From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Sun Apr 18 2010 - 05:38:57 EDT
Implications of Party Owned Businesses and Politics In Ethiopia
Washington, DC
18/04/2010
Scholars say businesses owned by the ruling EPRDF are creating long-term
financial problems for Ethiopia.
The ties between Ethiopia's ruling party and some of the nation's largest
enterprises were one of several topics raised in a recent discussion hosted
by the VOA's Alula Kebede.
Panelists discuss the political and economic fortunes of the last 40 years
of Ethiopian governments stress that the country faces enormous political
and financial consequences.
Corporations owned by ruling political parties "are not state-owned or
regional development companies as they operate outside of a given region in
search of profits," says Dr. Minga Negash, a professor of accounting and
finance at Metropolitan State College of Denver and University of Pretoria,
South Africa. "They do not operate in a liberal democracy or in social
democracies but only in post-conflict environments in the likes of Iran,
Eritrea and Zimbabwe and there are no known laws to govern them." Ethiopia
is an example of a post-conflict business environment, he emphasizes.
Minga and others on the panel also discussed flaws in the political culture
of Ethiopia which limits the effectiveness and success of opposition parties
and the ERPRDF. Other panelists included Wassi Tesfa, director of Head
Start, a national program of the U.S. Dept of Health and Human Services; and
Imru Zelleke, retired Ethiopian ambassador to the United States and the
chairman of a committee that organized last weekend's "Good governance,
peace security and sustainable development in Ethiopia and the Horn of
Africa" in Virginia.
The conference of scholars, civil society leaders and representatives of
Trans Africa Forum and Africa Action was organized by the Ethiopian National
Priority Consultative Process and Advocacy for Ethiopia to discuss U.S.
policies in the region and efforts that can influence decisions.
[insert caption
here]Listen to excerpts of the VOA Panel Discussion Program - in Amharic >>>
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