Jersey City’s Alfa Demmellash, an entrepreneurial leader, featured in today’s Star-Ledger

More kudos for Jersey City’s Alfa Demmellash.
The gripping story of Demmellash, an 30-year-old Ethiopian immigrant who started Rising Tide Capital, a business devoted to nurturing entrepreneurs, especially in poor and minority communities, is featured in today’s Star-Ledger.
Demmellash was 12 when her mother, an Ethiopian refugee, saved up enough money to bring her to Boston. Watching [...]

Somalia: The worst country on Earth

Fed up with awards for the best? The World in 2010 asked the analysts at the Economist Intelligence Unit, a sister company of The Economist, to identify the world’s worst country in the year ahead. Previous winners of this dubious honour have included (pre-2001) Afghanistan and Turkmenistan.

This time, the champion is in Africa. Plagued by [...]

Wealthy Nations flock to farmland in Ethiopia

Lured by a new business model, wealthy nations flock to farmland in Ethiopia, locking in food supplies grown half a world away.
BAKO, ETHIOPIA — In recent months, the Ethiopian government began marketing abroad one of the hottest commodities in an increasingly crowded and hungry world: farmland.
“Why Attractive?” reads one glossy poster with photos of green [...]

Ethiopian Chef Marcus Samuelsson To Guest Chef State Dinner in the White House

As the White House prepares for next Tuesday’s state dinner honoring Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Politico reports that chef Marcus Samuelsson has been invited to join White House Executive Chef Cristeta Comerford in the kitchen.
Inviting an outside chef into the kitchen comes with a little controversy, Marian Burros writes:
The practice of using visiting chefs [...]

Ethiopian Jews Celebrate a Festival, Gain Israeli Attention for Their Traditions

Jerusalem —
It looked like a scene straight out of the Bible. The men at the front wore outfits based on those of the Priests of the Ancient Temple of Jerusalem, and sent out over the hills a wail that could be heard several miles away.
And indeed, it was an emulation of a biblical scene. A [...]