Can $79 Billion Build a Private Sector From the Ground Up?

1. ETHIOPIAN BUSINESS
Can $79 billion build a private sector from the ground up?
Special Report July 2013
ETHIOPIAN
BUSINESS
Can $79 Billion Build a Private
Sector From the Ground Up?
July 2013Special Report

2. Business in Ethiopia IDG Connect Special Report2 3
Contents
4 - 5
6 - 7
8 - 9
10 - 11
12 - 13
14 - 15
16
Ethiopia is at the centre of furious activity. It has big plans and is hell bent on
achieving them as quickly as possible. From the controversial Grand Ethiopian
Renaissance Dam to its surprising forays into Big Data, this country is spending
furiously in order to guarantee a bright 21st century future. However, despite
impressive growth rates, the World Bank is concerned that only 10% of GDP
comes from the private sector, while the IMF believes government spending
could be “crowding out” private enterprise. All the while, many foreign investors
are finding the business culture on the ground very difficult to understand. IDG
Connect looks at transitioning Ethiopia, and discusses the potential within this
new, blossoming country.
Ethiopia
Addis Ababa
Understanding Ethiopia
Building a Private Sector from the Ground Up
The Rising Swell of Foreign Interest
Getting to Grips with Ethiopia on the Ground
Perspective: A Businessman in Addis Ababa
Perspective: A Typical Working Day in Addis Ababa
Conclusion

3. Business in Ethiopia IDG Connect Special Report4 5
Understanding Ethiopia
Political Timeline
Monarchy, headed by
Haile Selassie
Communist rule President Meles Zenawi
Leadership
Aug 201219911974
Image courtesy of
Mark Veraart via
Flickr
Mursi woman
Addis Ababa is self-consciously on the up. State
of the art modern buildings jostle between narrow
walkways populated by modest dwellings and a
smattering of goats or cows. The impact of intense
building work judders through the streets and leaves
traffic jams and chaos in its wake. Addis is situated
at the heart of the country. It is the diplomatic centre
of the continent and seat of the African Union. From
here, five main arterial roads fan out to the exterior,
taking travellers into a country of coffee plantations,
spa resorts, rock-hewn churches, national parks, salt
mines and desert planes.
SUDAN
KENYA
SOMALIA
ADDIS ABABA
ERITREA
UGANDA
Ethiopia is one of the oldest civilisations on the
continent and with the exception of a brief five-year
stint in the 1930s, it has remained un-colonised.
Now it has ambitious plans for the future and is
pumping money into its Growth and Transformation
Plan (GTP), which began in 2010 and runs until
2015. Via an estimated investment of US$75-79
billion over five years, this blueprint for regrowth
seeks to provide copious employment for its vast
population, whilst hauling its ailing infrastructure
kicking and screaming into the 21st century. Plans
include building 10,000 miles of road, constructing
1,500 miles of railway, and by 2017, completing
the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam; set to
provide hydro-electricity not only for Ethiopia, but
neighbouring East African countries too.
Through all this vigorous, state-sponsored activity,
Ethiopia is making a concerted bid to build itself
afresh from the ground up. The country is wholly
unique; it is unlike anywhere else on the African
continent or beyond, and unusually, has little recent
history of private enterprise. For centuries it stood
independent, governed by a monarchy which was
proud to date its heritage back to Solomon. From
1974 industry was stifled under communist rule, then
from 1991, until his sudden death in August 2012,
it operated under the dictatorial leadership of Meles
Zenawi. This is an incredible panorama - a 40-year
old Ethiopian today would have witnessed first-
hand bloody civil war, disputes with neighbouring
countries, along with one of the most publicised
famines ever seen by the world media.
On top of this, Ethiopia is riddled with
contradictions. It has the second largest population
on the African continent, covering around 70 ethnic
groups speaking around 80 different languages
and sprawling over 420,000 square miles. Cultural
differences are endemic. The Mursi people create
vast distended rings on their faces by slitting open
their lips and ear lobes and filling the space with
wooden disks. The Afar people covet diamond-
point-fang smiles by filing their front teeth into
neat points. And the only subject upon which
everyone is agreed is coffee. This is both one of
Ethiopia’s biggest exports and provides the basis
for the nationwide coffee drinking ritual; an event
which takes at least an hour and involves roasting,
brewing and tasting coffee in three presses.
• Government expects economy to grow 10% in
2012/13
• Industry accounts for only 10% of GDP (World
Bank)
• Ethiopian credit to private sector equivalent to
14% GDP (World Bank)
• Average regional credit to private sector
equivalent to 27% GDP (World Bank)
Ethiopian Economic Growth
As Ethiopia rapidly emerges on investors’ radar and the
government deliberately tries to court foreign funding,
all these differences start to come into play. Interest is
coming thick and fast, both from large multi-nationals
and from the extensive African diaspora peppered
around the globe. Now is a time of intense change and
possibility, offering huge potential for the people who get
in at the very beginning. However, Ethiopian singularity
has its own issues. The first of these is the clear
challenge in building a private sector from the ground
up. The second is helping foreign investors to get to
grips with the unique business culture on the ground.

4. Business in Ethiopia IDG Connect Special Report6 7
BuildingaPrivateSectorfromtheGroundUp
Yared Berhane of Ernst & Young said at the Ethiopia Investment Summit last May: “Ethiopia’s investment
in infrastructure is three times the African average.” The aim of this has been two-fold: to provide extensive
employment for a huge labour force; and galvanise that energy to improve the country. This in turn ought
to make it a better place for the native population to live and help render it a more attractive destination for
foreign business people. Incredibly the government reports that the GTP plan is also largely on track. However,
immediate success aside, this immense outpouring of cash does throw up problems of its own.
The large scale “mega” projects have been scrutinised intently and have come under rapid fire both internally
and externally. There have been farms and sugar enterprises, but the most high-profile and controversial of
these to date has proved to be the $4.8bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam on the Nile. This has caused a
huge rumpus with Egypt, which is concerned about losing its fresh water supply and prompted former President
Mohamed Mursi to pledge on live TV to “defend each drop of the Nile with our blood.”
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam is not only causing a problems with Egypt either. It is also promoting
discussions around the nature of GTP initiatives, which while “aiming for tomorrow,” are actually “using
yesterday’s technologies based on yesterday’s thinking and yesterday’s plans.” The flagship of 21st century
dams was in fact designed in the 1960s by the same Italian company building it today. Whilst many other large
scale projects are also based on, or near, the sites of previous failed enterprises. Many of which, inauspiciously
enough, failed due to overseen costs.
Spending large amounts of public money is a tough balancing act. If this dam project succeeds it could do
wonders for the country. The aim is to create the biggest hydro-electric power station in Africa. This should have
capacity to generate 6,000 megawatts of electricity and could help power Ethiopia along with its neighbours.
The Ethiopian national electricity corporation estimates future buyers could come from Kenya, Djibouti,
Somalia, Uganda, both Sudans and even Egypt itself. This would provide untold benefits for the whole of East
Africa, especially when you consider that around 90% of sub-Saharan Africa is currently off-grid.
Simegnew Bekele, the engineer leading the Ethiopian dam project, has likened it to the ‘Hoover Dam’, the
iconic Great Depression-era engineering feat which became a symbol of American enterprise in tough times.
“Hoover Dam was constructed when America was (in) depression,” Bekale told Associated Press. “It was an
enormous success. I am sure our dam too will herald a bright future for this country and also for the whole
region.”
Yet all this ambition comes at a price. Whilst massive public spending has done its job and created one of the
fastest-growing economies in Africa, the International Monetary Fund has warned that volatile inflation, balance
of payment pressures and a stifled private sector raises questions over sustainability. Jan Mikkelsen, the IMF’s
country representative in Ethiopia said: “The amount of financing that those projects absorb is so large that it is
crowding out activity in the private sector.”
The World Bank has also stressed that Ethiopia must give the private sector a bigger push in order to attract
foreign investment. Guang Z. Chen, the World Bank’s country director, told Reuters: “For this country to
continue to grow I strongly believe industry has to take a much bigger role because there is no other country
that I’m aware of, aside from these resource-rich countries, that can go to middle-income status with still 50% of
GDP on agriculture.”
Chen continued: “The trend that worries us is that while the public investment as a share of GDP is increasing,
the private investment as a share of GDP is decreasing. Making credit available for the private sector is
certainly one area the government can do more on.”
Image courtesy of
ctsnow via Flickr
Tissisat Falls
The Hoover Dam
Image courtesy of
rarvesen via Flickr
The amount of financing that those [public sector] projects absorb is so large that it
is crowding out activity in the private sector.
“
“
Jan Mikkelsen, Ethiopia representative, International Monetary Fund
The controversial $4.8bn Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam should generate
6,000 megawatts of electricity. “ “

5. Business in Ethiopia IDG Connect Special Report8 9
TheRisingSwellofForeignInterest
Irrespective of how government initiatives actually
pan out, factors such as location and the huge
up-skilling labour force, is putting Ethiopia firmly on
the global hit list for investment and rejuvenation,
especially from within the Middle East. The Africa
Global Business Forum held in Dubai at the start
of May attracted more than 3,500 delegates, whilst
a few weeks’ later, on May 13, the Dubai Chamber
(which organised the event) opened its first African
representative office in Ethiopia.
“Ethiopia is the fifth largest economy in Africa and
poised to become the third largest in the next 10
years. The country’s economy is mainly based on
agriculture. This sector accounts for about 45% of
GDP and 85% of total employment. Ethiopia offers
a highly accessible market for UAE businesses
seeking expansion into Africa,” said H.E. Buamim,
Director General of Dubai Chamber of Commerce &
Industry, when he opened the office.
Asfaw Alemayehu, a businessman who moved
to Ethiopia from the US four years’ ago told IDG
Connect that in the past investors “did not see
Ethiopia as an attractive country.” Now they are
starting to differentiate it from its more developed
neighbour Kenya and are finally beginning to look
for “a long term strategy to target the country.” And
external organisations are beginning to move in.
This February, professional services firm, Deloitte
announced the opening of its first Ethiopia office.
And IBM, which has had a long term focus on
East Africa - although centred on Kenya - started
working on mounting its market share in the country
in November. This has caused some scepticism
from detractors however, as many infrastructure
projects for private and public institutions are already
underway. Hanli Wood of IBM’s CEWA Business
Partner Organisation was undeterred and said: “I
don’t think we are too late for infrastructure solutions.
There are a lot of investments opportunities. With
these investments, you need technology. Today,
without technology, cell phones, the internet, one is a
man on an island.”
Index Mundi records that 64% of the huge Ethiopian
population are 24 or under, which creates a huge
labour pool in the country. And following 2008
government initiatives, 70% of students study
engineering or technology. This results in an
estimated 500,000 technical graduates per annum.
Yet to Henok Assefa of the Invest Ethiopia blog,
the “least understood and appreciated [factor for
development] is its location in the middle of the
economic world.” Assefa stresses that 30% of the
World’s containerised cargo passes through the red
sea.
“Ethiopia is also roughly equidistant from all the
major G7 & BRICS economies, making Addis Ababa
an emerging major air transport hub for Africa and
the Middle East. Easy to see these advantages
materialised partly in the fast growing horticulture
sector, which is earning more than $200 million a
year in exports and likely to surpass a billion in a few
years’ time.”
Bizarrely, fresh cut flowers are now the country’s
third-largest export earner yet this was never a
traditional industry. It was just started by a group of
Indian companies a few years back and has taken
off. As Henok Assefa writes: “The impending and
transformative potential of Ethiopia lies in low cost,
labour-intensive light manufacturing industries, which
may allow it to tap into the world’s massive and
lucrative consumer products supply chains.”
Ethiopian Coffee
Nursery
• 64% of population under 24 (Index Mundi)
• 70% of students study engineering or
technology (Government Initiative 2008)
• 500,000 technical graduates per annum
(Estimate based on government data)
Labour Market
There are still a high volume of traditional industries
at large which meet this criteria, but sit at some odds
with modern developments. In a recent article for
Reuters, Siegfried Modola describes how traditional
salt traders trek through the desert with camels and
caravans to “pursue this centuries-old trade in ‘white
gold’”. Now however, many are wary of the new
roads being built and worry that accessibility will
mean big companies’ stealing their work.
As Abdullah Ali Noor, a chief and clan leader’s son
in Hamad-Ile, on the salt desert’s edge explained,
“Most of the people who live here are dependent
on the salt caravans, so we are not happy with
prospective salt companies that try to set up
base here. Everything has to be initiated from the
community. We prefer to stick with the old ways.”
Then there is coffee. Ethiopia is Africa’s biggest
coffee producer and the drink has an ingrained
cultural significance. Yet in the latest modern
development, this May the first privately owned
African laboratory opened in Addis, certified by the
Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).
Mr. Marty Curtis, a Coffee Quality Institute Instructor
explained why this is progress, “By having its
laboratory certified, METAD is at the start of a huge
project” that will contribute to the development of the
country’s coffee industry by building buyers’ trust on
the quality of Ethiopian coffee.
Ethiopia is even on course to build Africa’s most
comprehensive disaster and risk management
database, taking a leadership role in this area. The
aim is to gather enough information to help reduce
future suffering caused by the slew of natural
disasters that have plagued the region since time
immemorial. To date, they’ve carried out 100,000
household interviews and are set to have completed
a detailed risk profile for all its 750 districts by 2015.
As Mathewos Hunde, the Director of the Early
Warning & Response Directorate under the Disaster
Risk Management & Food Security Sector of the
Ministry of Agriculture in Ethiopia, told the World
Food Programme: “We can say that Ethiopia is two
steps ahead compared to other countries.”
Ethiopia is also roughly equidistant from
all the major G7 & BRICS economies,
making Addis Ababa an emerging major
air transport hub for Africa and the
Middle East.
Henok Assefa, Invest Ethiopia
““

6. Business in Ethiopia IDG Connect Special Report10 11
GettingtoGripswithEthiopiaontheGround
The real challenge for any foreign nationals coming
into Ethiopia is in understanding the unique business
culture on the ground. The lack of private sector has
left individuals with a very different attitude to those
raised in commercially driven societies. In the past
the majority of businesses were owned and run by
a traditional elite, making business uncompetitive
and unattainable for ordinary people. On top of
this, mobile connectivity and bandwidth are limited,
everything is half finished and licenses take an age
to come through. It is not the type of environment
people from more developed parts of the world
expect to work in.
Evidence suggests the consumer class is gradually
emerging, which should bring opportunities
for companies with services to offer. BiNu, an
organisation that enables easy web surfing via
2G mobile devices records Ethiopia as its third
largest market (in May), with Ethiopians using
the app to access news, Facebook, YouTube and
Google search. Whilst a lifestyle survey released by
Consumer Insight at the start of July showed that
Shopping Malls were the second favourite public
place visited (after church) by Ethiopian women.
Massive ongoing building projects mean that
everywhere is in a state of flux. Yet most people
we’ve spoken to have described a real sense of
excitement from all the activity. Rashed Ahmed set
up EastAfricanBusiness.com to provide information
about business across the entire region, he told us:
“There is a new government, a new approach, a new
optimism and a new openness. Overall Ethiopia is
opening up - in addition to the multi-nationals there
are a lot of Ethiopians from the US and UK starting
up technology and other types of businesses.”
One minute you see a shiny sky
scraper and multi-national offices
the next you will see extreme
poverty... but despite this there is a
real buzz on the ground!
Rashed Ahmed, EastAfricanBusiness.com
“ “
Ahmed has encountered a lot of interest from the
extensive African diaspora who are desperate to
return home to their native countries. “This is a
recent development, but a lot of people are young
professionals, educated in the West, who have a
lot of experience and are looking for opportunities
within Africa. You see this entrepreneurial spirit; I’m
regularly coming into contact with people opening
data centres, mobile internet companies, app
developers, all looking for that new market...”
“I’ve seen the most excitement and hunger for
information from the diaspora,” Ahmed told us “They
are pushing for development, better technology
and better infrastructure in their home countries.”
Ahmed is very passionate about telling a different
African story, “I used to see a lot of negative stories
and connotations on [Ethiopia]. There are images of
people starving and Band Aid. But really it is such
a dynamic and thriving place. I’m not going to lie,
there is poverty and inequality. One minute you see
a shiny sky scraper and multi-national offices the
next you will see extreme poverty... but despite this
there is a real buzz on the ground!”
Addis
Shopping Mall
Image courtesy of
Frank Janssens
via Flickr

7. IDG Connect Special Report 13
Perspective:ABusinessmaninAddisAbaba
[Until 1991] there was no private
sector. Now our private sector is
opening up and thriving, but it is a
learning curve.
Asfaw Alemayehu, Corporate Council on Africa and
MD of Gazebo International
“ “
Asfaw Alemayehu moved to Ethiopia from the US
four years’ ago and has already seen significant
changes. “[Back then] I only had electricity every
other day, now I have no problem with electricity,” he
told us on the phone from Addis Ababa.
Alemayehu is of Ethiopian descent, had lived and
worked abroad for 16 years and decided to return
“because there are lots of opportunities for me as
a businessman. The country is growing and the
middle class is emerging. I’m happy with my move
and have no regrets. It’s not an easy place, but
there is a lot happening.”
The problem for foreigners coming in is that
Ethiopia is, “totally different in terms of background,
perspective and way of doing business on the
ground.” It was a communist country until 1991
and “there was no private sector. Now our private
sector is opening up and thriving, but it is a learning
curve. To some extent the government is more open
than it was a couple of years ago, although to this
day there are still some areas which are closed
for foreign investors. This makes it different from
our neighbours in Kenya where the private sector
is very strong. In Ethiopia the private sector is at
its infancy stage which is both attractive to many
companies, but makes understanding Ethiopia very
complex.”
Overall, Alemayehu is positive about foreign
investment and believes “the Middle East is a
natural partner. We have our own relationship with
the Saudis and Arabs as well as Egypt.” This is both
because of proximity and a shared religion: 35-40%
of Ethiopians are Muslim. However, he does stress
that cultural differences do come into play when
companies approach the market: “Asian companies
are more flexible in the way they approach Ethiopia
[than European and US organisations] due to their
background and experience. I see more Asian
companies coming, looking and investing.”
Sheraton Hotel,
Addis Ababa
Image courtesy of
A.Davey via Flickr
Asfaw Alemayehu is East Africa Rep. for the Corporate Council on Africa and MD of
Gazebo International, an organisation which provides consulting services for those
who want to do business in Ethiopia.
It is Alemayehu’s belief that the future of the country
is in agro-processing and the emerging middle
class. “In the supermarkets at present you mostly
see imports, but the government is providing a lot
of incentives for food processing and agribusiness
in general. This is also causing interest from the
private sector. [And as] a middle class - by Ethiopian
standards - is emerging, anything that has to do
with consumer goods would make a very profitable
business.”
He is keen to stress how different Ethiopia is
from neighbouring Kenya. “In the past, the bigger
companies have looked at Ethiopia as an extension
of the Kenyan market.” Now companies are starting
to see Ethiopia as a place in its own right. “I see this
every day - that is no exaggeration - I meet a lot of
investors. A couple of years ago multi-nationals did
not see it as an attractive country. Now they think
that the middle class is growing and people are
buying more consumer goods.”
Ethiopia is a very different market from elsewhere.
In a lot of ways everything is starting from scratch.
“This means both opportunities and challenges...
and companies need to have their own strategic
entry into the country in order to be successful.” It
will certainly be interesting to see what changes the
next four years’ bring to such a quickly progressing
country.

8. Business in Ethiopia IDG Connect Special Report14 15
Perspective:ATypicalWorkingDayinAddisAbaba
Most employees work from 8am till 5pm and like any
capital, the roads are crowded with commuters. “I
usually take a mini-bus to work,” Teklemariam says
explaining a typical business day, “it takes around
15 - 30 minutes to travel 5 - 8km.” And the situation is
worsened by “major construction of many of the major
roads of the city.”
“The internet connectivity is still sub-standard. This
can be a serious problem in terms of getting in touch
with clients and financiers. If you worked in Addis you
wouldn’t expect smooth conditions for exchanging
large amounts of data between your head office
in London or New York. The broadband coverage
especially is sluggish. The government needs to do a
lot to improve broadband coverage, although mobile
connectivity is better.”
By Western standards the mobile connection is not
very good. The line is less than perfect and after
six minutes, without warning, a persistent Chinese
voice pops up with the repeated message: “Sorry
the network is busy now please try later.” “Does this
happen often?” we ask, “Yes it is in major problem,”
Teklemariam replies.
“The second daily issue,” says Teklemariam “is
the working culture. Things are not as efficient or
effective as you might expect them to be. There is a
very traditional working culture and people are not
governed by efficiency. The amount of time spent on
a task is determined by the amount of money they will
make from it.”
Getachew Teklemariam is an independent business
development consultant providing advice for those
looking to invest in Ethiopia. These are predominantly
international companies and most are investing in
the resources sector where they can see “concrete
and immediate benefits.” However, companies are
also interested in the consumer service and some
are getting involved in government projects, as these
deliver high ROI.
The biggest problem that Teklemariam sees relates
to attitudes to risk. “Most of these companies are
just entering Africa. They don’t really understand
the risks involved in doing business here and tend
to have a negative attitude. I repeatedly see that
as a major problem for international companies.
Of course, at the end of the day the whole issue
boils down to the business environment. It is not
as flexible as international companies want it to
be. The legal system remains more inflexible than
international companies would expect or would look
for. And the bureaucracy needs restructuring.” It still
takes a long time to get licences, and at least 7– 10
days to complete the whole process of starting a
business, which is far longer than other sub-Saharan
Africa countries. On top of which, “the infrastructure
provision is still very low.”
The problematic business culture largely boils down
to the fact that a “high portion of the businesses
are owned by a traditional elite.” These are typically
involved in import and export and “control a large part
of the economy. There is a huge barrier to entering the
import and export business. [But] the traditional elite
have [also] saturated the whole business culture. This
makes it hard for businessmen starting out to join.
The country is also defined by passivity. Most people
would rather live under the protection of the state than
compete on a level playing field with international
companies. This is a very traditional expectation from
business people in this company,” and is hard for
international organisations to understand.
Teklemariam believes the two biggest potential
areas for investors lie in the tech sector and the
consumer sector. “Ethiopia is the political capital of
Africa. When Africa moves, Ethiopia moves even
faster. This is a country of over 80 million people…
there is an emerging middle class which international
companies can cater for.”
“If you are involved in innovations and research
for governments as well as private companies
this is a good place for investment because the
skilled manpower is very cheap in this country as
compared to any other African country,” Teklemariam
continues. “Establishing R&D centres is very cheap
compared to other countries due to government
initiatives for companies involved in that sector.
There is also real potential for development of the
telecoms infrastructure sector [as the mobile phone
situation reveals]. And there are clear advantages to
be taken from the proximity to the Middle East.”
The daily issue is the working culture.
Things are not as efficient or effective as
you might expect.
Getachew Teklemariam,
Independent business development consultant
“ “
Getachew Teklemariam is an independent business development consultant providing
advice for those looking to invest in Ethiopia.
Addis Ababa
traffic
Image courtesy of
sameffron via Flickr
The constant flux in the city means despite the
internet and business problems, the capital is an
attractive place too. There are a lot of services
springing up to cater for tourists and locals’ free time
including restaurants, hotels, gyms, movie theatres…
and it has even been labelled the spa capital of Africa.
“The service sector is really growing. You can be
certain to find your favourite dish in the city. Whether
it is Canadian, Chinese or Japanese… you can easily
access it in Addis.”
“There is a lot of momentum in the country,”
Teklemariam concludes: “It is an opportune time
for investors. Of course, those people who come
here need to have a very good understanding of the
local environment. [But] if investors have the local
knowledge and put in place local strategies to make
use of local opportunities, this could benefit them lot.
This is a great time for the whole of Africa… I believe
this is the last frontier in terms of opportunities.”

9. Business in Ethiopia16
Conclusion
Through its US$75-79 billion plan, which is half way to completion, the Ethiopian government is determined
to drive progress. This coupled with a rapidly up-skilling young labour force and enviable location between
the Middle East and Europe, is generating escalating interest from foreign investors. These are coming in the
shape of large multi-nationals, like IBM and Deloitte, along with the extensive diaspora who would like to bring
their skills back home.
In addition to aggressive spending, Ethiopia is taking a leadership role in areas like Big Data, with its
comprehensive disaster and risk management database due for completion in 2015. And projects like the
Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, may be dogged with controversy, but also have the potential to supply
constant, sustainable energy to a region that desperately needs power.
The ambition in these plans is incredible. Addis Ababa and the entire country infrastructure is being completely
overhauled, bringing massive changes to people on the ground. The only problem with all this concerted
upheaval is whether it is happening too quickly and in fact stands at odds with the mind-set of people who have
already had a very difficult time. Recent Ethiopian history has proved a turbulent rollercoaster of change. Many
individuals have seen the end of monarchy, the rise and fall of communism, numerous wars and now here
comes the unfamiliar march of commercialism.
The World Bank and International Monetary Fund have warned that the private sector may not be well enough
catered for. Whilst the people we have talked to on the ground have spoken of a unique business environment,
which is hard for foreign nationals to understand. Maybe the diaspora will be needed to translate the
differences, but it is hard to argue with the buzz, enthusiasm and drive for change which is so evident through
all these initiatives. It does look like Ethiopia’s future could be very bright indeed… as long as it is truly ready to
make the transition.
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