BUY Viagra ONLINE NO PRESCRIPTION

This Day, Nigeria February 24, 2010 Some Nigerian journalists who covered the recent Ordinary Session of the African Union in Addis Ababa had the rare privilege of touring the country. They learnt some of the rules of engagement in business and other sectors. In this piece, Juliana Taiwo, who was part of the tour, writes on the rules of engagement for investors in Ethiopia and sundry issues of interest The Friedrich Ebert Stiftung (FES), Addis Abba Office took nine African Journalists and Editors from Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Sudan, Egypt and Zimbabwe to the Ethiopian capital to focus on the institutional transformation of the African Union; the structure of the African Union Summit; get updates on the current conflicts in Africa; study the Civil Society Organisations’ engagement with Regional Economic Communities (REC) and the African Union; and discuss the African Union Authority/Union Government. Just before the commencement of the 14th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union from January 25 to February 2, 2010, in Addis Ababa, the Group of 9 joined other journalists on visits to the President of the Oromia Regional Government and Representative of Oromo Peoples Democratic Organisation (OPDO), in conjunction with the Ethiopian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on January 24th. The group also toured the industrial layout in Addis Ababa, Bishoftu (Debrezeit) where they have the largest flower farm ever. The farm is not just a major foreign earner; it employs 99.9 percent of the indigenes. Nigeria has been awash with stories of how multinational companies operating here engage in all sorts of illegalities including bringing in nonentities as expatriates. There are also stories that they take delight in employing Nigerians as casual workers, resulting in many dying in the course of work or losing a limb or two without compensations. And, there are claims that there is so much discrimination that there are specific lifts you take at work, what restaurant you eat, what vehicle you take to work and your take home pay. Call it an unwritten law if you like. But in Ethiopia, every investor must be ready to employ over 90 per cent Ethiopians (they call it affordable labour) in that business, train and retrain them at intervals and fix a time frame when the company would be wholly run by Ethiopians. Every investor knows that the company’s social responsibility to the community in which they operate is a must. According to what we were made to understand, if you are setting up a company in a community, building of roads, schools, hospitals, giving scholarships and employing the locals are not options. The Tour of Oromia Region The tour saw us in two companies in the Industrial zone of the Oromia region. We visited Cedilla, an Etho-Indian pharmaceutical company where out of the 361 staff, 350 are Ethiopians and only six are Indians. The next was Elsewedy Cables which, out of 130 employees, has 89 Ethiopians while the rest are Indians and Egyptians with plans to run the factory in the next couple of months with 95 per cent Ethiopian employees. There are constant on-the-job and classroom training in and outside Ethiopia. We observed in Cedilla pharmaceuticals, for instance, that Ethiopians are among the top management team while at Elsewedy Cables, the sales and administrative positions were manned by Ethiopians. We also paid a visit to Lemma Guyya Art Gallery and recreation around Bishoftu city. For any investor in Ethiopia, it is an unwritten rule that construction of roads, building of hospitals, schools and other infrastructural development in the area of investment is part of the deal and of course, so is the employment of Ethiopians in that company so that they are not detached from the people. According to Shimelis Adbisa, the Adviser to the President of Oromia Region, the sponsors of the tour, the vision of the Oromo People Democratic Organisation (political party that has been in governance both at federal and state levels for 15 years) is to ensure food security, education, health and provision of a conducive environment for investors with tax leave to ensure rapid development of the region. He said in order to achieve its goal of bringing about rapid and sustained socio-economic transformation; the government has been undertaking various reforms in social and economic sectors which resulted in the introduction of new policies and strategies. In line with these policies and strategies, the government has also adopted programs of action encompassing attention to improving the capacity of the state; building a growing economy which benefits all; expanding social services; and entrenching peace, security and good governance in the region. Adbisa said as a result, notable changes are being seen in key socio-economic sectors and in the lives of the people. It has become possible to bring about whole rounded and sustained economic development; improve social infrastructure, reduce unemployment by fostering entrepreneurship and creating job opportunity, and improve production and productivity.