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MANAGING DIRECTOR Daniel Tiruneh MANAGING EDITOR Getachew Alemu EDITOR IN CHIEF Aklile Tsige aklile08@gmail.com +251 911 837 863 CONSULTANCY Zeima Ahmed STAFF WRITERS Samuel Teka Mekdes Paulos Ketema Kebede Teshome Fantahun REPORTER Josephine Wawira Kamba Anthony Joseph Oduha DESIGNER Daniel Tiruheh PHOTO Sol Image WEB ADMIN Amanuel Wakshum Rahel Tesfaye DISTRIBUTION Hailu Abesse GRAPHICS DESIGNER Elias Tesfaye CAMERA MAN Dagim Chalchisa MARKETING Sosena Bewketu PARTNERS Ethiopia Culture And Tourism Addis ababa police Commission Ethio Great Investment Support Service PLC Abyssinia Business Network is published by EYUDAN MEDIA PLC business license no .KK/AA/14/706/661438/2009 ADDRESS Kirkos Subcity ,Wereda 02 , House No 545/B Meskel Flower
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EDITORIAL
ABYSSINIA BUSINESS NETWORK
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Edi
CURBING SKYROCKETING
PRICES
Ethiopia has made substantial progress in recent decades, but is now confronting mounting economic challenges. Ethiopia faces many symptoms of an ill economy, including mounting debt, a shortage of foreign exchange, a swelling unemployment rate, inflation, low productivity, and workforce skills mismatched to the economy’s needs. Policy reforms informed by research findings are required to address the various parts of the country. In situation. addition, the economic and political pressures from the Western nations The economic consequences of has been exacerbating the situation the pandemic appear to be more in the country. protracted than health-related repercussions. This will reverse The agriculture sector is the economic gains made in the past largest employer in the country few years, which have seen large and generates significant foreign segments of the Ethiopian population exchange for Ethiopia, particularly lifted from poverty. The number coffee and oil seeds. Nevertheless, of people living below the poverty it has not yet caused either surplus line is now expected to increase production or even sufficient food due to various reasons, according to supply to the ever-increasing researches conducted by different population. scholars and institutions. Ethiopia’s hospitality sector has More than ever, the people of Ethiopia collapsed as travel bans have gone are currently suffering from illogical into effect around the world. The and unreasonable price hike in almost collateral damage is significant all types of goods and services. The as hospitality accounts for over 8 soaring price in major food items percent of the total employment such as sugar, edible oil, cereals and in the country. At the same time, crops as well as vehicle spare parts Ethiopia’s manufacturing sector, is becoming severe headache for the a key focus of the government in majority. This growing cost of living recent years has weakened due both in urban and rural areas is being to the disruption in supply chains fueled by socio-political unrest in worldwide.
While working on strengthening domestic taxation and raising more revenues to finance public goods, the priority needs to be on improving the business environment to attract private capital mobilizing private finance for development. The shift from agrarian to industrial to post-industrial economy requires different worker skills. The Government of Ethiopia along with local and international nongovernmental organizations needs to advance a business-friendly and enabling policy environment in order to promote increased private sector investment and growth, and expand trade opportunities. Most importantly, the Government should critically work on boosting agricultural produces, stabilizing the market through sustainable regulatory framework and law enforcement activity and ensure peace and order across the nation in order to pull down the skyrocketing cost of living, and resume the economic growth.
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Aklile Tsige
Editor-In-Chief
Aklile Tsige is a journalist, a documentary script writer, director and narrator, movie subtitlemaker and Aviation English Language Rater. His work has earned him numerous recognitions and certificates from various film production companies in the country. Currently Aklile is engaged in freelance writing for different media houses, and also serves as Editor-in-Chief for Abyssinia Business Network/ABN/. He has studied English Language and Literature for his under graduate study and Journalism and Communications,Graduate School of Journalism and Communications Addis Ababa University.
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Abyssinia
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twork (ABN
Business Ne
M!
ITS OUR DA
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Pushing the Envelope: Ethiotelecom In a bold and daring move, the pioneer Ethiopian telecommunications service provider Ethio telecom, has been introducing state-of-the-art technologies to its users since its establishment. With the commitment to connect Ethiopia to the future, the company has been engaged in introducing the latest technological trends and developments. Through this it has contributed to the socio economic development of Ethiopia by playing an enabling role in all-weathers. To this end, Ethiotelecom has been expanding its 3G and 4G networks throughout the nation effectively achieving
97% telecom services coverage, densifying the network and upgrading the earlier technologies to the latest ones. The latest of its achievements comes in the form of introducing the first 5G service to Addis Ababa in selected sites. The pre-commercial deployment of the 5G service in Addis Ababa, as the capital city of our country and the diplomatic seat of international and continental institutions is in line with Ethiotelecom’s aspiration to become the preferred operator. It is also a testament to the company’s unrelenting zeal to take risks and push the envelope.
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YONAS AYALEW / Eng./
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YETNAYET TAMRAT
Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
MULUGETA TEFFERA
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Content
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MOGES TIBEBU
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YONAS WIBISHET
TAKAO SEKI
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TEMITIM TOLA
IBRAHIM KASSA
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Yetnayet Tamrat: Born with Entrepreneurial Mindset By Samuel Teka /ABN/ Entrepreneurs help bolster economic development, create jobs, and invent products and services that can make the world a better place. Being a successful entrepreneur requires outside-the-box thinking and larger-than-life ideas. Most can come up with a new idea but converting it to a successful business around is the entrepreneurial challenge. The entrepreneurial mindset is unique in that one must be creative, communicative, and highly motivated to succeed. In the journey of success and through exploring several approaches, tenacious female entrepreneurs could create strong waves in the business community thus laying a solid base for limitless creativity. In a country with limited number of female entrepreneurs, few have stood out to prove their potentials and achieve their lifelong dreams of owning their own businesses. Yetnayet Tamrat AKA Mimi Tamrat is a mother, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and an artist who was born in the Addis Ababa in 1986 GC. She grew up with her two brothers in a very loving family. Being the only daughter in the family, she had to stand up for herself and learn to become independent at the earliest stage of her life. She was raised to become self-sufficient and confident. She has learnt to mind her manners with strong self-discipline as nurtured by her parents. At early age, she used to travel to the countryside during holiday seasons to visit her grandparents. She still has the memory of the bliss and the smell of the flowers, the magical scenery of the magnificent landscapes and movements of the trees as if their symmetric movements have been choreographed by nature. Above all, she still remembers the heartwarming smile of her grandparents. She enjoys living the now, connecting with nature, discovering different personalities from the countryside. These sparked thoughts and lead to develop some of her hobbies that is related to taking care of nature and helping others. Among the many hobbies she has, gardening is one that gets her connected to nature; she believes that every being on this planet has a way of communicating if one cares enough to listen. Walking In her garden she feels like her plants speak to her and help her transcend into the comfort and calmness. This experience also allows her to listen to herself and connect to her inner peace. Yetnayet doesn’t usually take no for an answer. She always fights for what she believes in. she never sleeps until she sees her dreams come true. Every day she tries to learn new things from different people 12
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ABYSSINIA BUSINESS NETWORK
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YETNAYET TAMRAT MEDIQUAI, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AFRICA
Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
and experience to expand her wisdom. She believes ambition is her drive that leads her to overcome whatever challenge she may face on whatever journey she chooses to take. As a mother, her children are her greatest source of joy. Motherhood has given her a different level of drive and has shown her another dimension of life. She is brave and protective for her children and conscious of her day-to-day steps cognizant of her children follow into her footsteps. As a philanthropist and as a woman who wants to make impact, her life motto is “Being kind always pays back”. If we support one another, there is no challenge we can’t overcome and problems we can’t solve. Her conviction is to support people in whatever way possible. As part of a corporate social responsibility program, there are events that took place to support the community in different part of the country. Details of the program are listed on her website, Yetinayet Tamrat is one of a handful of Ethiopian female entrepreneurs who have found fortune and success in Ethiopia. ABN reporter Samuel Teka talks to Yetinayet Tamrat on her life experience and professional journey as well as her engagement in filmmaking, entrepreneurship, and management.
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Driven by the zeal to be financially independent and free to make her own decisions, Yetinayet established a plethora of variegated businesses over the years. She says that she is averse to the influence of superiors in the job world as it serves little to next purpose in realizing her dream of becoming self-sufficient and independent. As such, she had to eventually give up being employed to pursue her entrepreneurial passion. Yetnaye has BA in Accounting and Business Administration along with Graphics Design, Interior Design then after management and other software trainings. Before earning her first degree, Yetnayet had started her professional career at Greenland Household Importer company around Kazanchize as an Accountant for two months. Then right after she graduated, she got another job offer to work at Veras Wonderland, the first children recreation center in Ethiopia which she got opportunity to meet most VIPS from in Ethiopia. She started as secretary, but her boss promoted her as Assistant Manager due to her quick adapting and fast learning abilities. Yet again, after working for a couple of months in this capacity, she left for a graphics design and printing company called Image Advertisement where she learned the basics of graphics design. Yetnayet used her newly found set of skill and the network she built to establish her first private business in living room of her parents’ house. She expanded the business to eventually own a printing press company around Atlas Hotel. Few years later, together with her fiancée they bought a flower farm. Then after, Yetnayet got pregnant, and she went to the USA as the pregnancy was a bit tough on her. After a while she returned to home to give birth for her first child. Yetnayet started a floriculture plant which she forfeited for a stint in the movie industry. Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
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She started working with renowned Ethiopian filmmaker Serawit Fikre as his Marketing and Business Development Director for about 10 months. While she was working with Serawit and his wife ,Yetnayet was cast for a movie entitled “Werq be Werq” which was a commercial success. Buoyed by the success of her acting career, Yetnayet established a production company called Spot film productions through which she has made numerous movies and international documentaries. Currently, she is the owner of Spot Ethiopia. She is also a founder, shareholder, Board member and CEO of SDE (Swiss Diagnostics Ethiopia). SDE is an advanced medical diagnostics center which targets most African countries patients. The institution’s facility is now nearing completion and when it starts operation, it will perform diagnostics that are commonly carried out abroad. This special diagnostics center is established in 16
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a joint venture with world-renowned Swiss medical Doctor Roger Gablinger who owns the first Private hospital in Zurich, Switzerland. Motivated by the philanthropic act of helping communities, he invested in SDE and even has plans to give free services of cervical cancer and urology. She explained about Dr Roger “Roger has a golden heart". He is a person who makes positive things out of negative circumstances. He is one of the few foreigners who fought against fake news made against our country’s situation and his role in this regard shoud not be underestimated. He has deep feelings for this country and its citizens. He was supporting our community even during Covid 19. Even though there had been discouraging advice given to him not to invest in Ethiopia, he demonstrated his perseverance with all the bureaucratic challenges around the investment and national bank policy. He believed in me
ABYSSINIA BUSINESS NETWORK
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DR. ROGER GABLINGER FOUNDER, MEDIQUAI
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to bring the outstanding Swiss medical service and technology to Ethiopia so that nobody has to wait for 3 to 4 weeks to get a simple laboratory result. she continues…. “Roger believes that God is so nice and generous to him and therefore it's time for him to support the society. Then, he followed my dreams to my country helping me to achieve it and I'm so proud and thankful for that". On top of her role in SDE, Yetnayet is currently working as Executive Director Africa for Mediquai Swiss. Mediquai Swiss is a medical institution established with the goal of making patients’ lives easier. It accompanies patients throughout their entire medical journey and becomes central point of contact for all medical needs arising throughout their life. The institution offers a broad range of preventive healthcare services including medical checkups, genetic counseling and testing and access to the Swiss healthcare system with a revolutionary pricing system along with new and disruptive approach with predictable and capped prices. Its pricing system is tightly connected to the officially regulated Swiss healthcare pricing. Mediquai members get express access to inperson consultations and treatments at its exclusive medical partners. By keeping medical history and constantly updating their status of diagnoses, past treatments, current medication, vaccination status and allergies, it offers a second opinion for its members. As Yetinayet explained, the motivation to work in collaboration with Mediquai came after she had to go through a lot for the medical treatment of her first daughter who had a bladder infection. At first, her condition was overlooked by local doctors as being a minor health mishap. But as the condition worsened, a CT-scan was sent to a Swiss health facility for a second opinion. Even though, the outstanding service of the health facility was commendable, Yetinayet was charged three times more than the usual rate as per 18
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Roger believes that God is so nice and generous to him and therefore it's time for him to support the society. Then, he followed my dreams to my country helping me to achieve it and I'm so proud and thankful for that".
ABYSSINIA BUSINESS NETWORK
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“Spot Ethiopia’s motto: “Inception of Greatness” comes from its vision for Ethiopia to exploit these huge opportunities and find riches in its deeply rooted diversity.”
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Switzerland’s DRG price regulation system. Not only that the whole process was so complicated from getting doctors’ appointments to facilitating the laboratory test but also the language barriers and insecurity she faced was unbearable. She later learned from a friend, a Mediquai membership would’ve eliminated such unfair treatment. She'd have paid also less than 60% of the actual cost incurred and Mediquai would have handled all these problems in a reduced time, with less cost and in zero insecurity. Yetinayet contemplated about the prospect of saving unnecessary expenditures of non-Swiss international medical tourists through a collaborative work with Mediquai. She then sat down and pitched the idea to the founder of Mediquai Dr Gablinger. Initially, her proposal didn’t seem so convincing to him, as he was skeptical about the potential of Africa to provide an attractive market suited for the purpose of Mediquai. However, after several discussions he decided that Yetinayet would take on the role of director to oversee the activities of marketing and networking. “Spot Ethiopia’s motto: “Inception of Greatness” comes from its vision for Ethiopia to exploit these huge opportunities and find riches in its deeply rooted diversity.” Her connection in the medical sector has earl age story that she was apprehensive about working on the medical field which she never had any experience. However, as a person who likes to face challenges head on, she decided to take on the role anyway. Yetinayet excelled in her performance which convinced Dr Gabling to promote her company Spot Ethiopia as a sole representative agent in the whole continent of Africa. Now she leads Mediquai gracefully in Africa. The intrinsically motivated and tenacious businesswoman has also been determined to replicate the advanced diagnostics laboratory facilities of Switzerland in her home country Ethiopia where patients must endure long periods Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
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to get laboratory results and proceed to further medical procedures. Hence, she collaborated with the most Influential Entrepreneur and good hearted person, Dr. Roger Gablinger of Switzerland to establish Swizz Diagnostics Ethiopia which aims to reduce the time and cost incurred by patients and mainly to reduce patients risking their life in waiting for the accurate results to get their treatment or medications. Established with over 200-million-birr worth investment, Swiss Diagnostics Center is the daughter company of Swizz Diagnostics International operating with fully automated state of the art medical laboratory equipment and highly skilled professionals. As Yetinayet contends, the facility will be a major diagnostics hotspot not only for Ethiopia, but the whole of Africa pulling in valuable foreign currency for the Ethiopian economy. When it is functional, it will create job opportunities for talented medical professionals and provides conducive ground for knowledge and skills transfer. Swiss Diagnostics Ethiopia provides blood sample tests, pathology, wellness services, DNA analysis, and cervical cancer diagnosis, along with carrying out medical researchers in various areas. Another investment in the Spot Ethiopia group is a real estate company. The Rescuers was established with the view to giving the capital Addis Ababa unique set of buildings. To this end, the Rescuers real-estate had the privilege of working with internationally recognized architect Mr. Santiago Calatrava who designed the World Trade Center Transportation Hub in New York city, Museum of Tomorrow in Rio de Janeiro, and several other iconic bridges, museums around the globe. However, as Yetnayet regretted, implementing such design has proven to be a daunting task due to the bureaucratic system and regulatory approaches of business making in Ethiopia. Many investors working with her have found the bureaucratic complexities of Ethiopia inferior to their investment capacity and therefore tend to cancel their partnerships and ventures. She believes the current trend in change is a great start that still needs focus and attention of law makers in creating conducive investment conditions for foreign direct investment. Elaborating on the various business opportunities in Ethiopia, Yetnayet noted that Ethiopia is endowed with numerous business opportunities. While some are exploited to a fair degree; most others still remain untapped. Spot Ethiopia’s motto: “Inception of Greatness” comes from its vision for Ethiopia to exploit these huge opportunities and find riches 20
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“ Roger believes that God is so nice and generous to him and therefore it's time for him to support the society. Then, he followed my dreams to my country helping me to achieve it and I'm so proud and thankful for that".
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in its deeply rooted diversity. According to Yetnayet, if institutional incapacities and impeding regulatory measures are lifted and smoothened, the possibilities are endless, In her future plan, Yetnayet envisions to implement projects that are on the pipeline and to further create more job opportunities for communities. She strongly believes in supporting each other and looking after those who are really in need and straggling to get a single meal a day. She has great respect and love from her surroundings and society on her humanitarian works. Her journey and achievement thus far are spurred by her will to push the boundaries to try new ways that many others have shied away from. It is a testament of persistence and determination that envisages creating opportunities by simply daring to succeed.
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OPTIMIZING ADDIS ABABA’S ROADS:
ADDIS ABABA CITY ROAD AUTHORITY By Daniel Tiruneh /ABN/ Cities around the world inter connect with roads which is defined by The organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) as "a line of communication (travelled way) using a stabilized base other than rails or air strips open to public traffic, primarily for the use of road motor vehicles running on their own wheels", which includes "bridges, tunnels, supporting structures, junctions, crossings, interchanges, and toll roads, but not cycle paths". There are many types of roads, including parkways, avenues, controlled-access highways (freeways, motorways, and expressways), tollways, interstates, highways, thoroughfares, and local roads. The primary features of roads include lanes, sidewalks (pavement), roadways (carriageways), medians, shoulders, verges, bike paths (cycle paths), and shared-use paths. The Addis Ababa city road Authority is a governmental institution resposnsible for the construction of reliable, standardized and quality roads in Addis Ababa City. Besides the expansion of the road coverage of the city, it strive to attain sufficient road coverage for the community to get interchangeable traffic flow. The authority has the mission of building Asphalt roads, Gravel Access Roads, Coble Stone pavement Roads, Drainages, Bridges and concrete roads and making suitable for residents of Addis Ababa to significantly remarkably enhance the regular activities, thereof using hi-tech and low cost materials and resources constructed by contractors and own force at improving level on time available for public service. 24
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The Addis Ababa city Road Authority is striving to increase the road coverage of the city from 7,640 to 13,125km over the next 10 years with 165 billion birr investment.”
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MOGES TIBEBU
CEO, ADDIS ABABA CITY ROAD AUTHORITY
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Getting Image
Addis Ababa Roads Authority is a municipal organization established in 1998. Its major tasks include designing, constructing, maintaining and administering roads in the city of Addis Ababa. Until 2020, the authority has been able to construct a total of 7640km length road. Apart from these, it is tasked with road network widening and alleviating traffic load. 26
Currently, the authority is overseeing more than 100 projects that are worth around 28 billion birr. When completed these projects will regulate traffic flow, ensure road security, create job opportunities for the youth, and consequently change the image of the city while lowering commuting time and cost. ABN sat down with the CEO of the Addis Ababa Road Authority Moges Tibebu to discuss about the involvements of the authority in
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construction and maintenance of roads in Addis Ababa. To achieve success in the road construction sector, the Addis Ababa road Authority employs a lot of strategies. One of these is furnishing adequate and suitable roads that make non-motorized traffic sufficiently available. Through this, over 500km of pedestrian road has been constructed. Over the past 3 years, major reconstruction of
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100km existing pedestrian roads has been carried out, the CEO pointed out. The roads are inclusive of the disabled, changed the city’s image, and lessened risk of car accidents and ensured pedestrian road safety. Additionally, 22kms of bicycle road is under construction which is in line with the authority’s expansion of Non-Motorized Traffic. The bureau recently culminated the construction of the Haile garment-Jemo bicycle road. The second strategy laid out by the Addis Ababa roads Authority is the expansion of road network distribution. Over the past 3 years, 60 asphalt road projects have been completed covering about 130kms in total length. In most cases, road junctions are where heavy traffic is registered. As Engineer Moges said, “To eliminate heavy traffic, underpass overpass and tunnel works are being constructed in 8 different locations”.
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To eliminate heavy traffic, underpass overpass and tunnel works are being constructed in 8 different locations”.
“To eliminate heavy traffic, underpass overpass and tunnel works are being constructed in 8 different locations”. These major constructions are being undertaken in CMC, Bole Michael, Imperial, Lebu, Kaliti, Kera. The authority also built the first tunnel road in Addis Ababa’s history covering around 320 meter in length. Also, in junctions where heavy traffic flow are observed traffic lights are installed which facilitated effective handling of heavy load traffic. As the CEO explained, in prior times, various transport infrastructures such as road, railway and freight were planned separately. But the authority has laid out a comprehensive 10-year strategic plan that considers all of these facets of the transportation sector. The implementation phase of the plan is financed by the World Bank. The defunct structural plan was only devised to serve as a spatial plan. However, the new 10 year Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
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plan considers the future aspects of the transportation sector. Another problem in Addis Ababa’s road infrastructure that needed to be addressed is drainage. To solve this, a comprehensive drainage master plan, laid out in an integrated manner by considering all sectors of the transport sector, was implemented. Maintenance and up keeping roads to sustain their service and preserve assets by fulfilling international standards is also another mandate of the Addis Ababa Roads Authority, as the CEO Moges Tibebu said. Such works have great roles in enabling the city reach 90% road coverage rate in the coming few years. As Moges said, the Addis Ababa Roads Authority follows two ways of construction. The first one is through hiring consultants and contractors. But when there are cases in which it might not be feasible to involve the private sector, the city road authority takes its own intervention plans. This is its second mode of operation. The capacity of the city administration is gaining momentum from time to time and the majority of the recently completed projects are undertaken with the resources and institutional capacity of the city road authority. Utility companies which provide electricity, water, and communications are also stakeholders in the road construction sector as it requires an effective integration of these services. Optimizing the capacity of road infrastructure network is also being undertaken by taking international experiences from advanced nations. Stressing on the challenges of the authority, Moges said that one of the major challenges is lack of proper integration of utility infrastructures into road construction projects. To solve this, the Addis Ababa road authority is integrating 28
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essential auxiliary facilities into roads. One of the major breakthroughs that make such undertakings systematic and sustainable is the establishment of transport infrastructure asset management system. This is a powerful database that stores information about designs of infrastructures, including how, where and when they were made. Such system is believed to modernize how project data is collected for future reference or any other related purposes. Another challenge of the road construction sector is boundary demarcation. The city roads authority demolishes old buildings or other infrastructural settings to rebuild roads of the city as per the design standards of the 10 year strategic master plan. In doing so, demarcation problems should be properly dealt with in collaboration with the Addis Ababa city administration office. But still problems of giving residents new replacement homes or lands continues to be a major challenge as Moges highlighted. The Addis Ababa city road authority has also taken the assignment of installing intelligent transport system design on 220 road intersections with the financial aid of the World Bank which is believed to eliminate traffic congestions on road intersections. Construction of Mass transportations infrastructure systems within the next 10 years is also another assignment taken by the authority. To this end, the BR2B2 corridor is now being implemented and other 9 corridors will be constructed in the coming 10 years. Aside the integration and networking of main roads, shortcut roads are being constructed which lessen the load on main roads. Design of these roads is
Getting Image Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
now complete and this plan aims to increase the road coverage from 7640km to 13,125km with a 7 meter equivalent width. For this, 165 billion birr worth of investment is needed by involving the private sector as well. As Moges elaborated, PPP platforms and schemes are being considered to accomplish the construction plan. The financial resources will also be secured through the authority’s budget, loan, aid, and other maintenance fund. “The Addis Ababa city Road Authority is striving to increase the road coverage of the city from 7,640 to 13,125km over the next 10 years with 165 billion birr investment.” Newly constructed roads will be designed well by communicating effectively with other auxiliary infrastructure developers. This way, it will significantly reduce the number of reworks which previously lead to demolishing roads to maintain utility services of water, telecommunication and electricity. The establishment of transport infrastructure asset management system has also reduced the damages incurred by existing infrastructures since it provides adequate information on the conditions of age old public facilities, thereby protecting them from damages and additional maintenance costs. 30
As the CEO said, “If we are to bring a radical change in the Addis Ababa transport system, the ITS should be implemented”. This system collects traffic flow data from selected corridors and sends to traffic operation center. Using the data the center makes possible the optimization of traffic flow in busy road intersections. Moges also added that, in order to have a healthy traffic system in the city three things must be available namely; Engineering solution, enforcement and education. Technology aided interventions and enforcements should be put in place. Moges also did not shy away from mentioning that achieving these feats comes at a considerable investment cost spread out over the course of 10 years. The CEO also highlighted that some of the opportunities in the road construction sector include the fact that the government is committed to make the city attractive through a dedicated act of all echelons of the government body. Such commitment is strong enough to overcome any impeding challenges. Building comfortable roads is something in line with this plan, as Moges said. Project delivery capacity is the second one. The authority’s experiences thus far can be considered as good opportunities that can be leveraged for future projects and endeavors.
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On the other hand, there are wide arrays of challenges observed in the road maintenance and construction sector. Aside from boundary demarcations, the soaring prices of construction materials and inputs and long standing court legislations are the major challenges of the authority. This is limiting the bureau from achieving its intended target of building more roads. As the economy of the capital Addis Ababa grows, it attracts millions of people from underdeveloped regions of the country. However, unless other intervention methods are implemented, sustaining the migration of individuals would prove to be a major challenge requiring significant intervention mechanisms. Development of urban centers will be the future plan of the Ethiopian government. To this end, the Addis Ababa city road authority’s technology leveraging road expansion and optimization efforts contribute a great deal to the interventions mechanisms over the coming years.
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JETRO: VIRTUALLY NETWORKING
BUSINESSES
By Samuel Teka /ABN/
An international non-governmental organization (INGO) is an organization which is independent of government involvement and extends the concept of a non-governmental organization (NGO) to an international scope, according to Wikipedia. It also defines NGOs as units that are independent of governments and can be seen as two types: advocacy NGOs, which aim to influence governments with a specific goal, and operational NGOs, which provide services.[1] Examples of NGO mandates are environmental preservation, human rights promotions or the advancement of women. NGOs are typically not-for-profit, but receive funding from companies or membership fees. [2] Many large INGOs have components of operational projects and advocacy initiatives working together within individual countries. Non-governmental organization activities include, but are not limited to, environmental, social, advocacy and human rights work. They can work to promote social or political change on a broad scale or very locally. NGOs play a critical part in developing society, improving communities, and promoting citizen participation. There are a number of INGOs operating in Ethiopia out of which the Japan Export Trade Organization (JETRO) is found to be somewhat unique in its activity. The Ethiopian office of JETRO is headed by Takao Seki who hails from Nagayo, Japan. Takao holds a BA degree in law and an MA degree in international development from Nagoya University, Japan. After completing his study, Takao joined JETRO in 2003. Prior to that, his work revolved around African economies starting his tenure in desk offices in Tokyo. His first transfer to Africa was to the JETRO Nairobi branch where he conducted researches and other development related activities for 3 years. After returning to his hometown of Nagoya to work for JETRO headquarters, he returned to Africa to head JETRO’s Addis Ababa office as Director General. ABN sat down with Takao to discuss the facets of bilateral economic cooperation between Ethiopia and Japan, the contributions of JETRO to this cause, policy and strategic plans and future endeavors. 32
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TAKAO SEKI
DIRECTOR GENERAL, JETRO ETHIOPIA
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Established by Japan Export Trade Research Organization in Osaka in February 1952, the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO), an international nonprofit corporation, is of the nature of independent administrative institution Later, the organization was reorganized under the Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) in 1958 (later the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry or METI), and became an Independent Administrative Institution in 2003 to consolidate and facilitate Japan's efforts in export trade and promotion. The government of Japan has provided more than half of JETRO's annual operating budget. As of January 2020, JETRO has established seventy-six offices in fifty-four countries, as well as forty-eight regional offices in Japan, with a total staff of 1,730 (998 domestic, 732 overseas). Its main office is located in the Ark Mori Building in Akasaka, Tokyo. Initially, JETRO's activities focused mainly on promoting foreign exports to other countries. As exporters began performing well and got competitive in world markets and the balance of trade turned from deficit to surplus, JETRO's role shifted to encompass more varied activities. These have included advanced efforts of mutual understanding with trading partners, strategic investment attraction, import promotion, liaison between small businesses in Japan and their overseas counterparts, and 34
data dissemination. Import promotion services have included publications, promotion of trade fairs, seminars, and trade missions. JETRO’s engagements also go beyond trade facilitation and promotion. The organization also provides information and support to foreign companies looking for successful entry and expansion into the Japanese market. Among its wide range of services, noteworthy mentions include timely market intelligence, extensive business development support, and relevant business events, designed to encourage new business between foreign companies and Japan. JETRO also provides current information on the laws and regulations surrounding new business operation in Japan to assist companies in expanding their business to Japan. According to JETRO’s 2021 report, the percentage of companies expecting operating profit in 2021 increased by 12.7 points from the previous year to 49.2%, which was level with previous years. While the percentage for South Africa was above the global average, it was below the global average in all other countries. In some countries, the figure did not yet recover to pre- COVID-19 levels or have decreased from 2020.
“JETRO is an eyewitness for companies who
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struggled in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as many Japanese companies had to restructure their overseas resource allocations. This in turn reduced flow of information among different local Japanese companies and their international partners.” On the other hand, the percentage of companies expecting business expansion increased by 6.8 percent to 48.6%. More than 70% of companies operating in Africa highly evaluated the market size/growth potential. On the other hand, more than 50% of the companies reported that there were investment risks related to the development and implementation of regulation or legislation and unstable situations. Also, according to the annual report, the top promising business areas in Africa are food in the consumer market and electrical power in the infrastructure market. In the resources and energy category, renewable energy accounted for more than 80% of the votes by investors, surpassing the percentage for natural gas and oil. As in the previous years, countries of interest are Kenya, South Africa and Nigeria (from the 1st place to the 3rd place). Ghana ranked 4th most attractive investment hotspot, because it was highly evaluated as the business hub in West Africa.
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Table 1 – Future investment trends and Comments towards investment Source: JETRO Annual Report, 2021 Another survey by JETRO showed the business conditions of Japanese companies in Africa for 2021: the total number of employees by these firms, their areas of engagement and their respective regional involvements.
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One of the 76 offices of JETRO is in the Africa and Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. Located in the economic and business hub of the nation, JETRO mainly facilitates external trade of Japan in Ethiopia, and involves the importation of manufactured goods and equipment and the exportation of agricultural products on the part of Ethiopia such as coffee beans, oilseeds and other raw and semi processed commodities.
and entities the COVID-19 pandemic impacted JETRO’s activity which limited its involvement in the international trade sector. It was mainly unable to organize exhibitions and shows which were instrumental in connecting business companies from around the world with Japanese private sector. Hence, the main activities of the organization was mainly on researching and finding new alternative business partners for the private sector. In addition, JETRO also targeted Small and Micro Enterprises (SMEs) in aiding As Takao explained, the aim of their business ventures and activities. JETRO includes but not limited to finding overseas business “In cases where they experience partners and organizing business difficulties, JETRO provides the exhibitions. It came into existence necessary assistance in solving after the culmination of WWII in mishaps by periodically exchanging an effort to revitalize a tattered information. Such information economy of Japan. At the time, is used as a learning experience many Japanese investors didn’t among the private sector.” have the necessary linkages for external trade and information As Director General Takao about businesses overseas such as explained, JETRO is an eyewitness trends, profit markups and other for companies who struggled in the relevant facts and data. wake of the COVID-19 pandemic as many Japanese companies had to Lack of information was partly restructure their overseas resource due to the unsophisticated and allocations. This in turn reduced disjointed nature of international flow of information among different trade. Such trend had thus local Japanese companies and effectively isolated Japan from their international partners. As a international trade. Therefore, consequence, numerous Japanese it was imperative that JETRO businesses and their partners missed should be established to conduct valuable market opportunities. business and investment researches, conduct market Nowadays, as the world recovers intelligence activities and from the impact of the corona aid Japanese investors find pandemic, JETRO is working with potential business partners in the Japanese companies in finding international trade arena. potential partners internationally. Responding directly to the Japanese Just like any other organizations Ministry of Economy, Trade and 36
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Industry, the mandate of JETRO is business promotion of japan private sector and SMEs to the rest of the world. In the 21st century, however, its main focus is not only promotion of business but has shifted towards fostering positive mutual relationships between Japan and its partner countries is also another engagement of the organization. Often, upon the request of Japanese companies, JETRO supports their businesses in promotion and takes care of the companies through consultation to last longer in their host countries. In cases where they experience difficulties, JETRO provides the necessary assistance in solving mishaps by periodically exchanging information. Such information is used as a learning experience among the private sector. This way, JETRO serves as an information hub for the business community of Japan. Out of a total staff number of over 1,100, 700 are located outside of Japan. Its African regional head office is located in South Africa. After a lengthy absence due to the emergence of the Dergue regime and related conflicts, JETRO came back to Ethiopia in 2016 with the office being responsible for trade relations of Japan with Eritrea and Djibouti in addition as well. The reentry symbolizes the long lasting commitment on the part of Japan to enhance economic and business ties between the two countries as the director general said. Prior to establishing its office in Ethiopia, JETRO’s Nairobi
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office was responsible for the affairs related to Ethiopia. Takao mentioned some instances of notable activities that the JETRO carried out beforehand. In 2010, the Nairobi head was working on the part of Japanese business organization in trade of cut flowers. However, importing SMEs of japan faced problem in securing a Certificate of Origin issued by Ethiopian Customs Authority. This was due to the change of format and was not properly communicated with the Japanese customs Authority. Consequently, it will imply that Ethiopian origin products would be charged 30% tax tariff due to this mishap. Eventually, JETRO and Japanese embassy intervened to solve this problem and help the import go through as planned. Operating with 76 overseas offices in 55 countries besides 51 local offices in Japan alone, JETRO performs a plethora of activities in Africa. But in recent times its emphasis has shifted towards import/export of agriculture machineries and commodities, medical equipment and promotion of Japanese startup SMEs. It has also been engaged in helping Ethiopian exporters attain the necessary level of product quality by introducing knowledge transfer and inviting Japanese companies in Ethiopia to exchange experience and expertise. The Director General stated that as the challenges of the northern Ethiopian conflict and the corona pandemic worsened,
JETROs operations in Ethiopia have taken a hit for the past two years and the organization found it difficult to conduct its business as usual operations. Therefore, it had to resort to virtual trading and B2B exhibition platforms to connect Japanese multinational corporations and their Ethiopian counterparts. As such, it has been heavily engaged in collecting the needs of Ethiopian business companies and finding Japanese partners, bridging the technology and knowledge gap. This was mainly conducted by analyzing the opportunities and risk that exist. If the opportunities outweigh the risk involved in a business then those areas of investment are shortlisted for further proceedings. As would be expected, JETRO faces numerous challenges an in Ethiopia. As Takao shared, there are disparities between what the Japanese companies want to do and the existing realities in Ethiopia. That is, minimum capital requirement to invest in Ethiopia as stipulated by the government has limited the number of Japanese SMEs involved. Not only that, Japanese SMEs are not afforded industrial shades since the Ethiopian government
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wants the involvement of heavy scale manufacturers which bring in a considerable amount of foreign currency. The regulations with regard to these are amended but the minimum requirements are yet to be revised. The fact that Ethiopia is selective has also limited productivity of Japanese companies.
“In cases where they experience difficulties, JETRO provides the necessary assistance in solving mishaps by periodically exchanging information. Such information is used as a learning experience among the private sector.”
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NEST ADDIS:
NESTING THE BASICS By Samuel Teka /ABN/ Engaging in an export business in Ethiopia is a good business venture; export from the country is growing and the government also encourages the sector. Ethiopia's main export product is coffee; the country is credited to be the birth place of coffee and it has long been its major export product. Not only that, coffee plays a central role in the Ethiopian social fabric. Ethiopia imports a wide range of goods: from heavy machinery and steel to chewing gum. A large number of Ethiopian businesses are engaged in import activities. Even though the growing manufacturing industries will provide substitutes for some goods, Ethiopia will very likely continue to import most of the goods it's importing now. According to various sources, participating in the import trade in Ethiopia may be a good idea for a domestic trader; a foreign exporter also can make use of the growing import to Ethiopia and sell its goods to Ethiopian Importers. Construction machinery and vehicles, steel, chemicals, and recently cement are goods that are imported to Ethiopia in huge quantities. Nest Addis Import and Export Company is one of the import and export companies in Ethiopia which was established in 2019 by Yonas Wubishet, a Graduate of Mekele University who has worked in a call center and a real estate agency as a sales associate. The company is currently working on exporting agricultural products obtained from the rich lands of Ethiopia and importing construction inputs and machineries, baby supplements and sanitary products and agricultural raw materials. ABN had the opportunity to talk to Yonas Wubishet, owner and Managing Director of Nest Addis One Trading Plc., and discuss overall shape of the company and the journey ahead. 40
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The company’s social responsibility acts starts from paying due taxes to the government, and has been fulfilling this responsibility for the past 4 years or so. Other social responsibility activities include building homes for the poor, and financing water well drilling projects in remote rural areas of the country.”
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YONAS WIBISHET
FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR, NEST ADDIS ONE TRADING PLC.
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Envisioning becoming the go-to business unit for companies and dominant player in the import and export sector, the company aims to provide high-end quality goods to its customers abroad and the nation. It strives to nurture the country’s export sector by providing quality goods, on-time with guaranteed customer satisfaction. It also wants to meet the demand of construction inputs, baby products, sanitary products and agricultural raw materials of our nation with a swift service to expedite the country’s economic and community growth. As far as its export items is concerned, Nest Addis Import and Export company mainly exports pulses such as desi chick peas, green mung beans, red kidney beans, white pea beans, red speckled beans, white speckled beans, and peas as well as oil seeds, including whitish sesame seeds Humera, Gondar and Wollega, reddish sesame seeds, sunflower seeds and sun flower seed. With regards to coffee, Nest Addis has been engaged in exporting sweet and spicy flavor of Yirgachefe, Sidama, Gujji and Jimma as well as varieties of coffee from Bebeka, Harar, Nekemt and Limmu. Nest Addis Import and Export imports various construction materials and agricultural inputs. One of the products category the company imports are baby products, even though there are companies manufacturing baby products, the demand has always been skyrocketing and the supply couldn’t cope up with it. It also imports quality yet affordable baby products such as; milk powder and baby diapers. “The name of the company is inspired by birds’ nests which hold offspring as does the company incorporates various subsidiary companies that are involved in different facets of manufacturing and consultancy.” Ethiopia’s major economic driver has been the agricultural sector, and most of the export sector has been affected by the continued loss of quality of the products. Realizing this need, the company wants to take part in improving the agricultural sector by providing the necessary inputs, including fertilizers and pesticides. 42
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Ethiopia has been on the rise of the economic development for the past two decades. One of the striving economic sectors is construction, where the company sees a very huge gap between the demand of the sector and the supply side in the nation; this issue strikes close to home as the company runs a real estate company facing the same challenge. Hence, it imports construction inputs and machineries as construction inputs, reinforcement bars, timbers and asphalt, construction machineries, trucks and concrete mixers. Yonas has been a consultant for the past 6 years in the real estate industry. After his stint in the business he established Nest Addis One Trading plc. that has been operating for the past 3 years. The name of the company is inspired by birds’ nests which hold offspring as does the company incorporates various subsidiary companies that are involved in different facets of manufacturing and consultancy. The trading company is involved in property management and consulting investors of the real estate sector for the past 2 years. He said that the reason why he joined consulting is because the real estate sector is a broad field that necessitates the involvement of professionals from designing up to commissioning. Over the past 2 years the company consulted the construction of 48 different high rise buildings, residential homes and others. The company conducts feasibility studies on how and where to construct buildings in the city of Addis Ababa in a cost saving manner. The company also performs market assessment in the realm of real estate and construction. And now the company has diversified its operation and expanded into the agency of construction materials supply and import/export sector. He said that the Ethiopian construction sector is conducive for investment as there is a 44
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The name of the company is inspired by birds’ nests which hold offspring as does the company incorporates various subsidiary companies that are involved in different facets of manufacturing and consultancy.”
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vibrant activity. The government of Ethiopia has on the other hand a pro-construction policy that promotes investment into construction materials and inputs. In this regard, numerous companies are involved in the manufacture of locally produced construction materials aiding the national import substitution strategy. Taking this as learning experience, Nest Addis one has established a strong link and work partnership with local construction material manufacturers in distributing and creating market for the sector. Additionally, Nest Addis is also involved in import substitution investments and has secured land around the Addis Ababa area for this specific purpose. The other important wing of Nest Addis One is the import/export function. This is an important segment for the Ethiopian economy as it is strongly supported by the Ethiopian government policy. Considered as a major generator of foreign currency, exportation of locally produced agricultural products forms the backbone of the Ethiopian macro economy. Hence, multiple companies are involved in the sector and Nest Addis had also been involved in importation of vital processing industry and construction raw materials. For the past 2 years the company has been on an appreciable track record which involves the exportation of sesame seeds and haricot beans thereby establishing a healthy relationship with private banks. Nest Addis is now studying the market options of coffee to either export or engage in the local retail market. Yonas said that Nest Addis One has future plans to engage in import substitution of construction and industry raw materials and lauded the fact that currently manufacturing of ceramics, lighting fixtures, sanitary pipes and others are being manufactured in Ethiopia. But for now it is consulting projects and distributing construction input materials. As it stands, Nest Addis employs 17 temporary and permanent works. Yonas also said that the company aims to be a key figure in the construction and real estate sector in next 5 years, providing adequate support Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
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for the industry. He also added that over the years the company has been able to create adequate awareness about the company and muster the collaborative support of various stakeholders who aid the company in various aspects. “The company’s social responsibility acts starts from paying due taxes to the government, and has been fulfilling this responsibility for the past 4 years or so. Other social responsibility activities include building homes for the poor, and financing water well drilling projects in remote rural areas of the country.” Yonas has also elaborated on the opportunities of the investment sector that the private stakeholders can capitalize on. He said that import substitution is a great and untapped opportunity. When strong manufacturers proliferate in the, they will create strong distributers for the Ethiopian goods market. This will in turn contribute a great deal in creating job opportunities. He also said that another opportunity lies in the fact that land and finance securing processes are conducive and appreciable on feasible import substitution investments. Moreover, for producers, the market of Ethiopia is vast as cities are being developed and expanded. Yonas also believes that leaping into the export sector in the future is an attractive prospect as it aids the import substitution efforts which contribute to national economic plans. Such like any other company Nest addis also faces numerous callenges. Yonas doesnot believe that the company has not been effective in its operation due to the impact of the corona pandemic. He also said that inadequate financing on the part of banks has also contributed underperformance but 46
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insisted that this has not discouraged Nest Addis from contuuing to perform to the best of its ability. On the other hand, it can be presumed that there are opportunities to be considered. The import substitution scheme of the company is in line with Ethiopia’s loan policy which suits the operations of Nest Addis. Another is exportation of items aid local construction companies since Nest Addis imports various materials such as metal coils when it secures currency through exportation of various seeds. This creates a long lasting trade linkage with stakeholders within the construction value chain. Nest Addis is involved in a plethora of social responsibility activities that focus on lifting the poor and disadvantaged communities out of unfavorable conditions. Yonas said that the company’s social responsibility acts starts from paying due taxes to the government, and has been fulfilling this responsibility for the past 4 years or so. Other social responsibility activities include building homes for the poor, and financing water well drilling projects in remote rural areas of the country. The company is also invested in making itself a household name by taking various branding measures. One of these is transitioning into other sectors of business. As Yonas elaborated, the company’s short term plan is establishing consumer good manufacturing plants which produce different commodities such as baby diapers, paper and paper products, bottled water among others. To this end, the company is working in joint venture with multinational companies.
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As a group of diversified company Nest believes that its products and services shall impact society of all ages. From the onset, our baby products and sanitary materials serve little ones. The group’s construction company serves large portion of Ethiopian society with job creation, infrastructure improvements and our real-estate company serves home seekers for their families. Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
BORN TO SHOOT IBRAHIM KASSA: YOUNG AND VETERAN CINEMATOGRAPHER By Akilile Tsige /ABN/
…the problem mainly attributes to lack of government’s attention to the sector and lack of training centers across the country. Most of the people engaged in the sector have been working in a very traditional manner, not welltrained and educated due to lack of training schools. 48
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IBRAHIM KASSA CINEMATOGRAPHER
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Born and raised nearby the village called ‘Bole Denbel’ in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, Ibrahim Kassa earned his diploma in electricity after completing his high school study, and then he has made his dream come true by joining the then Kam Global Film Institute where he obtained his diploma in Film Production, specializing in cinematography. Moreover, Ibrahim had also the opportunity to get professional training in India. “I was so impressed by everything I was exposed to in India; there are huge film studios as big as cinema halls in Ethiopia. I experienced contemporary editing, cinematography as well as sound mixing and dubbing trainings.” Ibrahim said. Obviously, Ethiopian cinema has been characterized by its poor sound mixing and dubbing features besides other drawbacks. Ibrahim has gained knowledge and skill on applying a sound mixing and dubbing system called 5.1 surround sound ("fivepoint one"), which is the common name for surround sound audio systems. 5.1 is the most commonly used layout in home theatres. It uses five full bandwidth channels 50
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"I was so impressed by everything I was exposed to in India; there are huge film studios as big as cinema halls in Ethiopia. I experienced contemporary editing, cinematography as well as sound mixing and dubbing trainings.”
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Getting Image and one low-frequency effects channel (the "point one"). Dolby Digital, Dolby Pro Logic II, DTS, SDDS, and THX are all common 5.1 systems. 5.1 is also the standard surround sound audio component of digital broadcast and music. All 5.1 systems use the same speaker channels and configuration, having a front left and right, a center channel, two surround channels (left and right) and the low-frequency effects channel designed for a subwoofer. Cinematographers and editors in Ethiopia have now begun exerting relentless efforts to update and improve their knowledge and skills in film-making. “Thanks to technology especially the social media like the YouTube we’re trying to cope up with up-dated techniques of capturing motion pictures, and eventually produce appealing movies” noted Ibrahim. Ibrahim’s exposure to India filmmaking industry seems to have
“Thanks to technology especially the social media like the YouTube we’re trying to cope up with updated techniques of capturing motion pictures, and eventually produce appealing movies” Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
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contributed a bit to the Ethiopian cinema improvement; he has put all his experience in the famous Amharic romantic comedy movie entitled Shefu 1, starring Mahder Assefa, Michael Million and Alemseged Tesfaye. “I think Shefu1 is the first Ethiopian movie made with the application of 5.1 sound system,” he indicated. He’s highly skilled in studio and location shoots, often collaborating in many languages and cultures, with both large and small crews. He’s worked on numerous feature and documentary films, including Flying Hearts which is roughly translated as ‘berari liboch’, starring the renowned Solomon Bogale and Samson Tadesse. He also produced several music videos for popular Ethiopian singers such as Tsehaye Yohannes, Tadele Roba, Madingo Afework and Tigist Fantahun, The famous Amharic romantic comedy films he shot, Shefu 1 and Shefu 2, won the hearts and minds of large audience both in the capital and regional towns and has been showing on various movie channels. Ibrahim has played key roles in the making of these movies by directing, shooting and editing. Over the past 17 years Ibrahim has produced over 50 music videos, 40 TV commercials, several documentary films and 16 feature films working as cinematographer, director, producer and editor. For his magnificent contribution to the various audiovisual productions, he has received different awards and certificates, including KAM Global Pictures Best Cinematographer Award and personal 52
present from the legendary artist Merhawi Sitot. Speaking of the terms "Cinematographer" and "Director of Photography" or DP, Ibrahim described that these two terms are synonymous. It's the person at the head of the camera department who helps bring the director's aesthetic vision to life. The DP oversees camera choice (Are we using RED or Alexa? A Sony or Canon or a Blackmagic camera?), lens choice (are we using Canon zoom lenses or Cooke primes?), shooting style (does this scene call for a handheld, cinema verité style or a dreamy, stabilized style using a gimbal? Or a tripod?), and lighting choices. “…the problem mainly attributes to lack of government’s attention to the sector and lack of training centers across the country. Most of the people engaged in the sector have been working in a very traditional manner, not well-trained and educated due to lack of training schools.” Often, but not always, the cinematographer fills the role of camera operator because that's the best way for them to achieve their creative vision, or simply because that's what the budget allows. On bigger sets, the cinematographer might not even operate camera and they will often have a team under them consisting of a 1st Assistant Camera (1st AC) or
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a Focus Puller whose job it is to adjust focus on the lens, a 2nd AC who does the clapper board and makes sure the camera has batteries and media at the ready amongst other responsibilities, key grips and electricians are heads of departments that look to the cinematographer for direction, and the list goes on. According to Ibrahim, a director of photography is often brought onto a project by the producers or on recommendation of the director. The DP is needed early and often in the production process, as he or she is instrumental in deciding on how to interpret the script and make cinematic style and tone decisions. Once thematic styles are fleshed out, the DP will work to put together crews for cameras and lighting. While the DP may not always do the physical drawing by hand
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Getting Image themselves, a cinematographer must still painstakingly go through the film’s script and create visual representations for every individual shot. The storyboard, combined with a thorough shot list, will lay out the film in its entirety so that the director and producers can schedule and plan the production. A large part of establishing a uniform style for a film revolves around the selection of cameras and lenses for the various scenes. An initial decision needs to be made between digital and film, while taking into account how each would lend itself to a particular look. Along with camera selection, specific lens kits and lenses are hammered out to best capture each shot. In charge of anywhere from a single gaffer to an entire lighting department, the DP will dictate how he or she wants every scene lit. Lighting setups can vary from
elaborate production sets to a single china ball. A great metaphor for the art of lighting compares a cinematographer to a painter, using each layer of light and darkness as a brush to paint a picture within a shot. Along with the lighting, the DP works with his or her cameraman to properly frame each shot as he or she sees fit. Camera composition can sometimes take hours and requires a pristine attention to detail. To further complicate lighting and framing, many shots incorporate some level of camera movement to better engage an audience. Basic moves like pans and tilts can be combined with pushes, pedestals, and zooms. This requires a well-orchestrated team to sometimes move lights, dollies, and even collapsible
walls to keep up with camera’s view. Once production is wrapped, a DP can be heavily involved in the post-production process. While not usually a voice on narrative cutting, the DP can work with the colorists and editors to further develop the stage setting. While directors may get the lion’s share of the glory (or blame) for a film’s critical reception, and producers may get most of the profits, a cinematographer is often the unsung hero of a film’s production. There are some things that can only be communicated and expressed to an audience visually which can make an impression everlasting, said Ibrahim. Ibrahim particularly has a strong eye for natural beauty in landscapes, architecture and people. Ibrahim’s work covers a range of styles and disciplines from bright, aspirational lifestyle pieces, to compelling, moody and dramatic scenes. Ibrahim Abyssinia Business Network / ABN / 2022
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is an expert in every facet of the filmmaking process and is involved in every step of production from prepro, to shooting, and through post production. He works with any camera format that is available in Ethiopia. Ibrahim said that cinematographically Ethiopian cinemas have extremely suffered from poor quality of sound, color, light, shooting angle, editing and some other important filmmaking elements, adding that every element need to be treated in separate departments. With regards to the declining of Ethiopian cinema, Ibrahim indicated that the cinema in the country has begun falling over the past few years, mentioning that the problem mainly attributes to lack of government’s attention to the sector and lack of training centers across the country. Most of the people engaged in the sector have been working in a very traditional manner, not well-trained and educated due to lack of training schools. Putting the Government of Ethiopia as primarily accountable for the falling film sector, Ibrahim recalled that the sector once ranked the 5th item in the nation’s high-income generating or revenue list. However, he said that most of government’s taxation and financial regulations have become bottlenecks for the development of the sector. For example, he said, producers are required to share 50% of their income with cinema hall owners, and to pay a 15% income tax to the government. And 120% taxation has been levied on film-making equipment and materials. 54
The media houses in the country has also little impact on the development of the sector; they hardly put emphasis on conveying informative, educational and entertaining views and messages on Ethiopian film sector while they allocate plenty of. air time to explain foreign movies and music status. “Filmmaking is blood and flesh of my life. I am doing it enthusiastically; I don’t think I can live without this profession for I am not doing it only for a living.” Lack of film-making setting is another barrier to improve the country’s cinema. Both the Government of Ethiopia and the private sector should involve in creating enabling environment for film-making in the country. Artificially constructed scenery needed for filmmaking is so crucial to minimize time and budget allocated for a given film production. “Many argue that the Ethiopian cinema has gone down since the coming of Kana TV, but I don’t agree with this,” said Ibrahim, and kept on saying, “ Kana TV doesn’t have negative impact on the nation’s cinema development; it’s we, the people engaged in the sector who made the audience stay away from local film screen.” The film audience was enthusiastic about the coming of local-language films that were closer to their lives and dreams than the Hollywood blockbusters that had little to do with Ethiopian lives and realities. Investors were encouraged to commission many productions simply because filmmaking has become a profitable investment that attracted many talents. Nevertheless, Ibrahim noted that in addition to the poor cinematographic
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qualities, most of our films don’t raise strong issues and the story telling has become so silly and good for nothing. This, according to Ibrahim, dispersed the large audience to resort to other alternatives like the Kana TV channel. In order to alleviate those challenges the Ethiopian cinema has faced the basic principles for filmmaking process need to be implemented by concerned organs, according to Ibrahim. Learning, Making and Repeating are the most important stages to improve film production; producing skilled manpower is the first step to be taken before making the film, and then finally to repeat what has been made with continuous correction of flaws and defects identified in the production process. Major stakeholders in the sector especially the government should pay critical attention to
provide appropriate incentives to producers and professionals by reducing taxation, establishing film academies and implement the already approved national film policy. Furthermore, media across the country should provide coverage to locally produced films and related issues; thereby the country’s film sector would contribute to the national economic growth and development. Ibrahim reiterated the need to appreciate and acknowledge all local film producers in Ethiopia for their commitment to producing feature films despite their professional qualities, noting that we would not have talked about Ethiopian cinema if they hadn’t made attempts to do so. According to Ibrahim, most of the Ethiopian films are made by enthusiastic and talented young people who unfortunately lack the real training and professional
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contacts needed to succeed in the long term and gain international visibility. In most cases, these people learn from trial and error and observation. Though there is an increase in the number of the filmmakers, huge gaps in the basic knowledge are being noticed yet. Ibrahim appears to be a committed man who puts his heart and soul into everything he does. “Filmmaking is blood and flesh of my life. I am doing it enthusiastically; I don’t think I can live without this profession for I am not doing it only for a living.” Ibrahim noted. With 17-year of mesmerizing experience in the filmmaking business, he has continued to work as freelance cinematographer for leading audiovisual producing companies, directing, shooting and editing TV commercials, music videos, documentary and feature films.
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BACK ON PERCH: EIC F.C’s PROMOTION BACK INTO THE ETHIOPIAN PREMIER lEAGUE By Daniel Tiruneh /ABN/ Football is undoubtedly one of the most loved and highly anticipated sporting events around the globe. Over the years, the sport has grown to become a multi-billion dollar industry contributing to the GDP of several nations which invested intensive labor and capital into it. The world of football is competitive and highly dynamic in its essence. In this scenario, the ones able to catch up with the tide profited abundantly while runners up are left to rue their foregone chances of making it to the top. The Ethiopian football league has for long periods been in the shadows of other African leagues which have been able to succeed thanks to strong government backing and independent federations. Learning from these experiences, the Ethiopian football federation has taken major reforms which included selling broadcast copyrights to major African TV stations in hopes of increasing the league’s visibility. As such, the competitive edge of the Ethiopian premier league has improved in recent years. One of the newly inducted competing clubs is the Ethiopian Insurance Corporation football club /EIC F.C/. Considered as one of the most attractive teams to ever grace the football pitch, EIC F.C. has been around for about 40 years now. After falling from grace to be relegated to the second tier of the Ethiopian football league, the club recently secured promotion much to the delight of its supporters. The success of the club is attributed to the dedication and diligence of its strong management team to return the club back to its glory days. 56
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TEMTIM TOLA PRESIDET, EIC FOOTBALL CLUB
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Temitim conceded that the major factor that played a hand in the team’s relegation was the fact that the inadequate management within the club’s hierarchy. He added that the lack of focus and clear direction affected the performance of players on the pitch which led to its ultimate relegation. However, after 2019 a new management team headed by Samson was organized which spearheaded the quest to regain premier league status.
Samson is the director of Central Addis Ababa District for Ethiopian Insurance Corporation and also serves as the president of the EIC football club. He served as the president and vice president for the past 6 years but has been working for the EIC since the past 30 years. Through his leadership the iconic Ethiopian Insurance Corporation football club has been able to earn promotion back to the BetKing Premier league after years of absence. ABN’s Daniel Tiruneh had the privilege to sit down with the club’s president to discuss about the establishment, journey, challenges and other aspects of EIC football club.
Ethiopian cup on 2 occasions in 1995 and 2002 while also representing Ethiopia on continental cups in 1993, 1999 and 2003. “Ethiopian Insurance Corporation F.C. won the Ethiopian cup on 2 occasions in 1995 and 2002 while also representing Ethiopia on continental cups in 1993, 1999 and 2003.”
Speaking on the club’s contribution, Samson highlighted that EIC Football club has multiple levels of youth teams in U-20, U-15 and U-17. But the club gained widely acclaimed recognition through its first team that competed well in the Ethiopian premier league. Through its youth and first teams, EIC F.C. has contributed numerous players to the every level of the Ethiopian The Ethiopian Insurance national football team. Corporation was established in February 1975 and its football EIC F.C. is a club endeared in the club was inaugurated just after hearts of its fans and is even likened 7 years into its existence. The with the Argentinian national football EIC football club is one of the team for its entertaining and catchy oldest clubs in Ethiopia which football. But after several years of competed at the highest level competitive sportsmanship, the club of the country’s football league was relegated to the second tier of structure. The club won the the Ethiopian football league before earning promotion in 2022. 58
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The success is attributed to attention that the club has gained by the board of management over the past few years. It has massively benefited from the adequate budget allocation by the management of EIC. The club’s president mentioned the new G+2 sporting camp construction which will serve to house 55 athletes within the complex with a cost of over 20 million ETB. Upon completion, the camp will be equipped with all the necessary amenities for its players and staff. Such strong attention and support of the club’s management has contributed to the club’s success. Even though the club came up short of the 1 point it needed to get promotion in 2019, its hard work was rewarded three years later and thanks to the determined and tenacious effort by the management and every player of the club EIC F.C. secured a much sought after promotion into the highest level of Ethiopia football competition. Asked on how the club is planning to remain competitive for many more years to come, Samson said that the club reles upon its age old tradition of building strong
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youth and academy teams in every level. He also added that the recruitment will be conducted in different regions of the country including major talent hotspots of Shashemene, Arba minch, Assosa, Gambella, Dire Dawa and Bahir Dar. This plan is also financially and technically supported by the clubs’ management. When asked about the significance of promotion into the Ethiopian premier league, Samson responded by saying, “The club’s involvement in the premier league helps promotion of EIC’s insurance products and services”. It will also serve to show the commitment of the Ethiopian insurance industry in supporting the sports business.
“The club’s involvement in the premier league helps promotion of EIC’s insurance products and services”.
The president also mentioned the collaborative work it is carrying out with former players of the club. He specifically mentioned the former striker of EIC F.C Hassan Beshir who is now serving as the assistant coach of the first team. As the president also mentioned, there are other former players who are serving in different levels of the clubs structure from which the club gains immense experience and support. When it comes to contracts and finance, Samson mentioned that there is an expenditure cap set by the Ethiopian football federation, limiting the salary of super league players to a mere 20,000 ETB. Out of the annual 40 million ETB allocated for operations, the club only spends 50 percent of it thereby maintaining efficient and healthy finance system. However, there are anomalies in the contracts of players submitted to club’s finance departments and the national federation. Such ways are non-existent when it
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comes to EIC F.C as both contracts are the same in content. This clearly shows the transparent act of the football club which can be taken as exemplary. ABN also asked the president how the football club will go about gaining more supporters. In his reply, Samson said that there are two local clubs that use the pitch of EIC F.C. These clubs have been instrumental in giving the club support and after it got promotion the number of supporters is expected to increase due to increased visibility. In his concluding remarks, Samson said that EIC F.C. is more than committed to ensuring that sporting activities are promoted and encouraged around Kality area where the club’s sporting complex is located. To this end, it is constructing a tennis ground, volleyball pitch and swimming pool which will make the facility a renowned and one of the leading sporting institutions in Ethiopia.
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