Americanized Italian Food in Addis Ababa

Yesterday's Washington Post had a great piece on Ethiopian immigrants in D.C., who are picking up entrepreneurial skills here and bringing them home:

But increasingly, Ethiopians who made their fortunes in the strip-mall spice stores and bakeries of Fairfax and the packed restaurants of Adams Morgan say they want to do more than send money home. All over Addis Ababa, eateries and offices are opening with such names as The Olive Garden, New York, New York, and The Boston Professional Building.

Government officials said at least 1,500 emigres had returned to Addis and that they were launching an aggressive campaign to woo more, offering tax breaks on importing belongings and flexible land ownership laws. In Washington, they said, embassy officials had been going door-to-door in Ethiopian-American neighborhoods, urging patriotic entrepreneurs to move back.

At the moment, Ethiopia's single greatest source of income is $6 million in remittance money from the States. Post-tsunami, Will Wilkinson gave a cheer for remittances here.