Ethiopia – Page 2 – Ian Birrell

Support journalists, not countries that jail them

Published in The Guardian (August 5th, 2013) ‘I am jailed, with around 200 other inmates, in a wide hall that looks like a warehouse. For all of us, […]

Aid / Ethiopia / Politics

This is not about ending world hunger. It is a political stunt

Published in The Independent (June 19th, 2013) The broadcasters fell for it, of course. Those colourful images of a “flotilla” of two longboats sailing near the venue of […]

Africa / Aid / Ethiopia

Foreign aid: the final insult

Published in The Mail on Sunday (May 26th, 2013) It is hard to think of many more blessed spots on Earth than the Gambella region of Ethiopia, with […]

Africa / Aid / Congo / Economics / Ethiopia / General / Ghana / Nigeria

Our image of Africa is hopelessly obsolete

Published in The Observer (26th August, 2012) Think of Ethiopia and what do you see. Perhaps a starving child, flies in her eyes and belly distended. Painfully thin adults […]

Africa / Arts / Books / Ethiopia

The giant bought low by tall tales

Published in The Observer (August 19th, 2012) Ryszard Kapuscinski: A Life by Arthur Domolawski (Verso) The tale of Lulu, Haile Selassie’s lap dog that was allowed to piss […]

Africa / Aid / Economics / Ethiopia / General

It’s time the world listened to new stories out of Africa

Published in The Observer (January 20th, 2011) Eleni Gabre-Madhin rings the bell and another day of frenetic dealing starts at the Ethiopia Commodity Exchange. As she walks back to […]