March 2019 – Ethiopian Business Review

Senay Football Club

Close to three percent of the total population in Ethiopia is believed to live with disabilities. Out of the total disabled people living in the country, about 14.4Pct (1.5 million) have a hearing disability. Despite its vast size, the deaf community in Ethiopia is deprived of many basic rights and many are unable to enjoy their lives. However, Senay Deaf Football Club, which was established by Endaleyesus Abate, the former manager of Addis Ababa City Football Club and few strong individuals hearing disability is trying to change this. Established in May 2017, Senay has carried out several promising activities in terms of legalizing the football club, creating a platform for disabled people and building international relationships with parallel clubs in other countries. EBR Adjunct Writer Abiy Wendifraw who visited the team in the training session reflects on their accomplishments and future plans.

Recently, Ethiopia has been coming to grips with a sweeping tobacco addiction epidemic. Unlike past years, the cigarette epidemic is not limited to adults. In fact, students and young people are starting to represent more and more of the smokers in Ethiopia. However, in response to the problem, the Ethiopian government is starting to take actions to encourage people to drop the amount of cigarettes they smoke. EBR’s Kiya Ali investigates.

A Rising Star on The Horizon

Behailu Wase is one of the popular stars in the Ethiopian television and film industry. As a writer, director and producer, Behailu is the mind behind one of the most popular sitcoms on Ethiopian television: Min Litazez. The young writer has also produced some of the country’s most well received films, such as Ayrak and YeLidete Qen. Having been involved in the film and television industry for almost a decade, Behailu has seen all the ins and outs of the business. He sat down with EBR’s Menna Asrat to discuss the challenges facing the creative and dramatic arts in Ethiopia, as well the inspirations behind his own work.

Steve Jobs, a prominent figure in technology, and the man who revolutionized the consumer electronics industry, had something to say about his customers – the customers who brought the products of his company, Apple, worth a trillion dollar fortune. He said, “Customers don’t know what they want until we show them.”

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are among the main enabling tools of modern civilization. These days, it is an integral part of our lives. The global economy needs ICT infrastructure for its activities such as the facilitation of trade and commerce. In addition to that, human welfare and poverty eradication programmes need proper ICT to enable humanitarian efforts. In this article, I present the importance of ICT restructuring in Ethiopia by first analysing the current state of ICT in Ethiopia and then suggesting the kind of restructuring it needs.

In the past, medical harm has not been given due attention in Ethiopia. There was very low accountability, even though errors resulted from the reckless acts of physicians. But now we have come across a lot of medical doctors being pursued by patients or family members who suffered harm.

Public procurement has long been a subject of discord in Ethiopia. While other developing countries have managed to use public procurement as an avenue for growth, the procurement system in Ethiopia seems to have become a hotbed of corruption. The arrests of almost 100 government officials to do with mega projects threw the issue further into the public eye. But now, there has been a push to reform the procurement regulations and address the gaps that created an opportunity for improper conduct. EBR’s Ashenafi Endale reports.

Several European cities left by industries and who has accumulated ‘obsolete’ built environment, which is human-made surroundings that provide the setting for human activity, ranging in scale from buildings to parks. Among such cities Barcelona, Glasgow and Bilbao have become models of a tourist magnet city by adopting urban regeneration strategies. Consequently, more and more cities have begun to invest in building hospitality facilities, cultural and convention centres as well as museums, landmarks, entertainment and sports facilities in order to attract tourists and to please ‘the tourist gaze’. This can be called tourism-led urban regeneration.

The Hamer people are an Omotic community inhabiting southwestern Ethiopia, east of the Omo River and live in villages like Turmi and Dimeka. The Hamer have very unique rituals such as evangadi and a bull-leaping ceremony in which a young man has to succeed in order to get married. They are also known for their practice of body adornment and wearing a multitude of colorful beads. Although most of their culture and practices still exist, the Hamer people are now embracing the fruits of the modern world. For instance, they have become familiarized with paper money over the past five years. EBR’s Kiya Ali visited the Hamer people recently to observe their changing lives.

Still Untapped

Companies trying to connect with the buying public through creating unique brands is still a fairly new phenomenon in Ethiopia. Even so, some companies are starting to take the creation of a unique brand seriously, as a way to imprint a specific image of their company in their customers’ minds. EBR’s Kiya Ali spoke with some companies and branding professionals to get a sense of how they are going about building a better brand.

Opening Doors

Senay Football Club

Tobacco Plague Invades Ethiopia

Behailu Wase

A Rising Star on The Horizon

Do Customers Know What They Want?

The Essence of ICT Restructuring in Ethiopia

Psychological Safety in the Medical Workplace

Weak Public Procurement Cripples Ethiopia

Tourism-led Urban Regeneration of Addis

The New Face of Hamer

Branding

Still Untapped