What would you say makes this Lycee unique? Where does it stand compared to other Lycees in the world?
Jean-Christophe Torres: Guebre Mariam High School is first of all a Franco-Ethiopian high school. We are associated with the Ethiopian Ministry of Education through a 1966 cooperation agreement (amended in 2012) that sets the framework for a truly unique educational partnership in the world. It was at the request of Emperor Haile Selassie himself that the French secular mission opened the establishment in 1948. The aim was to train elite students for the country in the process of modernization. Today, the school continues to carry out this mission while being democratized and open to more diverse audiences.
Guebre Mariam High School also has the distinction of having two administrative supervisory authorities. It is primarily an establishment of the Mission Laïque Française, and it is also under agreement with the Agency for the Abroad French Teaching (AEFE): this allows it to benefit from many professors seconded and recruited in France.
The school has a very close link with the Embassy of France, the fruit of a historical connection. The fact that the LGM provides schooling for many children of diplomats from 45 countries is a responsibility and an honor that obliges the school to play an indirect role of influence. This responsibility is a strong issue for us and obliges us even more with our public.
Capital: Do you support low income communities by giving scholarships?
Jean-Christophe Torres: We have an important scholarship and support policy for the most vulnerable families. Out of 1,800 schoolchildren, we have about 300 families receiving social benefits. We are very sensitive about this. The French education system is based on two major principles: the individual excellence of the pupil and the equality of chances. We are not a commercial enterprise focused on the profitability of the establishment. We are here – the French presence is there – in an initial spirit of educational cooperation. The Ethiopian and French governments have set the institution’s course for its history: to contribute to the rapprochement between our two countries and to support the educational effort made by the Ethiopian government by developing collaboration in a spirit of sharing and reciprocity. This is why we educate 70% of Ethiopian students, offer an Ethiopian curriculum and support by internal scholarships many families who otherwise could not afford the education of their children in high school.
Capital: The main problem here in Ethiopia is quality of education. How do you ensure that you give quality education to your students?
Jean-Christophe Torres: We offer our students an educational quality based on the French system. Many of our teachers are trained and recruited in France, our methods and our programs are (regardless of the Ethiopian curriculum that is followed in addition by the students concerned) those of France. We are very rigorous in respecting educational rules and approaches. The success rates of our students in terminal exams show that we are doing so perfectly. The future of the students after the baccalaureate also certifies it: all pursue studies in very good schools: in France or elsewhere (United States, Canada essentially). It is safe to say that the LGM is a high school of educational excellence.
Capital: Do you have plans to branch out? Open another Lycee? Or any other plans to expand this one?
Jean-Christophe Torres: As I told you, we have a major project to restructure the school. This also involves the educational offer which will have to open up even more to the teaching of foreign languages (European section, Chinese …) and digital (learning-lab in science, teaching in computer programming from the start of the eleventh grade). We also develop students’ autonomy by opening a high school students’ home: this is an association hosted by the high school where students can have projects, manage a budget, take initiatives and practice freedom of expression. This is part of the educational objectives of the French system and all learning is also intended to help the student become an accomplished citizen
Capital: How do you see your students’ achievement after they leave the school?
Jean-Christophe Torres: Our students continue their studies in all types of institutions: business schools, engineering, medicine … The target countries are first France, but also the United States and Canada. The returns we have indicate that they are doing very well. In France, there are two poles of attractiveness in which there is an important diaspora: the region of Lyon and that of Toulouse. Our students are very well prepared for further studies and the embassy services accompany them at the end of the journey to obtain a VISA.
Capital: Tell us about yourself, where you were before joining this lycee and what you have done so far.
Jean-Christophe Torres: The LGM is the fourth institution where I have exercised my responsibilities as headmaster. I was in France in Grenoble, Montpellier and Limoges where I ran very different high schools: downtown and rural, with professional training or general training. My last school was a high school with preparatory classes: that is to say, post-baccalaureate courses which prepare people to pass the contests of the grandes écoles (polytechnic, central, normal sup).
A long time ago I was a (15 years …) professor of philosophy before passing the competition of headmaster. I was a trainer of teachers, then of headmasters and of inspectors, and I was also school-business correspondent in Montpellier (my mission was to organize joint actions between high schools and companies, to develop joint projects). I also like to write and I have published to date nine books: in the fields of philosophy and sciences of education. I was also a member of the editorial board of a journal specialized in educational administration (the French magazine “administration et éducation”).
I am very happy with my arrival in Ethiopia and fully aware of the challenges that lie ahead for the establishment. But the quality of the teams and the overall dynamism that I feel in my professional environment make me very confident for the future.
Debt-Driven Development model made in China and Turkey
Turkey’s currency the “Lira”, has plummeted in value this month, accelerating its poor performance throughout the year. Last week, Washington Post reported that so far in 2018, the Lira has lost over 60 percent of its value, which is its largest depreciation since 2001. Washington Post also reported that a new survey of Turkish voters suggests that the currency crisis is hurting the popularity of the government of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. But the political fallout is not likely to be too sever, because the government has convinced Turkish citizens that it is not responsible for the crisis.
After the flare-up in Turkey which saw its currency 25 percent in a week, major tensions with the United States, and even talk of its entire economy collapsing, things appear to have quietened down over the past week, as Turkey settles in to try and solve its problem. Just because things have calmed down, however, doesn’t mean that Turkey is out of the woods yet.
Financial injections by Qatar and possibly China may resolve Turkey’s immediate economic crisis which is aggravated by a politics-driven trade war with the United States. However, these aid measures are unlikely to resolve the country’s structural problems, fuelled by President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s counterintuitive interest rate theories.
The latest crisis in Turkey’s boom-bust economy raises questions about a development model in which countries like China and Turkey move toward one-man rule. The evidence is clear. It encourages massive borrowing to drive economic growth. Holger Schmieding, Chief Economist at Berenberg Bank in London stated that in Turkey and China, the debt-driven approach sparked remarkable economic growth. In the process, living standards were significantly boosted and huge numbers of people were lifted out of poverty.
Yet, both countries with Turkey more exposed, given its greater vulnerability to the swings and sensitivities of international financial markets, are witnessing the limitations of the approach. So are countries along China’s Belt and Road, including Pakistan. These countries leaped head over shoulder into the funding opportunities made available to them by China.
Holger Schmieding noted that these countries are now see themselves locked into debt traps that in the case of Sri Lanka and Djibouti have forced them to effectively turn over to China control of critical national infrastructure. Other countries like Laos have become almost wholly dependent on China because it owns the bulk of their unsustainable debt.
The fact that China may be more prepared to deal with the downside of debt-driven development does little to make its model sustainable. James Dorsey, a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies argued that debt-driven growth could also prove to be a double-edged sword for China itself. This is so even if it is far less dependent than other countries on imports, does not run a chronic trade deficit and doesn’t have to borrow heavily in dollars.
Ruchir Sharma, Morgan Stanley’s Chief Global Strategist and head of Emerging Markets Equity said that with more than half the increase in global debt over the past decade having been issued as domestic loans in China, China’s risk is capital fleeing to benefit from higher interest rates abroad. Referring to the United States Federal Reserve, Ruchir Sharma argued that right now Chinese can earn the same interest rates in the United States for a lot less risk, so the motivation to flee is high, and will grow more intense as the Fed raises rates further.
President Erdogan has charged that the United States abetted by traitors and foreigners are waging economic warfare against Turkey, using a strong dollar as “the bullets, cannonballs and missiles.” Rejecting economic theory and wisdom, President Erdogan has sought for years to fight an alleged “interest rate lobby” that includes an ever-expanding number of financiers and foreign powers seeking to drive Turkish interest rates artificially high to damage the economy by insisting that low interest rates and borrowing costs would contain price hikes.
According to James Dorsey, in doing so, President Erdogan is harking back to an approach that was popular in Latin America in the 1960s and 1970s that may not be wholly wrong but similarly may also not be universally applicable. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) warned late last year that Turkey’s “gross external financing needs to cover the current account deficit and external debt repayments due within a year are estimated at around 25% of GDP in 2017, leaving the country exposed to global liquidity conditions.”
James Dorsey further noted that with two international credit rating agencies reducing Turkish debt to junk status in the wake of Turkey’s economically fought disputes with the United States, the government risks its access to foreign credits being curtailed, which could force it to extract more money from ordinary Turks through increased taxes. That in turn would raise the spectre of recession.
Ruchir Sharma said “Turkey’s troubles are homegrown, and the economic war against it is a figment of Mr. Erdogan’s conspiratorial imagination. But he does have a point about the impact of a surging dollar, which has a long history of inflicting damage on developing nations.”
Nevertheless, as The Wall Street Journal concluded, the vulnerability of Turkey’s debt-driven growth was such that it only took two tweets by United States President Donald Trump announcing sanctions against two Turkish Ministers and the doubling of some tariffs to accelerate the Turkish lira’s tailspin.
According to James Dorsey, President Erdogan may not immediately draw the same conclusion, but it is certainly one that is likely to serve as a cautionary note for countries that see debt, whether domestic or associated with China’s infrastructure-driven Belt and Road initiative, as a main driver of growth.
It is instructive that Pakistan could in the next weeks be turning to the IMF for the 13th time. To date, Turkey has been forced to turn to the IMF for help 50% more, which is of course a total of 18 times.
