(3) Confusing Italian industrialists for Italian colonialism
Ato Mussie Gebreab,
Let me again quote what you have stated, “… the only industries/factories built during Haile Selassie occupation of Eritrea was the Coca Cola beverage in Mai-Temenay by Americans and the Aluminum factory ( enda dsti) in Sembel by the Chinese. Other than that, all the industries/ factories were built during the Italian colonization of Eritrea. Yes, Haile Selassie had changed some of the factories’ names …” What could have possibly made you say such an incoherent statement?
Mussie, when you provided us with the list in the link, you were doubly confused. First, although the list is clear in what it wanted to exhibit – the achievement of Italian industrialists in Eritrea – you saw that achievement as if it was that of the Italian Colonial era itself. In fact, when the Eritrean government (during the federation era) and the Haile Selassie government (during the federation and union eras) were proactively soliciting industrialists to invest in Eritrea (by giving loans, land concessions and subsidies), they were primarily interested in Italian industrialists, for at the time there were no natives with the knowhow and capital to run industries. Let me give you two examples of two Italian industrialists that were household names in Asmara then: Barattolo and De Nadai.
In the list you provided, these two are mentioned, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the Italian Colonial era. Baratollo’s factory (enda aleba) was built in 1956 – that is 14 years after the colonial administration came to an end (which squarely falls in Haile Selassie era). Baratollo’s industry kept expanding rapidly. We can see that by the increase in the number of spinning spindlers: 6,912 (1956), 12,000 (1959), 20,000 (1961). With the demand of cotton growing, the entire Ali Ghider cotton plantation was gobbled up by Barattolo.
So was it with De Nadai. He started with small land in 1952 (11 years after Italian colonialism came to an end) and grew in leaps and bounds throughout Haile Selassie era (both in federation and union eras), enlarging his commercial farms and building subsidiary agro-factories along that growth trajectory (like the Concentrate Factory).
Mussie, your second bizarre mistake is that you couldn’t even differentiate between 1941 (the year Italian colonialism came to an end) and 1959 (almost the end of federation era). This confusion has led you to believe that all the factories built before 1959 must have been built during the Italian Colonial era. If you had only looked at the evidence you brought with “professional” (rather than nationalistic) eyes, you would have observed the factories enlisted there were built in three different eras: some in Italian colonial era, a few in the British era, and many more in the federation era; and many others we cannot tell simply because they lack the dates they were built.
Let me provide you with few examples from your list that were built in federation era (all owned by Italians) that you wrongly attributed to the Italian Colonial era: Cottonoficio Baratollo (1956), Ditta F.LLI De Nadai (1952), Concentrate’s Factory (owned by De Nadai), Sava Glass Factory (1959), Mining Company Eritrea SA (1957), Deposit of Manganese Minerals (1958/9), Industria Maglieria (1954/55), Ethiopian Engineering and Development Limited (1955), etc.
And now, let me give you a few examples of factories built in the British era (all owned by Italians), all from your list: Industria Ceramica, Ing.Carlo Tabacchi (1945); Dum Company Limited (1951), Industria Vini Asmara (1943), Industria Anidride Carbonica (1943), African Matches and Paper Factory limited (1944-47), Paper Factory M Villani (1950), Salomoficio Torinese (1943), etc
Now Mussie, you couldn’t even make the above-mentioned distinctions when you said, “… other than that [that is, the two factories], all the industries/ factories were built during the Italian colonization of Eritrea.”
In the end, I would like to make this point: I never said that Colonial Italy didn’t leave an industrial base in Eritrea. All that I pointed out was that tradition continued throughout the Haile Selassie era: “One of the great ghedli lies frequented to buttress the ‘We had it so bad with Ethiopia’ narrative was that the Haile Selassie government dismantled Eritrean factories and moved them to Shoa. To the contrary, many of the industries associated with colonial Italy were built during Haile Selassie era.” And the proof is none other than you, who keep associating all the factories built in the 40s, 50s and 60s with the Italian Colonial era.
The factory-list of the “Asmara Expo” deals only with one 5-years plan, between 1964 and 1968. Now, if you add all those that were built in throughout the 50’s and the 60s, you would now what I mean when I said the Golden Age of Asmara happens to fall exactly on Haile Selassie era (1952-1974).
Fanko, you need to grow up. You need to be professional, when you describe your feeling “Mussie, now, who is the fat lier?”. We all make mistakes. If you do not try, you will never mistakes, and are always Mr perfect as Eritrean leader.
Fanko, Have you wrote a book? Please let me know!!!
Let us try to solve our problems and build a new nation without of point fingers on each other. I hope, this will help us to grow as community and build a new nation with full of respect and love.
Thank you Ammanuel and veteran tegadelti
Forget the betrayers and sold out cowards . We will not compromise to the heavily paid sacrifices . Keep your
head up with pride for accomplished task to the dream of Eritrean identity .
By the way we have new guests from Yosief Ghebrihiwet forces but try to be easy with them because they look deluded .
I am just wondering why is assena letting those Tewelige and Mahber andnet to use his website against our nation and nationalism .I thought he was tegadalay did he forget we pay over 1000,0000young people to be a nation.don’t tell me this is freedom of speech.This are the same people who been fighting to eradicate us from this planet.
YG, is spoiler in the unity. He fonds to write old stories and very destructive ideas.He writes volumes and volumes of boring articles.
From the interview, I came to know that all the most military commanders were accomplice of criminals both at organizational and individual levels. The innocent fighters were easy targets by being lebelled as “Menkae…(bat)”.
Wonderful Panel Discussion Re the Broken Promises of Eritrean Independence
To save our country Eritrea we must stand for
PEACE!
JUSTICE!
LIBERTY!
FREEDOM!
We must unite all our nationalities, all our original provinces and raise our Liberation Flag, the Flag of our martyrs, the flag of our forefathers and wage a straggle against the mad dog tyrant dictator Isayas wedi berad and his blind followers HIGDEF and his burned flag.
United! We will liberate our land and our people.
Let freedom ring in Senhit, Keren!
Let freedom ring in Akeleguzay, Adi keyih!
Let freedom ring in Denkel, Asseb!
Let freedom ring in Barka, akurdet!
Let freedom ring in Sahil Nakfa!
Let freedom ring in Seraye, Adi Ugri!
Let freedom ring in Hamassien, Asmera!
Let freedom ring in Semhar, Massawa!
Eritrea will be free soon.
Our original Eritrean Liberation Flag, our martyrs flag, the flag of our forefathers, the flag that represent all our provinces and our nationalities will be allover Eritrea and allover the world and at the United Nations!
Fanko April 12, 2014
Thank you ato Yosief Gheberehiwet:
(3) Confusing Italian industrialists for Italian colonialism
Ato Mussie Gebreab,
Let me again quote what you have stated, “… the only industries/factories built during Haile Selassie occupation of Eritrea was the Coca Cola beverage in Mai-Temenay by Americans and the Aluminum factory ( enda dsti) in Sembel by the Chinese. Other than that, all the industries/ factories were built during the Italian colonization of Eritrea. Yes, Haile Selassie had changed some of the factories’ names …” What could have possibly made you say such an incoherent statement?
Mussie, when you provided us with the list in the link, you were doubly confused. First, although the list is clear in what it wanted to exhibit – the achievement of Italian industrialists in Eritrea – you saw that achievement as if it was that of the Italian Colonial era itself. In fact, when the Eritrean government (during the federation era) and the Haile Selassie government (during the federation and union eras) were proactively soliciting industrialists to invest in Eritrea (by giving loans, land concessions and subsidies), they were primarily interested in Italian industrialists, for at the time there were no natives with the knowhow and capital to run industries. Let me give you two examples of two Italian industrialists that were household names in Asmara then: Barattolo and De Nadai.
In the list you provided, these two are mentioned, but they have absolutely nothing to do with the Italian Colonial era. Baratollo’s factory (enda aleba) was built in 1956 – that is 14 years after the colonial administration came to an end (which squarely falls in Haile Selassie era). Baratollo’s industry kept expanding rapidly. We can see that by the increase in the number of spinning spindlers: 6,912 (1956), 12,000 (1959), 20,000 (1961). With the demand of cotton growing, the entire Ali Ghider cotton plantation was gobbled up by Barattolo.
So was it with De Nadai. He started with small land in 1952 (11 years after Italian colonialism came to an end) and grew in leaps and bounds throughout Haile Selassie era (both in federation and union eras), enlarging his commercial farms and building subsidiary agro-factories along that growth trajectory (like the Concentrate Factory).
Mussie, your second bizarre mistake is that you couldn’t even differentiate between 1941 (the year Italian colonialism came to an end) and 1959 (almost the end of federation era). This confusion has led you to believe that all the factories built before 1959 must have been built during the Italian Colonial era. If you had only looked at the evidence you brought with “professional” (rather than nationalistic) eyes, you would have observed the factories enlisted there were built in three different eras: some in Italian colonial era, a few in the British era, and many more in the federation era; and many others we cannot tell simply because they lack the dates they were built.
Let me provide you with few examples from your list that were built in federation era (all owned by Italians) that you wrongly attributed to the Italian Colonial era: Cottonoficio Baratollo (1956), Ditta F.LLI De Nadai (1952), Concentrate’s Factory (owned by De Nadai), Sava Glass Factory (1959), Mining Company Eritrea SA (1957), Deposit of Manganese Minerals (1958/9), Industria Maglieria (1954/55), Ethiopian Engineering and Development Limited (1955), etc.
And now, let me give you a few examples of factories built in the British era (all owned by Italians), all from your list: Industria Ceramica, Ing.Carlo Tabacchi (1945); Dum Company Limited (1951), Industria Vini Asmara (1943), Industria Anidride Carbonica (1943), African Matches and Paper Factory limited (1944-47), Paper Factory M Villani (1950), Salomoficio Torinese (1943), etc
Now Mussie, you couldn’t even make the above-mentioned distinctions when you said, “… other than that [that is, the two factories], all the industries/ factories were built during the Italian colonization of Eritrea.”
In the end, I would like to make this point: I never said that Colonial Italy didn’t leave an industrial base in Eritrea. All that I pointed out was that tradition continued throughout the Haile Selassie era: “One of the great ghedli lies frequented to buttress the ‘We had it so bad with Ethiopia’ narrative was that the Haile Selassie government dismantled Eritrean factories and moved them to Shoa. To the contrary, many of the industries associated with colonial Italy were built during Haile Selassie era.” And the proof is none other than you, who keep associating all the factories built in the 40s, 50s and 60s with the Italian Colonial era.
The factory-list of the “Asmara Expo” deals only with one 5-years plan, between 1964 and 1968. Now, if you add all those that were built in throughout the 50’s and the 60s, you would now what I mean when I said the Golden Age of Asmara happens to fall exactly on Haile Selassie era (1952-1974).
Mussie, now, who is the fat lier?
love eritrea April 13, 2014
hi Fanko,
Fanko, you need to grow up. You need to be professional, when you describe your feeling “Mussie, now, who is the fat lier?”. We all make mistakes. If you do not try, you will never mistakes, and are always Mr perfect as Eritrean leader.
Fanko, Have you wrote a book? Please let me know!!!
Let us try to solve our problems and build a new nation without of point fingers on each other. I hope, this will help us to grow as community and build a new nation with full of respect and love.
Fanko April 13, 2014
Thank you weysebdeqey,
Weysebdeqey Mahbula · Top Commenter
ኣንታ ዝኽረ ልቦና፣
እንታይ ጌርናካ ኢና እቲ ሕማቕ ናይ ኢትዮጵያ ኮሎኒ ከለና ተዘክረና።ህዝብና ማዕረ ክንደይ ባዕሊጉ ከም ዝነበረ ኣይትዝክርን ዲኻ፧ ደረት ዘይብሉ ብዕልግና ሱቕ ኢልካ ፣
ጣፍ ክም ልብኻ፣
ሽኮር ከም ልብኻ ፣
ቆልዑ ስድርኦም የዕብይዎም ማንም ደቅኻ ካብ ትሕቲ ዓራት ጎሲሱ ኣውጺኡ ንውግእ ዝሰዶም የለ ፣ጅግንነት ዘይነበሮ ጊዜ። ሎሚ ግን ኩሉ ነገር ተሰሪዕካን ኣርባዕተ ሰዓት ተጸቢኻን፣ብስነስርዓት ሓንቲ ባኒ ንሓሙሽተ ቤተሰብ። እቲ ብረሲደንትና ከምቲ ኢየሱስ ብኽልተ ጎጎን ሓሙሽተ ዓሳን ንሓሙሽተ ሽሕ ህዝቢ ዘብልዔ ብረሲደንትና እሰያስ ግን ንሓሙሽተ ሚልዮን ህዝቢ የጥሚ ፣ምኽንያቱ ብስብሒ ልቡ ተዓቢሱ መታን ከይመውት።ከምቲ ኣብ ኣማሪካ OBAMA CARE ዘሎ, ኣብ ኤርትራና ውን MUDADA CARE ኣለና !!! እልልልልልልልል
ወላዲ ኣዕጽምቲ ደቁ ክደሊ በረኻ ክንዲ ዝወፍር ሰብ ተባላሽዩ ፣
ኣዝማድካ ምብጻሕ፣
ብበትኽስያንን ሕጊ መስጊድን ተመርኲስካ ተፋቲኻ መርዓ ምግባር ።
ብሓቂ ጀግንነትን ሞትን ዘይብሉ ሕማቕ እዋን ኔሩ።ሰብሲ ድሙ ድሙ ስትዩ ዓወት ንሓፋሽ ኢሉ ተመርዕዩ ኣብ ሰሳልስቲ ሰበይቱ እናፈትሔ ክምርዖ ከሎ እዩ ናይ ጀጋኑን ተቓለስትን እምበር፣እቲ ብጊዜ ኮሎኒ ኢትዮጵያ ዝነበረ ጅግንነትን ውግእን ሞትን ኣካላትካ ምቝራጽን ዘይነበሮ ሕማቕ እዋን ኣይተዘክረና።
ኣብቲ ሕማቕ ናይ ኮሎኒ ኢትዮጵያ ጊዜ ,
ሰብ ከም ናይ ላምፔዱሳ ኣብ ባሕሪ ኣይሕምብስ ፣
ስቕ ኢልካ ቦሪንግ ይብሉ ደቅና ኣሰልቻዊ ጊዜ እዩ ኔሩ።
ወጻኢ እንተደሊኻ ኣብ ክንዲ በታ ጸጋ ኤርትራ ዝኾነት ,
ገመል ተወጢሕካ ብበረኻ ትወጽእ ተጠሊዕካ ብኣይራቦርቶ፣
ኣቤት ሕማቕ ጊዜ ዝኽረ ልቦናየ ኣይተዘክረና ።ብጊዜ ኮሎኒ ኢትዮጵያ፣ህዝቢ ዋጋ ስለ ዘየውጽእ ንራሻይዳ ኣይሽየጥ ፣ንበደዊን ኣይሽየጥ ኤህ ኮሎኒ ኢትዮጵያስ ኢዶም ኣይስኣኑ።
ዝኽረ ልቦና ወደይ እዛ ሕስምቲ እዋን ሓደራ ከይተልዕላ፣
ህዝብና ንመዓልቲ ሓንቲ ጊዜ ፣ኣብ ዓዱ ብርስንን ሓምሊ ኣድግን እናበልዔ ብጥዕና ከይነብር,……………………….. ንሽዋ ኸይዱ ንምዓልቲ ሰለስተ ጊዜ፣ጮማ እናበልዔ ብኮሌስተራል /Cholesterol ተወዲኡ።
እውይ ስጋ ቐሺ ምሕጹን… ንብዓት እኳ ስዒሩኒ !!!!!!
ዝኽረ ልቦናየ ሓደራ ነቲ ሕማቕ እዋን ከይተልዕሎ ብቐሺ ሓንጣል ይግዝተካ !!!
ahmed saleh April 13, 2014
Fanko LEKHBAT
Disguising you identity its time is over . For too long you entertained by confusing people .
ahmed saleh April 13, 2014
Thank you Ammanuel and veteran tegadelti
Forget the betrayers and sold out cowards . We will not compromise to the heavily paid sacrifices . Keep your
head up with pride for accomplished task to the dream of Eritrean identity .
By the way we have new guests from Yosief Ghebrihiwet forces but try to be easy with them because they look deluded .
Dala ksha April 13, 2014
I am just wondering why is assena letting those Tewelige and Mahber andnet to use his website against our nation and nationalism .I thought he was tegadalay did he forget we pay over 1000,0000young people to be a nation.don’t tell me this is freedom of speech.This are the same people who been fighting to eradicate us from this planet.
Hazhaz April 13, 2014
May you enjoy your weekends with this song:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxCB354Druo
———————-
weygud April 14, 2014
YG, is spoiler in the unity. He fonds to write old stories and very destructive ideas.He writes volumes and volumes of boring articles.
From the interview, I came to know that all the most military commanders were accomplice of criminals both at organizational and individual levels. The innocent fighters were easy targets by being lebelled as “Menkae…(bat)”.
Semhar May 10, 2014
Wonderful Panel Discussion Re the Broken Promises of Eritrean Independence
To save our country Eritrea we must stand for
PEACE!
JUSTICE!
LIBERTY!
FREEDOM!
We must unite all our nationalities, all our original provinces and raise our Liberation Flag, the Flag of our martyrs, the flag of our forefathers and wage a straggle against the mad dog tyrant dictator Isayas wedi berad and his blind followers HIGDEF and his burned flag.
United! We will liberate our land and our people.
Let freedom ring in Senhit, Keren!
Let freedom ring in Akeleguzay, Adi keyih!
Let freedom ring in Denkel, Asseb!
Let freedom ring in Barka, akurdet!
Let freedom ring in Sahil Nakfa!
Let freedom ring in Seraye, Adi Ugri!
Let freedom ring in Hamassien, Asmera!
Let freedom ring in Semhar, Massawa!
Eritrea will be free soon.
Our original Eritrean Liberation Flag, our martyrs flag, the flag of our forefathers, the flag that represent all our provinces and our nationalities will be allover Eritrea and allover the world and at the United Nations!