COURTING CONCRETE


COURTING CONCRETE

A street vendor around Debrezeit Road steadily walks a crossing bridge balancing his locally made plastic water cans. The shortage of foreign currency has increasingly challenged the 4,000 local plastic manufacturers in the country who require significant chemical inputs. A recent restriction on the use of partialized letters of credit to import materials has fueled a rising panic across the manufacturing landscape. As nearly half of the industrial input for most manufacturing plants in the country relies on the import of materials, the fate of the industrial sector is intimately tied to the country's forex status.


In-Picture

QUEUE DYNAMICS

A long line of people standing in an orderly queue extends in a Qera taxi terminal that serves locations including Stadium, Qality, Wello Sefer, and Jemo. The lines are primarily for privately-owned minibuses that ply various routes across the city. The taxi terminal was recently built on the premise of the corridor development initiative, bringing together disjointed terminals around the area to a central location. Though transit facilities have greatly improved, the same cannot be said for lon...


In-Picture

WALKING TRADITION

Two men walk alongside Niger St carrying traditional items. While one is grasping a large clay jug balanced on his head, another is holding a traditional stone grinder. Some believe that storing water in clay pots can improve its mineral content and taste. Traditional stone grinders, on the other hand, are believed to enhance the flavor of spices and grains...


In-Picture

SINO SANDWICH

A multiple-vehicle traffic accident around “Temenja Yazh,” on A1 St, formerly Debre Zeit St, damages railway infrastructure alongside two cars and two dump trucks. Officially named the China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co., Ltd. (CNHTC), the ubiquitous red trucks are commonly known as Sinotruk. Headquartered in Shandong province, the major Chinese state-owned truck manufacturer produced its first heavy-duty truck in 1960. While Sinotruk trucks are widely used in Ethiopia and generall...