"The millennial celebration in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia was as festive as any around the world with a pyrotechnic show that lit up the sky and musical performances at several outdoor locations whose traditional African beat mesmerized the crowds into a dancing, singing, frenzy. A warm African evening let merrymakers spend the night and wee morning hours outdoors.
Ethiopia has a unique perspective on the new millennium and an estimated 35,000 Ethiopian-born nationals living abroad have flown in to the country's capital to mark the moment of transition into the new century.
The travelers who came back to their native country joined hundreds of thousands of their fellow Ethiopians in an expression of national pride. Ethiopia has had 3000 years of uninterrupted indigenous rule and look forward to marking what one participant in the celebratory events called "3 more millennia of independence."
The most elaborate of the millennial events took place at the chic, new Sheraton Addis, where five thousand gathered to hear internationally recognized Ethiopian songstress Aster Aweke and popular African musicians. Reggae artist Maxi Priest was on stage when the countdown for the last seconds of 1999 were screamed by the crowd and the city exploded with cheer as the fireworks show officially launched the new year.
Y2K concerns were relatively non-existent for the bulk of the population as the prevailing view was that in contrast to the high-tech Sheraton Hotel, most of Ethiopian society is too low-tech for there to be an impact.
Jalal Abdel Latif, executive director of InterAfrica Group, said real efforts are being made to better connect Ethiopia and other parts of Africa to the global community and upgrade their information technology capacity."
