Business Ideas 
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (CNN) -- Garum Tesfaye is one of Addis Ababa's "newspaper landlords," a group of entrepreneurs in the Ethiopian capital who rent out papers to people too poor to buy them.
A newspaper in Addis Ababa costs about six birr (35 U.S. cents) to buy. In contrast, it costs only 50 Ethiopian cents (less than one U.S. cent) to rent one.
"If 20 readers read this single paper at the rate of 50 cents, I will make 10 birr (about 60 U.S. cents)," says Tesfaye, whose business serves a regular base that visits his makeshift roadside shop each day. Read More
Ethiopians, Eritreans hold friendship conference in San Jose
By Pete Carey
San Jose may seem like an out-of-the-way place for an international friendship conference. But on Saturday, Ethiopians and Eritreans from as far away as Europe and South Africa met to find ways to bring the two peoples together.
The occasion was the third annual Ethiopian and Eritrean Friendship Conference, held this year at the Masonic Center in South San Jose. About 100 participants pledged to set aside their differences and forge a movement they hope will catch on in their bitterly divided, once warring homelands.
There were a few tears, plenty of laughter and many open hearts and minds -- all necessary ingredients for the reconciliation movement the conference represents.
"Ethiopians and Eritreans are exhausted and want to live in peace -- for themselves and for their children," said Berhane Ghebre-Negus, a board member of the Ethiopian and Eritrean Friendship Forum, which sponsored the event.
He called on "those of us in the diaspora who escaped, and who now are enjoying the fruits of peace," to work together to bring harmony and development to their two countries.
Eritrea, a country of 5 million, was once the northwest region of Ethiopia, which has a population of about 76 million. But Eritrea gained independence in 1993. Read more....
Here is another excellent and inspiring video by our friend, Evan Carmichael in his "Modeling the Masters" series of videos.
This new video looks at how a farm boy (whose father told him that he would never make anything of himself) used money his parents gave him to create his own little business.
His name is Ingvar Kamprad and you may have heard of his company by now....it's IKEA.
What were the 3 simple life lessons that he applied?
- watch the video here:
http://bit.ly/gH09B0
Fojol Brothers Launch New Ethiopian Truck
Posted by Andrew George
Last Saturday at the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, the self-proclaimed traveling culinary carnival that is the Fojol Bros. of Merlindia unveiled the latest member of their troupe: The Fojol Bros. of Benethiopia.
Today marked the truck's debut on the streets of D.C., and I got a chance to catch it for a good, old fashioned federal employee-style lunch at L'Enfant Plaza. As the first Ethiopian food truck in the area, Benethiopia is serving up fresh injera with both meat and vegetarian options, such as beef berbere, beets and beans, berbere lentils, and collard greens. The menu also boasts what the Fojol Bros. call a sunflower injera salad, which mixes small pieces of injera with slightly cooked sunflower seeds.
The folks over at Fojol were kind enough to make me a sampler platter of most of their dishes, spooned over some hearty injera. Everything had great flavor, but the berbere lentils were by far the best thing on my plate. They have just the right amount of spice, which soaked into the injera splendidly. The beets and collard greens also make for a delicious vegetarian lunch.
Compared to some of the sit-down Ethiopian restaurants around the city, a Fojol Bros. lunch is pretty easy on the wallet. The two-meal option with injera is just $7 or you can get three for $9.
As is the custom with Ethiopian cuisine, no utensils are provided, but the Fojol Bros. do include a moist towelette with every meal. The truck also features a built-in sink to rinse your hands after stuffing your face. The new Ethiopian truck is practically identical to its predecessor and traveled alongside each other today.
Benethiopia does not have its own Twitter handle just yet, nor is the menu mentioned on the Fojol Bros. website, but its location can be tracked by following the original Fojol Bros. Twitter feed.
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Fine garments and earthenware are part of the rich cultural heritage in Africa, but craftsmen are often underprivileged and exploited. Sara Abera's project for a handicraft production company aims to change that by supplying quality items to high-end markets in a socially and environmentally responsible way.
Born in Wollega, in south-western Ethiopia, Sara was schooled in Addis Ababa. She followed a fashion design course there before moving to Athens in 1985 to complete further fashion studies. On returning to Ethiopia, she was alarmed to see how undervalued traditional handicrafts, particularly woven goods, had become. This, in turn was leading to a depletion of Ethiopian craft skills, once passed on from one generation to the next.
"At the same time, I realized that there was a potential market for high quality woven products in richer countries," says Sara. It was at this time that she founded her first company, Sara Garment Designers and Manufacturers, a business that now counts Ethiopian Airlines among its customers, in addition to its international clients.
Sara is among 26 recipients who come from eleven countries; South Africa, Spain, USA, India, Mongolia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Nigeria, Ghana and Ethiopia. IWEC says it has a mission to develop a global business network for successful women business owners, helping them gain and expand to international markets. Sponsored by the United States government, Sara was flown to Cape Town to receive her award at the ceremony and participate in a related conference held from September 20-24.
In order to receive the prize, one must run a successful business either exporting or importing goods or services in the international market. The business must be over three years old and with an annual revenue of at least a million dollars, it should be owned and operated by a woman-with everyday participation in company business- to be considered for the prizes Sara and 25 others received. The Cape Chamber of Commerce hosted the auspicious event and international delegation of 80 for over 5 days.
The organizers said industries represented by the awardees this year span all arenas of business. They include the perceived “traditional” areas of business women enter, such as design of fashion and fine jewellery, high end fashion accessories, interior design, home furnishings and education.
IWEC is an initiative of the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, in partnership with the Chamber of Commerce of Manhattan (New York) and FICCI/FLO (the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry Ladies Organization) supported by The US Department of State.
IWEC also presents a platform for the exchange of knowledge, experience and connectivity among women business owners worldwide setting the stage for new business opportunities and joint ventures, and promoting social dialogue among women entrepreneurs and business leaders.
IWEC’s award held last week in Cape Town is the fourth one after similar prizes held in 2007 in Barcelona, 2008 in New York and last year in New Delhi, India.
A decent living in a healthy environment
Then, in 2005, Sara created Muya Ethiopia, a handicraft centre producing high-quality clothing, accessories and home furnishings for export to high-end markets. "Prestige brands in the global north already produce African-inspired lines, but these rarely have any benefits for Africa. I wanted to reclaim a segment of the market in which Ethiopia should be more active."
"We're aiming to break into luxury markets in the north by establishing lasting partnerships with agents and importers. We have a rare expertise in using age-old designs and production techniques to produce high-quality contemporary items," notes Sara. "Now, we need to use the expertise of partners to market our products appropriately. This is an area where Cartier and McKinsey consultants can really help us."
The business also has clear social benefits, providing its craftsmen and women with vital employment and quality-awareness training. Already it has 120 employees, working on a clean, safe compound in Addis Ababa. They are provided with raw materials, as well as a subsidized meal every day. A similar, larger site is now under construction, with plans to take on a further 600 weavers and potters in the next five years. Muya Ethiopia's socially-responsible model has resulted in its becoming the first Ethiopian company to obtain coveted International Fair Trade Association membership.
"Our products may be slightly more expensive than other items available on the market, but we believe that the modern consumer will be prepared to pay a premium for the tradition, quality and social benefits that anchor the business," says Sara.
Changing Ethiopia’s imageMuya Ethiopia has already taken part in a number of trade fairs in North America and Europe, but there is still a lot of work to be done. "Winning the Cartier Women's Initiative Awards would bring international recognition from a major consumer brand to our project." explains Sara. "We need a strong market strategy if we are to succeed and I hope that the coaching phase will help us to refine our business plan for the markets we hope to enter."
"Recent history has had a negative impact on the world's perception of Ethiopia," adds Sara. "By exporting our cultural heritage and know-how, we hope to show the world that there is much more to our country than drought and food shortages."
At a busy taxi stop, one man has gotten creative with an immobile minibus; serving Besso, the traditional ground barley shake to peckish people in transit, looking for a quick and filling drink in-between taxis, writes MIREILLE DE VILLIERS
Meskerem Basazenew (right) serves besso to Nega Aferas (left), a taxi assistant (woyala), out of the minibus that has been turned into an eatery
Bole Deldey is a very busy taxi stop, with a constant milling of people and taxi traffic, where one white minibus stands quietly and still to the side. The minibus stands out being completely white and stationary, in contrast to the bustling, ever-moving blue and white buses that operate as taxis.
Humna Besso, which is operated out of the minibus, has been offering customers an alternative to the predominantly greasy street food being sold there, for three months. Some vendors have sambusas, biscuits, and sometimes doughnuts displayed in small plastic baskets on tables. They also serve sweet, hot tea out of flasks to the passengers in transit, hurrying between taxis.
Standing right next to the other food vendors, slightly out of the traffic and to the side of the lot under the bridge, the white minibus’s windows are covered in posters. At first, it appears to be merely an advertisement but closer inspection reveals that the minibus serves as a besso shop. The posters, featuring pictures of a girl, now drinking a besso shake(mix), now running though a field of barley, is appropriately wholesome, resembling the goodness implies by the barley shake served inside.
The inside of the minibus has been altered to better resemble a restaurant: The black and red leather seats, totalling five, have been rearranged so that the “kitchen” is where the backseat use to be, separated from the rest of the interior by a green curtain; the seats in the row second from the back have remained, and three seats, facing in, have been placed where the front two rows of seats once were. In the middle is a small wooden table to place one’s sweetened ground barley drink on.
The thick barley shake is prepared with finely ground barley, which is mixed with water and a small amount of sugar.
“I do not know about how healthy it is, but I like it too much and have it almost every day,” Daniel Tassew, the owner of Humna Besso, told Fortune.
Daniel, who works as a medical laboratory technician by day and manages the shop in his spare time, drives the minibus home every night.
“My need was to work in a unique job,” he said of his out of the ordinary venture, which is also very profitable.
The minibus cost around 68,000 Br to buy and stands at the taxi stop all day, for free, without the wear and tear of being driven up and down all day long. While the other food vendors at the taxi stop under the bridge sell mostly greasy, fatty, starchy food stuffs, Daniel has identified the gap in the market for a healthy, filling snack. The result is a profitable business with the minimum of overhead costs.
The door of Humna Besso, standing wide open, attracts the beggars, who are many in the area due to so many people passing through the area for the biggest part of each day. Outside the minibus, the taxis go by non-stop, yelling for “Mexico, Mexico!” and picking passengers up. People hurry from the taxi dropping them off, to the next one to take them to their aimed destination, sometimes pausing to give money to a beggar, sometimes rushing straight past.
People often have to push for a place at the door of an approaching taxi in order to be the first to enter and to secure a seat on the minibus, which is sometimes very full in itself, especially during rush-hour traffic when many people are in transit, or when it is raining and people who would otherwise walk, prefer to ride as well.
It is these people who are the target group that Humna Besso aims to serve. Eyuael Solomon, 19, a business management student, is one happy customer who saw the sign in front of the minibus in passing by one day on his way from his home in Sabit to Edna Mall. He does not know of any other place serving it (although there are some).
“Your mother would make it at home; it is a traditional drink,” he said. “It is very good, especially during times of fasting when people do not eat for a whole day and then suddenly eat a lot, which might upset their stomachs.”
Humna prepares 20 litres with a blender, prior to arriving at the taxi stop in the mornings. This usually finishes within half a day, according to Meskerem Basazenew, 16, a high school student working in Humna during her keremt vacation. She prepares an additional nine litres manually in a bucket, with a whisk, to ensure the ground barley dissolves completely, and adds honey according to the customer’s preference which adds a sweet flavour to the wholesome barley goodness.
Eyuael has his drink to go (6 Br), which seems smaller than the 500 ml of a glass (5.50 Br), in addition to a straw, although one suspects the drink to possibly be too thick for that. The besso shop is open from 8:30am to 6:30pm, Monday to Saturday. However, a Wednesday afternoon at 4:00pm, finds Eyuael the only customer in the tiny shop, waiting for his takeaway.
Mornings are their busiest times, said Meskerem. On average, they serve about 60 customers a day.
“If I had used it as a taxi, I would make about 120 to 150 Br profit a day while, as this, the minimum is 150 Br,” said Daniel. “On average, we make about 200 to 250 Br a day.”
It can be agreed that it is quite a big difference, in addition to which the minibus remains in excellent condition and while the minibus does not compete with the taxis, the drivers frequent the area, and have besso, all day long.
Acompany established to promote Ethiopian 100% cotton, hand woven by the creative textile weavers known as the “Shemanes”. It all started in 1979, when Menbere Markos, an Ethiopian designer was first inspired by the beauty of traditional Ethiopian fabrics.
Her dream came through when she designed and introduced her first collection then. Now in 2009, over 30 years later she is back with her signature style and perspective, with “House of Sheba Clothing Co.” cleverly named after her daughter Makeda, first name of the “Queen of Sheba”.
Oromia Airways formed by Ethiopian singer Kemer and Oromo businessmen.The new airline plans to commence domestic and international operations before the end of the year. Oromia Airways also plans to get registered in Uganda and start international flight services by flying to Djibouti, Khartoum and Nairobi, according to Dinku Deyasa, Executive Vice President of Oromia Airways." Read more
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