By Mohamed R. Awale

I have to make rare confessions for the benefit of public record and nuance.  I had been absent from the political forums of the online and social media in the recent past and there was a good reason: I went back home after leading a regimented life in the diaspora for many years.  To clear the air from the get go, this visit was not political but purely a private matter. The move was decades in the making; it was repeatedly postponed for plenty of reasons including political, real or contrived, time constrains and every other frivolous excuses one could imagine. As the case has always been, the time and the circumstances were not right to pack and go, but that opportune moment remained elusive for many years. I must also admit that taking the decision per se was both uneasy and refreshing at the same time.  Uneasy because of some personal anxieties about uncertainty and safety issues of the trip, and refreshing because of the mere prospect of seeing next of kin and birthplace once again before it is too late for all it worth.  However, those personal worries were relegated to the back seat once I set the foot on the native soil.

During the brief stay, I faced a myriad of challenges, including an intrusive security apparatus and other political riddles the nation is currently undergoing in which I confronted with determined zeal and patience. Without going into further detail of personal info, lest it compromises any future plans and safety of others, I would say the trip was overall no so enchanting. This short missive is intended to share the readers with that experience.  This comment is also neither preconceived political stance nor partisan critique against any identifiable political or ethnic group, but it is casual observation of the contemporary socio-economic and developmental milieus, which may overlap often with the prevailing political, economic and business ethos of the nation.  So if the discussion straddles from subject to another, please bear with me for I have no intention of doing so in purpose. Let me go now straight to the heart of notes by starting with the not-so-flattering scenes and encounters during the trip.

Talk about anything but politics

The discussion of politics, the second oldest profession, is perhaps the most controversial and least talked about in the country. Nowhere in fact its more self-evident than in the Somali Regional State. It seems as if the unwritten rule of the norm is not to venture into that particular issue unless, of course, about heaping praises on the current regime. As soon as one gets off the plane he could feel the chill effect.  Try as I might, the topic was irresistible not to relate since it affected citizen`s daily life, be they political aspects or other pressing socio-economic issues. There were instances where the topic naturally came across in social gathering such as during khat and coffee sessions of close-knit friends and family members, but the topic is usually off the limit for most citizens by either design or coincidence and I was told that people were weary to engage in for business and personal reasons. Whenever the issue is casually raised in public, people either would shrug off or give vague references, if not cut off the whole conversion; that seemed strange, given the purportedly upcoming election in the next year. Whatever happened to the differing opinions, visions and policy platforms of the ruling party for its own sake and the oppositions (if any left) for the next five years, you may wonder. It turns out, political breathing space and free market of ideas were none-existent whatsoever. Furthermore, it appears that opposition blocs were never recovered from the violent crackdown by the regime during the 1995 election fiasco. Add on that to the ongoing heavy-handed tactics of the government, including current cross-border manhunts and prosecution of dissidents in trumped up terrorism allegations.  That doesn’t necessarily mean the oppositions are blameless. Due to irreconcilable differences of ethnic federalists (nationalists) versus rigid centralists` vision, oppositions failed to forge any semblance of united front and credible vision against the status quo. According to reliable sources, next election is expected to be fait accompli, which means it will be a one man-show and single party (the EPRDF) state of affairs.

Show me the money

A preferred topic of discussion, instead, is business as if the dormant trading talent of the whole nation is unleashed at once. Everyone is selling something to another at any cost. From the guy hawking peanuts or T-shirts in the street corner to the one schmoozing about dubious export/import business deals in a trendy cafeteria, everyone is involved in some kind of transaction. One would   think as if the nation is experiencing in wirschaftswunder of sort similar to that economic miracle of Germany`s postwar era. But the comparison is misleading for the two cases could not be further apart in terms of circumstances and resources at disposal. As for the frenzied business activities, there could never be level-playing field scenario for actors involved in any given transaction. I wonder how many among the players could make a genuine profit and how many others could barely eke out of living from it. In addition, there is ever proliferating private banks apparently competing for the same niche- small businesses and transactions of hard currency—and I had hard time recalling the dozen or so brand names. Liking the trend to an imitation of Little America or Switzerland`s banking system would be understatement, and if so, the nation is cheating out its self in the long-term scenario. I`m less familiar with the governing rules in place, but Ethiopia is far from those nations in terms of regulatory regimes and capital base.

The global economic powerhouse like Germany or Canada, to lesser extent, has four or five big national banks plus few credit unions for reasons of regulatory efficiency. Such exemplary models have proven the point in the 2008 financial crises, as opposed to the chaotic and complicated American case where financial freelancers almost paralyzed the system.  Surely, the discredited communist era will not be missed a bit since the new system affords more choice and permits free movements of the capital, but going to the other extreme is also fraught with risk of market manipulation and fraud. Likewise, it is absurd to expect that everyone in the country can be potential business-savvy over night or that every financial institution capable to self-regulate without public transparency. Besides, other sectors like technology, education and civil society roles are worthy to be equally nurtured to advance the nation as a whole.

The pricy cup at le Cafe` Parisien

Amidst the many high-rises under construction rising like phoenix in the ashes of shanty towns along big streets like Bole and San`a roads, there are many thriving exotic businesses and coffee shops doted along the sidewalks. Le Cafe` Parisien is certainly a prominent one among that you can never miss to spot for its trendy social atmosphere and location. It is also pricey one, way too pricey for the locals as matter of fact, and it is not alone. There are similar places or even costlier.   We are not referring to the likes of five star Sheratons, designated to cater for expats and well-off individuals. We are talking about ubiquitous businesses in an average neighborhood. The only reason mentioned this particular business entity is threefold of (1) to give a snapshot of the widening gap between haves and have-nots of society and the real purchasing power of citizen; (2) it qualifies as a trend setting business type and resurgence of new class system; (3) the price of the basic items cited are made of two locally produced ingredients: coffee and milk. By the way, the purchasing power (PP) concept is defined as ‘’the number of goods or services that can be purchased with a unit of currency… If one`s monetary stays the same, but price level increases, the purchasing power of that income falls. Inflation does not always imply falling purchasing power of one`s money income since it may rise faster than the price levels. A higher real income means higher purchasing power, which refers to the income adjusted for inflation.’’  In short, the economic concept simultaneously relates prices, inflation rates and income levels of a given market and as long as the income rises faster than the inflation, purchasing power is unaffected and vise verse.

A Haphazard construction boom

The first thing one comes across as soon he/she gets off the plane  in Addis Ababa, where nature blessed with steep slopes and  gorges, is an endless pits, potholes and other objects  strewn on the sidewalks. From Addis to the regional capitals and between, these dangerous pits of both man-made and natural landscape, which left open or covered by precarious concrete slack minus signs, are abundant.  Add on that the frequent torrential muddy rain and overcrowded streets with people and cars and you get the picture. It is beyond me how the frail, the crippled and the old are able to navigate through the situation. It takes well trained eyes and limbs of an able bodied to venture out in the streets.  It took me a week or so to adapt the situation though not without incident.  I was shocked as how motorists with skill and a risk-adverse mindset accustomed to flawless streets in the West became out of sync with the old environs. The worst came when I confronted a huge crater in the Jijiga city center, not far from my old school. It was the busiest spot at noon and crew were digging an intersection without warning signs. People were hurling like a lemmings over two meters deep and two meters wide open pit.  I hesitated for a moment and then when two young ladies with cumbersome behind and head scarves flew over, I got an adrenaline rush, rolled up sleeves, jumped and barely made on the other side. Lucky me!  And with frequent blackout, don`t ever think about walking through the streets during nights. I was told two people died in that same spot in the last spring.

The haphazard construction street works are mostly left unattended for long periods and nowhere to be seen workers and warning signs for months.  Businesses along the street are either drastically hampered or deserted altogether. Worst still, the digging work starts the next day in another parts of the city without completing the old ones.  That said, there is certain infrastructure put in place in the last five years, including the Chinese built 150 Km road that now connects Harar to Jijiga and reaches Somalia`s border at Wajaale.  But that is drop in the bucket given the vast, rugged land still lacking any sort of physical connectivity. Is somehow the problem lies with budget constraints, lack of manpower and poor planning, technical difficulties or other sinister scheme at work such as corruption, malfeasance, incompetence and so forth? Whatever the reason is, there must be a better, efficient way to dealt with the infrastructure.

Frequent Power outages

The persistent power failure that affects the livelihood of millions is yet another discomfort and endemic problem in the land. This is just more than a matter of inconvenience since the modern lifestyle, especially in urban settings, is virtually depends on the modern amenity.  Duration of blackouts varies from minutes to days and occurs multiple times per week without official explanations of the facts. Severity and frequency of the interruptions also replicates as one travels from capital to the regions and remote areas. Business activities and public services, not to mention people`s mobility, are seriously affected and as a result productivity of the whole nation grinds to halt during power glitches. Things often happen so disruptively and crudely. For instance, while dinning in a restaurant, visiting a friend or taking shower, the darkness suddenly descends and the next thing you know is that everyone is scrambling for an exit to safety. At one time we were in a hi-tech photo shop and as soon as the pictures were taken, lights were off forcing us to wait for an hour for the process with no luck. We just paid and left without pictures.  In another incident we postponed a trip for two days due to lack of photocopy of important document.  With an age of globalization, where business transactions dealt with second around the world, it makes wonder how the nation`s productivity and business competiveness in general could cope with it.

Likewise, disruptions of the running water and phone service also associate with electricity failures.  At one point, I stuck three days a hotel in Harar city without shower. Fed up with the situation, I packed up next day for Deridewa, which also was in similar predicament although in better shape. And the same thing was true in Jijiga, where the water delivering donkey was still the king in many parts of the city. The wealthy and big corporations like airports and hotels have backup generators to fill the gap, but majority of the population have little option except to pray and hope for a quick return.  Through all the hardships, I heard only subdued complaints in public about the condition. But there was also an ironic twist, especially when it comes to small business in which utility failure is regarded as a blessing in disguise: they sell the merchandise without paying sales taxes through the electronic machine and they are not at fault. The ubiquitous sign on the wall of እባከችሁ ደረሰኝ ሳይቀበላችሁ ሒሳብ አይከፈሉ or please don’t pay anything without sales receipt from the revenue agency is rendered useless in those moments, and the longer the blackouts the better for businesses while the reverse is true for the government coffers. Once again, the question that begs for an answer is what the cause of the mysterious failures.  Is it lack of competent manpower, insidious corruption due to TPLF’s rule of single party domination, technical difficulties or the works of saboteur elements within and so on.  Whatever the reasons, there must be a better way to address the problem.

On the bright side, affordable electricity and phone network have reached millions of the rural population for the first time in the Ethiopian history and presumably made their life much easier. However, note that what is lacking is not quantity but quality and consistency of these services. As for the notions of due credits and for whom, it is much-ado about nothing. There isn`t much cause for celebration; given the vast resources at disposal, number of years in power and the tremendous goodwill of the populace and international actors, any barely competent regime would have accomplished the same thing, if not more.  Finally, as I entered the Bole`s terminal for departure, I felt a sudden eye-twitches for a few seconds triggered by the switch of backup system due to utility glitch. Unsure what was happening, I thought I was suffering some sort of mild seizures. Then I looked back, and sure enough, there was another blackout taunting the city and its residents once more.

Mohamed.R.Awale source WardheerNews
Eamil:Moe-awale@hotmail.com