BIG FISH

By ELLENI ARAYA
FORTUNE STAFF WRITER

The Administration of Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn made the full might of its power known last Friday, after ordering the arrest of 10 high and medium ranking officials of the Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA), along with six businessmen, some of whom are well known.

The Federal Ethics & Anti Corruption Commission (FEACC) announced launching a probe against the suspects, but remained quiet about the wrongs they are being accused of.

“Following leads from the public, the Commission, in cooperation with the national security and information services, has been investigating the suspects,” said the Commission headed by Ali Sulieman on Friday night. “Compiling sufficient material evidence and people to testify, the Commission finds it necessary to take them into custody until their case is presented to a court of law.”

Prominent, among those arrested on Friday late afternoon, is Melaku Fenta, director general, of ERCA. He was in his office located off Equatorial Guinea St., (near Megenagna roundabout), when investigators arrested him at 5:00pm, according to eyewitnesses. At about the same time, his deputies Gebrewahed W. Giorgis, in charge of ERCA’s most feared intelligence unit, was arrested by members of the Federal Police Commission outside of ERCA, while Eshetu Woldesemayat, head of the prosecutors’ Directorate, was escorted by police officers from ERCA headquarters.

It is believed that they were heading to the Federal Forensic Department of the Federal Police Commission, a.k.a Maekelawi, on Dejazmach Belay Zeleke Road.

Asemelash W. Mariam, head of Kality Customs; Amegnie Tagel, head of Nazareth Customs; and Tiruneh Berta, team leader of confiscated goods inspection, were also taken into custody on the same day.

The list of people arrested late last week hardly stopped with those inside the government. Prominent businessmen were also arrested in connection with Melaku and his colleagues, including Nega G. Egziyabher of Nesta Trading Plc; Ketema Kebede of K. K. Plc; and Simachew Kebede of InterContinental Addis. Two lesser known businessmen, Zerihun Zewdie and Marishet Tesfu, both of whom run transit companies, were apprehended by police.

Mihereteab Abraha, a businessman who is the brother of Seeye Abraha, was arrested at around 2:00pm, when he went to his children’s school, according to a family member.

“There must be some kind of mistake,” a close family member told Fortune. “He fought ERCA all the way to the Supreme Court where he won his case.”

This is the second time Mihereteab has been arrested and probed by the Anti-Corruption Commission in ten years. Back in the early 2000s, he was arrested and spent close to five years fighting charges of corruption before he was released in the mid-2000s.

“I wonder how he could be implicated with the others,” said this family member.

But none of the officials from the Federal Police and Anti-Corruption Commission have disclosed to the public on what grounds the suspects were put under custody.

“The list is a tall-order,” said an administration official.

Searches were carried out by investigators on Friday night and Saturday morning in the homes and offices of the suspects, Fortune learnt.

However, the investigation directed at some of ERCA’s officials has been going on for close to six months, according to sources in the government. A taskforce from the Commission, the Information Network Security Agency and the Forensic Department of the Federal Police Commission was collecting material evidence, although “very few people were privy to the investigation,” according to a mid-level official from the Anti-Corruption Commission.

“I was aware that they were investigating Gebrewahid,” this official told Fortune. “But, Melaku’s was not something that was revealed to us. It must have come much later.”

The case involves alleged improprieties at customs processing, especially involving imports of steel, according to sources.

The arrests were, however, made after the information allegedly implicating the suspects was presented to Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn a week prior to the wave of arrests was carried out, according to a senior aide of the Prime Minister.

“He feels very strongly about this,” this aide told Fortune, but asked anonymity due to the sensitivity of the case. “I believe he started to make good on his promises that he will fight corruption provided that the public supports him by providing valuable leads and information.”

It is the first time since the early 2000s the government has conducted a wave of arrests against officials and businesspeople, including a member of the powerful executive committee of the ruling EPRDF.

Back in the 2000s, Seeye Abraha, former strongman of the TPLF, was arrested, along several businessmen and bank executives, and subsequently charged with corruption. They all had spent close to five years in jail before they were released. Prior to that, Tamrat Layne, former prime minister during the transitional government, was arrested in the mid-1990s, together with businesspeople, all accused of corruption.

Melaku, an economics graduate from Addis Abeba University, oversaw several tax reforms including widening the tax base, by requiring businesses to install cash registration machines and to become registered for Value Added Tax (VAT). He was appointed by former Prime Minister Meles Zenawi, to be director general of the newly organized ERCA, in June of 2008.

Under him, the amount of revenues the federal government mobilized has reached 71 billion Br in 2011/12, a dramatic increase from the 19 billion Br collected before he took the position. ERCA has also consistently managed to meet the revenue targets set for it by the government, though it fell short of the in-house goals it set for itself.

But reforms were not easy to implement and were not necessarily popular. Businesses have long complained of ill-treatment by lower level officials of ERCA, lack of uniform information, bureaucratic bottlenecks, and regulatory unpredictability, marred by inefficiency and unfair taxation.

Front and centre fielding such complaints from the business community at consultation meetings along with Melaku was his deputy Gebrewahed who headed the most feared law enforcement directorate within ERCA.

Most recently, officials from the ERCA have come to loggerheads with businesses, after demanding businesses pay undistributed dividends. During ERCA’s performance assessment meeting, higher level officials were accused of turning a blind eye towards some big businesses for which only lower level officials were bearing the brunt, sources disclosed to Fortune.

Last week’s wave of arrests on people known to be well connected within the political establishment no doubt has put many people off guard.

“Hailemariam wants to prove that there are no holy-cows,” said a senior official in the administration.
Source: FORTUNE

Businesses in the region regularly complain of corruption as an obstacle to their work. Transparency International ranked Ethiopia 113 out of 176 nations worldwide in its 2012 perception of corruption index, where No. 1 is considered least corrupt.

That ranking puts Ethiopia above most nations in the Horn of Africa and east Africa regions, although Rwanda is ranked 50.

Melaku Fenta, a senior ruling party member and director general of the revenue and customs authority with the rank of minister, was arrested on Friday alongside two other officials from the authority, government spokesman Shimeles Kemal said.

“They were under investigation on suspicion of corrupt practices,” Shimeles told Reuters, without giving details.

The spokesman said there were further arrests as well but did not give a total. The state news agency reported 12 arrests overall. Independently, newspapers said the arrests included a prominent businessman and customs employees outside the capital.

Global Financial Integrity last year said Addis Ababa lost $11.7 billion in outflows of illegal funds in the past decade.

Melaku is the most high profile suspect to be arrested on corruption charges since Siye Abraha, a former defense minister who was released in 2007 after six years behind bars. However, he was already out of government when arrested.
Melaku Fenta, director general of the Ethiopian Revenues & Customs Authority (ERCA), Gebrewahed W. Giorgis, the most feared deputy of Melaku, and Eshetu W. Semayat, chief prosecutor of ERCA, were taken to custody by the Federal Police Commission around 5:00pm on Friday afternoon, May 10, 2013. They are three of the 16 suspects law enforcement agents apprehended, together with prominent businesspeople.

The Federal Ethics & Anti-Corruption Commission has announced that businesspeople such as Nega G. Egziyabher of Netsa Trading Plc; Ketema Kebede of K.K. Plc; Semachew Kebede of InterContinental Addis; and Mihereteab Abraha, brother of Seeye Abraha, are under custody suspected of crimes that is yet to be disclosed.

Other officials of ERCA include Asemelash W. Mariam, head of Kaliti Customs; Amignie Tagel, head of Nazareth Customs; and Tiruneh Berta, team leader of confiscated goods inspection have also been detained. Two transit company heads, Zerihun Zewdie and Marishet Tesfu, are among the suspects arrested late Friday.

(Reporting by Aaron Maasho; Editing by Edmund Blair/Mark Heinrich)

The walia is a species of ibex found only in northern Ethiopia. Some 40 years ago, with fewer than 200 left, the walia was in danger of extinction. It remains an endangered species, but through conservation measures, numbers are increasing. Things are getting better.

The development of the walia’s home country – Ethiopia – is even most robust. As leaders from around the world gather in Cape Town, South Africa, for the World Economic Forum on Africa, they will be talking not about the wali but about countries like Ethiopia, and comparing notes on the challenges and opportunities they represent.

I left Ethiopia in the late 1980s as the country was gripped by a civil war. I returned one year ago as the representative of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation based in Addis Ababa. The progress the country is making is evident. The number of children dying in Ethiopia has been reduced by over 60% between the time I left the country and today, with the situation continuing to improve.

As Bill Gates noted in his Annual Letter this year, “Today, Ethiopia has more than 15,000 health posts delivering primary health care to the farthest reaches of this rural county of 85 million.” Using the Millennium Development Goals as a measure, Ethiopia is on its way to meeting most of them by 2015.

The country’s economic growth has also been impressive. In the last decade or so, Ethiopia’s growth has been among the strongest in the world, partially due to better policies, increased productivity and an increase of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI); private equity players are also increasingly active in Addis, while local entrepreneurs are expanding their operations.

In addition to this, the biggest change I have witnessed since my return may very well be that government, donors, the private sector and the public in general have realised that growth and prosperity can be achieved if the right policies and implementation strategy are put in place.

The country is no longer paralyzed by the complexity of challenges. This mental shift from “we can’t” to “we can” has dared a nation to dream big; to become food secure in a few years’ time, to build the largest hydroelectric power plant in Africa, and a new, robust, electrified railway system of 4,744 kilometers, to create light manufacturing industrial zones. Also, the significant improvements in the outcomes in the health and education sectors are critical to building a prosperous nation.

Ethiopia now knows it does not have to reinvent the wheel in its quest for prosperity. Looking to countries like India, Malaysia, China, Brazil, Turkey and others, Ethiopia can find successful models of newly industrialized economies that sustain impressive GDP growth over decades. Ethiopia is well positioned to escape the poverty trap. But it won’t be easy. Fundamental challenges to infrastructure, human and financial capital and the market need to be carefully addressed.

If we can bring the walia back from near-extinction, we certainly can build on the immense progress this nation has made and improve the health and lives of all people living in Ethiopia.

The meeting, which convenes against a backdrop of significant economic growth and progress in reducing poverty in most parts of sub-Saharan Africa, features a programme built around three pillars: Accelerating Economic Diversification; Boosting Strategic Infrastructure; and Unlocking Africa’s Talent.

Led by President Jacob Zuma of South Africa and representatives from his government, other leaders that have confirmed their participation are: Benin, President Thomas Yayi Boni; Ethiopia, Prime Minister Hailemariam Dessalegn; Kenya, President Uhuru Kenyatta; Malawi, President Joyce Banda; Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan; Seychelles, President James Alix Michel; Swaziland, King Mswati III; Tanzania, President Jakaya M. Kikwete; Togo, President Faure Gnassingbé; Uganda, Prime Minister Amama Mbabazi; and Zimbabwe, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai.

“Africa has an historic opportunity to take advantage of recent improvements in governance, as well as its massive youth bulge, to transform its economy and society. The World Economic Forum on Africa presents Africa’s leaders with a platform to build on these encouraging signs and work together to create innovative models, solutions and outcomes to tackle the region’s challenges and harness its great potential,” said Elsie Kanza, Director, Head of Africa, World Economic Forum.

In addition to a two-day public programme, there will also be a number of significant meetings on the fringes of the World Economic Forum on Africa. The Grow Africa Investment Forum, on 8-9 May, will attempt to build on its successes in 2012 by underscoring further commitment from both the public and private sectors. Another meeting is Shape Africa, organized by the Cape Town hub of the Global Shapers Community, a worldwide network of young leaders between the ages of 20 and 30, which takes place in the city on 6-7 May.

The Co-Chairs of the World Economic Forum on Africa are Frans van Houten, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Management and the Executive Committee, Royal Philips Electronics, Netherland; Mo Ibrahim, Chairman, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, United Kingdom; Mustafa Vehbi Koç, Chairman of the Board, Koç Holding, Turkey; Frannie Léautier, Executive Secretary, The African Capacity Building Foundation, Zimbabwe; and Arif M. Naqvi, Founder and Group Chief Executive, Abraaj Group, United Arab Emirates.

Addis Ababa – An Ethiopian court on Thursday dismissed the appeal of blogger Eskinder Nega and opposition leader Andualem Arage who were jailed last year for terror-related offences.
“The sentencing is still correct so there is no reduction,” said Supreme Court judge Dagne Melaku, confirming Eskinder’s jail term of 18 years and Andualem’s life sentence.
One of the charges – serving as a leader of a terrorist organisation – was dropped, but had no effect on sentencing.
After the ruling, Eskinder made an emotional appeal to the court which was crowded with family, friends and diplomats.
“The truth will set us free,” he said. “We want the Ethiopian public to know that the truth will reveal itself, it’s only a matter of time.”
Both men are accused of links to the outlawed opposition group Ginbot 7.
“The walls of justice will be demolished,” Andualem told AFP.
Four other men also jailed for terror-related charges had their appeal quashed.
One other defendant, however, Kinfe Michael, had his sentence reduced from 25 years to 16 years.
Rights groups have called Ethiopia’s anti-terrorism legislation vague and accuse the government of using the law to stifle peaceful dissent.
“I am very sad, I am very angry, I cannot talk rationally,” Eskinder’s wife Serkalem Fasil told AFP after the decision.
Harsh sentencing
Defence lawyer Abebe Guta said that justice had not been served, and that if his clients agreed, they would appeal to the court of cassation, Ethiopia’s highest court.
The US was “deeply disappointed” that Ethiopia’s federal supreme court upheld the men’s “conviction and harsh sentencing,” acting deputy State Department spokesperson Patrick Ventrell said.
“Today’s decision further reinforces our serious concern about Ethiopia’s politicised prosecution of those critical of the government and ruling party, including under the anti-terrorism proclamation.”
He did not say if the court’s decision would impact a planned trip to Ethiopia by US Secretary of State John Kerry at the end of May.
Ethiopia has one of the most restricted media in the world and the highest number of journalists living in exile, according to US-based press watchdog, the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Last year Eskinder was awarded the prestigious PEN America’s “Freedom to Write” annual prize.
Justice is supposed to be blind. Judges aren’t supposed to be when it comes to justice. When one thinks of court, one thinks of justice. The famous picture of the lady with the blindfold covering one eye – but that blind fold is starting to look more like an eye patch on a pirate, as many Ethiopians and foreigners as well are being robbed of their day in court. There are good judges out there, but sadly there are quite a few bad ones like Judge Dagne Melaku.
His conduct, among others, is the subject of a forthcoming Sonustar film titled “Justice and Truth.” Thanks to this dirty judge, I got to see firsthand, the sweeping corruption present in the Ethiopian judicial system that in my opinion is the most corrupt in the world.

Rights groups including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch condemned the initial conviction of Eskinder in July 2012.

Ethiopia signed a contract Friday worth nearly $1 billion with a Chinese energy company to build two transmission lines linking the country’s largest dam to the country’s central power grid.

The Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo.) signed the deal with China Electric Power Equipment and Technology Company (CET) in the Ethiopian capital.

The three-year project, which will be fully funded by the Export-Import Bank of China, will start immediately.

EEPCo.’s CEO said the deal was a major step for Ethiopia’s energy sector.

“This is another milestone in (realising) Ethiopia’s development objective,” Miheret Debebe told reporters.

The two transmission lines, with a combined capacity of nearly 1000 kilovolts, will run over 700 kilometres to link the Grand Renaissance Dam to the main power grid near the country’s capital Addis Ababa.

Miheret urged CET to adhere to the timeline set out in the contract for the project’s completion, and admitted that securing funding for the large-scale project was a “challenge.”

As part of its ambitious Growth and Transformation Plan (GTP), Ethiopia is developing its energy production sector with the aim of exporting power to neighbouring countries.

With a capacity of 6,000 MW, the Renaissance Dam on the Nile River is the largest of Ethiopia’s dams, most of which are still under construction.

Hydropower is set to be the largest energy provider, but wind, geothermal and solar projects are also underway.

The country has the capacity to produce 45,000 MW of power, more than the total amount currently consumed in all of sub-Saharan Africa, according to official figures.

The GTP seeks to boost economic growth in order to transform Ethiopia into a carbon-neutral, middle income country by 2025.

China is a major player in the Horn of Africa nation, heavily invested in manufacturing, energy, and transport industries.

Copyright © 2013 AFP

An Anuak village in southern Ethiopia

By William Lloyd George guardian.co.uk

An independent panel has called for an investigation into a World Bank-funded project in Ethiopia following accusations from refugees that the bank is funding a programme that forced people off their land.

In a report, seen by the Guardian, the inspection panel – the World Bank’s independent accountability mechanism – calls for an investigation into complaints made by refugees from the Anuak indigenous group from Gambella, eastern Ethiopia, in relation to the bank’s policies and procedures.

The refugees claim the Protection of Basic Services (PBS) programme funded by the bank and the UK Department for International Development (DfID), is contributing directly to the Ethiopian government’s “villagisation” programme, introduced in 2010. The programme seeks to move people to new villages, but residents say this is done with little consultation or compensation, and that these sites lack adequate facilities.

In a letter sent to the panel in September, the refugees say some people have been forcibly relocated from their land, which is now being leased to foreign investors.

“These mass evictions have been carried out under the pretext of providing better services and improving the livelihoods of the communities,” says the letter. “However, once they moved to the new sites, they found not only infertile land, but also no schools, clinics, wells or other basic services.”

It says the government forced them to abandon their crops just before harvest, and they were not given any food assistance during the move. “Those farmers who refused to implement the programme … have been targeted with arrest, beating, torture and killing,” the letter says.

The refugees say they “have all been severely harmed by the World Bank-financed [project], which is contributing directly to the Ethiopian government’s villagisation programme in Gambella region”.

The letter says Ethiopian government workers, whose salaries are paid for through the PBS programme, have been forced to implement villagisation.

DfID has been criticised for failing to address abuse allegations in the South Omo region of Ethiopia, where residents told DfID and USAid officials of their experiences.

DfID is also embroiled in a legal action over its links to the villagisation programme. An Ethiopian farmer claims he was forcibly evicted from his farm. His lawyers, Leigh Day & Co, say DfID money is linked to these abuses through PBS funding in Gambella. DfID has said it is responding to the legal concerns and reviewing the allegations of rights abuses in Ethiopia.

In its report, the panel says that although the World Bank management denies links between villagisation and the PBS programme, the two are attempting to achieve the same things. “[Villagisation] is a programme that aims at fundamentally restructuring settlement patterns, service infrastructure and livelihoods, including farming systems, in the Gambella region, and as such constitutes a significant context in which PBS operates. In this sense from a development perspective, the two programmes depend on each other, and may mutually influence the results of the other,” says the panel report.

The panel says there are “conflicting assertions and differing views” on links between PBS and villagisation, the complaints by the refugees and the bank’s adherence to its policies and procedures, which could adequately be addressed through an investigation.

In a response to the refugees’ letter, the World Bank denied all links between the PBS and villagisation. It said it had not encountered any evidence of human rights abuses. It did admit the new sites “were not desirable”, but said the Ethiopian government had asked for assistance to improve them.

According to David Pred, founder of Inclusive Development International who helped the Anuak file their complaint, the PBS is funding the majority of government departments responsible for implementing the villagisation programme. “It provides both the means and the justification for villagisation,” said Pred.

The World Bank has been supporting the PBS programme since May 2006 with a commitment of more than $2bn. The bank’s board was scheduled to meet on Tuesday to discuss the panel’s report, but the meeting was postponed.

Human Rights Watch says many of the communities affected by villagisation have not been properly consulted about resettlement. It has interviewed several refugees from the region who reported that government officials have responded with violence and arbitrary detention when people have not agreed to relocate.

“The World Bank’s president and board need to let the inspection panel do its job and answer the critical questions that have been raised by Ethiopians affected by this project,” said Jessica Evans, senior international financial institutions advocate at Human Rights Watch. “If the World Bank doesn’t support this investigation, its Ethiopia programme will continue to be shadowed by controversy.”

The chairman of the UK parliament’s international development committee, Sir Malcolm Bruce, said the allegations against villagisation are unsubstantiated. Bruce, who visited Ethiopia last week, said the UK programme “is delivering a very good result”.

Source: Global Development

Karsi Tadicha and her children stand next to their house in Bule Duba village, on the outskirts of Moyale, Ethiopia, June 2009.

ADDIS ABABA — The United Nations Development Program has released its 2013 Human Development Index. Despite recent economic growth, Ethiopia is still near the bottom of the index.

Ethiopia ranks 173 out of 187 countries in the Human Development Index 2013, unveiled by the United Nations Development Program, UNDP, on Friday.

The Index is part of the Human Development Report that is presented annually and measures life expectancy, income and education in countries around the world.

Since 2000, Ethiopia has registered greater gains than all but two other countries in the world – Afghanistan and Sierra Leone. But it still ranks close to the bottom of the Index.

However, Samuel Bwalya, an economic advisor for UNDP, says that not only the ranking is important.

“I think what matters in the index is how you’re moving, your own human development progress within the country, so you’re moving from 0.275 to 0.378, that movement is what matters,” said Bwalya. “It means that your country is making progress in human development. Now the ranking depends on how other countries are also faring.”

This year’s Human Development Report focuses on the major gains made since 2000 in most countries in the global South.

UNDP believes sub-Saharan Africa can achieve higher levels of human development if it deepens its engagement with other regions of the South.

But those countries must overcome many challenges, such as low life expectancy, high levels of inequality and the growing threat for environmental disasters that could halt or reverse the recent gains in human development.

Bwalya says that government policies are central to human development in Ethiopia:

“The most important is to continuously commit to two policy arenas: the economic program in the country is robust and the government should have continuous commitment to development,” he explained. “The second is that it should continue the social protection program that has been so important in reducing poverty.”

While the Human Development Report and Index celebrate improvements across the developing world, a hard fact remains – 24 out of the 25 lowest ranked countries are on the African continent.
Source VOA

One of the new Pinko Bags with an Ethiopian flare.

By Getachew Teklu
An Italian fashion and bag designer has launched a series of bags with what has been described as an Ethiopian flare. The move at Milan’s Studio Giangaleazzo Visconti on Thursday night, saw Pinko unveil six Ethiopian versions of its signature cotton Pinko Bag.

More than a hundred women in Addis Ababa, about 65 of whom were recruited and trained especially for the project, produced the eco-friendly, 100 percent cotton Pinko Bag for Ethiopia collection, and the results of their efforts are in the Italian brand’s stores now at 58 euros (about $76) per bag, the company said.

The idea has been praised by women here in Ethiopia, who told Bikyanews.com that they are pleased that “we are a part of the fashion world and the price is not so bad that even we might be able to buy one some time.”

Halle Desa, 33, said she believed the concept of eco-fashion was something that “should really pick up in the future because it can really help to be a global thing for us here in Africa and the West.”

Marina Spadafora, the collection’s creative director, said she drew inspiration from colorful body-painting traditions in southern Ethiopia’s Omo Valley, and cited photographer Hans Silvester’s work as a resource. “I’ve been working on sustainable fashion for years,” she said, “and finally here was a chance to use Ethopian art.”

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu began SoleRebels as a way of bringing jobs to her community. When she migrated from the countryside in Gojjam to Addis Ababa in Ethiopia in search of ‘a better life’ and saw that there really wasn’t one – she took action. She made a commitment to not only create jobs for her fellow citizens which were EXCELLENT paying ones, but jobs which were FAR ABOVE what other local employers were paying for similar work. She also committed to providing local jobs which provide a decent standard of living for workers and their families. Her goal was to create wages for workers which are on average 4x the legal minimum wage and 3x the industry average for similar work.

Next on her ‘to-do’ list was to create sustainable production. Her equation looks something like this:

RECYCLING + LOCALLY SOURCED ORGANIC MATERIALS + TALENTED HANDS = LOW CARBON FOOTPRINT + ENVIRONMENTAL RESPECT + COOL PRODUCTS

Talk about a recipe for success. Bethlehem’s thinking was that, in Ethiopia, recycling things is a way of life. In fact, people have been recycling for years and years without ever calling it recycling. When there are limited resources everything is valued and valuable. Everything has its purpose – even if it is not the original purpose it was intended for. For Ethiopians, ingenuity + resourcefulness equals TRUE RECYCLING.

Innovative Recycling

Bethlehem’s company has taken the traditional Ethiopian selate shoe (recycled tire shoe) and re-imagined it as a very hip, dynamic, eye-catching fashion. Her staff of hardworking Ethiopians regularly challenge themselves to find new uses for indigenous and recycled materials. Styles include camouflages put into peaceful use, ingenious arrays and uses of Ethiopian hemps, and on to the most wild use of tires and inner tubes you can imagine.

Preserving Ethnic Heritage

Part of the company’s success, in addition to its beautiful products and commitment to workers, is the way it leverages the uniquely Ethiopian heritage to build a global, market leading eco-ethical brand. Everything the company does is guided by applying the unique cultural arts practiced in Ethiopia for millennia. By preserving important cultural assets in fresh, fun, dynamic new fashions, it’s a win/win for both producer and purchaser.

Community Empowerment

Sole Rebels believes in building power for workers and their surrounding community. Every action the company takes is with community betterment in mind. Besides creating a myriad of employment opportunities and always looking to increase these, the company challenges themselves to do more, more, more! One example of the kind of giving back Sole Rebels does is their artisan education fund. This fund provides monies for the education of Sole Rebel artisan’s children and/or the children of close relatives. Like all Sole Rebel programs the artisan education fund is flexible and demand driven – meaning the workers get to decide where to allocate money.

Fair trade, fun fashions, eco-friendly materials, and well-made long-lasting shoes – what could be more joyful!

Ecopreneurist (http://s.tt/1A33E)