Ethiopia is one of the poorest nations in the world with bad record of human life catastrophe due to civil war, politics and recurring natural disasters which cause food shortage or poor economy management. Mostly Ethiopian leaders blame the existing economy problem on lack education, capital and technology to utilize the country’s abandon natural resources as it was stated by Prime Minister Meles Zenawi in his recent televised interview.

PM Meles Zenawi to address the economy problem of the nation, he has chosen the foreigners’ investment as a solution to improve the nation’s economy without assessing its impact on the community. As he had done it wrong in Copenhagen’s global climate change summit, again he has chosen Foreigners’ investment from his narrow perspective without observing its negative impact on the community at large.

In realty Foreigners’ investment is important because it solves the problem of capital, technology, employment, economy growth and development. However, these objectives would not be achieved without proper control and assessment of the investment negative impact on the community if MP Meles Zenawi is taking China’s foreigners investment policy as a model.  

However, to the contrast Ethiopia Foreigners’ investment and national investment policy seems to be designed to enrich the ruling part rather than the nation. The essence of this policy is not different from its processor regime “the public corporations policy” which serviced the interest of ruling party and left millions of Ethiopians dying of hunger and poverty.  

The best example is the Anuaks’ land grabbing campaign in pretext of Foreigner’s investment to develop the region and to generate revenue for the nation.  The Anusk community in South Western Ethiopia has suffered enormously due to lack of proper investment’s impacts assessment. The government of Ethiopia fails to assist the investment’s impacts intentionally. Because it doesn’t consider the dark skin Ethiopians who inhabits Gambela regional state as citizens nor do they deserve any development. Always any development project design for the region is design to destroy the indigenous inhabitants in the region and to enrich and empower the settlers from the so-called main stream Ethiopians.

The current foreigners’ investment policy fails to assist the investment impacts on the Anuak, Nuer, and Majanger communities. In first place the investment deal was made by the federal government in Addis Ababa without the consent of neither Gambela’s regional state administration nor the communities who will be affected by the impact of the investment. Simply, the federal government imposes the investment deal upon Gambela’s regional state administration to sign the deal without consulting the communities about the consequences of the investment.

I think in any development project there are factors to be considered such as fiscal, environmental, and socio-economic impacts. However, MP Meles’ investment policy didn’t take these factors into consideration when he broke the deal with Indian and Saudi investors. He was focusing on how he would pocket the big money he would receive from investors rather than considering the interest of the community who would suffer from the investment’s aftermath.  

As a result of this deal today, Anuaks are paying enormous cost. They were displaced and became internal displaced people in their own country. The investment didn’t offer employment opportunity as promised nor enhance the balance sheet of the community. The community did miss out of employment opportunity because they were considered illiterates and don’t deserve employment. MP Meles had his kith and kin migrated to the region to fill up any available jobs.  For the few who got a chance to be employed, employment became a labour exploitation and a tactic to impoverish the Anuak community.

The investment didn’t make an impact on public service costs and revenue expected to generate. Paying $10 birr for labour per a day and $15 birr per hectare per annum for lease wouldn’t change the lives of the community nor increase the nation’s GDP. It would not improve the food shortage problem in the country since the investors are investing to produce cash crops such as plum oil, cotton, gum tree and timber.

Anuaks were better off working on their own farms rather than working on investment’s farms. They hadn’t faced any food shortage in the history of Ethiopia as they do now. Even in those black days when Ethiopia has been hit by droughts in 70s and 80s none of the Anuaks were killed or starved to death. But today, they are depending on Catholic and others relief organizations’ hand out.

The Anuak and Majanger communities have started filling the heat at the initial stage of the investment. The investment has brought huge environment disaster on these communities. Anuak and Majanger communities are losing ground and surface water in quantity and quality, wildlife habitat, fruits, roots, and tubers (the supplementary means of food) including changes in air quality and weather. For the Anuaks and Majangers forest is everything. Clearing the forest for investment is a killing of these communities because forest is their main vein of blood circulation. Without it no live.   

MP Meles Zenawi doesn’t assess socio economic impact such as changes in community demographics, housing, employment and income, market effects, and public services. For example, thousands of Anuaks have been displaced and end up in ghettos where their life becomes miserable. Many people are suffering depression and stress and become vulnerable to different kind of diseases such as malaria because of lost of their warm homes to the investors without any compensation or sustainable development project design to help them cope with the changes.

I think it would have been better for MP Meles to assess these investment projects in terms of socio-economic context that would help the community leaders and residents identify potential social equity issues, evaluate the adequacy of social services and determine whether the project may adversely affect overall social well-being. 

This piece is written by Ojulu Odola. You may reach him at Ojulu@optusnet.com.au