Ethiopia

Ethiopia is as large as France and Spain combined and has an area of 1,112,000 square kilometers. It has an elevated central plateau that varies in height from 2,000 to 3,000 meters. Addis Ababa is situated at an altitude of 2,400 meters. Agriculture is the backbone of the national economy, and the principal exports from this sector include coffee, oil seeds, pulses, flowers, vegetables, sugar and animal feed. About 90% of the population earns its living from the land. There is also a thriving livestock sector, and exports include cattle and hides and skins.

The population of Ethiopia is estimated at 55 million, and over 50% of the population are under 20 years of age. The average number of inhabitants per square kilometer is 49. Ethiopia is a multi-ethnic state with a great variety of spoken languages. There are eighty three languages with 200 dialects, and the three main languages are Amharic, Tigrigna and Oromigna. English, French, Italian and Arabic are also spoken, mainly in Addis Ababa.

Additional information on Ethiopia and ECA can be found on the following websites:

Climate

Ethiopia has two main seasons: the dry season normally lasts from October through May, and the rainy season starts in June and ends in September. Temperatures depend on season and altitude. During October, daily highs will average 23 degrees centigrade while daily lows will fall to 6 degrees centigrade.

Airport tax

The airport tax on departure from Bole International Airport is US$20.00; it is payable in US$ cash.

Health and safety precautions

Addis Ababa is generally a safe city. However, the same precautions should be followed as in any other large city. If you are walking alone, you may be approached by small boys or teenagers, whose aim is to receive some kind of tip from you. Some of them turn out to be good guides. However, it is best to be cautious when groups of young people try to bump into you--this is a common tactic used by pickpockets.

For visitors, it is better to drink bottled water ("Ambo" is the major local brand -with gas, and imported non-gaseous bottled water is available in most hotels, restaurants and at groceries) than the local water. Soft drinks are readily available as well as several brands of local beer ("Bedele", "Bati", "Castele" and "Meta" are the current favorites).

Please remember that the altitude of Addis Ababa is 2,400 m (higher than Mexico City). Every conference at ECA has its high altitude over-exertion victims, so try to take it easy!

Currency/Banks

Ethiopian currency is denominated in "Birr" and "Centimes". The bank rate of exchange varies. The official exchange rates as of 15 October 1999 was US$ = 8.12 Birr

There is a branch of the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia in the ECA Rotunda Building. The Bank is open Monday-Friday, from 8.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m.; and on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. There is also an authorized exchange center (Forex) at the Hilton Hotel. All major hotels are authorized foreign exchange centers.

Currency changed into birr at the Commercial Bank can be reconverted into US$ at the Airport Bank upon departure, upon presentation of the blue currency declaration and the exchange receipts. You may not reconvert more money than you changed at the Bank. If you are departing on a late evening flight, it is best not to rely on the Airport Bank being open.

Credit cards

Credit cards (Visa and America Express) are not widely accepted. However, they are accepted at most hotels (such as Sheraton, Hilton, Ghion and Axum) and the St. George Gallery.

Electric supply

Ethiopia generally uses 220 volts 50 cycles AC.

Time

Ethiopia is three hours ahead of GMT.

Transportation

You arrived at Bole International Airport, which is located just 8 kilometers from the center of Addis Ababa.

ECA, Hilton and Sheraton hotel buses will take you back and forth from your hotel to the conference venue in the mornings, and at the end of the daily sessions.  If you want to come on your own to ECA, your badge (provided to you at registration) will gain you entry to the ECA compound. Buses will depart one half hour before the start of the sessions.

If you want to arrange transportation in Addis Ababa outside of conference starting and closing hours, you can book a taxi from the National Tourism Organization (NTO) by calling +251-1-151822 or +251-1-518400, or take the yellow or blue taxis parked outside your hotel; these taxis will take you most places in Addis for about 15 Birr, and can be hired at a negotiated rate for longer and special destinations. It is also standard practice in Addis Ababa to wave down any free blue or yellow taxi and offers the driver a "contract" for a single journey. "Contract" taxis can be found at the entrances to ECA.

Venue

The venue for the ADF '99 is the ECA United Nations Conference Centre (UNCC), the newest building in the United Nations compound. The offices of the ECA are located in the ECA "New" Building--the first building one reaches through direct connection from the Conference Centre.

The ECA section responsible for organizing this conference is the Development Information Services Division. This section is located on the Fifth Floor of the ECA New Building. DISD's direct telephone numbers are +251-1-511408 and +251-1-511167. The central exchange for ECA is +251-1-517200. The DISD fax is +251 1 51 04 12.

Registration and identification badges

Conference registration begins on Sunday, October 24. There will be registration at the Hilton and Sheraton Hotels from 10 a.m. through 4 p.m., and at the ECA UNCC from 10 a.m. through 6:30 p.m. on 24 October. After 24 October, registration will take place at the entrance to the UNCC. At registration, you will receive the conference documentation and your badge. The Forum opens at 6 p.m. on 24 October in the UNCC.

Refreshments/Meals

The conference will provide light refreshments at times indicated on the conference program. There will be sponsored conference lunches and dinners, as will be noted on the conference program. Breakfast, lunch and snack facilities are available in the ECA compound. These will be open the weekend of 23-24 October.

ECA sponsored participants

A separate information sheet is being distributed to participants whose travel and/or accommodation ECA is sponsoring to provide details on the payment of daily subsistence allowance and reimbursement of tickets, where that applies.

Resources Available at the ECA

Travel

You must reconfirm your reservation for your return journey at least 72 hours before your departure from Addis. Express Travel Group, with a stand in the UNCC, will reconfirm tickets for participants. Ms. Eskedar Bekele and Ms. Selome Kebede will assist in reconfirming tickets for participants whose travel has been arranged by ECA.

Kenya Airways and Ethiopian Airlines have offices in the ECA Rotunda, if you prefer to reconfirm your tickets yourself.

Business Centre

There is a Business Centre in the UNCC (located between Conference Rooms 5 and 6) which offers services to participants. Facilities are available for photocopy, fax, international telephone calls and e-mail. All services are at the expense of the participant. The Centre is open Monday through Friday from 0830 a.m. until one half hour after the close of the day's sessions.

Telephones

Telephone booths are located throughout the UNCC. Local calls are free (however, they cut off automatically after 5 minutes). Dial 9 for an outside line to Addis Ababa. Dial 0 to obtain the ECA operator, who will supply you with extension numbers of ECA staff and services.

Cybercafe

The Forum will have a cybercafe offering e-mail and Internet services in the UNCC. The cybercafe is located on the ground floor (exhibition level). Follow the signs. It will be open daily from 0830 am to 630 pm. Staff will be available to assist users. The cybercafe is provided as a joint initiative of the ECA with the United States Government-United States Agency for International Development Leland Initiative. Participants who need computer access may also use the cybercafe.

Post Office

There is a full service post office located at the entrance to the Rotunda section (the furthest building from the UNCC of the ECA compound). It is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon, and then from 2:30 to 4 p.m. EMS Courier mail can be sent from this location.

Bookstores

There is a bookstand in the ECA Rotunda. There are others at the Hilton and Sheraton Hotels, which also sell current newspapers and magazines from many countries.

Duty-free shop

Your badge to the conference will entitle you to make duty-free purchases (including cigarettes) at the duty-free shop located in the Rotunda of the ECA building. The same facility is available in the Hilton and Ghion hotels. Purchases must be made in convertible currency, preferably in cash in US$ or in travelers' cheques.

Medical facilities

The ECA clinic, located in the UNCC Building, is available to all conference participants.

In case of a medical or dental emergency, please contact the following:

Addis Ababa outside ECA

Restaurants

The locations are given as directions to give to a taxi driver, who may or may not speak English. If he does not, grab one of the hotel staff to explain for you. There are no street addresses in Addis Ababa! Reservations are not generally needed, except perhaps for Castelli's and the Sheraton hotel restaurants on Saturday night. Prices given are averages for the meal, service and water/soft drinks for one person.

After dinner

Addis has a very lively night life that continues until the early morning. Some of the current favorites are: Maxi’s, Torero, Tunnel, Soho. Ask anyone under 30 for details.

Sightseeing

Pick up the Spectrum Guide to Ethiopia (on sale in the Rotunda at ECA and probably at the Hilton and Sheraton as well) for full details, but here are some starters.

A must is the Institute of Ethiopian Studies ethnographic museum plus the Haile Selassie Museum in the Sidist Kilo compound administration building at Addis Ababa University. It’s open every day except Monday. The National Museum (across from "Blue Tops" restaurant on the way to the University) has a "Lucy" replica, lots of archaelogical exhibits, plus many things from the Menelik era. The St. George Church (just beyond the City Hall – "Municipality" on top of Churchill Road- has paintings and a museum, featuring paintings by master artist Afework Tekle, who also did the stained glass painting in Africa Hall at ECA (which you should see while you are here!). At Arat Kilo (again on the road to the University) is the Trinity Cathedral. Further out past the University (about 40 minutes drive) on Mt. Entoto is the Menelik (the Ethiopian Emperor who founded Addis Ababa about 105 years ago) Museum and Church (Entoto Mariam) and Menelik’s Entoto dwelling. The mercato is easily a half-day destination in itself.

The National Tourist Office (you can book at their office in the Hilton, or at their main office across from the Stadium on the road with the Ghiion Hotel) runs half and full-day tours. Express Travel in the UNCC can also arrange tours. You could also buy a guidebook, book a small yellow or blue taxi (25 birr an hour or 100 birr/day), and do the sights on your own. The major hotels and the ECA bookstand sell a good tourist map (don’t get the cheap one for 7 birr; it’s impossible to figure out anything from it).

Shopping

There is tremendous variety in shopping for things Ethiopian, ranging from food, cloth and jewelry souvenirs for a few birr to a few dollars each to gold jewelry (you pay by the weight, not by the workmanship) and truly unique fine art (we're talking up to $1000 per item). Here are some samples from each category.

Souvenirs of Ethiopia

You can get spices (many people want to bring home the tea spice and berbere, the spice mixture that characterizes Ethiopian cooking) at any grocery store or in the mercato (the market area, the largest in Africa. Don't try to take it on yourself- go with an Ethiopian friend). You can find Ethiopian coffee (often in souvenir packs) again at any grocery, or buy it from the places where the roasting and grinding is really an art: Tomoka and Mokarar, both off Churchill Road (Addis Ababa's main artery) - the latter on the right just after the Lycee Guebre Mariam going up Churchill; the former on the right, immediately after a left at the traffic light after the Lycee and the Teodoros Circle, again going up Churchill Road.

Churchill Road is a good starting point for shopping. Immediately above the main post office on the right are a number of souvenir shops (old silver, baskets, shields, carpets) known as the post office shops. Further up, across from the Lycee, are several cotton shops (tablecloths, men's and women's embroidered shirts, dresses). An easy one-stop shopping place for many souvenirs, with concentration on jewelry, and no bargaining (at the other places, it's the norm), is the Haile Selassie shop, about 200 m. after the Lycee. It is also an easy place for English (only) speakers. There are several gold shops on Churchill Road, but the connoisseurs go to Teclu Desta in the piazza (the "downtown" from the Italian period). At all of the Churchill Road area souvenir shops you will find interesting paintings on hides.

Another one stop souvenir shopping venue is the Hilton, which has many very good shops both on the lobby level as well as on the pool level. As many of them are government-run (including the gold and silver shop), the prices are quite reasonable and no bargaining is necessary.

A wonderful place for Ethiopian fabrics to be made into traditional dresses, and to buy scarves, shawls, purses is Mesfin Tesfa’s on Bole Road (tel. 15 59 11), right after the Olympia traffic light (about 1.5 kms from ECA) on the right, just past the Purple Café (you won’t miss that one). Even if you don’t want to buy an Ethiopian dress, go there to see how beautiful the hand woven silk borders (tibub) can be. If you get hungry while you’re there, go right around the corner (onto the Olympia Road side) to La Parisienne- they bake croissants and pain au chocolat and lots of other bread and pastries several times daily. Many different coffees, teas, juices (including ginger). A real treat. Also cheap.

Ethiopia excels in leather- you can find many shops that make jackets, purses, skirts, pants: in Hilton on the pool level, on Churchill Road, in the vertical-mall at the top of Churchill Road, and on the outside ground level of the stadium.

Art Galleries

Touring the galleries of Ethiopian art is a real experience, even if you don’t think (before you get there) that you want to buy anything. There is St. George Gallery (across from Police Garage, tel. 51 09 83, 51 81 03) [again, these are the directions that a taxi driver would understand], down the back hill of the Sheraton. First class, international level hand made furniture, fabrics, paintings and jewelry, very tastefully presented. Past the French Embassy (turn left right after the Total station- there’s a sign) is the Asni Gallery (tel. 11 73 60), which features modern art by young Ethiopian artists. During ADF, it will be having a special exhibition of Ethiopian musical instruments. On Thursday, Asni serves a vegetarian buffet lunch (30 birr) on the veranda on the villa it occupies- formerly owned by an Ethiopian aristocrat. Goshu Art Gallery (back of Atlas Hotel, off Mickey Leland Road, in the Bole-Tele area, tel. 61 47 47) has paintings with both traditional and modern themes by an Ethiopian artist and his Polish wife, both of whom have been producing art together for some 30 years. A new addition to the gallery scene is the Chilota Gallery (easy walking distance from the UNCC), - on Casa Inches Road, right at the turn for Disneyland Kindergarten, at the end of the street on the right (it’s worth trying to find it!): scrolls, photographs, traditional painting beautifully framed, antique Harar baskets, etc., all beautifully displayed. Another gallery experience is Pan African Bazart (take Bole Road towards the airport, turn right at the Rwanda Embassy sign, take the first left before the railroad tracks; it’s about 500 km on the left), with art from Ethiopia and elsewhere in Africa, plus a stunning sculpture garden that also sells plants. If you have an extra half day before or after the Conference, it’s worth taking the "art tour."

For Additional Information

If you require any additional information, please contact: