Water an afterthought in dash to cash in on Ethiopian markets

18 Tuesday Mar 2014

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Addis Ababa, Ambo, brewery, Ethiopia, Heineken, water, water resources

I ran across an article titled “Coming Soon to Ethiopia: Heineken and KFC?” a few days ago through Mashable via Businessweek. The article highlights Heineken’s entry into the Ethiopian market through the purchase of 2 local beer company and development of a large Heineken brewery on the outskirts of Addis Ababa, near Ambo. The article goes on to note that other multinational companies such as Yum Corporation are exploring expansion into Ethiopia.

The story of Heineken, which is not breaking news by any means since has been in development for the last few years, is of concern nonetheless. In the frenzy to attract direct foreign investment, basic questions related to availability of resources- water namely have been absent from national discourse. The location of Heineken’s new brewery is in direct competition for water resources, mostly groundwater, with other industries such as Ambo Sparkling water as well as domestic water supply sources for Addis Ababa and commercial agriculture in the area.

The entry of Heineken into Ethiopia has been received with mixed emotions and has been mostly scrutinized from financial and economic viability angles. Very few have questioned that this brewery that will require large quantities of water, a finite resource in the area. Although Ethiopia has been endowed with plentiful water resources, the Ambo area, which falls in the Awash River Basin, heavily relies on groundwater sources. The city of Addis Ababa also relies on the same groundwater sources for domestic water supply. Both Addis Ababa and Ambo, which are geographically located in the Great Rift Valley, sit on stratified groundwater aquifers. Due to complex geology and expense to carry out technical studies, limited information is known about the characteristics of these aquifers and available water resources. To meet domestic water supply demands, wells are being dug deeper and deeper, adding to the cost of new water source development and increasing the cost of operation of maintenance due to the use of pumps to retrieve water from deep wells.

As water demanding industries such as breweries expand in the area, Addis Ababa and its surrounding communities face increased risk of land subsidence, as well as complications to already strained domestic water supplies. So with the introduction of Heineken in stores and bars across Addis Ababa, beer maybe plentiful in the coming months, drinking water in the coming years may not.

Businesses such as Heineken, need not take availability of water resources for granted, given that they must share this resource with many other sectors. Also, given the scale of investments going into these breweries, detailed groundwater investigations that can shed light on groundwater sources and better inform water resources planning are a cheap investment for private sector and a public service to Ministry of Water and Energy.

Given that the scale of this problem will be exasperated in coming years, as the population of Addis Ababa mushrooms and industries in the area grow, I hope that much greater consideration for water resources and implications of overdraft are considered more seriously.

Lost in translation: China

16 Thursday May 2013

Posted by nubiaNomad in Travel

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Beijing, China, Ningxia, water

Since my last post, many trips, travels and transitions have passed. Unfortunately many of which went undocumented in this blog. A recent visit to China made me rethink to start updating once more.

I arrived in Beijing jet lagged and under what seemed to be hazy clouds. Only after getting a bit of shuteye did I realize that this haze was not a figment of my imagination as I had previously thought but a mainstay of Beijing landscape. A sepia-colored fog that loomed over the entire city, notorious visual of the city’s growing pollution challenges. I did not spend much time in Beijing as I quickly packed off to various locations across Northern China.

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First stop, Ningxia Autonomous region. Arriving in the Region’s capital, Yinchuan I was flabbergasted by my surrounding. It seemed that the entire city was constructed yesterday. Construction cranes protruding like giant tentacles, were a staple of the city’s skyline. Large avenues, neatly dotted with trees, bike lanes, public spaces. An urbanist dream design of a Chinese city….or at least on the surface. All this and relatively very few people. It seemed everything was in excess. Buildings were grotesquely large in what seemed to me an effort of one-upmanship; to convey development and prosperity. It left me grappling with questions of how to define those terms and if development is measured by level of infrastructure in place.

Yinchuan is a stone’s throw away from ancient China’s most well-respected ancient civilizations. It is not as if Yinchuan happened over night. When I inquired about the origins of the old city, I was told it was mostly being dismantled in favor of this new Yinchauan that lies a little bit westward of its founding origins. Gaudiness aside, given that it’s highly bias to my subjective opinion, there was a sense of admiration and awe for the sense of effortlessness that filled the air. As if creating a city out of dust is just another day at the office.

Ningxia’s countryside was at times reminiscent of Sudan’s dusty savannahs and at times I could not help but compare. Hands down my favorite discovery was a visit to a museum dedicated to water resources. The region is home to Qunitongxia irrigation scheme, a network of 39 ancient canals dating back more than 2000 years and a testament to successive dynasties that built and harnessed the Yellow River’s power.

My presence around these parts was a bit of an oddity, with many inquisitive looks. Curiosity aside, I was humbled by the generosity and hospitality of folks I encountered.

And the journey continued. Will try keep recounting reflections…

Tales from the watering hole

23 Monday Mar 2009

Posted by nubiaNomad in thoughts, Travel

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Gadarif, Kunaina, Sudan, water

For the past few days, I’ve spent the majority of my in the village of Kunaina Albeer, located on the Sudan-Ethiopia border. A mere 10 km away, and one would be walking on Ethiopian soil and all that seperates the two nations is a mere seasonal gorge that is dry most of the year.

The 140km trip from the city of El Gadarif, the prominent thatched huts that are indigenous of this region come into full view. Although labelled as a village, Kunaina is more like a small town with over 8,000 inhabitants and a sizable local market. It’s an interesting village, one that surprisingly has high representation of various ethnic groups from across Sudan. Many came and settled for agricultural purposes. Others such as Huasa and Fulani (known as Falata in Sudan) groups with roots in West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana,etc) crossed the continent on route to Mecca and have since settled and became integrated into the melting pot of Sudanese society. These groups in addition to ethnic groups from Northern and Western Sudan along side numerous Ethiopians and Eritreans who also now El Gadarif home.

Most of the time was spent in the vicinity of the water station. Although not a watering hole, residents living on the outskirts of the village come into the water station to fill up. It’s mostly kids who were present collecting water. So by default it has become the local hangout spot. So with donkeys in tow children and teens line up and chat while filling up their water containers/ bags. Talks these days surrounded the exam timetable for some and the grueling load of memorization that awaits them. Others with their minds elsewhere, were discussing means of upgrading or buying bikes. A few had their heads in the clouds discussing, mobile phones they have seen some village elders carrying.

Dirty water cannot be washed

19 Thursday Mar 2009

Posted by nubiaNomad in thoughts, world water day

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Suda, water, World Water Day

So many of us take for granted clean water and somewhere to go to the bathroom, but the reality is that the vast majority of the world’s residents, Sudan included lack access to these basic services. At that, the world’s water resources are rapidly being polluted. As an african proverb stated in the post title says it appropriately points out that dirty water cannot be washed.

World Water Day- March 22 will be celebrated worldwide this year on this coming Sunday. Currently in the process of celebrating this day and bringing to light the monumental issues facing billions of people worldwide. This year the international theme is trans-boundary waters-shared waters, shared opportunities. Nationally, alongside the international theme, it has been decided to add additional messages to suit WASH initiatives. The national slogan is “Share the responsibility for the management of water sources and sanitation promotion” This year the national program will take place with promotional programs in El Gadarif (in Eastern Sudan). The Water Supply & Sanitation Collaborative Council (WSSCC) has a great campaign materials to highlight this sectors burgeoning problems: