Ethiopia: Addis Ababa - Where the Old Fiat Rules

07/20/00
by David Muwanga -     

It is very rare now in Uganda to see an Italian made vehicle traversing the roads unless it is a new model but not those Fiat cars that were mostly used by thieves and smugglers during Idi Amin's regime in the 1970's.

But if you visit Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, you will find that there is one word to describe this city, Addis Ababa the colourful city dominated by special hire Fiat cars and minibuses with white and blue colours which could be a regulation of the city authorities.

Although the Japanese minibuses (Kamunye's as commonly referred to in Uganda are also on the increase), the most common means of quick transport are the Fiat special hire cars that you can stop any time anywhere and they take you wherever you are going.

Most of these special hire taxis are very old and are driven by the local Ethiopians.

Like one commentator said, the taxis in Addis Ababa had four things in common. They were barely running, made in the 1970s, blue in color and made by Fiat, Peugot, Toyota or Lada (from the old Soviet Union).

The large number of Italian cars and mostly Italian products sold in supermarkets and shops could be attributed to the influence impacted upon this country by the presence of Italians from 1931-1943.

I and Brenda Zulu, a journalist from Zambia hiked a lift from one cab driver when we were travelling from the conference hall back to Panorama hotel. He told us that he is a student pursuing information technology at University.

"But after my studies I go and work at the National Museum and this where I managed to raise a certain amount of Birr (Ethiopian currency) to buy this vehicle," he told us with a lot of difficulty in speaking English as most of their businesses are conducted in their local language called Amharic.

We were in Addis Ababa to attend the second Science With Africa conference at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) headquarters.

During lunch time we could go out to look for locally prepared meals but to our surprise most of the menus were written in local languages.

We would take time waiting for an Ethiopian who could interpret for us after which we could order for food which is mostly fried meat, rice, fish and chips among other dishes. And it came at a rather cheap price compared to many cities I have travelled to.

The city is a sprawling city with new buildings coming up but what is interesting is that all these buildings are owned by Ethiopians either at home or those in the Diaspora.

In fact one journalist told me that If you want to invest in Ethiopia, the government take much of the shares though I couldn't confirm this with the authorities there.

However the city has got printing industries, and manufactures footwear, clothing, asbestos and metal products, processed foods, cement, and plywood. Flourishing handicraft industries managed by the locals produce leather, metal, and textile goods.

The rich culture of Ethiopia and its international links have endowed the city with many fine restaurants and street side cafes and kiosks.

Many of the new buildings are still surrounded by shanty houses occupied by the poor but who are operating small businesses including shops and restaurants.

But what I was told that if a number of people have to be displaced, the investor has to build better houses before he or she demolishes their buildings

On the last day of the conference we visited the most common market of Addis Marketo (New Market) which is the largest market centre in Ethiopia.

Located half a mile west of the Arada in the Addis Ketema district, the Merkato as it is called, is the commercial centre of the city and covers an area of several square miles. Addis Merkato is a trade and retail center of incomparable dimension in the region.

Over 13,000 employees, working for 7,100 business entities, including some 2,500 retail shops, most in open stalls, operate the Merkato each day.

The Merkato is also home to 1,500 service businesses and 80 wholesale operations in a dense sector of narrow streets and alleyways.

We visited the market on a Friday - the Muslim day of worship and the mosque is just near the market.

But never take these special hire drivers for granted. We picked the cab from UNECA after having asked the driver whether he knew where Addis Marketo market was.

To our surprise the driver did not know the location until we got assisted by a policeman who directed him.

The business people here are very strategic. They can easily know that you are visiting the market and many of them volunteer to take you to the shops but they continually asking you what exactly you want.

We ended up in a shop selling Ethiopian traditional clothes that we bought.

I was amazed by the abundant variety of fruits in the market; giant oranges, avocados and rather small mangoes.

Addis Ababa is basically a wetland surrounded by hills. Like many typical African cities there is a lot of construction going on.

Ethiopians are a naturally polite people and could be compared to Tanzanians.

The only problem I experienced was the language problem because very few know some English.

Unlike many African countries, Ethiopia does not use a foreign language as a national language. French seems to be the other international language but is rare among local people.

Even clocks on the wall in your restaurant or lounge can be read in the traditional vernacular way whereby if the hour arrow points to 2 it is means 2,00 O'clock and not eight as is done in East Africa.

Like most African cities, hawkers are common on the streets and so are city council authorities who keep chasing them.

Unlike the Ugandan type of hawker, Ethiopians carry their merchandise in luggage form wrapped with some fabric. This helps them to flee from their trackers.