The government recently appointed Nebiyou Baye as the new director of the National Theatre of Ethiopia. Although he worked in films as an actor and writer on top of lecturing at Addis Ababa University, Nebiyou has spent almost his entire life in the theatre, building up a wealth of knowledge and expertise to bring theatre to a higher level. EBR’s Menna Asrat sat down with him to find out what to expect fat the National Theatre in the coming years.
Airhelp, a company known for providing legal services to airline passengers who have experienced flight cancellations, delays or overbooking, ranked airlines all over the world in terms of quality of service, on-time arrival performance and claims processing. While the highest scorer in the world was Qatar Airways, South African Airways was the leading airline in Africa. On the other hand, of the 13 lowest scoring carriers on AirHelp’s ranking, six were European, including Easy Jet, Iberia Spain and Wowair.
For most of the past two years, Abiy Ahmed was best known for being one of the major driving forces behind the economic revolution and reforms in the state of Oromia. But for the last 90 days, his actions as the new Prime Minister of Ethiopia have been grabbing the headlines.
Since he took power, changes and reforms have been announced almost every day. Among these reforms were the decision to fully or partially privatize key state owned enterprises; unconditional acceptance of the Algiers agreement-a peace agreement between the governments of Eritrea and Ethiopia signed on December 12, 2000, in Algiers, for the formal end of the Eritrean-Ethiopian War, which lasted from 1998 to 2000; and the release of thousands of inmates charged with and convicted of corruption and terrorism. He also negotiated the release of thousands of Ethiopian prisoners in neighbouring countries.
Elias Geneti, President of AACCSA
Elias Geneti has been the president of the Addis Ababa Chamber of Commerce & Sectoral Associations (AACCSA) since 2014. Having received his masters of science in soil engineering in 1992 from the Ukrainian Agriculture University, he returned to Ethiopia in the 1990s. Elias took a job as a business development officer for ODA Share Company, ending up as deputy Chief Executive Officer, before setting up a trading company to export oil seeds and pulses in 2005.
Elias served as the president of Ethiopian Pulses, Oilseeds & Spices Processors-Exporters Associations for eight years. He sees better prospects for the private sector in the years ahead and believes the recent measures of the government to privatize key state-owned enterprises is a sign of radical change. EBR’s Samson Berhane sat down with him to discuss chambers, the benefits of privatization and challenges of the private sector.
Entrepreneurship is the process of designing, launching and running a new business, which is often initially a small one. The experiences of many successful countries reveal that when entrepreneurs create new businesses, they, intensify competition, and even increase productivity through technological change. This high level of entrepreneurship, in turn, translates directly into high levels of economic growth. Despite this fact, the level of entrepreneurship remains insignificant in Ethiopia. EBR’s Ashenafi Endale explores why it remains undeveloped in Ethiopia.
Ever since the Food, Medicines & Healthcare Administration and Control started implementing a new rule that requires the inspection of 18 food items, such as pasta, noodles and edible oil, imported into the country, businesses are crying foul over the surge in laboratory cost. The new measures, which are said to be part of the Authority’s five-year plan, forces importers to wait weeks in order to get test results, as well as raising the cost of laboratory tests. For a single 20-foot container, the cost of testing has increased by an average of 14pct, reaching as high as 100Pct, depending on the nature and type of imported food items. This has discouraged many importers and supermarket owners engaged in the wholesaling and retailing of food products. EBR’s Samson Berhane spoke to retailers, importers and government officials to explore the issue.
Addis Ababa is becoming home to a new breed of bakeries which offer unique types of breads, cookies and cakes in Addis Ababa. Their distinct features, such attractive interior design, quality and hygiene, has seen the number of city residents that patronise them rise dramatically. In fact, it is not uncommon to see long queues stretching out of the doors at these special bakeries. EBR’s Tiruneh Assefa explores the story behind these thriving businesses.
Biogas is a multipurpose technology, which assists in addressing economic, health, social and environmental problems. Developing and spreading this technology would certainly minimize dependency on charcoal and firewood, as well as improve peoples’ lifestyles, especially in developing countries like Ethiopia. In line with this, Ethiopia has finished implementing the first and second phases of its National Biogas Programme, from 2009-2013 and 2013-2017, respectively. During that period, the country was able to disseminate 18,000 biogas digesters. However, the supply is still far from satisfying the demand. According to estimates, the number of potential beneficiaries of biogas technology is as high as four million households. EBR’s Ashenafi Endale investigates the major factors that have held back the spread of biogas.
Worku Behonegn, Country Director, SNV Ethiopia
SNV Ethiopia is responsible for managing the National Biogas Programme. In the first and second phases of the programme, SNV Ethiopia managed to distribute 18,000 bio-digesters over the last 10 yearswhile in the third and scale up phases the organization plans to distribute 36,000 bio-digesters. EBR sat down with Worku Behonegne, country director of SNV Ethiopia to learn more about the Programme.
Due to its ancient history, remnants of past civilizations, diverse cultures and natural beauty, Ethiopia has the potential to be a must-see destination for tourists. The country aspires to increase earnings from the sector which currently stand at close to three billion dollars annually, according to the Ministry of Culture and Tourism. Tour operators have a massive impact on the industry. In Ethiopia there are close to 500 individual tour and travel companies that are actively engaged in providing tours and tour operation related services. This is a massive increase compared to ten years ago. However, tour operators are facing new challenges from foreign and illegal tour operators that are snatching customers from them. EBR Ashenafi Endale explores the issue.
Menna Asrat
Ethiopian Business Review
Samson Berhane
Ashenafi Endale
Tiruneh Assefa