Content: Opinion

Each step taken within the ancient walled city of Harar is a humbling experience. The Harari’s warm hospitality, their old-fashioned robust local market exchange, their taste for vivid and vibrant colors and high regard for intellectual philosophy will leave any visitor mesmerized. Strolling between centuries-old, ancient, architectural structures and narrow alleyways, visitors are quickly reminded […]

Almost every day, we are bound to witness young women being harassed by men in our beautiful Ethiopia. Our women continue to endure constant disrespect and unsavory sexual harassment. Different women deal with it differently, yet somehow, they seem to courageously persevere through it all. A few days ago, I was waiting for a line-taxi […]

Confidence is the cheapest form of stimulus. Governments need to recognise that fairness and inequality and sharing the benefits of growth more widely are crucial issues going forward, but they need to do it without invoking a politics of envy. That can be very debilitating to business investment. I think growth probably is going to […]

Public parks and recreations are as essential as public safety and utilities. But Ethiopian policymakers and administrators seem to be putting public parks on the bottom of the list of their agendas. Parks and recreation sites can be self-sustaining and revenue-generating public investments; hence, policymakers should consciously think through their long-term plans and reconsider their […]

About 10 years ago, I was having a discussion with two adult American women in the US. While chatting, one of them casually declared how Ethiopians do not have common sense. Her compatriot agreed. I found their comments to be offensive. I thought they could not be serious! I wanted to tell them, I am […]

Knowing our own personality guides us to understand others better. Being open-minded helps us become considerate and highly receptive to new information. The more we exercise in reminding ourselves these facts; we shift our mindset from the right and wrong judgmental tendencies to becoming more empathetic and more analytical. Understanding others’ thought process and why they do what they do helps us be better problem-solvers. Accepting and valuing different personalities equally, in essence, helps us expand our critical thinking capacity.

The collective culture in Ethiopia is as warmly hospitable and as friendly as it can be. We go far beyond necessary to treat and accommodate our guests and visitors in our homes with the utmost respect and hospitality. Our hospitality, however, is not reflected in our business dealings and interactions. Too often, our business culture […]

February marked the official test run of the Addis Abeba Light Rail Transit (LRT). Bringing onboard the country’s leaders and public figures, it has boosted morale and sprinkled some hope in a city marred with traffic congestion and transportation nightmares. Expectedly, many have expressed their delight on the commencement of the three month long LRT […]

Travelling to different parts of Ethiopia, one can be certain to see a lot of economic activities, especially in the construction sector. Perhaps not as much as in Addis Abeba, and of course, a lot more in some areas than others. Nonetheless, there is noticeable infrastructure development going on. I have been to Mekelle twice […]

Revolution or regime change is definitely a decisive slogan; but, for whom, by whom and at what cost exactly? These are concepts considered empowering to some, and frightening to others. They entail strong messages that overwhelm one’s attention. How many of us actually care to deeply think through the trials and tribulations and ultimate sacrifices […]

On January 7,2014, a terrorist attack at the French satirical magazine, Charlie Hebdo, in Paris, France, took the lives of 12 cartoonists and journalists. In the span of three days, the death toll, with the three dead attackers included, rose to 20. Although it did not receive a fraction of the media shockwaves, the Nigerian […]

Microfinance is widely known for the incredible speed with which it has scaled to reach hundreds of millions of people, and the positive effect it has had in reducing poverty. However, what many people do not know is that most of these microfinance institutions are located in urban and suburban areas, and they largely target […]

A remarkable pattern has emerged since the 2008 global financial crisis: governments, central banks, and international financial institutions have consistently had to revise their growth forecasts downward. With very few exceptions, this has been true of projections for the global economy and individual countries alike. It is a pattern that has caused real damage, because […]

Thinking about the future of agriculture in Africa fills me with both pride and trepidation. I am proud that Africa is home to some of the world’s fastest growing economies, and that the region has seen foreign domestic investment triple over the last decade. However, I am concerned that agriculture’s potential to drive inclusive development […]

Community Based Organisations (CBOs) are non-profits that provide social services to local communities. They are specific to local areas or localised neighborhoods where the goal is the improvement of members’ social and economic status, and membership is based on equality. In the Ethiopian context, CBOs are mostly social groups formed for the purpose of providing […]

Divergence will be a major global economic theme in the coming year, in economic trends, policies and performance. As the year progresses, these divergences will become increasingly difficult to reconcile, leaving policymakers with a choice: overcome the obstacles that have so far impeded effective action, or risk allowing their economies to be destabilised. The multi-speed […]

These days, nationality and border are neither definitive nor binding. Loyalty, usually owed to traditional hierarchic structures, has lost its effectiveness. Patriotism and ethnocentric belonging has dissipated. This is especially the case with “Generation Y” and millennials. We are connecting with our fellow global citizens based on common interests and shared values. In the process, […]

Ethiopia has registered double-digit economic growth rate for the last decade. Without a doubt, this is a point of pride for its people. However, it should not be a source of complacency for political leaders and their subordinate public servants. After all, as much as we do the citizens might not like to admit it, […]

The deficit of courage in Addis Abeba is downright depressing. When I was a child, I remember hearing an Ethiopian radio host complaining about the uncleanliness of our city. Citing his two week long travel experience in Egypt, people there, he said, take their trash outside twice a week to be collected by trash disposal […]

Corruption, mismanagement of public resources and accounting irregularities are huge challenges in developing countries such as Ethiopia. A strong accountancy profession will undoubtedly contribute positively and significantly to the fight against these chronic problems. Several studies have been conducted in Ethiopia assessing the level of the accountancy profession. Almost all made recommendations which ended up […]

Developing a culture of open dialogue in Ethiopia to entertain different views is paramount in our quest for individual and collective economic transformation. I have a great deal of interest in the subject of international political economy, especially when it comes to Ethiopia. I have thought a lot about the impact that liberalising the country’s […]

The chief executive officer (CEO) of an internationally renowned technology company was forced to make a groveling apology recently after he was widely criticized for advising women not to ask for a raise but, instead, to have “faith in the system”. Having “faith in the system” has not helped women reach their full potential in […]

People think in terms of stories or narratives. Telling the wrong story could get one into trouble. American linguist-anthropologist-hobbyist Benjamin Lee Whorf documented this phenomenon in the 1920s. In his day job as a fire-prevention engineer, he noticed a large number of fires occurred at gas stations. Putting his linguistics to work, Whorf discovered that […]

When I first started talking about the potential for investment and business opportunities in Africa some 20 years ago, I found myself to be an isolated voice. That turned out to be good for me – and the few others who saw, invested and reaped wonderful rewards from that potential – but not so good […]

Advertising has changed a lot, but one thing has not changed. Advertising has always been about attention, and this remains an incredibly valuable commodity. The value of our collective attention has helped fund all types of media. In fact, without an advertising subsidy, the internet as it currently exists, would be unsustainable. However, there is […]