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Ethiopia - Taxi Scandal Suspects Released with out posting Bond

NBC Washington

Those accused in the bribery scandal made their first court appearance late Saturday, and are headed back to court tomorrow.

Thirty-nine people, most of them cabbies from Ethiopia, told the judge that they are innocent of the charges. Prosecutors allege the suspects paid more than $300,000 in bribes to get cab licenses from Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain Jr.

The two-year investigation by the FBI came to a head last week after Ted G. Loza, chief of staff for D.C. Councilman Jim Graham, was arrested and charged with taking bribes to influence taxi legislation. Loza has pleaded not guilty. Graham, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing, has defended his longtime aide, saying Loza did nothing wrong.

The arrested cabbies are scheduled to head back to federal court on Monday. If convicted, they would face up to five years in prison.

Related Links


39 indicted in bribery probe of DC taxi industry

Mo Ibrahim

Ethiopia ranks 37th out of 53 African countries in latest assessment of
African Governance

2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance shows that half of Africa’s 10 best performing countries are in Southern Africa

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA: The 2009 Ibrahim Index of Governance is published today by the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, an organisation committed to supporting great African leadership. The Ibrahim Index is Africa’s leading assessment of governance, established to inform and empower the continent’s citizens.

The Ibrahim Index measures the delivery of public goods and services to citizens by government and non‐state actors across 84 indicators of governance. Those governance indicators are grouped in four overall categories: Safety and Security, Participation and Human Rights, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, and Human Development. All 53 of Africa’s countries are then ranked according to their total scores across the categories.

Ethiopia’s performance in the 2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance:

In 2007/08 Ethiopia scored 45.6 out of 100, and was ranked 37th out of 53 African countries.

Within the East African region, Ethiopia was ranked eighth.

Ethiopia scored just below the East African regional average which was 46.9.

Ethiopia also scored below the overall continental average which was 51.2.

Ethiopia was ranked 42nd in Political Participation and Human Rights

Ethiopia was ranked 35th in human development, 37th in Safety and Rule of Law and 15th in Sustainable Economic Development. Its overall rank is 37th out of 53 countries.

At category level, Ethiopia scored below the continental average in three of the four categories of the Ibrahim Index: Safety and Rule of Law; Participation and Human Rights; and Human Development. In the final category, Sustainable Economic Opportunity, Ethiopia scored above the continental and regional averages which were 46.0 and 40.8 respectively.

Across the Index:

Mauritius tops the 2009 Ibrahim Index with a total score of 82.8, ranking first in all four main categories. Cape Verde is ranked second with a total score of 78.0.

Seychelles is ranked third with a total score of 77.1, followed by Botswana with a total score of 73.6. South Africa is ranked fifth with a total score of 69.4.

Somalia is the worst governed country on the continent, with a total score of 15.2. In 52nd place, Chad has a total score of 29.9, while Zimbabwe is third from bottom in 51st place with a total score of 31.3.

Southern Africa is the continent’s best performing region, with an average score of 58.1, followed closely by North Africa with an average score of 57.7. West Africa is ranked third with an average score of 51.7, followed by East Africa with a score of 46.9. Central Africa is the worst performing region, with an average score of 40.2.

Central Africa is the worst performing region across all four categories. All seven Central African countries are ranked outside the top 20 in the 2009 Ibrahim Index, with all of them except Gabon performing below the average for the continent.

Reflecting important structural and methodological improvements to the Ibrahim Index over the last year, the 2009 Ibrahim Index includes a new framework for assessing governance, and improvements to make the index more reflective of current governance realities. For the first time, in 2009 the Ibrahim Index covers all 53 countries in Africa. It also includes data from 2008, making it more current than any other assessment of African governance.

The full Board of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation convened in Cape Town this morning for the launch of the third iteration of the Ibrahim Index. Mo Ibrahim, the founder and Chairman of the Foundation, says:

“The 2009 Ibrahim Index gives us the clearest – and most current – snapshot of governance performance on the continent we have ever had. With Southern Africa outperforming North Africa, we can see a picture emerging that fundamentally challenges our perceptions about Africa. Our objective is to generate debate about what we can expect our governments to deliver in our name.”

The Mo Ibrahim Foundation is supported by a research team at the Foundation, headed by Dr Hania Farhan, a Technical Committee of representatives from key African institutions, and Dr Daniel Kaufmann of the Brookings Institution, who co‐produces the World Bank’s Worldwide Governance Indicators. The Foundation also draws on the expertise of an Advisory Committee of academics drawn from institutions across Africa.

The Ibrahim Index of African Governance was created in recognition of the need for a robust, comprehensive and quantifiable tool for citizens and civil society to track government performance in Africa. The development of the Ibrahim Index reflects the Foundation’s long term commitment to support African ownership of the governance debate, to develop capacity in African institutions, and to improve the quality, reliability, and availability of data about Africa.

The news conference to launch the 2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance is taking place at: Centre for African Studies, University of Cape Town, Cape Town on Monday 5 October, at 10am (SAT – GMT +2)

The full data of the 2009 Ibrahim Index of African Governance will be published on the Foundation’s website at 10.00am in South Africa (GMT+2) on Monday 5 October: www.moibrahimfoundation.org

TOP 10 In Overall Score

1. Mauritius


2. Cape Verde


3. Seychelles


4. Botswana


5. South Africa


6. Namibia


7. Ghana


8. Tunisia


9. Lesotho


10. Sao Tome and Principe

BOTTOM 10

53. Somalia (Worst)
52. Chad
51. Zimbabwe
50. Congo Democratic Republic
49. Sudan
48. Central African Republic
47. Cote d'Ivoire
46. Eritrea
45. Equatorial Guinea
44. Guinea

Commercial Bank of Ethiopia #40 In Africa's Top 100 Banks

nazret.com - Ethiopia's state-owned Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (CBE) is ranked number 40, among Africa's Top 100 Banks by African Business magazine, based on capital. Ethiopia has just two banks in the Top 100 list with the other being Dashen Bank which is ranked 100th.

CBE is the second largest bank in East Africa region, with a capital of $473 million and total asset of $5.2 Billion. CBE's profit for the latest fiscal year is $141 million. The largest bank in East Africa region is Mauritius Commercial Bank, followed by CBE and Kenya Commercial Bank. 40 of the top 100 banks are based in North Africa, 26 in West Africa, 20 in Southern Africa, 12 in East Africa and 2 in Central Africa. Dashen Bank SC has a capital of $81 million and is ranked 100th.

The top 5 banks are all based in South Africa, with Standard Bank Group (Stanbank) being Africa's top bank. Nigeria has the most number of banks in the top 100 list, having 19 banks in the list followed by Egypt which has 12 banks and Morocco and South Africa each have 8 banks.

Kenya has 5 banks in the list with a sum total capital of $1.1 Billion, more than twice that of Ethiopian banks which have a sum capital of $554 Million.

Africa's Top 100 banks have a total sum capital of $83 Billion.

Top 10 Banks in Africa
1. Standard Bank Group (South Africa)
2. FirstRand Banking Group (South Africa)
3. Absa Group (South Africa)
4. Investec Bank (South Africa)
5. Nedbank Group (South Africa)
6. Zenith International Bank (Nigeria)
7. First Bank of Nigeria (Nigeria)
8. Attijarwafa Bank (Morocco)
9. Groupe Banques Popularie Morocco)
10. Oceanic Bank (Nigeria)

East Africa Region
35. The Mauritius Commercial Bank (Mauritius)
40. Commercial Bank of Ethiopia (Ethiopia)
56. Kenya Commercial Bank (Kenya)
100. Dashen Bank SC (Ethiopia)

Commercial Bank of Eritrea (Eritrea) Not in top 100 #20 in East Africa
Source: African Business Magazine