Most Ethiopians are devoid of confidence to buy products imprinted ‘made in Ethiopia,’ as they have developed the negative attitude towards local products, perhaps because they think the products are low in quality. However, buying locally produced products is equivalent with being heroic as this measure helps back the effort geared towards safeguarding national sovereignty and declaring independence.
Needless to state, these days battlefield patriotism is not that caring than economic patriotism which is quite indispensible for fostering poverty alleviation and helping proclaim self-sufficiency. Ethiopia will be potentially capable of defeating poverty if citizens are committed to work hard in all spheres of their engagement and have given priority to local products thereby helping the country come up with economic and political hegemony. Definitely, all Ethiopians should stand for Ethiopia now, and later on Ethiopia shall stands for Ethiopians.
The Ethiopian Herald had a short stay with Melese Endeshaw, a graduate of economics from Wollo University. He said, “Political and social advancements follow economic advancement, and economic advancement is not a miraculous phenomenon rather it is an upshot of a collaborated effort of various stakeholders such as policymakers, institutions, companies, universities, and above all citizens of all walks of life. In an economy where the natives cold hardly develop interest in purchasing locally produced goods, services and homemade items, there is no way in which domestic industries, companies, factories and local businesses show progress and multiply.”
Frankly speaking, he said the quality citizens have aspired for long can be secured via attaching due emphasis to the input provision, process and outcome revealing procedure at all levels and highly prioritizing local products quality improvement. If this is so, the durability, quality and fondness towards homemade ones can be many times better. Plus, the satisfaction that comes from local products is much more rewarding in terms of pushing the country forward and making the business of local actors and entrepreneurs as well.
He said, “Gloomily, we are behind the ability to do for ourselves. Self-sufficiency is becoming a lost knack as far as citizens’ attitude towards their mother’s property is concerned. We all need to embark on the skills and wisdom were have learned from the past generation and pass down them to the generations to come.”
As to Melese, with a population of more than 115 million people, Ethiopia has ample opportunity to get prospered and well reinvigorate its economy.
“Whenever a given country is economically independent, no one or no country won’t have the gut to twist its arms, and its citizens can confidently run any activity wherever they happen and in what means they would love,” he added.
According to him, let alone these days when all sorts of products are getting improved quality wise and preferred well, Ethiopians were benefited when they bought locally formed products earlier.
The birth of a number of industries regarding home grown businesses or these which are venturing with foreign ones could be a turning point for Ethiopia’s economy like what played a key role in fueling industrial revolutions in England and Germany in the second half of the 18th century, he opined.
Yes, he said the expansion of various industries in Ethiopia is considered the most potential to increase exports, create job opportunities, provide model know how for other sectors and will be able to facilitate skill development through training, experience sharing and technology transfer.
Another economics expert, Meimuna Jafar from Meda wolabu University stated that providing local products with due emphasis would be of paramount importance in buttressing Ethiopia’s economy.
To the surprise of everyone, she said the market experience in Ethiopia has so far been conversely treated. “Look! We export raw materials and sometimes semi-finished supplies such as leather, and import finished products like shoes, jackets from those countries we sent our exports to. This detrimental trade relationship has to be altered and the trajectory needs to be well tilt down to the country,” she said.
Hence, we all have to embark on creating experts, professionals, skilled human power, technicians and guides who can confidently help the country renovate import substitution.
“I can confidently say that we are as a consequence import-dependent. As learnt from reports, Ethiopia’s import is 5 or 6 times larger than the export. We should bear in mind concerning quality is that market expansion and qualified labor help attain all standards. Hereafter, we all have to focus on how to improve the quality of local products and raise public awareness regarding recurrently utilizing them,” she added.
Yes, Ethiopia has time and again dealt with the assignment of altering citizens’ mind set up and help them develop sense of belongingness as no one can come and act accordingly to help our country make a difference. To your surprise, most people, especially city dwellers, tends to associate the intake of imported materials, goods, services and products relating it with status and prestige, which could practically by no means be source of pride, she underlined.
Meimuna further stated, “Rather it can be considered as lack of knowledge of the modern sense of economic patriotism. All colonizers came to Africa not looking for its sunshine, golden inhales; it is for resources to satisfy their economic interest. We have to be well aware of that those who failed in political colonization have relentlessly attempted to finally succeed in the economic colonization.
As to her, consumers buying locally-produced goods have a positive effect on the industrialization process apart from other economic policy actions of the government. Pure economics discourages import and encourages export. “We shall invest in our own future and the future of our own children by increasing demand for locally produced goods and services. Our bold histories on the battlefield have to be repeated again and again, but this time the battlefield is the local market and our weapons are the locally-produced goods and services.”
‘Made in Ethiopia’ has to be well furnished and widely used as it is of paramount importance in helping the country not only economic independence but it is also a viable weapon to defeat modern colonizers, she underlined.
She further stated that the economic success of widely utilizing ‘made in Ethiopia’ will contribute significantly to the endeavor geared towards meeting other important development determinations. As has been witnessed so far, Ethiopia has just begun its way to industrialization in various sectors, the vast use of locally produced wealth would be a feasiblestep to get the economy of the country developed.
She said as Ethiopia is the oldest independent and the fastest developing African country today, it could be considered as a latecomer in the manufacturing sector in Sub-Saharan Africa, and ‘Made in Ethiopia’ consumption presents an overall socio-economic advantage to the country and is the right moment for the governance to ponder about consumption and mass production from both the ends of the value chain.
As learnt from Meimuna, “Pride is an emotion that plays an important role in many aspects of our lives, including our consumption experiences. We feel proud when we graduate from University, or when we receive a job promotion. Pride is not only the emotion that drives our consumption, but also an emotion that is elicited by consumption. We shall give priority to local products marked ‘Made in Ethiopia!’”
Purchasing locally also means that people know a bit more about quality control; they also know that certain goods have been produced in a way that meets stringent regional and national standards. When purchasing goods from out of the country it can be difficult to know the manufacturing processes and potentially harmful chemicals and byproducts might involve. Furthermore, it reduces the transportation costs associated with goods and services people would love. True, local items are also more likely to be fresh compared to items that are transported long distances from abroad. Buying local products also presents a special networking opportunity among businesses.
Local manufacturing with bigger budget can function more effectively to contribute a lot to the national economy.
Meimuna said, “Buying locally produced items, goods and services as well as wealth can be a great way to inspire small business and promote economic growth in our own communities. It can be a practical means, though not all the time, that can confidently contribute a great deal to the effort exerted towards declaring economic independence thereby doing away with uninvited political pressure. Thus, we all have to develop confidence to buy and prefer local products to imported items, at least more than half percent.”
BY MENGESHA AMARE
THE ETHIOPIAN HERALD THURSDAY 21 APRIL 2022
