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It was in the waning years of the former military
reign, students from all public universities had
travelled and camped to build shelters for
drought-driven re-settlement communities in a region
later renamed as Benishangul-Gumuz, located 527Km
northwest of Addis Abeba. The memory of that single
experience shaped by the historical event loomed in
this region for the returning students and those of
their families and had remained vivid for years to
come.
Seventeen years after one of the most serious
famines in the country’s history, the resources of
this region are still overwhelmingly untapped.
Motivated by the investment prospects through which
to empower the local community with socio-economic
development, Yaregal Aysheshim, president of the
Regional State, is eying Gilgel-beles, potentially a
vibrant town in close proximity to the historic Pawe
area that saved the livelihoods of so many.
Gilgel-beles is the main town of Metekel Zone, one
of the three zonal administrations in the region,
located at the crossroads of seven weredas of
Metekel Zone.
Prior to its establishment in 2001 through the
Region’s Cabinet approval, Gilgel-beles was a
rural-oriented satellite township for Pawe that was
the chief town of Metekel until 2001.
Speaking to Fortune, Andarge Yimenu, resident
of Pawe, believes that the Zone capital shift to
Gilgel-beles from Pawe has more to do with
unbalanced demographic factors created by the
re-settlement programme. These newcomers now
outnumber the indigenous people of the region.
However, in the view of Yaregal, the demographic
factor claimed by Andarge is a far-fetched opinion
that holds no water. According to the State’s
President, the fact that Pawe is far from the
highway that connects the region to the Sudan, as
well as the existence of hard to manage clay soil in
Pawe, makes Gilgel-beles more conducive to build
investment in Benishangul-Gumuz.
“When the road to the Sudan is completed,
Gilgel-beles will be the economic hub of the State,”
Yaregal told Fortune, stating his hope that
the various recent projects in the area will
jump-start growth in the underdeveloped area.
The positive business prospects driven by the oil
export-led economic boom in the Sudan gives the city
a strategic location and an extra incentive to
finish the connecting highway in a timely manner.
“The combination of development activities such as
the Tana-Beles hydroelectric power generation
project and the five irrigation dams to be
constructed at Lake Tana in the Amhara Regional
State, as well as the steady growth of the Sudanese
economy, presents the opportunity for the residents
of this region to benefit,” a source from the
Gilgel-beles town cabinet underlined his hope that
the town would become a business hub within two
decades.
Even for a young Gumuz boy like Mamo Adal, 18, who
was born and raised in this upcoming small town,
there is not a grain of doubt to see Yaregal’s
vision become reality.
Mamo is the only of his 11 siblings to attend
school, which he believes would have been impossible
for him if it were not for the effort of Yaregal.
“For those of us who reside in this part of the
country, Yaregal is a true son of the soil whose
efforts crucially safeguard our welfare,” Mamo goes
at length to express his confidence in the ability
of the State President.
A native of Metekel Zone of the Debate locality
where he pursued his primary education, Yaregal, in
his mid-40s, became the third governor of the
region. He completed high school in Chagni town,
Hawi zone of Amhara region. After continuing studies
at Kotebe Teachers’ Training College in Addis Abeba,
he worked as a teacher in Bale of the Oromia
Regional State.
Gumuz by ethnicity, Yaregal is the first of his
father’s 20 children. Years of economic
marginalisation of the Gumuz ethnic community forced
Yaregal to persevere in the challenge of fighting
poverty during his school years.
“With the ascension to power of the Derg regime,
minority ethnic communities like ours were long
being neglected but have become politically
empowered under the watch of EPRDF government,”
Yaregal told Fortune. “However, the community
has yet to become economically empowered.”
With a population of 615,500, Benishangul-Gumuz
covers 50,380sqkm. The region is structured under
three zones, two special weredas and 18 weredas.
Five indigenous ethnic groups, Gumuz, Berta,
Shinasha, Komo and Mao, constitute the majority of
the inhabitants.
However, due to the arrival of 200,000 new settlers
in Pawe Zone, there are as many as 11 ethnic groups
living in the area. In Asossa, the seat of the
regional government, and Gilgel-beles, as well as in
many other towns in the region, many of these
settlers now have taken permanent residence.
As the development of physical infrastructures in
Gilgel-beles started to pick and contribute to the
growth of urbanisation, the indigenous ethnic Gumuz
residents flocked to the periphery.
One of the few modern development projects absorbing
the rising population is the 15-room hotel in
Gilgel-beles Yaregal built at a cost of 350,000 Br
obtained on loan from the Bahir Dar branch of Dashen
Bank. The largest modern hotel, resting on a
5,000sqm plot, Soliana Hotel, literally means “I am
from Debate”, Yaregal’s birthplace.
“My family and I took the initiative to invest and
built Soliana in an effort to encourage more
investments in the town such that the local
community would benefit from the business activities
rather than being marginalised,” Yaregal asserted
his vision. “In the past, this particular town never
saw anyone constructing proper houses, let alone
commercial buildings used for business activities
like what we see around now.”
According to Zone officials, the increasing
cross-border trade with the Sudan and the government
of the western neighbour’s desire to build oil
tankers in the region to distribute to Ethiopia,
provided the impetus to construct the connecting
highway.
Government officials too are doing their part to aid
progress.
“In a push to boost the economic opportunity of this
six-year-old town, we grant land free from lease
fees,” Taye Habte, deputy administrator of the
Metekel Zone informed Fortune of local and
broader Ethiopian interest to invest in the region.
“In less than two months since the inauguration of
Soliana Hotel, we received requests for land from
potential developers.”
Authorities also stress the welcoming social
environment of the area.
According to a health officer in the Zone Cabinet,
under Yaregal’s leadership, professionals live and
work irrespective of their ethnic affiliations.
“Anyone with proven ability can work at ease in all
part of this region,” the health officer told
Fortune.
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