What the cancelled Economist business roundtable conference reveals about Meles Zenawi, the Prime Minister of Ethiopia

March 22, 2009
Conference Dates: Monday-Tuesday, March 23-24, 2009

By Dagamwi

It was to be held at the Sheraton Hotel in Addis Ababa. Realising potential in one of Sub-Saharan Africa's biggest markets was the theme. It was the first time the Economist Magazine had organized a business roundtable conference for Ethiopia, although such conferences have been common in other countries for many years now.

Here is how the economist describes its conferences:

"Economist Conferences, a division of the Economist Intelligence Unit, is the leading provider of international forums for senior executives seeking new insights into strategic issues. These meetings include industry conferences, management events and government roundtables held around the world. As part of The Economist Group, the publisher of The Economist newspaper, we are a highly respected brand with a 162-year history and an unrivalled reputation for excellence and independence."

"Each meeting organised by Economist Conferences delivers objective and informed analysis. Our meetings provide unusually high-level forums where senior executives can gain insights, exchange views and compare strategies."

- Economist Conferences - Executive Meetings

The Addis Ababa conference was to have been attended by Meles Zenawi and other top government officials, executives of many important businesses in Ethiopia, such as the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, executives of international firms investing in Ethiopia, such as the general manager of Golden Rose Agro Farm, the Vice President of Sainak Potash, (an Indian mining firm active in the Dallol area), and many others.

Click on the link to read the preliminary conference program: First Business Roundtable with the Government of Ethiopia

It can safely be assumed that the Economist invested considerable sums in arranging and publicizing the conference. On their part conference participants paid fees, and arranged travel and lodging to Addis Ababa.
Independent, Objective, Informed

Several key words in the Economist Magazine's description of its conferences should be highlighted further:

INDEPENDENT

OBJECTIVE

INFORMED

These words are TOXIC to Meles Zenawi and the TPLF. Is there any part of the Ethiopian administration that is INDEPENDENT of Meles Zenawi's control? Let alone administration, Meles has expanded the government's control into vast areas of human life that other citizens of the world enjoy freely.

Is there any type of OBJECTIVE analysis found in the state media? Is it possible to make any type of OBJECTIVE comment or criticism of the Ethiopia government? Ask the former auditor general Lemma Argaw, fired by Meles in 2006 for presenting an OBJECTIVE report to parliament. Ask the acting auditor general Assefa Desta, who was publicly insulted by Meles, again, for trying to be OBJECTIVE.

The Ethiopian public is today one of the least INFORMED group of humans on the planet concerning public issues of importance to them. This is by design. The media is tightly controlled. Websites are blocked. External radio transmissions are jammed. State media consists of junk propaganda outlets that are detested even by supporters of Meles.

Given the above, the prospects for an independent, objective, and informed public conference with senior Ethiopian government leaders would have been expected to be dim.
Ethiopian Government Says it Won't Participate: Friday, March 20, 2009

On Saturday, March 21, the Reporter Newspaper in Addis Ababa reported the following:

The Economist canceled Friday what would have been its first business conference with the government of Ethiopia scheduled to run under the theme 'Realizing potential in one of sub-Saharan Africas biggest market' on March 23 and 24, it was learnt.

The cancellation of the conference came suddenly amidst high expectations and hopes that the event will serve as a best and ideal platform to sell Ethiopia to foreign investors and high profile business executives, according to knowledgeable sources.

The Economist Conference canceled the event after it failed to reach an agreement concerning an article which was supposed to be included in the conference material, according to the event organizers.

"The government of Ethiopia has decided that it will no longer participate in the business roundtable," the Economist Conference emailed to The Reporter. "The decision was made today [Friday] by the Ethiopian government after they had reviewed the Economist article we planned to include in the conference material. We have therefore decided to cancel the round table."

- The Economist cancels conference with govt - The Reporter, 21 March 2009

Two things are surprising about the cancellation of the conference. First, as mentioned above, the Economist is very experienced with organizing these types of conferences in countries all over the world. Thus it is surprising that they would find themselves forced to cancel a conference at such a late date - only two days before it was to occur.

Second, the reason given is surprising (at least at first glance). How could an article be the cause of conflict? The Economist is an independent magazine that does not accept censorship. They have described themselves as independent and objective. They have a 162-year reputation to protect.

However, upon reflection, for Ethiopians this should not be a surprise. This is standard Meles operating behavior. There must have been agreement between Meles and the Economist on the ground rules for the conference. It is safe to assume that the Economist made it clear to Meles that they would only hold the conference if the Ethiopian government promised not to censor the conference materials. It is safe to assume that Meles agreed, probably boasting that Ethiopia had the freest press in all Africa, and that he had never censored any article, and that the problems of the press in Ethiopia were entirely due to violations of the law.

Perhaps the Economist thought that Meles was an honorable person, with generally accepted personal ethics and principles. But that is not the Meles Ethiopians know. A good example of Meles' character was the 2005 election and its aftermath. Meles employed a tactic of brinksmanship. WIth the country in a dangerous state, he would negotiate with the opposition, seemingly reach agreement, and then at the last minute add new demands. Over and over he repeated this, even through the pardon process.

And it worked for him. This style has worked for Meles for his whole life beginning with the early TPLF days.

But on March 20, 2009, it didn't work with the Economist Magazine. Meles probably expected the magazine to panic. Many foreign conference participants had probably already travelled to Ethiopia. The Economist would probably be liable for these airfares and lodging expenses. The Sheraton conference fee would not be refundable at this stage. Many other staff time and advertising expenses would be wasted. Moreover it is bad publicity for the Economist. So Meles felt confident about issuing an ultimatum to the Economist about the content of the article.

But the Economist is not at the mercy of Meles. He can't imprison the reporters and editors of that magazine. He can't send security agents to the homes of the Economist publishers to beat, threaten and kill them. Unlike Ethiopians living under Meles, the Economist can write off the loss and move on.

Meles will tell his followers that he defended Ethiopia's sovereignty by canceling the conference. He will try to make this into a racial or ethnic issue, the same way he tried to mobilize support in 2005 by ethnicizing the entire election.
Conclusion

Meles is a petty, childish, spiteful little man. Many Ethiopians have borne the brunt of his nastiness. Birtukan Mideksa continues to suffer because of his personal spite. His highly negative character has had a profoundly negative influence on the tone and substance of Ethiopian political discourse.

The only good outcome of this incident is that the substandard personal character of Meles - his willingness to sacrifice Ethiopia's interests out of spite, his complete untrustworthiness, and his unethical negotiating style - will now be widely publicized internationally.