WASHINGTON, D.C. – On February 25, 2008, President George W. Bush that the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) would support five new private equity investment funds, with a combined target capitalization of $875 million, designed to invest in a variety of sectors vital to Africa’s economic development, including health care, housing, telecommunications and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The new commitments represent the largest single-day announcement in the history of the agency’s investment funds program.
“Last year, we launched the Africa Financial Sector Initiative. As part of this effort, OPIC mobilized $750 million in investment capital for African businesses,” President Bush said in a speech on the eve of his February 15-21 trip to Benin, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, and Liberia. “Today, I'm announcing that OPIC will support five new investment funds that will mobilize an additional $875 million, for a total of more than $1.6 billion in new capital.”
“The new era is rooted in a powerful truth: Africa's most valuable resource is not its oil, it's not its diamonds, it is the talent and creativity of its people. So we are partnering with African leaders to empower their people to lift up their nations and write a new chapter in their history…The best way to generate economic growth in Africa is to expand trade and investment,” President Bush said.
OPIC President and CEO Robert Mosbacher, Jr. said, “Establishment of these five new investment funds represents additional, tangible support for Africa, but with a dynamic focus on the social aspects of economic development and job creation on the continent.”
“These funds will encourage the growth of sectors critical to Africa’s ongoing development, such as housing and telecommunications, as well as other developmental sectors, including health care and small businesses. Their overall impact will be to broaden African capital markets and provide critical investment for social development, a model that can be replicated in other geographic areas.”
OPIC’s Board of Directors approved financing to support the funds at its January 31 meeting. More information about OPIC’s Africa-related investment funds can be found http://www.opic.gov/investment/participating/africa/index.asp
Three of the new OPIC-supported funds will help to bring new levels of efficiency and productivity to sectors critical to the continent’s continued economic growth: health care, housing development and telecommunications. The two other funds will support the growth of Africa’s debt capital markets and its SME sector.
Source: www.opic.gov
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Ethiopians and African Americas
Source: HilltopOnline, Howard University, Washington
NATALIE CONE, 2/26/08
On Monday night, a bus full of New York Abyssinian Baptist Church members drove to Washington, D.C. to join the Ethiopian community to honor the church and its pastor, the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts III. The event, which was hosted at the Ethiopian embassy, was also intended to celebrate Black History Month and to strengthen the historical and spiritual connections between the Ethiopian and African-American communities.
"During slavery, African Americans always looked at Ethiopia as a place that represented freedom, black culture, history and religion," said Princeton University professor Ephraim Isaac, who spoke at the event. "It inspired the fight against discrimination and religion. When slaves were told they were inferior, they were animals or subhuman, they would think of Ethiopia." Isaacs, who is also the founder of the African-American studies department at Harvard, quoted Langston Hughes' poem, "The Call of Ethiopia." The poem addressed the freedom of not only Ethiopia, but also the entire African continent. Sociology professor Alem Habtu of CUNY Queens College described how, as an international student from Ethiopia, he learned from African Americans during the civil rights movement. Habtu, along with some peers, took over the Ethiopian embassy in protest of issues concerning their country after hearing Stokely Carmichael and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) speak.
The guests included members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the ambassador of Ethiopia, Samuel Assefa. Robert Wallace, CEO of Birthgroup Technologies, said he plans to build orphanages for children whose parents died of AIDS/HIV. Gary Flowers, executive director and CEO of the Black Leadership Forum, addressed the need to get back to the root of black culture. "I am, because we are; and because we are, I am," Flowers said. "There is no individual advancement without group advancement."
The Embassy said the program is the first of many that will recognize the connection between the two cultures. The evening ended with the honoring of Butts, as he was presented with a piece of artwork by a famous Ethiopian painter. His long-term goal is to use the church's developmental corporation to build housing and educational facilities in Ethiopia. "We can not be chauvinistic about our connection to Ethiopia and cannot deny what needs to happen," said Butts.
NATALIE CONE, 2/26/08
On Monday night, a bus full of New York Abyssinian Baptist Church members drove to Washington, D.C. to join the Ethiopian community to honor the church and its pastor, the Rev. Dr. Calvin Butts III. The event, which was hosted at the Ethiopian embassy, was also intended to celebrate Black History Month and to strengthen the historical and spiritual connections between the Ethiopian and African-American communities.
"During slavery, African Americans always looked at Ethiopia as a place that represented freedom, black culture, history and religion," said Princeton University professor Ephraim Isaac, who spoke at the event. "It inspired the fight against discrimination and religion. When slaves were told they were inferior, they were animals or subhuman, they would think of Ethiopia." Isaacs, who is also the founder of the African-American studies department at Harvard, quoted Langston Hughes' poem, "The Call of Ethiopia." The poem addressed the freedom of not only Ethiopia, but also the entire African continent. Sociology professor Alem Habtu of CUNY Queens College described how, as an international student from Ethiopia, he learned from African Americans during the civil rights movement. Habtu, along with some peers, took over the Ethiopian embassy in protest of issues concerning their country after hearing Stokely Carmichael and members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) speak.
The guests included members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and the ambassador of Ethiopia, Samuel Assefa. Robert Wallace, CEO of Birthgroup Technologies, said he plans to build orphanages for children whose parents died of AIDS/HIV. Gary Flowers, executive director and CEO of the Black Leadership Forum, addressed the need to get back to the root of black culture. "I am, because we are; and because we are, I am," Flowers said. "There is no individual advancement without group advancement."
The Embassy said the program is the first of many that will recognize the connection between the two cultures. The evening ended with the honoring of Butts, as he was presented with a piece of artwork by a famous Ethiopian painter. His long-term goal is to use the church's developmental corporation to build housing and educational facilities in Ethiopia. "We can not be chauvinistic about our connection to Ethiopia and cannot deny what needs to happen," said Butts.
Monday, February 25, 2008
Ethiopia's DNA
DNA studies trace migration from Ethiopia
Research dates origins up to 100,000 years
Los Angeles Times
Scrutinizing the DNA of 938 people from 51 distinct populations around the world, geneticists have created a detailed map of how humans spread from their home base in sub-Saharan Africa to populate the farthest reaches of the globe over the last 100,000 years.
The pattern of genetic mutations, to be published Friday in the journal Science, offers striking evidence that an ancient band of explorers left what is now Ethiopia and -- along with their descendants -- went on to colonize North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, southern and central Asia, Australia and its surrounding islands, the Americas and East Asia. A second analysis based on some of the same DNA samples corroborated the results. Those findings, published Thursday in the journal Nature, demonstrated that the greater the geographic distance between a population and its African ancestors, the more changes had accumulated in its genes.
The story of human migration revealed by DNA "compliments what's known through history, linguistics or anthropology," said Jun Li, the University of Michigan human geneticist who led the Science study.
Both research groups relied on DNA from blood samples collected by anthropologists around the world as part of the Human Genome Diversity Project, a controversial effort from the mid-1990s to gather genetic specimens from thousands of populations, including many indigenous tribes.
Previous studies have relied on data from the International HapMap Consortium, which cataloged DNA from 269 people of Nigerian, Japanese, Chinese and European descent.
"Instead of saying a particular person's genome is from Africa, this kind of data allows us to say which part of Africa they were from," said Andrew Singleton, chief of the molecular genetics section at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md., and senior author of the Nature report. The studies were funded by the NIH, the National Science Foundation and private foundations.
In both studies, the researchers analyzed more than a half-million single-letter changes among the approximately 3 billion As, Cs, Ts and Gs that make up the human genome. Those changes -- called "single nucleotide polymorphisms," or SNPs -- begin as random mutations and accumulate over time as they are passed from one generation to the next.
Each time a small group left its home territory to found a new population, the migration ultimately led to a unique pattern of SNPs. Comparing those patterns, the researchers were able to show that humans spread around the globe through a series of migrations that originated from a single location near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
....
Research dates origins up to 100,000 years
Los Angeles Times
Scrutinizing the DNA of 938 people from 51 distinct populations around the world, geneticists have created a detailed map of how humans spread from their home base in sub-Saharan Africa to populate the farthest reaches of the globe over the last 100,000 years.
The pattern of genetic mutations, to be published Friday in the journal Science, offers striking evidence that an ancient band of explorers left what is now Ethiopia and -- along with their descendants -- went on to colonize North Africa, the Middle East, Europe, southern and central Asia, Australia and its surrounding islands, the Americas and East Asia. A second analysis based on some of the same DNA samples corroborated the results. Those findings, published Thursday in the journal Nature, demonstrated that the greater the geographic distance between a population and its African ancestors, the more changes had accumulated in its genes.
The story of human migration revealed by DNA "compliments what's known through history, linguistics or anthropology," said Jun Li, the University of Michigan human geneticist who led the Science study.
Both research groups relied on DNA from blood samples collected by anthropologists around the world as part of the Human Genome Diversity Project, a controversial effort from the mid-1990s to gather genetic specimens from thousands of populations, including many indigenous tribes.
Previous studies have relied on data from the International HapMap Consortium, which cataloged DNA from 269 people of Nigerian, Japanese, Chinese and European descent.
"Instead of saying a particular person's genome is from Africa, this kind of data allows us to say which part of Africa they were from," said Andrew Singleton, chief of the molecular genetics section at the National Institute on Aging in Bethesda, Md., and senior author of the Nature report. The studies were funded by the NIH, the National Science Foundation and private foundations.
In both studies, the researchers analyzed more than a half-million single-letter changes among the approximately 3 billion As, Cs, Ts and Gs that make up the human genome. Those changes -- called "single nucleotide polymorphisms," or SNPs -- begin as random mutations and accumulate over time as they are passed from one generation to the next.
Each time a small group left its home territory to found a new population, the migration ultimately led to a unique pattern of SNPs. Comparing those patterns, the researchers were able to show that humans spread around the globe through a series of migrations that originated from a single location near Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
....
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Holly Bass: Poetic Dancer
Holly Bass will perform as Josephine Baker in Washington DC where she lives and works.
She is a graceful dancer and spoken word artist. She is known as a writer-performer.
Holly is energetic and poetic artist. This young diva has dedication, vision, and originality to recreate the Harlem Renaissance sentiment in her performances.
Holly is also very active in her community. She often volunteers her time and talents. She has a very generous personally which makes her performances genuine and joyful.
We wish Holly to continue shining: especially, on her current performance on February 23, 2008 at 2142 Wyoming Ave NW, Washington, DC 2008.
Additionally, Wes Felton will perform as Langston Hughes; Jade Foster as Zora Neale Hurston; Ne'a Posey as Billie Holiday; Dr. William E. Smith as Duke Ellington and introducing Dorothy Tene Redmond as Harlem Socialite "Mamie Mason."
Picture source: http://www.myspace.com/hollybassforever
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Behailu Zerihun: Explorer
Behailu Zerihun traveled all over Africa on a journey to explore kinship. Enjoy Behailu’s pictures thought the mother land.
Behailu has been volunteering at the Marima Tutoring and Mentoring Program (MTMP) in Washington DC for several years.
Mariam Tutoring and Mentoring Program (MTMP) was founded in 2002 to operate and develop educational and recreational programs for elementary and high school students. The program has near a 100 percent high school graduation and collage bound rate. The program originally started as an outreach program of the Debre Selam Kidest Mariam tutoring entity. The program has helped over 260 students improve their academic future while encouraging a sense of service toward others.
MTMP meets every Saturday throughout the school year to offer elementary and high school students to help in Math, Physics, English, Chemistry, Amharic as well as mentoring them to build their confidence and community involvements. MTMP also have a confidence building programs such as public speaking and writing exercises.
MTMP also organizes filed trips, which are entertaining and educational for MTMP students, to parks, universities, planetariums and to museums.
Behailu has been volunteering at the Marima Tutoring and Mentoring Program (MTMP) in Washington DC for several years.
Mariam Tutoring and Mentoring Program (MTMP) was founded in 2002 to operate and develop educational and recreational programs for elementary and high school students. The program has near a 100 percent high school graduation and collage bound rate. The program originally started as an outreach program of the Debre Selam Kidest Mariam tutoring entity. The program has helped over 260 students improve their academic future while encouraging a sense of service toward others.
MTMP meets every Saturday throughout the school year to offer elementary and high school students to help in Math, Physics, English, Chemistry, Amharic as well as mentoring them to build their confidence and community involvements. MTMP also have a confidence building programs such as public speaking and writing exercises.
MTMP also organizes filed trips, which are entertaining and educational for MTMP students, to parks, universities, planetariums and to museums.
selamawit nega
Selamawit Nega is a talented vocalist. She lives in Washington DC. She is currently working on her latest and much anticipated CD. Here is Selamawit Nega's latest music video about the Ethiopian millennium. On this single CD release, she says let it be peace, unity and love. This is one of the best millennium songs. Be on the look out for her latest CD and CD release parties near you. Enjoy Music arrangement and keyboard by Daneal WoldGebreal. Lead guitar by Peter Charley. Bass guitar Fasel Woheb. Lyrics by Selmawit Nega and Selamawit Legesse. Melody by Selamawit Nega.
Sunday, February 03, 2008
"The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears"
By Elsa Gebeyehu
Dinaw Mengestu is the author of The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears, a Los Angeles Times bestseller and Seattle Reads pick of 2008, as well as the forthcoming novel How To Read the Air. He was born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, in 1978. In 1980, he immigrated to the United States with his mother and sister, joining his father, who had fled Ethiopia during the Red Terror.
He is a graduate of Georgetown University and Columbia University’s MFA program in fiction and the recipient of a 2006 fellowship in fiction from the New York Foundation for the Arts and a 5 Under 35 Award from the National Book Foundation in 2007. He has written for Rolling Stone and Harper's, among other publications. He lives in New York City.
Photo: Jen Snow
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)