{UAH} Addis Ababa made a favourable impression on me!

  I recently stayed in  Addis Ababa, the ever expanding Ethiopian capital, for an important conference on matters concerning the Horn of Africa. For a country which has had an unstable past in recent years it was indeed gratifying to see how the people are trying to unite and be one and begin to see not the past but to look forward for a better Ethiopia. No wonder their premier received a Nobel ! And indeed he deserved it!

Almost like in Djibouti, another Horn of Africa nation, Ethiopians are busy trying to market their country in all aspects including security, the fight against corruption and all those other related evils, the successful education and health sectors, ETC.... All these efforts are encouraging the growth of the economy thanks to the confidence both locals and foreigners are investing in the ideals of this great nation. This can be judged by, among other very many things, the very much unprecedented growth and expansion of the capital, Addis Ababa. Given the cool temperate climate it enjoys at 2700 m above sea-level, when one arrives there the immediate impression he / she gets is that of landing in a European city! Investment from Ethiopians whether those at home or in diaspora where they live in vast numbers has, in addition to capital ravishingly flowing in from almost all corners of the world, are the real item that now turns Addis Ababa into something drifting to a real  economic miracle! Indeed what I saw was in the realms of a true miracle if I compare with the Addis Ababa I saw just only four years ago! The airport, the hotels, the commercial centre together with the industrial area, the residential areas and the historic centres, all these are things which promote Addis Ababa to a paramount importance! And the people! Excellent and brotherly! You can't expect anything bad from them. They mix very well with visitors whether from fellow African countries or from the many corners of the globe massively coming in to invest and get benefit out of the very successfully ever expanding economy especially in this Addis Ababa where the situation is orderly and under very careful control. The city has succeeded to give solutions to traffic jams and to any type of indiscipline from society. People have their mind settled and concentrated. When they spotted Ugandans and South Sudanese they almost pitied us as they considered us for persons with a long way to go! I personally noticed how they unanimously sympathize with Bobi Wine whom, according to what a prof told me, they see as a person sacrificing a lot and ready to undergo much for the good of his country! They also seem to have a good opinion on our opposition. This age-limit question and the way it was handled in Parliament scored very negatively for Uganda in the eyes of many Ethiopians! 

  However there are some good marks which, if the conference was held in Kampala, for example, would have been given to Uganda. And to mention a few of them one would love to point to the reasonably commendable evening weather where participants would have marched out without putting on heavy coats. There we had evenings coming to 7°C and giving a feeling of a real winter! Then, even to light pocketed conferencers a mere one dollar in Kampala  would have fetched so much for them. A participant cashes his one-dollar bill at a Forex Bureau, he receives 3500/= and he/she is surprised to learn that the money is almost more than enough for a bottle of beer!  Another thing they would have enjoyed to see in Uganda is the way people struggle in doing all those light chores

in a good musical ambience as if there was nothing to worry about. Ugandan cities are now known for this  approach which is a new type of dynamism needed to dominate hard unpromising labour in order to liberate the mind from acute worries.

  I had an impressive stay in Addis. The conference was very well administered. Participants from a dozen country were well-received at the venue (Hilton Hotel) where they were accommodated and where the conference itself took place. Polite Ethiopians were always pleasant to chat with.

  I don't know what forumists who have ever travelled there especially in recent times would give us as an overall general impression stemming from their observation.

G.H.K.

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