Latest news with #HaileSelassie
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Posts misleadingly claim Ethiopian innovator built intercontinental ballistic missile
The text in Amharic that accompanies the post reads: 'A young Ethiopian has built an intercontinental ballistic missile that surpasses the North Korean one.' The post was published on Facebook on May 25, 2025, and has been shared more than 1,300 times. The post contains a three-minute video showing what looks like a missile on display in public. Text written in Amharic on a banner in the background reads: 'Ethiopian National Skill Competition and Exhibition.' The video begins with a presenter introducing a young Ethiopian innovator named Haile Selassie Abera. 'The young man explained that he has been inspired by the North Korean Hwasong 19 to build a new model of ballistic missile,' says the presenter. Haile Selassie explains: 'I modelled it on the North Korean Hwasong 19 intercontinental ballistic missile.' 'In the course of development, I identified some limitations of the North Korean model and improved them in my innovation model,' he said. He further claims that his model would produce less carbon. At 1'25' in the video, the Ethiopian Labour Minister, Muferihat Kamil, speaks about training programmes. 'We believe that the technique and skill development programs are not limited to developing skills,' she says 'They aim at achieving productive citizens and a competitive economy as well as promoting indigenous technological advancement.' A similar post was also shared here on Facebook. Ethiopia is ramping up its military development amidst regional rivalries with neighbouring countries over access to the Red Sea. In March 2025, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed inaugurated an ammunition factory, noting that the country has improved its capacity to produce ammunition domestically and is now able to export its production (archived here). In the same month, Abiy also launched Sky Wing Industry, a company that manufactures unmanned drones for civilian and military purposes (archived here). However, the claim that the video shows an Ethiopian intercontinental ballistic missile is misleading. AFP Fact Check used the video verification tool InVID-WeVerify to conduct reverse image searches on keyframes from the video. The results included the original video by Gazette Plus, a YouTube channel run by the Ethiopian News Agency (ENA). It was published on May 19, 2025 (archived here). The video is originally a 16-minute-long news report on the 4th Ethiopian National Skills Competition and Exhibition held in Addis Ababa from May 5-10, 2025 under the theme: 'Bright Minds, Skilled Citizens.' The video starts with the news presenter briefly talking about the evolution of intercontinental ballistic missiles around the world. At 2'02', one of the participants is interviewed. 'Haile Selassie learnt from the experience of the great powers and created a model of missile technology that fits Ethiopia's current technological progress and gives hope for the future destiny of his country,' the presenter says. This statement was removed from the misleading Facebook video, omitting the crucial fact that the video shows a model of a missile, not a real one. From 4'55' to 6'36', we hear Haile Selassie's explanation of the model he built based on the North Korean Hwasong-19 ICBM, as well as the labour minister's comments. This part remains unchanged in the misleading video. A comparison of photos of the North Korean Hwasong-19, obtained from the NK News website, with the model created by Haile Selassie shows notable differences in size and design (archived here). At 8'56' in the original video, Haile Selassie clarifies that the model he created is not a functional missile. 'I want the support of the government so that I can attend a better school where I can get practical lessons and continue my innovations,' he said. 'If I get proper support, it will be possible to build the missile using the model.' At 10'18', Haile Selassie also describes the materials he used. 'I obtained leftover materials from five different sources: construction materials, electronics maintenance shops, automotive repair shops, carpentry shops, and various discarded materials I collected from garbage bins.' The misleading video again omitted these details to create the incorrect impression that it showed a real, functional ICBM.
IOL News
25-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Little to celebrate as conflicts overshadows continental progress
Ghana's founder and first President Kwame Nkrumah (left) and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (centre) at the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 25, 1963. The formation of the OAU is celebrated as Africa Day. Image: AFP Dr Sizo Nkala The occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the birth of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) and the adoption of the OAU Charter in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, provides an opportunity to reflect and introspect. Probing how and why Africa has dismally failed to live up to the promises of the OAU Charter six decades after its proclamation is a pertinent undertaking. Africa remains trapped in the neocolonial structures of the global political economy that continue to undermine the continent's development potential. The continent is struggling to shake off the colonial legacy of occupying a dependent and very vulnerable position in the global economy. Between 2 and 3 per cent, Africa's share of the world trade is disappointingly paltry despite its population making up 17 per cent of the global population. The content and quality of this trade are even more problematic as over 75 per cent of Africa's exports to the world are primary commodities like oil, coal, chrome, platinum, cocoa, cotton and tobacco to mention a few of which are exported in raw and unprocessed states. The trade model that was imposed on Africa in the colonial era remains intact. These trade dynamics reflect the failure to move from commodity and agro-based to industrialized and diversified economies. According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), 83 per cent of African countries are dependent on the extraction and export of commodities. In Angola, South Sudan, and Nigeria, oil accounts for 95 percent, 92 percent and 80 percent of the export revenues respectively. Botswana, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) minerals make up between 70 and 99 percent of the countries' export revenues. Further, more than any other region in the world, the share of the agricultural sector in Africa's gross domestic product (GDP) stands at 35 per cent and supports the livelihoods of 50 per cent of the population. Even then productivity is still very low with the continent still spending a staggering US$50 billion annually in food imports. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The share of the manufacturing sector in Africa's GDP decreased from 18 per cent in 2000 to 13 per cent currently – reflecting failed transformation and industrialization efforts. The lack of industrialization, coupled with infrastructure deficiencies, has severely limited the potential of intra-African trade which still stands at a paltry 15 percent. The unsustainable structure of many African economies has exposed African countries to global commodity price fluctuations which have precipitated a devastating debt crisis with 21 African countries being classified as being at risk of or in debt distress. Many countries now spend more of their revenues on servicing debt than on essential public services such as education, health, and water and sanitation. It is no wonder that Africa has the embarrassing opprobrium of being the poverty capital of the world with over 400 million of its people living in conditions of extreme poverty. As such, we commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the OAU under conditions of continued economic servitude and exploitation. Further, 62 years of political independence has done little to end Africa's marginalization in global governance institutions. The continent still has no permanent seat at the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) and its calls for inclusion in the UN's most powerful organ have gone unheeded for decades. Thus, despite being home to over 30 armed conflicts, Africa has a limited say in the body that makes decisions on global security. Africa's 54 states share a total of 6.5 percent of the voting rights in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and only 11 percent of voting shares in the World Bank. This means that African countries exercise limited influence in the decisions of the institutions that determine the direction of the global economic policy. Even in the World Trade Organization (WTO) which formally uses a one country one vote system, decisions are often imposed by big economies at the expense of smaller ones. Moreover, because of perceptions and actual conditions on the ground in Africa, the continent attracts only 3-5 per cent of foreign direct investment (FDI) which is not nearly enough to stimulate the required levels of economic growth. As such, although Africa is slowly discovering its agency on the international stage, its independence and autonomy remain compromised by its economic weaknesses. The continent has not fared any better politically. In recent years we have witnessed the erosion of democratic institutions and the increasing frequency of military and constitutional coups. The raging conflicts in Sudan, South Sudan, the DRC, Mozambique and the Central African Republic (CAR) have killed hundreds of thousands and displaced millions with continental institutions like the AU seemingly hapless to do anything. While the continental body has been 62 years in the making, it is still largely weak and ineffectual in addressing the challenges facing African people. As such, the occasion of the 62nd anniversary of the OAU brings little to celebrate. Africa urgently needs visionary and effective leaders who will confront the challenges facing the continent head-on. * Dr. Sizo Nkala is a Research Fellow at the University of Johannesburg's Centre for Africa-China Studies. ** The views expressed do not necessarily reflect the views of IOL, Independent Media or The African.
IOL News
23-05-2025
- Politics
- IOL News
Africa Day 2025: Independence without justice is a fallacy
Former Emperor of Ethiopia Haile Selassie said we must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. Image: Wikipedia ON this year's May 25th, Africa stands at a crossroads. As we mark Africa Day, we honour the historic formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) in 1963, now the African Union (AU). We must be earnest, however, in reflecting not only on the past, but also the present and future of Africa. It has been 35 years since Namibia, the final African nation to gain independence, became sovereign. Yet decades after the end of colonial rule, Africa continues to bear the weight of foreign-imposed borders, extractive economies, and systemic underdevelopment. This Africa Day, we must confront a painful truth: Independence without justice is a broken promise. It is time to interrogate — and actively address — why countless African nations that have been independent for decades still arduously struggle to enact development and stability, and why meaningful justice continues to slip through the cracks. Africa doesn't need another empty celebration — it needs radical change, action, and a return to the bold, uncompromising spirit of Pan-African unity. Africa Day and the AU have not only been revolutionarily symbolic to the continental agenda of Africa, but they have also been transformational in their existence alone. To this day, they are marked by the commemoration of formidable leaders across the entire continent, such as Kwame Nkrumah, Haile Selassie, Julius Nyerere, Sekou Toure, Leopold Senghor, Kenneth Kaunda, and so many more. These leaders' commonalities were many, but none as important as the fact that they all understood that the freedom of one African nation meant nothing without the liberation of all. Video Player is loading. Play Video Play Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration -:- Loaded : 0% Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Window Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Transparency Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Dropshadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. Advertisement Next Stay Close ✕ The formation of the OAU and the establishment of the first meeting in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, was a bold declaration of unity, resistance, and solidarity against colonial domination, apartheid, and foreign exploitation overall. The OAU gave voice to the oppressed, shelter to revolutionaries, and support to anti-colonial movements. From Cape to Cairo, Morocco to Madagascar, the OAU stood not just as a diplomatic body but as a symbol of African defiance and collective will. Today, as the OAU's successor, the African Union, the mission remains just as urgent. The chains of colonialism may have changed form, but they certainly have not been broken. The AU, at its core, speaks to the social justice of Africa. Social justice itself, across the continent, is highly intersectional with issues of economic inequality, Western imperialism, foreign military presence, extractive trade practices, and so many more. The challenges that are faced by modern Africans are highly complex and orchestrated, but they highlight a fundamental fact: the value of Africa remains immeasurable. The AU has the potential to be more than a bureaucratic institution; it can be a force for radical Pan-African cooperation, self-determination, and justice. In a world that continues to undervalue African lives, labour, and land, the AU must reclaim the spirit of its founding, one rooted in liberation, unity, and unapologetic resistance to global inequality. Pan-Africanism is not a relic of a romanticised past. It is a living, breathing vision for the future — one that demands a radical reordering of power, rooted in solidarity, equity, justice, and dignity for all African people. It calls for us to imagine an Africa that belongs to Africans. Not to multinational corporations, foreign creditors, or puppet regimes, but to its people, its workers, its youth, and its communities. From public service delivery to rampant corruption in leadership, to debilitated healthcare systems, to extreme rates of illness and disease, amongst others, Africa's people continue to endure the consequences of broken systems and global inequality. The reality is that people across Africa are stuck in a loop of generational impoverishment, despite their excruciating sacrifices to obliterate colonial and imperial rule in their nations. By all ethical and legal standards, this is injustice in its purest form. To answer today's challenges, the AU must scale a mountain riddled with discriminatory histories and hardships. This is certainly no time for complacency. The AU has a mountain of resistance, reform, and reckoning ahead. The AU cannot afford to remain a symbolic gathering of heads of state while the continent continues to bleed under the weight of colonial scars and modern imperialism. If it is to be the voice of Africa's liberation, the AU must rise with urgency and purpose. It must dismantle the economic inequalities, rampant poverty, corruption, displacement, illiteracy, and institutional biases that have plagued contemporary African nations. Despite the promises of independence, far too many Africans still live in conditions shaped by colonial-era inequalities. Land is stolen or sold to foreign investors. Resources are extracted while local communities are left in poverty. Education systems glorify European thinkers while silencing African knowledge. Debt traps, climate injustice, and global trade structures continue to rob Africa of its potential. Furthermore, many of Africa's leaders of today have failed to uphold the values of those who formed the OAU. Let's call it for what it is: betrayal. Too many African leaders have sold out the Pan-African vision, trading liberation for tea with global elites and foreign applause. They speak the language of unity while striking deals that deepen inequality and crush transformation at home. Pan-Africanism was never meant to be about polite diplomacy or power games, it was a revolutionary project rooted in collective freedom and self-determination. Africa doesn't need more performance or empty rhetoric. It needs leaders who serve the people, who build with the grassroots, who uphold the fibre of indigenous Africans in their lands. The AU knows the contentious battles that have been launched in the name of exploitative trade deals and asserting full control over Africa's vast resources. It must stand boldly against foreign military occupations and debt traps disguised as aid. More importantly, it must listen - not just to presidents, but to the people: the youth, the workers, the elderly, the organisers who have never stopped fighting for a truly free and united Africa. Pan-Africanism was never meant to be polite diplomacy. It was, and still is, a revolutionary call to uproot oppression and reclaim African power. The AU must return to that radical promise, or risk becoming irrelevant in the face of mounting challenges faced by Africans everywhere in today's unscrupulous world. More than a ceremonial moment, Africa Day is a day of reckoning, a clarion call to rekindle the fire of Pan-Africanism, the liberation ideology that once rallied an entire continent against colonial rule, and which must now be revived to dismantle the ongoing chains of economic exploitation, political marginalisation, and social injustice. Pan-Africanism insists on justice, not charity, not aid. It demands reparative policies that correct historical theft. It is about the liberation of African people in every form: social, economic, political, psychological — a liberation that is truly entrenched in the lived realities of Africa's people. Africa Day is not just a commemoration of the past; it is a battle cry for a future rooted in unity, justice, and African self-determination. Today is more than a celebratory date; it is a demand for Africa to unite, not just in spirit, but in purpose, policy, and people's power. As the former Emperor of Ethiopia, Haile Selassie once beautifully articulated: 'We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men'. Indeed, Africa for Africans. One voice. One struggle. One destiny. * Tswelopele Makoe is a gender and social justice activist and the editor at Global South Media Network. She is also an Andrew W. Mellon scholar at the Desmond Tutu Centre for Religion and Social Justice, UWC. The views expressed are her own. ** The views expressed here do not reflect those of the Sunday Independent, Independent Media, or IOL.
IOL News
16-05-2025
- Business
- IOL News
Africa Month: Pan-Africanism Doublespeak Retarding Continent's Progress
Ghana's founder and first President Kwame Nkrumah (left) and Ethiopian Emperor Haile Selassie (centre) at the formation of the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on May 25, 1963. The formation of the OAU is celebrated as Africa Day. Dr. Reneva Fourie EVERY year on May 25, we celebrate Africa Day. It commemorates the founding of the Organisation of African Unity in 1963, a moment born from the fires of anti-colonial struggle and lit by a bold vision of a united, free and sovereign continent. In 2002, the organisation was reconstituted as the African Union, intended to carry the dream of Pan-Africanism into a new era. But over sixty years since the OAU's founding, the promise of liberation remains painfully unfulfilled. Africa is not yet free. Not in the way Patrice Lumumba imagined when he spoke of a Congo governed by its people. Not in the way Kwame Nkrumah envisioned when he declared that political independence was meaningless without economic emancipation. It is not yet Uhuru. Independence, in much of Africa, was cosmetic. The colonial flags came down, but a more insidious form of domination rose in their place. The colonisers changed uniforms, adopted new languages of diplomacy, development and aid, and returned through the back door of our treasuries, parliaments and boardrooms. Neocolonialism has become our daily reality. Despite African exports amounting to billions of US dollars, much of that wealth bypasses the continent. Mineral-rich countries like the Democratic Republic of Congo, which supplies over the vast majority of the world's cobalt, remain trapped in poverty while multinationals profit from electric vehicle revolutions elsewhere. Oil flows from Nigeria and Angola fuel foreign industries, while power cuts paralyse local economies. Coffee and cocoa leave African farms to be branded and sold at ten times the price abroad. The chains have not been broken. They have only been polished. Economic dependency is matched by political manipulation. The International Monetary Fund and World Bank, dominated by Western interests, continue to shape our economic policies through conditional lending. Countries are told what to privatise, which subsidies to cut, and how to manage their fiscal budgets. The so-called structural adjustment programmes of the 1980s and 1990s devastated social services, dismantled local industries, and deepened inequality. Today, neocolonial manifestations are more subtle, but the outcomes remain the same. Sovereignty is traded for survival. And when an African leader dares to walk a different path and to speak with independence, they are swiftly punished. Consider the case of Thomas Sankara of Burkina Faso, who was murdered in 1987 after nationalising land and rejecting foreign aid. Or Muammar Gaddafi, whose push for a gold-backed African currency threatened Western financial interests before he was toppled in a NATO-backed intervention. More recently, leaders who defy global consensus on trade or security are isolated, sanctioned or unseated. Africa is told who to trust, who to trade with, and who to elect. Democracy is praised when it aligns with foreign interests, and questioned when it produces inconvenient results. The role of foreign military presence in Africa cannot be ignored. The United States operates AFRICOM, a military command with operations in over 30 African countries. France maintains troops across the Sahel, even after public protests against its influence. The continent is courted, yes, but rarely as an equal. We are treated as territory to be won, not as a people to be respected. While China builds infrastructure, often with little skills transfer and compliance with local labour laws, and Russia assists African leaders with arms and mercenaries, their mutually beneficial interventions cannot be equated with neocolonialism.
The Guardian
23-03-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
‘Many Rastas were chased away, but we're determined to remain': Ethiopia's religious community under threat
In 1999, Ras Paul, a west London DJ born to Jamaican parents, sold part of his voluminous vinyl collection to buy a plot of land and build a house in Shashamene, 125 miles south of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa. Seven years earlier, he had become a Rastafarian, around the time of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Ethiopian emperor Haile Selassie, whom the religion reveres as the Messiah. 'As an Ethiopian descendent, I wanted to come home,' he says. 'It's the place I felt I belong.' Paul was not alone. At its peak, more than 2,500 Rastafarians from around the world moved to Shashamene. Recently, though, the Rastafarian community's relations with the locals have come under strain. Shashamene is in Oromia, Ethiopia's biggest and most populous region. Since 2018, Oromia has been gripped by an ethnic insurgency that claims the Oromo people are marginalised in Ethiopia's federation. It has also seen protests over political representation and land, including a particularly violent outbreak in 2020. Newly established Protestant churches have also taken aim at the beliefs of Rastafarians and their use of cannabis. Newcomers have struggled to secure the right to stay in Ethiopia. Others who have been here for decades are forced to live illegally because the immigration authorities will not renew their documents. Several Rastafarians are fighting legal battles with locals who are trying to evict them from their land. Faced with these hurdles, the Rastafarian community is preparing to submit a petition to the government, claiming their rights are not recognised. For many people here, the image of Haile Selassie and even Ethiopia's national colours of red, green and yellow – both ubiquitous in Rastafarian culture – are not symbols of anti-colonial black liberation but of imperial oppression. Local people risk arrest for displaying the old flag of Haile Selassie's empire. 'Before, I was proud to go out wearing red, gold and green,' says Paul. 'Now I hesitate to wear it, big time. Even the church can't fly it in Oromia.' The presence of Rastafarians in Shashamene stretches back to fascist Italy's occupation of Ethiopia in 1935-1941. Haile Selassie, a devout Orthodox Christian, did not believe himself divine and tried to disabuse his worshippers of the idea. But after he regained his throne, the emperor granted 500 acres of crown land in Shashamene to 'black people of the world' who had campaigned in support of Ethiopia. Pan-Africanists from the Caribbean and the US, including black Jews and Muslims, settled there in 1955 as part of the Ethiopian World Federation (EWF), a body established in New York to lobby for Haile Selassie. The first Rastafarians did not arrive until the following decade, galvanised by the Ethiopian emperor's historic state visit to Jamaica in 1966. At the time, the Caribbean island was suffering from drought; when the Ethiopian emperor arrived, it finally started to rain. For many, this confirmed his divinity. Haile Selassie was deposed by a Marxist-Leninist military junta in 1974 and murdered a year later. Symbols associated with the emperor were suppressed. The land granted to the EWF was confiscated, but Rastafarians were still allowed to settle in Shashamene as part of a sweeping collectivisation drive that gave land from the aristocracy to the peasantry. 'My parents came here at that time as farmers and land was given to them,' says Maurice Lee, 46, who was born in Shashamene. He switches effortlessly between Jamaican-accented English and Amharic, Ethiopia's main language. Today his family run a Caribbean restaurant on the plot. Restrictions eased when communism ended in 1991. A year later, the centenary of Haile Selassie's birth saw a huge wave of 'repatriations' to Shashamene. However, with the land grant gone, new arrivals had to buy land as investors or rent properties. Many found it difficult to secure residence permits and drifted away. Today, the community is fighting to reclaim the land granted by Haile Selassie. They face an uphill battle. When the emperor gifted the land, Shashamene was a roadside settlement of a few thousand people. Now it is a sprawling boom town of about 210,000, full of hastily built houses and half-finished roads. The original 500 acres are no longer vacant fields but are populated by shops, homes and government offices. 'We are not living here as we are supposed to be living,' says George Isles at the EWF headquarters in Shashamene, a building bedecked with red, green and yellow and located behind a petrol station on a busy road, where heavy-goods vehicles trundle amid swarms of tuk-tuks. Isles, a carpenter, was born in Hammersmith and grew up in Montserrat. He arrived in 1992 to help build the EWF's office and never left. The teachings of Marcus Garvey, the spiritual lodestar of Rastafarianism, who founded the Back to Africa movement, informed his decision to stay. 'Africa is where we originate as black men,' says Isles. 'We came to the western world as slaves. So to get to know ourselves, we have to go home – and home is Africa.' Alex Reina, a French Rastafarian who came to Shashamene in 2004, agrees: 'Ethiopia was the only black country to resist colonialisation,' he says. 'It makes sense for us, the descendants of black slaves, to attach ourselves to Ethiopia.' Reina runs the Zion Train Lodge in Shashamene with his wife, Sandrine. He says it 'was very scary to be a Rasta man and wear red, green and gold' during the protests of 2020, but tensions have eased. That year, they had to go to court to gain recognition that they owned their land, which the previous tenant tried to reclaim. 'The land gifted by His Majesty is occupied by local people these days,' says Reina. 'Many Rastas were chased away. But we are determined to remain. It's impossible for a black man to really emancipate if he stays in Babylon.'
