Prime Minister Abiy has been compared to notable leaders like Barack Obama, the first black American president, the late Nelson Mandela of South Africa who is also credited with having led the African people in South Africa in a successful fight against apartheid and Former President of the Soviet Union Mikhail Gorbachev who is credited for his openness and reorientation of the Soviet strategic aims which led to the end of the cold war, among others.

Abiy who was born in western Ethiopia, joined the resistance movement against the regime of the former leader Mengistu Haile Mariam as a teenager before enlisting in the army where he quickly rose to the rank of lieutenant-colonel. He later served at the cyber-intelligence service before getting into politics and rising through the ranks of the Oromo faction of the EPRDF.

His achievements in only five months are not only unprecedented at least in the region in Africa where peace and stability has been elusive for many decades but also commendable for a young Democracy like that of Ethiopia. His pacifistic leadership style that has been hailed both at home and abroad has given optimism and a renewed hope to a region once ravaged by war.

The 41 year Old Abiy took over a country that was in the brink of a major economic catastrophe on April 2 2018 from Hailemariam Desalegn Boshe who resigned surprisingly after a series of protests by various interest groups mainly led by the youth who represent about 70% of the population and who have been desperate for a paradigm shift from the repressive leadership that has seen the country degenerate to become one  of  the poorest and least economically capable of giving jobs to its mainly young population some of whom have  graduated but  are without jobs.

He quickly embarked on one of the most ambitious reform agendas ever with a remarkable speed and scale starting with the release of thousands of political prisoners including a British national by the name Andargachew Tsege who was on death row for four years for alleged terrorism charges and apologising for heavy handedness and torture by the government officials and promising change for the better.  He proceeded to fire the head of prison services after allegations of torture on the prisoners. He also removed the names of three opposition parties from the list of terrorist organisations. Abiy further lifted the unpopular state of emergency which earned him favour and eased discontentment especially among the youth and other political opponents who were feeling disenfranchised by the limitations to freedom. He has also liberalised the media which had been stifled by the previous regimes for fear of criticism.

On the economic front, he has begun the privatisation of major government owned cooperations  including state owned Ethiopian Airlines  and state run telecoms which will be open to private domestic and foreign investment. Many other sectors such are meant to follow suit except for the finance sector which may be privatised only after the country stabilises and comes out of its current volatile situation partly caused by a severe foreign currency shortage which almost brought the country to its knees.

The situation has however been improved by an intervention by Abiy after he secured a 3 billion Dollar aid package from the AUE, part of which (1 billion) has already been injected into the economy to ease the shortage. He has also made a remarkable and bold move of extending a hand of peace to the neighbouring countries, notably Eritrea with whom Ethiopia has had a 20 year diplomatic stand off after a two-year war between the two countries that killed at least two thousand people and injured a score of others.

All these reforms have not been popular with the entire nation, especially the peace deal with Eritrea which has caused a lot of the minority groups such as the Irob people who are unhappy about the decision to normalise relationships with people they see only as enemies. Infact the botched terrorist attack on the 23rd of June 2018 at a pro Abiy rally at the vast Meske Square in Addis Ababa at which 2 people died and many others were injured was allegedly carried out by hardliner minority who are discontent with some of the reforms he has put in place.

The recent incident which took place in Shashemene , in which a person was hung upside down from a tree by a local mob after rumour circulated that he had carried a bomb at a rally to mark the return to Ethiopia of activist Jawar Mohammed  and the killing of 23 people following ethnic violence targeting minorities in Oromo heartland on the outskirts of Addis Ababa are clear signs of rising ethnic tensions which have  drawn criticism from  many quarters  who see Abiy’s failure to address security challenges and sectarian violence as something that might hinder his efforts for reconciliation, inclusion, national unity and healing.”

Even the large aid package from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has been seen by some critics as a wrong move that would amount to Abiy not only siding with Saudi Arabia and its allies in the Gulf crisis, but also subscribing to some form of participation in the power game in the region which may taint the image of the country and compromise his role as one of the most Democratic and independent leaders in Africa. With only five months in power, one can only hope that he will finish what he has started and become the true face of a new Democratic Africa lead by young visionary leaders that will steer Africa to achieve its full potential and reclaim its titled that has long been denied, “the richest continent on planet earth.” This dream however may be dead on arrival if Ethiopians of good will from all ethnic groups do not rally behind him to form a unified and all-inclusive Ethiopia.

The event that was named Tembea Kenya cultural and business exchange, whose key  word “Tembea” means, to visit and share, was started with the sole objective of bringing together Kenyan and Italian entrepreneurs from various business sectors such as real estate, media, tourism, energy, fashion and culture,  to interact and exchange ideas.

In an interview with African Business exchange, the founder John Mwangi said that the Kenyans in Italy had become more active and vibrant than in the past and were ready and willing to bridge the economic gap between Kenya and Italy by creating a common platform where companies and investors from both countries could meet and engage.

The guests took to the stage amid traditional dances, tasty food and beautiful and well displayed traditional items and artefacts, to reinforce the powerful role played by the African Diaspora in the development of both their countries of origin and their hosting nations. The messages from all the key speakers revolved around the proven fact that what was once seen as a challenge was today an opportunity to be taken advantage of: “Africans living and working abroad are strong agents of change.”

Cleophase Adrien Dioma, Coordinator of the Italy Africa Business Week and the African October festival stated that it was encouraging to see African diaspora communities beginning to organize themselves in their cities of residence. He said it was very important for these communities to learn how best to organize and structure their efforts efficiently in order to create synergies with other local stakeholders in their specific areas.  He emphasised that the Italian government through the Italian Agency for Development which is under the Ministry of Foreign affairs, was eager to create new partnerships to unlock the potential of the public and the private sector to co-fund and propel start-ups by young African innovators in order to create long lasting small and medium businesses.

African governments such as  Ethiopia, Ghana, Mali, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya have acknowledged the decisive role played by the diaspora worldwide and have established specific agencies and ministerial institutions to establish stronger ties with their citizens working abroad, rightfully seen as valid resources in the short, medium and long term. Such institutions also provide guidelines and regulations to facilitate communication and economic flows between Africans working abroad and their counterparts in the countries of origin.

The African Foundation for Development and the African Diaspora Program launched by the World Bank, base their steps on the remittances made by the African diaspora. These remittances are actually said to be much more than the amounts recorded by aid organizations: in 2010 for example, the total diaspora contributions to Africa stood at $51.8 billion compared to roughly $43 billion in Oversea Development Assistance (ODA), according to the studies carried out by World Bank that year. Only two years later the World Bank figures showed that Africans in the diaspora sent back home no less than US$60 billion.

At the Tembea Kenya day, it was underlined that Kenya, in 2017 alone, received 1.7 billion USD in remittances from citizens working in the United Kingdom, the USA,  Japan and Italy among other countries that contributed smaller percentages.

This outstanding amount is said to be justified by the qualitative difference between the old and the new diaspora, the latter being formed by young and vibrant men and women prepared to discover new opportunities and become entrepreneurs and masters of their own destinies, rather than be hired by others in white collar jobs.  The remittances from the diaspora reach families, thereby helping them in their every day life by paying school fees, buying land and starting or improving local businesses. These contributions have an immediate and a long-term effect on peoples’ lives, thus representing a remarkable factor on the national building process.

Gianfranco Belgrano, the director of Internazionale, an international media group, who also spoke at the event, highlighted the important role of the media in clarifying the importance of the African workers to the Italian public. He stated that Africa was the present and the future of Europe and the world in general and hence opportunities like Tembea Kenya event, where people meet to exchange knowledge and experiences, were vital as possible avenues to building a better world than the one we live in today. He went on to say that the diaspora was a bridge and that the businesses they promote was the way to eliminate the negative stereotypes around Africa. “Let’s not forget that Africa is a booming continent, while Italy is still going through a crisis that is yet to end. In this exchange, Italy stands to gain more,” he said.

John Mwangi who is also the founder of Tembea – Italy Chapter shared his hope in light of the second edition of the event to be held next year saying, “This year we had ten exhibitors, next year we hope to have one hundred, in a much bigger location for at least two days because Italian and Kenyan banks are keen to be part of this event and to facilitate the establishment of business in both countries. This demonstrates that  African countries are now placing diaspora at the centre stage.”

By Giulio D’Ercole

Also present at the event was the CEO of Small Enterprise Development Agency (SEDA), Ms. Mandisa Tshikwatamba who gave a detailed pres- entation on the intermediary role played by the Agency in supporting the small enterprises in or- der to assist in their development.

The Torino Fashion week which is currently in its third year after inception by its founder Mr. Clau- dio Azzolini, attracted fashion designers from all around the world with participants coming from as far as China , Middle East, East Asia and Africa and Europe. The event is expected to attract even more participants next year making it the single most diverse Fashion event in Italy so far.

This year, will mark the second time the event is held in the Netherlands and the charity of choice is the Ikunda Foundation, an organization that aims to create equal opportunity for all children through championing for the education of the girl-child in Tanzania. Proceeds from the event will help in funding the education of several girls from poor family who would otherwise not get an opportunity to attend school. The money will be used to pay for school fees, boarding facilities as well as school supplies for several girls in rural Tanzania. “We are not just aiming for the fashion conscious but strive to promote fashion with a conscience” emphasized Pouw. Last year the event raised money for Pamoja Kenia, a programme collaborates with local communities in Kenyan on water and sanitation projects that also provide employment for these communities.

Having worked as model and toyed with sewing and clothes design, there is no better person to host this occasion and bring together a number of upcoming and established designers from Turkey, Netherlands and Suriname just to mention but a few. “Some of the activities of this highly attended event include a fashion show with well-known and sought-after designers showcasing their talent as well as the latest trends in the world of high fashion.” Says Pouw.

Last year’s designers included Dauvia who has been hailed as the best African Designer in the Netherlands, Alisha Mode, originally from the Democratic Republic of Congo best known for her Make Fashion not War slogan, Afrostreet Kollection from Kenya, FashCrash from the Netherlands, Modeby Duc as well as Michaela A’solo. This year will also see a line-up of well-known diverse and talented designers. Additionally, there will be entertainment from various established as well as up-coming artists and plentiful and varied servings of sumptuous hor d’oeuvre by Chakula B.V,  a constant flow of champagne, tea and coffee and a DJ playing music till late into the night. Other partners for this event include Rituals, City Lounge-Apeldoorn, Vue, CatWalk4U, Sterkmerk.eu and Amersflora.

What better way to spend a Saturday afternoon than with great music, good food and beautiful models swaying and swishing on the catwalk while show-casing some of the best designs, all for a better cause. As Pouw clearly puts it “ I only have one chance to be in this world, if there is any kindness or goodness I can show, I would rather do it now, because I will not be back once I am gone.”

By Linda Ogwell-Teunissen

Vittorio Malagutti, one of the best known Italian journalists and columnist of the weekly L’Espresso, who recently returned to Italy after climbing the Kilimanjaro summit and having done a safari, takes us through the memories and reflections of his experience, an experience not only in endurance and resilience but also very personal: everyone climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro with a lot of questions in their minds and hope to find answers at the summit.

Vittorio Malagutti, why did you choose Mt. Kilimanjaro?

My reasons were rather personal, initially, I decided to climb the to test myself and find out how I could cope with extreme situations like exhaustion and fatigue, the scarcity of oxygen of the high altitude and the discomfort of the climate. In addition, I was attracted pushed by the curiosity towards this very peculiar mountain, which looks like a solitary giant in the boundless spaces of the savannah. Kilimanjaro is not embedded in a chain of peaks such as the ones found in the Alps, the Andes or the Himalayas. You can see it from far away, with its six thousand feet, hooded by a glacier, which unfortunately is melting and increasingly growing less extensive year after year due to climate change and other factors.

How difficult was the climb?

This mountain is the only one of the “seven summits”, which make up the Queens Summits of every continent, which can be climbed without facing mountaineering difficulties characteristic of rock and ice. It is a long trek of 34kms, which lasts six days. So you need cardiovascular and endurance training and fatigue resistance, you do not have to use ropes, ice axes and crampons making it a much easier or less difficult, depending on how you look at it.

What images impressed you most, about that part of Africa?

The Ice: this was the biggest surprise for me. I am used to alpine peaks, made of rocks, shrubs and moss. Going up the Kilimanjaro, however, you will find spectacular trees up to almost 4,000 meters above sea level and when you are at the top, where obviously the landscape is desolate and barren, you’ll be amazed to think that only a couple of days ago you walked along a path immersed in the rainforest, between sudden downpours and sometimes unbearable heat.

How did you feel once you got to the peak?

When you reach a goal for which you have struggled for, you are overwhelmed by emotion, which everyone expresses in their own way, some cry, while let out exhilarated screams of joy. Those who climb in groups, hug each other. Then you stop and look down: there is a sea of ​​clouds that hides Africa, down there. And then the dazzling sun reflected in the white of the glacier. The terrain at the top is black, solid-state lava to remind you that you climbed on a volcanic mountain, a giant that has been sleeping for thousands of years.

Did you also get to visit other places in Tanzania?

Of course, I visited the North of Tanzania, on the border with Kenya which hosts some of the most beautiful parks in the world. I had the opportunity to participate in a photographic safari in the Ngorongoro and Serengeti reserves where I encountered unlimited spaces, lots of nature and wild animals at a telephoto range. I also saw lions, zebras, giraffes, impalas, leopards, gnu, cheetahs and hyenas. Seeing and admiring them in their natural environment was a great emotion. It was more like being in a National Geographic documentary

How was your relationship with the locals and with the organization?

The ascent to Kilimanjaro is managed by government laid down regulations. Every climbing group is required to have a guide, porters and cooks. All these attendants are perhaps not necessary, unless the purpose is to provide employment to the locals in order to improve their living conditions. I’m not sure, however, that money really goes into the pockets of those who need it most, but I can say that I’ve seen much worse around the world. As you can imagine, there are not many accommodation options in the park; you either sleep in tents in the equipped areas, as we did, or pay hundreds of dollars to stay for a few days in the few lodges within the reserve. When you wake up in the morning, with a broken back after spending the night on the bare earth, then you understand that the idea is to discourage an even larger influx of tourists at one given time, an invasion that would endanger the ecosystem.

Is there anything that you found negative about Tanzania?

I’m not an expert on Africa and it’s not easy to make judgments based on a couple of weeks stay. I can say that the small part of Tanzania that I explored gave me a view into the disparities in most developing nations; Luxurious off-road vehicles on one hand and poor people walking barefoot on the other, generosity leaps and cheap scams on tourist among others.

Zaouli

The first tradition to achieve this universal recognition in 2017 was the Zaouli, an ancient masked dance that has its roots in the Guro tribe, who live in the districts of the cities of Bouaflé and Zuénoula, located in the centre of Ivory Coast, west of the capital Yamoussoukro. The Zaouli is a tribute to feminine beauty that plays an important educational, recreational and aesthetic role within the communities where it is practiced, transmitting the cultural identity of its bearers and promoting social integration and cohesion. There are a total of seven masks used during the dance, all of which are inspired by many legends of the land and produced by skilled wood sculptors. Each mask goes along with a costume that is worn during the dance events, which are very rhythmic and physically demanding. Great importance is also given to musicians and other dignitaries, who guarantee respect for the traditions and who give vitality to the performances, sometimes in the form of intense competitions between villages.

Nsima

The second tradition is Nsima, a staple food not only in Malawi, but also other sub-Saharan African countries, even though it’s called by different names across Africa. It is a kind of maize meal (polenta) obtained from white corn, introduced in Africa centuries ago by the Americans. It is eaten with meat, fish and vegetables and has great importance in the local cuisine of countries such as Malawi. Everything from the cultivation of corn, to the production of flour to cooking is part of this tradition upon which many of the families  depend for their livelihood. The communities safeguard this tradition through the continuous practice, the publication of school books and recipes on the Nsima, and the organization of thematic festivals. It is also served in most restaurants across Africa.

Sega Tambour

The third tradition protected by UNESCO was discovered and thrives in the island of Rodrigues, the second most important of the Republic of Mauritius and more than 500 kilometers away from the capital Port Louis. Sega Tambour, as it is referred to is similar to Zaouli, a dance performance on a rhythmic base played with some instruments: the main one is a special type of drum that is beaten energetically with the hands, to which the Triyang, Bwat and Mayos are  associated . Unlike the Ivorian dance, however, the dancers do not wear traditional masks or costumes and the performance is in harmony with the music.

The Sega Tambour tradition originated from the slave communities of Rodrigues and has been handed down to date as a social aggregation tool within the communities of the Island. It is taught to children from an early age and there are real competitions where musicians and dancers challenge each other. A local non-governmental organization (NGO) has been founded that preserves its historical heritage and which currently falls under the auspices of UNESCO.

To these first three traditions now protected, has been added Dikopelo, practiced in Botswana, which has entered into the list of customs that are risking possible extinction and are therefore in need of urgent protectio. It is a group dance set, without a well-defined choreography, and the singing is without the accompaniment of musical instruments. Dikopelo was practiced above all in campaigns in southern Africa, however with the progressive rural depopulation, those who practice it have decreased, since it is increasingly difficult to practice it in the urban areas. It is also becoming more and more difficult to find those who are keen to pass on the tradition, even if some groups still endeavour to find young people willing to learn it.

…And the Neapolitan pizza makers

Italy, and in particular the city of Naples where pizza was discovered, also received a great boost in 2017, when UNESCO  recognized and listed  the art of Neapolitan “pizzaiuoli”(Pizza makers) as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. This is due to the cultural and social role that it has played over the years and still continues to play, which has created a sense of identity of the Neapolitan citizens who identify with this practice and  the values ​​of cohabitation among the members of the Parthenopean community that it represents. The craft of pizzaiuolo has also created an opportunity for social redemption and success to many young people from poor backgrounds, who are guaranteed a future career as pizzaiuoli. The turnover of pizza in Italy, according to Coldiretti, is valued at approximately 12 billion euros.  The Americans being the biggest consumers with 13 kilos per capita, while the Italians lead the ranking in Europe with 7.6 kilos per capita, followed by the Spanish, French,German and British, who consume about 4 kilos per capita. It is worth noting that even the “Mediterranean diet” has been in the UNESCO list of Intangible Cultural Heritages of Humanity for some years now.