ARTS Media S.C, the broadcaster of African Renaissance Television Services (ARTS), brings Ermias Eshetu, the former chief of the Ethiopian Commodity Exchange (ECX) on board as its CEO with a hefty paycheck.
Replacing the founding CEO Mackonen E. Michael- who has served for 17 months in the same position- Ermias reported to his new post as of December 1, 2017, with a monthly salary of 200,000 Br.
“I have been in the banking and trading areas; now it is time for the media,” Ermias remarked.
ARTS and Ermias have been negotiating for the past two months after his resignation from the ECX.
“I resigned from the ECX after accomplishing core reforms,” Ermais told Fortune. “Now, execution can be undertaken by the next generation.”
Under his stewardship, the ECX was entitled to handle hedging (future contracts), forwarding and managing contracts outside agricultural commodities on top of spot trading. The new scopes were instigated after the amendment of ECX’ws establishment proclamation. The trading also saw a major reform during his tenure as coffee was made to be traded before reaching its floor.
“He [Ermias] brings his global experience, proven leadership, and local perspective which we believe are necessary for the successful launch of this revolutionary media company,” reads a statement from ARTS, a company established by 25 shareholders with media, education, finance, law, medicine and other professional backgrounds.
The founding CEO, Mackonen, resigned from his post after reaching a consensus with the board members of the company, according to him.
“I am free now; I might go back to England or commit to another assignment,” he said.
The outgoing CEO and a returnee from the UK, Mackonen has a Master’s degree in African Studies, Social Anthropology of Africa from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. Before joining ARTS, he served as Managing Director of Mack Film Production and worked for different media outlets including BBC World Service and BEN TV.
Having Haile Gebrselassie, Olympic gold-medalist, Gebregzibher Gebremariam, known athlete, Zemedeneh Negatu, an accountant, Amare Aregawi, founder of the Reporter Newspaper, and Mekonnen Assefa, as shareholders, ARTS plans to start operations in the first quarter of the coming year.
Ermais resigned from ECX almost three months ago, but his official contract was terminated as of November 30, 2017. After his departure, the ECX assigned Wondimagegnehu Negera, former president of the Cooperative Bank of Oromia (CBO) as its CEO a month ago.
Before committing to be head of the ECX, Ermias was vice president for one of the local private banks- Zemen Bank. Before that, he has had technical and leadership experiences in multi-national companies, including IBM, Alcatel, Orange and MicroStrategy.
Running a media company will be the first stunt for a seasoned manager Ermias is, with fast experience in trading and banking. Under formation, ARTS is housed in the building owned by Gebregziybher, on Cameroon Street, adjacent to Mafi Building, across Bole Medihanialem Church.
The company has built studios and has already imported broadcasting equipment, and applied for a license from the Ethiopian Broadcasting Authority (EBA), for domestic transmission, which is still pending with the Authority.
“I aspire to work on good productions that can be used as an input for the policymakers,” said Ermias.
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