Projects & Project Management in Ethiopia Today

Africa; Land of the Same Song

You might live at any corner of the poor continent, Africa, up north in Tunisia, down south in South Africa, to the east in the land of thirteen months of sun shine, Ethiopia, and to the west in the land of plenty, Ghana; as far as you are within the continent, you would not be naïve to expect that you are watching the bigger picture downsized as wallet-sized photo.

Beside the politico-economic problems that you would be witnessing, the institutional machineries put in place as a way out are mere replications. It would have been beneficial if the machinery is blended with local values. Yet, it seems that in Africa the first orthodox principle is “you got to do it as others are doing it”. In the land of the same song, it is not acceptable to sing a new song. What is considered “normal” is to nicely sing the same song.

As an African, I am always wishing to see better days within which sustenance is not a question, the people do have an absolute freedom to choose their walks of life, and all do have a self-esteem which could not be shaken off by any momentary causes. I would like to witness a continent free of poverty, disease, corruption, conflicts, racial hatred, discrimination, bad image, inequality…etc. But at all times that I think about the ineffectiveness of most state machineries that are established to realize these goals, I feel disappointed.

Read Complete Regional Report >>

Back to Table of Contents