Having recently returned from my third visit to Ethiopia, I have been interested in the growing relation between China and Ethiopia. For the past 3 years, I have witnessed China’s presence grow in Ethiopia. Local market places have been flooded with various goods from china, from kitchen ware to electronics. The Chinese and Japanese have been contracted to build roads, bridges and railroad tracks as Ethiopia upgrades its internal transportation infrastructure. I found the following site quite interesting:
http://et.china-embassy.org/eng/zagx/
It has also been alarming to read about the rising international food crises. Droughts in Northern China are having a negative global impact…
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-12266435
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-02-china-drought-global-impact.html\
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/world/asia/04china.html
Both Saudi Arabia and China are investing in land to grow crops for their countries. Actually, they can only lease land for a time since land is nationalized in Ethiopia.
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/content/9937
It is interesting to see who Ethiopia’s largest investors are:
http://www.capitalethiopia.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13887:saudi-arabia-becomes-ethiopias-top-investment-partner&catid=11:news-in-brief&Itemid=3
The following Bloomberg article discusses the rise in wheat prices for China.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-04/china-may-have-to-boost-wheat-imports-on-drought-commodore-says.html
edited by mball on 2/5/2011
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