Ethiopia Insight

Dar could borrow a leaf from Addis city plan

Addis Ababa’s eight lane road

PUDENCIANA TEMBA

27 September 2006

JOURNALISTS from various mass media institutions in the country visited Addis Ababa, Ethiopia recently to acquaint themselves with socio-economic development issues of the country and visit key areas. In this article, Staff Writer PUDENCIANA TEMBA gives highlights of salient features of the country.

SITUATED in the Horn of Africa, Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia is unique among African countries. Firstly Ethiopia was never colonised. It maintained its independence throughout the Scramble for Africa onward, except for a five-year period (1936-41) when it was under Italian occupation.

There was no Italian colonization of Ethiopia during this period since the Italians occupied only a few key cities and major routes. The Italian period is thus considered an "occupation" and not colonial rule.

Apart from being the oldest independent country in Africa, Ethiopia founded the UN headquarters in Africa and is the headquarters of the former OAU and current AU. It is also the headquarters of the UN Economic Commission for Africa.
Ethiopia is the 2nd-most populous nation in Africa with about 70 million people. The ruling party, Ethiopia People's Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF), controls more than fifty large business enterprises in Ethiopia, following the Chinese model.

Ethiopia's population is highly diverse. Most of its people speak a Semitic or Cushitic language. The Oromo, Amhara, and Tigrayans make up more than three-fourths of the population, but there are more than 80 different ethnic groups within Ethiopia. Some of these have as few as 10,000 members.

Addis Ababa is the capital of Ethiopia and a vibrant African city with many issues of interest. It is a sprawling metropolis of huge contrasts and a population of four million. It has no city centre but consists of a number of centres or sub-cities.
One of the salient features of Addis Ababa which Dar es Salaam and other Tanzanian Cities could borrow a leaf is the city plan which has left ample space for roads. The city has good roads almost all with between double lanes to twelve lane roads.

There is also one elevated ring road around the city. This has helped clear traffic jams, according to the Tanzania Ambassador to Ethiopia and permanent representative to AU and ECA, Ambassador Msuya. W. Mangachi.

"One of the things that you will not see here is traffic jams at any time of the day. Vehicles here move fairly well due to good road network. You will hardly see single lane roads. All roads have between two to twelve lanes," he told the Journalists.

Ambassador Mangachi said there was a plan that was being worked out for Dar es Salaam Mayor, Mr Adam Kimbisa and his councillors to visit Addis Ababa for them to see and learn from their Ethiopian counterparts.

The city has a huge market called Merkato that is said to be the largest in Africa. It is a major trading centre accommodating 14,000 businesses. It is the focal point for receiving all the country's produce in bulk then redistributing it in a large variety of smaller quantities.

Ethiopia is also the spiritual homeland of the Rastafari movement, whose adherents believe Ethiopia is Zion. The Rastafari view Emperor Haile Selassie I as Jesus, the human incarnation of God, a view apparently not shared by Haile Selassie himself, who was staunchly Ethiopian Orthodox Christian.

Another area where Ethiopia has excelled is in Air travel. Ethiopian Airlines commenced operations in 1945 with a weekly service between Addis Ababa and Cairo. Now, almost 60 years on, the airline continues to spread its wings. A modern fleet currently provides passengers and cargo shippers coverage of Africa, along with convenient access to a growing number of destinations across Europe, the USA, Asia and the Middle East.

Since pioneering the first east-west flights across Africa in the 1950s, the airline has steadily expanded services throughout the continent to establish the largest pan-African network of any airline.

Another area where Tanzania could learn from their Ethiopian counterparts is sports. Ethiopia has some of the finest athletes of the world, most notably middle-distance and long-distance runners.

Kenya and Morocco are often its opponents in World Championships and Olympic middle and long-distance events.

As of March 2006, two Ethiopians dominate the long-distance running scene. They are Haile Gebreselassie (World champion and Olympic champion) who has broken more than 10 World records and currently holds the 20 km, Half Marathon, and 25 km world record, and young Kenenisa Bekele (World champion, World cross country champion, and Olympic champion), who holds the 5,000 metres and 10,000 metres world records.

Other notable Ethiopian distance-runners include Derartu Tulu, Abebe Bikila and Miruts Yifter. Derartu Tulu was the first black woman from Africa to win an Olympic gold medal, doing so over 10,000 metres at Barcelona.

Abebe Bikila won the Olympic marathon in 1960 and 1964, setting world records both times. He is well-known to this day for winning the 1960 marathon in Rome while running barefoot. Miruts Yifter, the first in a tradition of Ethiopians known for their brilliant finishing speed, won gold at 5,000 and 10,000 metres at the Moscow Olympics.

He is the last man to achieve this feat. Like anything, Ethiopia has its other side of the coin. Poverty is overwhelming. It has experienced severe droughts and hunger in the past.

Pavements and church compounds are home to countless
homeless of all ages, with many, many beggars surrounding your car at each intersection. Young women with babies, children of all ages and sizes and those maimed by nature or by war are plenty in the street begging.

"If there is anything that has disappointed me in this trip is the big number of children in the street begging. I thought in Tanzania we had a serious problem of beggars but after what I have seen in Addis streets, I beg to change my mind. Tanzania is a country with very few beggars," said Richard Mwaikenda from 'Majira' newspaper.