Content: Viewpoint

  • UN Hypocrisy on Saudi Arabia, Eritrea

      In 2013, the European Union declared Wahabism as the main source of global terrorism. In 2001, the Pentagon labeled Saudi Arabia as the “kernel of evil.” Fifteen of the nineteen, 9/11 terrorists are from Saudi Arabia. Al-Qaeda and its affiliates, al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), al-Shabaab, al-Nusra front in the Middle East, al-Qaeda […]

  • When Globalisation Goes Digital

    American voters are angry. But while the ill effects of globalisation top their list of grievances, nobody is well served when complex economic issues are reduced to bumper-sticker slogans – as they have been thus far in the presidential campaign. It is unfair to dismiss concerns about globalisation as unfounded. America deserves to have an […]

  • Brexit’s Impact on the World Economy

    The febrile behavior of financial markets ahead of the United Kingdom’s referendum on June 23 on whether to remain in the European Union (EU) shows that the outcome will influence economic and political conditions around the world far more profoundly than Britain’s roughly 2.4pc share of the global GDP might suggest. There are three reasons […]

  • Innovation is Not Enough

    We seem to be living in an accelerated age of revolutionary technological breakthroughs. Barely a day passes without the announcement of some major new development in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, digitisation, or automation. Yet those who are supposed to know where it is all taking us cannot make up their minds. At one end of the […]

  • Activist Investors Here to Stay

    Activist investors are relatively new, but very influential, players in international capital markets. Activist investors are shareholders at publicly traded companies, who attempt to affect change in an organisation by directly appealing to, or putting heavy pressure on, the company’s Board of Directors, bypassing the normal advisory process. The scope of activist investors varies depending […]

  • Ethiopia’s Vanguard Capitalists: Can EPRDF Strike a Political Balance?

    Last week, Ethiopia commemorated its national day with an exhibition celebrating the country’s economic progress. More than 140 companies – some state-owned, some private – set up displays in the Millennium Hall, a conference centre in Addis Abeba’s upscale Bole neighbourhood. From a scale model of the massive Great Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), which is […]

  • Africa – Borrowed Continent at a Crossroads

    Although it is problematic to generalise about a large, diverse place, it is fair to say that Africa is fast emerging as a consumer continent. It is populated by “Afropolitans”, who are sometimes also referred to as Pan-Africanists. These are young, urban, well-educated people. They are willing to spend money on luxury goods. However, these […]

  • The Africa We Want: Where are the Eagles?

    African leaders will be meeting in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, for the 27th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union (AU). A key highlight of the forthcoming summit, to be held from July 10 to 18, 2016, will be the election of the Chairperson of the African Union Commission (AUC). The winner […]

  • China’s Incomplete Growth

    China’s economic growth has been slowing for six years – far longer than expected. Eager to stem the slide, Chinese government officials and economists have desperately sought a clear explanation pointing toward an effective policy response. And, last November, they officially placed the blame on long-term supply-side shortcomings, which they pledged to address with far-reaching […]

  • Tirades Serve No Purpose in Rebooting Tana

    Alex de Waal’s (PhD) viewpoint headlined, “Tana Forum Needs Complete Reboot” (Volume 17, Number 835, May 1, 2016) is an epic in bad taste. There are two broad angles from which one may respond to the essay. One is to return to an all too familiar debate about the politics of ownership and the nature […]

  • What Bridges Gender Gaps Better

    The world is a better place for women and girls in 2016 than even a decade ago. But not for everyone, and definitely not everywhere. This is especially true in the world’s poorest, most fragile countries. It is also particularly true regarding women’s economic opportunities. Gender gaps in employment, business, and access to finance hold […]

  • Doing Development Differently

    No country alone can solve the development challenges of a continent made up of 54 member states. Conflicts spill over boundaries; disease cannot be stopped by border control and climate change does not carry a passport. In an age where the Internet rules and we are more connected than ever, it is hard to believe […]

  • Ethiopian’s Windy Road Ahead

    On so many occasions, Ethiopian Airlines has been lauded for its actions to promote growth. Its success is partly due to its constant production and deployment of a disciplined, well-trained and patriotic workforce, ensuring the reliability of services and improvement of efficiency. Ethiopian is virtually self-sufficient in all aviation training systems. The Ethiopian Aviation Academy […]

  • What Takes Ethiopian Up the Aviation Ladder

    On April 8, 2016, Ethiopian Airlines Group, a.k.a. Ethiopian, started celebrating its 70 years anniversary amid massive expansion of air transport services. Since its maiden scheduled commercial flight from Addis Abeba to Cairo, Ethiopian has shown tremendous growth which earned it the name, “The Pride of Africa”. Over these years, Ethiopian has managed to maintain […]

  • Defeating Terrorism Through Financial Regulation

    In the midst of the search for new concepts in countering terrorism and preventing violent extremism, the financial lifeline of terrorist networks is in the focus. No terrorist organisation, neither al-Shabaab nor Daesh (ISIS) or Boko Haram is able to operate without resources, including money. As with most regular armed groups, fighters have to be […]

  • Africa’s Security Paradox

    The Munich Security Conference Core Group convened in Addis Abeba between April 14 and 15, 2016. Being a European innovation, it was the first ever gathering to be held for discussion of regional and global peace and security matters on African soil in the 51 years of the Group’s existence. “The importance of Africa for […]

  • Rethinking African Transnational Justice

    Transnational justice is one of the most complex and challenging moral and political challenges of our time, especially in this continent. And it is closely related to the questions of peace and reconciliation. Raising some generic questions herein, would be important. Specifically, how are we to allow these three virtues – justice, peace, and reconciliation […]

  • Private Equity’s African Time

    Conversations about Africa typically focus on growth rates and the pace of emergence of the middle class. Meanwhile, African entrepreneurs have evolved in their sophistication and approach to business, far outpacing, in fact, the growth and market opportunity that even optimistic macroeconomic numbers may suggest. For that reason, when considering African private equity, it is […]

  • Migration Superpowers

    We have entered the age of migration. If all the people who live outside the country of their birth united to form their own – a republic of the rootless – it would be the fifth-largest country in the world, with a population of more than 240 million people. Though much has been written about […]

  • Midway in Global Trade Debate

    The global trade regime has never been very popular in the United States. Neither the World Trade Organization (WTO) nor the multitudes of regional trade deals such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) have had strong support among the general public. But opposition, while broad, has been diffuse. […]

  • Time to Debate African Monetary Union

    With a land mass of over 30 million square kilometers, Africa is as big as India, China the US and most of Europe combined. Betrayed by a Mercator map projection, the common view of the size of the continent has been diminished, pretty much the same way as other characteristics of the continent. When we […]

  • Better Future Comes With Cooperation

    As we face the challenges of the 21st century, there is more that unites Africa and Europe than divides us. We share a common history of thousands of years.

  • A Cure to Ethiopia’s Inequality Pain

    Motivated civil servants are cornerstones for development of a nation. The economic development of our country is something palpable. The economic and trade policy reform has brought up thousands of investors in different sectors.

  • Being Deeply Religious is No Panacea

    I want to pose a question on what is seemingly an untouchable subject in our society. I decided to do so after I read a survey on Global Attitudes 2015, conducted by the Pew Research Center. It looked into how people around the world feel about religion. Interestingly, Ethiopia is ranked first with an astounding […]

  • China’s Complicated Puzzle

    I recently returned from Beijing, where I had spent a week talking with Chinese officials and attending the China Development Forum (CDF), the major annual gathering of Chinese and senior foreign officials and top business executives. The Chinese government had just released its 13th Five-Year Plan, and officials were eager to explain what it means for China’s future.