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Ethiopia

Uncomfortable Truths

prospect of long term sustainable economic development which minimises the potential
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distortions of m'zuŋ u institutions such as the World Bank and IMF.
And it’s a symbol of an African country determined to be truly independent.

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Capital-centric development

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It still amazes me how shallow the faranj / m'zuŋ u is when making judgements of
country's like Ethiopia (and of course Rwanda).
Ethiopia's modern day development has been blighted by circumstances outside their

borders. Variations of a combination of armed unrest and oppressive regimes surround
most of Ethiopia, leading to closed borders or at least borders with little prospect of trade.

Even the border with Kenya, the most stable of neighbouring countries, is blighted by the

ever-present warnings against armed banditry on the Kenyan side. A state of affairs that
leads to the absence of scheduled Kenyan transport upto the border.

As a result of this all serious manufacturing development was centred in that area
which is close to Addis Ababa. Why would any manufacturer locate a factory in a province

far from the capital when that would mean paying two lots of transport costs? First to take

raw materials to his factory and second to take the finished products back to Addis.
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Traditional Coffee, Injera, Handwashing, Camels and Children that form human barriers

Every visitor knows of the injera that is central to Ethiopian meals. What is not often

mentioned so much are the ubiquitous handwashing facilities, no matter how crude, that
are to be seen at every form of eating place. And the way that every Ethiopian actually uses

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these. In the times of Covid-19 m'zuŋ u could well re-evaluate their understanding of
African cultures.
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Everyone loves the traditional Ethiopian coffee making. Such an antithesis to Western

commodification that is epitomised by USA corporate products as typified by ‘McD’ and
‘StarB’.

Each coffee the result of locally acquired beans, roasted 'on site' that day, often using

a charcoal stove and 'wok', and finally ground and individually prepared for each customer.
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