A tatty poster peeling off a wall at the Ministry of Trade and Industry depicts Ethiopia as enjoying 13 months of sunshine – a land of golden opportunity. With economic growth rates outstripping almost every other country in Africa, and a vast population, the potential, according to trade officials, clearly exists. However, within the country itself, massive obstacles remain. Businessmen assert that many opportunities are strangled before birth. Economists say despite growth rates in excess of 5 percent, desperately low incomes stand in the way of real long-term economic gains.

The Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital provides specialised surgery offering a cure to Ethiopian women affected by fistula which can leave a woman permanently incontinent. The Fistula Hospital - one of only three of its kind in the world - was founded in 1975 by Australian-born doctor Catherine Hamlin and her husband Sir Reg Hamlin. Obstructed labour affects five per cent of all women in the world but in most cases the problem can be treated immediately by Caesarean section. In Ethiopia, and other places in sub-Saharan Africa, it's a different story.