FORTUNE+ VIDEO SPONSORED CONTENTS ADVERTORIALS FORTUNE AUDIO Fortune Careers New TRADE AFRICA New

Fortune Logo

Month: September 2022

The Age of ‘E’ Ought Not End that of Plays

Posted on by Tizita S.

Last week came and passed swiftly, unusual for the weeks I was used to for as long as I remember. It looked at times like coming out triumphant from addiction, while at times, it seemed like merely succumbing to a new brand of narcotic. I was arguing with myself whether it was a routine per se, as it entailed nothing other than only going to a theatre but at increasingly higher rates.

I believed it was time to face up to one of my New Year’s resolutions to attend art and creative endeavours in Addis Abeba, especially each and every theatre show, and write a note of my impression on the same. At the same time, I was consciously attempting to distance myself from digital gadgets – thus, going into the internet at the least and avoiding screen time altogether at the most. There was nothing better to help with my resolution than a feast of theatre at the historical Hager Fikir Theatre.

The shows at the theatre (and the National Theatre) were, “Latew bale Tidar,” “Yegna Sefer,” “Gazetegnaw,” “Bado Eigir,” “Negeru Ayqomim,” and “Yegud Qen.” From the list, Yegud Qen commanded, though with a relatively expensive fee, an absolutely enthusiastic full auditorium to witness the return to the stage of a career that had a depressing twist from a dazzling success. It went to decline through addiction and to distance from the stage, while the self-disciplined others looked after themselves and expanded their bank balances. It was a show worth attending as Tesfu Birhane pleased all who revered him with a renewed vigour in his warming role in the semi-improvisational piece, which really had life only on the stage and demanded his service.

I hope I never end up being a “grok,” a “Stranger in a Strange Land,” with theatre. It is “macroscopic,” according to Katy Borner, an expert in information visualisation, or displaying large amounts of data in ways that allow us to unlock the hidden meaning. The internet, for its part, provides a rising flood of information, our brains cannot digest it all and our tools, like search engines, remain too primitive to synthesise patterns and trends at a scale that will transform our civilisation.

With more initiatives and greater effort, I hope that the school system in Ethiopia has a touch of visual and performing arts illuminating imaginative potential. Our school children should learn how to use their voices, bodies, paints, canvas and various materials to create art objects to convey a message through artistic expression. If this is the case, then no doubt that decades later, many writers and artists will find themselves in an era of creativity unequalled in our history while retaining the rest as art cognoscente, and leading healthy, fulfilling and productive lives.

Then who will be afraid of Jesse Green’s E-nough: “A had its bomb, B its movie, C its section and D its day. Now E is having its era … You must have seen its amazing breakthrough performance in e-mail. Soon there were E-Stamps, E-trade, eToys.com. Now, E’s got capital status; as we like to say, E is ‘Ebiquitous!'”

Although we like to pretend, being a netizen is not making us cosmopolitan. The age of the “E” is, in fact, turning us into tribes. Instead, art is the cure. The old Greeks, who invented plays in their modern form, knew best. It was Socrates that said, “I am not an Athenian or a Greek but a citizen of the world.” As we work to expand mobile and internet penetration, we should also not forget the likes of Hager Fikir, which have their own part to play in transforming civilisation.

The Sting of Climate Risk’s in the Tails

Posted on by Tizita S.

Scientists have longed warned that climate change will adversely affect weather patterns and living conditions around the world. These warnings are now turning into a painful reality. Worse, the range of possible outcomes has proven to be increasingly “fat-tailed”: extreme weather events such as heatwaves, severe storms, and floods are more likely than normal statistical distributions would predict.

None of this bodes well for future political stability or economic prosperity. Our best hope is that the sharp sting in these tails will goad us into the necessary remedial action before things get even worse. But will it?

The public is increasingly aware that global warming is leading to more volatile weather. There have been record-setting heatwaves around the world this year, not just in India – where temperatures reached 49.2 degree celsius – but also in places like the United Kingdom (40.2 degree celsius). France and China are experiencing their worst droughts on record, and four consecutive years of failed rainy seasons in eastern Africa have put more than 50 million people at risk of “acute food insecurity.” Meanwhile, devastating storms and floods have hit Madagascar, Australia, the United States, Germany, Bangladesh, and South Africa.

These events are causing hundreds of thousands of deaths and enormous economic and financial damage each year, making weather volatility an increasingly important factor in risk assessment. Whereas temperature increases of 0.5 degree celsius here or there are barely perceptible, droughts, floods, and other short-term weather fluctuations can wreak deadly havoc.

Moreover, extreme weather events can cause changes that last far beyond the immediate shock and damage, especially when they accelerate developments that might otherwise have taken many years. Scientists are increasingly worried about “tipping points” – such as the melting of polar ice sheets – that would carry us across thresholds of irreversible change. That could create damaging feedback loops between interconnected climate risks, all of which would spill over into the real economy, driving defaults, job losses that disproportionately harm disadvantaged communities, and political turmoil.

Aside from the damage to the physical environment, extreme weather may therefore trigger abrupt and sometimes permanent shifts in social attitudes and public policy. When people start losing their homes, livelihoods, or even their lives, politicians must respond.

Surprisingly, while we are all acutely conscious of extreme weather, forecasters still widely overlook its role in accelerating structural changes. Mainstream climate scientists and economists tend to focus on the longer-term effects of climate change brought about by global warming, with an emphasis on scenarios involving global average temperature increases in the range of only 1.5 degree celsius to 2 degree celsius – the targets enshrined in the Paris climate agreement. And even in higher-temperature scenarios, it is assumed that the effects – on sea levels and agricultural output, for example – will accumulate only gradually, implying that the ultimate reckoning is several decades away.

But a recent paper, “Climate Endgame: Exploring Catastrophic Climate Change Scenarios,” shows that this conventional scenario analysis gravely understates the long-term risks, because it fails to give the more extreme climate outcomes (the fat tails) the attention they deserve. As the statistician Nassim Taleb has pointed out in the context of financial markets, conventional models struggle to handle the consequences of fat-tail events, creating a dangerous blind spot in their outlook.

Higher temperature pathways would unleash what the authors call the “four horsemen” of the climate endgame: famine and malnutrition, extreme weather, conflict, and vector-borne diseases. It does not take much imagination to see how this herd of apocalyptic harbingers might create social and political chaos, especially when they are all galloping together – as is already the case today with the global food crisis, a new war in Europe, and the ongoing pandemic. Worse, the mention of the second horseman suggests that the more immediate risks of climate change are still being underplayed. After all, extreme weather is also a driver of the other three horsemen, making it arguably the most important.

Weather shocks cause suffering that grabs society’s attention far more than abstract (though no less warranted) warnings of long-term doom. Polls show that support for climate action is greater for those who have personally experienced extreme weather. Although the current upsurge in inflation means that people are less enthusiastic about measures that would hurt their own finances, the growing incidence of disasters is shrinking the minority that remains sceptical of climate change or climate policies altogether.

In this way, the fat tails of the weather – rather than the fat tails of long-term climate change – are far more likely to prompt action within the shorter time horizons that preoccupy politicians and business. Let us hope that as the stings from these tails become ever more common and painful, they will spur us to sustain the policies necessary to keep the climate horses in their stable.

Making Net-Zero Pledges Count

Posted on by Tizita S.

Walking down a Toronto street recently I saw an ad touting a fossil-fuel company’s net-zero credentials. But to see such belief-straining claims, I would not even need to leave my house.

According to a study by the Guardian and InfluenceMap, such ads are all over Google. Ads for oil giant Shell, for example, appeared on 86pc of searches for “net zero,” with many promoting the company’s pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Are corporations finally waking up to the urgency of the climate crisis, or is this just more greenwashing?

One thing is certain: the climate crisis is escalating fast. California is enduring record-breaking heat waves. A third of Pakistan is underwater. China is suffering a withering drought, which may have global ramifications. And that is just what is happening right now. From cold snaps in Texas to wildfires in Europe, climate change has become impossible to ignore.

Climate action has come a long way since the Paris climate agreement was signed in 2015. Notably, net zero has gone mainstream, with some 90pc of global GDP now covered by net-zero targets. And it is not just governments that have adopted them; many of the world’s biggest companies have done so, too, motivated by a combination of business interest, investor expectations, and consumer pressure.

But if corporations – including fossil-fuel companies – are now “climate leaders,” fully and loudly committed to the net-zero cause, why are emissions still rising? A look at the history of climate action reveals the answer.

Over the last 20 years, a diverse array of climate initiatives has sought to persuade businesses and investors to accept the idea of setting climate-related targets, cutting emissions, and then setting even more ambitious targets. These initiatives have had one thing in common: all have been voluntary.

As anyone who has ever broken a New Year’s resolution knows firsthand, a promise made is not always a promise kept. If someone says they will achieve net zero, how can we be sure that they are taking the steps needed to deliver? Right now, we cannot.

This has enabled “climate coasting,” with companies marketing themselves as environmentally conscious while continuing with business as usual, or close to it. As it stands, only one in three corporate net-zero plans cover the company’s full carbon footprint, including that of its supply chain. And not one of the world’s biggest corporate polluters has fully explained how it plans to achieve net-zero emissions.

As United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres recently said, “The world is in a race against time, and we cannot afford slow movers, fake movers, or any form of greenwashing.”

These are the problems the High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Emissions Commitments, which I chair, is meant to solve. We are an independent, diverse group of experts determined to provide science-based recommendations for achieving the goal so many governments and companies have embraced.

Our work is just beginning, but three things are already clear. First, a pledge without a plan is meaningless. Companies must align their business strategies with their commitments, take ambitious action, and start delivering progress immediately. And this does not mean fudging the numbers with questionable offsets; the only credible way to achieve net zero is to slash emissions.

To support this effort, the High-Level Expert Group will define what it will take to achieve net-zero emissions. This includes establishing clear criteria for credible net-zero plans that account for issues of equity and climate justice. Regional and sectoral standard-setters can then adapt our criteria, thereby ensuring consistency and comparability.

Second, voluntary schemes are not enough. We do not need New Year’s resolutions; we need new business plans. Regulation will be essential here, both to ensure that voluntary climate roadmaps are replaced by mandatory strategies and to level the playing field. A central objective of the High-Level Expert Group is to map the needed regulations.

Finally, accountability is essential. When companies, banks, investors, cities, and regions make net-zero commitments, we must be able to trust them. Fair rules of engagement will help. But governments, corporations, and financiers must also embrace radical transparency. Progress will be easy to spot: investment in clean energy will supersede investment in fossil fuels, and emissions will fall.

Already, our expert group has engaged more than 800 groups, met with thousands of people, and received almost 300 submissions detailing how net-zero commitments can be improved – a clear indication of how keen stakeholders are to get this right. Success would not only give us a shot at stabilising the climate; it would bring vast economic opportunities. According to McKinsey, growing demand for net-zero offerings could generate more than 12 trillion dollars in sales annually by 2030.

Last year, I left politics to dedicate my time to the two things that mattered most to me: my kids and climate change. The two priorities are deeply interconnected. If we are to avoid a future where our children are buying “net-zero” bacon between floods and fires, we must close the gap between the promises we hear and the action we need.

 

 

Consumed by Cosmetics

Posted on by Tizita S.

The enormous amount of money generated by the beauty industry amazes me. How we, as consumers, take the words of producers for granted and try their products that promise us quick makeovers (be it weight loss, clear skin or hair growth) is astounding. Of course, some of the products could produce minor results at times but the changes come at the expense of our health. We are spending obscene money on things that do not add lasting value to our existence. In the process, we are making big companies that are already wealthy wealthier while contributing to inflation.

Women are often taught to do whatever it takes to maintain their beauty. For some, being beautiful is the only way they feel they can get ahead in life.

But what happens when we pursue other things aside from beauty, as we often do? What if somehow all the city women decided to stop wearing makeup, getting fake nails and lashes, wearing human hair and visiting the hair salon every other week? Would that even be possible?

I do not have a problem with wearing makeup or using cosmetics now and then. But spending a fortune on these products and being dependent on them is dangerous. Every time I pass by cosmetics shops, it boggles me how many people are inside buying stuff. The other day I was sitting in a café having tea and an old friend who is now running a cosmetics shop joined me.

From the minute she sat down until she left, her phone was ringing. Customers were inquiring the price of items in her shop and requesting delivery. She showed me a perfume which she said smelt nice, and that one of her customers wanted to buy. The customer was asking her for her bank account so she can transfer the money. The perfume cost 14,000 Br.

“Are you serious? Do people spend that kind of money on perfume?” I asked. She answered in the affirmative: “You’d be surprised. Some spend up to 50,000 Br on beauty products.”

I would never spend that kind of money on perfume. I could spend it on other things like travel but not cosmetics. What if the perfume bottle breaks right after the person who bought it sprayed it a few times?

“That would be unfortunate,” answered my friend. “She will probably buy another one again”.

And then she got up to leave and I was left alone with my thoughts. Why do we, myself included, care so much about our looks as if that is the only thing that matters to our existence? Sure, fake nails look good, so do lashes, but it gets tiring. Perhaps we get lots of attention from strangers and compliments because we look beautiful for the moment but eventually we go home to wash off all the makeup. It is an exercise in futility. When I say this, people may think that I am being a hypocrite who does not apply her own advice. This may be true but I still think that excessive consumption of cosmetics material is unhealthy.

Our thirst to purchase cannot be quenched with just a few items. If it is these shoes today, tomorrow it is a bag and the next day it is a dress or an accessory. We are consuming more than we need and the worst part is that we are paying with our health and hard-earned salaries for these materials. Are they worth it? We should only focus on the things we need, and redirect our money and resource to other areas that can make a difference in our lives and those around us.

 

The Hardest Act to Forgive, and Yet Forgiven

Posted on by Tizita S.

As we navigate life, being hurt by others is inevitable. Often, we find ourselves in a position where we have to forgive. Still, forgiving the person who killed a loved one is entirely different. To many of us, that would seem an impossible decision. But not for a couple I know.

Their child got killed by an intoxicated driver in broad daylight. They swallowed their unimaginable pain and forgave him, astonishing everyone who knew them. They did not want to press charges against the man who fled the crime scene instead of offering help to the little girl he fatally hit with an automobile. He was a young Ethiopian-born diaspora who was on vacation in Addis Abeba when he took away their precious girl when she was on her way back home from school. The crime happened under the watch of her teenage brother, who escaped the accident but was left traumatised after the loss of his younger sister.

The fatal accident has devastated everyone who knows the family. People were looking forward to seeing the man behind bars. As much as I was in disbelief that the adorable little girl was no longer alive, I could not comprehend the type of mentality it takes to forgive someone for such a crime. Showing mercy to someone who caused the death of a loved one is uncommon. Instead, such loss drives people to acts of revenge.

As a person still struggling with the loss of her father, I understand the indescribable grief that engulfed them unexpectedly. But their forgiveness has taught me a profound new lesson. They have made an incredible twist to the tragedy. Their mercy was equally as staggering as the accident itself. But to a family known for their kindness and care, it was just another act of kindness.

While everyone expected them to get busy with court litigation to make the man responsible, they dedicated their time to looking after their traumatised teenage son and protecting the memory of their daughter. They shook off some of their debilitating sorrow, and channeled their grief towards forgiveness and healing.

Life tests in ways that can either overcome or drown us. There is no more uncertain journey than life itself. Each day is a way to discover where nothing is familiar for the most part. We have to manage our way through the unknown of every day, hoping to reach the other side to maturity and progress. In hurting, there is no other way out but to break out to heal and forgive, mostly for our sake.

The family could have chosen to let the young man serve jail time, but they let him go in kindness. They were convinced that his sentencing would not bring them healing or comfort. They believed it would spoil their happy memory about their little girl. It was their way of ending the cycle of brokenness, anger and hate. It is an extraordinary decision that will remain with them for life.

They still speak about their daughter passing at such a tender age with great sorrow. They are devastated that their little girl went before them. It saddens them that she never reached adulthood, graduated or got married.

At the same time, they condemn the criminal offence that robbed them of their little girl, who was the charm of her family. They are disappointed the man they forgave did not have the heart to help their child in the critical last minutes of her life. But they chose the high road and showed the man they were not like him. They were concerned about his future, although he did not care for their child.

If he is the kind of man who will learn, the family gave him a lifetime lesson. Even if he did not serve a jail term and left the country in peace, his crime and the mercy he received will be with him forever. The parent’s story teaches reconciliation, brings profound healing and peace instead of an eye-for-an-eye. They advocated mercy. We ought to pay attention.

 

Recyclable Cash

Posted on by Tizita S.

These types of scenes can be seen around the city. People collect different types of plastic materials to sell them in return for recyclers. Water bottles make up the majority of the recyclable plastics, while many homeless people engage in the collection of the materials.

 

Young Care

Posted on by Tizita S.

Sahlemariam Abebe (right), national director for SOS Children’s Villages in Ethiopia, spoke at the launching project for a new program by the aid agency on September 20, 2022, at the Ethiopian Skylight Hotel. The programme targets young people that have graduated from care such as foster homes and small group homes but are at risk of facing discrimination.

Feeding on Road

Posted on by Tizita S.

In the middle of a recently constructed highway in Qera, on Alexander Pushkin Street, a donkey is grazing on grass on the road separator. It shares the infrastructure with pedestrians and vehicles as the transportation of goods has not fully matured in Ethiopia, not even in the capital.

World Bank Funds $210m Groundwater Project as Drought Intensifies

Posted on by Tizita S.

A sustainable groundwater project in drought-prone lowland areas of Ethiopia, Kenya and Somalia was launched last week with 210 million dollars in funding from the World Bank.

The six-year initiative looks to supplement water supply in 55 weredas, conduct research on water availability in 12 more, and implement irrigation projects in four weredas of Borana in the Oromia Regional State.

The launch comes as the Horn of Africa struggles with what the UN called “the worst drought in four decades.”

The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN-OCHA) says that at least 16 million people residing in drought-affected areas in the country’s east and south require humanitarian assistance beginning now until the end of the year at least.

Reports published months ago revealed that no less than a million heads of cattle had died due to the drought.

Chinese Textile Manufacturer Joins Adama Industrial Park

Posted on by Tizita S.

A Chinese textile manufacturer has signed a 216 million Br deal for a lease at Adama Industrial Park.

The managers of Lighthouse Garment Manufacturing Plc say they expect to invest close to one billion Birr into their new venture and create over 600 job opportunities. The company produces textile fabrics with plans to supply local markets and export a third of its products to buyers in Singapore, Sudan, Tanzania, and Angola.

Lighthouse Garment Manufacturing has been in the manufacturing business for over 20 years.

The deal last week bucks the trend the Industrial Parks Development Corporation (IPDC) has been witnessing in the textile industry over the past year. Hawassa Industrial Park, its textile hub, has seen its biggest tenants abandon projects or slim workforces and cut production following Ethiopia’s debarment from a preferential trade regime with the United States.