Ethiopians fined 50,000 for illegal stay

Prospects for greener pastures in South Africa turned ugly for one hundred Ethiopians yesterday when they were fined Sh50,000 each or face one year in jail.

The foreigners cried in court immediately their interpreter, Mr Dima Abdulkadir, explained to them the judgment by Makadara Senior Principal Magistrate Victor Wakumile.

The magistrate ordered that they be repatriated to Ethiopia after serving their sentence.

WEAK AND HUNGRY

While taking plea, some appeared weak and could hardly walk. One was carried by his colleagues, who said he was starving.

Kenya Police Arrest 101 Ethiopian Men

Kenyan police said Tuesday they arrested 101 Ethiopian nationals suspected of traveling illegally through Kenya on their way to South Africa.

The suspects appeared before Magistrate Victor Wakumile but were not charged because they did not understand English and there was no Amharic interpreter. Wakumile postponed the case to Wednesday when an interpreter would be available.

The Ethiopians were arrested Monday night along with three Kenyans suspected of trying to sneak the men across borders, said Noah Katumo, the head of Kenya's Special Crimes Prevention Unit.

Katumo said the men arrived at a three-bedroomed house in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, in small groups. They had intended to continue the journey to South Africa.

Through UN-backed project, Ethiopian marmalade will soon hit shelves at ‘Eataly’

Members of the cooperative of women in Ethiopia whose cactus pear marmalade will soon reach Italian tables. Photo: FAO/Filippo Brasesco

25 February 2015 – Next time you feel like some cactus pear marmalade from Ethiopia but can’t make it to the town of Mekelle, check out the shelves of Italian gourmet food store Eataly.
Thanks to a partnership between the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and Eataly to support family farmers around the globe, a cooperative of women in Ethiopia are now ready to ship their 4,000 jars of jam to Rome, where they will soon reach the shelves.
“The success story in Ethiopia illustrates what FAO is aiming to do on the ground: empowering women farmers to generate extra income and improve their livelihoods,” the agency said in a press release.
“The result: better food and nutrition, stronger local economies, and small businesses that will be able to thrive on their own once FAO’s intervention ends,” it adds.

Ethiopia plans to revive biodiesel production

Ethiopia is an unlikely setting for a revived “food versus fuel” debate. As a country once overwhelmed by famine, it may seem odd that the Ethiopian government would be in favour of anything associated with food security risk. But the case for biofuels in Ethiopia is strong and it’s growing stronger.
Like many countries, the Ethiopian government was eager to realise the potential of jatropha, a biofuel crop with “green gold” credentials, ten years ago. Opinions soured in 2007 and 2008 when the global food price crisis struck and biofuel production was identified as one of the root causes. This, coupled with disappointing jatropha harvests, prompted a swift exit by Ethiopia’s biodiesel developers.
The government is keen to revive interest in biofuels and is pinning its hopes on the private sector to finance new projects. It is offering tax holidays and free land leases for up to seven years to biofuels developers. According to Nadew Tadelle who runs the recently created biofuels private enterprise unit at the Ministry of Water and Energy, the government hopes biodiesel production may reach 450m litres a year within the next five years, up from virtually zero currently.

Spy cables reveal African Union assassination threat in Addis Abeba

Documents show S African and Ethiopian agencies in crisis, suspected Sudan, amid reported 2012 plot to kill AU chief.

Secret intelligence documents leaked to Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit reveal that spies in Addis Ababa were alerted to a plot by "an unnamed state" to kill a top African Union diplomat.
Ethiopian agents later accused Sudan of involvement in the plan to assassinate African Union Commission (AUC) chairperson Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, who had previously served as South Africa's foreign minister.

       

Dlamini-Zuma allegedly faced "an eminent threat" to her life in the Ethiopian capital which also hosts the headquarters of the African Union in October 2012, just days after she was appointed.
The documents show that South African and Ethiopian intelligence agencies had been unprepared for the threat, for which they blamed Sudan. The agencies admitted they did not have enough time to "neutralise the operation" or apprehend those involved.

Ethiopia, Chad Finance Ministers Among Candidates for AfDB Chief

(Bloomberg) -- Three African finance ministers are among eight candidates in the running to replace Donald Kaberuka as president of the African Development Bank.
Ethiopia’s Sufian Ahmed, Chad’s Kordje Bedoumra and Cristina Duarte from Cape Verde have been nominated for the position, the lender said in an e-mailed statement on Friday. The other candidates include Nigerian Agriculture Minister Akinwumi Adesina and Mali’s Birama Boubacar Sidibe, who is vice president of operations for the Islamic Development Bank.

Ermias Amelga Returns to Addis Abeba

Government guarantee lasts a year provided he addresses woes of disgruntled clients and shareholders
Ermias T. Amelga, Ethiopia`s self exiled real estate mogul, has made a dramatic return to Addis Abeba this week, people close to him disclosed to Fortune.

The embattled businessman, who has now been elevated to a status of “too important to fail,” has been signaling his return to Addis where he will have to face thousands of disgruntled homebuyers who made advances to Access Real Estate (ARE) S.C. and other companies under his flagship investment firm, Access Capital Services S.C., as well as angry shareholders.

Arriving on Thursday morning, February 19, 2015, Ermias went straight to his mother`s home, according to a person close to him.