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Month: May 2026

Red Gold Makes the Case for Smarter Agri Business Strategy

Posted on by Digital Editor

Volcanic soils, cool nights and temperate days have given strawberry growers the conditions to produce premium fruits, marketed as “Red Gold”, while blueberries are cast as “Blue Gold.” Yet, the crop remains outside policymakers’ flagship agricultural programs, despite a record that compares favourably with better-known staples and export crops.

The case is not built on sentiment, inasmuch as it rests on foreign exchange, productivity per hectare, and the time to return on investment. About 521hct of commercial strawberry farms generated roughly 25 million dollars in export earnings over the past five years. The national avocado program, covering about 31,000hct, brought in 7.41 million dollars during the same period. On scarce land and limited capital, strawberries deliver far higher returns per hectare and a stronger claim on public support.

The longer record tells the same story. In the five years beginning in 2013, strawberries accounted for only 3.8pc of the 202,130 tns in fruit export volume. They accounted for nearly 30pc of fruit export revenues, generating 25.15 million dollars. Their unit value, about 3,375 dollars a ton, was well above bananas at 248 dollars, avocados at 405 dollars, and the fruit category average of 438 dollars. The crop generated seven to eight times more revenue per ton, easing pressure on bulk logistics and airfreight while increasing foreign currency per shipment.

Recent figures reinforce this pattern. In 2022, fresh strawberry exports exceeded 1.7 million kilograms and earned 5.34 million dollars, mainly from premium Gulf markets. A year later, the “other fresh fruit” category, dominated by strawberries, contributed 5.08 million dollars. These numbers show a value-to-volume balance suited to domestic constraints, where land, foreign currency, refrigerated transport and cargo space remain binding limits on expansion.

Avocado projects have their own logic, due to scale, domestic processing and a 15-year national program. But public choices carry opportunity costs. When lower-unit-value crops receive more policy attention than crops that generate high foreign exchange earnings from a small footprint, the case should be tested through cost-benefit analysis and clear measures of marginal efficiency.

For farmers, a one-eighth-acre (505.86Sqm) plot can produce 30Kg to 50Kg a week within 90 days and remain productive for two to three years. That creates fast cash flow, household nutrition and labour demand in harvesting and packing, especially for women.

The production base already exists in the highlands around Holeta and Ejera, in Oromia Regional State, with cool nights and moderate daytime temperatures that improve flavour, Brix levels (a scale that measures the percent by weight of dissolved soluble solids like sugars) above eight and market appeal. The sector grew partly from former rose-flower operations, leaving skills in protected cultivation, post-harvest handling, and export logistics.

At Zequala Horti Plc, a Phytophthora outbreak (a fungus-like microorganism that attacks plant roots and stems) led to collaboration with Dutch experts and the construction of a raised-gutter hydroponic demonstration greenhouse. The episode shows how disease risk can push growers toward precision agriculture, lower water use and more consistent quality.

Ethiopia is already East Africa’s leading commercial strawberry producer, with stronger export earnings and unit values near or above 3,000 dollars a ton. Kenya produces about 533tns a year with modest export earnings, while Uganda’s is negligible. Varieties from Rotmi to Fragaria Soraya and from Dorina, Florida Brilliance to Rowena have shown yields of 30tns to 43tns a hectare, with adaptability and disease resistance.

Air links enable delivery to Europe within 24 hours, while proximity to the Middle East helps keep costs lower. Cool Port Addis at Modjo can support sea freight for IQF and processed products, adding flexibility and reducing dependence on air cargo.

Demand is not limited to the Gulf, however. Western Europe, including the United Kingdom (UK), the Netherlands, France and Belgium, offers service and premium retail channels. Branding the crop as “Ethiopian Highland Strawberries,” backed by GLOBAL G.A.P. and other certifications, could raise margins. Adding blueberries and raspberries would position Ethiopia within a broader berry portfolio shaped by health-conscious consumers and higher-value retail demand.

Indeed, strawberries offer a nutritional argument, as they provide 568pc more Vitamin C than avocados, while carrying less sugar, containing far less saturated fat, and offering a favourable caloric density of 32 calories per 100 grams. Their anthocyanins support cardiovascular health and anti-inflammatory benefits, while avocados contribute fibre and fats.

However, the policy gap remains striking as national programs for wheat, avocado, sorghum and enset receive resources for research, inputs, subsidies and infrastructure, often on the strength of volume and food-security goals. Strawberries are excluded, although they offer foreign-exchange intensity, rapid returns, technological upgrading, jobs and nutrition gains. Selection criteria should be transparent and measured against each item’s potential to generate foreign exchange, net present value, employment and income multipliers, nutritional cost-effectiveness, climate resilience and risk-adjusted returns. Regular audits against regional and global benchmarks would make resource allocation more accountable.

Strawberries should be included as a dedicated component in the next 10-year development plan for national agriculture, with ring-fenced funding and a clear index for performance. Subsidised nucleus-outgrower schemes could link commercial producers such as Metrolax Flower, Tal Flower, Euro Flora, Zequala Horti and Bahir Dar Fresh Fruits Plc with cooperatives. Public-private partnerships should accelerate the adoption of hydroponics, precision fertigation, and resilient varieties.

Investments in branding, certification, and value-added processing, including individual quick freezing (IQF), a specialised food preservation method in which each piece of food is frozen independently of the others, juices, and powders, would extend shelf life and margins. Cold-chain projects should be completed, using Cool Port Addis to build air-sea competitiveness. Independent economic evaluations should also guide priorities.

Such steps would help attract foreign direct investment, as urged by recent commitments from African Farming Industries (AFI), and strengthen Ethiopia’s position as East Africa’s high-value horticultural exporter. Visionary leadership and decisive execution are now needed to match public incentives with evidence and to stop treating a proven export earner as a side crop in a country short of hard currency and jobs, too.

Formally Open But Practically Stalled Court-rooms

Posted on by Digital Editor

A recent circular issued by the President of the Federal Supreme Court requiring court proceedings to be conducted in open hearings has sparked a consequential debate over judicial openness. Few principles are more central to fair justice than the public character of court proceedings.

Open justice allows citizens to see how courts work, judges reason, and state power is exercised in disputes over liberty, property, family and commerce. It is meant to build confidence in the judicial system, exposing proceedings to scrutiny, for judges and litigants alike.

One of the basic rules governing court procedure is the “principle of openness,” which refers to public access to courts and judicial proceedings. It covers more than the right of parties to attend their own hearings. It also includes observing proceedings and accessing information on how courts function.

The right to a public hearing matters not only to litigants but also to journalists, researchers, lawyers, law students and civil society organisations. They allow trial monitoring, public oversight of judges, legal education, and a broader understanding of the justice system.

Proceedings held in public are more likely to be seen as impartial and accountable. Public access can reduce the risk of arbitrary decisions, corruption and abuse of judicial authority. It also allows students to observe legal reasoning and courtroom practice rather than learn it only from textbooks. In that sense, the Supreme Court’s push for open hearings affirms its desire to improve transparency and judicial accountability.

The foundation for public hearings is found in Article 20(1) of the Constitution. The accused persons have the right to a public trial by an ordinary court of law within a reasonable time after being charged. The Constitution also permits closed sessions only when necessary to protect the privacy rights of parties, public morals or national security.

In criminal cases, therefore, public hearings are not only a procedural preference. They are a constitutional safeguard for the right to a fair trial and for confidence in the criminal justice system.

Yet, the circular also raises a practical question.

Can a court system already strained by crowded dockets, limited courtrooms, and scarce resources make openness mandatory across the board without further slowing justice?

I am afraid the answer is not straightforward, although the principle may sound reasonable. Its blanket implementation, particularly in civil proceedings, may be less so.

The practical burden is harder to dismiss because openness is not cost-free. It requires courtrooms large enough to accommodate members of the public, seating arrangements that do not disrupt proceedings, security management, and facilities capable of handling larger attendance. Many courts operate with serious infrastructural constraints, including overcrowded hearing rooms, inadequate filing systems, limited judicial manpower and insufficient space.

These shortcomings shape the pace and quality of justice every day.

Where space is inadequate, a mandatory open-hearing rule may force courts to organise cases around available courtrooms rather than procedural urgency or judicial priority. Hearings could be rotated or postponed, not because the law requires adjournment, but for the unavailability of a suitable room. Such delays would weaken timely adjudication, one of the core promises of justice.

Delays in civil cases are not minor inconveniences. Businesses waiting for commercial judgments face uncertainty. Families involved in personal disputes endure prolonged stress. Individuals seeking remedies bear financial, social and psychological costs. A reform intended to increase confidence in courts could instead deepen frustration if it lengthens proceedings.

This risk is especially acute in a judiciary long criticised for backlogs and slow case disposition. The courts are already carrying congested dockets. Adding procedural requirements without matching resources could aggravate existing inefficiencies.

The circular presents a familiar reform dilemma. Transparency is necessary, but it should be matched with capacity. Open hearings can strengthen public participation and trust. When implemented without adequate infrastructure, they may have the opposite effect, worsening delays and fueling doubts about judicial efficiency.

A justice system gains little from proceedings that are formally open but practically stalled.

Article 20(1) refers specifically to “accused persons,” indicating that the constitutional duty to hold public hearings is directed mainly at criminal proceedings. Civil proceedings do not carry the same explicit constitutional command.

The Constitution does not impose the same degree of obligation on courts in civil matters. However, courts may still hear civil cases publicly in the interest of transparency and accountability. Extending a uniform open-hearing requirement to all proceedings by administrative circular may invite questions about its constitutional footing and practical necessity.

A more balanced approach would distinguish between criminal and civil proceedings. Criminal trials should remain public as a constitutional requirement, subject only to the recognised exceptions of privacy, public morals and national security.

Civil proceedings could follow a more flexible standard, with openness gradually expanded according to courtroom capacity, resources, and the public importance of the case. Such a distinction would preserve the constitutional core of open justice while avoiding unnecessary strain on ordinary civil litigation.

Institutional investment should accompany any broader move toward openness. Larger courtrooms, improved filing systems, better case management, digital publication of judgments and virtual hearing mechanisms could make transparency more workable.

Courts could also adopt selective openness, prioritising cases of high public interest while retaining procedural flexibility in routine civil matters. Technology, including live streaming where appropriate, may provide public access without requiring every interested observer to be physically present in courtrooms.

The principle of openness remains indispensable to the rule of law. Public hearings promote accountability, transparency and confidence in courts. But reforms should respect institutional realities.

A policy can be appropriate in theory but counterproductive in practice if introduced without preparation. The Supreme Court’s circular signals a positive aspiration toward greater judicial openness. Its success will depend on whether the implementation is cautious, well-resourced, and sufficiently tailored to avoid worsening the very delays and backlogs that already test public trust in the judiciary.

Africa Key to Sustained Global Growth

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More than 50 years after decolonisation, the West still regards Africa as a supporting player in the global economy, as a source of raw materials and little else. This outdated view has undermined Africa’s development of high-value manufacturing industries and integrated supply chains, impeding economic growth.

As a result, disparities in per capita income between Africa and other regions have increased, and the continent’s share of global trade has fallen below three percent, even though Africa accounts for almost one-fifth of the world’s population.

But as more countries cross the “super-aged” threshold, with more than 20pc of the population aged 65 and older, the international community should be increasingly motivated to stop placing Africa in a peripheral role. The world economy needs new drivers of demand, and Africa is uniquely suited to fulfil that need. Africa’s demographic dynamism, together with its enormous infrastructure investment needs, means that it should play an increasingly central role in global trade and investment in the coming years.

Africa’s demographic momentum is unmatched. Its population is expected to approach 2.5 billion by 2050. At that point, Nigeria is projected to be the world’s third-most-populous country, surpassing the United States and ranking below only India and China. By the end of the century, nearly 40pc of the world’s population is set to be African.

More importantly, Africa will account for most of the net growth in the global working-age population, as countries in most other regions confront shrinking labour forces and rising dependency ratios. Recent data show that economies with population growth above the global average of one percent have experienced an average real GDP growth rate of 3.1pc, while those with negative population growth have achieved only 1.4pc.

African GDP is already growing above the world’s average, and most long-term forecasts indicate that the continent’s strong demographic tailwind will help power the global economy.

While economic growth requires an optimal mix of capital, labour, and technology, the mutually reinforcing interaction between job creation and rising consumer spending is often central. Historically, demographic strength has supported human-capital development, sustaining the expansion of domestic demand, which accounts for more than two-thirds of US GDP and over half of Canadian GDP.

Africa’s youth bulge is a major asset in terms of both labour supply and new demand. Whereas consumption growth has slowed in the advanced economies, owing to demographic stagnation, it is expanding in Africa, as rapid urbanisation creates new consumer markets and incomes gradually rise. By 2050, hundreds of millions of Africans are expected to join the middle class, and consumer and business spending on the continent is projected to reach 16.1 trillion dollars, creating significant demand for goods and services.

Africa also has enormous potential for structural change. As the world’s least-industrialised continent, contributing less than two percent of global manufacturing, Africa offers the greatest opportunities for productivity gains and per capita income growth. Bauxite is a case in point. What is worth 874 billion dollars at the mine gate becomes 5.2 trillion dollars when refined into alumina, and up to 15.4 trillion dollars when smelted into aluminium. Processing raw commodities on the continent, rather than exporting them, offers a vast economic opportunity.

Seizing this opportunity will require efforts to address Africa’s infrastructure deficit. Increased infrastructure spending, particularly in the construction, mining, manufacturing, and services sectors, would set the stage for long-term productivity gains. The scale of the gap implies that sustained investment could drive growth momentum for decades, with huge positive spillover effects for the global economy.

With sufficient financing for infrastructure, human-capital development, and policy reforms, Africa can achieve large-scale industrialisation, transform its population growth into sustained economic dynamism, and generate a powerful demographic dividend for the global economy. The implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) is a key step toward catalysing this structural transformation, because a more integrated market bolsters cost advantages and spurs industrial growth. Manufactured goods would first scale through AfCFTA-enabled regional demand and then expand into global markets as Africa becomes more competitive.

With its rapidly growing population, large and untapped consumer markets, industrialisation potential, immense resource wealth, and pursuit of regional economic integration at scale, Africa holds the future of global growth in its hands. As more advanced economies face structural problems, Africa is the largest remaining reservoir of transformative growth potential.

But if African countries are to serve as a pillar of 21st-century global economic expansion, they need effective policies. If the continent’s potential is not realised, the ageing world will struggle to sustain prosperity. Africa’s success is thus no longer a regional issue, but rather a global imperative.

Outdated Map Projections Misrepresent Africa’s Scale

Posted on by Digital Editor

Maps are never neutral. They are instruments of knowledge, yes, but also of power, ideology, and often manipulation. Nowhere is this more evident than in the depiction of Africa.

For centuries, the Mercator projection, still ubiquitous in classrooms, media, and digital platforms, has misrepresented Africa’s true scale, making one of the world’s largest landmasses appear deceptively small. At more than 30 million square kilometres, Africa is larger than the United States, China, India, and much of Europe combined. Yet on most maps, it appears comparable in size to Greenland, a landmass that is 14 times smaller.

Far from a harmless visual inconsistency, that distortion has long shaped narratives about Africa’s significance, resources, and potential.

A global initiative, Correct the Map, seeks to address this imbalance, not merely by adjusting cartographic conventions, but by challenging the deeper distortions that shape how the world sees Africa, and how Africa sees itself.

The Mercator projection, developed by the Flemish geographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, was designed for maritime navigation but distorts scale, especially farther from the equator. In an age of satellite imagery, advanced geospatial technologies, and digital mapping, we are no longer constrained by the technical limitations that once justified such compromises. As scholars have observed, we are approaching a “digital inflexion point” at which accuracy is no longer optional.

But this is not only a scientific issue. It is also a political one. Perception shapes policy, and a continent repeatedly represented as smaller than it truly is risks appearing less important economically, strategically, and culturally, with far-reaching implications for investment decisions, international negotiations, and global governance.

Younger generations across Africa already recognise that the continent, home to more than 1.4 billion people and some of the world’s fastest-growing economies, cannot afford to be visually minimised. Less encumbered by inherited colonial frameworks and more comfortable navigating multiple cultural and intellectual registers, they are driving a shift toward an Africa that is neither insular nor reactive, but increasingly self-defined.

Against this backdrop, the African Union’s (AU) decision to endorse the “Correct the Map” initiative in 2025 was a watershed moment, reflecting a collective recognition that representation matters, not merely as a symbolic gesture, but as a question of fairness. By advocating the adoption of maps that reflect Africa’s true size within international institutions, including the United Nations (UN), African leaders are asserting a simple yet powerful principle that representation should be grounded in reality.

A clearer understanding of Africa’s real scale would transform how the world, such as investors, policymakers, and global partners, views its economic geography and infrastructure. When the continent is visually compressed, so too are perceptions of its reach, connectivity, and strategic importance.

Trade is a case in point. From the Suez Canal to the strategic passages around the Cape of Good Hope, the continent is connected to some of the world’s most important maritime corridors. Its coastline stretches over 30,000Km, supporting fisheries, maritime transport, offshore energy, and critical ecosystems that together form what is arguably the planet’s largest and least-developed blue economy. Beneath these waters lies another largely invisible yet essential form of infrastructure. There is a dense network of submarine cables that underpins much of the global digital economy.

There is also a cultural dimension to the “Correct the Map” initiative. For generations, educational systems around the world have reproduced inaccurate geographic representations of Africa. Correcting these distortions is an investment in ensuring that future generations, whether in Accra, Amsterdam, or Seoul, grow up with a more accurate mental map of the world they inhabit.

To be sure, all maps involve some degree of distortion. No flat representation of a spherical Earth can ever be perfect. But that is no justification for inaction. Rather, it is a reason to make more responsible choices. When better alternatives exist, it becomes difficult to justify retaining models that systematically misrepresent entire regions.

The momentum behind “Correct the Map” reflects a broader global shift. In an interconnected world in which information moves rapidly and decisions are increasingly data-driven, there is little tolerance for inherited inaccuracies. The goal is not to rewrite history, but to update the tools through which we understand the present. At its core, the campaign is also about dignity. Africa’s story has repeatedly been told from a perspective that diminished the continent’s scale and Africans’ agency. Correcting the map would be an important first step toward engaging with the continent on its own terms.

Governments, international organisations, educational institutions, and technology companies should work together to adopt more accurate map projections. This is neither technically complex nor prohibitively expensive, yet the consequences of such a change could be profound.

Maps, after all, are never only about representations of space. They also reflect how we see one another and should, therefore, reflect the world as it truly is. Africa does not need to be enlarged. It needs, at long last, to be seen.

A Ball, A Father, A Life-time of Memory

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Football was never merely a game in our household. It was ritual, language and affection woven into everyday life. While other families gathered around television dramas or weekend films, our home moved according to football fixtures, league tables and post-match analysis. Growing up, my brothers and I were not allowed unrestricted television time. There were no movie marathons or long conversations about celebrities at the dinner table. Football stood as the lone exception, and that exception shaped our childhood more profoundly than I understood at the time.

My father had once played professional football before eventually changing careers. To him, the sport represented far more than entertainment. Football meant discipline, direction and protection. He often spoke about how it had kept him away from destructive choices during his youth. While many young men around him lost focus, football gave him structure and ambition. He believed sincerely that sport could save lives, and he wanted his children to grow up within that same framework.

The first book my father ever asked me to read was a biography of Pelé, written while the football legend was still actively playing. Looking back now, the gesture feels deeply symbolic. He was introducing me not only to football history, but also to ideas of sacrifice, consistency and greatness. Long before I understood tactics or league standings, I already understood that football mattered.

Weekends in our house carried the atmosphere of celebration. Premier League matches filled the living room with tension, shouting and excitement. Bundesliga and Serie A games stretched across long afternoons. UEFA Champions League nights transformed ordinary weekdays into family events. During matches involving Ethiopian Coffee SC, the FIFA World Cup, the Africa Cup of Nations and the Olympic Games, the atmosphere became electric. Special dishes appeared. Snacks covered the table. Relatives and neighbours occasionally joined us. There was laughter, prayer, celebration and endless commentary. Match day never felt like passive viewing. It felt like participation in something much larger.

Like many children, we inherited our father’s loyalties. I first supported Manchester United F.C. before eventually joining my father and brothers in supporting Arsenal F.C.. In Italy, our family’s loyalty belonged firmly to Juventus FC. Victories lifted the mood of the house for days. Defeats altered the emotional climate entirely. When Arsenal or Juventus lost an important match, disappointment settled over the household like heavy weather. Football carried that kind of emotional weight.

To outsiders, this level of attachment may appear excessive. Football fandom can indeed become unhealthy. Across the world, including in Ethiopia, rivalries between supporters have sometimes turned violent and deadly. Yet there is another side to football culture that receives far less attention. For families like mine, football created closeness. It kept children indoors, engaged and connected. It gave fathers, sons, daughters and siblings something meaningful to share.

Throughout high school and even into university, our restrictions on television changed very little. At times, I felt isolated because of it. My classmates spent hours discussing television dramas and films that I knew nothing about. Often, I stayed silent during conversations because I could not contribute. Back then, I envied them. I wondered whether I was missing what others considered normal experiences.

Years later, my perspective shifted. Some people I knew from school became consumed by unhealthy distractions and lifestyles. Not everyone, of course, but enough to make me appreciate the choices my father made for us. Sport filled our minds with discipline, competition, teamwork and ambition rather than endless passive entertainment. Football encouraged participation as much as observation. We played constantly, not just watched.

One of the biggest surprises of my life came when I visited London, a city I quickly grew to love. Before arriving, I imagined football would dominate daily conversation. After all, London is home to some of the world’s most famous clubs and stadiums. I expected constant match debates, visible supporter culture and communities revolving around football.

Instead, I encountered something entirely different. Many people I met admitted they rarely watched football. Some had never attended a Premier League match despite living close to globally recognised stadiums. Others associated football supporters with violence, drinking and disorderly behaviour. I remember calling my family back home to describe my surprise. My father and brothers were equally shocked. To us, football represented family, togetherness and joy. Hearing it described negatively felt unfamiliar.

Then came the loss that changed everything.

Four years ago, my father passed away suddenly. Even in his final years, he never stopped believing Arsenal would one day win another major title. Every new season carried fresh hope in his eyes. Every disappointment felt temporary. He remained loyal through setback after setback. Football stayed one of his greatest passions until the very end.

After his passing, watching football became painful for my brothers and me. The sport that once united our family suddenly became inseparable from grief. Every match carried memories of the man who built our traditions around it. Gradually, we stopped watching altogether. One of the strongest bonds in our household disappeared alongside him.

Earlier this week, I came across news that Arsenal had finally become Premier League champions again after more than two decades. My first reaction was excitement. Almost immediately, grief followed. I could only think about how happy my father would have been. I imagined his celebration, the phone calls, the laughter and the endless analysis of the season. Instead, the moment joined a growing list of milestones I wish he had lived to witness.

Now, as a parent myself, I understand my father more clearly than ever. My husband Mike does not care much about football, yet it remains something we hope to pass down to our daughter and future children. Not necessarily the club rivalries or emotional obsession, but the healthier side of sport: discipline, teamwork, connection and joy. I already play football and exercise with my two-year-old daughter, and watching her fall in love with movement fills me with emotion. Often, I catch myself returning to the same thought: I wish my father could see this.

Modern parenting debates focus heavily on screen time, digital addiction and online influence. In that conversation, sport deserves far greater recognition. Children raised around sport often gain more than physical fitness. They learn resilience after defeat, humility in victory and commitment through repetition. They build friendships and memories that can last a lifetime.

Football did not merely entertain my family. It shaped our identity. In many ways, it protected us. It brought generations together under one roof and gave us memories that still echo long after the final whistle. Most importantly, it gave us unforgettable moments with a father whose presence still lingers every time a ball rolls across a screen or a child kicks one across a field.

When Problem-Solving Fails Because the Shape Looks Different

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We like to think of ourselves as pattern-recognition machines. From the moment the day begins until sleep finally settles in, the brain keeps scanning the environment, sorting information, and predicting outcomes based on what it has encountered before. People pride themselves on being adaptable and rational, capable of navigating complexity with the tools accumulated over time. Yet hidden beneath that confidence lies a subtle trap, one that quietly keeps people stuck precisely when movement is required. We become so attached to the packaging of a problem that we lose sight of the essence of the solution.

That realisation became impossible to ignore one weekday at a branch of the Ethiopian Electric Utility (EEU), where customers had gathered to refill their cards. The guard stationed at the entrance had devised a system to manage the crowd more efficiently. He needed to separate customers into two groups based on the technical specifications of their cards: those with chip-enabled cards and those without.

The guard was trying his best. Standing at the front, he called out instructions while holding up a single card as a reference point for everyone in the queue. That was where the confusion began.

One after another, people glanced at the card in the guard’s hand and then back at their own. Many stayed seated, immobilised by hesitation. Even after the guard repeatedly clarified that the distinction depended on the chip itself, uncertainty lingered. People were not listening for the principle; they were searching for an exact replica. If their card looked even slightly different in design or layout, they assumed it belonged elsewhere.

The logic was universal, yet the crowd remained fixated on appearances. Eventually, fellow queue-goers had to step in and explain what the guard meant: any card with a chip qualified, whether or not it resembled the example he was holding.

Watching the scene unfold brought back memories of a middle school mathematics classroom, the kind with worn wooden desks and long afternoons spent solving equations. Teachers would spend weeks explaining how to calculate the internal angles of a triangle or isolate a variable. The formulas themselves were clear enough. But exam day always carried a twist. The triangle would appear upside down. The variable would be buried inside a word problem. The structure of the question would shift just enough to unsettle anyone relying purely on memorisation.

The classroom would fall silent almost instantly.

Students who had memorised only the appearance of the equation would freeze. They understood the mechanics of the math itself, yet the unfamiliar presentation convinced them they were facing an entirely different problem. The students who succeeded were rarely the ones who memorised the page most perfectly. They were the ones who understood the principle underneath the presentation.

The same rigidity follows people well beyond school corridors and government office queues. It slips quietly into adult life, shaping the way problems are approached at work, in relationships, and in moments of uncertainty. Familiarity becomes confused with identity, while the underlying principle fades into the background simply because the wrapping looks different.

A person might excel at analysing reports at work, only to feel overwhelmed when asked to present the same information in a new format. Suddenly, confidence disappears. The task feels foreign, even though the core skill remains unchanged. Organising and interpreting information is still the assignment. Only the interface has shifted. Yet many react the same way as the customers staring at the guard’s sample card, waiting for an identical version before recognising what sits directly in front of them.

The lesson sounds simple, though mastering it is anything but easy: stop searching for the exact same shape and start identifying the system underneath it. Whenever confusion sets in, the better question is not what this situation looks like, but what principle is actually at work. Strip away the location, the presentation, and the surrounding noise. Is it a communication problem? A logic problem? A test of patience? Once the layers fall away, most challenges reveal themselves as familiar lessons wearing unfamiliar clothes.

Do not become the person sitting in the wrong seat simply because the example in front of you does not perfectly mirror what you were taught before. Understand the logic beneath the surface, not just the appearance surrounding it. Life constantly changes form. Problems rarely arrive looking identical to the versions encountered in the past. Those waiting for exact replicas may wait forever.

Real intelligence is not about recognising the card. It is about recognising the chip that makes it work.

“We’re going to transform the agricultural sector here in Ethiopia.”

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Aliko Dangote, the Nigerian investor, pledged last week to complete a fertiliser plant in 30 months that will produce three million tons of urea for a four-billion-dollar investment. If successful, this will position his Group as the world’s largest producer of the particular fertiliser brand. He also disclosed the launch of additional plants for packaging and MPK (cement) production. 

Trade Minister Links Export Growth to Economic Reform Drive

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Trade & Regional Integration Minister Kassahun Gofe says export earnings have more than quadrupled over the past eight years, reaching 8.7 billion dollars in the first 10 months of the current fiscal year.

He made the remarks during the inauguration of upgraded digital systems and service facilities at the Ethiopian Standards Institute in Addis Abeba, linking the performance to ongoing economic reforms and improved trade facilitation.

The Ethiopian Standards Institute also unveiled new digital transformation projects alongside modernised facilities, including a conference hall with advanced audio-visual systems, a high-standard restaurant, and café spaces designed for stakeholder engagement on quality standards.

Prime Minister Inaugurates New Ceramic Factory in Mojo

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Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed and senior officials have inaugurated the Grandeur Ceramic manufacturing plant in Mojo town, a new facility aimed at boosting domestic production of ceramic and porcelain tiles.

Built by Grandeur Ceramic Manufacturing PLC on 300,000 square metres of land, the plant became operational nine months after construction began. It currently produces 60×60 ceramic tiles and is set to add additional sizes, including 80×80, 60×120, 70×140 and 80×160, within the next two months.

The factory, developed with over two billion birr in investment, will also produce porcelain products aligned with European quality standards.

Company officials said around 80pc of raw materials are sourced within a 100-kilometre radius, supporting local supply chains as the country advances its import substitution drive.

Mining Sector Reports Strong Output, Investment Growth

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The Amhara Regional State mining sector says mineral-based import substitute products worth over 246.1 million dollars were produced in the first nine months of the current fiscal year.

Bureau spokesperson Zenaw Abebe said 18 mineral exploration projects were completed this year in partnership with regional higher education institutions, identifying deposits used in construction, metal industries, precious minerals and energy production.

Officials added that findings have been shared with investors, with 169 mining projects receiving licences over the period.

CITY NAP

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Along the busy Wello Sefer roundabout, a small pack of street dogs finds a slice of quiet sanctuary on a narrow strip of green. Lined up along the grass, they rest, groom, and stretch in the warm afternoon sun, completely unfazed by the rhythm of the city around them. It is a striking, gentle contrast a pocket of absolute stillness and slow-paced street life set against the clean lines of the newly paved sidewalk, passing traffic, and a cyclist gliding.