Tweets Welcoming #ObamaInEthiopia
President Obama made history this week as the first sitting U.S. president to visit Ethiopia. He was welcomed with flowers, flags and plenty of tweets.
Can we get a footage of President Obama eating injera? Thank you! #ObamaEthiopia
— Tolessa Gurmessa (@tolessag) July 26, 2015
How many tweets exactly? The #ObamaInEthiopia hashtag in particular has been used more than 10,000 times and counting in the past seven days. That's a lot, but it pales next to the 85,000 tweets for #ObamaInKenya.
If you're wondering why Ethiopian tweeters seem a bit behind the Kenyan Twitterati, who were paid a visit by the president over the weekend, maybe it's a question of access.
According to the World Bank, the Internet penetration rate in Ethiopia is just 1.9 percent compared to Kenya's 39 percent — that's the percentage of Internet users out of the total population.
Here's a roundup of what tweeters are saying about #ObamaInEthiopia:
50 years ago Emp #HaileSilassie was welcomed by Pre #JohnFKennedy now we r welcoming Pre @POTUS #Ethiopia #EthioUS pic.twitter.com/PRrXuKyUuO
— Frehiwot Negash (@FrehiwotNG) July 26, 2015In other news, President Obama is in my country right now #Ethiopia #EthiopiansMessageToObama pic.twitter.com/XTRxF6JChJ
— ➰ (@CookedKitfo) July 26, 2015Giant photos of Obama and PM Hailemariam set above the red carpet. #ObamaInEthiopia pic.twitter.com/nahuUsjIcf
— Johnny Magdaleno (@johnny_mgdlno) July 26, 2015Unfortunate(not surprising) tht the foreign journalists are asking the tough questions.Sums up the state of free press here.#ObamaInEthiopia
— Mekdes Mz. (@Mekmz) July 27, 2015#obamainethiopia PM is asked to explain his "objection to a free press" by one of our US colleagues
— Karen Allen (@BBCKarenAllen) July 27, 2015Newspapers headlines in #Ethiopia #Welcomingobama #Obamainethiopia #AddisAbaba pic.twitter.com/LyBf1o56cP
— Biniam Alemayehu (@Biniam_A) July 26, 2015A few tweeters took note of the stark difference between the Twitter reaction in Kenya versus that in Ethiopia:
People noticed that "Ethiopians aren't tweeting about #ObamaInEthiopia." Well, internet penetration is 2% & there's mass state surveillance.
— Jeffrey Smith (@Smith_RFKennedy) July 27, 2015So nearly all #ObamaInEthiopia tweets are from Kenyans?? We surely run Africa twitter.
— IG:Kechem_ (@Kechem_) July 27, 2015#ObamaInEthiopia is trending in Kenya and not Ethiopia.
— Mukabi Wa Njoroge (@kabbz) July 27, 2015And, of course, Ethiopians weren't going to let the president off the hook after he attempted to speak Amharic, the country's official language, during a joint news conference with Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn.
That awkward moment when #Obama totally mispronounce the #Amharic greetings "Dena-Walku?" hahaha #Thestruggleisreal though
— Habesha (@Habeshatweet) July 27, 2015Yoooo Obama tried to say thank u in Amharic "Amese gina .." #ObamaInEthiopia
— Adil ዓደል (@AdilG) July 27, 2015What President Obama was trying to say was "ameseginalehu," which is "thank you" in Amharic.
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