Daniel Hailu promised to marry his girlfriend after the millennium. And now she eagerly awaits the arrival of her wedding ring. “She is so relieved that 1999 is nearly over,” said Hailu, a 29-year-old television salesperson.
Hailu is not living in a time warp, but rather in Ethiopia where, thanks to a quirk of history, the country’s calendar lags more than seven years behind the Western version. Only on September 12, after years of anticipation and months of frenzied preparation, was the year 2000 finally ushered in.
A huge celebration had been planned. In the capital, Addis Ababa, the streets had been lit up with strings of lights, and searchlights carved swords of silver in the sky. A brand-new £5-million convention hall had been built near the airport by a billionaire construction magnate. There, in front of 20 000 people, United States hip-hop stars The Black Eyed Peas were set to headline a concert that would be broadcast on giant screens across the country, kicking off a year of celebrations.
Organisers hoped that the festivities would help project a new image of Ethiopia abroad, replacing the stereÂotypical view of a country plagued by hunger, conflict and poverty. For Ethiopians themselves, it is an opportunity to forget their worries and look to a better future, according to Seyoum Bereded, the head of the millennium organising committee.
“This is like a birthday,” said Bereded, who until last year worked in London. “And on your birthday you don’t talk about the appendix operation you had a few months ago.”
Although many Ethiopians, particularly those in the cities, are equally comfortable using the Western dateline, there is little doubting their pride in maintaining their own calendar. Alongside Ethiopia’s status as the cradle of humankind and its record as the only African country to successfully resist colonisation, the faith-based calendar reinforces the feeling that, while they are African, they are also unique.
“There are more than 200 countries in the world, and we are the only one to celebrate the millennium at this time,” said Fanthun Bogale, an IT technician, while enjoying a drink with a group of friends at a coffee shop in the student district.
It was not just a celebration but a spiritual occasion, said Samuel Demissie. He, like many people in what is a deeply religious society, half Christian and half Muslim, planned to spend the night in church rather than bopping to pop music. Desahegn Getaneh said he would be in church too, but part of him wished he could attend the concert. However, the price — more than £80 for the cheapest ticket — made that impossible.
He was not the only one complaining. The anticipated influx of hordes of tourists and tens of thousands of people from the diaspora sent prices spiralling. Indeed, so great was the increase in the cost of hot peppers, an essential ingredient in any Ethiopian meal, that some dubbed this “the pepperless millennium”.
Organisers stressed that the costs of staging the event were being borne by Sheik Mohammed al-Amoudi, the Ethiopian-born tycoon and one of the 100 richest men in the world. The Sheraton Hotel he owns, one of the most luxurious in Africa, was responsible for the huge fireworks display at midnight.
But the celebrations don’t stop there. Beyoncé, the US pop diva, is scheduled to perform in October as part of the year-long festival. There are plans to plant several hundred million trees in an attempt to help reverse centuries of deforestation, and to make advances in access to education and health.
Still, the official theme, “A prosperous Ethiopia with a politically strong and economically dynamic society”, hints at the main reason why some are uncomfortable. They view the event as a government project. And in Addis Ababa, Prime Minister Meles Zenawi’s regime is deeply unpopular.
This has already caused hitches. The Great Ethiopian Run, organised by the country’s most famous athlete, Haile Gebreselassie, has been postponed for security reasons, and events scheduled for Meskel Square, a plaza in the heart of the city, were likewise called off. In the recent past, large gatherings in the capital have seen youths pelt the police with bottles and stones.
“In all the urban areas people are worried about the political situation and what will come next,” said Daniel Mono, a 26-year-old development worker. “The millennium is a change of numbers and is not going to solve the problems no matter what the authorities say.”
The heavy police and army presence on the streets this week also reflects concerns about mischief from any of the government’s numerous enemies outside the capital, from the rebels currently facing a crackdown in the eastern Ogaden region to Islamists in Somalia and Eritrean forces across the border.
But, as some people have pointed out, the government is at least free from one major worry associated with the millennium — namely the Y2K bug. — Â