"엥 여기 새로 오픈한 창녀촌 아닌가요?"

Along Addis Ababa’s “Mattress Street,” brothels used to be marked with red crosses until the International Red Cross complained that too many Ethiopians were wandering into first-aid stations looking for a treat instead of a treatment.

By government edict, red lights replaced the crosses. In the past two years, the electricity bill for Addis’ red-light districts has risen as the number of cribs increased from 5,000 to 8,000. The boom is a significant symptom of change. Its cause: the influx of foreigners into the city for an endless series of conferences, all part of a determined attempt by His Imperial Majesty Haile Selassie I, Conquering Lion of Judah, Elect of God, King of Kings, and Emperor of Ethiopia, to put his land in the vanguard of African nationalism.