BY GIRMACHEW GASHAW
Maki Almaghribi is a Sudanese Media Consultant and Press Writer on Economy, Development, and Stability in Africa. His works cover range of issues like trans-boundary issues, people to people relations and economic cooperation among countries.
After attending the India-Africa business cooperation event held recently in New Delhi, Almaghribi had sojourned in Addis Ababa. He had also a brief stay with The Ethiopian Herald.
Could you tell us in brief about your observation of the India-Africa Business Cooperation?
I am just coming from India, Delhi, participating in Indian African cooperation program. And that was a wonderful program. And there was involvement with the think tanks, there was a discussion on the Indian investment in Africa generally, with more focused on East Africa, including Ethiopia. So, there was a good experience for Indian investment in Ethiopia, in the field of textile.
Also, there was good experience for the entire region. The medical cooperation in Sudan, in Kenya, and people there appreciated the Indian investment in Africa with more focus on Ethiopia. And I gave them an example of a factory here, just south to Addis Ababa, named Kanoria. It’s Indian factory. And there are almost 2000 workers there. So that is how the cooperation goes.
How did you see the interest of Indians to invest in Ethiopia?
I met Indians and they told me about their plan. It includes all the countries of Horn of Africa, Ethiopia, and Sudan. And I connected with a couple of councils, just like the Council of Sudanese Indian business, which is in Khartoum and I recommend that also here should be a council for Ethiopian Indian business cooperation. Also, you have Sudanese Business Council in Ethiopia.
So, making these councils with a good experience from my practice and my experience with Sudanese Indian Council, I found that the number is more and bigger than what we know. Even the two partners, because some people come and they don’t know. They are not registered as investors from India, but they’re connected with that. So, regarding back to Ethiopia, the thing that is highly appreciated during my discussion with Indian experts is the Ethiopian labor worker, dedicated and skillful and fast learners.
That is good also for us in Sudan. If we have a factory of textile in Ethiopia, and they are well trained, that would be a good opportunity for Ethiopian workers that they have another market. Because the Ethiopian work power in Sudan is very big, and they are trusted amongst Sudanese especially in the services and trade sector. They are trusted because they are dedicated to work and they are committed. So, that was mentioned there, but for me as a person that thinks with a wide vision of cooperation, when we think broadly, we can achieve big, but if we think limited that we achieve small. So, my goal now coming back from this trip is to promote for Indian African cooperation.
And they have examples that I mentioned in Ethiopia which was wonderful example. And they have another example I mentioned in Sudan, in Kenya and other countries, that is good for Ethiopia. India is free economy system; you find middle class business and upper class business and small business. So, any Ethiopian here can find his partner easily. When you talk about African Indian cooperation, you are not talking about the billionaires; you are talking about middle class business and small class business.
They can have a partner with one machine or one equipment from Ethiopia because usually the big partners with big and small partners with small that you can find it in India, but you cannot find it in other countries. Maybe they are huge in business or in manufacturing power. But they just export your country what you consume or maybe they come to the big business here also, but I see and they know that the middle class business in Ethiopia is good and big and making more work opportunities for individuals in Ethiopia than the big.
Because, if you have a middle class business or even small business, let us talk about how we get that. The capital is small, but the number of workers sometimes reaches 30; you count workers and even you count the suppliers that were connected. And you talk about taxi men outside, so the number might reach 100 with very small capital. So the middle class business and the small businesses SMEs could be supported by a partner who has free economy with multiple levels of economy.
And this is why I came out from India with this inspiration. And I think very soon there will be an Indian African Cooperation Council. And they know that Ethiopian Indian business in Ethiopia would be one of the great pillars of this council because the example here is beautiful.
So how would you see the construction of the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD)?
I visited the GERD three times. And if you count my articles supporting the GERD in the Sudan, it might make a book. The GERD has a big benefit for Sudan, because it stabilizes the flow of the water throughout the year. So, that is good for Sudan. Because in the time which is good for agriculture, for specific project, the level of the water is low, and in the time which is not good for agriculture, the level of water is very high and damaging the farms. So having the GERD is good for the two countries definitely! And it’s good for Africa, because it is a model of development project.
That is why I visited the dam. Because when you make a model for African countries that people of Ethiopia, donated, and they purchased their sovereignty paying money for the GERD, and now it is owned by Ethiopian people. So, no way for any government to compromise on the GERD. And always I prefer to be positive and to talk about the benefits, because I think there is no lack for negative propaganda. So I always keep talking and filling the media gaps with positive promotion for the dam.
The electricity is something very important for Ethiopia and for Sudan. And the two countries should understand that some opportunities here is big, but others are small. Here in Ethiopia, the potentials of water and electricity are very high. But because of the population or the use of land and the mountainous nature, the agricultural land in Sudan is wider and bigger. So the agriculture opportunity in Sudan is very high. In Ethiopia, there is water, electricity, and the labor. In Sudan, we have the land. So there should be cooperation. Here the government cooperation should be an umbrella. But here I come again; the private sector has a role. The private sector has a big role. And electricity could be a driving force for Sudanese -Ethiopian cooperation.
In what way should Africans cooperate when it comes to common resources, like trans-boundary resources? How should they come together and harness it?
When people face problems on the borders, they think that the solution is in the capital of the two countries. I say No! The solution is in the borders. I can give you an example. There are four disputed areas between the United States and Canada. Have you ever heard about them in the media? Even they don’t raise these issues. Why? Because, the economic integration between the two countries is high.
When you normalize the relation, when you open the borders, when you activate the border markets between the two countries, the people in the borders, they don’t allow crimes to happen. Even they don’t need police. Why? Because they are making their life out of the border trade. So whoever wants to endanger the borders, he is an enemy [to the people along the borders] before the two governments. So having the two governments thinking about different things, why are the markets closed? That will give opportunity for smuggling, and the criminal gangs. For Sudan and Ethiopia I
think they should open the border markets. Some would talk about security. Establish Ethiopia and Sudanese integrated forces to protect the borders. This is not an excuse. We have Chadian- Sudanese integrated forces protecting the borders between Chad and Sudan. And it was successful experience. In Ethiopia, you have very wonderful experience with Kenya. You have three border markets between Ethiopia and Kenya, one of them is Moyale market. And they know the history, of this market, because I was connected to the IGAD and CEWARN, which is part of IGAD.
There were criminal gangs on the borders between Kenya and Ethiopia. The two governments come together. They said “if we open the borders the crimes will increase. Let us change the borders to a trade area between the two countries” and they opened free markets with the support of IGAD. IGAD is ours, not a foreign organization; Ethiopia, Kenya and other countries of Horn of Africa or East Africa. And because of the markets and the benefit that happened to the people of the borders, the people on the borders protect the borders from any crimes.
This is a solution. I expect or I suggest the next meeting between the Prime Minister and the head of the Security Council to be in Galabat, Metema. They should go there in the border market of the two towns and they should have their coffee there. The relation is good now, but we should change the borders to a means of cooperation. So, after you put the atmosphere in the right track, after you normalize the relation, the technical committees discussing trans-border issues they will be reasonable because there is no pressure from the government or there are no negative things in the media. But in the normal atmosphere, the discussion will be correct. But in a volatile atmosphere, that will never happen. And it will not be technical, it will be politicized. Now, the relation is good. And this is the time for the two countries to come together and to clear all things on the borders.
And I will give you further examples. We are Sudanese here; they call us ‘Wondimoch’, i.e brothers and sisters. Also when Ethiopians come to Sudan, they call them “Ahwan”, means brothers. But when it comes to business regulation, Sudanese are foreigners here, and Ethiopians are foreigners in Sudan. No relation between the lip works that we say a reality. If we talk about integration between two countries that means there should be specific privilege for the city here, and there.
There is a Sudanese Business Council here, and they appreciate what they are doing. And they are very happy with the atmosphere. But if you make more privilege, you get more money and capital coming from Sudan to Ethiopia. And that was possible. I’m a person in this field. For a long time, when there was an economic problem in Sudan, the money went to Kigali, Kenya; some of them went to Ethiopia. But why does the money go here and there. Because anyone thinks about the privilege they have. So that was the time.
And for me, the money is better to come to Ethiopia, because it is close to Sudan and any person make his money here that means he will bring more Sudanese and others to Ethiopia. So regarding the trans boundary technical things, they will be addressed scientifically and practically in a normal atmosphere, and though there is opportunity for the two nations, the two governments, to come together that is very positive and let us do it and not wait.
I’ll give you another example. There was a good time between Sudan and Ethiopia before. But the two heads of state at that time, they went further in political and security cooperation: Meles and Bashir. Meles passed away while Bashir was removed from power. And the security and political cooperation was connected with them. But if you make economic integration, it will not be connected with government. So at that time, they were happy with the friendly relation.
But that was not the end of the story. They were connected with governments, not with economies. So I call upon the two governments and the two heads of state, Abiy Ahmed and Al Burhan, don’t repeat that mistake. Do a different thing. Go to the borders, and establish border markets between Sudan and Ethiopia, and go to agriculture cooperation between Sudan and Ethiopia. Because Sudan has a land and Ethiopia has electricity.
How do you think should governments of the region transform conflicts along border areas and ensure peace, development?
Diplomacy is something that puts things in the positive track. I have been a diplomat for three years. By career, I’m a media person. But I had an opportunity to be diplomat in Washington DC for three years. So I know diplomacy very well. And I interact with the diplomatic community here. So the core of diplomacy was to keep things in the positive interaction. You tell the positive things and you expand the positive area, put the water in this, you focus on the positive benefits of the water of the two sides. And this is hydro diplomacy.
What we are doing now is a hydro diplomacy. Because we are appreciating the positive things of the GERD for the two countries: Sudan and Ethiopia. Ethiopia is not just sharing the water between Sudan and Ethiopia. The water of Omo River with Kenya. Why? the relations now is good, because there was water problems on the Omo market for some time, but that province was connected with problems in the area. And when the two governments settled the problem with the area with African solutions for African problems, which were the border Ethiopia. Because Sudan has a land and Ethiopia has electricity.
How do you think should governments of the region transform conflicts along border areas and ensure peace, development?
Diplomacy is something that puts things in the positive track. I have been a diplomat for three years. By career, I’m a media person. But I had an opportunity to be diplomat in Washington DC for three years. So I know diplomacy very well. And I interact with the diplomatic community here. So the core of diplomacy was to keep things in the positive interaction. You tell the positive things and you expand the positive area, put the water in this, you focus on the positive benefits of the water of the two sides. And this is hydro diplomacy.
What we are doing now is a hydro diplomacy. Because we are appreciating the positive things of the GERD for the two countries: Sudan and Ethiopia. Ethiopia is not just sharing the water between Sudan and Ethiopia. The water of Omo River with Kenya. Why? the relations now is good, because there was water problems on the Omo market for some time, but that province was connected with problems in the area. And when the two governments settled the problem with the area with African solutions for African problems, which were the border market at that time, the problem stopped and the water became a means of peace between the two countries.
Is there anything the governments of the regional countries can do to bring the peoples of their countries closer together, and facilitate the free and easy movement to and from each other?
We share the same problem. We share the water, we share the needs. Why is the Ethiopian work force big in Sudan? Is it because of a government decision? No, it’s a public decision. Sudanese business owners, they want them. And believe me; most of them are residing in Sudan illegally. And that is something bad. But the governments don’t intervene. Yet it should be legalized. And that cannot happen if there is no agreement between the two countries.
So sometimes they want to come back to Ethiopia. As a result the illegal immigrants go through the borders. In this way the bus and the aero planes lose money. And the traffickers that take them through the borders, they don’t pay taxes for the two countries. So who is losing? The governments! So when the governments legalize and make more privilege to the country, they get more money from the normal flow of people here and there.
To mention the experience of West Africa, a citizen from West Africa goes to another ECOWAS member in West Africa with his identity card. And that is also happening in East Africa. At first people may say “No that will bring more criminals” Take the example of Ethiopia’s decision to give more than 30 African countries visa on arrival without even pre conditions in embassies. They give African citizens visa on arrival in Addis Ababa airport in 10 minutes or 5 minutes. And you get to the company at various people.
They signal that being the terrorist Boko Haram Shabaab others don’t do that. Ethiopia for almost two years is giving African visa on arrival. What happened? Nothing. Because there is a security cooperation between the Ethiopian security and other countries. And they exchange data. And there is CISSA which is a Committee of Intelligence and Security Services in Africa. What CISSA is doing is the security services from all Africa, they have representative here in CISSA. They exchange data on daily basis. They track any suspicious movement. And having the issue of visa on arrival doesn’t make any problem in Ethiopia.
And now, the tourism movement in Ethiopia, and the tourism business is connected with the visa on arrival for Africa. And already before that, giving these on arrival for some countries, in Europe, in the United States and others, so this gives me a clear or a strong indicator that open, integrate, and don’t close! And don’t think negatively! Think positively and take good experience from other countries.
Thank you very much for your time
My pleasure!
The Ethiopian Herald April 15/2023
