Eyob Tesfaye (PhD), a macroeconomist and policy analyst, is among the few scholars who are known for voicing their concerns about the well-being of Ethiopia’s economy. He has served in different governmental positions, including as the Director-General of the Public Finance Institutions Supervisory Agency and Director of the Academy of Financial Studies at the National Bank of Ethiopia. He has been an external examiner of post graduate students at Addis Ababa University and advisor to post graduate students of the London School of Economics and Georgetown University.

Tamrat Layne, 63, was Prime Minister of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia, serving from June 1991 to October 1995. He became a member of the Ethiopian Peoples’ Revolutionary Party (EPRP) while a teen, and later defected with 36 other comrades to form the-then Ethiopian People’s Democratic Movement (EPDM), in 1982.

After ten years of guerilla fighting, his party, which allied with the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) to form the Ethiopian People’s Revolutionary Democratic Front (EPRDF) in 1989, ousted the Dergue military regime on May 28, 1991. A few years before their victory however, the Oromo members of his party left to form the Oromo People’s Democratic Organization (OPDO); similarly, fighters from the southern Ethiopian region also left to form several ethnic based parties. Finally, when almost all other non-Amhara members evacuated the EPDM, the party retitled itself as the Amhara National Democratic Movement (ANDM) in 1994.

Michael Joseph is a pioneer of mobile money in Kenya. He is credited with the remarkable success of the M-PESA mobile payments system that has helped Kenya develop its rural economy. In the ten countries where M-PESA operates, networks of thousands of small shops and businesses allow mobile customers to swap physical cash for electronic credits. The network now has over 30 million active users. EBR’s Samson Berhane sat down with Joseph, who is currently Vodafone Group’s Director of Mobile Money and Board Chairperson of Kenyan Airways, on the sidelines of the launch of Dashen Bank’s new mobile money platform (Amole) one month ago, to discuss his success in deploying one of the world’s most successful mobile money services and his views towards Ethiopia’s banking as well as telecom sectors.

Peter M. Sullivan has been the managing Director and head of the Public Sector Group for Africa at Citi Bank since 2007. The Public Sector Group is committed to facilitating global best practices and success transfers among its client base including central banks, multilateral development banks and sovereigns.

Peter, who is responsible for developing business and structuring and delivering product solutions for sovereigns, state-owned enterprises and multilateral institutions in Sub-Sahara and North Africa, has 27 years’ experience in the banking industry with Citi including the coverage of Global Financial Institutions, Industrials and Sovereigns.

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.

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.

Ethiopia has lost many ancient cultural heritages and treasures to plundering and looting, and it is common to find ancient Ethiopian artefacts in various western museums. Although there have been initiatives to facilitate the return of these stolen heritages in the past, the outcomes have not been pleasing.
Recently, Tristram Hunt, Director of the Victoria and Albert (V&A) Museum said the quickest way for Ethiopia to get back its artefacts from the V&A would be through a long term loan, referring to items stolen from Mekdela by British forces in 1868. The displayed treasures include a gold crown, a gold chalice and a royal wedding costume, among others. Ethiopia launched a formal restitution claim to have the treasures returned in 2007.
Government officials and scholars have voiced their apprehension, echoing that the return of historical treasures should not be up for discussion. Yonas Desta, Director General of Ethiopian Heritage Authority has been one of the most outspoken figures in the negotiations emphasizing that any treasure is only meaningful to the owner, not to the looter.
Yonas has been actively participating in heritage conservation and management since 2010, when, during his time as a director at the then-Ministry of Trade and Industry, he conducted a study about heritage management in Ethiopia. Former Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn, offered him a chance to lead the then-Authority for Research and Conservation of Cultural Heritage (ARCCH). EBR’s Samson Berhane sat down with him to discuss his firm position towards the country’s lost treasures, heritage management and their contribution to the economy.

Tadesse Chinkel, president of Bunna International Bank

Ever since the Commercial Bank of Ethiopia introduced prize linked saving promotion mechanism seven years ago, many commercial banks have followed suit by launching similar promotional schemes. This includes the almost ten year old Bunna International Bank, which started offering prizes, ranging from smart phones to a tractor worth more than a million birr, to its remittance customers. EBR’s Samson Berhane sat down with Tadesse Chinkel, president of the Bank, to discuss the results achieved from such promotional tool so far and the way forward.

Mulugeta Beyene
Director, Manufacturers & Duty Free Support, ERCA

Ethiopia offers financial incentives such as tax reductions and holidays, as well as custom duty exemptions to companies engaged especially in manufacturing activities. But incentives are given and monitored in a scattered and uncoordinated manner. To address the issue, the Ethiopian Revenues and Customs Authority (ERCA) is currently establishing a directorate that will follow up and monitor the proper use of incentives, which have been exposed to abuse. EBR’s Ashenafi Endale sat down with Mulugeta Beyene, director of the newly established Manufacturers and Duty Free Support Directorate at ERCA to learn more about the government’s plans to enforce proper usage of incentives.