Resource for Africa?

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

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.

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.

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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

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.

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.

"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

Sossina Haile: Scientist and Environmentalist

Scientist Sossina used her knowledge to create energy at lower cost to human and earth. She created the world's first solid-acid fuel cell, which is a clean technology that converts chemical energy to electricity for powering cars, buses and power plants.

The fuel cell that scientist Sossina made emits only pure water. What makes scientist Sossina’s discovery extra special is that her fuel cell makes it possible to produce energy at comparatively low temperatures.

Scientist Sossina is a mother of two. She studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

According to Newsweek, Scientist Sossina says "there's nothing better than being able to combine an intellectually exciting topic with the knowledge that will be beneficial. To me, that's just glory."

Selamawit Nega: Powerful Musician

By Dr. Tedla W. Giorgis

Selamawit Nega, SelamKen, is a young renowned Ethiopian musician who has performed around the world. With fifteen years of experience in musical composition and performance, she is very much sought after by the Ethiopian communities and organizers of World music festivals.

In addition to her acclaimed performances across the Ethiopian communities both in the US and Europe, Selamawit has performed at places like the Smithsonian Institute in Washington, D.C., the World Music Institute of Washington, D.C., Dance Africa in Chicago, Dance Africa in New York, the World Music Institute of New York, Harvard University and Tufts University.

Selamawit is versatile performer and musical repertoire includes selections from the various parts of Ethiopia, including Amarigna, Guragigna, Ormigna, Tigrigna, and Welaytagna. She has also performing across the US, Europe and in Africa. Selamawit and her band are currently residing in Washington, D.C.

If there is one Olympics event that made Ethiopia famous it is the marathon. Selamawit has made a great contribution toward making the victorious Ethiopian marathon runners well known through out the world by composing and dedicating her album title “Mefeter Andenew.” Her CD and cassette was enthusiastically received both by critiques and members of the Ethiopian community.

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Be on the look out for Selamawit’s latest and much anticipated CD. It should be released in early 2008. Her latest CD encompasses her powerful and majestic voice with variety of music from all round the world.


To contact Selamawit Nega call (202) 549-7818.
http://www.myspace.com/selamawitnega

Selam Global Enterprises

Welcome to Selam* Global Enterprise (SGE)!!!

SGE is a business and trade consulting firm. Our experts provide profitable and efficient strategic plans through our consulting, writing, and editing services. We serve individuals, governments, corporations, businesses, and entrepreneurs.

SGE is positioned to promote ideas, art works, products, and businesses in the United States and Africa. We have a team of experts ready to assist you in promoting your existing products, services, and enterprises as well as support you in starting up a new business.

SEG supports individuals in becoming successful entrepreneurs. We also offer information to government officials and private business owners about national and international economies, business and trade practices. We have experts in quantitative and qualitative analysis, economic studies, general operations, research and development, cost-benefit analysis, economic planning, international trade and econometrics.

SGE assists clients in creating and expanding businesses. For instance, if you are interested in establishing a new business or in selling your products in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, our experts will help you institute a sound and profitable business plan. We will also provide you with efficient distribution and marketing strategies. We help entrepreneurs to access the African and American markets and visa versa. Our goal is to assist our clients in developing strategies that will result in win-win situations through business and trade partnerships.

*Selam is derived from an ancient African language, Geez. It means peace.

SGE
P.O.Box 73413
Washington, DC 20056

(202) 299-4958

Dinaw Mengestu

Dinaw Mengestu won 2007's Guardian First Book Award, for his book “Children of the Revolution.” The Guardian First Book Award is worth £10,000.

Congratulation Dinaw Mengestu.

Ike Turner: River Deep Mountain High

The legendary musician, Ike Turner, passed away at the age of 76. May he rest in peace. One of his greatest works is a song titled “River Deep Mountain High,” which was Performed by Tina Turner who is known for her majestic voice.

Enjoy Ike and Tina’s work. Read the lyrics and decide how you feel about the song.


When I was a little girl I had a rag doll
The only doll I’ve ever owned
Now I love you just the way
I loved that rag doll
But only now my love has grown
And it gets stronger in every way
And it gets deeper let me say
And it gets higher day by day
Do I love you my oh my
River deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby

When you were a young boy did you have a puppy
That always followed you around
Well Im gonna be as faithful as that puppy
No Ill never let you down

Cause it goes on and on like a river flows
And it gets bigger baby and heaven knows
And it gets sweeter baby as it grows
Do I love you my oh myRiver deep, mountain high
If I lost you would I cry
Oh how I love you baby, baby, baby, baby

I love you baby like a flower loves the spring
And I love you baby like a robin loves to sing
And I love you baby like a schoolboy loves his bag
And I love you baby river deep mountain high

Lyrics source: www.lyricsfreak.com

Two queens

Tina Turner & Angela Bassett

Ike & Tina Turner in 1966

Fire in the house

by: Edna Ravenel

Who will prove to be man or mouse;

especially when there isfire in the house

No time to run, no time to hide,

this is the time to seewho's the real genius;

with the right decisionIt is no longer a time of convince,

it a time ofdecision,

only the right one will count

Ants have shown civilized man for years,

the key to

working together

Let us note

that the turmoil of man

has resulted in thisnew world's disaster

The one's that claim to lead are mere imposters;

leadingthe whole world down a road of destruction

There's still time to turn things around,

when we takeourselves out of the way;

to allow the creator to show usearthlings the right way;

in order not to furthergo astrayDon't give up because

today is a brand new day;

with lotsof hope in every way.

The Tale of Two Nations 5

The Tale of Two Nations 5

Ethiopian and African-American Relations: A Brief Timeline
by Andrew Laurence

Harlem Renaissance

Dr. Alain Locke, the first African-American Rhodes Scholar, architect of the New Negro Movement and Howard University professor, encourages African-American artists to recognize and incorporate their African heritage within their work.

Paul Laurence Dunbar writes his poem “Ode to Ethiopia,” James Wells paints “Ethiopia at the Bar of Justice,” Meta Fuller sculpts “Ethiopia Awakening,” and Langston Hughes, called the poet laureate of Harlem, writes in Opportunity magazine “Broadcast to Ethiopia.” These are just some of the better known examples of African American artists inspired by Ethiopia.

The Tale of Two Nations 4

Ethiopian and African-American Relations: A Brief Timeline
by Andrew Laurence

1903 - 04

Henry Ellis, an African-American Wall Street broker, with assistance from Haitian Benito Sylvain, helps make possible the signature of a Treaty of Amity (Friendship) and Commerce between Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia and Robert P. Skinner for the United States. He personally congratulated Emperor Menelik on the Adwa victory which he saw, rightly, as a victory over colonialism.

The Treaty is duly proclaimed by U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt. Dr. Joseph Vitalien of Guadeloupe becomes Emperor Menelik’s personal physician at this time.

Bright Star: Teddy Afro

By Nesanet Hailu

Teddy Afro is courageous and visionary lyricist of the new millennium. He is so fantastic, when ever people think his talent has reached the maximum, he sets yet another standard of musical performances on and off the stage.

Here are some of the standards that Teddy set

Productivity Standard:
Teddy is like a music machine. He produces new products at least every three months: singles and music videos have been continuously coming to DC and the surrounding area. We consider him a good role model because he is productive artists. He is a good reminder that art could also be profitable, if people are focused and work hard.

Courageousness Standard:
Teddy has daring lyrics. He wishes Chicago, Addis Ababa, Asmara, and the rest of Africa a happy new year. You might ask what makes that so audacious. The answer is throughout the Diaspora and inside the country; he seems to be the only one who still mention Eritrea in their songs. Most other’s wishes of New Year stop at the new and fake boarder. But Teddy Afro, seems to understand there are no boarder inside an African blood. He is generous to wish the whole Africa including Asmera to have a happy New Year.

Pan-African Standard:
Teddy does not only preach Pan-Africanisim, but like Haile Girima, he seems to show it in his artistic work. People recognize the increasingly high influence of Bob Marily’s music and spirit on Teddy Afro.

Unlike some Ethiopian artists, such as Zeritu, whose role models are talent less American boy groups, Teddy Afro seems to choice creative and original artists from people that are closer to him and artists who love his people. For us who live in the Diaspora, we feel proud to introduce Ethiopian music to our American friends through Teddy Afro’s songs. He doesn’t have a scratchy voice, like Aster’s.

Sharing Standards:
For decades Ethiopian musical seen consisted of a sorry sounding keyboard and a single vocalist. When bands had become the thing of the past, Teddy started working with great band called Abogeda.

To everyone’s pleasant surprise he also added two beautiful African American female vocalists to his band on his last U.S. tour. He also added the Setegn Atenaw, a talented masinko player, to his band. His latest video, of the American tour, is an absolute improvement from his cheap BET imitation looking music videos.

Lyrical Sophistication Standard:
He works with timely themes yet ancient words. In the time were the precious Geez is being the kicked out of the church and Ethiopia and being transferred into large libraries and universities around the western world, Teddy seems to be kind to Geez. Teddy reminds us that Geez is something beautiful and valuable – something we should learn and use.

Unlike many Ethiopian lyrics that tend to focus on negativity, Teddy has several positive and uplifting lyrics. Most Ethiopian musicians think that a song must have sad lyrics to attract people’s attention, which is untrue. People listen to music to feel better, to get some energy and relax. Teddy also has grim lyrics, such as Eyesaku Eskista meaning crying when you’re dancing.

However, he balances his negative with lyrics that promote unity such as Jah Yasteserial. Most other lyrics concentrate on female and male negative relationships, but his lyrics tend to be more universal discussing about family relationship, history, and more.


http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=10819101

Inventor Shifferaw

Mr. Shifferaw is one of the current Ethiopian investors who lives in the Diaspora. One of his inventions, the Bowflex, is used for efficient exercise thought the world.

“More than 20 years ago, Dosho Shifferaw was trying to make ends meet by driving cabs and working at hotels – while he was hatching plans for an exercise chair that he was convinced would be a success,” explains Therese Iknoian.

“The 1974 revolution that overthrew Emperor Haile Selasie, stranded this young Ethiopian in California, where he was studying industrial design and engineering. He proved that he understood two American passions when he invented the Bowflex exercise machine and made a wile success on it by hawking it on TV,” According to The Washington Post on Sunday June 12, 2005.

To find out Mr. Shifferaw’s other inventions, visit www.doshodesign.com

Al Gore

Al Gore and the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change won the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on October 12, 2007. The former vice president, Al Gore, was recognized for his work on increasing awareness about environmental degradation.

As Rachel Carson did with her book, “Silent Spring,” Al Gore has been warning that global warming is "the greatest challenge we've ever faced” through his book and movie “An Inconvenient Truth."