Everyone these days seems to be talking about Addis. Everyone in the development community, that is. Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia, a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa, finds itself host to governments from all over the world. The UN leadership, other development partners, business leaders, think tanks, civil society, and all the multilateral development banks (including ADB) are headed there too this week.

Hotels in Addis, especially the ones near the UN Economic Commission for Africa, are doing unprecedented business – not just the rooms, but the meeting rooms and restaurants are all booked too. Latecomers have to find accommodation further off.

Clean enough, but with spotty electricity and Internet. Flights are full. A new Ethiopian Airlines flight from Manila to Addis timed their inaugural week perfectly. Addis faces a major logistical and security challenge with so many leaders from varied spheres headed there.

—blogs.adb.org/blog