The Swedish embassy in Addis Ababa held a seminar focusing on “Women and Media in Ethiopia” in the presence of prominent media professionals, students, academia and activists.
Speaking at the opening of the seminar, Torbjörn Pettersson, ambassador of Sweden in Ethiopia, said as Sweden was one of the leading countries in the world in promoting women empowerment in media and other sectors it was important to share that experience with Ethiopia.
“Here in Ethiopia we are particularly committed to make our feminist foreign policy a reality and contribute to improved gender equality in Ethiopia, be it in our political work, in our development cooperation programs, in consular matters or internally here at our Embassy,” the ambassador said.
“Swedes are strong believers in that gender equality is not only a goal in itself but essential for deepening of democracy and for a sustainable economic growth.”
“We have formed a gender equality network that will act as our advisors when it comes to gender equality and women’s rights. And we want to create opportunities for organizations and individuals promoting gender equality in Ethiopia,” he further said.
State Minister of Women and Children Affairs, Aster Dawit, on her part said that the ministry is working towards promoting gender issues in collaboration with other institutions.
A research paper presented by Enguday Alemayehu, researcher on gender studies at the Addis Ababa University (AAU), entitled “Women and Media in Ethiopia” covered a wide-range issues including women’s participation in media and media production, women’s portrayal in TV commercials, television and radio series dramas, in entertainment and Sunday television programs as well as women’s portrayal in Ethiopian songs. Her research was one of the focal discussion points during the seminar. Participants have also debated the overall gaps in gender and the media in Ethiopian context.
Another report presented by Meron Aregaw, executive director of Ethiopian Women Lawyers Association (EWLA), revealed the gap in Ethiopian constitution and different proclamations regarding gender and women’s right.
Bethlehem Negash, media professional and member of the Ethiopian Media Women Association (EMWA) on her part focused her presentation on women in media practice in Ethiopia and the challenges. Among the barriers hindering women’s participation in media, Bethlehem raised the 2008 mass media and the 2009 anti-terrorism proclamations as the main ones.
Lars Tallert of the Swedish Fojo Media Institute also shared his experience from the region and other countries so as to give perspectives and lessons to learn.
Representatives from the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority suggested in the formation of a task group from all stakeholders to continue addressing the challenges of women and media in Ethiopia, starting by working on a databank.
The program was expertly moderated by Blen Sahilu, Legal Professional, women rights activist and Co-Founder of the Yellow Movement.
Women and media in Ethiopia
Construction workshop participants call for opening financial sector, improving administration
People working in the construction industry say the government should open up the financial sector and find better skilled administrators so as to deal with the existing severe shortage of hard currency in the country. At a workshop organized by the Ethiopian Civil Engineers Association (ECEA) under the theme:‘The role of banks and insurance companies in the sustainable development of the construction industry in Ethiopia,’ participants said the government is not prioritizing construction when it comes to accessing finance.
Even though the construction sector is Ethiopia’s largest employer after agriculture it does not receive priority access to loans.
“Industry makes up 23 percent of the GDP and from that amount 75 percent comes from construction,” noted a participant.
Construction in Ethiopia has deteriorated over the past couple of years, according to Tsedeke Yihune (Eng), head and owner of Flintstone Construction, one of the workshop’s speakers.
According to him revenue from construction decreased 60 percent this year and 40 percent the year before.
He told Capital that it is obvious construction has declined as seen in the amount the sector has paid in taxes that has been consistently decreasing over the years.
Tsedeke told journalists that this year the construction sector has not been able to access any significant amount of finance because exports and manufacturing have been prioritized and the hard currency shortage has deeply hindered construction.
He claims there is enough liquidity and hard currency in the national reserve and cash in banks.
“My colleagues and me believe that the problem is lack of administrational capacity or interest in the political economy,” he explained.
He thinks that there is not really a shortage of hard currency because up to 20 percent of the GDP is hard currency reserve and the remittance in 2016/17 was USD 6.5 billion, “So how has the hard currency shortage occurred?” he asked.
He said the root challenge of Ethiopia’s financial system is administration.
Aisha Mohammed (Eng), Minister of Construction, told Capital that it needs further study before declaring where the problem lies.
“The government states that there is a hard currency shortage in the country,” she said.
“As the title of the workshop states, we have seen the role the financial industry plays in the construction sector development and the growth of the country,” Tesfaye Workineh (Eng), President of EACE and Managing Director of United Consulting Engineers Plc (UNICONE) said.
He added that the main goals of the association are trainings and increasing the skills, professionalism, achievement, ethics and loyaltyof those working in the construction sector.
Zafu Eyessuswork, United Bank, Board of Directors Chairperson and eminent expert on the financial and insurance sector and the other presenter at the workshop, said that financial sector’s regulatory body needs to improve its capacity.
“The regulation is extremely high and sometimes its looks like it is applied with a lack of expertise,” he said. He elaborated it may reflect the infancy of the financial industry which opened up around 25 years ago.
“In relation to the formation of new private banks one should not forget that their leaders came from government banks and their role model is a monopoly,” Zafu said.
Some also claimed that there is fraud in both the financial and construction sectors. “We have to clean our own house and at the same time solve the problem in the financial industry,” one of the participants said.
“Our banks need more time to provide project finance in the country,” the financial expert said. He thinks private banks have too little capital and not enough grasp about competition.
“This workshop is targeted to create awareness about the current challenges in the finance and construction sectors and specific ways to solve problems,” he added.
He told journalists that the civil engineering sector also needs to improve its expertise in the finance world.
The Ethiopian Civil Engineers and Architects Association was formed 55 years ago. About 20 years ago it separated into two and the Ethiopian Civil Engineers Association came into being.
The association is engaged in training and awareness creation workshops for its members and works with relevant government bodies to alleviate challenges faced in the construction sector. For instance it has signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ministry of Construction, whereby the association will provide input about new and existing rules and regulations after conducting research and reviewing scientific journals.
According to Tesfaye (Eng) the Association will have at least two additional events before the end of the current Ethiopian year. “And they will help new graduates and professionals enhance their skills,” the president added.
The workshop was opened by Aisha Mohammed (Eng), Minister of Construction, and held at ECA.
US Economic professor optimistic about Ethiopia
Tyler Cowen (PhD), a prominent professor and economist in the US suggested several steps Ethiopia could take to bring in more hard currency. He does not think devaluing the Birr will alleviate the hard currency shortage.
During his private visit to the country the professor lauded the economic achievements that the country registered in the past but he went over some economic concerns.
“I am probably more optimistic about Ethiopia than any other African nation. He said that it has registered high growth in the past decade. What I is see the asset here human capital I think it is very strong,” Tyler, who published an opinion early this week entitled ‘Ethiopia Already Is the ‘China of Africa’’ on the Bloomberg website after his Ethiopia visit, said to reporters during a presser at the US embassy.
Regarding with the latest hard currency shortage that the country faces he said that as long as the price is wrong supply and demand will not be equal.
Ethiopia must deal with Addis becoming a mess, he said. He pointed out that 25 years ago a lot of Indian cities were in a sense like Addis is now. So stopping Addis from becoming a non manageable wreck would be one of the biggest challenges.
As long as the price is wrong supply and demand will not be equal. “Since the interest rate remains somewhere between 30 to 33 percent different from the market rate, the problem will always be there,” he said. He said the government might be forced to free up the interest rates in the future and when that happens, it would likely be painful for at least the first two to three years. “In the long term it is better for the economy after two –three years of intense pain,” he added.
Restoring normal open capital markets at a consistent pace is another recommendation he made.
He thinks brining in foreign banks will not solve the foreign exchange problem. However he does see some benefit:
“So long as the price is wrong, supply and demand will not be equal. So allowing in foreign banks is probably good idea because you have secure financial institutions and they will give you better innovation, better networks for FDI, that is all good at the same time as long as the price is set to high for the value of the things you goanna have the capital imbalance,” he explained.
He said that devaluation would not give any extra support for exports since the input would be imported with the highest price. “You may sell more but at the same time importing inputs will be very expensive,” he said.
Tyler is a professor at George Mason University and also director of the Mercatus Centre. His book the Great Stagnation: How America Ate the Low-Hanging Fruit of Modern History, Got Sick and Will (Eventually) Feel Better was a New York Times best–seller.
