There is no gainsaying the fact that Ethiopia is heading in the right direction at this moment in time. Considering the commitment of Ethiopian Premier Dr. Abiy Ahmed, the country is harvesting the fruit of success. He has been taking the country to the helm of success without exaggeration. As everyone is aware, nobody had expected Ethiopia would reach where it is in the present day except thinking the country would end up becoming one of the failed states in the world. It is to be recalled that some months back, Ethiopia was paralyzed by infinite problems and unrest.
Above and beyond, nobody had expected Ethiopia would get itself out of the problem shackling its foot and hand and get itself fully involved in various development activities surfacing in a wide array of the country. As some of the displeased ones have been thrown into prison, the country is productively achieving the desired goal. Nowadays, nobody can use the country’s wealth for fattening his/her pocket come what may.
As everyone is all aware, since the premier took office quite a lot of development activities have been popping up in most towns and cities of Ethiopia in addition to creating a lot of job opportunities for the unemployed segment of the society. Hence, most youths have been turning out to be the breadwinner of their family and their respective parents.
While we are on the subject, the desired goal of this writer is not giving emphasis on the development activities surfacing in the length and breadth of the country but to highlight a range of development activities going on in North Shewa Zone.
At the outset, Debre Berhan is located in the North East of Addis Ababa. It is positioned at the heart of the highland plateau. More often than not, the town serves as a significant economic and political centre. Earlier than the restructuring of the administrative zones, the town served as the capital of Tagulat and Bulga province.
At the present time, North Shewa zone is turning out to be one of the destinations for tourists and investors. The zone is popping up in various development activities seeing that more than a few activities have been partaking in a wide array of the zone. Therefore, the living standard of the people is improving over and over again.
The investment opportunities of the area are on the right track. As learnt from the administrator of the North Shewa, every year, the flow of investment in the zone is on the rise. Over the past four months more than 170 investors had registered a capital of 7.8 Billion Birr in a wide spectrum of sectors.
To this point, 1763 investment projects have been granted licenses registering more than 60 Billon Birr capitals. When all investments in the zone are put into effect, they will create job opportunities for more than 320,000 youths. By the way, peace and tranquility is one of the reasons why investors’ inflow in the zone increases every so often. As the people of the zone are on familiar terms with various benefits they get out of investments, they place much emphasis on investors.
Likewise, as the zone is adjacent to Addis Ababa and the port of Mojo-dry port and other related aspects, it is turning out to be the choice of investors. More to the point, the location of the zone is beneficial in terms of transportation. A road is being constructed from Debrebirhan to Ankober and Ankober to Dulecha. When it sees completion, the zone will turn out to be one of the development destinations.
In fact, every part of the country is heading in the right direction given that all and sundry is making the impossible possible. Ethiopia is attaching significance to various development activities which take the country to the helm of success. Furthermore, infrastructural developments which help the country successfully realize its dream has been flourishing in the left, center and center of the country.
Following the suitable investment climate surfacing in the North Shewa, the inhabitants of the area have been taking place in the development activities of the zone. Moreover, investors in various sectors have been getting themselves involved in the zone from time to time. The number of investors, who would like to invest their capital on a number of sectors, has been on the rise.
This writer approached one of the residents of Debre Birhan to have his feelings, ideas and thoughts. He goes by the name Amare Melaku. He said, “I would say, our zone is on the right track. Nowadays, a lot of job opportunities have been created over and over again. In the past, we had passed through many ups and downs. I do believe the infrastructural developments of the zone will not be at snail’s pace.
Every so often, the Ethiopian premier is really making history. He is taking the country to a new chapter of success. As we were led by immature leaders, we could not achieve the intended target except getting off the track. Our life was always turning upside down. But currently I can witness development activities surfacing in the zone. The residents of the zone have already jump-started leading a peaceful and meaningful life though a lot remains to be done. I firmly believe that if we all work hand-in-glove we can harvest the fruit of success in next to no time. Nothing shall be impossible with the people.”
Tefera Wondimagegnwu is an administrator of North Shewa Zone. He said, “as Chinese investors pinpointed in their first proposal, they will build twenty one factories apart from planting twenty one factories in the second phase. They both work under the umbrella of one industrial park and this in turn will bring growth and a great achievement for the region without a doubt.
In the first phase, the industrial park has the capacity of hiring more than 10,000 youths at a time. In the second and third phases it has the capacity of employing 30,000 and 40,000 job opportunities respectively. This is really a source of job opportunities and growth. One way or the other, this helps the problem of the community to be solved within the shortest time possible. Aside from making the question of development to be answered, it will create market opportunities for producers.
By the same token, there are investors thinking of putting in place Industrial Park in the area. The zone is turning out to be investors’ magnet apart from helping the area flourish in assorted development activities. At this moment in time, the number of Chinese and Europeans investors has been on the rise.
He kept on saying, “As problems can come to pass when industries burgeon, we are designing effective solution. We do want all and sundry to be effective. To be honest, land is one of the problems. For instance, an investor who would like to partake in an industrial park business needs a minimum of 200 Square meter of land. I would say, this directly or indirectly, could cast doubt on the community. Therefore, we make an effort to take land from farmers by paying compensation.
This time, as farmers get less than they earn they would be more displeased than praising the development activities surfacing in the area. However, we make a wide-spectrum of efforts to prevent this kind of problem from happening time and again.
The other problem is giving the land for investors paying compensation for a third party. In this way, it would be easier said than done to handover the land as we wish. Hence, farmers who got displaced from their land for development purpose could take investors as strangers on their land. We are endeavoring with the intention of smoothing the progress of the problem by fair means and come up with a better solution which makes farmers beneficiaries.
According to the administrator, though the administrative town is near Addis Ababa, it is short of modern hotels and a meeting hall. The zone is giving especial emphasis on these necessities. At this point in time, the zone has arranged land for twelve investors interested to take part in hotel investment. Among them, Haile Gebreselassie is one of them. He has requested land to build a four star hotel. When the number of industries increases, employees and investors do need good hotels. If not, they will not find the zone comfortable to get themselves involved in their work. As hotels play a major role, we are making an effort to build various hotels which entertain the interest of all.
The administrator stressed that the growth of the zone had been blocked by leaders as they play a major role in enhancing and slowing down the development activities of the zone. There were no leaders giving their all for the region. Successful development will not come out of the blue. In the past as the leaders of the zone were not psychologically ready, achieving the desired goal was impossible.
If truth be told, as the population of North Shewa is 2.1 million, we do need more than one university. In the zone, there are more than half million students attending classes. If one takes as an example, the population of Djibouti is 560,000. This means one university is not enough for the zone. But due to negligence, leaders could not expand universities. It would have been possible to expand colleges under the umbrella of the university. Owing to leaders of the area, they could not even start construction work in Emperor Menelik Technology compound, the foundation of which was laid two years ago.
Following the condition of poor leaders, the zone had missed a lot of opportunities. It was not possible to build a lot of branch universities. The zone requires a leader who would accelerate development time and again. We do need a leader who can motivate the community. We do need a leader who can take the zone to a new chapter of achievement. We do need a leader who gives priority to the interest of the community than himself.
A lot of sacrifices have been paid to reach where we are today in terms of the reform. It did come out of the blue. We are at a time of freedom and hope.
Everybody is making an effort to give their all for the reform surfacing all over the country. The community has been getting themselves engaged in accelerating development, insuring justice, and what not. Honestly speaking, change does not come overnight. Leaders as well should work by the sweat of their brow to make the dream of the community a reality. Leaders should work day and night. They have to exercise caution not to indulge in improprieties as a result of which the community points an accusatory finger at the government.
Herald December 16/2018
BY ADDISALEM MULAT
